A Day on the Farm

Every October, we take the boys to a pumpkin patch. For the past three years, we've been to Oakes Farm in Corryton, but this year we decided to go to Cruze Dairy Farm. The farm is famous for it's delicious milk and ice cream and decided to open the farm to the public for the first time ever. We arrived early and let the boys play around on the beautiful open fields. The 35 minute drive to Southest Knoxville is a beautiful one, too.

I think the boys could've played in the cornbox all day!

Here's Brenton practicing his climbing skills on small bales of hay.

The farm was truly stunning. Even Eric said he could live on a piece of property like that!

Finally, we jumped on the tractor and enjoyed a quick ride to the pumpkin patch.

Noah picked out a small pumpkin, then we rode back to the play area to go through the kid maze. It was an educational kid maze that had learning centers along the way that educated the kids about life on a farm -- chores, feedings, etc.

After the maze, we enjoyed some of the best homemade ice cream we'd ever had.

After ice cream, Eric and Noah enjoyed one last ride on the inflatable zebra. I think Noah's face says it all, don't you?

My favorite part of the day was getting to hang out with the beautiful Jersey cows and calves. Noah loved "talking" to the cows and could have watched them for hours. He also thought the sheep were dirty and needed a bath -- cute.

We'll definitely go back next year!

Backyard Boys

We sure do love football season around our house! Fall is my favorite time of the year -- long sleeves, beautiful trees and family time in the backyard!

We celebrated Andrew's 24th birthday with fun cupcakes. Happy birthday, Uncle Andrew!

Noah's First UT Football Game

Saturday, Oct. 1 was a big day for our family. Eric and I took Noah to his very first Tennessee Football game. We left the house at 9 a.m., stopped by Hardee's to get Noah a cheese biscuit and arrived on campus at 9:30 a.m. We took Noah up to Eric's office at the Tyson House and then headed to Volunteer Village.

Noah enjoyed walking through the large inflatable helmet. After Vol Village we headed down Peyton Manning Pass to wait for the Vol Walk to start. Noah was really excited about seeing Smokey.

He even picked up this stick (in his left hand) so "Smokey wouldn't choke." Haha. You can tell he has a little brother in the house :) Thankfully, Smokey came right up to him and gave him a big high-five. When Vol Walk was over, Noah said, "That was a fun game!" Little did he know he'd be on campus for several more hours -- kickoff wasn't until noon.

After Vol Walk, we watched the Pride of the Southland Marching Band make their way down Volunteer Blvd. Noah liked "watching the girls with sticks" (the majorettes).

When the band marched its way into Neyland Stadium, we handed Noah his ticket and crossed our fingers he would be a good boy during the game :) We loaded up on snacks and drinks in the Letterman's Room. Noah had a sprite and cheetos and thought he was in heaven. We got a great family picture on the field, too. Above, you'll see Noah proudly holding up his ticket.

Noah usually naps at 1 p.m. most days, so we weren't sure how things would unfold, but he truly enjoyed himself. He loved the loudness of the team running through the "T" and sang "Rocky Top" for those around us quite a bit. He'd also say, "Tackle! Tackle!" and never complained once or asked to leave.

Of course, he crashed as soon as we got in the car and then proceeded to sleep an hour on the couch after we got home.

Brenton was very happy to see Noah again when he finally woke up. Noah's first words after his nap? "I missed you, Brenton." We can't wait to take them both to a game one day. Noah's first UT football game is one our most favorite memories yet!

Most recent family pic

Here we are before the UT / Montana football game. The Vols are 2-1 to start the season, but we're still optimistic for a great year :)

It's football time in Tennessee!

I once read there are four seasons -- winter, spring, summer and FOOTBALL! Yep, our family is pretty fanatical when it comes to Tennessee football. Here are few pictures from last weekend:

This was taken Sept. 1, the Friday before the first home opener, dropping the boys off at school. Everyone was encouraged to wear orange to support Pat Summitt in her fight against Alzheimer's.

