Home is where the heart is!

Just a few photos of us at home! Some cute playtime shots, dinner shots and sleepy shots! And one of Jason's miniature Dolphin helmets fits great on Rider the cat!

Sweet Home Perry!

Mom and Dad lovingly volunteered again to watched the nippers for us so we could head up to the LSU/Auburn game in Auburn Alabama. We left Thursday night so we could spend half the day Friday in Perry. After we left, the pros went to work! Some activities we squeezed in: Tractor rides to put down hay, buggy rides to feed cows (twice!) Wil helped Grandpa work a few of Grandpa's screws loose! We visited the alligators and the soft shell turtle-that's when we discovered a cow that had drowned in Grandpa's pond when it become stuck in the mud. We all chipped in to move that poor stinky mudcow. I threw some beads on Grandpa Hoyt (Oh yeah, I promised him I wouldn't put the picture of him wearing Orange and Blue beads on the internet!) And we helped put together Camden's tractor costume! You know it is an awesome costume if Wil was jealous! Good work Grandpa, Jason, Kevin and Becky!

Homecoming Game

The tailgating before the Homecoming game proved to be more fun than the actual game! We hung out at our favorite spot-the Struekens tent! My girl Debbie watched the kids, Jon picked us up and we sat around and discussed the season together! Olivia was excited and little Madeline was in a pretty good mood too! Uncle David and James stopped in and it was a good homecoming for everyone!

Brief visit from the Hollingtons

Friday night Uncle Wes, Aunt Kasey, Zac, Gracie and Wyatt arrived for a quick visit. We ate Tacos, had a few drinks and watched Ghostbusters. Early Saturday morning, Kasey and I woke up to take an invigorating run and then we had coffee and breakfast before seeing them off to Gracie's gymnastics meet!

Homecoming Parade

We took in the Homecoming Parade with the Struekens! It was Madeline's first parade and she behaved beautifully! Olivia, Wil and Elsie yelled out Gator cheers to the cheerleaders, Albert and Alberta and the bands! Michelle got the kids cotton candy and then we all got sticky! Hot Sauce stopped by and we high fived him and we headed home to get ready for Uncle Wes and Aunt Kasey!

eady for Uncle Wes and Aunt Kasey and cousins!

Wyatt's 2nd Birthday Party!

Kasey and Wes threw Wyatt a Halloween themed birthday party complete with candy apples and a spider birthday cake! Every candy apple dropped on the ground made its way to Sassy the pig-she seemed to enjoy them! All the cousins enjoyed playing together / aggravating each other! We got Grandma and Pepa snuggles, Gracie showed off her gymnastics, Wil found a lizard, Wyatt tried to grab his lit birthday candles, we played with and on tractors and Elsie got a candy apple stuck to her dress!

Bob Dylan Concert

If you would have told me that we could take a 1yr old and a 2 yr old to a Bob Dylan concert and enjoy it, I would have called you crazy until we took Wil and Elsie and had the best time! I had my share of doubts, but as Jason always says, "We'll just find a way to make it work!" It helped that we let them run wild before the concert started to burn off some energy! When the lights went down and Bob came out on stage, the kids heads shifted to the right and they were into it! We brought along the harmonica to blow on and we popped Elsie some popcorn to munch on! (She appreciated that, seeing as how she was trying to eat it off the floor at Sesame Street Live!) I even got a chance once the kids were settled to lean my head on Jason's shoulders for a minute! Bob is definately getting on up there in years, but we enjoyed seeing the rock icon and singing along to every song!

Pumpkin Pandamonium!!

This post is a compilation of 3 photoshoots. Wil and Elsie asked to write up this one, so here goes...
Hey Guys! This is Wil and I am writing on Elsie's behalf. Have you ever been given the task of picking out a perfect pumpkin and then carving a face in it to make a Jack-O-Lantern? Well, Elsie and I had the opportunity to pick out 2 pumpkins at our church's pumpkin patch. We took them both home to show Mom-she was having dinner with her girlfriends after work. About a week later, Mom picked out some good lookin' church clothes and we had an awesome day at church and then headed back to the pumpkin patch so she could take some pictures. I found a huge spider and an orange tractor to play on! Elsie ran aroung the pumpkins until she fell asleep on the way home! Dad and I watched the Dolphin game as Mom drew "Jed's" face on the pumpkin. Mom and Dad have had Jed in the family since 2000-same familiar and creepy face! We put a candle in him and he lit up the bedroom while we watched "Its the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and "Garfield." Too bad this hot weather has made Jed grow nose hair and stink! But I think this is the start of a fun Halloween!

Sesame Street Live!

We took the kids to go see Sesame Street Live on a Tuesday night. We swung by Publix to pick up some chicken and ate our dinner outside the O'Connell center. That's where we ran into a friend of Jason's from high school, Robert Wood. Jason and Robert had fun catching up and talking about their little muppets! Then we headed in to sing and dance! It was very creative and educational-I'd recommend it to anyone with small ones! Elsie really has a thing for Elmo right now and she loved pointing him out to me and saying, "Elmo!" very enthusiastically! Sesame Street rocks and I enjoyed sharing something with my kids I loved when I was young!

Perry is more fun than Tuscaloosa anyway!

Mom and Dad watched the kids for us in Perry while we headed for Tuscaloosa to root for our Gators. Looks like staying in Perry would have been more fun! Especially because Uncle David came over and Aunt Becky and cousin Luke rolled in on Sunday just in time for a nice picnic outside! It was good to see little Luke-he is literally tearing into his food nowadays! He was so cute and greasy with his chicken leg that we now call him "Drumstick!" On Friday Jason took Wil out for a long tractor ride where they found a cow with a new calf. Jason taught Wil the work placenta! Then they found a cow carcass that they both enjoyed examining. They also discovered we have alligators in one of Grandpa Hoyt's ponds! Mom and Dad took Wil and Elsie to the Day reunion and got a chance to catch up with Grandma Elsie's side again. Even if it wasn't the best football weekend for us, it was really good for family!