Cotton and Pumpkin Carving!!!

The cotton fields and fall leaves everywhere are so beautiful in Alabama!!! I love fall so much with all the colors and holidays.  These first two pictures are taken with my phone and the first one is looking through our dirty windshield so it doesn't do the field justice.  It was so interesting too to see cotton bales!

Everywhere you go the white fields just pop!  Most of them are by busy roads though or I didn't have my camera with me so sadly, the pictures of our family are not by the best looking cotton field.  There was a parking lot right by that one though so I thought it would be the safest one to pull over by and get a picture of us by the field without worrying about traffic.  I'll have to scout out a better spot for next year!

We bought our pumpkins from a Baptist Church just down the street.  We weren't able to make it to the family fun farms this year because the kids keep getting coughs and runny noses off and on or it's been raining on the weekends.

The pumpkins rotted and shriveled after only a couple days.  I started noticing that other houses had pumpkins out, but hadn't carved them yet, so I guess in the Alabama heat you've got to wait to carve your pumpkins.  I don't remember if our pumpkins died that fast last year or not.

Gracie's cat . . .

Lindsey's pumpkin. . .

Cooper lost interest in the pumpkins, found a pine cone, and pretended it was a phone.

Loving our Kiddos!!!

This might explain why Tim had to have double hernia surgery last year. . . the kids sure love their Daddy!

Don't mind the pale, beached whale without makeup in the middle . . . just look at those adorable babies!  I love snuggling with them!

I couldn't get rid of the red eye in this picture.

I think they were making a train in this one.  They kept jogging in circles around the living room and Lindsey kept squealing at Cooper for hanging onto her shirt or hair.

Gracie is becoming quite the little artist! At least I think it's impressive for a four year old.  This is our family having a picnic while we watched conference.

We did have an indoor picnic for lunch while we watched conference and I tried another idea I read about online where you put the Ensign picture out of all the general authorities and have the kids put a sticker on each speaker's picture.  Gracie got pretty good at finding their picture but she got annoyed waiting for the next speaker so that she could put on another sticker.

Lindsey identified President Monson and before one session started and the prophet and others entered the tabernacle and were just standing in front of their chairs, she got excited and said, "The presidents are going to sing!"  Other than that they didn't pay attention and were loud and kept asking when it would be over and why there was so much conference, but what can you expect out of little ones?  I love them so much!

Video

I know this is overkill on the amount of video, but hey, I haven't posted video in awhile and my family lives 1832 miles (28 hours) away, so these videos are for the grandparents. :)

I still can't get video from my new camera to load on the blog so I pulled out my old camera to get some video of the kids playing in their new back yard. Even though I didn't get it on video, Cooper does know how to climb the ladder all by himself too and that is pretty scary! I'm sure we'll have a broken bone someday, but they sure have fun out there!

Our Home!

We absolutely love our new home and couldn't be happier with it!   We especially love the back yard . . . the kids would stay out there all day if we let them!

I've always been nervous to put pictures of my house on the blog because I think hackers or identity thieves will know where I live (I'm a worrier for those who don't know. . . haha) but I've had enough requests now that I thought I better just do it.

Instead of getting an entertainment center we just got bookshelves for each side of the wood burning fireplace.  They turned out pretty sturdy for being Walmart furniture.  I also love that all the blinds throughout the house are the nice 2 inch ones.  I hate cleaning the regular skinny, flimsy blinds so these bigger ones will be a lot nicer to clean (if I ever clean them) and they are a lot more sturdy.

We eventually want to put a piano and computer/desk in this area, but for now we just put the table and chairs that the owner left for us so that we wouldn't have an empty space.

A little project I worked on.  We've tried several different wall shelves for the kids hand and foot molds but they all just leaned.  We found this one that you mount a bracket and then slide the shelf on after the mount is in place so it worked better than others we've tried.  It's complete with an ultrasound picture of the new baby girl!

Roses Tim brought home after the priesthood session of conference.  He also brought home yummy food for dinner the next day.  Thanks hubban!!!

Nice big pantry!

Gracie and Lindsey's room . . .

Cooper and the baby's room . . . eventually she'll move in with the girls and we plan on getting a queen bed for Cooper in this room.  That way when company comes we have at least one room to offer.  Pros and cons of being the only boy Cooper. . .you'll get your own room eventually but you'll be the one kicked out for company.

Double vanity with whirlpool tub . . .

The second bath has a double vanity too!  Gracie is becoming quite proficient at brushing her own teeth!

Workbench/shelving that the owner left for us.  This has been our pile it place for odds and ends so it's not very organized right now but Tim is in Heaven with all the shelving and the shed out back!

Nice little garden area complete with pepper plants!  The kids have had a blast picking the peppers.

Evidence that the kids have been picking the peppers.  We didn't mind that they were picking them but didn't realize how many they had picked and that they were just thrown down in the garden.  Tim did bring in a couple of the bell peppers and cut them up and we dipped them in Ranch.  Not too bad.

The inside of the shed . . .

The man we bought the house from built this playset himself.  He sure knew how to take care of his home and we are so grateful!!!

Nice back patio complete with ceiling fan and already cluttered with our lawn chairs and bikes . . .

Like I said, the kids LOVE being outside and it's so nice to be out there with them.  The yard is actually what sold the place for me.

Lindsey always rides with her seat up so that her baby doll can ride too.  See the doll behind her?