Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ready to eat! It smelled so good.
All the ingredients. I think I want a spice rack for Christmas, crazy huh?

I loved the sour cream, chips, and cheese on the top.

He liked it!

Pappaw and his new bike.

What a busy and productive day today. This morning I took Baylor to kindergarten, Cooper to preschool, and then Parker and I headed to Sam's Club and the grocery. I needed to get a few things for dinner and lots of things for the big birthday party on Saturday. I also needed to go by the doctor and get my flu shot, but they were doing them at Sam's so I got mine there which was much quicker. All of us now have our flu shots for the year, yeah! Mimi was so helpful and took Baylor for the day so I could work at home on finishing Parker's closet, getting things ready for the party, do laundry, clean the house, and start on Cooper's closet. It is so much easier to get things done when Baylor and Cooper are not fighting with each other, imagine that! I needed an easy recipe for today and I found this chicken tortilla soup recipe here, http://www.megduerksen.typepad.com/, and I thought it looked yummy and easy. I ended up making mine in the crock pot and it was so delicious. It was really spicy but the sour cream and tortilla chips toned down the spice. Tom and I both loved it and he said he could eat it every week. I made tacos for the boys because it was definitely too hot for them. Baylor took a bite and he said his mouth was on fire. So far I have cooked a new recipe four weeks in a row, but next week will be a week off since we are going to Disney!!! I actually have enjoyed making new things and have added some cooking items to my Christmas list for Tom. He is calling me Emeril, I think I would rather be Giadda! After dinner Pappaw drove his new motorcycle over to show Tom and the boys. He is so excited and his bike is really nice. The boys liked looking at it, but they will definitely not be riding it!:) Pappaw is planning on going on a long trip with one of his good friends on their bikes. It was one of his bucket list items and he is really looking forward to it. Before going in for the night we played a little basketball outside. We are all enjoying the new goal.

Mary Poppins

What a fun night.
Practically Perfect in Every Way!

Mimi, Pop, and I went to the Broadway production of Mary Poppins. It was "practically perfect" in every way. The actors were great and the sets were amazing. I love all the songs and music in the show. Mary Poppins is one of my favorite movies and I have seen it lots and lots of times. When Baylor was two almost three this was one of his favorite movies. We watched it all the time and he would want to sing Jolly Holiday over and over. He had a big crush on Mary Poppins and was so excited to meet her at Disney. He thought she was beautiful. It was neat to see how they changed some parts for the stage. I enjoyed the entire performance and had such a great time. I loved all the sweet parts that made me so thankful for my sweet boys and what a joy it is to be able to spend every day with them and watch them grow and change, even if some days are harder than others! Some days I feel like I need help from Mary Poppins, she would get us in order in no time! Spit Spot!

Children's Museum

He was thrilled to ride the carousel!
He was happy.

We rode three times in a row and never had to get off.

He was busy building. Some of the glass pieces were bigger than him.

He worked hard to fill in the whole top.

I think he wonders how Ethan made it out of the stroller.

Playing dinos.

Roar!

He was being a scary dinosaur.

Checking out the fossils.

Baylor loves Ethan!

After school and the orchard Mimi, the boys, and I met Jen and Ethan at the Children's Museum. The boys were so excited to go and have been begging to go for a few weeks. We ate lunch first since Baylor was starving from being at school. Ethan was so cute during lunch playing peek a boo with me at the table. He is so sweet. We are one busy group with four little boys at lunch time but I sure am crazy about them all! Our first stop was the dinosaur exhibit. It seriously was not crowded at all and we had the dino play area all to ourselves. Ethan thought he was big stuff walking around like the big boys. After playing with dinosaurs and pretending to be dinosaurs we headed to the train exhibit. We all had fun there and got several tickets for our favorite destinations. We also went to the glass area, Science Works, and the carousel. The boys talked Mimi into stopping in the gift shop before we left where all four boys got a toy. We all had a great day and loved our time at the museum.

Mops Play Date

We had to drink and eat fast because of the bees.
He was happy to hold an apple.

Future buds.

I love them.

Becky and Hudson.

Erika and her little girl who wanted to run.

Conner having some cider.

He enjoyed the corn maze.

Hudson checked out the corn.

So did Coop.

Trying to take a shortcut.

This was early on when they knew the way.

Eager to start.

One of my jobs in Mops this year is to plan play dates and mom nights for the ladies throughout the year. Our first play date was today at Anderson Orchard. I planned the first date before Mops started and Wednesdays don't seem to be the best day so hopefully more moms and kids can come the next time. I dropped Baylor off at school and then hurried to the pediatrician for the little boys to get flu shots. We hurried to the orchard and were only a few minutes late. Becky and Hudson came and Erika and her little girl and boy. We found out when we got there that the trees were all picked so we went in the corn maze. Seriously I thought we would never make it out and I would be late getting Baylor. We hit every dead end and finally found the entrance again but never the exit. The corn was so tall and hard to see over. The kids had fun though and pretended they were solving a mystery. They each got a bag of apples and cider. We sat and had our snack and talked. It was a fun time and nice to meet a new mom and her sweet kids.

Dino Baby

I love Parker in hats.
I'm hoping he likes them this winter too.
I love that he can wear clothes his big brothers wore. Brings back sweet memories, I am sentimental like that.

He is on the move.

Basketball Craze

He had fun bouncing and watching.
He's really good at playing with one arm.

Resting in his ball cage.

We had all three goals going. On the way home from school we stopped at the car wash and swept out the inside. My poor van was so dirty.

He is loving the goal. It was the boy's birthday present from us.

Go Baylor!

He had fun too.

Hanging out on my mound of laundry. It's all done and his closet is cleaned and organized. Only two more to go.

On Thursday our new basketball goal was put in and the boys are so excited. Over a week ago they dug the hole and poured the cement and then we had to wait for it to dry. The boys would look out the window each morning to check if it was there. I'm not sure if they thought it would magically appear overnight. It was a great fall day so after school and lunch we played outside until nap. It was so nice to enjoy the beautiful day. I was also able to keep laundry going all day since I was washing all the fall/winter clothes for Parker that were stored in the attic. Tom was gone so Mimi had us over for dinner which was a big help.

Madison

What a cute little pumpkin!
He is definitely not for sale!!!!

I am so in love with him.

Mom and I had a great time.

Pop and Parker were buds.

Shopping and looking cute sure can get tiring.

I loved all the neat pumpkins and gourds. I see a big pumpkin patch in my future:).

Madison is such a neat historic town. There are so many beautiful homes!

On the way home we drove by Pop's grandpa's property. The house is not the same but this was the barn and where Pop played as a kid. He told us lots of stories about when he went to visit his grandparents. The poor barn is in need of serious repair.

On Sunday I went to church to sing with the joy jammers and then hurried home to get Parker, Mimi, and Pop. We all went to a craft show in Madison. Chautauqua in Madison is one of my favorite fall events. It is so pretty and the shops are just as much fun as the booths. It was a little cloudy with sprinkles in the morning so we were unsure of how the day would be, but it ended up being beautiful. Parker was such a good boy and was the hit of the day. Everyone said how cute he was in his pumpkin hat and people even asked to take his picture. We said we could have sold lots of pumpkin hats and sweaters there today!