John Long, Can we go hunting?

This post is dedicated to John Long. John and Leanne are great friends of ours from Starkville. Even though we haven't seen them since JUNE!! We've got to get to work on that...

Anyway..Clint was getting his hunting gear organized the other night and he dressed Jack up in his camou hat and face covering. Jack was so proud of himself! Clint is counting down until Jack can go hunting. (And secretly I am, too! Quiet Saturday mornings...)

Who's Afraid of the Dark?

From the time Jack was a little baby, Clint has always put him to bed. It's our family's routine that seems to work out well for everyone. I pick up Jack from daycare around 3:30 and we play. I make supper and we eat whenever Clint gets home. Clint puts Jack down at night and that gives me time to get school work done. I'm so blessed to have a husband who loves to help with our son!

I've had several posts over the past 20 months of Clint and Jack's nighttime adventures. Last night he put a headlight on Jack's head for reading. Jack thought that was the best thing EVER!! He would move his head around and watch the light bounce off the walls and ceiling and was in complete awe. Here's some pictures of their time last night. One picture is with the flash and one is without. Enjoy!

Terrific Thanksgiving!

Jack had so much fun playing outside this week!!


Jack and I spent a lot of time just like this...he has become so snuggly lately!!

Our little family meal Wednesday night.

Our table all set for Thanksgiving!

We had a great Thanksgiving! I thoroughly enjoyed my week off from school. Jack also stayed home the whole week, which we both loved. Monday we went Christmas shopping and ate a free dessert (yay for coupons) from Johnny Carino's. Tuesday we just lay around the house doing absolutely nothing and ate a "Friend Thanksgiving" and Nguyen and Emily Nguyens' house. Wednesday evening we had our own family Thanksgiving. How wonderful it is that we live close to Beauregard Parish so we don't have to spend time on the road our whole break!! We loved being able to stay home more. Clint grilled steaks and I decorated the table and we had a fine meal. Thursday drove to Harrisonburg for the Terry family Thanksgiving breakfast and Thursday night ate the McCullin Thanksgiving supper. Friday Alice' and I shopped from 4:30 - 9:00 and Mom, Jenn, and I shopped from 12:00 - 4:00. Saturday we made a trip to Dry Creek

to spend time with MeMe and Dee. Today we finally had to get back to normal. I made some PowerPoint slides for class tomorrow and Clint went to work for a little while this evening. Do I really have to go to work tomorrow???

Thanksgiving Pumpkin Rolls Done!

YAY!! I sold 23 pumpkin rolls for Thanksgiving. I finished them up last weekend and put them in the freezer. Last night I finished the sleeves for them out of fall fabric and tied the tops with rafia. They looked great. I'm excited to have some freezer space back because I have 20 more to make for Christmas!

If anyone is interested in buying some for Christmas gifts, they come already wrapped up in Christmas fabric with a ribbon and ready to go! Just post a reply or email me at:

clint_amandailes@hotmail.com

Enjoy!

Thank you, Aunt Robin!

Robin gave Jack some bathtub markers a while back. Jack has figured out how to use them! Last night he was thrilled to see all the different colors the markers can make on the side of the bathtub. Now bathtub is even more fun!

Music Man

I'm so frustrated with Blogger. I have a great video to share and I've tried for the last hour to post it, but to no avail. Anyone else having these problems??

Anyway..Jack loves music! I've shared that before, but it's becoming even more evident now. On the weekends Clint plays his music while we go about our day and Jack will dance and clap and just have a wonderful time. Saturday morning I found Jack sitting at the computer just peacefully listening to Clint's CD.

If you could see the VIDEO (!!!) you could see Jack clapping and moving to the music. No one else was in the room (except when I sneaked in to catch the moment on film). Just Jack, enjoying lazy Saturday morning. Also, notice the ever-present boots :)

Dumptruck Utensils

Jack loves trucks, cars, trains....any type of vehicle. My mom bought him some trucks to keep at her house, but Jack would not leave without them yesterday! Here he is with his truck at supper tonight. He was eating Pasta Pickups the fun way - putting all the pasta in the scoop of the truck and driving it around the tray of the highchair. Fun times with a fun boy!

Good-bye, Danger Ranger!

Clint sold his truck last week! We were so surprised - it only took 5 days and he got asking price! Autotrader is the way to go...

Clint was sort of sad; I was not.

These boots are made for walkin...

Jack has a recent obsession with his rubber boots. The other day I was in the living room folding clothes and Jack was in his room playing. I hear him start to fuss, then start to cry. I went to see what was wrong and he was STANDING ON TOP OF HIS CHANGING TABLE!! Obviously I don't have a picture of this because I got him down before he broke his neck. He was trying to get his boots down from the shelf! Since then his boots have been a constant companion. He wears them all over, except for daycare and church. When we get him from his crib in the morning, he looks at us with bleary eyes and says "shoes?"

Here are some pictures from his recent boot-wearing.

Crayon Roll-Up

My KayeGranny gave me her old sewing machine this summer. I have had so much fun learning to use it! Many (and I mean many) projects have been totally horrible, but lately I've been getting the hang of it. I bought a great book at Hobby Lobby that has sewing projects for beginners. I made this crayon roll-up last night during my "extra hour." A certain nephew of mine will receive it for Christmas (sorry to kill the surprise, Robin). What do you think? I have entertained the idea of opening an Etsy shop (online store where you can sell handmade items) once I can really start generating some products. Clint suggested that I make a bunch in different fabrics and bring them to a local children's store. You never know what could happen!

