Weekly Happenings - 10/22 - 10/28

1.  This week brought another field trip for Peyton's class - this time, we walked (yes...walked) to HyVee for a tour of the grocery store.  Peyton's class has been learning all about their food groups, especially produce, so the trip fit in perfectly!  The kids did a great job on the tour and knew a lot about all the different types of foods we saw.  

2.  On Thursday, Daddy had outpatient sinus surgery and thankfully, everything went very smoothly!  Shortly after lunch we were home and he was resting!  Grammy came up to sit with me in the waiting room and since work was beyond crazy for me last week she stayed around to have dinner with us and go to part of Peyton's gymnastics class before heading home.  So far, Chad has been recovering very well and hopes the surgery will provide some relief!

3.  We tried something new on Friday night - MOVIE NIGHT!  We picked-up pizza on the way home and set-up a picnic in front of the TV to watch The Lorax while we had our dinner.  Needless to say, it was a hit and we will be trying this again sometime soon!  Peyton had fun watching the movie and Garrison stayed fairly entertained for an hour and a half movie!  Garrison was quite chatty while I tried to take their picture!

4.  On Monday, Uncle Clint & Aunt Christy had their baby - a little boy - Morgan Clinton!  Chad had the chance to visit baby Morgan in the hospital but the rest of us had our chance to meet our newest family member on Saturday.  Peyton did GREAT holding Morgan and Garrison even practiced his "soft touches."  After meeting Morgan we went out to Grandma & Grandpa's for lunch and a visit.  Whitney was also at Grandma & Grandpa's for the day so the girls hosted quite an entertaining tea party!  They asked all attendees to bring gifts, prepared a story and played music videos for entertainment - so fun!

5.  On Sunday we had a busy day!  We started our day at church.  When we got home, Garrison took a nap while Peyton & I went outside to rake leaves.  Peyton did a great job helping by cleaning leaves out of the landscaping and jumping into the piles I had been making!  She also helped me fill the leaf bags - it was quite a job but we had a lot of fun doing it together!  Best quote of the morning - after about 5 minutes - "Mommy, this is a LOT of work!"  After a bite for lunch we got dressed-up for the church Halloween party.  Check-out the candy corn cake pops, ghost marshmallow bags and even mummy juice boxes!

6.  Garrison has started dancing more to music including tapping his foot, it is hilarious!  He can also do all of the actions to "If you're happy and you know it..." which is great - I really need to get both on video.

7.  Peyton is refining her fine motor skills every day by writing more letters and drawing more actual pictures vs. coloring.  Her latest - a pumpkin - and it looks great!  Peyton also loves to sing and comes home with lots of new songs!

Weekly Happenings - 10/15 - 10/21

That's right folks, I'm back on track!  Normally at this time on a Sunday night I am visiting with my friend Tara - a tradition we've had going for over 10 years now on Sunday nights - but since I've pretty much lost my voice I am here typing instead!

1.  My last post was pretty lacking of pictures of this little man - nothing special about this picture other than I loved his outfit one day last week.  Our little man is pretty happy in the mornings!

2.  On Tuesday, Daddy celebrated his actual birthday and what better place to celebrate than Olive Garden!  We had a delicious dinner and the kids both were excellent through the meal - doesn't get much better than that!

3.  Grammy came up on Friday to spend the day with me - as a very special surprise, Grammy & Grandpa offered to buy a baby grand piano for our new home and I've always wanted one so we went shopping for our soon to be new addition on Friday and found a beautiful piano!  I can't wait for it to be delivered this week!

Since Grammy was in town, she stayed the night on Friday night so that Chad & I could go out for an adults-only birthday dinner.  He chose Pierpont's, one of our absolute favorites and as always it did not disappoint!

