Cheesy Carter

So my favorite 5year old hijacked my camera for a photoshoot - I knew he was going to take one picture, but when I later got my camera- he took like 50 pictures, including the 9 pictures of his brother - apparently Carter is Anderson's favorite object to shoot. Obviously Carter was happy to oblige. Can't you just hear the "cheese". I have to admit I was happy to find all these cute Carter pics on my camera. Other favorite items Anderson took several shots of: the ghost taped on our window (we were ghosted), his blue light saber (or "saver"as Anderson calls it) and me in my pajamas on the computer (totally unaware).

Anakin face-off

Anderson had a little friend over from school yesterday - and they are two peas in a pod - both are all about Star Wars. Here they are at school - both Anakin Skywalker! They were debating in school which Anakin they each were - whether or not they were the 'real' or 'fake' Anakin! Too cute.....

I did it- well, kinda

I created my blog header "banner" or whatever you call it. I followed the directions to a T, but somehow can't get the annoying white border to go away. Oh well.... At any rate, I've been using Picasa for awhile now and already love it, so this makes me love it even more!!!! Here's the link for the tutorial if you dare!

http://memoriesoncloverlane.blogspot.com/2009/08/tutorial-on-how-to-make-blog-banner.html

Practice Run!

Our neighborhood had its annual Halloween parade and festival this afternoon - we invited our good friends, the O'Neills to join us for the festivities. We had a great time and the boys loved donning their new costumes.

Anderson = Anakin Skywalker (who else?)
Carter = Pit Crew teammember for Lightening McQueen


Flash and Anakin

Carter and Drew - seriously, this is the only picture I got of them today that was half decent - ugh - 2year olds! They were precious though - Drew was Batman....

face painting fun

Anakin Judd um Skywalker in action

On Cloud 9

Anderson is LOVING every minute of his tball experience - at the end of every game the coach gives each player a baseball card - a moment that each of the boys looks forward to. As well, the coach gives a "game ball" to one or two deserving players who had a 'stand-out' game. We weren't sure if Anderson had given the gameball notion much thought, but last week Anderson asked Mark if they could go practice his hitting in the backyard -so that he could have a better shot at winning the game ball. It was so sweet, he really wanted to get one and so today when he finally got awarded the coveted game ball, it was really special to him. He hit the ball really well today and is 'all-heart' on the field each and every game- he slides into every base possible and just really takes to heart all the advice and encouragement he can get! What made the moment even more special is that the coach asked the team who they thought should get the game ball and several of them piped up "Anderson!". So sweet!!! So needless to say, my little man is on "cloud 9" this week! I'm so proud of my growing boy, thank you Lord for blessing my little fella with a mighty heart and a love for playing!

Cousinly Rivalry

Here are two cousins passionate about their teams - trouble is - their teams are rivals - Georgia Tech and Georgia. GT is having a good season while UGA is well having a so-called 'rebuilding' year...

Punkins among Pumpkins

the men carrying our precious pumpkins

I want to send this picture to Sprite

picking out some gourds

I like this one!

the Judds -fall 2009

my cutest punkin ever

handsome punkin!

find my favorite punkin

my big 5year old punkin

We headed to a pumpkin patch- Burt's- in the North Georgia mountains with our good friends, the O'Neills last weekend. It was a neat experience - a bit different to what we experienced in VA -less fall festival, more pumpkins. The weather could not have been more perfect. We started our day together at Cracker Barrell and had a blast enjoying the perfect fall weather with our friends. I got a lot of great Anderson pics, not as many of my non-stop Carter. I think this is going to be an annual tradition!

Alvin Judd

No, no we are not expecting another boy! ; )

One thing I missed while we lived in VA was all of the chipmunks that scamper 'round GA. While at school at UGA, during my walk from my sorority house to the bus stop, you literally had to dodge chipmunks that were running to and fro from the ivy. I loved it!!! Much much cuter than squirrells and a bit less common, I am just always excited to see the little guys. Until just a few moments ago - - I was going in my garage to throw away some trash and who confronted me in my garage - but little Alvin Judd. Let's just say I was not excited to see this little chipmunk. Whew, it scared me probably b/c I wasn't exactly sure at first blush that he was a chipmunk - but as soon as he ran out I confirmed his 'chipmunkness' and was filled with gladness that he headed into the grass. So now my love for chipmunks is slightly less than it was a couple of hours ago ...

