I'm so behind on posting; we've had such a busy fall and I have so many pictures, but in lieu of wading through those tonight, here are some pictures from our combination potluck/baby shower last night for Marcie & Lee and their son, Nicolai, who are back from Hungary for a visit over the holidays. It was so good to see them and finally meet 4 month old Nicolai !!
Two of the guests of honor ^. Don't know how it happened, but somehow we failed to get a picture of the proud dad----oops ;>) Such a sweetie, although an exhausted little sweetie !There's quite a time difference from Hungary to Tennessee.
We had a very good turnout and lots and lots of food.
Samuel's found a new friend in Melanie----although anyone who'll play cars with him automatically qualifies!
High fivin' with Lauren.
Shane took his turn with both Nicolai and Benjamin.
(1) Any guesses which baby spit up on Shane ? (2) Any guesses what Shane did after that? If you said (1) Benjamin and if you said (2) "gave him back", you would be correct ;>) In addition to Shane, there were several "babysitters" helping out, which was nice. I think Joe dazzled Ben with his orange.
I like to think Ben is laughing because he's thinking "how can anybody wear all that UT orange THIS season" ;>) I'm sure Mark appreciates that caption ;>)
It was fun, that's for sure. I'll confess my evil plan. I ate a really big late lunch so I would be free during the meal. It was really easy to get my hands on the babies.
Would have loved to have been there...I was and still am sick, though. My head feels like it is going to explode! Anyway, Great GREAT great pictures! Looks like everyone had a blast. I love the little blue and white striped box on the table for cards...too cute!
I love that last picture of Daddy and Ben,and your caption was halarious.My dad would wear that if that had never one a game at all,he "bleeds" orange.
"Peace, man !" ....... But hey, we won the best costume prize.......all the credit probably goes to that 'fro ;>)
Our Halloween turned into HalloweeK; we seemed to be on the run all week with various Halloween activities. It was a lot of fun, but glad this is just once a year ! Although I wouldn't have believed it when I was a kid, I think watching our kids do these things was more fun than when we were little and did it ourselves.
Couldn't resist a shot of Benjamin in the leaves with the pumpkin that Samuel finds SO scary (if any of you remember from last year's post). Maybe Ben will feel differently about it next year. We couldn't even get Samuel to come out of the garage when we got this pumpkin out !!
We went to visit Mrs. Robertson earlier in the week. We decided to "let" Samuel wear his costume, both as a trial run and because we thought Mrs. R would enjoy seeing him in it. "Let" implies he wanted to wear it; "forced" would be the more appropriate word. He was so pouty when we got there, but she brought him out of his shell. He took the costume off after we were there a little while, but she even convinced him to put it back on when it was time to go !! We decided maybe we should bring her to our house Halloween to get him dressed ;>)
We also did some Halloween activities with Samuel's friend, Will, in the week before Halloween. At the Halloween party he went to the day before Halloween, Samuel was perfectly happy to wear his costume.
They made these shirts by dipping one foot in white paint and putting it upside down on the shirt to make a ghost. Of course, my child was the only one shrieking about having to dip his foot in paint ;>)
They also went trick-or-treating at the little party.Samuel and Will make cute penguins and giraffes, don't they !
That same night, we went trick-or-treating at the grands and at some friends. Unfortunately, Samuel was back in "anti-Halloween" mode and it took quite a while for him to warm up, but he finally did.....
He's starting to catch on that that penguin suit = CANDY !
Ben was a little pumpkin, both figuratively and literally !
Grandma's got her orange on too With Grandpa
We also went to visit Aunt Renita and Uncle Norm. Just like at the Grands, Samuel got double handfuls of candy. His pail was full after just 2 stops !
Okay, now for Halloween day. For the first time since we've been together, we had a chance to dress up for a Halloween party. It was really a lot of fun both for the kids and for us.
Believe me, I am SO glad he's a better dresser and goes to the barber in real life ;>)
We stopped by to trick-or-treat at the Duggins on the way to the party. I think we were their entertainment for the week ;>)
This is Prince Charming and one of the seven dwarfs; Sadie's so content whenever I've seen her, she must have been the dwarf Happy.
