a HILL of a good time.........: November Randomness

So, when I did the blog for October Randomness I forgot some great pictures.. Consider these first few a bonus :)

While we were still in the hospital with Dane, my in-laws offered to take Chaz to the pumpkin patch with his cousin. They were sweet enough to send me pictures throughout the day. Chaz had a blast and still talks about getting buried in the corn by Uncle Mike Mike.

Chaz always helps me clip coupons on Sunday night. He is actually pretty good at it. Oh and he tells me this is "a project that you have to do without your shirt off." This is his requirement, not mine. HA!

If you have been to our house you know we have zero trees in our backyard. We have TONS that surround our property and a few in our front yard but there are not any in the backyard. So, our leaves are very limited. This is great from a "rake the leaves" perspective but when it comes to a little guy wanting to jump in the leaves this is a problem. He doesn't even understand that you CAN jump in leaves and it is a BLAST!! This was one of my favorite things as a kiddo. My parents live in the woods, literally. When the leaves fell in the fall, my brother and I would build the biggest pile of leaves you have ever seen. It would stay as is for weeks and weeks so we could jump in them every day. So when the opportunity presented itself we took advantage. Of course, Chaz (OCD boy) was more concerned with raking the leaves.

But I was able to convince him to run through them a few times. Even better, I put down my camera and ran through them with him. Lots of laughs. Lots of fun!

Random "Momma, I want to take a picture of Dane" moment. He actually has a decent aim with the camera.

Passed out in the car, feet under headrest and blanket stolen from his brother. Adorable kiddo.

Ryan put up the tree one evening so it would be ready to decorate the next day. Chaz decided he needed to help me by putting newspaper in the tree. Ok buddy, if you say so!

I will do a separate post with all our holiday decor but I just had to show the little guy's tree. He asked for one last year so we bought a little one at the end of the season. We thought it would be a little bigger but it was tiny. Chaz didn't care, he thinks it is great!

We made the garland out of construction paper, old school style and I gathered some old ornaments that I no longer use. He loves them because they are Scooby Doo, Snowmen and other randomness.

After putting up the tree the boys decided to life some weights. Not sure why, but it made for funny pictures.

Dane and I just hung out and took pictures. What a cutie!

Another day of leaf fun at Gaga and Papa's house! Dad decided to bury Chaz in the leaves. He had a blast!

Then there was a very, very loud noise something from around the house. Chaz decided to hide around the corner with Papa.

and around came daddy with the Ghostbusters leaf blower.

Why wouldn't you let the little guy man a HUGE leaf blower. It was actually hilarious because as soon as they pulled the trigger it would push Chaz so hard that it would knock him down. Ryan kept having to pull him back up on his feet. I am surprised I could even take a picture as I was laughing SO hard.

Papa was the smart one who decided to go get the little blower. This one he could work. I wonder if he will still want to blow the leaves when he is sixteen?!?!?

Fletcher came over one night to play. I heard Chaz digging around in his toy box like a madman. I asked what he was looking for and he shot me "the look" and said "Mom, I need my guitar so we can jam" Really?? Ok. He found it and headed off to his room. We followed with a camera. Yep, jammin' on the top bunk. Good stuff!

His school had a Thanksgiving lunch. Love these little people!!

The week of Thanksgiving, Dane started smiling back and we even got a few giggles out of him. I love this stage!! I love the faces this little guy makes. Melt.my.heart!!

The day after Thanksgiving we headed over to the in-laws to watch the Arkansas/LSU game. We won't talk about the score but I will say I am extremely proud of our Hogs this year. We had a stellar record and played a great season. GOHOGS!! Of course I used this opportunity to dress Dane up in the cutest little Hog gear. Thanks for the onesie Aunt Sally. Thanks for the hat Aunt Katy!!

Chaz dressed himself and decided his copilot hat was the perfect accessory to his Hog jumpsuit. Why not??

Ryan thought this was a good idea..ummm, no.

The game was simply exhausting!!

Meme getting some cuddle time with the newest great-grandchild.

Chaz helping Gaga with the lights. I think he made more of a mess but he thought he was being a BIG helper.

This happened when I was decorating our mantel. Ugh! I thought they said these things were "shatterproof." Ryan quickly pointed out that it didn't really shatter.. Whatever. In my mind they shouldn't break!

Another picture of the shiner.. this was a couple days after it happened.

Instead of buying a double stroller we decided to buy a kick board that hooks onto our current stroller. Chaz thinks it is really cool as he can stand or sit. I am not sure you are suppose to sit on it but oh well. This is how we rolled through the mall.

This is my view every night before I go to sleep. Life couldn't be better.

Yes, we still do this (take a picture of a toy to save for a birthday list, email to Santa, etc.) It is wonderful! We can actually make it out of the store without a fit and without purchasing a toy. This has worked for us for over a year. Hands down one of our greatest ideas.

Shiner-- roughly 5 days later.

"What you lookin' at?!?!"

and then we have this.. What is it? We call it the "toy graveyard" Why did this happen? Because my kid is four and nothing else seems to work. We used to do timeout and it worked like a charm--not so much anymore. The threats were off the charts-- and doing zero good. So one night in a place of absolute dis pare, I started taking away toys, really taking them away. THIS hit home. He can't reach them and knows he has to earn them back. Oh, and I don't take away the things he wants me to take away, I take away the things he loves.. Yep, I'm that mom.. and I.don't.care. Can someone please give me back the "terrible twos" because they were a piece of cake.