Not our own block party!

Before you jump to any conclusions, NO WE DID NOT CRASH ANY OLD BLOCK PARTY BECAUSE THEY HAD A BOUNCE HOUSE! We were invited and we did bring red velvet brownies! Our friends live across the street from one an other and invited us so that Gus could play with his friends and we could visit with our friends. It was a win win situation! As we turned on the street Gus new where we were and began asking to go to Endi's house and to Siena's (as Gus pronounces it SIGH-EEENA) house. He was very excited to see his friends and there was no hesitation to take his shoes off and bounce on in the bounce house! He is getting to be such a big boy! The kids had a blast and did not stop until they literally dropped! I remember those days as a kid and how much I enjoyed going and going and going and how rewarding the crash was when it finally hit!

Here is Gus all smiles in the bounce house :-)

Collecting a few leaves for the bed of the kid size tractor that goes at adult speeds!

Sweet Simone and Endi in the bed of the above mentioned tractor!

Now it is Gus and Endi's turn!

Sweet Siena giving Gus and Endi a ride! She was a great driver and was able to maneuver that thing around the sign and back down the street. I am not so sure some adults can drive as good as this 4 year old!

Double Date Night

For my birthday this year, Jake had a grand plan that we would go to the drive in with out good friends and eat funnel cakes and burgers and fries and lots of soft drinks! Being that is was Halloween weekend they were showing Paranormal Activity 2 and Jackass 3 or Life As We Know It and The Town. We chose Life As We Know It and The Town....but only saw Life As We Know It because we were all freezing by the end of the first movie!! We had blankets, but it was chilly and since it was 4 of us we could not all sit in the car and watch the movie.

Once we decided to leave the drive -in we decided to go bowling! We had the best time and Jake and I hadn't been bowling since before we moved to TN....3 years! We were all over due for some bowling!

Here we are taking a shot to celebrate my birthday!! Cheers to twenty-GREAT!!

Amanda showing us her skills.....

Tyler......

Me.....

Jake....

Trick or Treat Smell my Feet!

This year for Halloween I wanted to dress up. After a while it got old dressing up on my birthday and I boycotted costumes. Now that I have a child, things have changed. I WANTED TO DRESS UP! The day before Halloween Gus and I headed out on a mission to find mommy a costume. We went to Party City and all we saw were sexy nurses, nuns, barmaids, cheerleaders and the likes. Nothing appealing to a Mommy that knew she would be doing A LOT of bending down and such. We headed over to Target on a whim. As we were combing the aisles of mess/costumes we came to a cart full of castaways that one of the employees was returning to the shelves. There it was....my costume - a HOT DOG! I slipped it on over my clothes and Gus got the biggest laugh out of it so I proudly tossed it in our buggy and off to the checkout we went!

Here is Gusley modeling Mommy's hot dog! He liked it, but not enough to wear it all night! We even tried the neighbor's dog, Lucy's hot dog costume on him, but he was not interested.

Gus was a "2 year old" with his #2 shirt, Jake was a hobo of sorts and I was, well you can see what I was!

Gus and Endi in the wagon reading to trick or treat!

Such a big boy following the ghosts! He carried his bag most of the night and went to each house and said "tick tea"!

Chatting with his pals, Simone the poodle and Siena the horse!

Choosing his candy wisely!

Werewolf of Franklin!

Pit stop on our way back to our friend's house....

Trick or treating was a lot of fun this year. Very crowded, but now we know where to go and where not to go! Gus really enjoyed himself and all of his treats!

Say What??

My friend Amanda and I have been going to Zumba for over a year now. Not consistently, but we do try to go at least once a week. Sometimes Jake and Gus drop me off at "dancing" and Amanda will bring me home. (Thanks, Amanda) Anyway, the other week when they dropped me off this was our conversation:

Gus: "Mom, dancing?"

Me: "Yep, mom is going to dancing with the other mommy's."

Gus: "A dancing?" - He refers to Amanda as "A", her husband Tyler as "T" and their daughter Endi is "E"

Me: "Yep, Ms. Amanda will be at dancing."

Gus: "E dancing?"

Me: "Nope, E is at home. Dancing is just for mommy's."

Gus: "Mom, water?"

Me: "Yep, mommy has her water."

Gus: "Mom, shit (shirt) off?" The way he says shirt sounds just like shit!

Me: Looking at Jake puzzled, I tell him "No, Mommy keeps her shirt on."

All I can figure is that I had put a long sleeve shirt over my workout shirt because it was a little chilly out and he was making sure I was not going to dance in my long sleeve shirt!! Certainly a SAY WHAT? moment!!

Pun-kins, umm not so much!

Last year we took Gus to a small pumpkin patch that is run by a local Boy Scouts troop in the area. The boys grow their pumpkins and then sell them to make money for their troop. Last year we found some really nice pumpkins and it was not overly crowded so we figured we would give it a go again this year. We call our pals to come join us and off we went. This first picture of Gus sums up the pumpkin patch.....pumpkins rotting and covered in stink bug looking insects is what we were greeted with!! We decided to get a few pictures of the kids since the sky was just beautiful and call it a scratch. Gus and Endi were so excited about the "pun-kins", but neither wanted anything to do with these pun-kins!! Hopefully next weekend we can see some nice plump pumpkins!!!

Keepin' it cool!

Cinco de Mayo

A little dinner date with his best gal pal! The kids had "American" food while the adults had authentic Mexican food! A great time by all that attended!!

Maw and Dee

Slowly but surely Gusley's vocabulary is expanding! Jake and I just love his little sweet voice. The later it gets the more raspy his voice gets and it is just too cute! Tonight we were talking about going to Louisiana and seeing all of his Maw-Maw's and he looked to Jake and I and said "MAW"! We were tickled!

