Big Splash

Since we didn't make it to the beach this year and we didn't go to Holiday World we vacationed at a nearby water park for the weekend. The boys had a great time.. in fact we all did. They are such water bugs. Landon has no fear of the water and desperatly wanted to keep up with his brother. Hayden liked the water slides best and after riding down once with daddy he was ready to go it alone and that he did over and over and over. I was so glad that Dede went with us. I couldn't go down any of the slides so she jumped right in with the boys while I watched from the sidelines and got some great video.

Fall Fun

A Fun Filled Day at the Local Pumpkin Patch. Hayden and Landon loved spending the morning with Avery and Aunt Emily.

Paint Spot

My china cabinet continues to collect beautiful plates made with love. Thanks Grammy for going with us so that we could get some great plates. Hayden made a spider for halloween and Landon made a turkey for Thanksgiving.

The Lake

In keeping with our annual tradition of a weekend at the lake with great friends we enjoyed our time at Cumberland. Hayden loves boating as much as I do and we had great weather. It worked out that Keith and Emily were spending the weekend on a houseboat and we meet up with them. This was the highlight for Hayden who went down the slide on the back of the house boat several times. I was surprised that he went down the slide that was on the roof of the boat and surprised that I didn't try to stop him. I tell you that boy isn't afraid of the water. During our weekend get away we went fishing and both Kayla and Hayden caught fish. Hayden had his own pole and wanted to catch a fish all by himself with his pole. He caught one with Jeff's pole but according to him that didn't count so he kept casting his line with his little pole and caught one. Next year Landon will get to join us for the first time as our rule is that you have to be 2 years old to go. It will be interesting to see what he thinks of his first boat ride. This year he got to spend the weekend with Grammy and Peepaw.

We have a Preschooler

Hayden's first day of preschool was with much anticipation and excitement. He picked out a cars backpack and filled it with all his school supplies. He was very eager to tell everyone that he was starting school but come that morning he was filled with apprehension. Thankfully he is attending school with Kayla and this has helped so much with the transition. She is one of his best buddies and along with that comes security and comfort. On the first day of school Jeff went to Dede and Papa's house and had breakfast with Hayden then he and Pawpaw drove to Dianna's house and followed Kayla to school. This helped as Hayden was able to go in with Kayla. He had a great first day until it was time for carpool pick up and upon dismissal he was mistakenly called Kaiden and this upset him greatly. Dee Dee and Pawpaw picked up a crying Hayden and this was the focus of his day. He was worried they were going to call him by the wrong name everyday. He come home from the second day of school excited that the teacher got his name right but low and behold the following day he says he was called Aidan and we were right back where we started. Crying every morning not wanting to go. Ms. Nancy, his teacher, called to let me know that Hayden would arrive at school misty eyed until he found Kayla and then was fine during the day transitioning from one center to the next but come dismissal he would be the first in line and would start to cry asking who was coming to pick him up and fearful he would be called the wrong name. Most days are still started with him declaring he doesn't want to go to school but once he is there he has fun and can't wait to tell me he had a good time. I do have to ask him specific questions as he doesn't volunteer much. He usually will tell me what his job was for the day when I ask and what he ate at snack time. His favorite job has been weather watcher although he has been door holder, prayer leader and flag holder to name a few. His cousin Addison attends another preschool and I saw her reciting the pledge of allegiance and so I asked Hayden if they said the Pledge at his school and he recited it word for word. I am amazed at what he has learned and really I don't even know a fraction of what he is learning as he is not a big talker of his days events. He has learned some new prayers and is learning about the color red, apples and the letters A and B this first month.
Landon wishes he could go to school as well. On the second day he got his backpack and wanted to get his picture on the front porch too.

The week before school started we went to open house and met Hayden's teachers, Mrs. Nancy and Mrs. Brenda. We were able to see his classroom and check out all the fun things that he would be doing.