Tuck's Little 2nd Birthday Party

Tuck's party was back in April when we had our other boys birthday party st the zoo. But we could just let his real birthday come and go without a little get together. Even so, we still had the party two weeks early.




We had lots of good food. Zaxby's chicken tenders, corn, green beans, Mac n cheese, and deviled eggs. Of course, Abbey made an incredibly cute and tasty train cake.




Tuck was not thrilled with his super cute shirt that aunt Ava made him because he is not used to wearing long sleeves.








Tuck had fun dancing around and sharing in the excitement. It was a lot of fun.








Reed, Nash, and Will also loved the festivities.




Tuck gives amazing hugs, so Uncle Bill for him an Elmo that gives hugs.

Pumpkin Patch

Will's preschool went to the pumpkin patch the other day. It was a lot of fun for Abbey and Will.


Will had fun with all of the things to play.


He even got to pick his own little pumpkin.


They went on a hayride around the pumpkin patch and enjoyed spending time with Mailee and Mrs. Kara.


Is he not the cutest little farmer ever?

Painting with Daddy

Last Friday, I took that day off. It was busy day. I got to go to lunch with Reed and Nash and then I came home and painted our front door. I painted the door with a light blue color. It was definitely not the right color but I decided that it worked really good with the adirondack chairs.


Will didn't take a nap, so that meant he was my helper for the painting. It was a mess, but it was a great bonding time. It was so sweet to watch him concentrate on doing a good job.



He painted really hard. He did a great job.


So now, I have painted the front door again and now we have light blue adirondack chairs and a darker blue front door.

Snaggletooth

Reed has lost his first tooth. We knew that it was coming. It was super loose but wouldn't quite let go. Finally, when Reed was sitting in class he said it flew like a rocket out of his mouth and onto the floor.

Mrs. Rachel gave him a ziplock and he was proud to show off his tooth. So proud that he dropped it in the abyss that is known as the third row of our van (AkA: Nash and Reed's row) and we haven't been able to find it since. So it looks like for posterity sake, we will have to save Reed's second lost tooth. None of them seem to be loose right now, but you never know.




Personally, I was sad that his tooth fell out. It means he is growing up and I'm not sure I'm ready for that. But he is so cute with that little whole in his mouth that I think it will be ok.

Hats, Gloves, and Pumpkins (both literally and figuratively)

The other day was hat day at school. Reed wore a shark hat and Nash rocked a skull cap. I'm telling you, when Nash wears a hat, he takes cute to a whole new level. You just want to squeeze him. Reed was so cute in his hat with his funny facial expressions.


Will decided that it was glove day as well. Even though the weather is certainly not cool enough for gloves, you really never know what is going on in Will's little mind.


Abbey and Michelle went to our favorite pumpkin place to pick out pumpkins for our porch. We love this place because they have such great selection of different pumpkins and gourds.


Abbey bought 7 pumpkins (1 isn't pictured) and lots of mini ones.


Nash was still wearing his super cute hat in the afternoon and fleece pullover. My island boys think that fall is synonymous with 5 degrees below zero.




Tuck also enjoyed some time looking cute. Tuck give great hugs and is super loving ... If he likes you. If not, just stay back. :-)

LandLife Bread Co.

I'm not sure how much of the blogging world knows that I bake bread. I have for several years using the starter that my sweet friend Trudy gave me. I've gotten pretty good at it and I thought it might be a good way to generate extra income for our family. We are constantly reminded just how expensive raising kids can be!


I've branched out and started baking bread at Cupcakes 24, a local bakery in our town that our friend owns. She is also selling my bread in her store. I've started taking special orders and actually am staying pretty busy with bread baking in the early mornings and prep in the evenings.





I can make a pretty mean loaf of sourdough or wheat bread, but I have to say my speciality is cinnamon rolls. That is by far the one that I have the most orders for. It's exciting to see people who love fresh baked bread.


This past weekend, we set up the cupcakes 24 trailer at the soccer fields. The business was decent but slow. The soccer season has been badly organized this year so it isn't surprising. I sold fresh baked cinnamon rolls and grilled cheese. It wasn't a great success but I made money, so that's good right.

Lola Came for Gandparents' Day at School

Last week was grandparents day at school. Lola drove in from Memphis so she could go with the boys. Nash was super excited to have Lola in his class and to have her eat lunch with him. Lola even helped Mrs. Sarah out for a little while.


