Photos at an old cabin...

Keyton outside the cabin...

Garrison outside the cabin...

They loved this cabin!

Yesterday after church, we all decided to take a drive and look for cute spots for a few fall picture. The leaves are falling so quickly this year that it is hard to find a place with a tree still full of beautiful leaves. Dana. however, knew of this old cabin that was barely still standing. This made a good backdrop for a few cute pictures. the sun was shining so brightly that I had to fight with shadows in many places I wanted to take their pictures. We got a few and had a fun time together as a family. We will probably go back out this week and try to take some more! I love taking pictures of my sweet little guys! They make the best little models for me!

Trick or Treat!

Two army guys...

Me and my precious little guys!

The boys were so excited to get their "fancy" army costumes on this evening! They liked the fun stuff we were able to round up. The best thing about these costumes is the fact that they will play with them over and over for a long time to come! They looked very cute and had a good time going out for some trick or treat fun! They got loads of candy that I am sure will start to disappear very quickly once their daddy gets home from work later! ;-) After a TWO day halloween celebration...we are finally finished with costume changes! I wonder what they will want to be next year?!?

Halloween Parade 2009...

"two headed scary monster"

"Enos Strait"

"Boss Hogg"

"Boss & Enos"

I love these little characters!!!

We always have a Halloween parade at school every year. It is tons of fun! This year, Garrison wanted to be something scary! So, I just threw a white pillow case over him, ripped out some holes and rigged up a couple of masks that we got at the auction a few weeks ago. The best part was that Keyton and several other second graders were all getting together to be the cast of The Dukes of Hazzard. That is our favorite show ever! Keyton was Enos. However, a couple nights before the parade, some of the mothers of the other kids called to tell me that the "Boss Hogg" had backed out and wondered if Garrison would fill in. I asked him if he would care to walk out there with the second graders and be Boss Hogg. His head immediately began to swell. He looked at me and said, "Yeah, I wondered why they didn't ask me in the first place!" He was so funny! We finally got an outfit together and he was so perfect for the part! It worked out perfectly because he was shorter than all of them just like Boss was on the show! Everyone loved it! He got the biggest kick out of participating with the "big kids!" It was a hoot! Keyton really enjoyed getting to show off his baby brother too! We went after school to get their "trick or treating" outfits together. They just like to dress up a little when they go out so it is easier to get in and out of the car so much. This year they wanted to be "army" guys so we gathered a few odd and ends from the Dollar Tree and they are all set for tomorrow!

A walk and a ride...

Thanks for the calories! ;-)

Garrison wanted me to make a picture of him...

And one of Keyton too...

A pretty view from my driveway...

The cutest moment of the walk...

Brothers make the best buddies!

All aboard and ready to ride...

There goes my "prairie dudes!"

Yesterday, Christopher sent me a text letting me know he was on his way over to visit...with ice cream cake for the boys! I only told them he was coming with a surprise and boy were they excited! As soon as they saw him pull up they asked if they needed to shut their eyes! So they did! They were super excited when they saw it. He even got it with green icing! (Their favorite color: John Deere!) So, they ate until their tummies were full and we decided to go for a walk and enjoy the beautiful day! We had a great time. It was so pretty and all of the trees are getting so gorgeous! I am glad I took my camera. Garrison got tired and asked to take several "breaks." He even made Christopher carry him a few times. Poor Christopher! As we got to the top of our driveway, he needed another break and asked Keyton to sit down with him. He leaned over in Keyton's lap and it was just adorable! When we got back down to the house, Dana called and he was on his way back from a horse & buggy ride he had taken with a neighbor. (He had been looking forward to this so much! He loves this kind of stuff!) Well, they were almost back to our house and he said that if I would bring the boys up to the top of the driveway, they could ride from there to the man's house with them! Talk about excited!!! So, I hurried them up there and off they went! They talked about it the rest of the night! I loved listening to them tell about it! Dana wants us to have horses with a wagon of our own someday. The boys would love that!

