Eating the Unedible

So the little boy that loves to eat decided to try to eat some of Noah's ornaments that he made at school. I think he discovered that glitter covered foam doesn't taste that great. By the way, earlier this week he walked up to me with a "Beggin' Strip" dog treat hanging out of his mouth. That was about enough to make me sick. I guess he thought it was bacon- one of his favorites. Yuck!!

Puppy Entertainment!

I guess at this point you can tell that I've been VERY behind on my blogging! Finally have some time to catch up some this morning so everything's making it on here at the same time. One night last week, Noah decided Bones might need a little help going to sleep and thought some lullabies with guitar accompaniment might be just what he needed. Too cute!

Holiday Visitor

Last year, we had a visit from an elf from the North Pole. He must have worked real hard to get all the toys made early, because he got to come back this year! His name is Allen and he showed up in our Christmas tree last Friday morning. Noah loves having Allen around to play with during the day. At night before bed, we sprinkle the Magic Snowflakes that Allen brought from the North Pole on him and leave out crackers and water for him to eat. That's when the fun begins. While we're sleeping, Allen gets up and plays, and usually gets into all kinds of mischief. Last year we found him hanging from the kitchen light fixture, hiding in the freezer eating popsicles, and raiding the pantry just to name a few things. Below you'll see a photo of what we found this morning. He's sitting on top of the kitchen cabinets unrolling the paper towels!

A Boy and His Dog

Having given up hope of getting that great outdoor Christmas card photo that I wanted, I decided to attempt some indoor shots around the tree this morning. Between sick kids, the weather, and the fact that Christmas is a week away, I figured it's time to take what I can get. Jackson bailed from the photo shoot after just a few shots, but Noah wanted to get more pictures of him and Bones. I wish I could somehow merge Jackson into this shot, because I just love how it turned out. Noah looks so grown up and happy to have his new puppy. (Would you ever have guessed that he still has 102 fever?)

Discovering Oreos!

Looks a little frightening I know, but it's just mushed up Oreos! David gave Jackson his first Oreo one night when I was at work and we were out of his usual dessert of graham crackers. He now recognizes the package and looks forward to having one after every meal! This is one little boy that LOVES food. This morning for breakfast he ate oatmeal, fruit, 2 biscuits, and a muffin. He then tried to steal one of Noah's uneaten biscuits. I don't know where he puts it all!

New Puppy!

Meet the newest member of our family- "Bones" Bowman. Bones (named by Noah himself) is a half Shih Tzu half Yorkie- a "Shorkie". Noah has been asking for a puppy for a long time now, so we decided to take the plunge. So far so good. Both of the boys are having lots of fun with him. He's a really sweet little puppy that loves to play, but also loves to have somebody to sleep with. He's doing real good so far on housetraining, too.

He loves to give Jackson kisses- I think he likes having another little person around.

Jackson and Bones made a Congo line yesterday.

Bones and Noah taking a snooze together on the couch.

Snuggled up to watch a movie together. Noah is definitely enjoying having a puppy around. They make good playmates.

Thanksgiving at the Beach

We just got home last night from a not so typical Thanksgiving celebration. We went with my parents and sister's family to the beach to meet up with the extended family (Charlie's kids and grandkids from Texas) to celebrate the holiday. All total we had 24 people (11 kids) in an 8 bedroom beach house. It was a little crowded at times, but all in all we couldn't have asked for a better trip. The kids had a ball. Most of the time it was perfect weather. It got a little cool in the evening, but a jacket or sweatshirt made it fine. We did have one day of rain on Saturday, but that turned out okay, too since everybody wanted to watch the Iron Bowl anyway. Roll Tide!!!

Noah and Jackson hanging out on the beach. Jackson enjoyed playing in the sand more this time than he did during the summer. Something about being out in 70 degree weather instead of 90 degree weather seemed to make it more enjoyable!
All the grandkids (and some great grandkids) in their custom made beach t-shirts. We had a little craft session one night and decorated them. They had fun with it and we were all really impressed at their creations. They weren't too happy with us when we took this picture though. It was pouring rain and we made them go out on the porch to take it. Noah in particular got very upset at getting wet and having to take his new t-shirt off! By the way- I'm thinking about doing a girls night here at the house soon and thought we might could make some shirts for the kids- let me know if you're interested. They are very cheap and easy to make.

Even though we celebrated a little differently this year, it was fun getting to go the beach again and to see everybody that we don't get to see very often. I know that Charlie enjoyed having everybody together.

It's funny that just yesterday we were at the beach looking at the beautiful sunshine, and today I've been watching snowflakes fall from the sky. We're all a little tired, and the kids are borderline sick, so it's a good day to stay inside anyway. Jackson was actually more than a little tired- he went to bed at about 8:30 last night, and slept until 10:30 this morning. I decided to wake him up then because I was getting worried that something might be wrong. He's fine other than a runny nose- I guess he just missed his bed and was glad to be home. I think we all are!