Lovin' Daddy

These two can't get enough of their Daddy.  When he's on the computer, they often sit on his lap and watch what he's doing.  When we go out to dinner, they'll both sit next to him (even it's a booth seat for two).  They love opportunities to help him at school, go to the pet store and motorcycle shop because it means extra time with him.  I know there are times when he needs his space, but he'll miss this some day.  Let's hope this stage lasts forever!

Pumpkin Carving

Alivia loved cleaning out her pumpkin this year! 

Drew wasn't interested in touching with his bare hands at all.

The finished products.  These carvers (aka: Mommy and Daddy) are getting pretty good at this! 

Alivia chose Pluto (because she LOVES dogs).
Drew picked out a Ninja Turtle.

Alivia & Brad made the third pumpkin at the Halloween party last weekend.

Another Birght Idea

Our deck has needed some attention for awhile now.  We finally decided to replace some bad boards and resurface it this fall.  Unfortunately fall has slipped by rather quickly and we decided to tackle this project in just four days.  We must be crazy!  We spent around 20 hours working on it and there's still quite a bit left to do.  This is as far as we're going to get this year.  We'll do the spindles and vertical side boards in the spring.  We've also realized our bodies don't like this much work all at once.  Here's the before and after shots. 

Before - with a few replacement boards 

This is where the hot tub use to sit. 

After!  We had to brush between the boards and fill cracks (as much as we could), then roll and repeat both steps again. 

 

Such an improvement!  Now we're just hoping it lasts. :)

Proud Parents

Does anyone remember the bumper stickers that said "Proud Parent of a (fill in blank) Elementary Honor Roll Student"?  I can still see the look on my father's face when those came home from school.  He wanted to run outside and slap it on the back of his truck to tell the whole world.  And I was willing to do anything to not let it happen.  Well here I am, 25 years later, and I finally get it.

Alivia and Drew are doing so well in school.  Alivia came home with her first report card full of A's.  She finished the 9 week grading period with an A+ in math (100%), and A's in reading (99%), phonics (99%) and spelling (98%).  We are so proud of her hard work and thankful she loves going to school.  After only a week off during Fall Break, she was asking to go back.  (I must be really boring!)   She's quite the sponge these days.  She loves opportunities to learn just like her Daddy. :)   We are so thankful for her teacher this year too.  The Parent/Teacher Conference went great yesterday.  She had lots of good things to say and set some high goals for Alivia to achieve.  We love that she's continuing to push her.  Way to go, Alivia!

 

Drew also brought home his first report card from ICA.  Their Kindergarten Readiness class is very similar to Kindergarten at Mt. Comfort.  I'm worried he'll be very bored next year.  He's trying to keep up with Alivia which means he's reading her paper books (from her Kindergarten class last year), working on her sight words and practicing her math flash cards.  He ended up with all "Good" and "Excellent" scores this quarter.  Clearly he's doing very well, too. :)  Great job, Drew!

Halloween Fun

The kids had fun at their annual Halloween party last weekend.  It's so nice to still get together with Ryan, Angela and the boys.  Alivia and Drew were so lucky to grow up with them and love opportunities to keep in touch now that they go to different schools.  Here are some fun pics from the event.  Enjoy!

 

All dressed up!  Everyone is smiling but Drew.  He made a last second decision to change his costume before we left home and ended up with his firefighter outfit.  Can you tell he's not into this dress up stuff? :)

Blake and Drew

These two...

I think they were just happy to spend the evening carving pumpkins instead of doing home repairs. :)

 

Alivia was the only one that wanted to help Daddy.

Their finished product!

Ethan - "Buzz Lightyear"

Nolan - "Ninja"

Alivia - "Princess Aurora"

Grandparents Day at ICA

Drew had lots of fun last Friday with his grandparents at school.  We're so thankful everyone made the trip to Anderson to be with him.  Each class sang a few songs, then enjoyed lunch with the kids in the gym.  Alivia and I snuck in at the end, so she joined in the picture as well.  Thanks to all of you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to be here for Drew!

 

Just a few things to remember:

• Drew's class sent invitations to each family household.  He was so happy Great Papaw could make the trip.  It's not always easy for him to be in the car that long.
• Drew's favorite song was "My Country Tis of Thee."  We've heard it way to many times in the last month! :)
• On the way home from school one day, Drew and Brad were talking about who would be here for the program.  Drew wasn't sure if Papaw Bine could make it because he might be working in the field.  A few minutes later Drew asked Brad "What's more important, kids or corn?"  Thankfully, Papaw didn't have any trouble making sure he could be here.  I'm always amazed at how much these kids are thinking!

Let's Harvest!

It's so much fun to take the kids to ride in the combine and tractor during harvest.  They love the time on the farm and especially enjoy visits with Papaw, Mark and Gary.  Over seven hours of farming was a full day's work for these two.  Here were a few highlights from the day.

• Alivia and Drew were both able to drive the combine and turn on/off the unloading auger.  Every time they hear a bell go off they want to know what it means.  I think they're trying to make sure Papaw doesn't miss something. 
• They took turns riding in the tractor with Hope.  They were able to drive it too.  According to Alivia, it's much easier to drive the tractor than the combine.
• They love talking on the radio to Mark.  Drew repeatedly asked to tease Mark once he knew he was listening.  Drew also sang "My Country Tis of Thee" to Hope over the radio.  After Papaw and I had heard the song about 15 times, we decided others should enjoy it too.  Soon after that we let Drew ride with Hope and brought Alivia back in with us. :)
• After a quick visit with Mamaw, we came back to the field to ride until it was time to head home.  Drew was just sure he could do this all night!  He did come fully prepared in his cowboy boots, John Deere shirt and hat.  He was asleep within 10 minutes of being in the car.
• Drew was able to help open up a field with Papaw.  He was asking to do this early in the afternoon and got the chance to help once we came back after dinner.  

Chilly at Tuttle's

It was a chilly and quick visit to Tuttle's Pumpkin Patch this year.  The wind was cold!  A high temperature in the 40's is not a good sign when it's the first week of October.  We told the kids to pick out a pumpkin and then we were done.  We were happy to have Nanny and Papaw join us too.

 

Alivia's pick :)

Papaw's attempt to help Drew find the perfect pumpkin for carving.  This proved to be a very difficult task. :)

 

"Maybe this one??"

 

"No that one!" :)

It took a little teamwork to get them back to the car.  Lots of fun, but we found out quickly none of us are ready for the cold weather that's headed our way.  Happy fall!

Student Drivers

Alivia and Drew love going to APA for their Homecoming celebration.  This year Alivia drove (Brad lets them do the steering by themselves) the queen candidates around the track and then Drew drove the king and queen around for their victory lap.  Daddy just enjoys the opportunity to sit behind the wheel of a Corvette for a few minutes. :)  Drew was struggling throughout the week to decide if he wanted to go to soccer practice or the football game.  I think he was happy with his choice at the end of the day!