Since having kids, on Halloween night, so far every year we have attended our church's Harvest Fest that has candy, of course, but also games, rides, food, you name it!  It's fun for kids and parents too!  Unfortunately, the rain caused a reschedule for that.  Sooooo, we decided to take the boys trick-or-treating tonight.  It was still raining a bit, but we didn't stay out too long maybe just 45 minutes or so, but the boys loved it!  You already saw Westen's costume - our Sheriff - Woody...

And, no they don't coordinate (Baron's costume is recycled from Westen a couple years ago), but I mean a Baby Barista (a.k.a. "Green Tea Helper" according to Westen) can't get any cuter!!!

It's funny because when Westen wore this 2 years ago he was about 10 months old so just 2 months younger than Baron is now.  He wore his hat the entire night never once taking it off.  He never once even touched the sticker on the front of his apron, or pulled the strings on it.  Baron did all of those things within the first minute I had it on him when I tried it on him the other day:)  And good thing I did.  I ended up sewing on the sticker, ditching the had except for a few photo ops, and making him forget about the strings.  They are so incredibly different!  Here's a few pictures from outside in the yard.

See what I mean about the hat!  And please don't mind our Baby Barista and his gun:)  I guess they do coordinate - hehe!  And since we did this with Westen, I thought we needed to do it with Baron, so I took the boys to Starbucks to get a picture of Baron at the place that inspired his costume...

After that, we took them out in the bike trailer and just went down our street and one more in our neighborhood.  It was actually quite a workout for me and Austin hauling them in and out of the trailer over and over again.  Westen thought it was great!  And Baron... well he just liked the novelty of holding a new piece of candy every few minutes (no he didn't really eat any of it - just liked holding it).  Here's a couple pictures of they're first trick-or-treat experience:)

That big bucket of candy got too heavy for Westen to carry towards the end:)  He was asking me to carry it to the doors for him.  Good thing we didn't go any longer!  Stay tuned for more pictures as I'm sure we'll still head to our church's Harvest Fest that's rescheduled for Wednesday!  These boys are making good use of their costumes! Happy Halloween and Happy Harvest!

So Westen's school had a Fall Festival last Friday and then their Halloween party today!  I'll put those two together and then put tonight's trick-or-treating in a separate post.  He got to dress up for school today and this was my favorite picture...

He makes a handsome Woody doesn't he??  Anyway, back to the Fall Festival last Friday.  I was actually able to get our babysitter to watch Baron that morning so I could help out with Westen's class.  They did a couple crafts making pumpkins...

They all rode a pony named Moses which was one of Westen's favorite activities of the day...

They had a little petting zoo with farm animals...

We took a hayless hayride which I thought was kind of funny but apparently common.  This was another of Westen's favorites...

Last week was also Letter G week, so the kids all brought in something to share with the class that started with the letter G.  Here's Westen taking his turn showing off his play guitar...

The Fall Festival was fun for Westen and it was fun for me to watch Westen interacting with his little friends.  They're all so cute!  Moving on to his Class Halloween Party today, all the students were allowed to wear costumes and they played games and did crafts most of the day.  Here he is eating his spider made from pretzels and marshmallows...

And here's a look at some of the costumes (sorry for the blurry pictures)...

They also played a game mimicking musical chairs, but they stood in little rings and walked around instead.  It was so funny because while the music was playing Westen immediately went into dance mode and danced around the circle while the others kids all walked.  The kid loves music - it's so funny.  Here he is in action...

At the start of the game there were about 10 kids and Westen really didn't get what he was supposed to be doing, but as the game went on he figured it out and he ended up winning!  Here's the picture again which was taken after he won...

That sheriff is so handsome!!  He had a lot of fun, but I really think he was most excited about being dressed as Woody!  And he got to carry a play gun around all day today.  I told him he could only shoot outside when he went to school, so the second we got home he was shooting everything.  Boys will be boys, I suppose!  So funny!

Okay, so more catching up today.  Aside from the fact that my sweet baby turned one, we headed up to KY to attend a friend of our family's wedding (Congrats Jeremy and Billie Jo!).  This was kind of an extended trip since we won't be making the trip for holidays this year.  I can't remember the last time I went home in October - the perfect time to be there in my opinion.  More than anything I think I miss Fall the most down here in our Sunshine State.  The first week of our trip the weather was perfect - 60s and 70s.  One of my favorite things we did with the kids while we were visiting this trip was taking them to a petting farm.  I love this picture of the boys!

