A Pumpkin, A Mouse, A Spider, A Carnival, Cheetos and Fruit Loops

Settle in, this is going to be a long one!  I know y'all have been waiting with baited breath to learn whether our great pumpkin was fated to be painted or carved for the 2012 season. Well, wait no more.  Here is The Great Pumpkin 2012.....

Jax and I found a picture of this face and he fell in love with the silliness of it!  So, we printed it off and Vinnie went to work.  First he drew the outline.  

Then he and Jax got busy painting.

It was SERIOUS work that required LOTS of concentration.

Meanwhile, down in the stroller (prepare to be surprised!)  Hoss wasn't into hanging out in the garage to paint the pumpkin.  He wasn't really fussy, but he wasn't really excited and happy either.

Despite his lack of enthusiasm, Jax and Vinnie managed to finish off an adorable pumpkin and the only mess left to clean up was rinsing out the brushes!

The weekend after the Great Pumpkin took up residence on our front porch, we went to the St. Nicholas Fall Carnival.  Hoss stayed home with GrNanny and Granddaddy because it was cold and windy and, did I say it was COLD?  You know it's cold when Big Mama complains about it...I am NEVER cold!  But, this particular Sunday, I was COLD.  We had a blast though.  Here's a recap:

The Cake Walk in which he chose grocery store cookies over the adorable decorated cookies I spent two days baking and decorating.  It's ok, I'm working to get past it.

Henna Tattoo.  Most kids were getting some of the intricate designs associated with Henna Tattoos.  Jax got a car.

Tennis Ball Speed Trap.  The kids threw the tennis balls into the soccer goal and they were clocking the balls with a radar gun to see how fast the kids could throw.  Jax threw 12 MPH all 3 times.  I'm not sure if that was fast or slow for his age, but it was consistent!

Climbing the Rock Wall or as I like to call it, climbing the simulated rock wall on a trailer.

Waiting in line with a couple of his friends.  

Cowboy Up!  This was Jax's second time to ride this ride.  The first time he got scared.  This time, he loved it.  I'm not sure that a dead bull could move as slow as this one does, but he had fun!

Tennis Ball Cannon.  Now, THIS WAS FUN!  The boys had a blast and we have already tried to figure out how to make one of these.  Jax thinks it would be fun to have one in the back yard that would launch water balloons.  I think anyone in that line of fir would be wet.  He got his GrNanny's peskiness!

Inflatable Obstacle Course...no explanation needed is there?

Fake Cast.  The theme of this years carnival was The World Games so many of the booths had a country associated with them.  This booth was Korea and they had it set up like a M.A.S.H. unit and were putting fake casts on the kids.  They loved it!

Later that week...Halloween.  Jax got to wear a costume to school and he chose his Spider-Man costume.  It's really cool because it has giant muscles and the web on the chest lights up!  We left the mask and gloves at home because they could have made it hard to do things at school.  Hoss and I went to school with him that morning because there was a Halloween parade and a party!!  It was lots of fun!

Spider-Man on Parade

Hoss really loved getting to be around all of the kids, and they are getting used to seeing him there.  They are so respectful of him and don't touch him.  I've been surprised that it's the little boys who come by and sweetly say, "Hey, Baby" to him.  They're really adorable, but not as cute as Hoss is.

Yep, he was finally feelin' it!  He LOVED wearing this Mickey Mouse costume!

Afterwards we went to the cafeteria for the party.

They had coffee and doughnuts for the parents.  We've been working on trying some table foods with Hoss, so I thought I would see what he thought about a doughnut.  They were pumpkin spice cake doughnuts.  I really expected he wouldn't care for the texture of it or that he would want me to hold it for him since touching most foods seems to be beneath him...see for yourself.

I've never been so glad to be so wrong in my life.  To say he has a new love in his life would be an understatement.  He didn't choke, and surprisingly got most of it in his mouth.  He wouldn't even let me take it away from him long enough to take a picture with his Bubba.

That night we went Trick or Treating.  Jax decided to be Captain America for his evening activities.  Hoss was still the Mouse.

We took Hoss and Jax to see Mr. Donald (you may remember him as the backhoe and dump truck driver from some of my previous posts) and his wife Mrs. Patty.

And then Vinnie and Captain America headed off to fight crime and find candy.  

Hoss and Mommy headed home for some cozy jammies and some more practice with solid foods.  Thanks to his physical therapist, Kilbrie, we have found another new love...Fruit Loops and Cheetos cheese puffs.  Once we get the knack of chewing, we can work on some more, ahem, healthy choices.   In the meantime, we'll take solids where we can get them.  Baby steps...

Whew!  This was one Mommy who was glad when bedtime came.  It was a fun week and a great day!  We're still on a sugar high around here, and soon I will do a post about the birthday party to end all birthday parties!  Another GREAT day!

Burt's Farm 2012

Last Monday was the last day of Jax's fall break and it was a cool, overcast day.  It was perfect pumpkin huntin' weather, so off we went to Burt's Farm.  This was our fourth year to go and it was just as much fun as the last three. If you have kids, live in the area and have never been, you should totally go!  It's a trek, but it's worth it (on a side note, there is a GREAT outlet mall about 16 miles from Burt's Farm).

