Weekend of Fun

One of our friends- Isabella turned 1 recently and she had a "dress up" Halloween themed birthday party yesterday afternoon! Although Tallon did not take a nap yesterday (except for maybe a 30 min catnap on the couch), he had a BLAST at the party. He jumped in the bounce house, played in the cars and ran around like a little boy (in his lion outfit)!! It was so fun getting to see hear him "roar" and pretend to be a lion- soo cute!!
Happy Birthday Isabella!

Tallon in the bounce house!
Sweet Clara Beth- a little chick!
CB was nice enough to push Tallon in the car!! Tal sure does love his cousins!!!!

Makgill and Alana playing! I just love their expressions!Tallon LOVES his cousin "Mak" (as Tal calls him)

I just love this picture with both of their "tails"!

These cars are soo fun- especially when their is another child to push you!

My little lion!
Is he cute or what!!!!!
I just love this outfit- Thanks soooo much for making it Mom- you did a FANTASTIC job!!!

Sunday afternoon- Aron, Collin, Makgill and Clara Beth had a pumpkin carving party. They had a great turnout and it was nice and cool for the party- definitely feels like Fall now!!! =) We had a blast and appreciate ya'll having us over- we think you should definitely make this an "annual event"!!! I am sure that Collin and Aron had lots more (and better quality) photos on their blog- so be sure to check it out!

Tallon enjoyed having Boom Boom and LiLi at the party- they were fantastic and
played with him while I helped Reeves carve the pumpkins!

Reeves working on our pumpkin!

The Lemaster family starting on their pumpkin!

Quality father and daughter time- sweet Claudia and her dad!
while mommy gets started on their pumpkin!=)

Tallon and Anna riding in the jeep!

The jeep was a HUGE hit and somebody was playing in it constantly!

Sweet Olivia and her pumpkin- soo glad she is feeling better and could make the party!

Collin getting ready to carve the Smith family "pirate ship pumpkin"
Makgill picked out the template and it was pretty amazing- too bad I did not get a picture of the finished pumpkin- it was "very cool"!

The Granger's- Brandon had one of the most "intricate designs"-
must have something to do with his landscaping ability!

Reeves did a fantastic job carving our pumpkins- all 3 of them!
We carved one "happy face" pumpkin for oujr house and than we carved
a "USC" pumpkin for Reeves' parents and a "BAMA" pumpkin for my parents!

LiLi helping all 3 of her grandchildren with the jeep!

My serious little boy!

who could forget baby Evelyn-
she had her own pumpkin keeping watch close by!

Family Fun

We usually keep Olivia every other Wednesday evening ( we trade off babysitting and date nights with her parents=) and this week was our turn. So I woke up Wed morning and made some homemade sugar cookie dough- I figured the kids would love decorating sugar cookies! Unfortunately, Olivia was sick so she did not get to come over. Reeves, Tallon and I still decorated the cookies- Tallon LOVED putting the sprinkles on the cookies and only wanted to eat the sprinkles off the cookies once they came out of the oven- silly boy! We had a wonderful evening hanging out, playing with trucks and trains and decorating yummy cookies!


My 2 guys decorating cookies!

My silly little pumpkin!!
Daddy and Tallon- so proud of their cookies!

A Recipe worth trying!

so... I have always thought of myself as a "stay at home mom who cooks pretty often"! Well, we are going thru Dave Ramscey's Financial Peace Course and I am beginning to understand why my husband is such a fanatic when it comes to budgeting, saving and our money. ( I know that some of my family- mainly my brother=) think that Dave is a little fanatical and I can see where he gets it from but I also have enjoyed learning from him- atleast I am not bored listening to the DVDs. I have always been thankful that he is such a good money manager (after all- his good management has helped me stay home with my son, but this course has taught me A LOT about 401Ks, insurance (the different types), saving, budgeting, etc. It has been fantastic! So now I am even more on board and where I used to just run by fast food when I was tired and out around lunchtime, I am now heading home! (Don't worry- I am still enjoying an occasional time out eating lunch with family or friends) Anyways- I have also been on the hunt for yummy, easy recipes ( as easy as possible considering I have a VERY busy toddler under my care!!) Here is one recipe that some friends of ours- the Hayhoe family shared and I tried it out last Thursday- ABSOLUTELY delicious- will definitely be making this one again in the very near future.... maybe next week=) =) and if I hear or find any other recipes worth sharing- I will definitely pass them on! If you try this meal- let me know what you think!!!

