A Little Slice of Life

Well, I once again have procrastinated for a month on blog entries :P  When we left off, the boys had both just started going to their new preschool at Woodhaven Baptist Church.  I cannot tell you how much I LOVE that place!!  I am so incredibly impressed with everyone there--I would highly, highly recommend them to anyone looking for an affordable half-day program!  The boys have been flourishing there, and they both love it too!  Here's a look at some of their lovely creations from school!

Here is Ethan's cute little hand print, and his class photo....not sure if you can tell, but he's the only one in his class not cheesing it up!

Meanwhile.......could Tommy be cheesing any more than he is?!?  

Some of Ethy's handiwork dealing with the letter "A" :)  

Here is some of the work Tommy did during the second week of school...

 

So adorable!  This is his first time answering the question of what he wants to be when he grows up <3
SPOILER ALERT--just wait until Halloween :)

I'm SO GLAD Ethan seems to be enjoying doing some artwork!  And, not too bad at tracing already--woohoo! 

Tommy's class did a lot of cool things for the letter "D".  I also can't tell you how happy I am that Tommy is now proud to show off his work from school--his confidence has just soared at Woodhaven! 

I have to admit, I was pretty impressed with this one!  He only "missed" the one with 6! 

This was from the summer, but I couldn't remember if I had added it in a blog or not.
Tommy's first real self-portrait--and, not a bad job with his name either!! 

Ethan and I have also really enjoyed going to MOPS every other Tuesday--here's a cute little jack-o-lantern that Ethan did one day :)

With the boys being in school in the mornings, I have finally had some time to catch up with friends who I hadn't had the chance to connect with much.  Sadly, I don't have any pictures (even though I wanted to--and, maybe I'll start doing this--it felt a little weird to take pictures in Starbucks!), but it has been wonderful to kind of "fill my tank" again.  The truth is, the month of September has probably been the most low-key month we've had since Tommy was an only child!  So, I hope you won't mind just taking a peek into our little slice of "normal" life :)

This is the first year Davey and I haven't gone to NC State home football games,

but that doesn't stop the whole family from going red on game days!

Go State!

I think the kids must've woken us up early on this morning!

Tommy really wanted Ethan to wear his State hat too, but Ethy wasn't having it!

Hooray, Grandma is here!!

Yayyy!!  Special treat on Grandma to McDonald's for lunch :)

This McDonald's was super high-tech...computer game touch screens at every table!

One happy little Ginger :)

Mmmm....milk and cookies!

Grandma and her boys <3

Cookie Monster!!

Love!

CHEESEEE!!

Now for a little hangin' out around the house!  Look at this adorable little trio of Tommy <3

What a little dork! <3

And, now for a little treat for Mommy--homemade margaritas in my butterbeer cup!  

The boys were so thrilled to get these awesome, vintage "real" trucks from their friends, the Carter girls....

They used to be their Uncle Tommy's trucks when he was a kid....from Tommy Fort to Tommy Catchings <3

Part of our time at home, and perhaps the reason for my margaritas--the boys both got sick on their first full week of school!!  I'm so happy to say, that they haven't been sick again so far!

My poor little Ethy-bear....I put him in a "break" for a few minutes, and I came back to find this pitiful scene!

He slept on that stair for about an hour :)

Meanwhile, as I was getting lunch ready...I walked in to get Tommy, who was watching a show in our room, and HE was fast asleep too!!

When the boys finally went back to school, we were all pretty happy about it!  They both really enjoyed going back, and creating their "friendship snacks" :)

They couldn't wait to come home and eat them!

With all the boys finally feeling better, it was time for a little ladies' night at the Hayes house!

When it's just us girls, we like to just snack for dinner :)

Here is an AMAZING quartet of my Mom and Grandma.  Life is always better with Grandma around <3

Two distinguished young ladies, sipping their sherry.....

DISTINGUISHED?!?!

We like to have FUN in this house!

CHEERS!!!

Laura says, "What are we going to do with these two crazy kids?!"

Don't feel bad for the boys though, they made their own fun at home--GUYS' NIGHT IN!

Which means....time to build some FORTS!  

Daddy said the boys had a blast! 

Love my guys! 

The next morning, all the boys joined us.  Tommy was SO EXCITED to ride his bike!  

Grandma and Granny were happy to watch Tommy ride for literally HOURS! 

The van served as a great barrier at the end of the driveway!  Look how happy Tommy is :)

Lovely picture of two lovely ladies <3

Go Tommy Go!! 

I'm pretty sure riding bikes is Tommy's new favorite thing!  Papa Bill will be very pleased I think ;)

After a couple of hours on his bike, Grandma and Granny took Tommy to the store while Ethan took a little nap.  Unbeknownst to me, when they arrived home, Tommy had yet another new bike--this time from Granny!  As you can see in the picture, it's much more like the big boy bike he got from Goggi and Papa Bill for his last birthday, but it is several inches smaller.  He had a bit of  a tough time getting going, but luckily he had plenty of people eager to help him out!

Uncle NoNo did a great job doing the grunt work of constantly breaking your back helping a preschooler learn to ride on a big boy bike!  Thanks, Nolan!! 

A little push from Grandma to get started.  To be honest, the gravel driveway wasn't the easiest transition for these skinny wheels to navigate! 

<3

At this point, Tommy decided to go back to his "heavy dute bike"--Eat my dust!

He was so proud of himself--as he should be!  

Pure joy!!! 

A special surprise from our friendly neighbor, Mary--she had a tricycle just like Tommy!  

Even Tommy thought it was really cool!  

I LOVE this picture of Nolan and Grandma Jan--so sweet! 

Thankfully, Mary invited Tommy to come ride his big boy bike in their paved driveway whenever he wanted to! 

Ahhhhhhh...that's much better! 

Granny tried to get Ethan on the smaller bike....

but, of course, Honey Badger had to try to get on the big one instead!  He walked himself up and down the driveway a few times at least ;)

Have I mentioned how much I love my Grandma?!

Boohoo, time to say goodbye to Granny for now :( 

And, what would normal life be, without some pictures from the good ol' play set!  I'm so glad we bought this thing--they play on it every single day that the weather permits! 

My goofball :)

Daddy and the boys playing "pirate ship"! 

Ohhhhhhh, honey badger....clearly not caring about the correct way to use a slide! 

College Football Saturday--pretty much the only day we control the living room TV!  The boys like to watch a little bit of the State game, but they LOVE to wear their jerseys!  Tommy has requested it every Saturday, as soon as he sees College Gameday on the TV :)  And, my little Ethy (aka mini me), cheers for our team just like his Mommy used to.....

GO STEAK!!  What can I say--that's my boy!! 

Although the majority of the month was anything but flashy, it sure did end on a BANG!  But, you'll have to stay tuned to "The Catchings Chronicles" for a 2-part blog on that ;)