Disappointment

Last week we lost the SD card to the camera! So Friday after school Jack and I ran to Target to buy an SD card so we could save all the wonderful Halloween memories from Friday night. Jack had an absolute blast as a dragon! He would run around "roaring" at people and just thought he was the scariest toddler around. We went to the Zoo Boo for trick-or-treating and it was beyond awesome. We went on the "Not scary storybook trail" much to Clint's dismay. Jack loved seeing Pooh Bear and Tigger. Why do I not have pictures?? The SD card we bought did not work! I'm so upset. So, try to imagine what Jack looked like posing next to a huge pumpkin and passing out his candy to princesses and fairies. He was precious!!

Pumpkin Rolls for Sale!

It's fall again....which means it's time for pumpkin rolls!! Last year I sold pumpkin rolls for the holiday season (Thanksgiving or Christmas - you pick) and it ended up being a big hit. They're a great gift for coworkers, friends, or secret pals. They're also a great food for parties or to just have on your Thanksgiving table!

Pumpkin rolls are $10.00 each. Each roll serves 8-10 people.

Orders of 10 or more are $8.50 each.

Email me at clint_amandailes@hotmail.com or post a reply on the blog.

Thanks!

I prefer flower girls....

In my last post I mentioned that we went to my aunt Sarah's wedding in Baton Rouge three weeks ago. I forgot to mention that Jack developed a huge crush on the flower girl. They held hands and walked around for a while. He put his foot down when she wanted him to jump down the ditch. He rung his hand loose and ran away! I thought the whole experience was hilarious!!

Goin' to Grandma's

A couple of weekends ago we went to Baton Rouge for my aunt Sarah's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding and we really enjoyed spending time with the whole McCullin family. We ate lunch at my Grandma's house that afternoon and Jack had so much fun playing with all her "Grandma toys." He especially enjoyed the wooden horse!

Congratulations, Aunt Sarah and Lynn!

Merry Christmas!

My KayeGranny cross-stitched a beautiful gift for me and gave me money to have it framed for Christmas! She made one for herself, my mother, Jennifer, and she's working on Laura's. I'm so proud of it and cannot wait to display it for many Christmases to come!

I know, I know....

I'm just terrible at blogging. I spend considerable time every evening reading everyone else's blogs, then I just sigh and think, "Tomorrow I'll update mine." So it's not that I'm "so busy" or whatever the going excuse is. I'm just lazy. There you go. So now that the confession is out of the way...

I must say that this week has been such a wonderful week! We are all finally healthy and the weather has been gorgeous! Jack and I have a new routine in the afternoons. He loves to be outside and it had gotten to be such a battle every day! We would come home from daycare and he would BEG to go "ahsiiiiide" until we were both at our wits end. It's not that I don't want to take him outside, it's just that supper has to be made and laundry has to be done, etc. This week I gave up the battle. I bought a box of sugar-free popsicles and every afternoon we get a popsicle and go on a 2 or 3 mile walk. I've made super simple suppers and somehow laundry has still kept up. It's funny how our priorities get so out of wack. Jack has been much happier and I'm burning some major calories.

Jack and I went shopping for fall clothes Monday afternoon. Jack definitely loves clothes. I know they say that boys don't care, but this kid has opinions about shoes and jackets. He got some great pants and shirts. One shirt says "Jack's full service gas station." Here's a couple of pictures from the past couple of days in his new clothes.

Weekend with Grandparents

This past weekend Jack spent a couple of days with PawPaw and Grandee! It was fair weekend in Beauregard Parish and Jack had a wonderful time. My mom met them at the fair and Jack loved seeing all the animals.

Boxing robe or Bath robe?

Clint said when he and his brothers were younger, they would put on bathrobes and "box" around the house. I'm sure Jack and his cousins (see Robin's Blog) Noah and Jude will be boxing around in bathrobes before you know it!

Hurricane Gustav

Many of you have texted or left messages on our phone wondering if we're okay. We are! We still have power and water, even cable and internet! This morning we woke up to lots of water! It rained really hard all night and the drains and ditches have met their maximum. Hopefully there's not much water left to come, or we may be moving to higher ground!! Sorry the pictures aren't that great...

Beautiful Pictures!

My good friend Emily Nguyen is wonderful with the camera. She wanted some practice and took Jack out for a little photo session. I think the pictures turned out so great! Thanks Emily!

Jack's Room

Since we have been in our apartment, we have really enjoyed Jack having his own room. In Starkville, the nursery was a little room adjoined to our bedroom. This was convenient was Jack was a newborn and was up all night, but quickly became a headache as he became older. We would have to tiptoe around, especially in the mornings as we were trying to get ready for the day, and many mornings he woke up early and irritable.

Now Jack has a room all his own and his sleeping habits have become a lot more predictable (even though we still have a bad night every once in a while). He has enjoyed playing with all his toys and I have enjoyed not having baby toys all over the house!

Cousins Come to Visit!

The boys loved riding around in the wagon together

Noah enjoyed playing with Jack's scooter

Clint holding sweet Baby Jude!

Noah and Jude came to visit us last Friday afternoon. Jack had a wonderful time playing with Noah! I'm so glad that they are now both old enough and big enough to really play together. Many more fun times to come!