Fire Station

 In honor of the letter "F", we went to the fire station on base for preschool. The kids loved it. Jack and Lillie were going from one thing to the next, trying on this and checking out that. Katie wasn't quite in the mood for pictures, or trying on anything, but I think she secretly had a good time.

Notice that we are all wearing sweaters and long sleeved shirts! This was a first for us since we have been here. The high for the day was 68 and I loved feeling the Fall weather...even if it only lasted a day. It is weird how we adjusted so quickly to the heat here. Who knew that I would feel so chilly when it's 68 degrees outside.

 Their fire station was rebuilt after Katrina and let me tell you...they are definitely not roughing it over there. There are flat screen tv's every where! I think they said there was some crazy number like 54 tv's in the whole place. Doesn't that seem a little excessive to you? They each had one in their bunk rooms. Pool tables, theater room with huge recliners, etc, etc. Let's just say, it was really nice.

 The guys that took us around were so good with the kids.

 Anderson was really scared and made me hold him the whole time until I pretty much forced him up into the fire truck. Once he was in, he magically wasn't scared any more and thought it was awesome. Which was a good thing because my arm was dying from holding him and trying to take pictures.

 Those boots were almost as tall as him!

 This fire truck that Jack is driving is HUGE. I have never seen a fire truck like that. It is designed specifically for the Air Force planes. The fire station is right on the air field so they have immediate access. The firemen told us it was like having a fire truck on steroids.  

 They were so big!

 Right on the runway.

 I think Justin was a little jealous of our field trip. :)

Jack and Eli

 We got to watch our little friend Eli the other day. Jack LOVES little babies right now. I'm not sure what it is but ever since we got here, he has been so excited whenever we have any babies over. He plays with them, talks to them and takes care of them in any way that he can. My job was super easy the whole day that we had Eli. Jack entertained him in between his naps and all I did was feed him and change his diaper.

 Jack would hide on the couch and then call for Eli. Eli would instantly turn and find him and start laughing. He has the best belly laugh, and he literally was laughing at Jack all day long.

I wish he was always this good to his little brother. :)

FHE

 We went to the beach with the Willison's for family night. I love that we can just drive over to the beach whenever we want. It's so fun! I also love the fact that it's October and still warm enough to play there. Another reason why we love the South.

 Willison's brought their dog along. I am definitely not a dog lover, but Justin and the boys have fun with him.

 Do you love those smiles? That was the best I got from both of them. The Willison's live next door to us and Jack and Lincoln play almost every day. I'm glad that Jack has a good friend that lives so close. 

 The sun was setting just as we were leaving. It was so pretty! I love this one with the Biloxi lighthouse.

Primary Program

Once a year, the primary kids (ages 3-11) in our church put on a big program focused on their theme for the year. This year was Jack's first year participating in the program. He was really excited for it and memorized his class's part right away. They all got up together and said, "The scriptures are the word of God." They were really cute. But, being the youngest class in primary, they all had a hard time staying focused on the program and being reverent while up in front of the whole congregation...Jack being one of them. He was looking around, talking to his friend Lillie who was sitting next to him, and pretty much doing anything besides singing the songs and sitting still. Well the primary president was sitting right behind them and kindly reminded them to be reverent. One of the multiple times that she reminded them, Jack turns to Lillie and says, "She thinks she's in charge but she's really not." Lillie responds, "Yes she is!" Where does he get this stuff?? How would he even know to say that? He's four! I think our next lesson in family night should be on listening to our leaders. The primary president thought it was too funny not to share with us. We did get a good laugh out of it, but really? 

Hate to break it to you Jack, but the primary president really is in charge, and you need to listen to her!

Campout

 Justin and Jack set up the tent last weekend and had a campout. Complete with treats that they picked out together at the store, and a long game of pictionary. Jack was in heaven. He loved every second of it. Jack gets excited when he gets to do "cool" stuff because he is "older". Anderson went to bed at his usual time and slept inside, so Jack thought he was pretty awesome.

