Uncle Mark and Jennifer gave the kids their presents before we left for Ohio. All the gifts were a big hit! The kids gave Uncle Mark a frog mug for his collection.

Uncle Mark gave Brandon a set of Star Wars Legos - Brandon's most wished for toy this year. He was thrilled.

Laedyn got a set of My Little Pony toys. She too was thrilled.

Jennifer gave Brandon a train he can build and paint. He wanted to do it right then and there. Having to leave it behind to do when our travels are over was rather traumatic for him. Laedyn got a cute little purse with a duck in it. She huged and kissed the duck. I don't think she's quite knows what to do with the purse yet!

Atashi came to visit us a few weeks back. It was a short visit but we had a great time hanging out. Unfortunately it rained most of the time she was here, so we couldn't take her out to see much, but we did make it out to Pinnacle Mountain where we walked up to the overlook.Some serious conversation.... followed by the fine art of chocolate martini making.

Then we played Dance Dance Revolution late into the night. Nick crashed about 2 am, while Atashi and I continued to dance and laugh until around 3:30... Are we getting too old for this???? Nah ... !! They were unstoppable!Atashi's visit overlapped Mom & Dad being here by one evening. Brandon was disappointed Mamo & Papa weren't going to be at the campground where they could have a bonfire and toast marshmallows, so Papa rigged up a "firepit" for Brandon's toasted marshmallow craving. He took an old kitchen pot and drilled some holes in it. Then he got some metal mesh and hung it on some hooks inside the pot. He built the fire under the mesh with some newspaper and kindling -- just enough blaze for marshmallows. When we were done, the lid snuffed out the flame. Pretty cleverly done Papa! Brandon was thrilled...

The last couple of pictures from the family visiting ... Papa did some reading with Laedyn. She's all about sitting and reading these days. Art & Nick crawled under the house to clear out loose lumber. Our termite control people wouldn't certify us this yezar until it was completed. Yuck! Look at all the junk they found under the house. An old mantle, pieces of an old radio flyer wagon, rusty paint cans....not to mention all the fallen insulation. Hmmm - I guess that's a job for another day!

Last month while all the various family members were visiting, we decided to go to the Rebsamen Park soccer fields and fly a kite. It turned out to be a beautiful day - clear and windy - perfect for our objective. It was also quite COLD!!! We had a veritable crowd for the expedition ... left to right, Audrey (Nick's Mom), Art, Mark and my Mom [aka Mamo]. My Dad [aka Papa] & Brandon are in the background building the kite. Papa set up shop on the perimeter wall and began the kite assembly process.

While Papa was working on the kite, Nick and Laedyn were out on the soccer fields running off some pre-kite flight steam. Laedyn was pretty pleased with herself for having gained possession of the "moon & star" ball.This shot was just too cute to pass up (in my humble & unbiased opinion...)Mamo settled into a bagchair with her Nikon and a warm jacket to observe. It was pretty darn chilly down by the river that afternoon & the wind, although great for our planned activities, made it extra shivery.Brandon waited impatiently as the grown up male folk decided the best method of getting the kite aloft. Laedyn wasn't quite sure what everyone was doing, but was interested none the less. She always wants to be in the middle of everything. Nick made the first attempt at flying the kite. Not bad! Everybody stepped back to give Brandon some room to fly solo. Much higher than Daddy!
Brandon quickly figured it all out and made it look easy! The kite made two escape attempts. The first time the string broke, Nick chased it to it's landing area at the far end of the soccer fields. Dad & I reeled the string back in, unknotted some the tangled mess it had become, and tied some hefty knots in it before reattaching it to the kite. Alas - our knotting was to no avail. The minute the kite got some good altitude going the string snapped again. This time, the kite had some serious escape plans. Nick had to go on the other side of a tall chain link fence and trek through dense underbrush to make a recovery.

In the end Nick saved the kite ... yeah Nick! Brandon was disappointed he couldn't join Nick on the other side of the fence, but was happy to get his kite back.

Our obsession with Mariocart Wii has seriously cut into any spare time I might have otherwise devoted to updating this blog... So - here's a little evidence of our addiction!

While Nick was playing, Brandon helped me put out Christmas decorations. This is the ONLY picture I took of any decorating we did. I'll take some completed pictures later, but otherwise - that's it.

My parents arrived in Little Rock two days after Audrey & Art arrived. We all went out to U.S. Pizza for dinner. Mom & Dad were impressed with the new location that just opened in Hillcrest.
Our end of the table was in high good spirits...
Brandon was all about the cheese dip.

At the other end of the table, Art & Dad appear to have been having a very serious conversation.

Audrey was next to Laedyn & enjoyed watching her antics- she behaved very well really.

