a day for the....

...boys to play!!

a few weeks ago my sweet friend tiffany and i decided the boys needed a special day! her daughter was off on a trip with her daddy and audrey and brett had gone to the theater to see one of his students perform...it was neat having these three rambunctious boys to ourselves!

we decided DeSoto Caverns would be the perfect place for our little adventure...

all ready to go explore the cave!

these boys are such a hoot :)

"whoa! we're going in there!?!"...

mommas and their boys!

the largest "room" of the cavern is 12 stories high and as long as a football field, with room to walk around the edges!...such neat experience...the boys were in awe of the *big cave*, as were the mommas! it had been a long time since i had last been there....though i did still remember the difference between the stalactites and stalagmites :)

do you see the dolphin below?

the stalactites aren't as thick as you might think....this pic below is from standing under them and shooting a pic up...

they put on a gorgeous light show in the cavern....and during november and december, they are telling the Christmas story...AWESOME!!

loving it!

though i must say, keeping these three from not touching the rock was quite the challenge...honestly, boys and dirt and rocks just go hand in hand :)

luke ~ grant ~ jack

a.k.a brett's future offensive line!

...the two *kissing* rocks above will take hundreds of years before they completely meet....wow!

and to say grant enjoyed himself in the cavern would be an understatement....we still aren't really sure how he ended up so filthy!...

after the tour we had passes for some great activities....one of the most fun, the air rockets!

next up, bumper cars and potty races...

only in alabama can your child ride a potty!!

hilarious!!

twirl-a-world!

and last but not least...panning for jewels...

and man was that water cold!

such fun time for the boys...but the fun didn't end there!

on the way back tiff and i saw a sign for a covered bridge and old grist mill...seeing as we were in an adventurous mood we turned off the beaten path to check it out...so, so glad we did!

the bridge and mill were beautiful! there were also tons of trails for the boys to explore...we just let them loose and followed behind!

of course, i couldn't let a picture perfect moment go to waste....i mean, how stinkin' cute are they!?!

such the little man!

and by this point we were done smiling pretty for pics...

lol! can you blame them!?!

i am so thankful for ALL the wonderful friends in mine and my children's lives.....and days like these take you back to your own childhood and make you remember all the little things that really are important!

november...

....first half edition....

again, pics are from camera, phone and friends...

the first weekend in November is always fun-filled...the Tum Tum Tree Foundation puts on a wonderful breakfast at Children's Hospital that we are able to attend...

music, face paint & breakfast!

such a fun morning...brett has been a great sport taking the kids the past two years so my mom, sis and i can attend the Christmas Village...thanks dear!!

buddies from school...

back home after our fun mornings, we decided to enjoy the cool crisp fall day and roast marshmallows to make s'mores!

though the smoke from the fire pit was hurting grant's eyes....so he improvised!

the next week at work was pretty busy for us as we were celebrating....

what a phenomenal staff!!

such a great group of men and women!

and in the midst of that week we had another family birthday...

happy happy day to dad!

and because i scored a GREAT coupon for Christmas cards, i had to take some pics of the kids pretty early to order the cards....we love this little spot on the Cahaba river and thought it would be perfect for pics...here are just a couple from our little *photo shoot*...

the next weekend was a fun day at desoto caverns....that post to follow soon!

now the rest...

...of the month!

oh my....blogging has fell by the way side for me...and that makes me sad!....but between a full time job, full time kids and good ol' LIFE....something had to take a back seat....as usual, i hope to do better....we shall see :)

for now, let's update the month of october!

and these pics will be a mix of real pics and iphone pics...

the weekend after our trip to the Grand in Fairhope i had the honor of being able to volunteer for the Race for the Cure with several of my co-workers! such neat experience....we passed out water & cheered on the runners for two hours straight...so fun!

while we were waiting for the race to start i was having a bit of fun with my scarf! that sucker took on a life of it's own for a while :)

the next weekend was our annual trip to the pumpkin patch! we LOVE old baker farm and this time they were having some sort of festival so there were lots of neat *extras* to see!

LOVE these kiddos!!

on the hunt for our *perfect* GREAT pumpkin!

fantastic fall family fun!

because of the festival they were having, there were Native Americans showing off some of the ways of their ancestors...

and we were even able to particpate in a dance with them!

such neat experience!

then of course we have to carve the pumpkins.....and we even had some surprise helpers!!

the week of halloween we had a couple more super fun activities!

we love an AWESOME fall festival...

and of course, they are the best spent with GREAT friends and fabulous face paint!

of course any chance the boys ~ big or small ~ get to play a little football is a good time!

i then had the wonderful opportunity to be mystery reader again at the kids' schools....i LOVE getting all dressed up as my *true self* and reading to the kids :)

of course only a GOOD witch would wear her Toms with her striped socks :)

next up, grant's school fall festival!!

and the first time to debut...Linus & Lucy...

i think they looked pretty dang cute!

we LOVE all things charlie brown and peanuts in our house....and when you have a child that still loves his blue blankie then you embrace it!

it wouldn't be complete without a pic with mrs sandy!

and because carving pumpkins isn't good enough, we painted some too!! and yet another awesome helper :)

all our pumpkins in their glory!

oh, and during this super fun day of grant's festival & painting pumpkins, it happened to be my birthday!

and because if you have to work on halloween you should be able to have fun, i present our resident stork...

taking a pic with the resident witch... 

and the inevitable happened...

the witch is DEAD!

the hospital fell on her instead of a house...lol :) 

and halloween night wouldn't be complete without supper and trick or treating with great friends...

of course the mommas had to have a little fun too!!

a boy and his blankie...

pics were just about impossible....they were practically flying from house to house!

a GREAT end to a GREAT night and an AWESOME month!!