I need to get a Halloween post in here, even if it is December! Gavin and I got to go with Preston's class to the pumpkin patch, which is always fun. After the tours and hay ride, everyone got to pick out a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch.

Preston insisted on being a ninja this year, he kept saying he couldn't believe how cool he looked and asking me if I ever thought my little boy would look like that. Gavin was a shark this year, I loved his costume!

Land Between The Lakes

One fall weekend we decided to go to land between the lakes to enjoy the fall leaves and nice weather. We hadn't been there before, and wanted to see what there was to do there. We went to the visitors center, the buffalo and elk reserve (where we saw no elk or buffalo, but the boys did get pretty excited about some giant caterpillars on the road!), and the homestead. We had a lot of fun, we especially liked the homestead. Here are some pictures of our day.

We are still here!

I figured I better catch this blog up before Gavin's birthday and Christmas so I don't put those posts off too! I know I haven't blogged at all lately, but I do have good reasons! I will start back at the end of August, when all chaos at our house started. Preston started school on August 14th
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He had a great teacher and had friends from last year in his class, he was happy to be back in school!
We had known for awhile that Patrick's job was going to have some changes, but figured for the most part things would stay the same. They were being sold, and when the new owners came, he was very unhappy with the way things were going. He decided to stay with the company he had been with for several years, but that meant a quick move for us. We made the decision on a Tuesday and moved on Saturday- not fun! We had been in that apartment for over 6 years! Preston had only been in school for 2 weeks, but thankfully he was excited to try another school. We only moved 30 minutes away to Bellevue, TN, but moving is NOT fun! I registered Preston for school, and when I took him to his 2nd first day of school, he had a substitute for his first day! It was total chaos in his classroom, he had no desk or hook to hang his stuff- I was just about to take him home and try again the next day when the administrator finally decided to put him in another classroom. We walked into the new classroom and it was so calm and peaceful- I felt a lot better. That day after school though, Preston said he wanted to be in the first chaotic class because it was a lot more fun!
We liked Bellevue ok, we weren't thrilled with the school, but we knew this move was only temporary. I don't think we thought it was as temporary as it ended up being though! Patrick started to look for a more permanent job, thinking it would take awhile to find something he liked better. 2 weeks later, he had a job offer we didn't want to turn down. This time we had 2 weeks to pack up and move, but it meant moving again within a month of the last move! We felt terrible about having Preston switch schools again, and when I asked him what he thought about it, he said "sure, my friends aren't that nice to me anyway". I love that boy! I can honestly say that he didn't mind moving again at all. He loves the school he is in now, and has lots of friends. We have been in Clarksville now for a couple months, and are happy here. We like the school and the ward, and are still only an hour from our family and friends. We may not be here forever, but we promised Preston we wouldn't make him switch schools again this school year!

Swimming, swimming, and more swimming

We didn't do a whole lot this summer, but one thing we did was go to the pool. This is the first year that my boys haven't worn the swimsuits with the floats attached, and on top of that a swim ring. They liked the "safe" feeling that it gave them. Now I can't get Preston to wear anything, he thinks he can swim. He is getting really good, as long as he can touch if he needs to! Here are some random swimming pictures from the summer: .

Where did the summer go?

I can't believe that it is already September and we are back to school! I didn't do one blog post this summer, so now I have to do a major catch up! I will start with the trip Preston, Gavin and I took to see my sister Nicole and her family, I think it was in July. While we were there we had such amazing weather, we spent a lot of time outside. One day we went to this park that has a little nature center and a train ride. All the boys had to wear their superhero shirts, and of course Adam had to wear his batman cape. This isn't the first time that I have been to a park with him in his cape! One of the highlights was watching the snapping turtle at feeding time. I think we were all mesmerized watching him catch goldfish!



Another day we went on the "caterpillar crawl". It's a scavenger hunt through downtown Bristol that ends at the library. They give you clues, and you walk around looking for little bronze statues of the different scenes from the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The kids loved it, even though a few of the statues had been stolen!
This is the starting point

Preston and Gavin by one of the statues

Gavin, Adam, and Preston

The final statue was a butterfly

The rest of the week the boys spent playing and swimming in the backyard. This has been one of our best visits because all the boys got along so well. There was hardly any fighting. Lots of chaos, but not much fighting! We had a lot of fun, and always do when we visit!

Happy Birthday Preston!

On June 13th, Preston turned 6 years old! We didn't have the usual big birthday bash this year, a lot of family was unavailable, so he said he just wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese. So on his birthday we went to Chuck E. Cheese, he went to Toys R Us to spend some birthday money, went to lunch at Red Lobster (it's his and Gavin's favorite restaurant because of the lobster tank, we could have saved a lot of money and just went to Walmart) and had cake and ice cream that night. He said this is what he wanted to do, but sadly I think he was a little disappointed. He missed having everyone there and a big pile of presents. He probably got more gifts this year, but they were spread out over the week, so he felt like he didn't get many. I guess we won't be doing the low key birthday thing again! It makes me sad that he is getting so old, I am so happy to have him as my little boy!
Here are some pictures of Preston on his last birthdays:
5 years old

4 years old

3 years old

2 years old

1 year old

In the hospital

Happy 4th of July!

