Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! This is a long post, but there are so many fun things that we do to celebrate this holiday. Before I get into the Halloween fun, I was able to volunteer at Jackson's school as a center leader. Basically, the kids move between 3 different centers, so I was in charge of helping them with Halloween bingo. It was very cute and Jackson was super excited to have me there. After I volunteered, we were able to go to his music class for a preview of what they were doing. I was so impressed with how dynamic the teacher is and how much they are learning. They are actually learning howto ready music which I find so impressive. They practice reading the music and then playing the beats on different drums.

Here is Jackson on the tall drum. Not only do they read the music and play the beat, but they also sing and have little dance moves. It was so much fun to see this little sneak peak!!

We also had Jackson's fall festival at school. I had to volunteer for a short period of time so Jackson ran around with Nathaniel for the first half an hour. Then Jackson and I were off to check it out. We started off with the cake walk, which I always loved as a child.

Guess who won! Jackson was super excited to pick out his winning cake. He chose a green Frankenstein :)

Nailed it! Jackson would swing and hit the ball so hard that the little kid in charge kept jumping out of the way :)

Ring toss! Jackson loves playing games and we must have played each game 5 times!!

It was really sweet to see the older kids volunteering their time for the preschoolers. They were very patient with them.

More games!!

Winner!!

My poor sweet Beckett. You can see how flushed his face is with fever :( He got a really bad cold so wasn't exactly up for most of the festivites.

I was, however, able to get this sweet shot of my handsome boys.

Pumpkin carving time! We had so many pumpkins this year, that it took us several days to get them all carved, but we did it!

Pumpkin guts!

Finally, our first trick or treating time had arrived! Trunk or treat at the church with my astrounaut and little world. Beckett wasn't sure about wearing his costume at first, but he quickly warmed up to it. Thank goodnes because mommy worked hard to make it!

Jackson and Aidan posing before it was time to get some candy!

These kids are just watching the world go by....

First trick or treat! It did not take long for Beckett to figure out that putting on a costume meant you got candy!!

Jackson was a pro

After the candy, we went to enjoy the other festivities which included a petting zoo this year. Beckett loved to see the animals!

I didn't get a picture, but our reign for costume contest winning continues! Beckett won for cutest baby :)

We decided to let Jackson draw what he wanted to the big pumpkin to look like. He decided to draw a momma and a baby.

The finished product!  Good job Jackson on your art schools and daddy on your carving! Definately the best pumpkin this year!!

On Halloween day, we headed to Jackson's preschool for the annual Halloween parade. This is so cute! The preschoolers alll parade

On Halloween day, we headed to Jackson's preschool for the annual Halloween parade. This was super cute! The preschoolers all came into the gym and paraded around while the parents and lower school students watched and cheered. They felt like rock stars!

I really can't say enough positive things about our experience so far at Walker. We love it!

As Jackson was leaving, he lifted up his screen so he could see me. Poor Beckett felt so awful, he was actually laying on the foor in the gym.

Halloween night! We went back and forth about where to trick or treat this year and ended up eating pizza at our house and then heading back to the old neighborhood to trick or treat.

Beckett was not feeling well, so he was not about to wear his world costume. I took him to a couple of houses and then brought him home to sleep while the other kids continued. Here is Beckett at his first house. I think the girl is more excited than he is :)

The "Scary" house in the neighborhood!

I had to put this picture in of my poor sweet boy getting his first scare. He went up to the "Scary" house and there was a man in a gorilla costume sitting in a rocking chair. He didn't move so the kids really didn't pay any attention to him. As they grabbed the candy, he yelled "Give me some candy". Needless to say by Jacson's expression, he was quite frightened.

Daddy rescued him and took him back up so he could see that it wasn't a real gorilla man. He shook his hand and got some more candy and all was well again.

Best buddies. These two have been trick or treating together for the last 3 years. Such sweet memories!!

The loot! What a wonderful Halloween! I just love this time of year and all the wonderful family friendly events that occur. We are now gearing up for Thanksgiving and are so excited that Noni, Granddaddy, and Gigi are making the trip to celebrate!

Spirit week at Walker! Last week was homecoming, so to celebrate the big game, the kids had to dress up in a different outfit each day. The first day was dress in your favorite sport's gear, so Jackson chose his Dodger's jersey!

Posing with his brother :)

The next day was dress like your favorite cartoon character. Jackson was super excited to go as a teenage mutant ninja turtle. First thing he said was, "Mommy, I think people will still recognize me because of my hair." Super cute and probably correct!

