Fall is Here!

Fall has finally arrived in Bluffton! There have been at least 5 consecutive days that the temperature hasn't reached 85, the seasonal section at Target smells like mixed candy (you know the distinctive smell of Tootsie Rolls and Snickers and lollipops all mixed in) and the small grassy lot across from our neighborhood has pumpkins in it! Fall, baby! And I LOVE IT!!! John has always been a Fall lover. It generally means more use of his outdoor clothing, and in times past has been the season of a healthy real estate market. I guess growing up in NC, I took Fall for granted. I'm sure I focused more on the loss of my summer tan and all the leaf raking instead of the many cool things about this season. But living here for the past 5 years, my appreciation of Fall has grown so much! Throw two kiddos in there with all the festive things to do for them and this season may soon become my favorite!

While Jack was at preschool on Tuesday, Finn and I ventured to Cahill's Market to roam the pumpkin patch with some of our MOPS friends. Of all times to forget my camera! Fortunately my friend, Vicky, had her camera and snapped a few shots of my little Jaws maneuvering himself around the pumpkin yard. We escaped with buying apple butter and pumpkin butter, but no pumkin. Jack wouldn't allow such a purchase without his blessing.



So...we went back to Cahill's that night with Gigi and bought the most beautiful pumpkin you've ever seen! (Shout out to Cahill's...it's the coolest little store. If you're ever in the area, you have to go there and eat lunch. Best food around!) Here's the fam checking out the animals. The horses were pretty friendly. That could have been because Jack is our resident horse whisperer. He approached the horses as he does every other animal: "Hey horsey, horsey. Awww....yeah. Hey, buddy. It's okay..."

Jack enjoyed his pumpkin patch frolick.

And here's the finished product! We bought one of those stencil books that teaches you how to carve one, step by step. We let Jack choose which picture he wanted. He made it clear that he wanted a happy face and not a scary one, which surprised us all since he has an odd fascination with scary things.

Gigi and Poppy Johnny joined us for the Ussery Family Night of Fall Festivities:) We started at the pumpkin patch, headed to the driveway for the gutting of the pumpkin, and then took our party to the kitchen for some chili, cornbread and pumpkin pie. It was so much fun! Maybe we can make it a little Fall tradition.


Happy Fall to everyone!

Where Dreams Come True

No, we didn't go to Disney, but we did venture to the Hampton Lake playground last Sunday night, which was close enough. Our small group got cancelled so we headed out for an evening of slides, sand and silly-face making.

Jack was caught in a moment of extreme excitement. Whenever he gets really excited about something he goes on a short streak of goodness. He'll either randomly compliment you (Let's go to the cookie store, Jack. "OK! I like your hair, Mommy.") or run and give someone or something a hug. I guess Jack was overwhelmed with happiness at just being at the playground with his Daddy in tow that he hugged Finley instead of cramming his face down in the sandbox like usual.

These boys melt my heart!!!

Finley has taken to making the game face quite often. This may be the one thing he got from his father.

I guess this answers the question that I ask Jack most often: "Why are you doing that?!?!" The apple ain't far from the tree, folks. Jack was a little worried here and came to catch John.

And here's the silly face.

Finn weaseled away from me during a diaper change before I could get the clean one on him. It doesn't get much more relaxed than playing on the playground in the buff. It must be noted that, as far as I know, Finn did NOT learn this from his father.

John and I couldn't get enough of Jack in his baseball hat. He NEVER keeps a hat on more than a minute or two, but that night he was happy to wear it most of the time. So grown up looking on him.

The Great Outdoors

John played his usual role of Awesome Dad by taking Jack camping two weekends ago. John's buddies, Phillip and Jason, tagged along as well as Phillips little boy, Carter (2.5 years). The plan was to hike 1/2 mile into the camp site, set up camp and stay for 2 nights. Unfortunately when they got to their location on the mountain, that part of the mountain was in the clouds, which made for a wet camping trip. Wisely they cut the trip short one night and opted for a cabin and some trout fishing. Can't say anyone can blame them.

Despite the cool temps and wet bodies, Jack and Carter had a great time. Here they are under a tarp while their dads pitch the tents.

A little rain couldn't stop these boys from having a good time! Check out Carter's horse flash light. All serious campers need one.