On Friday July 3rd we walked to the lake to watch the fireworks that Nashville Shores puts on. It has been a long time since we have watched fireworks, and I wanted to make sure that our boys got to see them this year. It only takes about 5 minutes to walk to the lake through the woods, and we had a perfect spot to see the fireworks across the lake. Preston and Gavin LOVED the fireworks! They were sad when they were over.


I looked at the woods, and walking out is Sasha, no one was surprised to see her!

Only July 4th we went to Patrick's parents to hang out and swim, and later we grilled out some really good steaks at our house. We were really glad that we watched the fireworks the night before, because at around 8:00, we were under a tornado watch and it rained for a long time!

Sasha's greatest hunt

I thought Sasha had hunted and brought us everything possible until this morning. From the picture it's hard to tell, but that is her hunting a deer. We were all watching the deer this morning, when we see Sasha start creeping up to the fence. She went under the fence, and got into crouching position. When the deer walked away, she followed it all the way into the woods. I wonder how she will bring that one home to us!

Best Photo Ever!

I just love Gavin- He is such a sweet, funny boy! He and Chuck E. Cheese have the same expression- I thought this picture was hilarious.

Making Strawberry Jam

Earlier in the summer, we went and picked strawberries with my mom, and then later we made lots of strawberry freezer jam. We had so many strawberries, we just kept making more. My freezer is full! The boys helped me finish up the last batches one morning. I have been eating it on everything!

The best toys in the world!

Yesterday I took the boys to pick strawberries with my mom, and later to make jam. While we were there she asked me if I wanted some disposable plastic cups, and I took them because I thought they would be good for the boys to have snacks in and stuff. I put them with my stuff, and a little while later I heard Preston and Gavin arguing. I went to see what the problem was, and they were fighting over the cups and who had more. I divided them up, and they played with those cups all afternoon, and are still playing with them today! They have built towers, gone bowling, worn them as "wooden shoes", yelled in them to make funny sounds, put things in them and more. I never would have thought of giving them a stack of plastic cups to play with. My mom also got a package while we were there, and another great toy was discovered. Bubble Wrap. I don't know how they are still popping them, but every now and then I hear a few more pops! So thank you to my mother for giving them such amazing toys yesterday! And if your kids are already claiming they are bored, give them a stack of cups!

I just had to show Preston's spring picture from school. I wasn't planning on getting any, since I have so many from the fall and he really doesn't look any different, but he looked so cute I couldn't pass them up! He only has a few days left until he is out for summer. I am getting scared of having them both home together again. I need some help coming up with things to do so we don't go crazy here! I have already told them that they are going to start having chores and that they don't get to do fun stuff unless they get them done. We'll see how that goes!! Anyone have any tips of what to do when the kids are out of school?

Anybody want a cat?

Remember the "stray" cat we have? I still don't claim her, but this picture may say otherwise!

She really is a sweet cat, and now that it is warmer she doesn't come in as much. She has been bringing us even more "presents" lately though. She is a great hunter, but we keep her so well fed that she only plays with them before she brings them to us. On Easter she brought us a baby bunny. It was so little its eyes and ears were still closed. The next day I took it to an animal rehabilitation center about an hour away. They said it would be fine, and they would let it go when it was old enough.


The day after that, she brought us a baby flying squirrel. I was too embarrassed to go back to the rehab place again after just being there the day before! Our friend said he wanted it, so I did all kinds of research on how to raise it and stuff. It was the cuteset thing! He kept it until he decided it was old enough to make it on its own, and let it go.

Another day we came home and Sasha (the hunter cat) was playing with a bird in the yard. The bird was hurt, and I didn't know what to do with it, so I let her have it. The boys were fascinated with the whole thing of course. A little while later I realized they were still standing in the window watching, and I asked them why they were watching the poor bird be tortured. Gavin said "we are watching for Jesus to come and get the bird". And then Preston said "Jesus doesn't come and get them, he sends his angels to get them and they only come at night like Santa and the Easter Bunny"! I promise I take them to church every Sunday!
My favorite Sasha catch happened this last Saturday, while I was gone. Apparently she brought us a 2 ft long garden snake (which Gavin calls a black garbage snake). To get to the back door where she can see us, she has to jump over a pickett fence. She jumped over with the snake, but the snakes head got wedged between the fence slats on her way over!! So the snake was stuck there with its tail flopping all over and of course she was playing with it! I was really sorry that I wasn't there for a picture of that one!! I am always scared of what I will see when I open the door!
We also had a baby duck for a little while the other day. It's mother left it behind when she took the other ducklings to the lake. It was so cute, and it loved being on Toby's warm furry back. Of course Toby didn't care at all, he is the best cat ever!