Future Occupation

Graham was so in love with the toy doctor kit at Robert's parents'! He especially liked the stethoscope. He would bring the case over to me, wanting me to open it, so he could get it out! And, he would become quite upset if the stethoscope was not inside. It was pretty funny. Maybe he has a future in the medical profession? Who knows, but I do think that even at a young age he looks quite distinguished with that little stethoscope around his neck!

Graham even took the stethoscope over to Twomammy and Daddy Pat's Saturday night. He found their bear skin rug and decided that this bear needed a check-up!

Thanksgiving Part II

After enjoying a couple of days and a fantastic turkey dinner at MiMi's we headed to spend some time with Robert's family. We drove through Brownsville on our way to Dyersburg to see Robert's grandparents. They boys had fun seeing their great grandparents and especially their chihuahua, Dora. They just loved that little dog! And, I must admit that I was a little worried for Dora, as all three of the boys were picking her up, but she was so wonderful with them. Don't worry, though, there is NO dog in our future! As much as our boys love them, I have enough problem just making sure our cat is fed and has a clean litter box. The thought of one more thing in our house that requires any sort of care is exhausting! But, the boys had a great time and it was nice to see Grandmother and Granddaddy.

After our short visit in Brownsville we load back in the car and headed to Dyersburg. They boys did SO great through all of our Thanksgiving travels and were certainly ready to get out and P.L.A.Y. once we made it to Robert's parents. Hannah and Chloe came over with Brad shortly after we arrived and what better thing to do than to send them all out to the trampoline?!

Sweet Chloe :)

I just love the static in her hair. I was told it was

less than normal because she had somehow managed

to get wax in her hair! Sounds like something that

would only happen in our house, eh?!

Five crazy cousins jumping around on the trampoline.

We might just have to get one of these someday. It seemed

to wear the boys out!

Little Grammy getting some help from cousin Hannah.

He doesn't know how to really jump yet, so he just walked around

squatting as if he was jumping. It was pretty funny!

We also were lucky enough for the horses to come

over near us and the boys loved seeing them!

They even got to feed them carrots!

Graham decided that it was best to just

go on ahead and eat the carrot himself!

Why give such a tasty snack to a horse?!

The big boys with GanGan and "Brownie."

I don't know the horses' real names, but the boys called

the brown one "Brownie" and the black on "Blackie!"

Fitting enough, I guess.

Graham's really checking out that horse!


All three boys got to pet both of the horses.
Thanks "Brownie"and "Blackie" for being so kind and gentle!

After spending the afternoon outside we enjoyed a nice traditional turkey dinner with Nonny, GanGan, Brad, Julie, Hannah and Chloe. Of course it was filled with the typical little kid drama! Patrick was "all done" before he even took one bite, Graham just wanted down because he spoiled his dinner by having momma milk right before and Chloe was not interested in eating much, either! Oh, the days of enjoying nice, quiet dinners are probably not going to be around for quite some time. :) But, it was a great evening and the boys were so worn out!

Saturday night we headed over to Twomammy's and Daddy Pat's for Thanksgiving with all of Robert's mom's family. There was a total of 14 children ages 10 and under. Talk about busy! The kids ran around and played after eating while the adults enjoyed some yummy heavy hors d'oeuvres. We loved being able to see everyone and again, the boys were exhausted and ready for bed by the time we got back to Nonny and GanGan's. So, off to bed we all went so we could be bright eyed and bushy tailed for the drive back to Cincinnati.

The five of us before heading to Twomammy's and Daddy Pat's.
Patrick was NOT in a good mood and had ZERO interest in
taking pictures! The other two boys look less than thrilled to be
saying cheese, too!



Robert's parents and the five grand kids. Patrick could not
look anymore miserable if he tried! But, look at that grin on little

Marshy. :)

We had such a fantastic Thanksgiving and are SO thankful for all the special friends and family that we have. The boys had so much fun they are already asking to go back to MiMi's and Nonny and GanGan's!! We head back in just a few weeks to celebrate Christmas. We will even get to see Uncle Goob, my brother, Christian, his wife, Becca, and my mom's sister, Dian! We are all looking forward to it.

Thanksgiving Part I

Our Thanksgiving has be great so far! The drive to Memphis was rather uneventful- a good thing when travelling with three little ones! The boys watched A LOT of DVD's, ranging from Baby Einstein to 'Taylor Taylor.' We were even so fortunate as to have Patrick serenade us with Taylor Swift for the last hour or so of the drive! He just loves to watch the DVD that has her music videos on it. He wants to watch the same song over and over until he learns the words and then move on to the next song! We did have a little issue with the sun while driving on I-40 West. "He's lookin' at me!" is what Patrick kept saying. But, once I gave him a pair of sunglasses he was good to go...We arrived in Memphis about dinner time and went to El Porton for some yummy Mexican food. Then, it was back to MiMi's and off to bed!

Can't argue with Patrick, the sun is definitely lookin' at him!

Just chillin' with his shades on...

I don't know exactly what was going on when these pics were taken.

I think I was upstairs in the shower and the boys were supposed to

be getting dressed. But, look at that fun scooter that MiMi got the

boys and the stick horse and farmer's hat just make it complete!

Graham loved MiMi's stick horses. However, he managed

to chew off the ends of the sticks on all three of them!

Safety first!!! That's Marshy's motto.

He's got his helmet on and is ready

to have a go at riding the scooter.