Chicken with Creamy Chive Sauce

1 ½ lb chicken strips or breasts

2 T butter

1 package Italian salad dressing mix

1 can golden mushroom soup

½ cup dry white wine

½ of an 8oz tub lite cream cheese with chives and onion

Hot cooked whole wheat pasta

Place chicken in 3 or 4 quart slow cooker.

Melt butter in saucepan; stir in dry Italian dressing, soup, wine, and cream cheese.

Pour over chicken

Cover and cook on low setting 4-5 hours (or bake at 325 for one hour)

Papa and Nana's Sunroom!

My Nana and Papa have been adding on a sunroom to the home the past few weeks. I had intended to take pictures all throughout the process but did not quite end up doing that! Tallon and I headed over there this afternoon to check out the sunroom- the floor was recently done so it is almost completed! I love it! It is huge and should be a great place to hang out and visit at their home!

Nana and Papa

The view from outside of the new addition
(with Tallon and Bama)

Pop instructing Tallon to throw the ball to Bama
(not that Tallon needs any instruction on what to do with a ball- this kid lives for balls......
and trucks and trains!!

There goes the ball
He has definitely got a good arm!

Tallon watching as Bama goes after the ball!

The new floor in the sunroom-Isn't it pretty! I LOVE IT!

Mimi in the sunroom!

Shell Island

Our friends- the Grangers and the Pattersons both have boats and they had planned a day trip to Georgetown to take the boats out to Shell Island and invited us to join them!! When Tallon woke up Sunday morning- Reeves was soo excited to tell him we were going on a boat- THIS KID GOT SOOO EXCITED!! He LOVES Pop's boat and kept asking for Pop and Mimi and we kept saying - No- we are going with Dr. Brian, Mrs. Kristin and Anna. We headed down to Georgetown, made a quick stop at the Walmart to pick up lunch and got on the boat. Tallon and Anna BOTH love the boat and it was fun watching them wave at other boats as they passed by and just GRIN over being in the boat. Tallon especially loved it because Dr. Brian would go "FAST"!!

Here is the Granger and Sims clan on the boat

Mrs. Kristin and Anna

Tallon and Daddy riding on Dr. Brian's boat!
Once we arrived at Shell Island- we hopped off the boats and the kids quickly started playing in the sand. Anna was all ready to fill her bucket up!
The clan getting ready to go looking for shells!

I love this picture of my sweet boy (click on picture to enlarge it)

Anna and Tallon quickly got to work digging up sand to fill up the buckets!

Wait- what is this- STICKS!

We dug a hole and Tallon had a blast getting in and out of it!

Brian, Reeves and Brandon talking by the boat!

Anna sharing a shell with Tallon!

Lilah and Tallon both eating a cookie and looking for shells!

My 2 boys!!!!
(click on picture to enlarge)

It was a fantastic day. We LOVE the water and thoroughly enjoyed getting to spend time with our friends! We came home with 2 HUGE buckets of beautiful shells!! Thanks soo much for the invite Brian, Kristin and Anna!!

Trip to the Beach

Tallon and Mimi waiting outside the restaurant after lunch!

Nana and Papa are building a sunroom ( more pictures on that to come) and so we headed down to the beach with them and Mimi to look for some new furniture! Although I think Tallon is still hoping they will just keep the room empty so he can RUN all around it!!! =) =)

They picked out some beautiful.... and comfy ( this is important you know) furniture and than they treated us to a yummy Fried Shrimp lunch ( I still get a kick out of the fact that my child actually eats fried shrimp!!) .

Since the afternoon was early, we headed to the outlets to shop! Although I did not find anything, Papa checked out... and bought some Delicious fudge ( which he was kind enough to share!!) and Mimi and I found several cute shirts for Tallon and some big boy brown shoes!! Papa also treated Tallon to a "truck ride"- you know one of those rides that cost 75 cents and last for only a minute or 2. I missed getting to see Tallon's expressions but I heard that he LOVED IT- THANKS PAPA! I usually let Tallon sit in them but so far..... I have not given in and given him any money to actually "ride" the rides... I am sure the day is coming!!
We have a great day hanging out with Nana, Papa and Mimi. The few pictures I took did not turn out well so I will have to try to grab some good ones of Tallon with his great-grandparents on another day- he sure does LOVE them lots!!!

Happy Birthday LiLi

We are a little late posting this... but

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILI!!
WE LOVE YOU LOTS!!!LiLi with her 2 grandsons at a recent trip to the zoo!!