Running Dogs

Jeff and Papa Earl took Tanner hunting on Thanksgiving Day. When they got to the forest the dogs were running a deer. Tanner got in Papa Earl's lap to listen to the dogs. He stood on Mr. Chad's dog box to watch for the deer. Then helped catch the dogs (by the antenna). Afterward he got down on all fours and ran across the road barking & saying "catch me Earl, I'm the dogs"

These are a few pictures Jeff took.

Double Trouble

Tanner & Nate or Nano & Nater or Tanner D. & Nate Nate, however you say it these boys are Double Trouble.

Yesterday it was raining so Nate came to play, instead of sitting in the truck in the woods hunting.

These kids are precious together. I got out the rainy day tents and put them together with the tunnel. They played in there for a hour.


I think it is so funny how their minds work and they come up with the craziest things to say!
Just a few quotes from the last few days from a 3 year old and an almost 3 year old.


I asked Tanner what does Santa say?

Hi! HO HO! Captain!

I found them in the bathroom talking away and when Nate saw me he said "We ain't gone tell you what we said" then laughed.


Nate came in with a Gator shirt on, then had on a Seminole Jersey, later because he was so dirty he changed into just a green shirt. While we were watching the game he said. "I'm not a Gator or Seminole anymore, I'm just going for the green team"

While playing on the train table Tanner said "Oh, no, Mommy, Nate Nate broke my rail rail track".

If Tanner doesn't have time to poo-poo on the potty he says "It will come out in a little while"


This morning I had on gray tights. When Tanner saw them he said "Oh, what have you got on your legs?"

When Nate saw the tights he said, "What is that on your legs, long socks?"



Every morning Tanner greets me with "Good morning Mommy, the sun says GET UP!"


I know that I may just be a little partial, but these have got to be close to the cutest kids around.
And I am so glad that they get to grow up together! Watch out Conner, you have Double Trouble coming your way in just a few months.

Happy Turkey Day!

I saw these cupcake pops on a blog, http://bakerella.blogspot.com/ , they were so cute, so I had to make them. I didn't have all the ingredients (& neither did the Piggly Wiggly), like candy coated espresso beans, heart shaped sprinkles, or sucker sticks, so I had to improvise a little, with gummy bears, caramel squares and Popsicle sticks. Not to mention it was 10:00 at night. Tanner was still up wanting to help, but I wouldn't let him because the chocolate was getting to hard. So I turned around and he had Hersey Kisses, Kit Kats and Suckers all over the counter (don't forget it is 10:00 at night). Where is this child's Daddy? The kitchen was a huge mess!

Why, oh why, do I have to do stuff like this? And what am I going to do with them now?

They turned out SOOOOO Darn Cute though!

Doctors Appointments

3 years old

2 months old

Yesterday both boys had doctors appointments. We saw Dr. Martin instead of Dr. Elzie. I really loved him. Tanner had to pee pee in a cup, get ht. and wt., Blood Pressure, and an eye test. He has never had to do any of this before. He weighed in at a big 29lbs. and was 37 1/2 inches tall. His vision was 20/30 which is good for a three year old according to the nurse. Jeff and I said it was 20/30 with ADD because he was distracted by the time it got to the 20/20 line. He talked and talked and talked to Dr. Martin, he stood on one foot and hopped. He got an A+ on his exam. Dr. Martin says "keep encouraging the imagination and see you back in a year"

Conner was 10lbs 3oz and 21 3/4 inches. He was smiling and holding his head up. He got an A+ too. He had to get 3 shots. He did well and has not had any reactions yet.

So another thing to be thankful for, Healthy Kids!

Thankful

This is the time to celebrate all that we are thankful for. I often think about all the things I am thankful for and I thank God for all he has blessed me with, but I never really get the chance to put my thoughts out there.

I am so thankful for my God. He has blessed me way beyond what I deserve. He will never leave me or forsake me and He is a God of Mercy and Grace. And for that I am THANKFUL.

I am thankful for my family. Jeff is a great husband, father, and mostly my best friend. He is a man of God that is leading our family in the right direction.