4.  On Saturday, Daddy left bright and early for a golf tournament and Grammy & Peyton started with their baking and cooking - bake some cupcakes at 7:15 - sure, why not!  We had a relaxing morning at home and welcomed Grandpa & Grandma Mintun into the fold mid-morning.  After lunch we packed-up the cars and went to Deanna Rose - even Grandma Mintun came along!  The kids had a great time and this was the first time Garrison really enjoyed going - he loved the cow bells and the playground!  Peyton loved everything, as usual, but especially got a kick out of riding a pony and feeding the big goats!  Grandpa, Grandma Mintun & Garrison went home after Deanna Rose for a nap while Grammy, Peyton & I went to the mall for a bit of shopping - fun was had by all!

5.  On Saturday evening, our neighborhood had a Halloween party and we thought it would be a fun time and a great way to meet some more of our neighbors!  Daddy wasn't home yet so the kids & I attended and had a blast!  Peyton was so proud of her Belle dress and Belle sandals and both kids had a great time at the party.  Peyton played several games and went on at least 3 of the hayrides, most of the time without me - what a big girl!  Our next door neighbor, Ella, was super sweet and asked Peyton to go with her several times and also sat with her at story-time at the end of the night.  I'm so glad we went!

6.  Daddy was home when we got home from the party and Garrison quickly got into "his" cabinet and found the paper cups.  A game of pyramid cups quickly got started and entertained us the rest of the night!

7.  On Sunday we started our day at Children's Church - it was my week to teach which normally I love but today I was still about to lose my voice so it was extra interesting trying to keep the attention of 9 three-year-olds!  We made it through and had a great time.  After church, the kids got their hair cut and we ran a few errands before Grandma & Grandpa Todd came to visit and go out to eat for Daddy's birthday.  The kids had a great time playing with Grandma & Grandpa - especially when Grandpa tossed them around, always a fan favorite.  We finished-up our visit with dinner at Will Jenny's to celebrate Daddy's birthday - yum!

Weekly Happenings - 10/8 - 10/14

1.  Peyton is the star student this month.  She wants to be a Mommy when she grows up, loves to play outside, her favorite book is a book about God!  Check-out her board with other fun tidbits about Miss Peyton right now!

2.  On Friday I had the chance to go with Peyton's class to the Cider Mill for a field trip. We had an absolute blast!  We had a hayride to a play area and then on to the pumpkin patch, we watched the apples being pressed into cider, saw cider being bottled, watched cider donuts being made and then wrapped-up our trip with a donut & cider snack before heading back to school.  It was so fun to see Peyton play with her friends.  I love that she wants me to go on all of her field trips and hope that is always the case!

3.  On Friday night we packed-up the car and drove to Clinton to celebrate Grandma Mintun's and Daddy's birthdays.  First thing on Saturday morning, Peyton painted pictures for those celebrating birthdays and made them cards as well.  Daddy, Grandpa & I played a little golf while Grammy, Grandma Mintun & the kids played and played!  We had a fun visit with Uncle Mark & Aunt Mary in the afternoon and wrapped-up our visit with a delicious birthday meal.  Grammy had a birthday cake for Grandma and Peyton made a cake for her Daddy - she was quite insistant that it be a square cake.  Peyton decorated both cakes with sprinkles & lots of candles - thank goodness the fire alarm didn't go off!

4.  Peyton started going to Children's Church this year and each week she fills-out an offering envelope with her name, a good deed and an offering.  She always writes her name on her envelope and really thinks about her good deed - I'm so proud of how she is completing this task every week.  I am teaching Peyton's class along with two other moms which has been a lot of fun!

Weekly Happenings - 9/17 - 10/7

Ok, this will be my attempt to get caught-up on lots of blogging that I have been far from behind on!  This moving business (along with a new job for me) really takes a lot of time!

Anyway, we closed on our new house the Monday after our vacation, finished packing during the week and Friday was the big day - MOVE DAY!  Grammy & Grandpa came up to help us move the things the movers didn't take and get us started with getting set-up at our new home!  At the end of the day they took the kiddos home for a visit so they could have fun and we could be a bit more productive without our little helpers.  We made a couple more trips back to the old house after they left and made our last trip to the old house on Saturday morning to finish picking things up and do a final cleaning.  Needless to say I lost it as we walked out of the house and drove away.  So many memories!!  Grammy & Grandpa brought the kiddos and Apollo home on Saturday and we continued to get settled.  On Sunday, Grandma & Grandpa Todd came up to help with a few "fix-it" projects and see our new home.