The sweetest skunk ever with his grandpa
Wicked witch Jessica needs a nose job, don't you think! She reminds me of that hilarious "I Love Lucy" episode when Lucy has a fake nose. Shelby made a sweet Snow White.
Thing One and Thing Two
Our fun hosts, Tiger, Pirate, Ladybug, and Skunk......If you notice, Adam has a big earring in one ear and I had big clip-on earrings too, so we were commiserating about how sore our ears were, which is not a conversation I ever thought I would have with Adam ;>)
Snow White and Prince Charming. They got my vote for best costume. Lindsey looked so authentic, I could just imagine the cartoon bluebirds and butterflies around her head. I think the other Snow White (Shelby) thought this Snow White was the real deal !
King Tut and the missus (Adam's parents got Mark's vote for best costume)
"Jimi Hendrix" teaches Samuel & Will how to play the guitar
"You want me to go up WHERE and do WHAT ?" Samuel was a reluctant trick-or-treater at first, but quickly got the hang of it and was soon knocking on doors with the rest.
Once he figured out there was loot (candy) involved, I think he'd do it everyday!
The whole bunch of little monsters
Adam and Rosie had fun stuff for the kids to do----you'd think a penguin wouldn't need a pole to go fishing ;>)
Cleopatra helps Samuel paint his pumpkin Will seems to be trying to copy Mom's hair ;>)
Samuel's trying the Jackson Pollack method of painting----just throw it anywhere !
Ben says "boo" (or his feet do ^)
Just like in the Disney movie, all the creatures fall under Snow White's spell.
The "wicked witch" after her nose job with our sweet little pumpkin ;>)
Jessica got our little penguin to eat grapes, something we've not had any luck with !
Prince Charming also worked his charms on Samuel and Ben; of course, WHO could resist a guy in crushed velvet and a cape ;>)
Thanks to Adam and Rosie for a fun evening and some wonderful memories !
That's how I was - I hadn't thought a thing about it until Justin pointed it out, and then it seemed so obvious! :) Looks like you guys had so much fun - love your pictures!!
I made Matt try it all first...I was a bit apprehensive. Some of it was okay...hummus, tahini, but they had the grape leave things...they made me gag. Ick.
It actually is a really fun pet. Low maintenance, which is nice. It's really fun to watch her. I bought two of them. I named them Samson and Delilah. Delilah died and Samson ended up being a girl!
Well...we wound up getting our GPS stolen and our driver's window broke out and basically doing nothing except we did drive through downtown on the way out! I'm NOT a fan after having all of that happen! Thanks for the suggestions though!
Enjoyed seeing your Halloween picts. Samuel's sort of warming up to this Halloween thing. :) I had forgotten that Mark lived in Germany. Where was his Dad stationed?
She plowed into us...we were completely innocent in the matter. We are looking forward to seeing you at Thanksgiving, but we'll try not to park too close.
...or just one, once a year, especially if you're taking a 2 year old and a 3 month old. As the song says, we got by with a little help from our friends. The weather was absolutely perfect, cool and low humidity, as opposed to the prior year's sticky heat, which made such a difference, as did staying off that beautiful, but wicked Rainbow Falls trail. We took the shorter but steeper Alum Cave Trail, which was only about 5.5 miles.
We had a friend repeatedly offer to carry Samuel up to the top in the weeks prior to our hike. However, Mark thought we should "bear our own burdens" ;>) and had no intention of accepting. The plan was for Mark to carry Samuel in our back child carrier and I would carry Benjamin in our front carrier and the backpack on my back. I really had my doubts about whether I could do it, but decided to start up the trail (with the car keys), knowing I could always return to the car and go back to our luxurious other cabin (the one with electricity). However, dear sweet Mike was waiting for us at the trailhead and insisted he would carry Samuel. Thankfully (for me anyway ;>), Mark agreed, so Mark carried Ben and I carried the backpack. I really don't know whether I could have gotten to the top carrying Ben----if I had, it would have been much later and with much more pain and suffering during and afterwards ! My new hiking boots were great----kept all of my toenails for the first time in several years. And because of Mike, my shoulders and back were still functional ! This was my 10 year anniversary (although I missed a few years here and there)----the first time I went, Mark and I had been dating about 6 months, and it was something like his 7th time to do it. We did Rainbow Falls and I can still remember throwing down my walking stick somewhere near the top and declaring "I will NEVER do this again"! I wouldn't have dreamed then, that 10 years later, I'd still be doing it and we'd have two kids with us----never say never ! This was also Samuel's third year in a row!
