date night!

Ryan and I had a date night last weekend!  We went out to eat at Olive Garden, and then did a little Christmas looking for the kids (at Dunhams), of course.  I picked up one of Mercy's presents that she had said she had wanted.  I am officially done with Mercy's Christmas shopping from us (except for stocking stuffers).  The boys, well, they are a tad bit harder! :)  After shopping we went to Poets, and then went down to the fountain for a bit.  Thanks to the Ledbetters for watching our kids! :)

Cummins Falls

On Labor day we decided to go hike Cummins Falls.  The boys went not too long ago with our neighbors, but Ryan and I had never hiked to the bottom.  There are lots of fossils at Cummins Falls.  Josiah, especially, loves collecting all the fossils.  The hike down was pretty good.  It got a little steep and muddy toward the bottom, which is difficult.  At one point, I just sat down completely to scoot my way down.  There were lots of people there as well, so at times it was hard to maneuver around rocks, especially as we got closer to the waterfall.  The kids loved the hike to the water fall.  Mercy walked the whole thing and did NOT want to be carried at all.  (Ryan had to carry her a little when we were on the slippery rocks.)  Once we got to the falls, Aedan was the only one that really swam.  The water was super cold!  Here are some pictures of our day:

looking for fossils

love this face!

This girl is all in!  She did fall a couple times on the rocks, but got right back up!  She's a tough cookie!

At the falls!  You can see how many people were there with us!  hahaha!  A little crowded, which made it hard to get around all the rocks.  The rocks closer to the waterfall were slippery at times, and the water moved more quickly in spots.

swim time

Aedan has his goggles on!

a little rest time before hiking back

the kids and I at our resting point :)

Fall ball time

Aedan at 2nd

It's that time again!  Time for fall ball.  Aedan's team is the Wahoos this season!  Same coaches, and a very, very different team!  Aedan's team is currently 4-2 right now with 4 games left.  Aedan has done well playing all different positions.  He rotates between 1st base, 2nd base, and pitcher.  He is strategically moved throughout games to get outs.  He has done well, and still loves it!  There was one game recently where he got a double out, and almost a triple out pretty much all by himself.  It was one where he caught the ball in the air, and then tagged a runner.  I think he got a little confused after that because people were telling him different things, I think.

ready, but not "down and ready"

Hangin' in the dugout!

Mercy and Baylon

  

I have more t-ball photos and video to post, but that's probably enough to start with!  More to come as I catch on our blog! :)  GO WAHOOS!  Hit the ball and RUN!!!!

Buddy and Molly

aka: Jake and Jill

At the end of August, actually on the same day as the Clemson/Georgia game, we had some wanderers in our neighborhood.  Mercy and I had seen them a couple days before as they emerged from the woods across the street, probably from the neighborhood beyond the woods.  The kids quickly gave them names: Buddy and Molly.  We gave them water and they hung around with us and our neighbors for several days. Our neighbors fed them as they tried to find out who they belonged to.  Most of you probably know that I am not a huge fan of dogs, especially around my kids.  (I think too many dogs have snapped at them over the years.)  But, I have to say that I REALLY like these dogs.  They are so gentle, not jumpy, and I wasn't the least concerned with the kids playing with them (even Mercy).  Buddy and Molly are so sweet!  After a while, our neighbors found the owners, and Buddy and Molly were gone. :(  We later found out their names are Jake and Jill.  Buddy and Molly are welcome to visit anytime.  They actually visited again about a week ago.  It was a nice treat for the kids to see them again!

Football Time!

These kiddos are ready for football!  They are dressed up here for the Clemson vs. Georgia game!  They were so pumped and ready!!!  Go Tigers!!

Happy 6th Birthday! :)

My "baby" Aedan is now six!  wow!  The time has flown.  Aedan's actual birthday fell on a school day for him this year and it also happened to be hat day!  He and Josiah were ready to sport their Clemson gear in honor of the Clemson/Georgia game the following day.  Ryan went to eat lunch with Aedan at school for his birthday, which was a surprise for him.  After school we had present time and Aedan opened up presents from family.  He got some thoughtful gifts that he loves!  He played with his gifts for a while and then we headed out to dinner.  Aedan's choice: Burger King.  (I guess that's better than McDonalds...hahahahaha!)  We came home to eat Dirt for dessert and sang another birthday song to him.  (Dirt was his request for his second birthday treat!)  We are so proud of our sweet Aedan!  We love you!

Aedan's birthday party

We had Aedan's birthday party on August 24th, the weekend before.  We had a busy day with another Lowes workshop, and a football game.  Aedan's party was in the afternoon, and then he had baseball practice in the evening!  Whew!  What a day!  Aedan had a Monsters University party this year.  It was between that and a Clemson party.  Initially, the cake was "easy" to make, but something happened and it became super crumby as I tried to ice the cake.  (a little frustrating!)  I was still happy with how it came out overall:)  We are looking forward to October 29th when Monsters U comes out on DVD.  We will be heading to Walmart on the release date for sure!  Here are some party pics:)