Random Shots and Thoughts

I just happened to have my camera the other day at church and I snapped these of Kingston. I think his reddish hair photographs so nicely against the light shining through the stained glass windows. He is my little buddy during the church service. I keep him occupied and entertained and Jared has Alder. The system works nicely now that it is "man on man" but what will happen when we go to "zone defense?" And not just for a 1 hour church service, but everyday with 3 little ones 3 and under? I am trying to prepare mentally, but am not really intimidated by the jump from 2 to 3 just because the jump from 1 to 2 who were 16 months apart was harrowing. We figure that will help put the jump from 2 to 3 in perspective.

There are some really sweet things about living in a small town and one of them was watching the homecoming parade last Friday. It is going to sound crazy, but it can be an emotional thing to watch such a parade. The streets are lined with seemingly everyone in town out to support the Tigers, to hear the marching band, to see the pride on the faces of the football players, coaches, cheerleaders, and the supporters. Combine all of that with the thunderous sounds of the fire trucks, police sirens, and honking cars and you may just find yourself really moved. I did. Its the heartbeat of America, a small town at its best. 

I took the boys and they absolutely LOVED it. LOVED IT! I dressed then in the school colors and tried to explain to them what it was we were about to see. Words cannot explain it and so I just let them wait, listen, and watch for the parade. 

Alder was captivated by it and it was clear that all the sounds and the spirit of the whole parade moved him too. 

Alder stood on the side and "conducted" the parade as they passed. He shook his arm with a very serious look on his face. He acted as if he was sending them off to "war" or something like that (not that he has any idea what war is). In the picture below, he may look as if he is angry, but he really just being serious and "conducting." He got a real kick out of the fact that the many floats that passed threw out candy. That was certainly an added bonus. 

Recently we made a homemade trail mix as an afternoon activity and it was a big hit. In this pictures though, it seems like Alder is whincing in pain or is not enjoying the activity. I assure you he loved the whole experience, but the kid consistently makes halirious facial expressions. Currently when he talks, he wrinkles up his nose, his brow, and squints his eyes and just talks. Oh, and at the same time he is twirling his hands. So silly.

Anyways, I just gathered a lot of "snacky" type things I had in the pantry and put them in individual bowls and then let Alder go to town by adding them to a big container. We used pistachios, chocolate covered raisins, cereal, golden raisins, crasins, sunflower seeds, cashews, and white chocolate chips. It was as easy as pie and somewhat healthy too.

And by the way, this funny-faced guy is paci free as of two weeks ago and is in a "big boy bed." He tells everyone how, "I'm a big boy and I threw my pacis away because they were broken and I a big boy." Of course taking him to Wal-Mart to pick out any toy he wanted as a reward for giving up paci helped immensely and he picked out Disney's Robin Hood. He is currently addicted to it, is Robin Hood for Halloween, and is daily practicing how to shoot his $2 bow and arrow. 

And some more random thoughts....

It is us VS. wasps right now in our house. Is anyone else having this issue? I can handle the recent influx of roaches, but wasps are a little intimidating when you have two small children and these wasps are aggressive. Between Jared and I we have killed about 15 in the last two days and I hear one right now flying against the windows in the dining room. What is the best thing to do about them?

I am 20 weeks pregnant today and still find myself struggling through each day. Seriously? This pregnancy has been so different that it still surprises me each day. But I am encouraged by the fact that I am half-way there.

Happy Hump Day!

Our recent Chattanooga visit

My two wonderful sister-n-laws and me. We are all pregnant. Les is due anyday now really, Beth is due the first of Nov. and I am due in mid-March. Its not a great picture due to the shadows of the leaves on our faces, but I figured it was the last time we all 3 would be pregnant together. All 3 of us DO NOT know what we are having so we are all very excited to find out what this next "bumper crop" of Wingfield cousins will be. I think we all think it would be super fun if all 3 of us had girls. But it seems like Wingfield men cannot produce anything but cute, wonderful, smelly, and crazy boys. I guess having 10 Wingfield boy cousins would be pretty fun too!

We went to the Zoo with cousins and my boys (who don't seem to get out much) were amazed at the animals, especially the gorilla. Can you see Kingston making the gorilla/monkey sound with his mouth? It is currently his favorite animal sound to make besides growling when you ask him, "what does Joe Joe (my Dad) say?" So strange. 

This is Kingston and Joe Joe on our way out the door for church. For the most part I look at Kingston and think, "who in the world do you look like?" To be honest, it stumps me on a daily basis and the stark difference of appearances between my children still stump me as well. But, I do think people are right when they say Kingston looks a lot like his Joe Joe. 

This is Alder and KeeKee drinking a special hot chocolate together at Cracker Barrel. It is Alder's new favorite thing to do when we got to Chattanooga. We have only been the last two times when have visited and have been to one ever before or since, but Alder talks about Cracker Barrel like it is a little piece of heaven. I guess it may have something to do with getting hot chocolate, pegs that sit on the table that can be used as swords, the toy section, and the line of rocking chairs. Who knows!

We also visited the Aquarium with cousins and Yaya. Yaya is always up for taking the boys and me to the Aquarium and it is only made more fun when we have several cousins come too.

Wilder, 2 Alder, 2 Teddy, 4 Shaw, 3 and Kingston, 1

Yaya with some of her "boys"

The boys trying their hardest to touch the "no-touch" sting rays. 

Alder enjoying the Carasouel one day. Kingston not so sure.

Kingston getting his 23rd haircut. Ok, really its only been like 7 haircuts but the kid is only like 16 months. He has such a mop of hair. Aunt Judy, the wonderful stylist, said one time when someone asked, "Judy, how does Kingston do when you cut his hair since he is so such a baby." She replied, "Well, you know, its a lot easier now that he can hold his head up." Pretty funny Aunt Judy. Yes, I think Kingston's first haircut was before he had complete head control. 

This is Kingston starring at the huge model train thingy at the Chattanooga Choo-Choo. We went one morning with my Mom and it was such a low-key and quiet little outing for the boys. They loved it and Alder really enjoyed the ride on the electric trolley. He was the Conductor's little helper. 

We love visiting Chattanooga! 

Sorely Behind and Welcome to October

Well, I am finally back to the blog after a long break. I have uploaded tons and tons of pics from the last part of the summer and from September. Jared has fully recovered from his surgery and we are glad to have Daddy back to normal. I feel like I have turned a corner with this pregnancy and that I am walking once again among the living. I have energy in the afternoons, I can swallow without wanting to throw-up, and I am overall a nicer person. I am sure those close to me are thrilled. Thank you dear family and friends for your patience with me during this time. 

We are welcoming Fall with open arms and loving the beautiful weather. We are outside most of the day playing and playing. We just got back from Chattanooga last Thursday with a bounty of wonderful gourds and pumpkins and pansies to adorn our house with. Thanks Mom for all of it! It has made the outside look so "harvesty." (I realize that this is not a word, but I love making new words. This is defiantly a Megism. :))

Anyways, I have posted the pictures of us going to the nursery to gather our pumpkins and thought I'd share. October is my favorite month (October and April actually tie).

Happy Wednesday!