Breaking the ICE!

Yesterday we decided to go and feed the ducks some old cereal that we've been saving for them. Although we couldn't get the ducks to come over, we had a great time playing in the leaves and seeing the ice and leaves floating on the pond until...

I gave Benjamin a stick to "break the ice" with. Somehow I failed to tell him he had to stay on the bank -and use the stick to break the ice ... boy did he break it - he ran RIGHT in to the pond! He quickly realized that unlike the leaves and ice that were floating on top of the water ... HE DID not float! We both "panicked" and I hurried to get him out of the water ... then I was worried that his toes were going to freeze off on the way back to the car -- poor kid! But all was well -- got him back to the car, socks off, shoes off, pants off - and drove the 2 minutes home and got new ones!

(wet pants!)

Just goes to show ... mom should have explained the joy of breaking the ice a little better!

"Little Boy" ...and your big cardboard box!

As Christmas is just around the corner ... we are getting more and more boxes in the mail! One of Benjamin's current favorite books is:

This short story with wonderful illustrations is about a little boy ... and his adventures - and so many of them with his BIG CARDBOARD BOX! So as the boxes come in ... I try and save the ones I need for wrapping gifts ... but I often let Benjamin have them to play in - and he LOVES it... as you will see for yourself!

Kids Shoes!

So ... I've been LOOKING and LOOKING to find Benjamin some Sunday shoes ... that will go with kakki pants OR some of his John-John type outfits ... and I FINALLY found some! They have cute boy and girl shoes ... I don't exactly like ANY of the clothes on the website, but they do have cute shoes! Here's the link if anyone's interested: http://kitsel.com/index.html

They came today and they FIT -- he loves them because they "squeak" although we will have to take the squeakers out before church!!

Here are his SHOES!

Latest and GREATEST free-bies!

So ... Jonathan and I love getting "free" things...

some we have to do a little work for but not a LOT!

Here's our latest and greatest...

** $30 for doing the Nielsen TV Survey -- if an 888 or 800 # from Florida calls... answer it! This year it was just a week survey - but they send you CASH at the beginning of the survey!
(Last year we did a month long survey and got $150 ... just in time for Christmas!!)

** Order and Shipping FREE from Snapfish! I stayed up until 11:45 getting some pictures edited... 30 free prints for being a "good customer" a free 8X10 that I've been wanting of Benjamin and FREE shipping on the whole order!

Quantity Item Total
13 4x6 print(s) $1.17
17 4x5.3 trueDigital print(s) $1.53
1 8x10 print(s) $2.99
31 glossy finish $0.00
30 Customer Service Credit for 4x6(s) $-2.70
1 free 8x10" print credits $-2.99
cost of prints: $2.46
SHIPALLFREE: -$2.46
Subtotal: $0.00
Shipping & Handling:standard: $0.00
Prints Order Total: $0.00

** 10% off some shoes I ordered for Benjamin online ... PLUS no sales tax

**30% off Gap/Old Navy ... I think all in all a few friends and family and I ordered $600 or $700 in clothing ... so the net savings was about $200!! And the 30% off was even on SALE stuff!

** We currently have (Jonathan and I) two $100 airline credit vouchers ... where can we go... those were from our trip to Boston ... where we ended up driving back from Charlotte and getting the rental car paid for, $130 credited back to our credit card for the flight ... AND ... the two $100 vouchers... all I can say is Jonathan LOVES customer service!

** Lastly... this week I get 20% off on Kroger items for being a Kroger employee... thank goodness for a GREAT job!

Probably a lot of work for a few bucks here and there ... but all of the pennies add up to dollars ... did I mention that I was able to get gas for a TOTAL of $25.00 yesterday! That was NONE of my doing ... except the 20 cents off per gallon that we get at Kroger for buying groceries there!

Sorry no pictures... I'll try and post a couple ... soon!

Incline Railroad!

Train Is A' Comin'!

Yesterday ... instead of watching football ALL Day ... I BEGGED Jonathan to take us somewhere fun in Chattanooga before and afternoon/evening of football! I was originally hoping for a hike - but we decided to go to Lookout Mountain and try out the Incline Railroad -- it was a LOT of fun - especially since Jonathan and Benjamin love trains!

The train ride was nice and slow (just one car) ... and went down the steep moutain. I was a little nervous at first about the speed ... but after we got going and I realized how SLOW the ride was going to be, things were GREAT! The leaves were AMAZING as the train passed the hardwood trees and being up so high and seeing all of Chattanooga was spectacular! We had a blast being together as a family!

Here's a cute shot of Mary and Benjamin looking out the window just before we left for our outing...

Trick-or-TREAT!

Halloween .... 2008!

Benjamin had a HAPPY Halloween ALL Day! He got to dress up (as the mailman ... which was the costume he picked out!) for preschool - where they got a HUGE bag full of candy! He was thrilled! They got to have a pizza party as well that day with pizza, cheetos, ice cream and juice boxes -- my kind of party!

I picked him up from school a little early ... so we could head up to North Georgia. He was AWESOME in the car - and we didn't even have to stop... a HUGE bonus was the Atlanta traffic was not bad at all!

Benjamin got to trick-or-treat with lots of his cousins ... and got just enough candy for him!