This is Brenton's second football season and he officially grew into Noah's old uniform.

The annual "Daddy/Son" helmet picture is a tradition we started Noah's first football season in '08. Noah got a new jersey this season -- #16 of course!

These boys are ready to cheer on the Vols!

Back to School!

On Wednesday, Aug. 17, the boys started their new classes at school. We've been so grateful to the love their teachers have shown to both of them during the '10-'11 school year. Let's just say, mommy shed a tear on Brenton's last day in the nursery! Now, he's in the toddler room and Noah's in the "Older 3's" class with his best buddies. Here they are on their first day. . .

All loaded up and ready to head to preschool! Buzz Lightyear made the trip too :)

Brotherly Love

One of Noah's teachers captured this photo of the boys today and sent it to us. Noah was eating lunch when a special visitor strolled in with his buddies. I love how they get so excited to see one another and that their teachers make sure the boys see each other during the day. I pray they are always this close. How blessed we are to be their parents.

New posts are up

We're trying not to let six months go by again without posting, so we've been playing catch-up lately and back-dated a few blogs from the previous few months. Scroll down to see what our little guys have been up to. Firetrucks, movies, parades, time at the beach and birthdays have consumed our summer so far.

This recent picture isn't that great since it was taken with my phone, but I love the memory behind it. Sometimes Noah likes to play in our bathroom while I'm getting ready. Eric and I were headed to a couples baby shower later that night, so I got to "get dressed up." Well, once I put the necklace on that you see in the photo below, Noah said, "That looks like chips." I cracked up and so did he, so I couldn't resist taking a picture with him to forever remind me of my chip necklace!

Zoo Party

On Saturday, July 17, the boys went to their first birthday party at the Zoo for their friend J.P. who was turning three. It was so much fun! The party was at the Zoo's Wee Play Center -- an indoor facility with several rooms, including a commissary, barn, vet clinic, puppet stage and reptile area. The boys mainly stayed in the kitchen (or commissary as it was labeled) and enjoyed making meals and chopping food. After lots of free play and visits from small zoo animals, the party guests enjoyed pizza, cake and ice cream. Noah managed to stick his finger in the birthday cake before it was lit though! The best part was a special appearance by Einstein, the Zoo's famous talking parrot. She sang "Happy Birthday" and answered several questions for the kids. After that we headed to the carousel and then the big play area where the boys played and got more sweaty than I've ever seen them. We quickly made it through the Safari part of the Zoo to see the elephants, zebras and giraffes, but a pre-nap meltdown ensued and we made a dash for the car. Brenton fell asleep in his stroller while Eric carried a crying Noah on his shoulders. Both slept the whole way home. It was a great time and fun way to celebrate J.P.'s birthday and Brenton's first trip to the Zoo!

The commissary was really neat. The boys enjoyed "making dinner" and going shopping for groceries.

Different varieties of animal hats were used as party favors - a very cute idea! Noah wanted a tiger and Brenton got a giraffe.

Brenton's first ride on the carousel.

Noah chose to ride the "big gorilla."

The African Safari exhibit is my favorite. Noah enjoyed watching the elephants too.

Brenton tried to keep up, but fell asleep in his stroller. We have a picture of Noah in this same stroller at this exact spot (Black Bear Falls) during his first trip to the Zoo in the summer of '09.

4th of July Weekend

We love the weekends around our house. Breakfast in PJs, playtime outside and just the four of us being together is such a blessing. Of course, we don't get to sleep in since both our boys are early risers and there is an occasional "Cranky Sunday" as we like to call them when one or both boys decide to have an attitude and/or not nap. At that point, we're ready for Mondays to roll around again :)

The Fourth of July was very low-key for us this year. We were both off work and had a great three-day weekend together. Eric picked up a watermelon on his way home from work Friday, I made brownies and decorated them with red, white and blue icing and we got caught up on some Netflix movies.

