Big Orange Pumpkin Farm

We made our annual trek to the pumpkin patch today, and I had high hope for us to have a really fun time. A few of us did, but the smallest person in our house was quite umimpressed with everything but the animals. He didn't want to ride the tractor train, he didn't want to take pictures with the pumpkins, he didn't want to do the hay ride, he didn't want to climb on an old, red truck to take pictures, and he didn't want to eat a hot dog for lunch. He DID NOT have fun.
One of the only pictures I got with Noah and an actual pumpkin. He looks thrilled, doesn't he?

Oops!

Yesterday morning I was cleaning the house, and Noah was supposed to be watching his favorite video. He wandered into the bathroom as I was cleaning it, and I really didn't pay much attention to what he was doing. A few minutes later, Gary came out of his office and called me into the living room. He found Noah sitting in a chair, watching his video, with a bottle of Scope. He was holding the top like a cup and was pretty much drenched with Scope. There were two large blue spots on the carpet, too. I smelled his breath to try to figure out if he drank any of it or just poured it out. Gary called poison control just to be safe, but they assured us that if he had ingested a large amount he would have started throwing up. There was never any throwing up or other ill effects, thank goodness, and I even got the Scope out of the carpet. We never called poison control with Luke. It's really no big surprise we've already called with Noah. I just wish I had gotten a picture of him sitting there with the bottle in one hand and the top in the other. I'm still wondering how he got the darn thing open.

Soccer blues

Only two more games to suffer through before this season is over. That's right, I said suffer. Luke's cumulative three-season record is 0-21. They have never won a game. They haven't even come close this season. Gary & I can't quite figure out what the deal is with his team, but it's gotten pretty frustrating, even for Luke who is usually happy with just getting a snack after the game. He told me a few days ago, "Mommy, we never win. I wonder if we'll ever win a game." It made me sad. I know it's not all about winning, but I think it should be a little bit about winning. Everyone needs to feel successful at some point. Otherwise whatever you're doing just becomes a beat-down. So, we'll stick it out for two more games and then regroup for the spring. I took a few pictures last week, mostly during practice (the team is much better during practice than games.)

Surprise! It's a post about Noah!

I realize I cut Noah's head off in this picture, but I was really trying to get his snazzy sock/flip-flop combo.
New kicks . . . it's a good thing, too. The hand-me-down shoes he was wearing were 1 1/2 sizes too small. Oops.

There's not much cuter than a boy in overalls.

Clifford's costume

And it begins . . . Luke's first real homework assignment was to make a Halloween costume for a paper version of Clifford the Big Red Dog. He decided he wanted Clifford to be a pumpkin; I made it happen. The costume is made out of a styrofoam ball, felt, pipe cleaners, and construction paper for the leaves. Gary's first reaction was, "It doesn't look like Luke made it". The directions did say that it was a family project and, come on, how is a five-year-old going to make a costume? Luke was actually very instrumental in the whole process: he cut out Clifford, helped me glue the felt on, cut out the leaves, and stuck the stem in Clifford's hat. It was a group effort, and a darn good one, I think.

Talk the talk

Noah's vocabulary is once again on the rise. After several months with very few new words, he has suddenly started saying (or attempting to say) some new words. I've translated them from Noah to English so you'll all understand:

-"ba-pa" = backpack
-"bum-bu-bu" or "bum-bu-bu-bu" = bumblebee
-"na-na-na" = lemondae

OK, so it's not that impressive, and you really have to spend all day with him like I do to be able to make sense out of his utterings, but it's progress.

One other note about Noah - he is a candy fiend just like his brother and me. I have a Halloween candy jar with candy corns in it. I personally could eat candy corns till I vomit, so I'm in the jar on and off throughout the day. If it's not an appropriate time to eat candy or I think Noah's had enough, I have to take the top off the jar very, very quietly, because if he even thinks he hears me opening the jar, he'll run out and point to it so he can get his fair share. As Gary once said about Noah, "That boy definitely came out of your body."

It's about time

I know I've been a little slack with my blog lately. I'm currently addicted to Facebook, so when I get quiet computer time, I tend to go there instead, and my blog has suffered for it. So to appease all three of my readers, here are a few new pictures.

Noah did this one day last week while I was drying my hair. I looked up and there was my little Flashdancer.
That's Luke under there (like you didn't already know that.)
One of the only pictures I took while my mom was here for a week. We had a great visit!

Just a swingin'

Can you imagine what Gary's thinking?
Wheeeee!

What's Noah been up to?

Besides being an extremely stylish dresser, here are a few of Noah's latest accomplishments.


-He can carry on a VERY limited conversation. It goes like this:
"How's your oatmeal?" "Goo." (meaning "good") That's it.

-He loves to read, but he's at the stage where we are forced to read the same books over and over and over and over. His favorites are Big Dig, Ten Little Ladybugs, Goodnight Sweet Butterflies, and Snappy Jungle.

