Short trip to Papaw and LaLa's house

Last weekend we made a short trip to the Coast. Had a great time as usual. There were some holiday festivities going on at the Lynn Meadow's Discovery Center, including some carolling by my alma mater's madrigal singers. Here are a few photos from the trip.

A quick baby update, we officially have 6 more weeks until Jack Finley's arrival. However, he is measuring 2 weeks ahead, and I'm already dilated so I'm hoping that he will come earlier!

Thanksgiving 2008

We had a small, but delicious Thanksgiving at the house this year. It was just my parents, brother, Dunc's mom, and the Lewis's came by that afternoon for dessert. On Saturday we drove to Laurel to spend some time with Aunt Juli, Uncle George, and Baby John (as the boys like to call him). Juli and I took the boys on a bear hunt through the woods surrounding Gamee's house, and the boys also had a great time playing with Jack, Gamee's black lab.

I know the Lord...

Aidan started asking me last year if he could sing in the children's choir at church - the child loves to sing!!! I was able to talk Tristan into joining as well because Emma was going to be singing in the choir and Tristan loves Emma. Anyway, they have been practicing every Wednesday since September, and their big debut was the past weekend. They sang "I Know the Lord", and it was the sweetest and cutest thing that I have seen in a while. Tristan had a grin on his face the whole time, and Aidan was tapping his left foot along to the beat. Duncan and I were very proud and really blessed to witness the joy that our children felt singing about God.

C is for Cowboy!

Today was Cowboy Day for the Pre-K4 class. Of course, Davis couldn't let his big brother be the only one in boots, so he had to "dress" up to.

Pre-K trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Owen and Aidan calling the catfish, per Mr. Boyd's instructions.
His pumpkin pick

Owen, Aidan, George, and Nick. Mrs. Bowen, in the blue jacket, is Aidan's teacher. He adores her, as do we.

This past Monday, I was fortunate enough to chaperone Aidan's class on their trip to the pumpkin patch. The kids really loved it because they were able to see all kinds of animals on the hay ride to where the actual pumpkins were. I loved watching their faces.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Davis!

November 2nd was Davis's actual birthday. We always put a Birthday Boy ribbon on the boys and let them pick where to eat dinner that night. Davis wanted to eat Sal and Mookie's (good choice I must say). Then we came back to the house for chocolate ice cream. The time has passed so quickly. I can't believe my baby is 3. He tells me all the time that he is not a baby any more because he doesn't wear diapers, but all of them will always be my babies no matter how big they get.

Davis's 3rd Birthday Party

The boys fooling around with the marshmallow guns that Papaw and Lala bought for them.
The adults had a fun time too.

He really enjoyed his Backyardigans cake.

My 3 year old little man. He loves to tell me that he is a big, strong guy like daddy!

Saturday, we celebrated Davis's 3rd birthday. We had a backyard celebration with all of our friends and their children. The kids had a great time, and my favorite quote came from Steph who said, "This is great, Lauren hasn't been up to see my in over 30 minutes." The kids were so busy playing that the adults were able to have some conversation, and the remarkable thing is that none of the kids got hurt! Davis loved his party and was very thankful for all of his presents.

Halloween 2008

Davis and Sophie, the Macaroni Penguin
Tristan, Maddie, and Emma

My Batman, Aidan

We had a great time on Halloween. We did a hay ride around the neighborhood with the Allegrezzas, the Lewises, the Conerlys, Papaw and LaLa, and our family. Once again some great times with some great friends.

St. Andrew's Fall Festival 2008

Aidan prefers to be called the Dark Knight instead of Batman.
Davis, the cutest baby chick.

Tristan scored the first cupcake

Last Wednesday night we spent at the church's Fall Festival. The boys had a great time. They spent most of their time at the cake walk or on the jumpers.

Lewis's Halloween Party

Saturday night we went to the Lewis's house for a Halloween Bash. The kids had a blast competing in the mummy wrapping contest, an apple bobbing contest, Halloween Twister, a cake walk, and a ghost hunt. I really appreciate the effort that the Lewis's put into the party and the time spent in the company of good friends. Some of my favorite moments of the night were: 1) Sophie, who was quite distraught about not finding a ghost, stating "But, the wittle Davis found one" which is too cute considering Sophie is only 3 months older than Davis and they are the same size

2) All of the girls chanting, "Tristan, Tristan" as he was bobbing for his apple

3) Having time for adult conversation while the children were playing

4) Aidan taking his sweater off and flashing his white chest at everyone b/c he didn't want to get wet while apple bobbing

5) Davis was the last in line for the apple bobbing, and he must have thought that all of us dunking our heads in were nuts because he just reached into the bucket and pulled an apple out by the stem and

6) The challenge from one, Ms. Heather Allegrezza, to the Welches for a rematch on Halloween night. She is so competitive!

Special Moment

This morning I woke up a little earlier, so that we weren't moving at such a frantic pace. I am so glad I did because usually I am so caught up in rushing everyone to get ready, eat breakfast, pack lunches, brush teeth, get dressed, get loaded in the van, etc. that I sometimes miss those little moments of grace. As we were walking out the door, Davis turned around and looked up the stairs at his brothers and said, "I wuv you Tristan and Aidan." How sweet is that? They proclaimed their love for him back, and my little man and I were out the door. That warmed my heart the whole way to work. The boys are always so busy competing with each other and fighting over toys, that it is easy to forget that they do "wuv" each other. Thank you Davis for giving me that moment this morning. I wuv you my sweet, precious, blonde-headed boys.

A lazy Saturday morning topped of with an afternoon at the park

Aidan and Davis in a rare moment of sibling harmony
This is his "scary bumblebee" face
Aidan has been working on his fireman pole technique since his trip to the Firehouse Museum
Tristan playing peacefully in the sand. This is shortly before he and Aidan came to blows over the football that we brought. Duncan and I quickly ended our park trip at that point.

We had a lazy Saturday morning before all of the errands we had to run. That afternoon we headed to the park to run off some energy.

Homecoming 2008

Gray and Lily
Tristan waiting for the pep rally to start (wearing his football jersey)
Davis loves him some Gray
Our oldest and our youngest
My hubby and his clone

Friday night was Gray's first Homecoming game and last night was his first dance. We spent yesterday picking out a tie and shirt that would match his date's dress. My how time flies. The pics below are from the pep rally at the Lower School. Gray's best friend, Lily Wann, was a freshman maid, and she asked Gray to be her escort. He looked very handsome!

Lower School Spirit Night and a Day in the Country

Aidan "clapping" for the Saints
Davis attempting to wrestle Tristan. You can see that Tristan was really worried about it.
Aidan didn't want a pumpkin on his cheek. He wanted his whole face painted.

We had a great, fun-filled weekend! On Friday, Davis and I met one of my best friends from college, Emily, and her son Henry at Sal and Mookie's for dinner. We laughed at the boys because they were having a real "adult" conversation while Emily and I were catching up. Friday night we took the boys to the Saints football game. They played on the jumpers and wrestled their friends and were pretty exhausted by the time we made it home. Saturday we spent the day in Madison at Chapel of the Cross's Day in the Country. We make every attempt to attend this every year. The boys have the best time because there are jumpers, pony rides, a petting zoo, face painting, and other booths set up. Duncan and I like it because we usually get some great food and I always find something fun to buy at the craft booths.

Long time, no post

It seems like I'm never at home......We've been running from soccer to church to birthday parties, etc. pretty much on a daily basis. Here are a few pictures from a trip to the park a couple of weekends ago.