As soon as we got there, Jax wanted to go on the hay ride.  So off he and Vinnie went.  Mom and I had taken some chairs with us this year because there isn't anywhere to sit, so we found us a spot and set up camp.  Dad found the apple cider and fried pies.

Jax loves the hayride and who wouldn't? It includes singing pumpkin people,

fields of sunflowers and pumpkins,

cute kids,

festive fall displays

and a spooky covered bridge.

When the boys got back from the hayride, it was time to pick our pumpkins.  Each of the pumpkin is priced on top with a sharpie marker.  Jax was able to identify the numbers as prices this year so he wanted to walk the rows recognizing the price of each pumpkin.  

We finally got him moving and wanted to take advantage of this day to take some beautiful family pictures.  Mom and I both have fabulous cameras that take great pictures.   Unfortunately they don't pose the subject matter.  There was a time in my life when I would have gotten frustrated with the way the pictures of this day turned out, but as I get older and experience more of this life and all God sees fit to throw at me, I'm learning to cherish them.  Take a look, you'll see what I mean.  These pictures aren't perfectly posed but they are precious to me.  They capture perfectly my boys and what life is like for us right now.  It's always moving, never dull or quiet but it's pretty fun and really adorable!

First we decided to try some of each boy individually.

Hoss wasn't feeling it.  Jax however....

Next we tried some together

Hoss still not feeling it..Maybe some with Daddy?

Nope.  Hoss was only happy when Daddy was standing up and holding him, so everybody on their feet, look at the camera and smile...

Or not.  Maybe in the smaller white pumpkins?

Nope?  How about some family pictures?

Now Jax isn't feeling it.

FINALLY a pretty good one where everyone is mostly happy and looking at the camera and we got Grandma Moses and her wheelchair pusher in the background!  I can crop them out, but the I thought it was hilarious.

I gave up getting the perfect pumpkin patch picture this year and we loaded up

We went on a great adventure to get to Ellijay, then headed to Mercier's Orchard in Blueridge.  It was a really fun day full of great memories.  Don't you know these pictures are going to turn up at rehearsal dinners?  I'll keep you posted on the carving of the Great Pumpkin.  Or maybe the painting of the Great Pumpkin...we haven't decided yet!  

Team Player

This fall Jax is playing soccer.  Let me preface this post with a little side note...I secretly loathe soccer.  I played one or two seasons when I was a kid.  Mostly I was on a team and stood on the sidelines waiting to eat oranges at halftime, but nonetheless, I was on a team.  I never grasped the whole full back, half back thing...that is football terminology...and by football I mean Go Vols (substitute your own team name here).  I also could never comprehend why I would want to run up and down the field, chasing a ball, only to reach the desired destination and have the some gung ho crazy on the other team kick it out from under me while kicking me in the shins at the same time. If I'm going to run up and down the field like that, there had better be scores greater than 1-0, some good tackles and doughnuts after the game.  I'm just being honest.  I loathe soccer.

BUT, my sweet hubby was stationed in England when he was in the Air Force and he played soccer growing up and he enjoys it.  Not 'go to a game' enjoys it, but 'will watch it on TV if he can't find anything else in 500 channels'.  (I would turn of the TV or watch an infomercial for exercise equipment first!)  So, when Jax started asking to wear jerseys all the time and wanting to play sports with his Daddy or Granddaddy all the time, soccer was our sport of choice. It's a reasonable way for him to experience team sports, get a little exercise and he's not as likely to get a concussion or other severe injury.

So, Jax is playing soccer this fall.  We made a big tadoo out of getting him all geared up.  We went to Dick's sporting goods on the Redoubt Soccer Saturday.  

We tried on cleats until we found just the right size in red and black.  Jax would have no other colors!

Then we went home and put it all on with his Titans jersey because we hadn't gotten his team jersey yet.

Then, because he's four and has the attention span of a gnat, he dressed up like Spiderman and pushed Hoss around in a laundry basket.

So last Saturday it was off to soccer, in the rain.  Let me tell you how excited I was.  But Jax could hardly bear waiting til game time and I began to catch a little of his enthusiasm.  We got there and got his jersey.  He got the number he wanted, number 10.  We're not sure why, but he picked it.  I sat in the car with Hoss because of the rain, but we were able to park right by the field last week.  Jax had a BLAST!!

They practice for 30 minutes then play a little 3 on 3 game for 30 minutes.  It's really adorable.  Jax is a little aggressive.  See this kid on the ground?  See the white number 10 jersey leaving the scene of the accident?

The first time little yellow number 7 ran into Jax, they both fell down.  The second time he approached Jax, Jax shoved him out of the way and little yellow number 7 fell.  The third time, Jax grabbed two handfulls of yellow jersey number 7 from behind and flung him out of his way.  Jax is, uummm, a little controlling and competitive.  I have no idea where he gets it.  We're working on it.  

This week, the weather was gorgeous, though a little warmer in the full sun than I planned for. 

 Once again Jax had a blast.

He didn't tackle, fling or clobber anyone this week, although one little girl on his team had a little trouble with the net.

And although there are no tackles, hail mary passes or nail biting 4th quarters in under 6 soccer, there are some precious pile ons as the kids get hot and begin to wear down.

Jax is enjoying the time with his Dad, and Vince is loving living a little vicariously through Jax.

And me, well, I'm beginning to not hate soccer, and I adore my little soccer player.