On Saturday, Eric, Noah and I made a flag cake. I took Noah to the store earlier in the day to get the ingredients. Flag cakes are super easy to make and very kid-friendly. Noah like spreading (tasting) the whipped cream and putting all the fruit on top. He really does enjoy helping me in the kitchen these days, mainly because he gets to "help" (i.e. lick the bowl and spoon). Right now, his favorite thing to make with me are blueberry muffins. He asks to make them all the time and would eat four at a time if we'd let him.

On Monday, we went to the 24th Annual Town of Farragut 4th of July parade. It lasted a few hours, but we only made it for one. It was pretty crowded and really hot. Brenton liked to wave at everyone and Noah's favorite souvenir was a small bouncy ball.

Of course we got the kiddie pool and water table out which has been nice to have on these hot days. The boys love to play in the water together.

Buzz Lightyear vs. Zurg

Tyra was able to capture just a snippet of a laser battle that she and Noah had the other day. It's Buzz Lightyear (Noah) vs his arch-nemesis, Zurg (Tyra).

The parts at the 20 second and the 40 second mark (when Noah announces his name!) crack me up! And of course, don't all true super heroes wear only their undies to combat?!

Noah's first trip to the movie theatre

On Saturday, June 25, Eric and I took Noah to see his very first movie at the movie theatre -- Cars 2. We asked one of the boys teachers from school to keep Brenton so that we could enjoy time with our little man.

We'd been building up going to see Lightning McQueen on the "big screen" for weeks. We explained ahead of time that movie theatres don't have remotes and that we can't rewind or fast forward certain parts (can you tell he's been spoiled by DVR?) Of course, one of the best parts of the experience was getting to see the Toy Story short which Noah loved and immediately asked to watch it "again" after it was over.

We got to the theatre about 30 minutes before the film started, bought Noah some popcorn and let him pick out candy (he chose M&Ms). We got Noah a small cup and put the popcorn and candy in the cup for him so Eric and I could share the big bag. Now when Noah eats popcorn, he asks if there are M&Ms to go with it :)

The pace of the sequel was much faster and a bit more complicated than the first. Noah got a bit anxious about two-thirds of the way through, but perked up in time to pay attention to the ending.

We took his picture in front of the movie poster. Noah loved getting an afternoon with just mommy and daddy. We loved it even more I think.

Noah with Mater and McQueen right after the movie :)

Firetruck Fun

On June 11, our favorite toy store -- Smart Toys and Books -- hosted firefighters from the Knoxville Fire Department. Eric dropped Noah and me off while he and Brenton went to Home Depot.

Even though there was a big, red fire truck parked in front of the store, Noah couldn't wait to go inside to play with the trains and train table first. After he had his fill of trains, we went outside where we were greeted with a firehat, coloring book and stickers. Noah got to play on the firetruck and sit in the Captain's chair. He could've played in the front seat of that fire truck all day trying to figure out what each button does. Interestingly, the truck doesn't actually start with a key, but a special lever and button. Somehow Noah figured that out, but the firefighter was able to stop him from starting the firetruck before he accidentally turned it on!

We didn't leave empty handed though. Noah picked out a book called "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" to take home. He first read it while we were on vacation in May and fell in love with the story.  The house we were staying at had several children's books and that was the one he liked most. He basically has it memorized by now, complete with hand motions for certain pages. It's so fascinating to see his imagination grow and memory mature now that he's nearly 3 and a half years old.

Also this weekend, Brenton experienced his first spaghetti dinner...or shall I say the spaghetti dinner experienced Brenton?

He's really trying to feed himself these days and always has to have a spoon or fork in his hand if someone is feeding him. He's still pretty picky, but his favorites are oatmeal, yogurt, fruits and juice. He's a few days away from being 13 months -- still no teeth!!! We haven't kicked the bottle yet, but hope to do so very soon. He actually loves his sippy cups and will drink anything you put in them (apple juice, grape juice, water), but refuses to drink milk from a sippy.