coloring outside

Since Hampton enjoys coloring so much, we thought we'd take him outside to play with chalk. That way, he could color all over the driveway with no worries about getting it other places. Of course, he was covered in it, too! He had a great time playing with the chalk, and then playing with our neighbors who came over to visit. We liked it, too, especially since the cleanup was so easy!

Color! Color!

"Color! Color!" is what Hampton says when he wants to do one of his favorite new pastimes. He'll usually play with his crayons and coloring books for a good while. We are trying to keep him seated and coloring in only one place, at his little table. That's because he hasn't quite learned that the only acceptable place for crayon marks is on paper. Just ask our tile floors and bedroom wall......thank goodness for washable crayons!

The Busiest of Bees

If you've wondered if we've abandoned the blog, the answer is no. It just seems that way because we've been so busy lately!

Last week was the semi-annual consignment sale, so that meant 4 trips back and forth to Fairhope ( a 30-minute drive each way) dropping off clothes, picking stuff up, and shopping a lot! Luckily, we found several things on our list, including an adorable baby outfit for only $1! Can't beat that! We also went to Family Fun Night at church. It's always fun, and we got to catch up with some friends that we hadn't seen all summer. That's about to change, though, since Fall church activities start again next week. Both of us will be working with the kiddies, and we're really looking forward to it! On Sunday, we had a luncheon at church that was really fun, too. We got to meet lots of new people and got to know some others a little better. Hampton had fun showing off before deciding that playing with all the toys in the nursery would be more fun!

Speaking of Hampton, don't worry...he's been having lots of fun, too! He's had several playdates with friends, as well as getting to play at Granddaddy's house while Tanner is busy monogramming away. We had a "great" idea of putting a cutoff for monogramming orders as of Oct. 1st, so we can get ready for the baby. Well, it's kind of backfired! For some reason, people have been coming out of the woodwork to order, so even though we are still planning to stop taking orders then, it may be Dec. 1st before we get done making all this stuff! It's definitely a good problem to have, though, and we're not complaining (well....not TOO much, anyway!).

Hampton also got to play with Grandpa & Grannie at their house, which means lots of running around outside while we had our first date night ever! Kind of pathetic, we know, but at least we got around to getting out by ourselves before #2 gets here!

Fall is usually when things get crazy around here, but if these past couple of weeks are any indication, we're already in the middle of it!

Friday Photo

Another photo of the pirates, because it's just too funny!

Jan's Birthday

Monday was Jan's birthday, so we celebrated with dinner at the Shrimp Basket, which is one of her favorite restaurants. We enjoyed a yummy meal and even yummier cupcakes that we smuggled in for dessert! Afterwards, we walked over to Souvenir City where Tanner snapped a hilarious photo of the crew. What's a birthday without a pirate picture, right?

The Beach

All cousin Jack wanted to do during his visit was go to the beach. He said it over and over, so we couldn't keep him from it! So while Bob & John went fishing, Bo, Tanner & Amy took the boys to the beach. We decided that it was probably best to wait until it got a bit cooler to go, so we headed down right after dinner. What a good decision! The weather felt amazing and Jack just kept saying "I'm so excited!" over and over. It was too cute. We did have to avoid the jellyfish and fish heads that were washing up on the beach, but these cousins probably would've stayed all night if we'd let them!

working together building a sandcastle

Henry just happily watched the big boys play

Bo stayed busy keeping Hampton from running into the water

Jack escaping from the sand we buried him in

Fun Family Weekend

This weekend, Tanner's brother John & his family came down from Birmingham to visit. They have 2 boys, one is a year older than Hampton and the other is a year younger. Hampton LOVES his big cousin Jack and does everything he can to keep up with him! We all had a blast enjoying warm weather activities and each others' company. The best part was seeing how worn out the boys were after all the playing and non-stop running! Luckily, Hampton won't have to wait too long to play with cousin Jack again, since we'll be seeing them next month for Jack's birthday.

baby Henry being entertained by Granddaddy during lunch at The Pink Pony

Hampton decked out in all his swimming gear at the pool

Jack & Hampton having way too much fun on the water slide

Into Everything

This past week has been an interesting one with Hampton, to say the least! First, he managed to dump out an entire container of baby powder in the floor & play with it like it was sand. Then, he made a trail to the front door & back, where he smeared it all over the front door (it's still there). It took 2 sweepings, the vacuum, and the mop to get it all up. The next day, he recreated the powder with black pepper, which sent him into a sneezing fit! Of course, it didn't seem to bother him that bad, because the day after that, we caught him climbing on top of the dining room table trying to grab the pepper again. Tanner has suggested that we move everything up to a height of at least our chins, but Bo doesn't think that will stop him for long enough!