Homecoming Parade and Brotherly Love

It's been a fast November for us, and it's crazy to think that December is almost here. Here are some pictures from this month. Noah and Brenton are the best of buddies, and Noah always keeps Brenton entertained with his songs and antics. It will be so much fun to see this continue for years and years to come...

Sitting up

Best buddies

Noah got into the candle drawer

Is there a problem?!

UT Homecoming Parade

Little Davy Crockett

Coonskin hat + Cheeks = Hit of the parade!

There is a funny story behind this photo...As we walked past the cheerleaders to take our place in the parade, Head Cheer Coach Joy Postell-Gee spotted Brenton and thought he was the cutest thing ever in his coonskin hat. She wanted to get a pic of the boys with the squad and asked Noah to put his sucker down. He refused, so Eric took it from him. Bad move. Joy rushed to console Noah and give the sucker back. Then Noah wouldn't settle down, so we jumped in the picture too. 

More Fall Fun

Howdy partner!

Tailgating before the UT/Bama game

Believe it or not we allowed BAMA fans to infiltrate our tailgate! Gary and his son Brycen (who shares Brenton's birthday actually) drove up for the game. Let's just say the first half was way more enjoyable than the second!

Here are some "Ritzy Bitzy Spiders" I made for Noah's Halloween party at school.

The boys got to "dress up" that day, but couldn't wear their actual costumes. Noah wore a cute tee that said "The Creature from Next Door" and his cape (of course!) Brenton wore overalls and a pumpkin onesie.

After school, we had pizza for dinner and then took them to the Friends and Family night for a new frozen yogurt place called Sweet CeCe's. We sampled just about everything and loved that it was free :) Noah had strawberry froyo with a little hot fudge. We know Sweet CeCe's will do really well and look forward to more family froyo nights!

Pumpkin Patch

Every October we look forward to our annual trip to the Oakes Farm Pumpkin Patch. There is so much to do and the 40 minute drive to get there is beautiful! It was a bit hotter than we anticipated, but we had a blast. Noah was covered in dirt, sand and hay by the time we left. I think he went down the slide about 30 times. The boys enjoyed the hayride to the pumpkin patch too. When we arrived, Noah would pick up the biggest pumpkins and say, "I'm big and strong!" He ran around like crazy among all the pumpkins and thought the small ones were really cute.

Playing at Smart Toys and Books

We are so fortunate to have such a fantastic toy store like Smart Toys and Books in Knoxville. They offer tons of kid-friendly activities throughout the week like Thomas Play Dates, Mommy and Me art classes, music classes, storytellers, etc. A few weeks ago, I took Noah to the Mommy and Me art class. We sponge painted fall leaves on different papers. Noah could hardly make it through the class though because all he wanted to do was play in the store. That's another great aspect of the store because kids can play with so much of what the store offers. There's a slide, mini trampoline and of course a huge Thomas the Train play set. Noah could've played in the store all day I think. He loved the train set...just a mere $600! Anyway, we left with a Thomas floor puzzle instead :) Here he is playing with the miniature sand boxes and Thomas the Train set.

Later that night our great friends from Nashville came up -- Lewis (or Lewie as Noah calls him), Mary and their son Emery who is just 4 months younger than Noah. Here they are pretending to be super heroes flying around in their capes. They had such a great time and played really well together.

Meeting cousin Haley

 The second weekend in October was a special one because the boys got to meet their second cousin, Haley. She is SUPER cute and just 10 months old. Noah loved playing with her, but got a bit rough at times. Eric's cousin Megan, her little girl Haley, and Aunt Susan drove up for the night. We had pizza and loved catching up with everyone.

Later that night, Noah played with his Thomas the Train "Figure 8 Coal" set. He loves playing with it. There is so much to learn about trains! There are three varieties of Thomas toys --Wooden Railways series, Take 'n Play and something else...anyway, it's been a learning curve for Eric and me since neither of us played with trains when we were growing up.

 Here he is filling up the train with coal. He's good about putting the track pieces together too.

 

And here's sweet B one morning before heading to school. He looks quite grown up in this pseudo-tie!