For Cora

Here is my attempt this morning at seeing if Amanda could look as cute as our friend Cora in a bow. The conclusion: Her hair just doesn't have the personality that Cora's has. Plus, the bow only lasted 10 minutes. Nine of those minutes was breakfast, where she was so interested in her food that she did not take the time to explore things on her head. Approximately 24 seconds after tearing off her bib, she started working on the bow.



Since this experiment was such a failure, we'll see tomorrow if she will keep her Halloween costume on long enough for a picture.

(A few hours later, I took this picture - much better! This really captures Amanda. She loves to drive her car.)

"What's that?"

Always curious and interested in the world around her, today was no different than the rest. I found Amanda standing on the Lego table, climbing the cushions near the fireplace and crying under the toy kitchen, which she had pulled on top of herself. That was the most curious find because the little stove part was popped out, so I guess she was standing on top of it???

When Scott and Andrew were fishing for their special treats this afternoon, of course Amanda wanted to be involved. She pulled out a little bag of chocolates and was upset when I took them away. But, she was content when I replaced them with apples.

"geo-cabinets"

I've spent the last couple of days wondering why I spent money on a geo-board last year when our cabinets evidently serve the same function!



Scott has rigged the cabinets so he can open one drawer and all of the cabinet doors open. Andrew likes to hang his swords from the bands.

They both have learned the lesson that a stretched rubber band has stored energy that will be released when the band breaks. Ouch. It was a hard lesson to learn.

more soccer

For those of you eagerly awaiting the soccer update (e.g. the weather report)...we have had no more canceled games! Of course, tonight was supposed to be the last game of the season, but they have extended the season by a week to fit in all of the rained out games. Here are some photos from the game on Saturday.


Notice in the photo below that there are five kids attacking the ball. Keep in mind that only six kids play at a time. Not sure where #6 was (from the red team)...maybe tying his shoe or looking at the clouds. There are no goalies, so your best defense is to hope your opponent's aim is not good. Of course, score does not matter. What matters the most is snack. :)


Amanda entertained herself by learning how to climb into the little chair...and then fall out.


Andrew is so eager to play soccer that he practices for most of the game with an extra ball. Scott likes soccer, but Andrew LOVES it. I think he will be our little athlete.

Touch a Truck

The Clarke and Oconee County Rec departments each hold a "Touch a Truck" event each year. Oconee has theirs in the spring and Clarke in the fall. That makes twice the truck fun! Check out the fun we had a year and a half ago at the Oconee event: Spring 2008

Here are some highlights from this year's event.

Derrick's Birthday!

We celebrated Derrick's birthday on Oct. 14 with an Apple Pie. Yes, there is already a slice missing. In leiu of making him a special breakfast on his birthday (before 6AM), I offered him a piece of the pie. I have always thought pie is better in the morning.


Make sure you turn the volume down for this video. The music from the candle may hurt your ears. It was pretty awful, but that's to expect from the Dollar Store!



If you look carefully, you'll notice that we actually did several "takes" of blowing out the candle. I think the video was first. Then, I switched it to camera mode and relit the candle to try again...and again. Isn't the digital age great!

13 months

Amanda was 13 months on Saturday and she is still not walking. But she sure does love to climb. Thus, the little chair that Nana and Pop gave her for her birthday is one of her favorite presents.



A few weeks ago, I fully expected her to walk by Halloween, but now I've revised that to Thanksgiving. She just doesn't quite have the balance yet. Plus, she is dealing with a pretty bad runny nose** this week that is slowing her down. I bet when that is healed, she will take off.

**I checked her teeth just after writing this post, and she has two top teeth poking out! All that work (and snot) has been worth it. I can't wait to see how her smile changes with teeth.

Dog Show

Earlier this month, Scott's friend Bradford wanted to host a real dog show at his house. We agreed to take Farley, plus their dogs Charlotte and Adelaide. What a zoo that would have been! Unfortunately, Farley stole a pork chop bone off of the counter just before his big debut and was sick for the show. He has since recovered and is again in training for Bradford's next show.

In the meantime, Andrew brought his two elephants, Gerald and Walter and Scott brought his Georgia Bulldog.

Nobody has ever accused Scott of being a dreamer...he is about as much of a realist as they come. I love this little pouting face he gets when he is mad about something. I think in this picture, he was mad because he had to pretend his dog could do tricks.

Fetch:


Scott's dog won a ribbon for being most obedient. In other words...he didn't move. :)

Rain Rain Go Away!!!

Soccer!

Rain, rain go away! We are just three weeks away from the end of the soccer season and have only played one soccer game so far! I have almost forgotten that we signed Scott up to play.

The game was hilarious...just packs of kids running up and down the field. They only play three at a time and the rules are very loose. The out of bounds seemed to move based on the coaches desire to have a corner kick or goal kick.

Here is the team: Sophia, Tyler, Carter, Coach Chris, Carley, Cooper, Scott




And, of course, the patient siblings. Amanda playing with her favorite "toy"...Mommy's purse.
Andrew can't wait to play on a team some day soon.

The difference a year makes

Do you remember this picture taken in September 2008 at my Dad's birthday party? It was taken of the six grandchildren when Amanda was one day old and the others were 6 mo, 2 1/2, 3 1/2, and 4 1/2.



Here they were a year later at Dad's 2009 birthday party. We actually got them to sit still for the short amount of time that it took for the camera shutter to open and close. (Click on the picture to make it bigger on your screen.)



Most of the pictures I took looked more like this one. Notice Reese exiting the car.

Fall Break

When you haven't blogged for a month and are overwhelmed at all of the stories waiting in your camera, isn't it just wonderful when someone else does some of the work for you! I took the pictures this weekend, but Sara beat me in posting them. Since she posted all of the pictures I would have posted, I invite you to check out this page for the stories of our wonderful Fall Break trip to NC.

We had a great time reconnecting with our old friends and meeting one new little guy. I promise, Sam did not cry once while we were there. Of course, who would cry with so many arms eager to hold him? My favorite moment of the weekend was seeing Hannah cruising back to the dock in the kayak with her foot dangling in the water. I still don't know how Brent managed to keep her in the boat while on the water.

Thank you, friends, for such a wonderful trip.

Three Year Old Theology

Our conversation on the way home from bible study today:

Me: Andrew, how was Bible Study today? What did you learn?

A: We learned...when you fall down and get hurt you sometimes cry.

Me: Then what happens?

A: You get a baby.

Me: What was the baby's name.

A: Hannah

(The story was about how Hannah cried to God for a baby. The aim was to teach the children that God hears our prayers. You fill in the rest?)