Pumpkin Fun

If you only knew the time I spent looking for a pumpkin patch... It seems that Pensacola is not know for its farming... ha ha. I thought I might have to head to Wal-mart and spread a few pumpkins on the floor to somewhat resemble a pumpkin patch. Thankfully, we found a church that was selling pumpkins. So let's just say we made quite the contribution to a local church raising money for their food pantry ministry:) The kids loved it and I guess it just reminded me how simple minded kids are... after all you can see how excited they were to play all afternoon in the empty box. :)

Anyone Seen Will?

Gotta love Pensacola in October!

Pensacola Safety Fair 2008

Pensacola Beach

One of our favorite restaurants is in Pensacola beach. My mom just came for a visit, so she could not leave before we introduced her to "Crabs, We Got 'Em!" After we ate, we walked across the street to do some touristy shopping and sight-seeing. Fun!!! The picture doesn't show it, but Jessie and Will are standing inside a clam shell on a small stage right in front of the pier.

Spaghetti Anyone?

Guess the before and after shot...

Children's Fair at the "Jet Museum"

In late September we attended a children's fair at the museum. One of the highlights was painting the jets... washable fingerpaint... brilliant idea. The kids loved it! Will and Jessie also received a tatoo. Jessie kept hers on for a couple of hours where Will wiped his off within minutes.

Bathing Beauty

Here is our Joshie taking a kitchen sink bath. I am not sure how much longer he will fit in there. Josh loves the water... just like his big sister. I cannot take him to the beach alone, because he has no fear. He will crawl, walk, and run right into the ocean. He loves the bath and shower almost just as much!

Not Just another Box

Much to my delight, most of our boxes are gone. Here are a few pictures from mid-September. Who knew an empty box could be so much fun?

Ike ... PTL he did not come any closer!

Here are a couple of pictures that we took yesterday on Perdido Key and in Orange Beach. The waves and surf were breath-taking. We stopped several times just to watch the waves. The wind was strong and sand was blowing. The kids loved it! As you can imagine, we were not alone out there. There were tons of people stopping and watching Gods handiwork.

Sesame Street Live at Pensacola NAS

What a Show!!! We had a great time. Sesame Street Live is currently on tour visiting various military bases across the country. The show itself was about 30 minutes which was perfect. Grover, Elmo, Zoe, Cookie Monster and Rosita all sang and danced and interacted with the crowd. They did a fantastic job. The show was geared toward preparing kids for deployment and then homecomings. Tickets were free... just the right price for a family of five. When you walked into the theater all of the kids were given a light up Elmo toy (kind of like a circus toy), stickers and candy. Then on top of that every family was able to pick out a DVD to take home. Both Thomas and I were really impressed. It was a small to medium sized theater that hosted the event. Characters came down into the audience to hug and love on the kids. All of the characters couldn't have been any better. They were amazing to all of their fans. We got there early, so we had front row seats which was incredible. Military security was up front to protect the kids from the hot light bulbs and even those guys were kind to all the kids. It was awesome to see these kids get so excited and then see these giant military security folks be so gentle and sweet with them. Some of the kids just snuggled right up to the security folks like they were related. It was really funny... just so innocently sweet. Will and Josh really enjoyed the show. Will remained glued to his chair. He was not quite ready to fight the crowds for a hug from Elmo. Jessie enjoyed the parts of the show that she did see. For alot of the show, she had her face buried in Thomas' chest. After all, this is the child who will tell everyone that she does not like Santa Claus because he is too scary. I am hoping that will change this year:)

Big Brother + Rough-housing = Jessie's First Black Eye

Poor Jessie... The photos really do not do justice to Jessica's black-eye. These were taken the morning after and as time went on the coloring grew more vivid. Jessica and Will were taking turns jumping on the bean bags in the living room. Unfortunately, Jessie caught the corner of the ottoman in the midst of her jump. She has been a trooper throughout this whole ordeal... with little to no complaining. She was even willing to wear swimming goggles at her swimming lessons. On a funny note.... This happened on Friday afternoon so by Sunday she had a pretty colorful bruise. So on the way to church I asked her, "Jessie is someone asks you what happened to your eye, what will you say?" And she most promptly answers "My brother hit me." Good thing I asked...

