A few videos for you to enjoy on your Sunday afternoon.

The first is a decent shot of Tommy talking on his phone. He gets a little upset when he sees me with the camera (he loves our cameras), but soon he'll have his own. Don't tell him, but Santa's bringing him a (Fisher Price) camera for Christmas.

Here's Tommy with his new best friend Curious George (special thanks to Aunt Steffy and family for this fun new addition!). Tommy gives him several kisses before sending all you bloggers a special kiss as well.

Happy Sunday! Can't wait to see some of you this week!

Chatterbox

Trucks, Trains and FORTS!

When I started back to school this past August, the one thing that I was most worried about was how Tommy would react to being left with a babysitter. Little did I know that our sweet little guy would take so well to staying with his new friends (although I'm not sure why I was worried since we do have the best babysitters ever). I remember one night I came home and asked Will how Tommy reacted when he left. He said, "Well, he came over, gave me a kiss and ran off to play!" I think Tommy enjoys his few nights a month without us - he gets to run around and show off his toys and get 100% of the attention (compared to the 99% we give him normally).

Since none of our wonderful friends will accept any type of payment from us, we try to spread it out a little bit and call different people. But not only do they watch Tommy for nothing (and take fantastic care of him), they also bring him gifts. If you read this blog regularly, you'll remember the pictures I posted of Tommy's new John Deere fleet that one of the sweet couples brought him when they came to babysit one night. Recently, Tommy added another exciting toy to his collection - a train!! You can see by the picture below that he loves pushing it around the living room and listening to it sound the whistle and play a tune. Another one of Tommy's new favorites is building forts! I came home from class last week and followed the whispers into the livingroom where I found a pair of cave dwellers! They had constructed a fairly sound structure (the blanket was falling down a little on one corner, but other than that it was a masterpiece!) complete with walls (pillows), a roof (blanket) and a guard dog (Tommy's stuffed St. Bernard Bernie - probably the closest we will ever come to owning a pet). He was so happy in his fort that I had to follow him in to get a hug and kiss. Since it was time for bed pretty quickly after I got home, we didn't take a picture of the original. Much to Tommy's delight (and my own), we reconstructed it the next day to take a few pictures and relive the magic from the night before. Here he is looking a little shocked at the thought of me taking a picture of his secret hiding place.

Here's a good view of the whole thing, including good ole Bernie keeping watch. That's the most reliable dog I've ever seen! In all the commotion of building and rebuilding (we had an accident with one of the walls), Bernie never even blinked an eye.
So how does Tommy repay Bernie for his services? Well, naturally, he sneaks up behind him and tackles him . . .

. . . and then gives him a bear hug!

*Special thanks to GG and GB for giving me the awesome butterfly couch (most comfortable sleeping couch, ever) that so far has made it through two years of college, four moves, six months of storage and one bouncy little boy! I bet you had no idea that couch would have such an accomplished life after your livingroom. And the best part of all?? It still smells like your house :)

Ready for the SNOW

Let's raise a mug of hot chocolate and toast to a winter full of cold, fluffy, white, wonderful SNOW! When we moved to the mountains, I was sure we would have fantastic winters full of sledding and snowball fights (I'm not a skiier, but Will can fly down a mountain like a pro!). I was so looking forward to getting a pair of snowshoes and exploring the WNC mountains while they were white and silent and perfectly magical. But instead of feet of snow, we get dustings and ice storms. What a bummer. I really don't like cold weather unless there's lots of snow to go along with it. I'm hoping for at least a foot this winter, and I wouldn't be upset if we got more than that. But no matter what happens, Tommy's ready for the cold! He's got his fleece-lined red jacket, blue fleece hat and mittens, and furry brown bear slippers. Bring on the SNOW!

A Morning Hike

Since it's a most beautiful and perfect day here in WNC, Tommy and I hopped in the car and headed to the Carl Sandburg house to do a little hiking and catch up with Mrs. Sandburg's goats (who weren't nearly as stinky as when we last visited!).

The lovely house...

Tommy and the goats...

A sitting stump...

And a self portrait :)

Happy Thursday!

Beauty Abounds

"Come, all you who are not satisfied as ruler in a lone, wallpapered room. . .." -Aaron Kramer's "Prothalamium"

This past Saturday, we abandoned the couch and football games for the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway and stunning WNC mountains. I believe we technically missed the "peak" weeks of the autumn season, but that was ok, because just look at what we saw:

I couldn't possibly post without including a few pictures of our sweet Tommy. Here he is with Gramma at a spot on the parkway.

And here's our little family huddled together in the strong wind (see Tommy's hair?!?) at the Looking Glass Rock overlook (you can see the rock all the way to the left - there's a better picture above in #2).

And here's an older picture of Tommy - his bright blue eyes are just as beautiful as all of those views, don't you think??

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

BOO!!!!

RRRRRROOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRR!!!!!