Happy Thanksgiving!

I love this time of year!  I love being surrounded by family from near and far.  We celebrated this Thanksgiving with a huge family gathering.  Twenty-three people came together at Mimi and Papa's house.    We enjoyed catching up with aunts, uncles, cousins, and our wonderful grandmother, Muh! Can Thanksgiving day last just a little longer?!

Leaves galore!

It has been a while since I have posted!  Time flies!!  What have we been up to you ask?  LEAVES, leaves, and even more leaves.  Every weekend for the past two weekends, we have all gone out and raked, blown, tarped, and hauled thousands and thousands of leaves.  We love our trees, but they sure do make us work for that shade we get in the spring and summer.  This year, Taylor has been able to help.  He is quite the raker and tarp hauler.  He was such a trooper to spend an hour and a half outside working hard.  I am not so sure that he was thrilled about it, but when we offered to put on the Spiderman Halloween outfit or shirt that he loves, he was game for it!  Of course we rewarded the sweet child with a "special lunch" to Chick-fil-A.  Nothing says incentive for getting the leaves done like waffle fries and chicken nuggets- A Parker family favorite!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone!  Taylor had a great time trick-or-treating with our sweet friends, the Purcers, last night.  We hit about 10 or 12 houses to make sure that the kids had the full experience.  By the end of the evening, we were waiting on the sidewalk while we watched the kids ring the door bell.  How wonderful!!

Before heading to the Purcer's house, we made a stop at my parent's house.  Instead of candy, they had a Spiderman toy waiting for Taylor.  Of course, Taylor was thrilled!  Actually, he was more thrilled about the toy I think than trick-or-treating.  Thanks, Mimi and Papa! You know exactly what this child likes!

A Laborious Weekend

This weekend was quite laborious in many ways.  First and foremost, it was quite laborious for my dear friend, Christie.  She had quite a long labor before delivering her third child!  Duncan Amsden Williams was born at 2:11 am on Saturday morning.  He is a beautiful 9 pound boy!  We are so excited for the Williams family!

Although I did not deliver a child by any means this weekend, I did work hard in the kitchen.  It was a huge baking weekend for me!  I made 4 dozen pumpkin muffins, 2 dozen blueberry oatmeal muffins, stewed one large chicken, made stock for soup, brownies for Taylor's teachers, and a loaf of honey oatmeal bread.  Whew!  I am tired of being in the kitchen.  My freezer is stocked for at least a month (Taylor is a huge muffin eater!).  We finished out the weekend at a fun, relaxing EP picnic.  The kids played, we ate catered food from Fatz, and caught up with friends.  What a great way to end a weekend!

Taylor and Pooh

Taylor ditched his "Mommy Sue" (aka his white bunny rabbit that he sleeps with) for his new found friend, Pooh.  Pooh has been in Taylor's room since he was born.  However, he has never really taken much notice of him until recently.  Last night, he walked around with Pooh on his shoulders  or else riding piggy back.  Pooh even snuggled with Taylor on the couch as he watched "Piderman."  Pooh also trumped Mommy Sue last night and got to sleep with him.  However, when I tried to put Pooh under the covers with Taylor, he pushed him to the side and announced, "No Pooh, you're too big!"