Weekends with Harris (and In Between)

October 8--My two favorite rednecks wearing their barn boots as they work in the yard!  We have a few low spots in the yard that Paul has been filling in with dirt and replanting seeds.  Our yard is a bit sad looking, so Paul is trying to make it look better for spring!  Love the polka-bot boots, right?

 October 9--Lauren's daycare class decided to make a trip to the pumpkin patch!  We were lucky that we didn't have to travel so far this time to the patch.  We only had to drive to Maiden.  We were quite intrigued by these bump, warty pumpkins.  How cool!

Lauren, Cara, Nick, and Harris--what a good-lookin' crew!

Lauren was all about posing today.  Harris was all about getting the glasses "just right".

On the hay ride

SMILE!!  I LOVE THIS PICTURE!!

Snuggling with my buddy, Harris!  (He wouldn't let Lauren kiss him.)

Cara loved riding the tractors!

As did Lauren.

SLIDE!

This was the BEST part.  Well, Suzy and I loved it anyway!  Huge bins full of kernels of dry corn!  WAY better than sand!  (The kids and adults ended up with corn in many orphases...funnily enough, I found corn in the washer a week later!)

Even Paul got into the spirit of play!

Look at the pumpkins!  Harris kept hauling pumpkins all over the patch!  He is really strong.

Time for the petting zoo part.  Lauren and Cara liked the chicken.  Bock-bock!

October 10--Suzy and I had to teach Sunday school.  Lauren cute-ing it up in her Kissing Kittens collection!

Met up with the Neigh-Neighs for dinner at Dos Amigos!

And we're back to filling in the yard with dirt.  We had to get 2 truck loads to fill in the yard appropriately.  Actually, we may be up to 2 loads by now...However, Lauren was all tickled to help Daddy!

And she did!

October 14--Grandma Wade picked up this Halloween shirt for Lauren--Too Cute to Spook.  Lauren loves it but didn't love that I put pony tails into her hair!  Her teachers bribed her to let me take a picture!

Lauren got snuggles from Ms. Debbie after!

Harris came home to spend the weekend with us while Chris and Suzy took their first ever weekend trip away from all three kids to attend a wedding in Wilmington!  Harris was thrilled to spend time with Lauren...and Lauren, as we know, loves Harris, too!  All grins!  Love the pink hat, Harris!

Lauren demanded to be pushed in her stroller.  I said no, Harris said yes.  So she held their babies as they strolled along.

"The Man" driving our girl around in the Gator!  It was so sad...earlier in the week, Lauren sat in the passenger seat and said, "Mommy, can Harris come home with me and drive my Gator?"  She got her wish!  (Lauren refuses to drive the Gator on her own.  I think she's afraid to hit something!)

October 15--We met up with the Donleys to attend the annual Taylorsville Apple Festival--and what a party!  However, we couldn't have a party without Lauren pitching a mini-tantrum!

I LOVE this picture of Harris!

Yea!  A Lauren Grin!  (Lauren JUST asked, "What's that Lauren about?"  Really?)

 Lauren and Nick with Nana Cadwallader!

 Lauren feeding the baby pigs!

 We found Llama Llama!  The kids all love the Llama Llama series by Anna Dewdney.  They are books that are so fun and fit our little "llamas" to a T, especially when there is "llama drama".  Nick enjoyed feeding Llama Llama.

 Harris was even more thrilled!

 Pi-Paw had to help Harris because Harris would feed the animals one piece of food at a time...so we were there much longer due to this.

 Afterward, the kids climbed in the inflatables a few times each.

 Before we left, we HAD to get some blue and pink cotton candy!  We had a great time at the festival!  Somehow, though, we didn't get many pictures of all of our friends.  Someone with a female gene decided to pitch little fits anytime someone asked to take a picture.  I know Carrie will have them on her blog soon so check them out!

 When we got home, fed, and ready for bed, Lauren decided the sport of the evening should be Harris Wrestling!  Let's say that there were a LOT of giggles, squeeling, and laughter.  Paul even got in on it for a bit!

Lauren also got her Halloween costume.  She had wanted to be Strawberry Shortcake, but the costume for a 3 year old was way too small and they didn't have a bigger size.  So, I asked Lauren if she wanted to be Belle from Beauty and the Beast (her new favorite movie and my ultimate Disney favorite!) and she agreed!  Adorable!

While I have this marathon post going, I cannot remember many of the funny things Lauren has said in the past month.  She is still mimicking me (especially when I say dammit!) and asks, "Mommy, what's --- about?" (Fill in the blank--what's this shirt about, what's this song about, what's this leaf about, what's this car about, etc., etc.)

She's becoming her own little person more and more, showing preferences like crazy.  She likes lettuce but would prefer to dip each piece in ranch rather than have a full salad.  She doesn't like her food to touch.  She LOVES apples, but they have to be peeled and cut using the apple slicer.  (We're working on eating peels.  Doing much better now!)

