Sweet November

The holiday season is so much more fun with these little guys. Here's Noah helping Eric put goodies in a laundry basket for our church's annual Thanksgiving basket drive.

Brenton provided tunes while Noah and Eric got things organized.

Thanksgiving was even more fun this year since Brenton actually joined us! Last year, he slept through the whole meal.

Grand Don getting a T'Day meal picture with the boys.

Noah loved it when Andrew pretended that he was a baby.

Aunt Alyssa with sweet Pearl. Noah enjoyed playing fetch with her.

Lastly, on Nov. 28, I officially turned THIRTY! I still can't believe it, but what can ya do? Eric surprised me with a weekend getaway to downtown. We stayed at the historic Oliver Hotel, had lunch at Lattitude 35, dinner at Oodles Uncorked and dessert at Cafe 4. We did a little shopping in Market Square and capped off the night with drinks at Sapphire. It was such a fun, restful and relaxing weekend.

I just love our downtown, especially when the Tennessee Theatre marquee is lit up. On my actual birthday, the boys treated me to a Sullivan's dinner and cupcakes. Noah really enjoyed the birthday decorations around the house that Eric put up while I was still sleeping. I took the day off from work and had some much appreciated down time!

We're ready for Christmas already!

We typically wait until the day after Thanksgiving to decorate our house for Christmas and start watching Christmas movies, but not this year. The boys have been watching "Merry Christmas Charlie Brown," "Elf," and "Home Alone" already this month, and we decorated the house yesterday.

Needless to say, both boys are gung-ho, and Noah's been singing this song off and on for the past few days...Tyra got this clip on the way to take them to school this morning...it's show and tell day today, and Noah insisted on taking his santa hat and musical bear to school. So what if it's November 21, right?!

First Family Photo Shoot

One of Noah's best buds from preschool has a mom who does amazing photography for a hobby. We've never had a family photo shoot before and thought it was about time to have some moments frozen in time while the boys are still little. For the location, we opted for the historic train depot downtown. We really love all the shots she captured. Noah really hammed it up. Brenton wasn't quite into it and preferred to run around instead of stay still (as most 18 month olds would). Here are a few of our favorites from the session. We used them for our 2011 Christmas card and finally updated the frames in our living room with recent family pictures instead of ones with Noah as a baby!

Thank you for our beautiful family pictures, Teresa!

Homecoming on Rocky Top

The fall is by far Eric's busiest time of year work-wise. On the upside, we get to enjoy visiting daddy at work on Rocky Top. Last year, we participated in the Little Vol Walk as part of the annual Homecoming Parade. The boys enjoyed it so much that we did it again this year, plus getting to walk in the same parade as Smokey is right up Noah's ally.

After the parade, some of Eric's co-workers put together a craft area outside Neyland Stadium at Gate 21. The boys poured orange and white sand into small plastic footballs as a keepsake. They also got Smokey coloring books and crayons.

I guess Noah's legs were a bit tired after walking in the parade and running around Gate 21 after craft time, so he hopped in Brenton's little stroller. Brenton thought is was fun to get to push Noah in the stroller for once instead of the other way around!

The next day was UT's homecoming vs. MTSU. Eric had to get to campus really early to help set up the alumni tailgate in Circle Park, so I met him there later with the boys. The first thing Noah noticed was the giant inflatable Smokey.

The boys enjoyed kid games, a bounce house and yummy food from Buddy's. We love living on Rocky Top!

Brenton's favorite song

One of Brenton's favorite songs is "The Shark Song." Once he learned the motions, he'd go around to his teachers and try to get them to sing it for him...all the time! Miss Beth caught him in the action and sent this video to us. It's such a cute video and captures his personality perfectly. I can't believe he's 17 months old already!

Halloween with The Toy Story Boys

With two boys, it was pretty easy to guess what they wanted to be for halloween -- Buzz Lightyear and Sheriff Woody!

Thanks to Gigi, Noah got two halloween costumes this year -- one Buzz and one Woody. He's been enjoying them both and has already started wearing out the Buzz costume.

Brenton made the cutest little Sheriff in town, don't you think? He refused to wear the cowboy hat though. They both had halloween parties and school and showed off their costumes.

Noah couldn't wait to go Trick-or-Treating.

Here they are at their first stop, the Harsheys. Brenton didn't say anything and followed Noah's lead. It was a treat to see Noah "get it" this year. He knocked on the doors, said "Trick or Treat" and always said thank you after getting candy. He enjoyed getting to eat candy and walk door to door. He probably would've eaten the whole bucket if we'd let him!

With two little guys that go to bed by 8 p.m. every night, we were the first trick or treaters out in the neighborhood. We tried to get a brother picture, but as you can tell by the paci, Brenton was ready to hit the sack.

Both boys with their matching pumpkins :)

Buzz gave an official thumbs up after browsing all the sugary loot!

Happy Halloween!

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!