Play Time After a Hearty Thanksgiving Meal

Well, it seems I don't really have any pictures of the wonderful meal or the chefs (Nana and Bumpa) cooking from Thanksgiving (apparently, I was too busy playing fire engines and trucks on the floor or sitting on my bum watching football?!?).
However, I did get some pictures of the kids playing, after the spectacular and special family meal.

Connor was the first one outside, playing fetch with Riggs.

Miss Sadie is all bundled up and ready to head out.  Ramsey loves Sadie.  He wanted to go outside with her!

The kids... Round 2: Getting ready to take the dogs for a walk and then more play in the back yard.

The kids had a great time playing chase and fetch.  Riggs was in HEAVEN!

Watch out for that big long tail, Doodlebug!!

Even after it got dark outside, the "big kids" played Ghosts in the Graveyard.

Uncle Cory shared all of his toys.  Ramsey loved the big red fire engine so much that Nana let him take it home!

...best seat in the house!

Lights and Sirens, Oh My!

Ramsey has been to the police department where Daddy works a few times.  But, he's never gotten to see all of the cool police cars that have awesome lights and sirens!

Connor, Ramsey, and I went to visit Eric during a quick trip to town.   Ramsey was excited and, while he was running down the hall to the big garage with the cars, he fell and smacked his forehead on the hard floor.   Oops.  ..not a good start!   (...in case you're wondering what the big knob on his head is in the pictures!)

We went into garage, full of police cars and SUVs.  Ramsey is obsessed with matchbox cars and his larger police car and 4x4 trucks, so his crying (from the fall) stopped and his eyes got BIG.

Daddy turned on the lights - good stuff!  Smiles!  Then, he turned on the sirens.  TOO LOUD!  And, apparently a bit too scary for Ramsey.  His bottom lip started to quiver and he buried his head into my shoulder.   The sirens will probably be cooler in another year or so!

Then, the boys went to see the statue of the police officer with the little boy.   There were cars going by, so Ramsey was entranced.   Connor's smiling nice - as usual!  :-)

Fall Family Photos

It was time again for our yearly photos.  One of Eric's friends, Mario Redlegs - who also has an obsession for photography, and his fiancee (Jeanine) took an afternoon off and gave us a unique photo session, with rustic brick backgrounds and cool outdoor spaces.

Though it was early in November, we had a beautiful day; 50'ish, sunny, and little to no breeze!    Ramsey's eyes were always wandering at passing-by vehicles (the kid's obsessed with cars!) so he's not always looking at the camera.    We had a fun day!

Ramsey's First "Big Boy" Haircut

*Sigh*   It's been time (for a while now) for Ramsey to have his first "big boy" haircut.   I've been reluctant, as I figured that once we hack off his hair, he's going to look like the little boy that he is growing into and  not like my little baby anymore!

For the last few months, I had been trying to snip a little here and trim a little there (just to get by so my kid didn't look like a sheepdog), but those attempts were quite unsuccessful and left Ramsey with a quasi mullet.   (Way to go, self!)  It seemed that (recently) each piece of hair had developed nerve endings, whereas each time I would cut one, he would scream.  (Really... not just whimper, scream!)  It was almost as if he was Sampson and, by allowing me to cut off his hair, he knew he would be losing his power. lol   Or, maybe he was just really sad to see his hair go bye-bye?!?    That must be it!?

Alas, with family pictures coming up this weekend, something drastic had to be done... quickly.  Professional stylist and Godmomma Shana was called for her talent and expertise.  

When we arrived, Ramsey was greeted with hugs and kisses.   Then, when it was time for business, she plopped the kiddie booster onto her styling chair.  Ramsey hated that idea and immediately wanted down.  We tried coaxing him to stay there with treats, toys, and his bottle.  Not a chance!  So, down he went.   Shana then got out her perm rods for him to play with on the floor.  Aha!  Great idea.  That worked!

For about two minutes.  :-)
Once Shana started snipping a little more, even her great-with-children ways and charming coos were futile efforts.  He pitched quite a stink for the next five minutes and Mommy had to hold him as he wrestled.  It was quite a sight!   Shana joked with Ramsey, telling him that he was "acting just like his mother"!   ha  No comment. :-)

He settled down after a bit and Shana was able to finish the haircut.

Voila!  Big Boy haircut.  :-)  

And, I promised to get him back there more often so haircuts wouldn't always be so scary!  

A funny little sidenote (and probably a had-to-be-there moment):

On the way home, Ramsey was awfully silent.  He'd already napped on the way to town, so I just figured he was being good and playing with his little space monkey or matchbox cars.  When I opened the back door to get him out of his car seat, he was covered in dozens of Nana Karen's cracker snacks that she had just bought from the store.  He had also tossed other items she'd purchased (the ones he could reach) out of the sacks.

He thought this was rather funny!

The last time I brought him home from seeing Shana, he had taken all of the Kleenex out of two different boxes and threw wads of them all over the back seat.  I am happy he could only reach the groceries this time.  :-)    Little stinker.  MUAH!

Post-Football Practices

A good old-fashioned game of playing "catch" with Dad has now grown into an obsession for one Mister Connor.  :-)

Football season (for him, at school) is over, as of a few weeks ago.  Since then, he talks about little, other than playing football next year.

Last week, Eric found a pair of Nike Vapor Jet receiver gloves online, exactly like the ones that Odell Beckham Jr wears (remember the famous one-handed, long-reach-behind-the head, insane flying-through-the-air-backwards catch - for a touchdown, no less- against the Cowboys in 2014?!).   He happily bought them for Connor, proud that he was this excited about football.

After the gloves arrived, Connor called daily to ask if we could meet him somewhere to give them to him.   The poor kid had to wait four whole says to get them because his Dad wanted to give them to him personally and play catch with him.   Good things are worth waiting for.    :-)

Monday, after he got off the bus, Connor was given his Vapor Jet gloves and they played catch in the yard until it was dark.  :-)

I took Ramsey outside too, to play.  He was happily running between Connor and Eric, wanting to be a part of this football fun.   I ran between them, to ensure Ramsey wouldn't step in "dog bombs" or run into a culvert!  

In anticipation of next year, Connor knows that he will have to work very hard during the off-season if he wants to make the Eagles' high school football team.   That is one awesome goal.  Eric's looking forward to teaching him more routes, game tips, and practicing and I am looking forward to seeing his progress.  GO CONNOR!  :-)

Happy Fall Y'all!

Well, needless to say, we didn't have time to get the pumpkins carved, but I did manage to get them in an outdoor autumn arrangement.   

Sidenote: It has been so fiercely windy this year that my poor scarecrow has taken a serious beating!!!

Fall is such a beautiful time of year which I look forward to.  

(Thank you to my good friend Penny.  She took this picture of the view of the lake at sunrise.)

 Autumn is always a good time for a tractor ride with Daddy.

 ...and watching Big Brubby at football games too.

Cheers!