Future teachers?

Double checking the answers!

Good job Whitney!

Watch him carefully!

Do what he said Whitney!

Whitney came over to visit again the other evening and Keyton decided to give her his spelling test. He made her number her paper and only gave her a minute to look over the words. He was very careful when grading it and very please when she made a 100! He even gave her a smiley face! Garrison decided to get in on things too and he handed her a sheet of paper and told her to draw whatever he did! He made sure she made the exact thing he made or she had to do it over! Then she asked him if he could make a W for her name. She showed him how and to the surprise of us all, he made it like a pro! He got really happy when we all bragged on him! Keyton called him a genius! Then she asked if he could make an A for her last name and he did that too! It was the funniest thing! Keyton was in awe of him! Garrison started saying"How did I do that?" Keyton said, "I don't know but you will blow them away at school when you go!" It was so funny! Whitney goat a kick out of it too. The boys always have so much fun with her! They begged her to spend the night. (As they always do!) She is going to try to make plans to do that again real soon!

These boys take their teaching very serious...Maybe they are going to follow in my footsteps. Keyton said he didn't think he could handle that but Garrison keeps saying he is going to be a teacher or principal so he can work with me every day! That will be just fine with me!

New Wheels...

Watch that big boy go!!!

My baby is growing up!

Keyton took a little break to watch...

He said this would look like a commercial!

A while back when we were at Wal-Mart, Keyton wanted me to let Garrison see if he could reach the pedals on a bicycle with training wheels. He thought he might be getting tall enough to move up from the tricycle. Sweet big brother! He could ride it! They were both so excited! However, we did not get one that day. We decided to wait. So, last week on fall break, Garrison left his tricycle in the driveway and Dana kinda messed up the front wheel with his tires! (oops!) Garrison was devastated at first but Keyton assured him that he could fix it so he could ride it. A couple of days later, we thought the boys needed a little break from one another so we convinced them to split up: Garrison was going to Cookeville with me and my mom and Keyton was going to stay here with his daddy! Keyton said they had "a ton of farming to get done around here!" He is so funny! Garrison had a hard time being split up from Keyton. he really wanted him to go! So, Keyton had the idea that if he went with me, maybe we would get him a bicycle. So, Garrison asked Dana (through many tears) if he would let me buy one. How could he say no, right? That helped a little but when we started to leave, Garrison cried and continued to do so for about a mile. After that, he was a complete angel for the rest of the day! We had a great time together. I think it was a very good thing because sometimes I worry that he doesn't get enough one-on-one time like Keyton did at this age. It was a blast spending the day with him and he was so sweet and happy picking out his bicycle! He thought he was really big!!! He could hardly wait to show Keyton! The weather has kept him from riding it very much except on the porch, but yesterday, they had fun riding together in the yard. I was so proud of Keyton for wanting Garrison to have something like this, because most times, they struggle with the "if one gets something, the other does too" syndrome!!! I have two very sweet boys who love each other SO MUCH even though....they fight a little every day!

Arrested...for cuteness...

Police and Prisoner...

Who could resist that adorable face?

The boys were playing POLICE yesterday. (What day do they not play this?) I was in the living room catching up on my shows recorded on the DVR. (It is fall break, you know!) So, they came through and I heard Keyton saying, "Now, don't worry...you won't have to work too hard, but our prisoners DO have to do some work around here." I looked up to see the cutest sight ever! Keyton had on his "police" shirt and they had gotten a denim shirt out of the closet and were calling it the "prisoner shirt." Garrison has never worn this shirt yet so it was a surprise to see him in it. He looked absolutely adorable. They were playing their parts well. Keyton was being very comforting and reassuring and Garrison even seemed to look a little nervous and scared. Keyton was a nice officer and told Garrison that he could see his Mommy before he had to start working. He said he could even kiss me. Keyton said that Garrison was a little scared but that he was going to take it easy on him. They went to work! I am not sure what the job was but I am surprised they didn't bust down the front door! After the task was complete, Keyton brought the prisoner back by for another hug and kiss before returning him to his cell! They are so funny and they take their role-playing very seriously! I don't know what Garrison did to get arrested but I am guessing it had something to do with being too stinkin' cute!

