A Beautiful Day

Some days it's really easy to get sucked in to all that has to get done with grocery shopping, laundry, cleaning the house and paying the bills that it's easy to forget to take a second and breath. While we did still have all of those things today we were able to talk a solid two hours and just play at the park. The weather was beautiful and we had an awesome day running around the park, going down the slides and throwing rocks off the bridge into the stream below.

Choo Choo Soul

Asher, like most two-year-olds has pretty specific bedtime rituals. And now that he is two he can tell you what they are. Of course he's got to have his blanket, "me" and Sleepy. He also gets to pick out 3-4 books he wants read. Some of his current favorites are "Train Doctor" (I Want to Be a Train Conductor), "Brown Bear," "Train book," "Five Little Pumpkins, and "Chugginton." Then he likes to "rock-e" for a little bit and you can't put him down without his favorite cd from his Aunt Heather playing on repeat - Choo Choo Soul's All Aboard the Choo Choo Train. Asher can even sing it for you!

Punkin' Patch

Asher has definitely been very interested in pumpkins this year. Of course he can't quite say the word so calls them "punkins" which is pretty adorable! His first glimpse of pumpkins was his Five Little Pumpkins book NeeNee bought him last year. At one, he mostly just smiled and made the "woo" sound when it mentioned the wind. Now, he can count with us and tells us which pumpkins are smiling or crying based on their cut-out faces. 

There is a small pumpkin patch close to our house that we visited last weekend. Asher's favorite was definitely just running up and down the rows of pumpkins. He did really enjoy painting his own little pumpkins with his daddy.

The place had several inflatables and some playground equipment which Asher wasn't as excited about. We did get him to go down some of the slides but I guess based on the video below it's understandable why he wasn't convinced.

No worries though! Asher's tough and didn't even shed a tear! Although two days later he's still talking about how he "Went down the green slide and land on his face."  . . . oops.

I cute!!

Asher is now talking in full sentences and it's pretty amazing what he comes up with. During a quick trip back to IN for FC's Homecoming Asher woke up from his nap and came downstairs and told his Nee Nee, "I cute!" Admittedly not one of his longest sentences but one of his most fun :)  Although he usually will correct you when trying to tell him he is cute, or funny, or smart and instead say, "No, I Asher!"

During the same trip Asher loved being at Nana's house with all of her giraffees! He enjoyed getting to meet Sleepy's mama and give her hugs and kisses! He even liked wrestling with Nana's giant teddy bear! Unfortunately the picture doesn't quite do it justice.

In addition to talking in full sentences Asher has picked up on all his family member's names even those he doesn't seen all the time. We heard a lot of "No, No Austin" and "No, No Barkley" this weekend as Ashher gave back to them just as much as they dished out!

10 years . . .really?

It's a very hard to believe that it's been 10 years since our FC graduation buy it really has! We had a great time catching up at Franklin's Homecoming 2012 with an FC victory and a trip to the Willard. We've accomplished a lot in those 10 years with jobs and moves and buying houses, getting married, having babies and making our own little mark on the world. We no longer get the opportunity to talk with each other day - or unfortunately see each other every year but I think we all feel blessed by the friendship we share.