Austin, myself, the boys, Mamaw, Uncle Ryan, Aunt Na Na, and Cousins Hailey, Ellie, and Josie went on a Saturday afternoon to Daniel's Petting Farm...

First, we all got a cup of feed to set off feeding the animals which included a donkey, llama, mini goats, and more. Everyone enjoyed this part of the adventure.  Here's Westen feeding a tiny little goat.  He seemed so big to me doing this by himself.

And who would've ever thought Uncle Ryan (who at points of his past has been terrified of animals) would be letting this little goat eat right out of his hand???  Way to go Ryan!

And here's Ellie, who apparently loves llamas, getting to feed one...

Westen showed no fear feeding this big donkey either...

And Hailey feeding the miniature goat.  They were so stinkin' cute!

And here's just a few more pictures during the time that we fed and looked at animals...

After feeding the animals we decided to feed ourselves and wait for the next hayride to begin.  The hayride was such a nice little scenic ride around the farm and then a stop in the pumpkin patch.  

Here are a couple pictures that capture the view there.  I seriously miss being able to walk outside whenever I want and see this.  I think I would've stopped and smelled the roses, if you will, when I was younger if I knew that someday I would live without Autumn!

Next was our stop at the pumpkin patch where Baron scratched his eye up and Westen peed in a nearby field.  Yep, that's right...I mean he is only 2 still, so during our stop, Austin discreetly took him over to a field (look beyond Josie in her solo pic) to pee because we didn't think he could wait to make it back from the hayride.  Hehe!

I think those pictures of Josie turned out so cute.  She wanted a picture by herself right there and after I took them I thought she'd had a good idea.  Anyway, after the pumpkin patch where Westen did get a pumpkin...

Thanks Mamaw!  We took a few more pictures.  You may be asking why so many pictures of this one day and the answer is because I didn't do a great job throughout the whole trip but I did remember this day and they turned out good, so that's what you get:)

I really can't believe how big my nieces are getting.  They all looked older to me this trip.  The time is going by too quickly!  Moving on... that was our adventure to the petting farm!  I think I enjoyed it as much as the kids.

Now, since the kids are in bed while I'm doing this, there's nothing I want to watch on tv, and I'm feeling good, I'll continue on:)  Guess who Baron finally got to meet???

Uncle Daniel!!!  Since he'd been overseas since Baron was born and this was our first time up since he'd been back, Baron finally got to meet his uncle whom many people thinks Baron looks like!  And yeah...he recently got a new Harley!

But when we got back from the petting farm that day it wasn't Uncle Daniel who was missing on that Harley but someone else...

Yeah... that's my dad cruising down the road on a Harley!  Too funny!!!  And of course, my hubby had to get in on that action too...

And mom didn't ride it but she makes a good lookin' biker chick doesn't she??

Back to Daniel!  I was so happy to see him after more than a year of not and most of that time praying for his safe return!  I'm so thankful to God that he has been deployed like 5 or 6 times and come home safe each time.  Our family is so proud of him and what he does and I was grateful that he made the 5 hour trip up that weekend to see me and my boys and be there for Baron's birthday party!  What an awesome uncle!

Yes, we look alike and would even more if he'd ever smile for a picture:)  I still feel good, so how about some more.  That night was the wedding and this is the only shot I really captured of the bride and groom...

The ceremony itself was beautiful and very spiritual.  Perfect!  After the traditional wedding formalities, it was time to hit the dance floor and guess who was just itchin' to get out there...

Ryan Day was so excited to get out there and dance.  And as you can see, right behind him was Westen.  These two tore up the dance floor all night.  I have so many pictures but here are the highlights...

Yeah...Westen dances like his Daddy:)  But seriously...we had a near meltdown during dinner where Baron was fussing and Westen wanted to go home.  Thankfully, a little trip outside with Daddy for some fresh air was all the boys needed.  Westen seriously danced the rest of the night.  He was acting a fool!  And as much as Ryan was loving it, he eventually had to take a break:)  While they were dancing, look at these lovebirds!

Aren't my mom and dad cute??  And here's my mom with the groom's mom - Debbie Wood.  She's what I'd like to call a family favorite:)  Our whole family adores this lady!

And here she is again unknowingly with my crazy husband!

