Fun in November

I thought I had posted these photos- apparently not. These are just some random funny pictures of the kids. Because of some cold weather we have been inside more than any of us want to be. We are thankful for a fun playroom and attached garage! Isaac pushes his new wagon.

Grace pushes Isaac's new wagon...with a willing rider??

Isaac is wearing my shoe. He LOVES shoes- any shoes. He carries them around, he puts them on, he gives them to you to put on. I don't know what we would do without shoes- they provide hours of entertainment.

Happy 1st Birthday Isaac!

My little guy will be 1 tomorrow- but we celebrated on Sunday afternoon. Isaac invited his good friends, Spencer, Evan, and Hampton. All of the babies brought their parents and Evan and Spencer brought their older siblings. We had a dinosaur themed party complete with a Wilton dinosaur cake...handmade by me! We also had champagne cocktails (for the mommies) and lots of treats and snacks for the small people. Sid hung a new chandelier in the dining room the night before the party. Isn't it pretty? Here Sid and Neal discuss the chandelier and all of the changes we've made to the house since we bought it. Neal and his wife bought a house at the same time we bought ours and they actually walked through this one- but chose another. We are so glad they have different tastes!

I had a plate set out for everyone to autograph. We did the same thing at Grace's first birthday. I look forward to hanging them together.

My second Wilton cake. I am going to try and make them a tradition...they take so much time!

Spencer and Hampton play with, disassemble, and then try to repair the ball blower.

Grace and her posse drink "lemonlade" from their T-Rex bobblehead cups (how cool are those things?) and strategize on how to acquire more cake, ice cream and candy. Whatever they decided worked.

Nana, Grace, Winks (preschool class pet- home for just the weekend) and Isaac eat oranges and read magazines together on Sunday morning - pre-party.

Nana and Sid hangin' at the birthday bash.

Little Evan and Daddy Paul talk about why beer can only be consumed once Evan turns 21. Evan was born on New Year's Eve...do you think he will wait until he is 21 to drink beer? Hmmm?
Isaac eating pizza and wondering why all of these people are at the house. Me taking hundreds of photos is, however, not alarming to him.

He was so excited when he saw his cake- or maybe it was the fire he liked- anyhow, I got teary eyed during the singing of "Happy Birthday." My last baby is a toddler now. What happened!?
Grace threatens to eat the cake if Isaac doesn't get serious with the task at hand.
Isaac decides to touch the cake instead. That color of green is a bit concerning.

Isaac sticks a glob of ice cream in his mouth and then discovers it is really cold.

He takes after me with the ice cream thing. We both prefer some ice cream over cake any day.

Isaac got his very first....

Haircut! It was time. My little redneck's mullet would make any Tennessee fan proud- but not quite the look we are going for. Actually, the new haircut is still not the look we are going for, but we had to clean it up a bit and now we can let him grow it out. The trip to JJ's Kid's Cuts went well. Grace chose the police car for Isaac to sit in for the duration of the ordeal. (I hope her choice is not a sign of things to come.) Isaac would not let me move even 3 inches from him, which was expected- I didn't even bother to bring my camera. Lashawn cut his hair and she was truly amazing. She didn't miss a beat- Her cuts were precise even around his ears while he was trying to follow her where ever she went. The end result is pictured below. He looks like he is 5. My baby is growing up- I guess technically he is a toddler- but please don't remind me.

Museum fun for the week

Because of Election Day, Grace didn't have preschool on Tuesday. It was a rainy, cold day so we met the Andersons at The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. It is such a wonderful place and the kids had a blast. We ate lunch, saw lots of spiders, snakes, turtles and fish. We visited the butterflies and got to see a sleeping sloth. Isaac loved being like the big kids who were able to walk about with a little freedom. Below is a picture of Grace and Caleb in a tree that is home to some sleeping bats.
On Friday we headed to the North Carolina Museum of Life and Science. It is more like a small zoo. Grace usually has dance on Fridays, but with 75 degree weather on November 7th we took advantage of our good fortune and spent the time outside. We met our good friends Stacey and Hampton at the Museum. It was their first visit so we showed them the ropes. Isaac and Hampton are in the same preschool class- but they are not dating. Here, Isaac plays in a HUGE sandbox. He was in Heaven!

Grace listens to the different noises the pipes make as the wind blows through them.

Isaac and Hampton can only be photographed together when strapped into their strollers.

Grace and Hampton discuss sharing bows.

75 degrees in November

After a long weekend of a family stomach virus- we decided to get out of the house on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon. We went to a local park and played for a while and then walked down to the lake. After that we played at home for a while. Against my better judgement Daddy let Grace drive Isaac in the jeep. She did a wonderful job and drove slowly the entire time. Then she got tired of that and kicked him out. He loved it though! Grace- our little monkey-A little static from the slide and its Halloween all over again.

Yikes!

Happy Halloween!

bAs usual, The Mitcheners never have a moments rest! On Wednesday of this week the Children's Ministry from our church headed to a local nursing home to Trick-or-Treat among the residents. Both the children and residents have a blast.After the children are loaded down with candy we head back to church for pizza and karaoke. Grace and Ryen sang a fabulous rendition of 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.' I was impressed that they even got to sing as they both had a very difficult time waiting in line and they also managed to get pushed towards the back of the line by the big kids. Nevertheless, eventually they made it to the karaoke machine and we all enjoyed it tremendously!
On Halloween Eve our fun neighbors Elizabeth and Joseph came over to paint pumpkins with Grace. A large mess was made therefore all had a great time.And then FINALLY it was Halloween! Our neighborhood has a big parade and then we all meet at a neighbors for a big barbecue. Unfortunately Isaac had come down with a nasty stomach virus the night before, so he was a little under the weather. He made it for the parade, but then the two of us headed for home and waited for the goblins to arrive. Grace brought home approximately 10 pounds of candy. Then she sat on the front porch and handed out candy to the other trick-or-treaters. I think she had more fun doing that. I got Isaac off to bed and then Grace and Sid headed to our neighbors for a big party. Grace got to stay out to 10pm. She was thrilled. The next morning we all awoke with the stomach virus. Happy Halloween!