Mom, what do you mean I am having a bad hair day. I think I look just fine.

Dinner at the Beach

We have found an amazing seafood restaurant in Pensacola Beach. The restaurants sits right on the beach and they even have tables in the sand plus a playground for the kids. We enjoyed ourselves thoroughly with Thomas' folks who were visiting. After dinner we coaxed the kids into a few pics on the beach.

Birthday Cake for Daddy

I am the most proud mother of the three neatest and cleanest bakers known to man. Just look at them... Don't you want to invite them into your kitchen to bake daddy's birthday cake too?

Ready... Set... WALK!!!

Yeah! Josh decided to give Thomas the best birthday present ever. Praise the Lord, he is walking. It really came out of nowhere, he has just taken off. Enjoy the quick video...

Awana, Here We Come!

Will started Sparks and Jessie started Cubbies last Wednesday night. Awana is new to our family. We have never participated before, because of early bedtimes and schedules. So we are very excited for something new and fun. Our new church, which is incredible (thanks to Heather and Harold for the recommendation) has a pretty big Awana program. The first night which was last Wednesday had a Western theme. Both Will and Jessie got into it and had a great time. Here are pics to prove it!

Blue Angels Adventure

One of the benefits of living in Pensacola is that Pensacola NAS is home of the Blue Angels. On most Wednesdays and Thursdays of every week they practice open for anyone to come and watch. And... on some Wednesdays the pilots come inside the museum to meet, greet and sign autographs. The pictures really tell it all. As you can see, Will is in heaven.

Almost Walking...

Unfortunately, I have not documented very many firsts for Will and Jessica and now Josh is no exception. I wish I could be more like Laura who is the most organized and creative person I know, maybe one day... yeah, probably not:)
Well, our precious baby Joshua is not yet walking. I think we are definitely in the cruising stage. Yesterday, all by himself he grabbed hold of Jessica's toy grocery cart and took off. I was cooking dinner in the kitchen and caught him out of the corner of my eye. I started cheering and then Will and Jessica got into it. He was so proud. He had a huge smile on his face and laughed at all of our antics. What a muffin...
Progress, my dear friends...

We Made It!

Well, we are finally here and mostly unpacked. All of our worldly belongings were delivered on Monday and we have been unpacking boxes ever since. For the first 3 and 1/2 days it rained, which made it easy for Thomas and I to stay inside and unpack. However, not so easy for Will, Jessie and Josh. They were beginning to climb the walls. So in the afternoons we have ventured out to explore. We have been to the "Jet Museum" (as Will calls it) twice and to the beach twice. We are slowly meeting our neighbors. Our neighborhood is very quiet. I think we are completely out-numbered by the grey-haired folk:) The very first neighbor we met said and I quote, "We have a nice quiet neighborhood and we plan to keep it that way." With 3 kids, I make no promises:) Despite our first cheery neighbor, everyone seems really nice. Although the bar was set pretty high in Chesapeake for good neighbors, so we will have to wait and see.

I love it when...

My kids are full of expression. Things they do and say bring such a smile to me and I think they will to all of you as well.

I love it when...
~Will and now Jessica pronounce McDonalds as Mikel-Donalds.
~Jessica has an ouchy or a boo boo. For example, this morning she came to me and instead of saying my ear hurts, she will say, "My ear doesn't feel better." She is such an optimist.
~Joshua snuggles. Finally, my third child, loves to be loved, hugged and kissed. When I pick him up he gives me the strongest head butt into my nose and mouth, to say give me some lovin'.
~Will and Jessica get so excited to see a police car, firetruck, motorcycle, or ambulance. The way they react... is like they have just seen the most famous movie star.
~Will takes on his "worker" persona and the flexion in his voice changes. It is really funny.

Well, these are just a few smiles I enjoy on a regular basis. I hope they make you smile too. ~Jenni