 The "big boys" :)

Fall wreath

Using a couple flower tutorials from one of my all time favorite blogs, and a little inspiration from this creative lady, I made my own version of a fall wreath. I wanted to use stuff I already had, and I think it turned out rather cute if I do say so myself. :)

 The bright orange flower is made out of felt, the other two are fabric, and the leaves are burlap. A twig wreath I already had, a little hot glue, and there you have it. Easy.

Happy Fall!

When it rains, it pours

 The other day, we heard some pretty loud thunder and looked out the window to see the black clouds rolling in. The boys decided they wanted to put on their rain coats and boots and wait for the rain to come. 

Check out those crazy clouds! The storms here are like nothing I have ever seen.

 We saw some really cool lightening and the thunder was super loud. Anderson was a little scared of the thunder, but he was brave enough to stay outside with us. We played around, drew sidewalk chalk, enjoyed the cooler temperatures, and looked for more lightening. 

 I have such a hard time getting Anderson to look at the camera and smile. I was getting slightly frustrated with him after 500 attempts and Jack says to me, "Mom, I will smile good for you!" And this is the face I got. Hilarious!

 One smile :)

 One second, Jack says, "Mom, I feel rain drops!"

 Two seconds later, it is a solid downpour! No joke, the craziest rain I've ever seen. We have had rain like this when I was out driving and it scares me to death to drive in it. The roads get flooded and you can hardly see because it's raining so hard. Love to watch the storms from inside my house, but not so much on the road.

 Anderson wouldn't brave the rain for me to get a picture, and Jack I had to bribe. He thought it was pretty fun though.

"Aagghhh!! Mom, I'm getting soaked!!"

Pretty fun for a rainy afternoon.

Anderson

Anderson is now officially two years old. How does this happen? How does the time go by so fast? How does he go from being a tiny little baby, to a toddler in what seems like overnight? I'm not sure how it happened, but here we are. He has grown up so much, especially since we got to MS. He is talking a ton, sleeping in a bed, has no binky, and runs and jumps around trying to be as big as his brother. When he says something though, you have to acknowledge him and repeat what he said or he will keep saying it over, and over until you do. He's very good at saying thank you and you're welcome. One of my favorite thing that he says right now is when it is dark, he looks at you with a scared face and says, "Scarwy.....ghostes." He says it really quiet and it is so cute. We have been reading some fun little Halloween books lately and him and Jack went on a ghost hunt together. He has been saying it ever since.

He has been so much fun for us. He made going from one kid to two, so easy. He loves to ride scooters, and draw with sidewalk chalk. He loves trains, airplanes, making "buildings" out of blocks, Mater and Lightening McQueen, dance parties, and pretending to cook with Jack. He loves to color. He can sit and be entertained with it forever. 

He is still a terrible eater. He has added a few things to his menu but not very many. He is a pain to feed. Hopefully by his next birthday, I will have a different story.

He LOVES Jack. They sit in their room at night talking and laughing and singing songs together. There have been many times when I can't understand what Anderson is saying, and Jack will interpret it for me. I'm glad they have each other.

Anderson has been requesting a "Choo, choo" birthday ever since we had Justin's birthday party. He was SO excited when he saw the little Thomas picture on top of the cupcakes. I wish I had a picture of his face when he saw it.

I saw these colored cupcakes on Our Best Bites website and thought I would try them. I thought they turned out really cute. The pink was supposed to be more red, but didn't quite get dark enough. I think the food coloring gels would have worked better.

Jack and our friend Lilly. She is in preschool with Jack. We had the whole dental crew over for the party.

Anderson has also been singing Happy Birthday to himself and practicing blowing out the candles. Hopefully I can get him singing the song on video sometime, because it is priceless. One of the cutest things I have ever heard. 

Jack was "helping" Anderson and showing him what he got. I love the excitement they get after opening each present.

His new bike helmet was one of the favorites. :)

Man, we love this little boy. He is so sweet and fun to be around. He has his moments of being a little stinker, but for the most part, he is so fun. He is a LOT less naughty than someone else I knew at this age, who will remain nameless.

I still feel like he should be this little.

This is a picture from his first birthday. I LOVE the hair! I mean, there aren't very many babies who are cuter than this. I get to say that because I am his mom, but we just look at him every day and can't believe how cute he is. People say he looks like me :)

Happy Birthday Anderson! 

We love you!