Driveway and more fun

Today, like almost everyone else in Missouri, we got a lot of rain. The last time it rained it cut a ditch through our driveway so that we had to do something so we could drive over it in the future. That resulted in us dumping approx. 15ton of 6 inch rock. Today we got to see what that would look like with another rain.

Lucky for us, our driveway goes down quicker than some of the other roads around here. I am guessing I will have fun getting to physical therapy tomorrow and I am guessing I get to take Travis' truck! Travis finally made it home a little after 7 and said that it had gone done and you could drive through it if you had a truck...

This week has definitely been eventful- but they usually are when you are the only one home with 3 little kids!

TJ has found a new play area. I catch him playing and singing under his bed almost every day!

he is so ornery!

Cooper has not been sleeping well....this might explain why. I found him like this early this morning. :)

Carving pumpkins

TJ being brave.

Am I done yet? TJ wasn't too excited about helping with the pumpkins. He did stick his hand in a couple of times, then yelled "DONE!" and went in the living room to watch tv.

Andi digging in to get her pumpkin cleaned out.

Travis and Andi devising a game plan or blue print on how to carve the pumpkins.

Andi drawing her face on the pumpkin. I think this was her favorite part. She was so serious and had to make sure that she drew not only the eyes, nose and mouth but also the cheeks and eyebrows!

Andi and her masterpiece

TJ trying to blow the candle out after he sang Happy Birthday to the pumpkin :)

the finished products

Mizzou Homecoming

Last Friday afternoon we were trying to get ready to head to Columbia for a weekend full of Homecoming festivities. Travis was getting huge rock dumped on our driveway so we could get out while I was trying to pack. We were definitely all excited to get on the road- especially the kids!

TJ pretty much unpacked everything that I had already done but he came out ready to go!

Earlier this season TJ got a Mizzou football (he is obsessed with balls) and Andi got tiger ears. She was kind enough to share with TJ on the ride down and he LOVED them!

We ended up not going to House Decs (or deck houses like Andi called them) it was misting off and on and pretty cool so we decided to do a little shopping and turn in early.
Our family before the parade. I am so mad that this turned out blurry it would have been a great picture (minus the purple curtains in the background!)

Travis and Cooper at the parade. It turned out to be fantastic weather for the parade and we soon shed our gloves and hats. We were really happy that we got to see lots of friends and family during the parade!

Andi and TJ waiting for the parade to start.

I had told Andi that I didn't know if we would get to high 5 Truman or not because there are after all lots of people to meet and greet on the parade route. We were very excited that he came over and high 5'd everyone in our group. This made TJ's weekend since he had been saying "Truman" over and over starting on the 1 1/2 hour trip down.

Andi posing with her tiger ears for me (yes they are on backwards but try telling her that!)

Andi and Truman

At the CAFNR Alumni Tailgate we were just in time to meet Truman again! He was very nice and spent a few minutes with us, playing with the kids and taking pictures. TJ was scared of him and wanted nothing to do with any of it. Andi however lived it up and we got several good pictures with her and Truman. She was a little disappointed that Truman did not answer "ZOU" back to her "MIZ" cheer until her dad explained that he spelled it out with his hands. :)

ready for kickoff

Andi always the cheerleader.

However when we left she said that she didn't want to watch the Tigers anymore because "they only scored 1 touchdown and Truman didn't get to do anymore push ups!"

worn out and ready for bed- almost!

Pumpkin Patch

One busy Sunday we squeezed in the pumpkin patch after church and some Subway. The kiddos were excited to see the deer and the pumpkins and once we got there they were ready for the tunnel too!

weee!

Andi excited for the tunnel but sad she forgot her flashlight...

so Travis got to take them through the first time!

After that they kept going through by themselves.

TJ and Andi waiting to feed the deer. Last year they had so much fun feeding the deer acorns so they couldn't wait to try this year but we couldn't coax any of the deer up to where we were.

TJ the smart "farmer" that he is, wasn't going to give up so he picked up the bucket of feed to shake and call them with!

We did finally get to feed them but as you can tell from this picture Andi isn't very happy that's because the stinkin' deer bit her finger. It almost ruined the rest of her experience and really it did look worse than Travis and I thought it would!

Thankfully after the deer experience we went on the haunted hay ride. It really isn't that scary but poor TJ jumped (and cried a little) a couple of times. Luckily the guys running it are super nice and took off their masks and waved at him which always made it better!

looking for small pumpkins...

Andi found the perfect two!

TJ and his bigger pumpkin.

Travis and Cooper hanging out.

Andi sitting on one of the big pumpkins.

a typical photo of our 3 kids- Cooper mouth open drooling, "little mommy" Andi taking care of Cooper and TJ yelling "cheese"

A little better- but Andi wasn't too excited about smiling because her finger hurt and TJ didn't want to sit still. :)

They enjoyed painting the smaller pumpkins and we now have them to decorate our lovely fireplace mantle (which maybe one day I will get a photo up of!)

Hanging out when we can!

Things have been extremely busy around here (and still are) with just day to day stuff, physical therapy, work and then of course if we are home we are still trying to get things fixed inside and outside! A never ending battle! Sometimes though you just need a break and we have taken a little time out of some of our nights home together to do so!

Andi and TJ with "Jessi and Travis"

My daughter of course now has to name everything!

One night awhile back it was nice and we decided to stop messing with stuff and go for a ride in the samurai around the "farm" The kids loved it and of course we had a "lesson" to go along with the ride.

Andi wondered how they were going to get in the back seat since there were no doors back there. Ha! Funny I guess she never knew the 2 door cars?!

Travis holding Cooper before we started...

Andi and TJ enjoying their "plant science" lesson. I swear we brought dad along but really it was just Travis explaining beans to them- of course they were Mycogen ones :)

TJ helping Cooper get a closer look at the soybean.

After the ride this is what we found- an excited Cooper. He definitely enjoyed the ride!

Of course the samurai is a little old (piece of junk!) and the seat belts don't even work so we had to improvise. Safety first of course!

Cooper has definitely turned into a happy baby. He loves to have people talk to him- thank goodness otherwise he would be out of luck at this house!

Another favorite past time- hunting for deer. Travis keeps his binoculars upstairs so he can check out the many deer that make their way out into plain sight. Lucky for us we have Andi's "binoculators" from Sesame Street that help her see them too!

I'm not sure that there has been a day that has gone by that we don't see either deer or turkeys a couple times out any of our windows. Tonight I saw one of the regulars (a big doe) that was eating our grass. She was between Travis' bow target and my bathroom window. Should be interesting this deer season- that's for sure!