Ben traveled like Samuel did two years ago, except Samuel was old enough to face outwards.....Ben didn't have quite as good a view ;>) Samuel with BFF (at least in Mom's mind), Mike. This is when we stopped for lunch at the bluff. Mike and Samuel went on without us, as I needed to feed Ben. I worried whether Samuel would cry when he discovered we weren't around, but apparently "out of sight, out of mind", as evidenced in one of the pics further down. Ben with his "Aunt Renita" Ben with Mom at our break
We're getting closer.....somewhere around here, we met a man hiking up and he stopped to chat. We found out that this was his 9th trip up this summer, it was 8 weeks since he had broken a rib in a fall while climbing Machu Picchu in Peru, and he was 66 years old. He passed us on his way back down before we ever got to the top. He made us feel about 96 ! A view from near the top
The last little bit, Dad took Ben out of his carrier and carried him in his arms; you can see that made Ben happy.
When we got to the top, this is what we found ^. Samuel was happily occupied with S & J and apparently had forgotten all about us !
......of course, this is ALSO how we found Mike !! He wasn't dead, just dead tired I think !
Relaxing around the stove
With friend Steve, who happily corrupted Samuel by RE-teaching him where his body parts were----elbows on the leg, knees on the arm, etc.
The menu never changes and it all comes out of cans, but it's one of the best meals we eat all year !
Ben with his "Uncle Norm"
Samuel's entertaining Ben on the bunk
Our happy camper
After supper, Mark and I loaded both kids up and hiked the 0.2 miles to see the sunset at Cliff Tops; of course, we got there just AFTER the sun went down. It was still beautiful with streaks of color in the sky and a crescent moon already up----one of the prettiest I've seen there and, naturally, our camera died just as we tried to take a pic ;>) Later, standing at the water pump, brushing my teeth, and looking up to watch the sky, I lost my balance and landed on my rear. The "rearview" was great though----the sky was SO clear that night, with no electric lights around and very cold, so you could see what looked like billions of stars. We got through the rest of the night pretty uneventfully. I hope our cabinmate wasn't too disturbed by us or our kids. Ben got extra feedings to keep him from crying and Samuel got to sleep with Dad, so both kids were happy.
Getting ready to head back down----at least we're still smiling
We joked that Mike would sneak out of camp extra early the next morning before we got up, but he was still there after all ;>) We stayed together until the bluff and then he and Samuel left us and, once again, "out of sight, out of mind".
Ben will find this pic embarassing one day, won't he? Guess who had a blow-out diaper on the side of the mountain ? Wasn't Mark sweet to clean him up? (Each of the next 2 Sundays, Ben had blow-outs in my lap in "church" clothes, so I got paid back.) Of course, I had to tote the smelly stuff down in the backpack.
As we neared the bottom, Ben enjoyed another break from the carrier.
Reunited at the bottom. Samuel was busy eating Renita's Skittles, so I don't think he missed us at all !
When we got back to our "electrified" cabin, we all got baths/showers, had a good supper, and spent the evening playing games, being entertained, and just relaxing.
Samuel snuggles with Mom while the band plays on.....
Our kids did not lack for attention from all the friends in the group. It was nice to have all that extra help around ! Here are just some of our friends & kids: We went to eat one night at Apple Barn^----apparently I'm the only person in the Western Hemisphere who had never been ;>)
We also had an extra treat that weekend. Family from Alabama, who had never seen Ben in person, were vacationing in the Smokies, so after Sunday services, we were able to spend time with them. It was a really nice day to end a really nice trip !
Ben with Mom's Aunt Patsy
Samuel had a great time playing with all the kids around.
Nothing like going on a trip with about 30 babysitters, eh? Very nice post. I was already suffering from withdrawls since this is the first time I did not go in 15 years. This did not help.
