Happy Thanksgiving!!

This was the first Thanksgiving that we haven't spent with our families back in North Carolina. We decided to do something very Florida like and go to an orange grove to pick oranges. It was actually a really pretty drive out in the country. We didn't think the leaves change colors on the trees here, but we actually saw some. It was definitely not as pretty as the mountains of North Carolina, but it was still pretty enough to really make it more fall like here in Florida. We also drove over mountains (Dottie called them), but Chad said they were just hills. The grove we went to was huge. They had sooooo... many different kinds of oranges, grapefruits, lemons and limes that it was a little overwhelming. The boys had a big time picking the fruit off the trees and we all learned a lot about oranges. Landon only tried to bite into one, which was surprising for him.

This type of orange is soooooo... big as you can tell by the size of Will's hand. We got two of them to try and they tasted a lot like a grapefruit, but not as tart. All four of us ate on one and still didn't finish all of it.

Two tired and full boys at the end of a long day. Check out Landon's full belly!!

We had a great Thanksgiving, but we definitely missed our families. We look forward to seeing everyone in 4 weeks for Christmas.

Turkey Day at Will's School

Today, mommy and Landon went to a Thanksgiving Feast at Will's school. Mommy and Landon had a great time eating lunch with Will and his buddies. Landon, of course, kept everyone at the table quite entertained. Will was just thrilled that mommy and Landon were there.

Each child had made a place mat to eat on and a Pilgrim or Indian costume that they wore all day. It was so cute!!!!

These are Will's two favorite buddies. Jayden is on the right and Herbert is on the left. (Herbert lives two houses up from us.) After lunch the kindergarten classes had a Turkey Trot Parade. Each child was holding a paper bag turkey that they had to make as a family project. It was fun to see them showing off their creative turkeys.

MORE ABOUT THIS FAMILY PROJECT........

Will has to do a family project each month. This month he brought home a brown paper grocery bag with instructions that said "stuff the bag with newspaper, gather the top of the bag for the turkeys neck and head and then decorate it however you want to make it look like a turkey." Mommy and daddy could not picture what this turkey was suppose to look like, but with some creativity from the three of us and reading the what seems to be simple instructions over and over, we (mommy, daddy and Will) created a pretty cute turkey. Will's favorite part was cutting out and painting the feathers.

We're a little nervous as to what the family project will be in December as they seem to be getting harder each month.

Potty time with the guitar

Landon has been doing amazing with his potty training. Every now and again he will have an accident, but it's not real often. He wears big boy under pants all the time now, even at night. Yaaaaa... no more diapers!! He still likes to use his little potty seat, but whatever works.

Landon loves to play his guitar and he likes it so much that he has to take it to the potty with him. It's hilarious to watch. Like we said in a previous blog, Landon is going to be a rock star when he grows up.

Landon is entertaining his cars and Thomas the Train while he is going potty.

Mornings around our house

Most weekday mornings around our house are a little crazy. We (mommy and daddy) are not morning people, so we are usually rushing around trying to get Will ready for school (dressed, breakfast, and lunch packed) and Chad getting ready for work. Usually the boys are running around the house chasing each other and basically just being little boys.

Usually when the boys wake up before us they come in our room and wake us up, but not this morning. We found both of them sitting in this chair and Will was reading Landon a book. Landon loves to be read to and actually it is the only way he will sit still for more than 2 minutes, which is GREAT. After they saw us, the craziness began. It was sweet while it lasted!!

Space Shuttle

Tonight on the way home from Will's soccer practice we were listening to the radio and they started talking about the Space Shuttle that just took off from Cape Canaveral, which is only about 30 minutes from where we live. We looked into the sky to see if we might possibly see it and low and behold there it was shooting up into the sky over the full moon. After a couple minutes all you could see was a bright light in the sky, which at that point looked like an airplane. When we first saw it, we knew right off it was the space shuttle because it had fire shooting out the back. It was definitely a sight to see and something we will always remember. We were in awe the rest of the way home, saying "can you believe what we just saw". Sometimes we ask ourselves why we are living in Orlando, but when we get to go to the most "Magical" place in the world (Disney World) and then see a Space Shuttle in the sky as you are driving down the road, it's not so bad.

Football Game

Will must have had a GREAT time at the football game that Chad took him to last Saturday at UCF because everything this week has been about football. He dresses up like a football player (Carolina Tarheel of course), draws football pictures and he told us when he grows up he wants to be a football player.

Chad was off work yesterday for Veterans day. It was so nice having him home during the week. We have all been sick for the past two weeks so we haven't really done a whole lot of playing outside. Chad told Will when he got home from school that they would play football. Will was so excited. Here is the football game that went on in our backyard. Will dressed as a Carolina Tarheel and he put a white shirt on Landon so he could be the white team.