My apologies that I likely just bored you with my chipmunk tale, but I thought I might look back at this posting with a smile, so please indulge me!!!! ;)

Tball Fall 2009

Anderson recently begun his 1st season of T-ball. He is a RiverCat and is LOVING every minute of it!! Many days he can be found in uniform- and if he happens to have a practice or game scheduled for the day - he is usually sporting his uniform as soon as possible. Not only does he have the standard issue baseball mit and bat, but he also has several pairs of batting gloves that he wears. Whenever it's his time to hit - he'll suit up with the baseball gloves like a seasoned pro!! It's coach pitch for 4pitches and then they are allowed to hit off the tee if they can't get a hit from the coach pitch. The coach rotates the kids' positions so they get to move around and 'experience it all'. Anderson is one aggressive little fella. At yesterday's game he was in the pitcher position - but no matter where on the field the ball was hit- you better believe Anderson was running after it!! We're also working on the team concept with Anderson - even if his teammate is getting the ball, Anderson tries to get the ball from him. Gotta love his enthusiasm, but we're trying to teach him that it's OK to let your teammate get the ball too!! He's a good little hitter and will get better as he gets stronger and bigger, but he's doing great and only had to use the tee just once.

Cereal Nite

That's how dinner turned out tonite - cereal all around. I often make homemade pizza = good. Mark & I love buffalo wings. So, the thought of pizza + buffalo wings = good. Wrong. Actually the problem was the "spiciness". Yowsers!!!!!!!!! Both my boys could hardly take a bite. Mark and I tried to eat it, but were simply overpowered by the spice. So, in the end, we were chowing down on bowls of cereal. Major flub. I can't really recall the last time we totally had to 'toss' out what I made for dinner.

Timing!

Blog hopping this a.m. and came across this painting - it's so awesome how God puts things right in front of you with His perfect timing -we were just discussing 'thankfulness' last nite in our small group and the importance of giving God thanks at all times -for everything!!!! I love this scripture and have now added it as my wallpaper on my computer- as a gentle reminder that I'll see each time I sit down to the computer (which is alot!).

BTW, to give credit to the 'painter' see The Old Post Road at www.theoldpostroad.blogspot.com

Love this boy!!!

I was trying to get pics of Anderson & Carter in their UGA spirit, but was unsuccessful - but I did love this classic Carter picture. This totally captures my little man's personality right now - happy happy happy!!!!! I love him sooooo!

Putting up Walls

We've recently decided to "wall-in" our office to separate it from our living area. The previous owners used what will be our office as a piano room - but hello we have no piano!! This last weekend Mark's parents came for a brief visit and when I was telling Mark's Dad Scott my 'desire' to build a wall and french doors -he replied with 'that's easy - we could do that right now'. I was excited at how 'easy' Scott thought the project would be -since he would be the expertise that Mark needed. Come Saturday morning and Anderson's tball is rained out (yet again) and so the opportunity presented itself to 'buid the wall'. Mark's mom and I ran to Trader Joe's with my boys and when we came back - the wall was already studded!! They were able to get the wall sheetrocked and a 1st layer of 'mudding' done before Scott had to head back to Macon. He'll return next weekend and I can't wait to show you the finished product!!!! Here's a sneak peek.

"Before" from the living room looking into the office

"Before" looking from the office into my living room

"Before" looking from foyer

"During" look at those studs!!! (hee hee)

Wow, there's a wall there now!!!

We are also going to paint the entire living room and foyer (not to mention the upstairs hallways) so we've got major work going on over here!!! One day.....

Date with Dad

Anderson had "Date with Dad" day at school - and of course, the usual fare of "doughnuts" were served. As a present for Daddy, Anderson had prepared a little book for Mark including some fun facts about Daddy. Some of them he hit right on the mark (sorry, pun intended), the others he was a bit off - - I'll let you determine which was which! ;)

How tall is your Daddy: 4 ft tall
How old is your Daddy: 30 years old
What does your Dad like to cook: hot dogs
Your Daddy's favorite food: cheese grits
Your favorite thing to do with Daddy: play basketball
Your Daddy's favorite thing to do: watch me (Anderson) play t-ball
I love my Daddy because: he reads books to me

"in the closet"

Look who I found 'in the closet'???

Checked off my list- finally!