That looks awesome!!! I love the naked Ben picture, although, I am sure that Mark didn't love changing him halfway down the mountain. I'm glad you made it up and down with no worries!
Wow. I know you said "never say never" but I'm pretty sure you would never find me doing that. You are one brave woman!!! Looks like tons of fun... till I think about all the work ;).
that belongs to the little boy who discovered some toys bought by Mom for Christmas because Kohl's had a big sale in a bag in the bedroom that Dad said to hide in the closet but Mom said she might return some of them and if they were in the closet, she'd forget, so Mom said let's just keep him out of that room AFTER Mom forgot to keep him out of that room and he was told he couldn't have what he found....
awwww...that is so funny. whenever i little i would go unwrap my presents that were already under the tree that mom had wrapped in gift bags which were quite a few because mom hates gift wrapping. she doesn't wrap my presents in gift bags anymore after i told her. she just rolled her eyes and said you are just like your dad...lol =]
That's hilarous! Looks like you picked out some really good toys!!! btw...you're really creative with your blogging. Maybe you were in a writer in a previous life ;)
Poor little fellow! Its not like he went looking for the gifts he just happened upon them. Something tells me mom didn't feel any happier than Samuel did.
Just wanted to say thanks for meeting us the other day...we really needed to get out of the house, and an adult conversation (even if it is mostly about kids) is SOOOO nice sometimes! THanks again! =) Give that sweet Sam and Ben some kisses from us. The more I am around them, the more I miss them!
.....there's a Samuel ! Samuel went to visit his buddy, Will, and got the chance to see a firetruck up close and personal. He was fascinated, to say the least, as he loves cars & trucks. Two of his favorites are firetrucks and garbage trucks. Maybe that indicates a future career.....probably the latter, as he sometimes seems afraid of fire ;>) AND one of his bad habits we've had to work on is his propensity to throw stuff away that he shouldn't. At various times, this has included a magnet, two $1 bills, two $20 bills, and a bag of M&M's. All but the M&M's were recovered; of course, who knows what we're unaware of.......where did I put that baby ;>)
Here are some Will & Samuel pictures. Our hiking trip pictures will be posted later. We got back late Sunday night, have had a hectic week, and are leaving again this afternoon for a family reunion out of state. Too many Smokies pictures to wade through and post right now.
Those are some seriously cute boys! Glad you made it home safely, and I can't wait to see millions of pictures! Wish we could have made it out on Wednesday, just too much "stuff" piling up!!! We got her tiger at The Rocking Horse...$6.00! Have a safe trip to see your family! We are heading to AL tomorrow too.
I agree! Benjamin too! He is so adorable!! I can't wait to see him in person. We took Jamie for her 4 month check up and she weighs 12lbs!! It's amazing how fast they grow. I love checking your new posts! You have a beautiful family!
Ha ha and War Eagle :) I do remember seeing you on your 1st anniversary. Summer said that she had a great time and got to see you all. We do worship with Seth and Summer and are so glad! It's great hearing from you. Would love to see you!
I am so glad we were able to spend a little time with you in the smokies. We have had a great week. Took the children to deer farm petting zoo today. IT WAS GREAT! They all feed the animals and all 5 of them were brave enough to ride ponies. I will get some help and post pictures when I get home ( or at least my next stop). Not sure if we will be home next week or in Pensacola for Doug's work. Hopefully we will catch up with each other again VERY soon.
Great pictures! Missed you and Ben the other night, sorry you aren't feeling well. Mark said you had a good trip last week. Can't wait till you get back from this trip so we can get caught up.
Oh, I love those pics--the boys are so cute together! Looking forward to the hiking pics. I don't know how you all do all that you do with two little ones--you'll have to teach me your secrets someday! :)
I hardly think it is possible, but Samuel is even cuter in person. I'd fight mom for Benjamin, but I know I'm no match against Granny when it comes to baby holding. ;) Maybe next time.
I know, how can I not like tomatoes! Kathryn Tucker Windham is the same as you are thinking. She's been old for a very long time. Each year I think that this may be her last story but she just keeps going. She's very soothing to listen to.
A view from near the top
When we got to the top, this is what we found ^. Samuel was happily occupied with S & J and apparently had forgotten all about us !