Movie Date...

Who are these guys in disguise?

Of course they are my two favorite guys!!!

A couple of weeks ago I won two free movie tickets on the radio. The boys were super excited! We usually do not go to the BIG movie theater very often since it is so expensive. We normally wait to go to one closer to home that is always $2.00. So, since we had free tickets, we planned to go today because on Tuesdays, they have something called "Stimulus Tuesday" which means that popcorn and drinks are all $1.00 each!!! Free tickets and $1.00 food: GOOD TIMES!!! We got to our seats just in time before they turned off the lights. Everything worked out perfectly! We watched Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs. It was a 3D movie and it was really good! Keyton kept thinking things were hitting him! Garrison said he only liked the good parts and not the sad parts. They were such good boys! After the movies, we went to Big-Lots and looked at EVERYTHING in the store! They were very good in there as well and they got to ride the little rides on the outside of the store when we left. We then ate at Subway and stopped at the Dollar General Market on the way home. It was a super day for a movie date with my two sweet boys! They said I was a very cool Mommy to hang out with all day long! We will definitely have to have more days like this!!!

Our fall display...

The cutest fall display ever....

because of these two sweet guys!

I love fall so much! I always want to create a lovely fall display and something always stands in my way. Usually it is the fact that Dana will not cooperate in helping me get some of the items I need like the bales of hay. We usually only have big round bales instead of square bales. This year we had both! So, I took the situation into my own hands...with a little help from my boys! I loaded two bales up on my four-wheeler and hauled them up to the yard. then the next day, we picked up the pumpkins because we happened to be at Wal-Mart. The day after that, we stopped on the way home and got us some mums. Having all of that, we set to work...I began the decorating and the boys helped me find other accessories we had in the shed such as the hoe and the pitchfork. I asked the boys if they would like to pick up some walnuts to add to it. I expected they would not last long since that is actual "real work." However, much to my surprise, together they picked up two five gallon buckets full! They were very proud of this accomplishment! They were real excited that I used their wagons in the display. The side of the display with the smallest wagon is "Garrison's side." The side with the biggest wagon is "Keyton's side." They refer to them as "their sides" so when I asked to make a picture of them today...they had to get on the appropriate sides! We still have some corn stalks to tie together and place behind the display, but I think it turned out quite nicely!

The boys just love it! I just love them!

Playground Fun!

My two favorite guys!

Just a swingin'...

Slide on down...

Down the tunnel...

Bounce bounce...

Climbing fun...

Coming down...

A few weekend ago, the boys wanted to go to the school playground and play. Keyton thought it would be a big deal to show Garrison around and Garrison thought it was a big deal to get to play where the big kids do! A win-win situation! It was a little rainy this day and we ran all of our errands to try to take up time so it might quit. It was still drizzling when we got finished and I suggested we just go home but I was met with a great deal of arguments! So...we got out and after we were there about 5 minutes, the sun came out and it turned into a beautiful day! Of course, Keyton then said, "Who was right, Mommy?" I have no idea where he gets that from! :-) We ended up having a great day at the playground. I learned that Keyton had been a little nervous on swings and see-saws ever since he had started school. He had never told me this before! It just about broke my heart! However, with a little coaching from me, he soon loved both of them! It was so sweet. He said, "Mommy, you have helped me get over two of my fears!" Ever since then, he has been a swinging sensation! Garrison thinks he is so much bigger now that he got to play where the kids that go to school play! He was looking over toward the Pre-K playground and checking it out to see what all they had to play with. He has been asking if I will sign him up next year. He said, "I think I would like to go to PRETTY-K next year!" We will see what the future holds for him. Keyton said he would probably be the smartest little boy to ever go to Pretty-K! They are such little joys!