Thanksgiving in Pennsylvania

My mom moved to Pennsylvania in August to be near my grandparents and it has been a hard adjustment for all of us - we miss her being here, but my grandparents are loving her being around so that makes it easier. We were able to go up there over Thanksgiving and spend almost a week. When we arrived there was snow on the ground and John Henry was ready to get started on making a snowman. He made three before we left. We rode around my grandparents' property on the ATVs and the boys had a blast! My big boy :) was able to be there for the first two days of deer season (muzzle loading - I believe it's called) and although he didn't get his monster, trophy buck - he did see A LOT of deer. It is a beautiful place and my husband would live someplace like that in a heartbeat. I'm a city girl and considering that the nearest Target was over an hour away from where we were, I will settle for visiting now and then. We had a great time and my little one just asked me today when we're going back...maybe sometime next summer...

LOTS to catch up on...

I just checked in on one of the blogs that I follow daily and laughed out loud because she is SOOOO funny and witty and writes the neatest entries - I LOVE to go her blog! Anyway, as I told her in a message that I sent to her, she has inspired me to do better with my blog. SOOO, I am going to give a brief synopsis of the goings on since my last entry (which involved Halloween - YIKES, it's been too long...) so here it goes...

John Henry is still LOVING school and I LOVE that he LOVES school. Since he was a baby I have prayed for his future friends, his teachers, his future wife (GULP!) - lots of things that I wanted to start covering for the future because I knew that one day those would be important parts of John Henry's life (the wife can be an important part WAYYY in the future...) :). Anyway, he has the most precious teachers who are wonderful Christian women and I love them just as he does. They are wonderful! He has a precious group of children in his class and I am friends with many of their moms who are also a wonderful group of Christian women. I feel blessed that John Henry is in such a loving, caring, nurturing enviornment at school. Did I mention that he is soaking everything up like a sponge? He LOVES to learn and is reading and has almost memorized the 50 states in order. He can count by 5's and 10's and knows our state capital and lots of other interesting pieces of trivia. I am a proud mommy! The entire kindergarten put on a Thanksgiving play and it was PRECIOUS!!! I fought back tears as they sang "America the Beautiful" WITH sign language...they should not do that to emotional moms like me!!! I was so proud of ALL those precious little kindergarteners - they did a WONDERFUL job. I've included a few of the pictures from that very important day. The ladies in the pictures with John Henry are his two WONDERFUL teachers - Mrs. Tyner and Mrs. Meeks.

John Henry and I Had a Date...

This past Friday night John Henry's school sponsored a "Mother/Son Masquerade Dance". I'm not sure who was more excited about the dance - me or John Henry. I've known about the dance for a couple of months and in that time I tried to think of possible costume choices for the two of us - something fun & original. My first thought was for us to go as Dorothy and the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz. We went costume shopping one Friday afternoon several weeks ago and found the Tin Man costume for John Henry. He tried it on and looked absolutely precious! But when mommy tried on her Dorothy costume, well, let's just say the "absolutely precious" did not apply to me! So, we kept looking. My wonderful 5 year old found costume after costume for me, some of which were not appropriate for an elementary school dance and most which did not meet mommy's size requirement :) (I love that he thinks I can pull off a super slim Batgirl, Catwoman, I Dream of Jeanie look) Finally, about two weeks ago one of my friends and I hit a costume store that has a large supply of $5.99 costumes and there, in the racks was a Velma costume and it fit. I found a Scooby Doo costume for the same price (yay me) and bought an $8 wig later that afternoon and my Velma glasses at the dollar tree. I was so excited that I had not only found costumes, but that I had found everything so cheap! I got home and showed them to John Henry and to my wonderful hubby to which they both asked, "Why didn't you get Daphne?" (the hotter, slimmer girl on the show) to which I replied, "Daphne is not intended to be plus size!" SOOO, the big day arrived and my little man and I headed to the masquerade dance as Velma and Scooby Doo and we had an absolute blast! I was talking with a group of moms when the first slow song came on. After a few moments, John Henry came up to me and somewhat agitated asked, "Are you going to dance with me or not??!!" It was a precious moment and a wonderful night. I always thought that I would be a girl mommy - I never really pictured myself with boys. But the moment each of my boys was placed in my arms I knew that I was supposed to be a boy mommy, they have captured my heart and the bond we share is indescribable. As I danced that first dance with my sweet boy, I couldn't help but think of dancing with him on his wedding day (IF I allow him to leave me, that is) :) and how quickly time is flying by. I didn't want the night to end, but it did and I am left with precious memories of a very special date with my little man. Now, I have 12 months to prepare for next year's masquerade dance and maybe if I lose the weight, we could go as Batman and Catwoman and if I don't - Batman and the Penguin... :)

Fall Festival Fun

Tonight was our "Fall Festival" at church and we had such a great time! The boys were able to wear their costumes two days early and play games, win prizes and best of all, get candy!!! We had so much fun spending time with our church family and watching the boys enjoying themselves. It was a wonderful time!

Updates - Part 1

Well, I have been a slacker when it comes to keeping up with this blog and I am ashamed but hope to make it right with all of the fun and wonderful events that will be happening to the Alexander family in the next couple of weeks. To play catch up, John Henry has been playing T-ball with the the Wren (Auburn) Tigers (daddy removed the stitching across the back of the hat that said "Auburn" - he is REALLY die hard when it comes to Alabama!) He loves it and I am such a proud mommy. Everytime he goes up to bat I am overcome with tremendous pride as my first born has entered the world of sports and I wonder where this journey will take him. He is having so much fun and on Saturday he received a "Game Ball" and I'm not sure who was more excited, John Henry or me. Of all days to not have my camera - thankfully, Kim (Coach Kunz's wife) had her camera and took the most precious picture of my proud little boy holding his prized possession (I hope that I can get it to upload). The pictures are from the first two games.

Updates - Part 2

We have also been enjoying one of our fall traditions - visiting the Pumpkin Patch. I was able to go twice in the same week with the boys. Josh and I went on a Wednesday and even though it was raining :(, the kids were still able to play in the Hay barn and choose a pumpkin from the group of pumpkins gathered by the brave, not afraid to get wet adults. I went two days later with John Henry and his kindergarten class to the same pumpkin patch and we had a ball! The kids had so much fun and so did the adults. It is fun to be a parent on a field trip now instead of the teacher :). We had a great time and are looking forward to our annual "Pumpkin Painting Party" at Christi's house this Sunday.

I'm WAYYYY Behind on Posting!!!