The following week we continued to unpack, unpack and well....unpack.  It took me over a week to find my camera cord hence the lack of pictures for a couple of weeks! :P  On Friday, Grammy & Grandma Mintun came up to help do some cleaning around the house and get the kids' closets organized since I was so busy at work!  On Saturday, Daddy went to play golf - a much needed break after all of his hard work with the move! - so Grammy, Grandpa & Grandma Mintun came up to visit.  During their visit, Garrison started a lot of pretend play, pretending to feed all of us a snack - so cute!  On Sunday we made a trip to Lexington for Aunt Christy's baby shower!  Peyton was very excited for the shower - why not, there was cake!  Aunt Christy recieved a lot of great gifts - we can't wait to meet Baby T!  After dinner with the family we drove home to get ready for the week.

The following week we moved from unpacking and organizing to more decorating and really settling into our home.  Friday, Grammy & Grandma came up to finish-up some cleaning and have dinner with the kids & I since Daddy played in a golf tournament for a charity that afternoon/evening.  That Friday, Garrison also had an appointment regarding a hernia and is scheduled for surgery in mid-November.  Although Garrison having surgery makes me a bit nervous, I know he needs to have it done and am assured he will not remember a thing - I hope that is true!

Milestone:  Garrison is not only walking but practically running now - especially when he runs away from me when he needs to get his coat on in the morning!

Milestone:  Garrison is signing quite a bit now - more, please, all done

Milestone:  Garrison's vocabulary is expanding - his latest - shoes

Milestone:  Garrison has started with pretend play and he is very proud of himself when he plays!

Milestone:  Peyton is doing a GREAT job with writing and now can clearly write her name.  She also enjoys tracing letters and colors pictures a lot more vs. just coloring on a page.

Milestone:  Peyton is working on her spelling and sounding out words.  She loves to read signs to us by spelling the letters and learning how to "read".

What have we been doing??

MOVING - that's what we've been doing!  About 2 weeks ago we said good-bye to our first home - the home where we started our family and made countless memories.  Although we are very excited about our new home, it was difficult when we walked out of our house for the last time.  We took a couple of pictures near the last day at our "old"house so we an always remember our times there!  Good-bye, first home, we hope your new owners enjoy you as much as we did!!

Stay-tuned - more updates to come!!

Anniversary Trip & Golf Channel Am Tour Nationals

This year was a big year for us - our 10-year anniversary.  Although we celebrated our anniversary in June, we decided to take a trip to celebrate the big event in September in conjunction with Chad's Golf Channel Am Tour Nationals event which he qualified for during his season this year!

After dropping the kids off for their Grandparent Vacation (see previous post), we flew-out on Saturday morning for Florida.  We arrived without incident and were excited to hit the road for our drive from Orlando to Ponte Vedra Beach for the Am Tour event.  Since we were sans kids, we rented a convertible - it was great (and made me want to get one to have all of the time - glorious!).  We had a nice drive to the beach and checked into the Marriott Sawgrass for our stay.  On Sunday we took a short drive to the courses Chad would be playing to check-out the clubhouses and get the lay of the land.  We spent quite a bit of time at TPC Sawgrass ("The Players") and even had the opportunity for a storyteller to walk us around and give us some of the inside scoop!  While there, we also saw Vijay Singh driving a cart around the property - pretty cool!  Sunday night we also enjoyed the players dinner and met several other nice couples at the event as well.

Monday started the competition for Chad and some relaxation time for me!  While Chad played his round, I attended a spouse's brunch and met several nice ladies (and enjoyed some tasty food!).  After the brunch I headed to the spa for a facial and then some relaxation time at the heated pool where I read a book and simply enjoyed the quiet.