Goin' on a cat hunt...

Not to be confused with going on a

bear hunt!!! The boys just can't leave

MiMi's poor kitties alone. See the cat

hiding under the dining room table?

Graham really enjoyed his Thanksgiving dinner! He sat right

down and had basically finished eating by the time we all got

started. The other two boys didn't do so well...

Patrick just wanted one of the cupcakes with a Turkey on top

that we got for the boys' dessert. Marshall just wanted to sit with

daddy. They both finally ate a little and then ate up a yummy cupcake.

After dinner the boys played, took a bath and were off to bed. The big boys have been sleeping very well and MiMi's. Graham, not so much. He's in the pack-n-play in our room and has just ended up sleeping in bed in between me and Robert! At random times during the night he will come on over to me and have a middle-of-the-night momma milk snack or just drape himself over you and sleep very soundly. Now, can't say the same for momma or daddy when he's on top of us! I have a feeling this new habit will be hard to break once he get back to Cincinnati.

Today we head to Brownsville for a short visit and then off to Dyersburg 'til Sunday. We've had a great trip so far and we're looking forward to the rest of our visit!

Road Trip

In just a few hours the Carraway clan is loading up in the car and heading to Tennessee for Thanksgiving! The boys are SO excited. They can't wait to see everyone and I truly think they are just excited to get to sit and watch DVD's all day as we drive! They even asked about it yesterday. And, when I got our packed bags downstairs last night Marshall asked what they were for. When I told him they were for our big trip tomorrow he ran and said he had to put his shoes on because he wanted to go, too! My sweet, goofy Marshy. :) I guess tomorrow means nothing in the mind of a two year old. But, we are all packed and I even got donuts for breakfast this morning so that the boys will be occupied for mommy and daddy to load up the car.

We have SO much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, and every day. We have three beautiful, amazing, healthy children. We have great loving friends and family. We have a warm, cozy home. Robert has a great job that provides very well for us and also enables me to be at home with our boys. We have our health. Yes, we do have problems in our lives. Nothing is perfect. But, in the grand picture these problems are very minor in comparison to what many others are going through. I am SO BLESSED and thank God in my prayers every day. What are you thankful for? Be thankful for EVERYTHING, even those things that don't seem like blessings. They really are blessings and a learning experience that He has created.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING and pray for SAFE travel and BE GRATEFUL. Life is truly fragile.

Santa

A Carraway Family Portrait with Santa

November 22, 2009

Sunday evening we were supposed to have our holiday family pictures taken. However, I missed the email that our photographer sent stating her daughter was sick and all sessions were rescheduled. So, what to do?? All dressed up and no where to go!

We headed to the mall. Pretty much just to kill time and let the boys run off some energy. But, we got there just in time to see Santa before he left for the evening! The boys were pretty timid at first and none of them would sit with Santa unless momma and daddy sat, too. And, even then none of the boys would actually sit on Santa's lap! Needless to say, it ended up being a family picture with Santa. But, I think it turned out pretty cute! By the time we left the big boys were even giving Santa high fives, but still did not want to sit on his lap. One step at a time, right?!

Up Goes the Tree

Yup, our Christmas tree is up! Yay! I decided to go on ahead and get it up for a couple of reasons. First, the boys just love Christmas trees and now they have more time to destroy, oops, enjoy it. Second, this is part of my do-all-Christmas-prep-stuff-early-so-we-can-enjoy-December goal. Mission accomplished! They boys had a blast getting the tree up and decorating it. Mommy and daddy had a blast just watching the joy and fascination on their sweet little faces. :)

Daddy's boys helping him get the tree put together.

A cluster of ornaments. Yes, this drives me nuts. But, I am
fighting the urge to rearrange them since the boys placed
them there. I don't want to destroy their work of art!


It seems that they think each individual branch must have
a minimum of two ornaments on it!

Patrick placing an ornament.

Marshall just hung a bell!

Baby Graham even got the hang of it!

Wow! Look at our finished product. They did

such a great job! And, just so you know, I did

go on ahead the put up all the breakable, nicer

ornaments before they got started. I don't think

I could bear to see one of my Waterford angel

ornaments that I collect go crashing to the floor!

Ahhhh. So now we just sit back and enjoy our tree. And, I've completed about 99% of my shopping, too! Here's to a super fun, relaxed December! Merry Christmas, a little early. :)

A Dinner Date

Last night I had a dinner date. A dinner date with the four amazing boys that I am blessed to have in my life! Yes, that's right. Robert and I ventured out to dinner with all three boys in tow. We headed to one of our favorites, El Rancho Grande, for a quick Mexican dinner. We have been frequenting this restaurant too often since it opened about four years ago. And, I swear this place will send a pregnant woman into labor. I ate there in the 48hrs prior to each of the boys' births! But, back to our evening out. Patrick was SO excited to go out to dinner! And, overall the boys behaved next to perfectly. They ate their grilled cheeses and fries like champs and even liked daddy's fajita chicken, especially Graham. So, since they behaved so well, they got a little trinket toy out of the vending machines when we left. By the way, I HATE those machines! The ones will gum balls, candy, toys, etc. They are any parent's nightmare once your child figures out what they are! We came home, put on our pj's and were off to bed. A successful evening out, with children! YAY! I figure we will continue to take them out to child-appropriate dinner places occasionally, it's good for them. Until next time...