Where your pajamas day! I think this was his favorite day :)

Dress like another time period day. Luckily we still had this knight costume!!

Happy 1st birthday Ben! I really can't believe that a year has gone by since this cutie was born!

We met the gang at Chick fil a for some dinner, cake, and presents. Ben loved the cake! Unfortunately, the cake had a little accident and landed on the floor :(

"Helping" Ben open his present.

Annual pumpkin carving at the Foster's! The Foster's live on this great house with a barn in the backyard. Christine just such a great job getting it ready for the kiddos and plays "Charlie Brown's Great Pumpkin. The kids loved it!

Beckett decided to give another litte girl a ride in the jeep

Smores! Beckett couldn't wait to get it in his mouth!!

Going in for a big bite!

Jackson's turn! Delicious!

Pumpkin carving time!

Beckett dug right in and started scooping out all the guts. He would get some and say, "Yuck!"

Finished product!

We also had a super fun birthday party at the bowling alley. This is the second time Jackson has been bowling and he loved it. He was super excited when he got a spare!

The best part of the party for Jackson was when they got to play all the games. He loves them! Here is Jackson and Nathaniel plaing fruit ninja.

Another tee ball season has come to an end. Jackson had so much fun and had a great team. He has improved so much in the two short seasons he has played. We are so excited to play with these kiddos in the spring!

Beckett also got to join in the dress up fun! He had dress as your favorite animal day at school. He was supposd to be an elephant, but I couldn't find the costume :( We had to squeeze him into his dragon costume from last year but at least he had something!

Fabulous Fall

 Sorry for the delay in blogging, but we had a total disaster in the Nesmith household....our harddrive fried. The good news was we were under warranty, so they repaired it for free. The bad news was we lost everything. Thank goodness for the blog otherwise I would have lost every picture for good! I really need to be better with backing everything up to CDs. Anyway, we are in full festivities here! This is my favorite time of year but is also one of the busiest! We started out with our first tailgate at Walker for the football game. The preschool teachers served ice cream to the little ones and then it was off to watch the game.

Jackson was so excited to see his teacher Mrs. Reddick!

Jackson and Nathaniel enjoying their ice cream! That night Jackson actually had his first sleepover! Nathaniel stayed the night with us and they did great! I think they were all worn out from running around at the football game because as soon as we got home, we took baths and they went straight to bed. They didn't make a peep!

Here are Jackson, Thomas, and Nathaniel watching the football players take the field!

Discussing some football strategy :)

The boys getting ready to watch the game. Go Wolverines!

 Jackson found his buddy Colin. They have an open grassy area next to the football field and the kids just ran and ran. They had so much fun!

 The next day we were up bright and early for the pumpkin patch! We went to Bert's again this year, which is about an hour drive, but so worth it. The pumpkins are huge!

 Beckett pointing to the big pumpkins. He just kept walking around all of them and touching them. It was really cute!

 We let Jackson pick out all the pumpkins again this year and he made some great choices! He chose all different shapes and colors.

Beckett loved looking at all the little scarecrows

One of the better parts of this pumpkin patch is the hayride. There was a very long line, so as daddy waited patiently for us, we found other ways to entertain ourselves. First stop, tractor ride!

Beckett had to get in on the action as well!

We finally had our turn on the hay ride! Familly shot time!!

Beckett wasn't quite so sure about the hayride. He just sat very still on daddy's lap.

Jackson loved it! He loved looking at all the pumpkins and fields of sunflowers.

My 3 beautiful boys :)

After the hayride, it was time to get the wagon to pick out our big pumpkin!

Jackson picked out 2 little pumpkins for Beckett. Beckett, of course, tried to eat them.

This is the one!

It got pretty hot so we decided to cool off for a bit with a slushy! Beckett was a fan!!

Did we go overboard this year?

The next day we headed to Athens for the Georgia game! We were so lucky to be invited by friends that have their own private box! Talk about first class!! We left Beckett at home because we thought the long day would be too much for him and headed to the game! Our friends picked us up in their huge van that had the biggest tv screen I have ever seen in a car. The kids watched tv and movies, and the adults chatted.  Perfect!!

Jackson and his buddy Christopher in the private box. Once we go to  the box, there was food and drinks waiting for us. It was a great experience. Unfortunatley, Georgia lost, but kids and adults had a great time. Since we were in our own box, if the kids got tired of watching the game, they could run aournd and not disturb anyone. It was great!

Buddies....these two really are sweet friends :)