My two boys. Tanner has the best personality and imagination. It is so entertaining to sit and listen to his stories, to hear him sing and play is instruments. He is smart, and funny, and outgoing. Conner is beautiful and happy. I have never seen a baby that just doesn't cry. He always has joy on his face. I am so thankful that God has blessed me to be the mother in this family.

My mom. I can never say thank you enough for ALL that YaYa does for us. She always seems to be there at the right time (when I am about to loose it) and comes in and saves the day. Tanner loves his YaYa and I am thankful that both of my boys have a great grandma (oh no! not a grandma) to share their lives.

I could go on and on with family. We are truly blessed not only to have family but to know our family and for our kids to be able to grow up with so much family.

I am thankful for my home, my church, my job (yes I'm going back to work Dec. 4), my health...

So I did it. I'm sure I left off something important, but hopefully that is covered in the ...

Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone!

Smiley Baby

Hop Hop has started smiling. It is still hard to get a good smile. I feel like if someone saw the things I am doing to just get a little smile they would put me in Chattahoochee. But those smiles are the best things ever! (I know all the mothers understand) I tried to capture a few of them on camera this morning.

Shiner

Tanner fell last night holding a flashlight and got his first black eye. He was crying but stopped long enough to say, "I need to look in the mirror". I was just a little scratch but this morning it was a black eye. It is not that bad, but it is still a black eye to Mommy. Hopefully this is one of those things we can mark off the list, but I'm thinking there may be more than one black eye on the list of thing little boys do in their lifetime.

That's Mamoo's Kin Folks

Everyone has those people in their family that they don't want to claim. Mamoo has one in particular...but we won't name any names. These ARE Mamoo's kin folks but we claim all of them.

The Shuler (Larkins, Rankin, Roberts, Read, Carpenter, Savoy, Doughty, McSpaddin)Family gathered together Sunday at the river. We ate & ate & ate & ate, roasted marshmallows, had hot chocolate, and some just enjoyed the quietness. Karli and Cody enjoyed their first raw oysters. Cody liked them but Benjie made him stop after 2. Tanner rekindled his friendship with Wes. After many attempts by the FL rednecks, Brian, the GA city boy showed up and started the fire. Thanks Brian! Nate caught a bass that was immediately cleaned, fried and eaten. You catch It! You eat It!. Myers Ann and Tammy have a new found love for John Boy and Billy (Earl's secret sauce on sausage). Thanks YaYa and Earl we had a great time!

Rainy Day

It rained yesterday so we stayed inside most of the day. I was so tired of hearing Dora, Wonder Pets, and Backyardigans, so I turned the t.v. off and made Tanner do some crafts. He wasn't really into it but he did it anyway and they turned out really cute. The paper bag scarecrow and the sun catchers. Then I got out his tent. He had so much fun crawling in and out of it. Then he needed to sleep so I put the matching sleeping bag in there and he would lay down for 30seconds the jump back up and stretch like he had been sleeping for days. Thanks Mimi and Papa your birthday present saved the day. It stopped raining for about an hour so Tanner went outside and how can you keep a kid from playing in the puddles. Tanner said "I luv da wain!"

Hop Hop is holding his head up pretty good so I decided to try the Bumbo. He looks so little in it but he can sit up for a minute. I am too scared to walk away from him so I guess it is really pointless right now. But he looked really cute in it. Again thanks Mimi (and Papa) this is going the be really handy in about a month.

Am I Crazy?

Maybe, but I don't think taking Tanner, Nate & Conner to the fair is crazy. It's not like I was alone, well Jeff was with me, but then we met Brent, Michelle and Rylee. So there was plenty of help. There are lots of other reasons to call me crazy, like telling them that the mean people would steal them if they got too far away from us, or giving them chicken on a stick, kettle corn and cotton candy for supper, or letting my 3 year old ride the swings (those are really scary to me). And I'm sure everyone is thinking of more reasons that I am crazy, but just keep those to yourself.

