Trunk or Treat #2

Buzz Lightyear and little monkey man had so much fun at Trunk or Treat with their friends from church. They were so excited to see what their friends dressed as for Halloween. Drew liked sampling all the suckers. Each time he would get a new sucker, he would hand us his old one and want to open a new one....silly monkey!

Trunk or Treat #1

This year the boys were able to go to Trunk or Treat at Aunt Amanda's church on the Sunday night before Halloween. Amanda and her friends had quite the Halloween display. The boys had so much fun looking at all the decorated trunks and getting candy. Drew was obsessed with a little boy dressed as Elmo. I think he assumed it was the real Elmo. He kept following him and smiling.

This year Jackson chose to be Buzz Lightyear. He loves the Toy Story movies, and we cannot wait to see the new movie in 3D. He wanted Drew to be Stinky Pete, however we decide he would be a much cuter monkey.

Halloween Parties

On Thursday, we were so excited to have not one but two Halloween parties. Jackson's preschool party was in the afternoon. His class loved making silly pumpkin faces. Jackson thought it was so funny that his pumpkin had donuts for eyes. These sweet children have so much fun together every day and it was fun for me to be in his classroom and hang out for a few minutes. Drew loved playing at all the fun centers in Jackson's classroom.

On Thursday night, our neighborhood had its annual Halloween party at the Clubhouse. They have food and all kinds of games and crafts for the kids. Above is a picture of Drew and our neighbor Sam. Everyone, including me, thinks they look so much alike. Their birthdays are one month apart and they are big buddies. Below is Jackson fishing for prizes at the party.

Here are the sweet kids that live in our cul-de-sac. We love playing with them and are so blessed to have great neighbors. Tiger Sam, Dora Lilly (she looks so much like Dora in real life this was the perfect pick for her), Elmo Darren, Monkey Drew, and Buzz Jackson pose for the camera.

Baa, Oink, Quack, Moo...Drew turned TWO!

For Drew's second birthday, we celebrated at Walden Farm in Smyrna with lots of his buddies. Drew loves cows so a farm theme was chosen. All of his friends had a blast playing at the pumpkin farm. It was a great location for a birthday party because of all the kid-friendly activities. Thankfully the weather cooperated and it was a gorgeous fall afternoon despite a rainy start to the day. The mud did not stop these kids from having fun in fact I think they enjoyed. Not sure how the moms liked it!

We are so blessed by sweet little Drew! Each day is a new adventure with him. This was our chance to celebrate him and all he means to us! We love you, Drew!

**Lots of birthday posts below. It was so hard to pick just a few pictures so I did several collages with pictures from the afternoon. You can click on them to enlarge if you would like. Also, a huge thanks to my amazing friend Christine who took lots of these pictures for me.

Let Him Eat Cake!

For Drew's birthday, we had a fabulous barn cake complete with animals made by the extraordinary Emily High. It looked amazing and Drew was really excited about eating it. After we picked it up, he kept saying, "me cake." After the party he chewed on one of the sugary pigs. Not only did the cake looked good, he also tasted great. It was a sweet ending to fun afternoon at Walden Farm.

Birthday Boy

The sweet little birthday boy had so much fun at his 2nd birthday party. He loved everything at the farm--riding the tractor, swinging on the tire swing, and playing in the hay maze and corn stalks. He was excited to wear his rain boots that Grammy and Papa got for him. They came in handy since the birthday boy decided to jump in the mud at the end of the party.

Corn Crib

All the kids enjoyed the Corn Crib at Walden Farm so much. The moms joked about getting one of these for our house. They all played so good and gave the moms and a few dads the chance to chat. The kids could have played in there for hours. I am sure there where lots of corn kernels in clothes and shoes when everyone got home.

Party People

We were so blessed to celebrate Drew's birthday with so many of our friends who are definitely like family to us. Drew loved hanging with all of his and Jackson's buddies. These children are super sweet and had a blast down of the farm even though they all got a little muddy.

Gentry's Farm

Jackson's Pre-K class took a field trip to Gentry's Farm and had so much fun. The afternoon started with a picnic lunch, then they played in the barn with all kinds of centers, did a maze, looked at different farm animals, took a hayride, and then picked a pumpkin. Drew tagged along and had so much fun. He tried so hard to hang with the big kids.

We hear bits and pieces about all the fun they have at school and different things they do, however it was really a treat to see all the kids together and just watch them. Most of these sweet kids are beginning their third year together. They all adore each other so much and have a blast with their awesome teachers. I truly wish I could be a fly on the wall in their classroom for a day.

Meet the Predators Night

Last Tuesday night was Meet the Team night with the Nashville Predators at the Sommet Center. Thanks to the Mayes family we were able to go to the cool event! At the beginning of the season, the Predators open the arena to all their season ticket holders and all the players are there to meet the fans and sign autographs. My boys were super excited! Jackson wanted to wear his jersey, which meant Drew also wanted to wear a jersey. Luckily, Jackson's Gnash jersey was not too big for Drew. The lines were crazy for certain players. Thanks to our Disney line swap skills, we were able to see the majority of the players and keep the boys entertained. Drew really wanted to see Gnash, however we kept missing him.

Jackson got to meet Patric Hornqvist and Ryan Jones first. Jerrod Smithson and Martin Erat were so nice to Jackson. All the players were extremely kind and talkative to the boys. They were all impressed that Jackson recognized them and knew their numbers (without any prompting from Andy or me).



















Jackson also meet the team captain, Jason Arnott. He has a life size poster of him on the back of his bedroom door that he got at a game last year.
















Jackson and Ryan Suter














Jackson with two of his favorite players, Shea Weber and Steve Sullivan




















The boys played hockey while they waited in line to meet the team.

Jackson and the Predators goalies, Dan Ellis and Pekka Rinne

Jackson showed Jordin Tootoo his signature game face. All of Tootoo's groupees thought this was hillarious.