Telling Nana About The Storm

This is one of the cutest and funniest videos I've ever seen!!!  I had to share it with you!!!

Making a Punkin Out of Leaves

The first step was getting a pile of leaves...

 And then pouring them out on the kitchen table.

 Unfortunately, the leaves weren't very crisp so we couldn't just crunch them up to make little pieces, we actually had to tear them apart which my nephew is so adorably showing you.

 Baby G didn't do a whole lot of tearing...he mostly scooted the leaves around the table...

Which he thought was hilarious.

 Then we took some orange paper and drew a shape of a punkin on it.

 Then we put glue where we had drawn the punkin.

 Now comes the tricky part....putting the crumpled up leaves over the glue.  You can see the determination in his face.

 Baby G was even piling up the leaves on top of the glue.

 They were hard at work.

And the finished project turned out pretty cute.  Gotta love simple but fun projects to do at home with the kids.  This piece of art will hang on our refrigerator for the remainder of fall.

Happy 26th Birthday, Mr. G

Mr. G is constantly doing things for me and Baby G and so I really wanted to do something special for him on his birthday.  His birthday wasn't until Sunday, but I decided to start early so Friday night Mr. G and I went on our very first date since Baby G was born.  Mr. G's choice of restaurant was Applebees...which is ironic since that was the place of our very first date almost 5 years ago.

 The birthday boy!!!  I was lucky to even get him to smile for this picture...I think he was feeling self-conscious about his wife taking pictures of him in the middle of our dinner.  He was a little more cooperative once his waitress started bringing out a present with each course of the meal.  Just a little surprise I had ready for him....and boy was he surprised.

Then the last course...dessert....came with not just a present.  It came also with a song.  

Friday's date night went great but I still had more planned....and he didn't have a clue.  When he pulled into the driveway Saturday evening he was shocked to see the people at our house and a bonfire in the backyard.  He was so surprised that he actually stopped in the middle of the road with his mouth hung open.  The perfect reaction to his surprise birthday party.

After giving the birthday boy a big hug I headed over to take pictures of the kiddos playing in the leaves.

 Each one enjoyed throwing the leaves up in the air....

 And having me take their picture.

 It did make for some cute pictures.

Baby G didn't understand throwing the leaves in the air so the other three kids stood around him and on the count of three they threw the leaves at him.  

 Then we did one group picture.  It turned out kind of cool.
After playing in the leaves we cooked some hot dogs over the fire for a portion of our supper.... We also had chili, Hawaiian sandwiches, deviled eggs, fresh veggies, chips, and much more.   After dinner we all headed outside....

 For the bonfire.  Mr. G had told me that one of his favorite memories as a kid was always having a bonfire party for his birthday.

 It was a wonderful evening....

Spending time together....

In front of the fire.

Isn't this a cute couple.  My brother had to miss part of the party because he was baptizing two little boys from his church....but my nephew did a good job of filling in while he was gone.

I got a picture of another cute couple, as well, sharing a blanket and a cup of hot chocolate.

 And here's my favorite picture of the night...with the birthday boy and sweet Baby G.

 Baby G enjoyed himself a big ole marshmallow while sitting by the fire.

 He looked so cute in his stocking hat.

 I couldn't wait to get my hands on him...sticky marshmallow goo and all.

 It was a good time for a family photo....but Baby G was too focused on licking the marshmallows off his fingers.

 Then it was time for smores.

 Perfect action shot of Mr. G chowing down on his smore....Mozzie's reaction in the background makes it even better.

 She made herself one really good looking smore.

 My brother was able to make it back in time for cake and ice cream.

Looks like Baby G is wanting some cake.

Nothing like ending the night in the tub!
I think everyone enjoyed themselves during Mr. G's surprise birthday party...I know I did.  And based on the thank you and big kiss Mr. G gave me at the end of the night I think he enjoyed it too.  At least I hope he did...because Lord knows he truly deserves it.  Happy Birthday, sweetheart!!!

Halloween (Round 1)

This last weekend we went up north to see family and to celebrate Mr. G's birthday, but we used this occasion to also dress the boys up in their Halloween costumes.

 When we first got there the boys did a lot of playing.  They played with puzzles,

 blocks.....

 And read some books.

They even got to play with their Santa hats.

I think my nephew was pretty excited to have Baby G come over and play.

 After asking Baby G to give his nephew a kiss he finally complied....I don't know what's more priceless...the boys....or Grandma's reaction.
Finally it was time to put the boys in their costume.  Any guesses on what Baby G will be?

Last year he was a chubby lil punkin.  And this year he is a ....

 Cardinal baseball player.
  And the best part is...he absolutely LOVES his costume.  When we tried it on him for the first time at home he didn't want to take it off.

Other than the mickey mouse on his baseball cap and being a little short, I think he could totally pass as the real deal.

 My nephew was an adorable firefighter....but at first wasn't too excited about the hat.

 So his Mama tried to make him laugh....I don't know if my nephew was laughing but the rest of us were.

 It seemed to do the trick.... Now he's ready to go.

 Cutest firefighter I've ever seen.

Here are the boys a year ago in their Halloween costumes.

 And here they are now.  Unfortunately, Baby G stole my nephew's ax which ended up causing a few problems for pictures.

 Papa then decided to join the Halloween spirit and put his Santa hat on.  After struggling to keep the boys happy we decided to take them outside....

 

And that seemed to do the trick.  Now we had two very happy boys.

 I think my nephew's favorite part about his costume was the inflatable ax.

 Baby G was showing his Papa a punkin while my nephew was wacking the ground with his ax in the background.  He was trying to play the part.

 What is Papa doing?

 I got a little bit of a smile here.

 We made another attempt to get the boys to sit together for a picture.  We had told both boys to sit on a punkin.  My nephew wasn't thrilled with the idea but....

Baby G enjoyed it....In fact...he enjoyed it so much that he....

 Decided to walked over to the mum....turn around....and....

 Take a seat on it too.

 Apparently sitting on the mum was a bit of a disappointment for Baby G.  Concern was written all over his face.

 My nephew thought it was funny though.

 The boys were hard at work playing with the punkins but....

 Every time a car drove by they both stopped what they were doing and would wave at the passing vehicle.

 

 Baby G's uncle got the brilliant idea of putting my nephew on top of the hay bale...

 Which made for a really cute picture.

 And it also made it easier to hit Baby G on top of the head with the inflatable ax.

 Then we stuck Baby G on top of the hay bale....which also made for a cute picture.

 I think he knew he was posing for the camera this time.

 And about that time the lil fireman took off towards the house....maybe he smelt smoke.

 We took that opportunity to try to take a picture with the grandparents.....but the ax got in the way.

 I love my nephew's expression.

 My nephew looks worn out from fighting fires and Baby G is showing off his perfect catcher's squat.
Would you believe me if I said I only showed you about half of the pictures I actually took this day?  When you got two cute kids it is hard not to snap picture after picture.  Well....Round 1 of Halloween is complete and I know for a fact that Baby G is looking forward to the next time he gets to put on his uniform.