the bear goes swimming

Parker is almost finished with his first round of swimming lessons.  He LOVES the water, whether it's in the bathtub or swimming pool, he loves to splash and play, play, play.  The only challenge has been keeping him warm by the end of class but otherwise he has no complaints!

Frank typically takes him to class but since he's still out of town it was up to me this week!  Thanks for swimming with me Parker Bear!

 

Grandpa and Grandma O

I'm afraid to blink because Christmas is going to be here before we know it. The days and weeks are just flying by, please S-L-O-W down! 

Fall is certainly here, we are still waiting for all of our leaves to fall and Grant is just itching to get out and rake with his Daddy...and row the boat (he sits on a big tarp while Frank fills it with leaves and then drags it and Grant to the street to dump!). We've been enjoying our schedule, still doing t-ball with Grant, swimming with Parker, bible studies, a zoo trip here and there, playdates, church and Sunday School for the boys. Grandpa and Grandma R and Great-Grandma Billie came for an afternoon to our house and we made a quick pumpkin stealing trip to see them too. Frank is currently in Denver for training and Grandpa and Grandma O are here visiting, yea!

Parker is a walking maniac now (no adult finger holding required!) and can get around pretty quickly. Grant is still a great big brother but we are working diligently on his listening skills! 

Grant pretending to be Bob the Builder and working hard on our coffee table, haha!

Pumpkin patch fun with Grandpa and Grandma O

I think this was the highlight of of the patch for both Grant and Grandpa O, Grant's first pony ride!  They both loved the pony, Annie!

Parker was thrilled to be at the patch too!

This photo is to prove I was there too ;)

mooey

It's official, Parker has his first official lovey and his name is Mooey.  When I hand him to Parker he'll instantly start wiggling all over and shove him into his mouth, bite him and snuggle all over him.  He also let's you know if Grant has managed to get his hands on him!

juliet

What a magnificent surprise this was!  Frank's Grandma Billie took my photo of our friend Juliet on our camping trip off of our blog and painted it.  What a talent and a gift, our friend's were thrilled to have this beautiful portrait of their daughter.

This photo of the painting doesn't do it justice.  When Grant saw it he immediately said, "Juliet!".

Great-Grandma's pumpkin patch

Grant begged and begged for weeks to get pumpkins at Great-Grandma Billie's pumpkin patch and a few weekends ago he finally got his wish!  Thanks Great-Grandma!

Once he spotted the pumpkins he took off running for them!

The happy pumpkin hunters ;)

Grant making friends with a furry little caterpillar.

Feeding the fish with Grandpa R.

birthday fun

Grant had a grand time at his friend Juliet's 5th birthday party.  We have shared a few laughs that this may be the one and only time he's invited to a girl's birthday party...and an "older" girl at that!

Biblical virtue ~ Love

31 Biblical Virtues to pray for your kids

3. Love.  "Grant, Lord, that my children may learn to live a life of love, through the Spirit who dwells in them" (Gal. 5:25, Eph. 5:2).

Well, we've had one of those weeks at our house!  Parker and I had wonderful head colds that totally zonked me out, Grant decided he no longer needs to take an afternoon nap and Parker switched from taking 2 naps a day to only taking 1!  

I kept telling myself to just make it until lunch each day so I could nap while both boys were taking their afternoon naps, hahahaha, the joke was on me!  Much to my dismay it was just one of those weeks and we all suffered but thankfully have made it to the other side, whew!  I always know and trust we will heal and manage to pull through but wow, it is easy to get overwhelmed when we're not all feeling 100% around here.

Thankfully, we had a busy and very fun weekend with pictures to share shortly!