Still a HUGE lover of Taylor Swift to the point she's able to pick out Taylor's songs on the radio, in a store, on a movie.  She loves Lady Antebellum too, especially "Need You Now".  However, she's enjoying more hiphop the older she gets.  It isn't unusual to see her swaying in her carseat or flailing her arms as she's dancing!  If she's really upset, we use music to distract her and 99% of the time, it works!

We joined Jump Bunch who comes to Lauren's school each Monday to work on sports skills with the kids.  She loves it and has since become more and more daring with her body movements.  She's on the floor, trying to roll off the couch, bending over like to do a somersalt, etc.

She has her favorite friends (Harris, Nick, Cara, Chatham, Raelyn, Callie, Jack, and Tanner), her favorite shows (Mickey Mouse, Chuggington, Wheel of Fortune), music, and sayings.  Lord knows how much He's blessed me with this little girl!

Suzy texted me a week ago saying Lauren was showing her boobies to her classmates.  When asked, Lauren said she did, but she said that Harris was doing it, too.  Monkey see, monkey do...that's Lauren and Harris!

I promise that I'll try to do better posting.  I don't really like these marathon posts because they take all evening and I forget the funnier aspects of a picture or story as time goes on.

When September Ends

September 10--With Lauren's hair getting longer, we can try new things, like hairbands!! Lauren preferred to wear it as a scarf of sorts.

How cute!

Paul and Lauren flew up in September for the Wade's annual gun shoot.  While they were gone...

 September 18--My brother hates my patio since it has 60 year's worth of wear and paint upon it.  I have to hand it to him...it's pretty rough. So we decided to do something about it!

And the front stairs, too.  Both surfaces are painted cement.  This was what they looked like after we had scraped, acid-ed, and stripped them.

And a project COMPLETED in the same weekend!!!

September 19--Happy 3rd Birthday, Harris!  After church, we went out to celebrate...it was a fiasco with such little ones.  Here were Chris and Harris being presented a cupcake and Happy Birthday by Applebees...Harris cried because the singing scared him.  Carrie, Suzy, Chatham and Cara had left--the toddlers needed a break.

September 20--Paul, Lauren, and Grandpa Wade drove back from PA.  Charlie came to visit for a few weeks while recouperating from shoulder surgery.  We had a LOT of fun having Charlie here, especially since he did so much to help out and work on several projects.

 September 24--Lauren didn't want to go to bed.  I was tired so I said to her, "Lauren, go lay down!" Moments later, I thought I heard my door creeking.  When I looked, I saw little fingers around the bottom of the door.  When I opened up the door, Lauren had listened.  She had taken her bed things and laid down outside my door!  Who wouldn't laugh at that! (Note the black and white stuffed animal.  This is Caslin who Lauren was given while in PA visiting great grandpa McCaslin.)

 September 25--We celebrated Shelly's birthday late.  She was sick on her birthday as well as the weekend following.  She was sick here again, but we told her to suck it up and enjoy her cookie cake! 

 September 26--Here was a project that got completed--I have a WORKING microwave mounted above my stove!  It is SO exciting!

Cheese!  We love this shirt on Lauren!

Grandpa Wade and Lauren snuggling before bedtime.  Lauren found a new best friend!

 September 28--It was here I decided Charlie wasn't allowed to go home!  Look at Lauren's playhouse!  Siding, a proper ladder, and Logan's swing all put together!!!

Lauren was thrilled to see changes to her playhouse!

September 29--Lauren and Caslin

 October 2--Kay flew down to join our family for a fall vacation.  We went up the Blue Ridge Parkway (I didn't get sick!) to go to The Orchard at Altapass.  It's been in existance for over 100 years.  We tasted apples of different varieties and had fun.  Our main reason for going was that there was a wildlife talk which culminated in a butterfly tagging and release!

Grandma Wade and Lauren tasting apples!  We liked the Sunrise.

View from the side porch of the orchard house

THIS was awesome!  We actually saw a butterfly coming out of the chrysallis!

Look at how fat the wings are!  The nature lady explained that the butterflies will pump their wings to spread the water through their bodies.

One of the kids releasing her butterfly

Grandma, Lauren, Grandpa

Lauren had NO idea that a grasshopper had landed on her chest.  We thought it was funny.

Since we were in the mountains, we went to Linville Caverns to see what it was all about.  We have been studying Pebbles, Sand, and Silt in science, so I was ready to take pictures of different rocks to share with the kids.

Here were Paul and Lauren climbing on rocks.  Actually, boulders.

Lauren astounds me with how pretty she is!

Inside the caverns.  Blind fish. 

We decided we would like a leather sectional for the living room, so we checked out some different places.  Lauren liked this spot.  She could sit in between Paul and Charlie in the storage compartment.

Lauren and Grandma made a beaded Thanksgiving necklace.

Lauren got a rocking horse from a yard sale.  Needless to say, she was tickled!

More home improvements and photos from Paul's camera to post soon.  Lots of stories to share about our funny little family.