What we've been up to the last couple of weeks...

Great time with Grandma!

As I said in the previous blog, Joe's mom came to visit us last weekend!  We had lots of fun together!  I'm not sure she can really count it as a break though--she did lots of laundry, vacuumed my floors, weeded the flower beds, and cleaned out our garage--just to name a few of the things she [quote] "enjoyed" doing!  We were very thankful for all of her help!  She has to stay busy all the time!  God bless her!  She can't stand to sit still!

She was very sweet and loved spending time with her grandson!  In addition to getting a break from household chores, I also didn't have to do much when it came to Gavin!  She wanted to do everything!  It was a nice break!  We are so thankful that Gavin has such sweet grandparents who love him more than life itself!  

Here are some pictures of the visit...(note: The tall slender blond is indeed the grandma!  Crazy, huh?  She looks so young!)

Grandma & Gavin at our "Park Fridays" play date (through our church).  

I actually got to sit and visit with other moms!  Grandma did the chasing this time!

Watching Gavin's favorite movie...ELMO!

So sweet!

We went on a nice long walk!  My mother-in-law loves to walk and so do I, so it was nice to enjoy that together...even though Gav expired and wanted to be "All Duh," as he says.

On Joe's day off we went back to The Pumpkin Patch to play!

Gavin loves to jump and climb!

How cute is this tractor?

They also had a hay bale maze that sort of freaked Gavin out.  I had to go in and help him.  It was a really tight squeeze!

Daddy trying to talk him through it!

Wheew!  Made it back to Grandma!

Gavin was excited to see one of his favorite friends...ELMO!

Stuck in jail!

BBQ and Pumpkin Carving

While (Joe's) Mom was here we also had everyone over to our place for turkey burgers and pumpkin carving!  Ashley and Ben came, as well as Erin and Logan.  Both of their hubbies had to work so Joe was the only daddy.  We had such a fun time!  Here's some pics...

My sweet mother in law watched the boys so that us "adults" could get something done!  Ha!

Poor Ben was kind of grossed out by sticking his hand in pumpkin guts!

Gavin wasn't to sure about the guts either!

He kept wrinkling up his nose and rubbing his hands together!  He would also sort of make this weird sound. (Like trying to say a k sound, only very spitty!)  I guess it was his version of YUCK!

Ashley & Ben

Logan decided to see how pumpkin tastes!

Apparently pretty yummy, because he went back for seconds!

Joe, getting pretty serious!

Ashley was pretty proud of her cute little jack-o-lantern!

I think they turned out pretty cool!

Gavin was pretty amazed by the whole thing!  (Notice Erin trying to run for cover so she wouldn't be in the picture!  Ha!  Gotchya Erin!)

The boys have a way of making EVERYTHING into a game together!  This game was called "Hit the Pumpkin and Laugh," I guess.

If there is one thing we can learn from the silly boys, it's not to take life too seriously!  :)

ooooooooooo!

Cute little Ben

Aww, Ben wanted to hold Gav's hand!

All three boys "reading" in Gavin's room!  So sweet!

Ben was especially into his book!

I think this was one of the funnest pumpkin carving years yet!  I guess it's to early to carve pumpkins in the south though, because they all turned to mush and we all had to trough them away. :(  Poor pumpkins didn't even make it till Halloween!  Growing up I remember our jack-o-lanterns lasting until Thanksgiving some years due to the cold!  Here they didn't even last a week!  Funny, huh?

As you can see from these pictures, most days it's still really warm here...

Gavin loves to play outside with the garden tools and water!

Doodles watched Gavin from a safe and dry place!  He didn't want to be a part of the splashing!

Gavin was so funny to watch!  He would arrange and rearrange the heavy pots--he LOVES to try to lift heavy things.  He makes lots of grunts while doing it.  It's always a very dramatic show!  So funny!  He loves being outside!  I'm sure other toddler mommies can relate.  He's at a hard but very very fun age.  Joe and I are trying to enjoy every minute of it! :)

Oktoberfest

One of my best friends from back home, Faith, came to visit us for a long weekend!  She goes to school in Chicago and had a couple of days off.  We were so excited that she decided to spend her time with us!  We had so much fun together!  She is such a sweetheart and it was WONDERFUL to see her again!  One of the the things we did together was go to Oktoberfest, a festival held at a local park.  There were lots of fun things for kids to do, a live band, and yummy food!  We had lots of fun!

Here's Gavin running through a fun tunnel!

All three boys (Gavin, Logan, and Ben) LOVED this thing!

The 3 Musketeers!  Wouldn't that be a cute Halloween costume!?!

Joe was in St Louis for the game so Gavin rode the train with his friend's daddys!  How cute!

Here's the boys making something else into a fun game...

Well, it's been so nice to have family and friends visit us!  What fun!  Gavin has especially loved it!  Thanks for coming Mom & Faith!  I'll post more pics soon of the rest of Faith's visit with us. Until then, have a great week!