Here's Carter, Jason, John and Jack staying dry in the tent.

If you look closely you can see Jack and Carter acting like the nutty little boys they are.


I'm sure John can post more detailed stories about the trip, but I do know they all had a great time! Jack mostly enjoyed hanging out with Carter, "sweepin in a sweepin bag" and "touchin' a fish".

Thank you John, Phillip and Jason for risking your sanity and spending quality time with these two little boys.

Hangin' with the Homies

Sorry for not posting in a while. (Do I always say that? It feels like it.) Busy as usual. Mostly fun things as usual. The boys are doing well. They have been enjoying time with Gigi and Poppy Johnny over the past few weeks.

John took the boys to their house the other night while I had a meeting. As you can see, Finley really loved the storybook time. They figured out that whenever they'd focus the camera for a picture, the red eye light would come on, Finn would then recognize that it was indeed a camera pointing his way and he'd put on his best cheese face.

Jack thought that a batter face was better. He's still into giving the thumb's up. This morning I saw him playing "Thumbkin" with both of his thumbs poised towards each other, but instead of singing, "Where is Thumbkin, Where is Thumbkin" he was singing "God our Father, God our Father, Here I am, Here I am!" They're both to the same tune so I can see where it's confusing. Just funny watching Jack's thumbs talk to each other, saying they were God.

Finley was all cuddles the other morning when we let him in the bed with us. The temperature has been dropping pretty low at night, which means that we've been busting out the footy pajamas! Children are adorable in most clothing options, but you throw a pair of footy PJs on them and they're insanely precious.

Later in the day Finley ditched his PJs for a nice covering of baked ziti. He's such a big eater! Whenever we fix oatmeal in the morning, Jack gets the small bowl and Finley finishes off a large bowl AND a banana AND some Cheerios. He's still a little guy though. Go figure.

Jack is much like his mother in that he enjoys packaging. You can see his pirate cup in this picture. It's one of his favorites. He doesn't even like red juice that much (cranberry juice), but he drank it solely because it was flowing from the pirate cup. I made the mistake of forgetting that cranberry juice is a natural diuretic. The poor kid spent half the day in the bathroom.

Matt's Old, Wedding, Beach Day

Sorry for not posting in such a long period of time. We have been busy over the past few weeks. We've been running around like crazy at home, going from preschool to the gym, to CBS, and of course to Target. Last week we got a change of scenery and headed home to North Carolina.

The first big event of the trip was Matt's 30th surprise birthday party. Melissa put together an awesome party for her old hubby. It's so crazy to think about Matt being thirty. I remember growing up there was a show called Thirty Something, and I vividly remember thinking that show must be for old people only. I was right. Matt could watch that show now.

Jack's highlight of the trip was seeing all of his family members. Adam is one of his favorites for sure. We even surprised him at school one day. Adam has let us borrow some of his clothes from when he was small, and Jack now recognizes the hand me downs and frequently begs to wear one of Adam's shirts. It's cute.

The 2nd big event of the week was Toni and Stephen's wedding. Toni and I went to nursing school together at UNC. It was great to see her again and be part of her beautiful wedding! Hope Hawaii was amazing!!!!:)

We returned home on Sunday, which meant that Monday should have been 'catch up' day. You know, the day to do laundry and grocery shopping and all of that stuff. Instead of being productive, we accepted Gigi's invitation to Follyfield beach! And we're sure glad we did! The weather was perfect and the boys couldn't have been happier.

Check out Finn trying to catch his breath. The wind sent his back of the head toupee swirling in the breeze!

Jack paused for this one brief moment to get a photo with his Gigi. He didn't seem to mind that the water temperature was a little cold. I've realized that parents tend to be the only ones who freak out about cooler temperatures. Or maybe it's just living in a relatively warm climate that we moms tend to blow the slightest chill in the air out of proportion. I'm really beginning to think that even if Jack was in sub-zero conditions, as long as he had room to run, he'd never mention it. Blue lips and all.

Finn has his concentration tongue going.

Here is Jack's latest series of silliness:

Jack, show me a happy face:

Show me a sad face:

Show me a silly face:

There was no request for the following face, but I'd like to think that I had just asked him to show me the Mommy face...you know...the one he naturally gets when he thinks of his mother. Duh.