Bath Time: A time of Peace

Every night between supper and bed time I put the boys into the bath and have about 20 minutes of uninterrupted time to myself. Most of the time I spend this 20 minutes just sitting on the couch reflecting on the day, rarely I do anything productive during this allotted peace time. Yes my boys play nicely together in the bath and yes I let them play in there for 20 minutes before washing them and yes this is needed for me to keep my sanity. So thank you Lord for bath time! :)

Three Little PopPop Bears

Every night Josh and I take the boys into their room for bed, one of us rocks Jacob and the other holds Caden bug. Whoever ends up with Jacob always has to tell the story of Jacob's choice. Tonight Jacob asked Josh to tell him the story of the Three Little PopPop Bears. Now this is what Jacob calls Goldilocks and the Three Bears, but Josh had no clue so I sat there waiting to hear what would come out of his mouth. Here is the story of the Three Little PopPop Bears according to Josh.

Once upon a time there were three little poppop bears and they all lived in a house together. The first little poppop bear says he is going to go outside to play and then the others decide to join him outside. The three little poppop bears decide to play football and then along comes Little Red Riding Hood walking through the forest. She was being chased by the big mean wolf. The three little poppop bears and red riding hood ran into the house as the wolf yells, "I am going to huff and puff and blow your house down." He could not blow the house down and ran away. The three little poppop bears never saw that wolf again. THE END

All Dressed up and Nowhere to go!

This morning we all woke up and started getting ready for church. We made breakfast, took showers, got the boys and ourselves dressed and then... We get a phone call from Michael and Sarah at 10:00 asking us where we were at ( we are still 15 minutes from being ready) and Josh says, "It is only 10 why are you guys there so early?" We then find out that unlike church back home this one starts at 10:00. Yes we have been there before, but for some reason I was thinking about church back home when I had us all being ready for a 10:30 service, which is nonexistent. Since we still live 20 minutes away and services here only last one hour, we would not have gotten there until 10:35 and then after checking the boys in- we would only be there for 15 minutes (shorter than the drive there.) Oh well, my fault. We are going to go tonight to make up for it, they are having a live recording and the music pastor (who shops Josh's store quite often) told him all about it and how neat it was going to be. Matt is Josh's assistant manager and he was meeting us at the apartment to go to church with us took these pictures...

Josh's Halloween Costume

Tonight after bath time we were all in the boys room playing and putting pajamas on. All of a sudden, Josh asks, "Do I look like a doggy Courtney?" I turn around to see this... now I am taking a poll to see what he should go as for Halloween, "A doggy or a froggie?"

Mr. Independent

Jacob now wears big boy undies all the time so now I am trying to teach him how to take his underwear on and put it back on. It is not going so well... yet. I guess he will catch on sooner or later. I got the camera out to take some pictures of his attempts to put them back on.

He was posing for the pictures, I did not ask him to stand this way and smile back at me. He is such a little ham!











He put them on backwards causing what looks like a very uncomfortable wedgie!





Close up :)

Dinner at Ichiban

We ate Ichiban with Jim and Kathy before we headed back here since Josh had not had it since we got in town. We had a good time and then changed the boys into their Halloween pajamas before we left.




Jacob and PopPop before the cooking began







Jacob and MiMi











He is always thirsty










Eating his rice











Yummy!












Boo!











He is showing us the eyes are glow in the dark









He is so happy











He loves the keys








Cute little boys in their glow in the dark Halloween pajamas






Josh showing Jacob how to use a camera

Lunch with Dad

During our trip my dad was overseas in Germany, visiting the town of Meldorf (my maiden name) and seeing old viking towns, and going to watch the soccer team that he is part owner of. He left before we came in and luckily came back the night before we came back home. So we were able to meet him for lunch at Olive Garden and got to hear all about his trip. He had a great time and brought us back a few souvenirs.





Dad got Jacob a tractor to play with (he said he saw a lot of farmers on the same kind)

















He got Caden-bug a teddy bear

















Jacob was using dad as a tunnel








They were looking at JJ's car








How sweet








Jampa John and Jacob








JJ and Bug







He loves his Jampa John

Visit from JJ and Tyler

Sunday afternoon JJ and Tyler came over the house to see the boys and me before we left. Jacob had gone to lunch with MiMi and PopPop after church so it was just me Caden-bug and Josh. They stayed for a little bit and JJ and I fell asleep on the couch while the guys watched some football (Caden was down too.) After a few hours they decided to leave and when they got out to her car they found the passenger side window busted out. This has been happening in Jim and Kathy's neighborhood lately so we thought it might have been a robbery so we called the police. Nothing was stolen and her purse was in plain view, her doors were unlocked so we all thought it was strange. The policeman came and he determined it was probably a stray bb or 22 bullet. There was nothing he could do, so he left and so did they. I went over to Brittany's for a bit to help her clean and to hang out and then called it a night.

Hanging out at the Bates's House

A few of the nights we were in town we went over to Brittney and Derek's house to have fun with friends. One night the guys played poker, one night Britt cooked for the girls, and one night everyone played the Wii. Thanks Britt for letting us all hang out, we had a great time with you guys!




Josh and Justin playing poker (the night before the wedding)









Derek and Craig







The guys playing poker










Josh and Mason (he said it didn't make him want another one)









Look at precious Mason!








We have the same color eyes!











Meredith looking through Brittney's camera











Caden found Mason's bumbo seat






Mason getting rubbed down before bedtime

Carving Pumpkins: Part 2 of Chattanooga Visit

Tuesday I went into work (at the Buckle in Chattanooga) to learn a little from the merchandiser there, after that I headed to Don and Paula's for dinner. Once there I found out we were carving pumpkins for the kids after eating. To summarize the night shortly: Caden is scared of pumpkins and Jacob thinks the inside of pumpkins is revolting. Needless to say Brittney Derek and I were the only ones carving while the kids played "nicely" together. I ruined Caden's name while carving so he just got a huge C on his and Derek had to put some of the letters back together on Jacob's pumpkin using toothpicks. The only really good ones were done by Brittney while Derek and I sat there ruining ours.




Cutting the top off of the pumpkins








Caden holding "Den-den" and watching














PopPop and Jacob watching








Looking inside his pumpking








Caden screaming and clawing to get away









Going in the pumpkin







Ewww!









Throwing a fit because I made him share his cars with Ansley







A bug Jacob was fascinated with









Derek holding Jacob next to the pumpkin he carved for him








Cheese!







Ansley's pumpkin








What's so fascinating?










Cupcake break











Caden was scared of this too








Caden's pumpkin







Trying to get away from it








Brittney working on Mason's pumpkin








Caden's pumpkin









Ansley and Jacob with their pumpkins (neither one of them looking at the camera)







Sweet









Mason and his pumpkin












The Bates Family







Ansley and Jacob flirting







Beth did not want to be in the picture









Bates family and Ansley







Our pumpkins






Me and Caden, he still didn't want to be near the pumpkin