We ended the night at a wonderful Ringgold High School football game ... it was perfect football weather - where you needed a coat and mittens for Benjamin and just someone warm to cuddle up next to! Ringgold won by a landslide ... Benjamin was THRILLED to be at the game for the first 3 and 1/2 quarters ... and yelled, "Go TIGERS" as much and as often as he could!

ps ... sorry for the bad coloring on some of the pictures... I don't have my PhotoShop!

A fall mix!

Here's just a little bit of what we've been doing lately ...

no exciting adventures ... but lots of time at home! Jonathan did take one of his board exams yesterday ... only 4 more days of testing to go - spread between now and March! We are excited for fall ... and ESPECIALLY the holidays!

We celebrated my birthday last Sunday - Jonathan and Benjamin made me breakfast in bed and a yummy cake!

If Benjamin could do ANYTHING in a days time - he would play little people almost all day long! Most mornings he will wake up, turn on his light, and just start playing! These are his best friends ... he often lines them all up - like seen below, probably kind of quirky- but I'm sure there's a reason behind it!

Here is a picture of Benjamin and I when we went on a REALLY fun picnic with the Nixons! The fall weather has been so wonderful this year ... and the leaves are just beginning to fall and change colors!

Jonathan and Benjamin carved our pumpkin this morning ... Benjamin wanted a scarey face ... does this look scarey or WHAT!

We are hoping to make it to trick-or-treat with Benjamin's cousins and younger aunts and uncles this weekend ... all depending on our car situation! Our Avalon at 154,000 miles is having a few transmission problems ... the cost will be roughly somewhere between $2000 and $3500 -- if only MCG wasn't SO far away - we'd probably just finish the year with one car!! We pretty much have to fix it though - because if not, we can only get $2500 for it! YUCK ... fixed - we will be able to re-coop what we had to spend plus hopefully a little when it comes time to sell it!

On a lighter note ... we are thrilled to do some fun FALL activities this week!!

A Special Weekend away...

Just thought I'd share a few pictures of our AMAZING weekend in Utah. Jonathan's mom and brother, Albert, came to keep Benjamin - which was WONDERFUL! He went to the park pretty much everyday, they played toys all day, watched Conference, and even went on a picnic...He had a blast ... and we did too!

We flew out Friday - grabbed our rental car and headed up to Logan to the BYU game - which was LOTS of fun ... especially sneaking our Cafe Rio into the game - which was not too difficult! Did I mention that Jonathan hit some sort of coyote (medium-sized animal in the canyon after the game... luckily not really any major damage to the rental car!)

Then on to our hotel in downtown Salt Lake, a block from Temple Square and the MOST amazing view of the Salt Lake Temple ... not too sure why I didn't get a picture! (Although we did get a picture of the Logan Temple: see above.) Jonathan probably said a hundred times ... isn't this view better than our view in Boston - and of course I did ALWAYS agree that it definitely was - we even saw them turn the lights off on the temple early the next morning.

The weather for the Saturday session was RAINY ... but I did get in to the afternoon session, and Jonathan got into the Priesthood session. Conference was amazing, and I probably cried more during the Saturday afternoon than any other - thank goodness for Jonathan's step-mom who was there with a full supply of tissues for me! It is always such a great feeling to be in the presence of President Monson and the apostles ... and the children's choir was so touching!

We did get to see a good bit of friends and family (including Jonathan's grandparents who actually live in Florida: see below) ... missed some, but excited to hopefully visit them when we are out for skiing in JANUARY -- it will come so fast!

The Sunday sessions were just as good! A few quick visists Sunday evening, then to the hotel for a night's rest - then back on the plane by 6:50 am Monday morning! A HUGE thanks again to Cheri and Albert for keeping Benjamin ... just was I needed for sure!

Grovetown Ward Campout!

Jonathan and Benjamin were thrilled to be able to go on the ward campout ... and had talked about it all week ... I on the other hand - LOVE camping - but was not thrilled with the idea of no sleep - and Jonathan being gone all Saturday -- so I rode back with Emilie Nixon - who lives in our neighborhood and got a FULL NIGHT'S SLEEP!

Other than the fact that it was RAINING - and Jonathan left the tarp in the garage -and had to drive to the nearest Wal-mart to get another -- we had a GREAT evening. While Jonathan was "shopping" - Benjamin and I roasted hot dog and marshmellows and enjoyed visiting with friends in our ward.

When Jonathan got back - he and Benjamin QUICKLY set up the tent ... I headed home and they had a FUN night ... going to sleep about 11pm and Benjamin waking up at 4 am to go to the bathroom, and never going back to sleep! Sorry to all the "neighboring campers" who Benjamin probably woke up!

They had pancakes and bacon for breakfast - which Benjamin was so excited to tell me about. He is already asking if they are going camping again. I think Jonathan will take a "rest" from camping at least for AWHILE ... as he went to the Cannery in Atlanta and the to the UGA game ... and didn't get home until 12: 30 last night!

Eli's blessing!

Just a few pictures from our nephew (cousin) - Eli McGuire's blessing ... We were able to go to North Georgia to Jordan's (Jonathan's brother) football game - Benjamin LOVED the Tiger... then for a meeting with a recruitor - while my sister watched Benjamin. She took some adorable pictures of Benjamin and William (her little boy) ... which I still need to get!

Eli's big day was Sunday ... here are a few pictures!