-Every now and then he won't go right to sleep at nap time. I'll go in there if he's sitting up and tell him to lie down, and he'll just fall onto the crib mattress and lie very still. It's pretty funny.

-He has a book with pictures of us in it, and he loves to look at it and point to everyone and say who they are.

-He loves putting on our shoes and walking around in them (in case you hadn't already figured that out!)

-He's getting pretty good at animal sounds. The ones he always gets right are cow, dog, bird, sheep, and monkey. When you ask him what a lion says, for some reason he always says, "teet teet."

-Every animal he sees is a puppy.

-Whenever we drive into the Market Street parking lot (a local grocery store), he says, "Cookie."

-Noah will be 21 months old on Sept. 18. Before I know it, he'll be turning two!

More than anything, he makes all of us laugh. He loves his Bubba and looks forward to him coming home from school every day. He's my itty-bitty joy-boy!

The artist currently known as Noah

Take me out to the ballgame

Luke & Noah gave Rangers tickets to Gary for Father's Day. Today Luke & Gary went to the game (Noah, of course, wasn't actually invited.) The Rangers lost big time to the Red Sox and it was very hot, but they still had a good time.

Kindergarten

Luke started kindergarten on Monday. He was so excited that he was up and dressed at 6:55, and then he counted down the minutes till we left. I only shed a few tears as I was leaving him (I didn't shed any the next day!) He had a great first day!
Standing outside his school, Bennett Elementary

Luke and his sweet friend Ashlynn (she's in his Sunday school class)
Can you tell from the ear-to-ear grin how very excited he is?!?

Girlfriends

Last weekend several girls from my bible study went to San Antonio to the Living Proof Live conference. This is the third year I've heard Beth Moore speak, and I think it was the best yet. The music was phenomenal - I love Travis Cottrell! The theme for the weekend focused on Psalm 16: 5-6:

"Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure.

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance."

I am always amazed at how inspired Beth is when she speaks. It's incredible how she weaves together verses from both the old and new testaments to help make her point. The idea that has stayed with me the most is that not only will I receive an inheritance from God, I am part of His inheritance.

Jeanie, Adriane, Laurie, Shannon, Sandra, Becky, Gretchen, Charlotte, me, Wendy

Because the seats aren't reserved, you have to get in line REALLY early if you want to be anywhere near the stage. We were in line at 6:30 Saturday morning (the doors opened at 7:30 and the conference started at 8:30.) We would have been there even earlier except it was raining, and none of us is that die-hard. Is that the sunrise in the background? I believe it is . . . hence the need for big ol' coffees.

About 30 minutes after we got to the convention center, we looked to the left and saw the most beautiful rainbow. If that isn't a sign, I don't know what is!

Dinner at Casa Rio on the Riverwalk.

The solution to all my problems

Don't call CPS. I promise I didn't put Noah in there. He climbed in all on his own while we were across the street letting my neighbor's dog out. If you have to call CPS, call them because I asked my 5-year-old to walk back across the street to get my camera so I could take a picture of his brother in a dog kennel. He obviously made it over and back safely as is evidenced by the pictures.
Noah stayed in here for about 10 minutes, opening and closing the door. Would it be wrong to get Molly's kennel out?
Luke is probably thinking, "My life would be so much better if we had a kennel."
I haven't gotten the kennel out . . . yet.

Happy birthday to me!

That's right, I turned another year older last Saturday. I am now closer to 40 than I am to 30. Yikes! I had a really good day . . . lunch with my boys, a pedicure all by myself, and dinner with my biggest boy.

Funny boys

Green rainboots go with anything . . . or with nothing!

Luke was sweaty, and when he took his shirt off, his hair stayed like this.

Wii rock!

We love the Wii! Gary is still undefeated in boxing, refusing to let either 10-year-old Ben or 16-year-old Alex beat him, and I've become a pro bowler. Wii are awesome!

Yesterday

Luke was giving his Webkinz a ride when Noah decided to hope on board. As you can see, they both thought this was great fun.

Noah has shown no interest in the TV, but when Luke & I were watching some home movies of him when he was Noah's age, Noah was riveted. So yesterday I decided to let him watch Toddler Tunes, a low-budget video of the Cedarmont Kids singing various children's songs. He loved it! Hallelujah! Maybe I can actually get him to sit still for 20 or 30 minutes each day.

A slight break

We are right in the the middle of a swelteringly hot Texas summer. Yesterday was the first break from the heat, with a high of only about 90. We've had over 20 days of 100+ heat, and until yesterday the streak of 100+ days was over 10. We topped out at 107 last weekend. It's too hot to even go to the pool when the temperature is 107. I try not to complain about the heat because I'd rather it be hot than cold, but this is a little much, even for me!