Build-A-Bear

Over the weekend while at our local "mega mall", Hayden made his first "build-a-bear" and had a great time. He picked a Panda bear, helped stuff it, picked out clothes and then named him. He is very much into action figures right now so it was no surprise that he chose the Spiderman outfit and named him Spider Panda... Too cute!!!

Home-made Crayons

I came across a great idea for all of those broken crayons that seem to pile up at our house - make new crayons! Basically, you peel the crayons, place in a cooking tin that you don't mind not using again, bake on 200 for 18 minutes, cool, and voila! This was something that Hayden loved doing. To make these as gifts, I bought dollar store crayons and let Hayden break them up and decide what colors to go where. Great way to get them involved. Here are some pictures of the process.

Before baking...

After baking while cooling...

Voila!

Fun

I found this cute site where you enter your blog and it scans the words and creates this out of the most commonly used words. I love it.

Addie's Birthday

Hayden's cousin, Addison, turned 3 on November 15th and we partied hard (well, as hard as a 3 year old can party). She had a princess themed party with invitations made by yours truly.
All of the kids played and had a great time. Aunt Lacey did a great job with the cupcakes and snacks! Addison was so excited to open gifts. This girl got lots of loot!!! Here are a few pictures to capture the essence of being 3 and watching your "Grandpa" put together your pink "darbie" (not barbie, but darbie, as explained by Addie to me) horse with wings.




After presents and cake was the pinata! Boy can those kids swing a bat!!!

Here's Grandma playing with the birthday girl...

Bryson playing with girl toys. Hang on buddy, boy toys are coming your way!



Birthday girl with the darbie horse.


A tired Uncle Justin in his princess hat.

Overall, a great time was had by all! Happy Birthday little girl!!!!!

Everyone has a job

Hayden has a standing tradition of being the designated candle blowing helper on birthdays. Here's the evidence of our latest birthday...

The cake was great (made by Noona) and I'm sure everyone enjoyed a little slice of Hayden with each piece :)

Hello...Hello...Anyone still there?

We are alive, contrary to our absence in the blogging world. It's been rather crazy and not a whole lot going on at the same time. Hayden is pretty much at the age that it's what he says that is so amazing rather than what he does. Being 3 1/2 is hard business! Some of my favorite things he says...

Hayden: "Mom, I'm going to sleep in my belly tonight."
Translation: Mom, I don't want to sleep in my jammies tonight, just my underwear.

Hayden: "I'm going to punk"
Translation: I'm going to hit you (nice, I know)

Hayden (getting undressed for bath time and his shirt caught on his head): "Mom, this is my long hair"

Hayden: "My bottom popped."
Translation: Gas (lovely I know but he thinks it's hilarious)

Hulk Hands & the Atkins' Zoo

We had a busy weekend with lots of fun! To start it off, Hayden and I went to the Jump Zone on Saturday with Justin, Addison and Bryson so that the kids could run some energy off. They loved it!!!

On Sunday, Hayden got a surprise from Brian - Hulk Hands!!! You would have thought it was his birthday or Christmas - he's that excited about them. He had a good time playing "hulk muscles", as he calls it, with Brian. He loves that they make noise when you hit them on something or just swing them. I tried to play with him last night and he told me that I couldn't because I was a girl and that only boys can play with them. Hilarious!!!

After a few hours with the "hulk muscles", we had lunch with Brian's family at the Catfish House to celebrate his grandmother's birthday and then went to Uncle Mike's zoo to look at the new animals added.

Arthur, the camel, has grown so much from last year.

They have a new little big as the other one has gotten bigger. The kids enjoyed chasing him around and hearing him squeal.


We also saw goats, emus, turkeys, peacocks, a llama and little donkeys (mom & son).

Jump Zone

Clarksville has finally made it on the map! We have a Jump Zone!!!!!

On Saturday, Hayden attended a birthday party at the Jump Zone and had a blast. Here are a few pictures of his fun-filled afternoon.

Climbing up...


Sliding down on his belly...

Here's another on his belly...

Halloween Preview

Don't you love the poses...

Hunter in the Making

Over the weekend, Brian decided to work a bit on his duck and goose calls. I was able to catch a bit of video of Hayden and Brian practicing together in the garage. It's too adorable not to share.

Farm Boy

Aren't these the cutest? Having a photographer in the family is a total bonus - especially when she's your sister!!! These are taken on Uncle Michael's farm in the tobacco field. He also wanted to work on a tractor so you'll see a bit of dirt on him. To see a few more, go to www.birdeyephotography.blogospot.com and check out what Toot Toot Beth has been up to!

Water Guns

Hayden got a set of water guns for his birthday and absolutely loves them! He's a boy true and true. We pulled out the slip-n-slide and the neighbor kids came over for some water action.

Sabbatical

We are still alive! It's been pretty busy between work and play and I've not taken the time to post anything but rather to enjoy spending time with the family. I've got a few things ready to post over the next couple of days so stay tuned!

More Fishing

Since it was so nice on Sunday, Brian and his best friend, Brett, took their boys out on the Kentucky Lake for some fishing. This was Hayden's first time in a boat so I was a bit nervous, aside from some thoughts of a 2 year old and a 3 year old getting board on a boat in the middle of a lake. With life jackets on, they were set!


If you know Brian and Brett at all, you will know that their children are their "mini-me" selves. These pictures are too adorable not to share.

(Hayden on left, Connor on right,
Don't they look like 2 little old men?!?)

(Connor wanting to drive the boat)

(Posing with Brian and their prize fish)

(Brett showing Hayden how to hold it and throw it back)

(Sleepy boys)