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Pumpkins!

These two pumpkins came out of our garden. There was another one that we ate, and one that mysteriously "disappeared."

Ben was very proud of his pumpkin - I forget which one was his, but I think it was the fatter, shorter one. The other one is Izzie's, of course. At one point we were measuring Ben's pumpkin and it was gaining 1 to 2 inches in circumference every day.

This picture would lead you to believe that the taller pumpkin was Ben's, but I'm pretty sure they switched.

Hooray for pumpkins!

And a little pumpkin racing to end the day.

Eastman Race

Colin is usually the one racing, but we (he?) decided it was time for the rest of us to do something while he watched. So we entered Izzie and Ben in a kid's race, and I entered a 5k. (Don't ask me how the 5k went because after we'd driven half-way there we realized I didn't have my race number so I didn't run.) And in my defense, I did have the kids dressed, changed and fed, had snacks for them, books for the car, diapers and wipes in the diaper bag, wallet, keys, phone and was dressed in my race clothes. With the important exception of my number, of course. And as it turns out, I actually remembered what my race number was, but we didn't know if there would be any way to prove it. So instead we went to a yard sale, ate breakfast at McDonald's and the kids bounced in a bouncy castle that we came across. Actually, Izzie didn't want to go in without me and no other children were in it or waiting to get in so I bounced too. Colin will attest that we bounced for a long time, but probably not as long as it would have taken me to run 5k! Luckily, Ben and Izzie's race the night before went off without a hitch.

Here's Ben getting his number pinned on. He was doing a lot of thumb-biting that day.

Here's Izzie getting her number pinned on. And look - I'm in a picture!

And another one too!

??? Your guess is as good as mine! Actually I think they were warming up - Ben decided to invent his own stretches when he couldn't quite follow the ones everyone else was doing.

Daddy getting Izzie all set. I was worried Izzie was going to end up on her face because these shoes were slightly too large for her and she didn't have a lot of practice moving around in them. She stayed on her feet though, and to be honest, it probably wouldn't have fazed her if she had fallen down.

Ben, getting into his zone.





Izzie copying Ben.

Izzie practicing before the race.

Daddy giving her some encouragement.

Izzie was so excited she ran straight into my arms on the sideline laughing and cheering and thought she was done! I had to run with her to finish the race. She came in last, but was very happy about it and proud of herself, as were we!

Technically Izzie was one day short of the 2 year old age group but we figured that didn't matter either. Look how proud she is of her ribbon.

I asked them to show me their ribbons and this is what they did! The ribbons say, "I ran 75 yards at the Eastman Youth Runs. We definitely plan to do it again next year.

The Oklahomans come to Tennessee

Well I've been putting off updating the blog because I don't have time... but the truth of the matter is I do have time if I stop narrating so much,fiddling with the wording, editing the pictures to look better etc. Stop trying to do it perfectly and just do it! So here they are, pictures from when Colin's parents and aunt, uncle, cousin came to visit us in the summer - 4th of July weekend.

Here's Izzie feeding a goat at a farm we went to. It sounded great but was a little disappointing. The highlights were a bouncy castle and the sandbox.

Ben, sleeping on Izzie, sleeping on Daddy.

The guys all got a bee in their bonnets to shave their heads. Here's Wingo trusting Colin with the clippers.

Wade giving Ben a hug.

There are other pictures but oddly enough I can't seem to locate them on the computer at the moment. So this concludes part 1.