Fall Fun

Here are some sweet pictures of today.














-- Post From My iPhone

oh Happiness

Tonight was another memory maker. We started a new tradition-- homemade pizza and pumpkin carving. I made buffalo chicken pizza. It was pretty darn good, even the crust was homemade.

After dinner, we cleared the table and started the pumpkin carving extravaganza. Ollie was a little unsure of what to do with the pumpkin guts but that dissipated quickly and he was flinging it around like a champ. His favorite part seemed to be the seeds. We made spiced pumpkin seeds and he did a fabulous job mixing them up! What a cutie! After he helped with the seeds, I took him for a bath while Bob carved the pumpkins. He made one a jack-o-lantern and one is a brontosaurus (Ollie loves dinosaurs). Ollie was very excited to see the finish product. Here is a video of our night. Enjoy!

A New Skill

Here is Ollie Gray's rendition of animal sounds!

NC State Fair

Tonight we went to the NC state fair. What a blast! From the moment we entered the fairground, he was wide-eyed, just taking it all in. We started off by taking a walk through theVillage of Yesteryear. There were many vendors who had hand made crafts. We observed many of them creating their wares. We bought Ollie a wooden top.

From there we bought some Kettle Corn and sat down to watch a bluegrass band while Ollie had dinner. Ollie really enjoyed the music and he had a great job pointing at everybody. We saw some beautiful flowers as we headed to see some animals.

Ollie really loved the animals he saw from his stroller but when we got to the actual petting zoo, he freaked out and tried to climb up my back to get away. The goats, lamas, and camels were a bit too much. I feed the poor guys the carrots we'd bought them and headed out.

We then went to ride the Carousel. Ollie was awed by the lights as we walked by all the rides. He seemed to enjoy the Carousel but he was ready to be done before the ride was so we moved to a bench where a wiggly baby can't get away as easily.


When we left the Carousel Ollie spotted a ball well a bunch of balls. It was over. They were a prize for the high striker game. Bob, being the good daddy that he is played and won a ball for Ollie. That same ball was a pain in the tail as he screamed to hold it through the incredibly busy fair but continually dropped it. Urgh. Anyway, the ball is now home safe and sound and all is well. It was really fun. I love family time!

The Oliver Tractor

Pumpkin Chunkin'

Ollie and I went to our very first Pumpkin Chunkin'. It was really fun. For those of you who have never been to one, it simply must be added to your list of things I must do before I die. It looked much like any other fall gathering, a warm campfire, hot dogs, s'mores, and chili, people in warm clothes carving pumpkins. The only different were the two enormous catapults over in the clearing. Yes! This has Autumn written all over it. They took pumpkins and launched them using the catapults! They smashed into the ground and pumpkin chunks flew everywhere, duh, pumpkin chunkin'! I thought it was awesome; Ollie was horrifies that anyone could do such a thing to the beautiful orange ball-like things he loves so much. He pointed, looked at me with a mortified look and cried. Poor kid. So we left the area, and ate s'mores instead. He liked thosemuch better.

Bubbles are the best, especially the blue ones!

Ollie loves bubbles and whisks and measuring cups. He is a wonderfully curious little boy. Here are some pictures of him playing with bubbles. We decided to use food coloring to change them. They started as blue and then we added red to make purple. It was pretty exciting. I think my floor, refrigerator, and stove were pretty excited to be painted purple as well. Fun times!

Ollie & the Fly

Today we had a busy shopping day. When we got home, Ollie decided he slept enough in the car. Urgh! He was super cute though. He loves to just stare out the window and point at the things he sees. He will often cross his arms on the window sill & rest his chin on them. Sometimes I'll come kneel next to him and copy him with my arms on the sill & chin on my arms. He'll look over at me, get a huge smile & laugh. It's sweet.


As he was staring out the window this afternoon, he noticed a fly. He tried and tried to catch it! When he got tired of that, he pointed at the cows and said, "baaa." I guess we need to work on our animal sounds...









-- Post From My iPhone

PLAYTIME!

Here's my sweet 13 month old. He's adorable, fun and hilarious...just like his mother!

Pumpkin Patch

Ollie and I went to the pumpkin patch this morning with our friends Landon and Brady and their mom, Julianne. It was a blast. They have a kid's area set up with pretend food and chickens. The kids each got to fill their own baskets with produce. We went on a hayride and to top it off, for each person who rode, we got a free pumpkin! Great day!

What a great day!

Ollie and I had a fantastic day. We started out with a super cuddly nursing session and then Ollie played while I made breakfast. After breakfast, we went out to walk Lyle and Gertie. Ollie loves walks. He babbles and points as we walk. He especially loves to stop and spell the signs.

When we returned, we spent time outside. Ollie has mastered the art of squashing bugs. I'm not sure where he learned that because I actually feel sorry for them so I make Bob do it. He saw a strange looking bug and stomped it several times. Then, he found a very large fire ant hill. He decided to stomp that, too. Now I can take responsibility for that one. I used to poke them with sticks so he could see the movement. Oops!

Next, we went inside and played with Ollie's musical instruments. He loves the clapper. One of his new talents is hiding. After he had removed all the instruments from the crate he used the crate to hide in. Pretty cute, huh?

At 10, we headed out the door to our first time at Toddler Storytime at our local library. It was really fun! Mrs. Angela talked about farm animals. We read stories, sang songs and did finger plays.

Ollie fell asleep on the way home so he slept through lunch with his daddy. It was nice for Bob and I to have time to visit without a screaming, food flinging baby though! Ollie slept for 2 hours; he ate lunch and we played!

Later in the afternoon, we met Connor and his mom at the park. After feeding the ducks, swinging, playing on the equipment and walking around the pond, it was time to head home. We made dinner and ate with Bob. It was soon time for bedtime. It really was a fun day. I hope tomorrow is just as good.