Tuesday morning Chad teed off pretty early at the second Ponte Vedra course while I slept-in and then hit the beach with one of the other wives I met at the dinner & brunch.  We had a nice time visiting and then enjoyed lunch at the beach before heading back to the hotel where I met-up with Chad after his round.  We then went back to the beach for a couple of hours and enjoyed listening to the waves crashing in.  After our time in the sun, we had a great early dinner with the ocean as our background noise.  After dinner we went back to the hotel for the  Casino Night (unfortunately we didn't win anything...) and then bed!

Wednesday was a late tee time for Chad again, this time at his first TPC Sawgrass course - the Stadium course.  Since this course was the most famous of those he was playing, especially the 17th Island green, I decided to walk along for the back 9.  The course was amazing and the guys he played with were great too.  I was able to get some great shots of Chad on the course (see below) and loved seeing the famous 17th!  Chad did great and only put 1 in the water on the hole (one guy scored a 30+ on the hole!) but still managed to post an 11...that sand was brutal!

Thursday was the last day of the tournament and man did it rain!  In-between rain storms, I snuck-in some time at the pool before Chad made it back from his round.  We wrapped-up Thursday with an awesome dinner at Ray's, a hawaiian fusion restaurant to celebrate our anniversary.  We wrapped-up our time in Ponte Vedra with a drive along the beach with the top down - seriously the best way to travel!

I don't want to speak for Chad but I think he had a great time playing in the tournament - he got to play some amazing courses, met several great guys, enjoyed the competition and is ready to go back again next year!

Friday we started our drive back to Orlando but stopped-off at St. Augustine to visit the World Golf Hall of Fame.  I must admit, I wasn't super excited about this stop but it was really cool!  Many of the trophies were displayed, the player lockers were really cool and the history of the game was really interesting - definitely a must-see if you are in the area!  After lunch at Caddyshack - why not? -  we continued our drive.  Once we arrived in Orlando we stopped by Downtown Disney and took some time to just relax a bit before flying home on Saturday.  We had an amazing trip and although we were excited to see the kids again we were sad to see our vacation end!

2012 Grandparent Vacation

Early in September, Chad & I had the opportunity to go on a Mommy & Daddy only vacation which meant the kiddos had their own vacation with the grandparents!  They had the opportunity to visit both sets of grandparents while we were away and had a great time - I'm not even sure they missed us much! :)

Peyton & Garrison started out their vacation on Friday evening at Grandma & Grandpa Todds.  They stayed busy by visiting Nana & Papa, attending Whitney's pageant, playing outside and visiting with Uncle Clint, Aunt Christy, Aunt April, Wyatt & Whitney, helping Grandpa pick tomatoes from the garden, helping Grandma in the kitchen, going to church and even checking on Grandpa's cows!  Goodness - they were busy!  Monday evening, Grandpa headed in to work while Grandma drove the kids for the second leg of their vacation - Grammy & Grandpa's.

The fun continued when the kids arrived at Grammy & Grandpas!  The kids were busy from what I heard and enjoyed lots of time outside, playtime and picnics at the park, baking (cupcakes as a surprise for Mommy & Daddy), a trip to the aquatic center (where Peyton even stood under the strong stream of water - a first for her!), lots of playtime with Grandma Mintun, a visit to Great-Grandpa Mintun's grave for his birthday, a few holes of golf, yard darts (look out!), a trip to the donut shop and visits to Grammy & Grandpa's work.  Apparently most people think Peyton looks like a "mini-me" to her Mommy.  I will take the compliment and do believe she is starting to resemble me more than she used to!  Whew - I'm exhausted just recounting the fun!  Although we flew-in on Saturday night, the kids stayed with Grammy & Grandpa until Sunday after lunch when it was time for them to come home.  Needless to say, we were SUPER excited to see them and hear all about their fun vacation!!

A big THANK YOU to all of the grandparents for keeping the kids while we snuck away for an extended vacation - I am quite sure they had a great time!!