Saturday evening we met Endi and her parents at the park and had dinner together at their house after. After the park we went pick up supper and we passed up Endi's house to get to the restaurant and Gus lost it - crying hysterically and between breaths he would shout "DEEE" "DEEE". As soon as we got back their house all was well!! Dee, Gus loves you oh so very much!!

Going on a Egg Hunt

Gus and his two little gal pals had an Easter egg hunt at Endi's house the other day. The girls were very into gathering the eggs and putting them in the basket. Gus had other plans. Other plans that included Jake and I taking him around the yard on the tricycle to collect his eggs! That little monkey! I tell ya, sometimes he just surprises the heck out of us, but we love him oh so much and always seem to crack up at the end of each day when we are recapping the high points of the day!

A few eggs in the basket! Eventually he did get off and collect a few on foot. AFTER he realized they were filled with CANDY! Smarty pants!

Proud as a little Peacock!!

Gus and his little gal pal have been missing each other lately so this weekend we spent Saturday evening with she and her Mommy (while the daddy's were out and about) and then Sunday we all got together and went to Jumpzone. I think I love Jumpzone just as much if not more that Gusley does!! It is so much fun jumping on the inflatables and going down the slides and through the obstacle courses! I would love to get one for the back yard!!! (Hint, hint Daddy-O)!!

On Saturday evening Gus and Endi were having the best time playing together. Gus is drawn to all things art so he went straight to Endi's easel and got busy! This is his prize drawing!! Can you see the feeling of accomplishment on his little sweet face??!!!

Happy Birthday Amanda!!!

SURPRISE!!!!!

I had a plan that we would check in first, decorate the room then when Amanda and Tyler got there she would be totally surprised. When we did not get to check in before the concert, I was a little bummed that I would not get to pull off my surprise. With some wacky directions from their GPS, Amanda and Tyler did not get in until after we did so I was able to pull off the decorations!!!

Who knew it had to be 50 degrees out before they would run the roller coasters? Our second ride of the day...the swings!!

Group shot....before we knew what was to come on that train ride!!!

Happy Birthday Amanda!! We hope you had a wonderful birthday weekend!! I think birthdays are very special and love to celebrate them. It only comes once a year so why not!! We had a wonderful time with you guys and we should definitely do this again soon, very soon!

I am so glad our paths crossed when they did. It seems that our friendship was meant to be. You and I clicked instantly as did our children and husbands! You can't ask for much more than that. Not to mention we all want the same things out of life and we love chocolate!!! You are a true friend and I value our friendship. I have learned a lot from you and I admire you for being a mother, wife, student, teacher, friend, daughter (and I am sure I am forgetting a few hats that you wear) all at the same time. I know it is not easy, but your determination is phenomenal! Again, Happy Birthday and we love you!

Happy 2nd Birthday Endi Lee!!

Happy 2nd Birthday Sweet Endi Lee!!!! Seems like just yesterday you and Gus became friends and started crawling together, walking together, playing together and just enjoying each others company! Now here we are a year later and you two have grown to be best buddies!! When you are told you are going see Gus your little face lights up and when we tell Gus he is going to see Endi he smiles ear to ear and begins to look around for you!!

You have always been and still are such a great little helper. Last year at Gus' party you made sure that he saw all of his presents! Thank you!! Here you are holding Gus' new shoes! You were just so proud of those shoes I remember!





We love you and hope that you had a wonderful birthday! We can't wait to celebrate with you at Monkey's Treehouse!!! Stay sweet and keep helping! I know Mommy and Daddy really appreciate it :-)

xoxoxo,
l*j*g

Movie Night

After talking about it for over a year we finally had movie night. Well sort of. We put on Follow that Bird for Gusley and Endi and they were totally into, but were getting antsy and ready for bed. We decided we would watch an adult movie after they went to sleep......both Mommy's fell fast asleep with the babies for a little while. We decided it was too late to start a movie so we stayed up talking and laughing about who knows what as we were all delirious and exhausted from the work week! Even though we did not get to watch our movie just to see the kids reaction to the big screen was great! Thanks, Jake for bringing it home and setting it all up for us!! Can't wait to do it again!!

Gusley and Endi getting ready for the show!

I just love this picture....Tyler and Amanda leaning into each other like love birds and Gusley and Endi totally captivated by the movie!!

The set up....and Gusley on the arm of the sofa...I guess he wanted a better view?!

It's a bird, it's a plane, nope it's a hot air balloon!!!

This is a little back blogging. A few weeks ago, Gus and I were coming home from Mom and Dad's house and this is what we saw. I decided to follow it because it was really low and looked like they were going to be landing it in the neighborhood and that they did!!!

About to touch down.....

Almost there.....

Touchdown is made!! After seeing this Jake and I have decided that maybe for our 30th birthday we will take a ride in one!! Stay tuned to see if we actually go through with it (we only have 3 years to contemplate)!!

Later that day Endi came over to spend a little time with Gus. They haven't seen each other as much since Endi started school so when they do get together there is lots to catch up on!! I just love this picture, both in their boots and Gus is trying to convince Endi to put her drink down and play!!!!

Sidewalk chalk and black pants...................

Happy Birthday Jake and Tyler!

Jake and Tyler's birthdays are 4 days apart so we celebrated together....Amanda made yummy bread balls stuffed with pork and coconut rice and made a homemade ice cream cake to top it all off! We had a great night and the kiddos enjoyed a little dinner date at Endi's kid table!! Always fun times when we are together with our buddies!!! Happy Birthday Jake and Tyler!! Sorry it took me so long to post this...the thought was there!!! I should get an E for effort!!

Their favorite past time...emptying Endi's dresser into the dirty cloths hamper!!