There's just something wrong with that picture isn't there?? And here is me and my baby...

We had a great time at the wedding and are so happy for Jeremy and Billie Jo!  Although I don't have a ton of other pictures to share from our trip, I'll share a few of the rest that I have (might as well wrap up the whole trip at this point, don't ya think?).  Here's Baron in his jammies he got from Nana for his birthday...

And Westen got the same ones...

Waiting for someone to play ball with him...

We did get to visit a few friends while home (but I didn't take pictures).  It was great to see Kendra, Mamaw and Papaw Hocker, all the Hockers for that matter, and these cute kids, Corbin and Sadie, and their mom (a friend from high school)...

And this is just a cute picture of Baron running around in the yard.  He was probably running after Papaw and Westen on the lawn mower...

We weren't sure how Baron would do on the lawn mower the first time, especially because he's such a momma's boy and doesn't let too many people hold him for too long when I'm around, but I must say both my boys love this equally.  Baron started reaching for Papaw everyday after his rides and Westen asked for one almost daily (although it rained the last few days so he couldn't).

Baron loved it so much that he'd cry and turn away from me or Mamaw when we tried to take him off.  Here's that...

Too funny! On one of those rainy days, Mom and I took the boys to the mall and let them play on the cool playground there and the boys got new outfits too.  Another one of those rainy days, Aunt Na Na (Julie) came over to play with the boys that morning and then mom watched the boys while Julie and I went to lunch together.  I can't remember the last time we did that.  Thank you Mom and thank you Julie for taking off.  It was such a nice time for me.  And here's Westen and Na Na that day...

Overall, we had such a nice trip and enjoyed our time with our family and friends while we were there.  I got to eat some of my favorite foods too which is always a treat (there's no better bakery than Emerson's:)  The boys love it and get spoiled with attention while we're there.  They adore their cousins which reminds me of one other thing.  Westen got to have a sleepover with Aunt Na Na and his cousins Hailey, Ellie, and Josie one night and he thought he was so big.  He could've cared less about being away from Mommy and Daddy.  And while I didn't get pictures of my other 2 nieces McKayla and Hannah we did get to see them too.  I really only got to see McKayla at Baron's party and she's turning into such a pretty girl as a 7th grader.  And we saw Hannah every morning since she catches her school bus from Mom's house.  Her and Westen were cartoon buddies:)  I wish I could've spent more time with both of them.  The good-bye was bittersweet because I don't know when we'll be going back up. It's always easier when I do know.  We can't wait to see you all again and thanks for an awesome time!  Love you all!

Well, I've been on a bit of a hiatus from our blog (Sorry Rachel).  While I usually post once or twice a week, October has been a busy month for us so it's been awhile.  I have a lot of catching up to do.  But first things first...Guess who turned 1?????

Baron had 2 parties - one here at home with the Brownlee's and one up in KY with the Day's.  We had the one here at home the weekend before his birthday.  It started off with some pizza...

Followed by some fun with cousins...

Then time for the Giant Cupcake!

I wouldn't say Baron destroyed his cake, but he didn't just pick it at (like Westen did) either:)

After singing and cake, Baron opened his birthday gifts!

Thank you Nana, Papa, La La, Rissa, Alan, Lauren, Grant, and Grammy for coming to celebrate with us!

On October 11th, Baron's actual birthday, we headed to KY for our extended trip.  We planned it for this month because we had a friend of our family getting married (more on that in a different post).  But first I thought I'd just go ahead and share a few pics from Baron's party up there.

We had another family party up there with just a couple friends too.  This day, we just had cake and ice cream and it was yummy!  Also on this day, was Baron's Papaw's birthday - Happy Birthday, Dad!

Somehow, this is the only picture we got of the 2 birthday boys together.  And let me tell you, that ride on the lawn mower might've been Baron's favorite gift of all:)  He LOVED it!  He didn't want to get off and cried when we made him.  He suddenly took quite a liking to his Papaw!

Anyway, after cake and a bit of playing outside, it was time to open more birthday presents...

Baron had so much fun!  Thank you all for celebrating with us and making his first birthday special!  I can't believe my baby is 1!  I'll do a final update on him soon to add to his other monthly pictures with the teddy bear.  But I've got a lot of catching up to do.  I'll be sharing more about our trip to KY and what we've been up to in the coming days.  Happy Monday!