As long as the crackers and corn chips are flowing freely, she's content. The pizza - she's not so interested in. Weird!

Election night candid. Audrey & Art were here for a week visiting & it happened to fall during the election. That's also my excuse for such a late breaking post! We've had a deluge of visitors that sarted on election night. Things are finally getting back to normal.

A current comparison of Laedyn with Brandon when he was the same age.

Another Fall Festival - this time at Calvary Baptist Church. Our friends, the Lombeidas, invited us to join them and we had a great time. Juan and Heather have 3 little girls. The oldest is Brandon's age and the youngest is 6 months. Nick and Juan know each other from UAMS. After spending some time watching Brandon and the girls play various carnival type games, Nick took charge of Laedyn and spent a good amount of time in the toddler area.

How appropriate is this background??? There was a bucket full of bugs and the kids were supposed to throw them at the spider web. If the kids got one to stick, they got a piece of candy.

Master fisherman Spider-Brandon He caught a Hot Wheels car, much to his delight! There was a "hay wagon" set up for photo opportunities. Brandon rarely turns down one of those!

Brandon also got his face painted - with a spider of course...

Other attractions included mini golf putting, ring toss, tennis, bounce houses, bowling, balloon animals, cotton candy and a cake walk. I participated in the cake walk (my very first one) and actually won a cake. I let Brandon choose and he picked out a plate containing four star shaped banana breads. They were delicious.

Nick and I undertook pumpkin carving for the first time this year if you can believe that! I've always purchased pumpkins to carve & somehow we would never get around to it. It's amazing what gets done when a 4 year old is persistent in begging for it! Here's Brandon's first look at pumpkin innards. He thought it was gross - especially after touching it. I removed alot by hand and then Nick followed up with a big spoon.

The first cut using one of the carving tools that came with the pattern book.Laedyn wanted to get started on pumpkin #2. She tried so hard to pick it up & was very frustrated that the pumpkin was so terribly heavy...

Jack o'lantern chosen by Brandon out of a pattern book. Figures he'd choose something so detailed for Nick's first year carving! Great job Nick!!! jack o'lantern designed by Brandon:

When we were at the Wildwood harvest festival, Brandon got a mini pumpkin. He wanted to carve it, but I convinced him it was better to paint Lilliputian pumpkins... I was surprised he didn't put a face on it, just made it very colorful. I'm calling it the "patchwork pumpkin."

Wildwood Park for the Performing Arts held a Fall Festival this year with local musicians, local food & beverage, activities for the kids & a wonderful setting on a lake in the woods. We'd never been out to the property, so we decided this was a good opportunity to check it out. Comedy & Tragedy got into the spirit of the season...One of the local elementary schools built this recycle sculpure. Brandon was obviously impressed.Outside of the theater, there was a peaceful little garden with benches. I hoped to get a lovely picture of well behaved, serenely smiling, decorous siblings ... this was the best of the bunch. At least they are happy! Brandon got to do some crafts on "Pumpkin Hill." First he made a hobo sack on a stick which had a delicious Jolly Rancher inside.

After the hobo sack project, Brandon got to be more creative and use markers, glue and construction paper to create a paper bag puppet. This is the scarecrow he made. After doing the crafts, he told us "the Fall Festival wasn't so boring after all" ... yes he did say it just like that too.While Brandon was busy crafting, Laedyn checked out the pumpkins. She was excited to be able to touch and carry them around.Climbing on haybales wasn't bad either... An unusual moment of introspection!

Brandon made a new friend - Daisy the Scarecrow. We ran into her several times during our visit & Brandon didn't ever want to let her continue her wanderings. He REALLY liked Daisy & had to be pried away from her on several occasions.See ... I let Nick have the camera from time to time! This little canopy is near the performance stage. Performers were amplified, but the lake really allowed the music to reach every corner of the property in an unobtrusive manner. I look forward to going back again just for the music and ambiance!After wandering around the Wildwood grounds and seeing all that the Fall Festival had to offer, we took over a deck with a table and let the kids play. It was very relaxing. The weather was beautiful, the music surrounded us as it echoed over the lake, and the kids were content. Music soothes the savage beasts??? At the far end of the lake is a little pavilion where people can sit and enjoy the view. It had stairs that lead directly into the water - I guess you can dangle your feet into the lake if you want. We preferred to simply watch the schools of little fish darting around under the surface. On our way out we stopped near the entrance where they had a tractor set up for people to climb on and have their pictures taken. Brandon climbed up all by himself and refused to let us help him...

He didn't mind having Laedyn come up and join him for a picture once he'd had a few moments up there all by himself. She was pretty excited by the experience too, and cried when it was time to get down & head home.