Anyway, we took all the boys to the fair yesterday. They had a blast! Tanner rode everything, he wanted to ride the dragon thing that swings back a forth. (Thank God he was too small!) Nate was a little more hesitant. I said he is just like his Daddy. He wouldn't ride anything that looked unsteady or could possibly get out of control. He is the slowest walker, but he can sure run fast. He had the best time on the dinosaurs, "the pink ones and the green ones". Nate said "Hop-Hop cain't ride he's just a baby." They all really liked feeding the animals. Thanks to Brent & Myshell for bringing Susie's rabbit food (may she rest in peace). Nate grabbed one of the cows horns and said "It's a buck" How country can you be? Rylee and Jeff rode the big rides with Tanner standing with me crying because he wanted to ride too. And what would the fair be without seeing the 8 legged spider Lady. We had a BLAST!

Not a Baby Anymore

Tanner started his first class yesterday. He went to gymnastics. I know some people are thinking "Oh my, he is going to be sissy" but my brother and I did gymnastics growing up and I don't think my brother is sissy at all. (except for when he dressed up as mickey mouse). I really wasn't sure how he would act, because he has never been in a class besides Sunday School or Kidz Church and there has always been someone he knew very well teaching (me, Michelle, or Sarah). Just like a big boy he went right in there and sat on his animal square and started doing everything the teacher told him to do. I could not believe it. He didn't even look back to see if I was still there, it kind of made me sad. I was so proud of him though. He did floor, bar, balance beam, rings, trampoline, & parallel bars. I was very impressed with his hand stands and donkey kicks. (maybe i will video him next week) He did a little extra jumping around, but all in all he was great!

Sorry the pictures are dark

Hop Hop got a floor gym yesterday too. I think he likes it, but I really not sure. He doesn't cry when I put him under it, but then again he doesn't cry to much anyway. I put it on the floor in the living room and I think he likes watching the t.v.

Christmas Already?

We went in Wal-Mart yesterday and there was a toy catalogue just inside the door (right past the giant Christmas tree). I was so excited. I got one for Tanner to look at on the way home. He studied every single toy in the book. He only picked out about 3 things he wanted, a $200 video camera (yes, it was a toy book), a 3 ft tall dinosaur to ride on (you can see it in the picture on the back of the book) and a $50 remote control robot (that is for 10 year olds). Sorry grandma's! I just love watching his face and can't wait to see it on Christmas morning. It gets better and better every year. When we got home I tried to explain, as he was having a lay down on the floor fit, that Santa is watching to see if you are going to make to good list or the bad list, but he really didn't seem to understand. WHEN will this start to work?

Look at this 6 1/2 week old baby. He held his self up like this for at least 1 minute. I'm sure that he shouldn't be doing this yet. Look how excited Jeff is. Is that for Conner or for the Gators?

Busy

Hop Hop Update

Conner turned 6 weeks old this week. He finally got over his cold, after I think I sucked 5lbs of snot out of him with the "sucker-sucker" as Tanner calls it. He is doing good and getting bigger.

He finally likes his passie, thank God!

Picking Oranges

Yesterday we continued a family tradition that has been going on for longer I have been alive.
MaNeil's tree has lots of oranges on it this year. Tanner got to pick some of them, with a little help from YaYa. They are delicious, but Tanner doesn't like them.

Making a scarecrow

Tanner and I made a scarecrow today. He talked to it like it was real. Can you tell who drew the face?

Little Boys Heaven

and big boys too, apparently. About 10 loads of dirt were delivered just down the road from us, so on Saturday morning we went to play on them. Tanner had the best time "draking" and Jeff was making tunnels. Hop-Hop and I had fun just watching. Can't wait for the new neighbors.

I've been wanting to create a blog for a while, so here it goes. Hope you all enjoy!

Halloween

Our pumkins (really Jeff's pumpkins), but we all had fun pulling out the guts

We went trick or treating on the hayride again this year. Hop Hop the cow got his first treats at YaYa's and Tanner tried to eat all the candy before we got to the next house. He really like the suckers. We only went to 3 or 4 houses then to the church fall festival. Tanner found a new "best friend thing" (Emily) Rylee Bo Peep found a Cow. Black Man Nate & Cowboy Tanner said "dat was fun!"

Happy Halloween!