Trolley to The Factory

Today we caught a ride on the trolley from the hospital to the farmer's market at The Factory. We'd been trying to make this little day trip happen for a couple of weeks, but something always came up. I'm glad we made it a priority today. Both boys enjoyed the trolley ride, and walking through The Factory and the farmer's market is always fun. John had to run to an ATM to get money for our ride back to the hospital, so I took the opportunity to take a few pictures of the boys at The Factory. We could have spent all day there taking pictures. There are so many beautiful backgrounds. I was so mad at myself when I downloaded these pictures. They should have been so good, but I forgot that the last pictures I took were of the Christmas tree and I had turned the ISO way up to the point where I have a lot of noise in these photos. I tried to smooth them out with my editing software, but what could have been really great pictures are now just ok. Darn! So now, John is going to have to take us back to The Factory, so I can do this all over again. :-)

Putting Up the Tree

Jack helped me decorate the Christmas tree today while John took Luke to the grocery store. Giddy is the best word I can use to describe Jack the majority of the afternoon. His newest word that he used to describe 30 different ornaments today is cool. Once again I am reminded how much fun Christmas is when you get to watch it through the eyes of children. 

Each year I buy a Christmas ornament that somehow reminds me of the kids as they are now. I had a really hard time this year with Luke's ornament. Nothing seemed perfect. Then I decided to make a toy like the ones they love into their ornaments this year. Jack's is a Bob the Builder Duplo figure. Nothing could describe his loves better than this one guy. Duplos- check. Bob the Builder- check. Perfect. 

Luke's is a Little People Wheelies elf. He loves his Wheelie cars, making car noises and carrying them around the house and leaving them for people to step on in random places like the bathroom. Perfect.

As we passed the Christmas tree on the way to bed tonight, Jack stopped to tell all of his favorite ornaments good night. "Good night, bus. I'll see you tomorrow. Good night, Charlie Brown." So, Christmas is underway at the Seaton house. I've been waiting all year for this. 

Gooey Goodness

Luke won't touch a vegetable with even one finger. He spits meat out. He tolerates some fruits. He either loves or hates the dinners I make for the rest of the family. 

But, he really loves Grandma's rice crispie treats.

Happy Thanksgiving

The thought of writing a post about the blessings in my life is overwhelming. That's how blessed I am. I have a loving husband, two sweet boys, a family who support us, friends I count on, a home I'm comfortable in, and a job I love. Above all else this year, I am thankful that both Aunt Kathy and Grandma Jane have their health back. Happy Thanksgiving to each of you, the people who make our lives even richer. 

Christmas Excitement

I took the boys to Target yesterday afternoon. Jack spotted these musical Santas and snowmen, so we stopped for a minute to play. It was really hard for me not to throw one in our basket since the boys loved them so much. Moments like this make me really excited to drag out the Christmas tree and decorate the house.

The influx of catalogs and Jack's love of looking at them has made talk of Santa fun. There isn't anything that he is absolutely certain Santa will bring. Instead he says, "Maybe Santa will bring me one of those." 

Grandma has a decoration or two up already just for the boys' excitement. The next time we're there, I am going to take our video camera because Luke's excitement over the ice skaters is something that definitely needs to be captured. He stands there for long periods of time and just says, "Oh wow!" It's one of the sweetest things I've ever seen. 

A Facebook friend posted his disgust over radio stations already playing Christmas music. Delighted rather than disgusted, I turned the dial to 94.1 the next time I got in the car. Christmas is so exciting through the eyes of two sweet boys. Why wouldn't I want to start early?

A Quick Follow-Up

I wanted to follow up on my last post and show you what exactly makes my heart overflow as opposed to my hands.  

My Hands are Full

A couple of nights ago, Grandpa and Grandma emailed me and told me what a kick they get out of watching the Here Kitty Kitty video that I posted months ago. Jack was so sweet as he completed his chore. Oh how things have evolved! I thought I'd take another video of him feeding the cats today. You know, for fun?

Someone please tell me this is normal for a near three year old! Some days I feel like my hands are overflowing right along with my heart. 

Turkey Shirt

Merc, Ross's Gigi, has been making my kids holiday shirts and other prizes for the last three years. This turkey shirt was a gift for Jack in 2009. I've had it on Luke a few times already this November, but today I was able to take a picture before he got too dirty to photograph. So, here's Luke:

And just for fun, here's Jack wearing the same shirt in 2009:

Our Busy Weekend in Pictures

Cars and Coffee

Last week, Jack was playing with his cars at the kitchen table. He had them all lined up, and his people were grouped around the cars. I asked him about it. He told me that the people were at Cars and Coffee. I texted John about the exchange while he was at work. His responding text message said, "I want to cry." And so he immediately began making plans to get Jack to Cars and Coffee on Saturday morning. These are photos Jack took with his camera. 

Whistlestop Weekend at Adventure Science Center

After Luke's nap on Saturday, we were off to Whistlestop Weekend at Adventure Science Center. Model train collectors from Nashville set up rooms full of model train exhibits for the children to see and interact with. Jack, an avid model train fan, was beyond thrilled. His cheeks were bright red with excitement the entire visit. Every exhibit had Thomas the Train riding the rails. That was a nice touch for all the kids. 

The Nashville Zoo

The Nashville Zoo lets Veterans and their families in for free Veteran's Day weekend, so we headed there this morning. The boys had so much fun. Luke had a great view, high on his dad's back. He loved the meercats. As I was putting Jack in bed tonight, we were talking about our day. I asked him which animal he liked seeing the best. He said the fish, the koi that swam beneath a bridge. He then informed me that next time he was going to take a fishing pole. Ha! 

John is famous for keeping us really busy on the weekends. He comes up with all kinds of fun things to do. I'm so thankful that he loves enriching the boys' lives by planning all of these fun activities. I will admit that it leaves me exhausted by Sunday night though, so I'm off to bed. *yawn*

Up all night...

...makes for a tired Luke.

Grandma Knows

Grandma gave me a coupon for a free photo book at Wolf Camera. I took in a USB drive with 30 pictures of Jack and John building the doghouse. This morning we went to pick up the finished book. Jack loves it. 

Grandma sent home Rice Krispie treats with the boys yesterday afternoon. I think Luke ate his weight in marshmallow goodness over the past two days. Obviously Grandma knows a thing or two about keeping little boys happy.

The Fruits of His Labor

I'm quite certain that Jack ranks the day he got to help Ross's Pap-Pap build Ross's swingset as one of his favorite days ever. Shovels, holes, dirt, sweat. Everything my boy loves.  

Earlier this week, Jack got to enjoy the fruits of his day of labor for the first time. It was definitely worth all the work. 

Osage Oranges

One of the things that Jack and I have done every fall since we've lived out in the country is pick up  wagon loads of osage oranges from the yard. We pick them up to make John's mowing easier, but also because it's just plain fun to pick them up, haul them to the brush hole, and throw them in. 

Jack, a seasoned pro, was able to handle two oranges at a time this year. Last year, he threw in a couple of oranges and we called that helping. This year, he did the majority of the work while I took pictures. 

It didn't take Luke longer than a minute to figure out what we were doing with the oranges. He managed to get three or four into the wagon to haul to the hole. 

Throwing stuff is always fun. We competed to see who could throw the oranges the farthest and who could hit that big stump. 

Luke thought he was helping too by throwing the oranges out of the wagon. It makes me smile to see him learning so quickly by watching his brother. He's a sharp cookie. 

I think I might send the boys back out in the coming days and make something like this for Grandma's Thanksgiving table.