My lil' explorer

So...we have one VERY popular stool in our household these days! It's just a simple, blue stool I've had since the college days in the dorm. But nevertheless, it's Will's sidekick from the moment he wakes up until he goes to bed. He is QUITE the climber, and this stool has only increased his climbing. And if it's not the stool, it's one of the two blue chairs that go w/ the kids' red plastic table, or his little bike. A boy shall be a boy, however. Therefore, I let him explore (safely and while being supervised) and exert his energy by climbing onto the couch, the beds, the piano bench, etc.
He has mastered climbing into his high chair recently too. Since it's strapped onto 1 of our kitchen chairs, he just climbs from one onto the other. And then yesterday...he tried something new. While sitting in the living room and watching him pick up the stool and take it from place to place, he decided to use it to play w/ the kitchen. However, it ended up being used to play ON the kitchen. He climbed up, sat down ever so gently, and began driving his cars all over the play kitchen. He put them in the microwave, hid them in the cabinets, and then proceeded to stand up and try to reach the hanging picture above and lamp next to the kitchen. Lovely. Therefore, I did what any prepared, responsible Mom would do. I grabbed the camera and snapped as many pictures as I could b/f he got down. Haha. I sure do love my little explorer though. Even if I can never turn my back to him...he simply melts my heart.

Our Halloween ~ 2010

We had a great Halloween this year which involved a trunk-or-treat @ church, followed by a few special trick-or-treat visits to friends/family. Kennedy was a nurse ("like her Aunt Stephy" as she told several people) and wore a costume that is pretty special to me. It is an old version of what nurses used to wear and it has been passed through several females on my Mom's side of the family. How awesome it was to me that my own daughter got to wear it now! Will was a handsome lil' lion, although was referred to as the cowardly lion a couple of different times. ; ) He warmed up to the whole costume idea as the night went on, but was pretty taken back when we first arrived to church and watched as more and more kids arrived in costumes.




The trunk-or-treat involved a neat Bible story being told to the kids, a lot of games out in the parking lot, a weenie roast, trunk-or-treat out @ church members' cars, and a costume contest. It was a very successful and fun first t-o-t for our church, and Kennedy even got 2nd place in the costume contest! She got more silly bandz as her prize. : O
















After we left church, we visited some good friends that live in our neighborhood (the Pratchard's and the Robert's) to snap pics of the kiddos in their costumes. And we also took the kids to quickly see my cousin, Eric, and his wife and sweet baby girl, Leah and Campbell (like we try to do every year). We would have loved to even see more close friends and family, but w/ Halloween falling on a church night (which obv. was going to take priority for us)...it just didn't happen. The kids were exhausted by night's end, but had a fabulous evening together!

Kennedy and her Hogs

It's pretty safe to say that anyone who knows Kennedy...knows of her love for the Razorbacks. However, she definitely associates the Razorbacks w/ football. She's slowly learning though that the Razorbacks are the team name for every sport @ the U of A. It was hilarious the time she realized (on t.v.) that the men's basketball team was also referred to as the "Arkansas Razorbacks" and (in person @ a game) that the baseball team shared the same name as well! : )

Anyhow, we have enjoyed taking her to Razorback games w/ us (at least once a season) ever since she was born. She loves them, she begs to go, and she sometimes even cries when they're over. And if we could afford the ridiculously expensive tickets, we would have Kennedy and Will @ every game w/ us. That would make it perfect.
But, thanks to Gammi giving up her ticket on a wk. she couldn't make it...Kennedy got to go to a home game w/ us a few wks. ago. It was too cold to keep Will out for that many hrs. up in the (even colder) upper deck (and way past his bedtime), but we knew Kennedy would be just fine and love every minute of it! It also gave us some quality time alone w/ her, which I'm sure she enjoyed. Will had a wonderful time as well w/ Grandma and Papa @ their church's Fall festival.
The Razorback band repeated a show from a previous season (being that it was the day b/f Halloween) that involved Batman, the Ironman, the Razorback mascot, and more. And as you could imagine...Lil' Miss thought it was a pretty fun show! They even did Michael Jackson's choreographed 'Thriller' dance on the field. : )
During the second half, we went down to the lower deck and joined several family members who had empty seats around them. K had a blast @ the game, the night wasn't as cold as we had imagined, + the Hogs won!

Pumpkin Patch 2010

I scheduled a play date w/ the moms and kids from church @ the end of October to the pumpkin patch in Pea Ridge. But unfortunately, no one was able to make it. Therefore, the kids and I just went by ourselves. It was a beautiful day (and honestly a little TOO warm for the p.p. if you ask me), and the p.p. wasn't busy AT ALL @ the time we went. Yea! We basically had free reign of everything and even had to wait a little while for the hayride ~ until there were enough people to constitute an actual hayride. : )
Kennedy and Will were so happy walking through the fields looking @ the pumpkins still on the vine (even after the first frost of the season), pointing out the skeletons we passed while on the "spooky" hayride, picking peppers from their garden, climbing through the hay tunnel, posing by the wooden animal cut-outs, climbing on the oversized pumpkins, and riding in the wagon around their property. Will's favorite part of our time there was definitely playing on the tractor. No surprise there! Unfortunately, the hay maze had suffered some damage the week b/f due to the high winds and we weren't able to walk through it. But, I probably would have had a hard time keeping up w/ Will in it anyway! It was a fun afternoon together!





















And here are just a few from our visit to the pumpkin patch last year... Can't believe how fast they're growing!!!