Abbey fixed Lola a lunch since Lola learned last year that she didn't like school lunches from the cafeteria. Lola said that Abbey even included a special note to her mom.


Reed was also excited to have Lola eat lunch with him. I don't think I've ever seen Reed smile like he did in this picture, but it is cute!


Tuck didn't want to hear anything about grandparents day because they didn't have it at Mother's Day Out.


When Will found out that Lola was at Reed and Nash's school, he wasn't too happy either. Good thing Lola always takes them to sonic after school when she is in town. That makes up for everything.

A Busy Week

The boys had two days off from school and so Abbey made good use of the beautiful weather and took them to the zoo. I think that they had a blast because Will is still talking about the kangaroos. The Nashville zoo just added an interactive kangaroo exhibit where you can pet the 'Roos.


Our faithful friend, Mae Mae went along with Abbey and the boys to help out. She is so good with the boys and they love her. It is helpful to have an extra set of hands when you are out with our rowdy boys.


Nash loves the zoo. He especially loves the monkeys. He also likes to talk about when the birds poop.


I had a very minor fender bender in which it did $3000 worth of damage to the car I paid $4000 for. Although I thought they should have totaled it, they fixed it. This is my rental truck. The boys thought they were bad news for the week that I was driving the gas guzzling silverado. They loved it.

A Night With Our Buddies

A couple of weeks ago, we let the big boys each invite a friend over. Nash chose Luke who was his very best friend in preschool and Reed chose Connor who is his best friend at his school. Nash helped Abbey prepare the spaghetti sauce for dinner.


The boys played very hard. They ran around, rode bikes, and jumped on the trampoline. They had a lot of fun playing together. They ate their spaghetti and then went to play some more. Connor spent the night, but Luke went home late in the evening after his dad was finished at a football game.


Tuck even proved to the world that he wanted to be exactly like me and chose to stick spaghetti noodles on his chest to look like my hairy chest.


You know Abbey loves to make things special, so the boys enjoyed browning sundaes with whipped cream and cherries on top. They were a big hit with the boys.


Luke and Nash get along so well. Luke is about 1.5 feet taller than Nash but they don't seem to notice. Reed and Nash are on Luke's soccer team this season as well.

One of the Best Days Ever

We have always known that our Reed was super special. You might not realize it, but we know that all of our boys are special. In fact, the other day when someone told Abbey how adorable our boys are, she quickly responded, "I know, aren't they?" How's that for humility? Well, we kind of feel like we can admire our boys too, since we actually had not part in their adoptable features! Alas, I digress.




For the past couple of years, Reed has demonstrated a spiritual sensitivity. He is very concerned with things of an eternal nature. He has been at church since the first weekend that we brought him home and we have regular "God conversations" at our house. He knows Bible stories and has had amazing Bible influence.




About a year ago, Reed started asking when he could become a Christian. He was sure that being a Christian was something that he wanted to do, but we weren't sure if he really understood what he was asking to do. We never quieted his requests, but kept talking to him whenever he would bring it up.




Last night, on our way to soccer practice, with the intensity of a bolt of lightening, Reed said "I want to be a Christian!" Abbey and I looked at each other and then I started asking him questions. I asked him if he knew what it mean to be a Christian, if he knew what a sinner was, and if he had ever sinned. He seemed to know very well what the answers were and kept saying "tell me what to do, I want to be a Christian." I pulled up my Bible app on my phone and read some verses to Reed. When I was done I asked Reed if he still wanted to be a Christian. He unapologetically said, "Yes!" I kind of have always imagined having this intimate, quiet conversation that ended with a prayer with my little guys. The loud chaos that is the LandLife Mommobile was not what I had imagined, but the Bible doesn't give a setting, it simply says "For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." And right there amidst the chaos of our van, I walked Reed through a short prayer where my precious firstborn son asked Jesus to be his Lord and his Savior. Oh what joy that fills my soul!




We told Reed that now that he has made this decision the next step is to tell people. Reed literally screamed over the phone to his grandparents and uncle Bill, "I'm a Christian, Now!"
Last night before Reed went to bed, we got out his Bible and I underlined some of the verses we had talked about. I wrote the date on the page containing Romans 10:13 and asked Reed to write his name. I want him to remember that on September 24, 2013, he sealed his eternity in Christ Jesus.
As you can imagine we're pretty thrilled with Reed's decision.