Drummer Boy

We've decided that Landon is going to be a rock star when he grows up. He loves to dance and play musical instruments, especially the guitar and anything to beat for a drum.

Landon loves to empty the toys out of his toy organizer to make a drum set. He has to at least have two boxes. One for the seat and one to beat on. Right before he starts beating he says "one, two and a one, two, three, four". So cute!!!

Will and Daddy's Day Out

Today was a big day for Will and Daddy. On Friday afternoon, Daddy found out he had two free tickets to the UCF football game on Saturday, so no planning and the two were off for a big adventure. Daddy was scheduled to work tailgating before the game so the day started early. Will followed Daddy around for most of the morning and helped him make sure none of the "big kids" were misbehaving. Luckily that part of the day went by quickly, and the pair were off to Will's first college football game by mid-afternoon. The seats were free so of course they were at the top of the stadium. Honestly, it was almost better because at the top of the stadium the two pretty much had the whole row to themselves. As is the case with Will most of the time, he didn't have a lot to say, but he was pretty clear about when and of what Daddy should be taking pictures, so I guess that means he liked some of it. The teams weren't really that important, but Will decided he was pulling for the Gold team (luckily that was UCF). The outcome of the game didn't put a damper on the day, but if you are wondering, UCF lost 17 to 6.

Mid-way thru the third quarter, Will heard the P.A announcer mention something about a basketball game, so of course he was intrigued. Daddy found out UCF Men's basketball team was having their intersquad scrimmage, "postgame madness" they were calling it. It was free and on the way back to the car so Daddy agreed. At the end of the football game the two were off to the arena for another sporting adventure. This time the seats were first come first serve so we got a lot closer to the action, until some tall and very fat man chose the seats directly in front of the very short and very skinny Will so we decided to move up to secure a better view. We stayed and watched about 15 minutes of the action, and decided it was time to head home. Will was asleep before we arrived home, and Daddy was not far behind. This was truely a special day!

Will inside Brighthouse Stadium (UCF Football Stadium)
He said he had a good time, but this look says not, haha... Actually he was a little terrified of heights, which is understandable.

The Basketball Arena, after moving away from the large man.

The serious sports fan!

Happy Halloween!!

After a long time of waiting, one of Will's favorite holidays was finally here. This week was a really busy week and Will also had a really bad cold and didn't feel well, but that wasn't going to stop him from his big day. Mommy was starting to come down with Will's cold, but she had to find some energy to make this a special day for the boys. The morning started out with Pumpkin Day at Will's school, which there is more about that below. As soon as we had dinner and it started getting dark (probably around 7:00pm) the boys put their costumes on and out the door we went to trick or treat in our neighborhood. We were a little worried that Landon wouldn't keep his costume on, but he did and he even kept the hat on the whole time. We think that Landon thought he had to keep his hat on to get candy. Whatever works!! This was the first year that Chad has not been out of town for work on Halloween, which was nice. Our neighborhood really went all out for Halloween. A lot of the homes were decorated with lights and blow ups and everyone was so nice. We only went down one street, which isn't even 1/4 of the neighborhood, but that was enough for the boys and they got more than enough candy. Landon ate lollipops (probably 4 or 5) the entire time the boys were trick or treating. He would have the lollipop in one hand and his candy bucket in the other. Sometimes he would try to hold his orange flash light too. It was so cute and he was as happy as could be. Will was just on cloud nine that his favorite holiday was here. He was the leader and told us which houses to stop at (the one's with the lights on), which was just about every one.

Landon was Thomas the Train and Will was Spiderman. Here we are getting ready to head out the door.

This is all the candy they got. It doesn't look like much from this picture, but trust us it is plenty. We'll be eating on it for weeks.

Here is Landon trying to put two lollipops in his mouth. He was in heaven.

Two tired boys!!

This picture was taken after the boys ate some candy and danced around a little bit. Landon found a little pouch in his costume to put his juice in.

We hope everyone had a happy and safe Halloween. We missed trick or treating with all of our family this year, but thank you for all the special treats that you mailed to us.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Pumpkin Day

On Friday at Will's school was Pumpkin Day. All the kids got to dress up as their favorite story book character. Mommy got to go and help in his class that morning with crafts and then at the end of the day they had a parade outside. Mommy loved spending time with Will in his class and she also stayed and had lunch with him in the cafeteria - yummy!! Will was so excited that mommy was there.

Will dressed up as Curious George - one of his favorite books. Mrs. Winemiller (Will's teacher) read Will's Curious George book to the class.

Mommy was in charge of the snack table. The kids got to decorate a cookie with icing and sprinkes. The kids were so happy at mommy's table.
Here is Will walking in the parade with his class. He was such a cute monkey.