Have you ever had one of those projects that just stays on your to-do list forever? When we lived in VA I bought some stuff so I could start hanging Anderson's schoolwork on the wall for display - I think I've had the supplies for atleast 2years (maybe longer) - it was on my giant list of things I wanted to do, but couldn't find the time to get it done. I had a lot of those when I was working and trying to 'do it all'. Well I'm ecstatic to report that FINALLY my little project is done. It was such a simple project - I had to paint 2 wooden stars, hang them on the wall (thanks Mark), thread some wire across them and then hang the artwork. At any rate, I was so glad to 'cross this off my list' that I had to post about it. Jen -you probably thought 'yeah, right Heather' when I kept talking about doing it, so better late than never!!!!

The verdict: Carter can hear you!

I have been a little concerned about Carter's hearing over the last several months - I knew my little man could hear, I just wasn't sure how well. When his ears were tested last year after his tubes were 'installed', one of his ears passed, the other failed. Satan did what he could to turn that 'failure' into worry for Mommy. Some of his speech is very muted, especially certain sounds so I wanted to be certain his hearing was intact, so I had his ears tested on Wednesday. The verdict: the little guy can hear you perfectly!! They did 3 tests on him - one was to determine if his tubes were still in (they both are!), the second was a "puppet" show in a soundproof booth -which was fun, and the 3rd was the dreaded put earplugs in a 2year old's ears and see how long he can sit there without pulling them out or flipping out. He passed all three with flying colors. Whew. The audiologist also provided some sheets indicating by which ages kiddos should make what sounds in their speech. The information gave me great comfort that my little fella is doing just fine. So praise the Lord!

Carter does Cracker Barrell

The Judds did something rare tonite - we went out to dinner as a family!!! These events are few and far between, but we had a giftcard and so we headed to Cracker Barrell tonite before our small group meets at our house. We figured it was a great opportunity to have a yummy meal and not have to worry about cleaning the kitchen before our home is descended on by guests.

So we all stuffed ourselves silly at good ole Cracker Barrell, but Carter did some major damage including 2 biscuits with honey, 1 large pancake with syrup and 1 piece of bacon. I can hardly eat another bite after 2 biscuits myself so I don't know where Carter was putting it all!!!

I LOVE this pic - fork in one hand, racecar in other hand (a must!) and bacon in mouth!!!
(Monica - do you like Carter's shirt - a la Heather -it turned out really cute!!!)

Trying to share with Daddy!

Rain Rain Go Away!!!

So it's been raining for a week straight with no end in sight. I can't believe it is still raining - HARD!!! Anderson's 1st tball game was rained out -big bummer, but we decided that today after church, we needed to let the boys indulge a bit in the rainy weather....


the "before" shot...

didn't take Carter long to transform his outfit!

Anderson kept jumping in this mud puddle and the muddy water was literally running down his legs - you should have seen the uck that was dumped out of his boots!

Oh and yes, this muddy mess is my lovely back yard!!! Our backyard is grass challenged because of the shade provided by the trees. Mark is dying to 'attack' our yard to get some grass growing, but at any rate - the dirt patches have now turned into - you guessed it - mud puddles.

The clothes are already soaking in the laundry!

Sound Effects

My camera is en route to Canon as it's not working - I'm kinda hoping that its a cheap fix, otherwise I'm going to need your help convincing my DH that I need a nice new camera - I've been having some major camera envy lately - mostly due to my sister-in-law's mother's day gift, but I have been good and been in the "my camera works just fine" mode and we don't need another expense right now (hello I have a new house!!!). Enter my camera not working and an upgrade in the camera department sure would be nice!!!!

At any rate, that's not the purpose of my post - except the fact that I can't show you what I'm witnessing right now. Any of you that have boys can appreciate the 'vrooms' and 'buzzes' and 'beeps' and crash noises that boys can make - they have these amazing sound effects that just 'come with the package'. Right now I'm enjoying Anderson buzzing and driving around my house with a Mac truck and the quietness that Carter is providing as he is napping. Usually Carter is joined in with his brother - especially since his speech isn't great - I hear alot more 'noise' from him.

At any rate - I just wanted to get this in writing because I know one day, probably not too distant from now, I won't hear the vrooms and crashes as often - or at all. So hear's to all the sound effects that my sweet little boys make.... I love them!