Raleigh Christmas parade

 We ventured out early on a Saturday morning on a hunt for a good spot to watch the Raleigh Christmas parade. It was well worth the early rise and rush out the door. Here's a taste of what we enjoyed!



trains go with us many places these days...



love the marching bands!



Scotty McCreery from American Idol. A girl that sat next to us is a HUGE fan of his. She took off running down the street and followed his float the rest of the parade!

Hayden made a new friend!

the crowds across the street, kind of crazy!

Mr. Nutcracker had to go horizontal through the street we were on due to trees, made for a good laugh!

world's largest toilet??

the sirens are too loud for Hayden

Fall, love it!

 One day this week Hayden and I headed out into the woods behind our house to have a little photo shoot. Being in the woods at fall is so beautiful and rejuvenating. A chance to see my Creator's work at it's most magnificent time of the year. I felt so refreshed! I dream of the day I will own a much better camera but for now I do the best with what I have. Here's my 3 1/2 year old, when did he get so big!!??

What a great way to start a photo shoot

I had many of these, little stinker

had to have some fun!

what, did you want to see my face?

these crack me up, doing exercises that he learned from Krystal when she lived with us. thought of this on his own. i had nothing to do with it.





North Carolina State Fair

 We spent an afternoon and evening at the North Carolina State fair, it's huge! We met up with some friends from New Bern Chris and Dawn and their children, Matthew and Elizabeth. Hayden loves to be with these two so much and misses them. We saw pig and duck racing, milked a cow, fed the animals, rode rides, ate way too much fair food, and were completely worn out when we left. So much fun! The couple of days following the fair Hayden's conversations were mostly about milking the cow and the monster trucks that he "drove".

I just have to laugh everytime I look at this one, they are being so silly!

my whole world right here.....

good night fair, see you next year!

Making play dough

I am by no means the most crafty, do things at home, type of mom. This is something I wish I had more of a desire to do, maybe someday I will. I remember making play dough when I was little with my mom, along with my brother and sister. So I googled a recipe to make homemade play dough and to my surprise it was an easy recipe and used all ingredients I had on hand! It's funny how smells take you back, as soon as we got it cooking I remembered the smell from my days of childhood.