Beautiful Week!

We have had an amazing week of beautiful weather! As I looked back at my pics from the week, I realized that they were all taken outside! These first pictures were taken in the backyard while the kids were jumping in leaf piles that Sean raked up for them. We have LOTS of leaves every Fall and we finally got smart and quit raking them. (Now we just mulch them up by running the lawn mower over them!) But it is still fun to make a few piles every now and then to jump in!

Beckett realized that the bigger you get, the piles of leaves don't seem as soft anymore! He hit HARD several times! Sean ended up just "burying" them under the leaves!

Then their attention turned to a green flying creature that was buzzing all around us. I love how Helen is crouched down in this picture to get a good look!

Sean took the insect off of the tree and let each of the kids hold it. (Not Will! He was napping!) Love Helen's big dimple! She looks so proud to be holding the little green bug!
Beckett with the "Flying Creature of the Fifth Day"! (This is the name of our Science curriculum this year!) We have learned more than I EVER knew about birds so far this year and it has been quite interesting. However, Beckett is growing tired of birds and he is ready to move on! We have a few more lessons to go and then we will move on to bats and then insects! Wish we could have identified this little guy!

Every year since Beckett's first Fall, I have taken pictures of the kids under the trees in our neighbor's yard because they are just so beautiful. Well, the pics just didn't turn out that great this year. But! I FINALLY figured out how to edit my pics to black and white! Love it! The lighting is still kind of weird, but it works!

Will was pretty serious. He wasn't too sure about sitting in all of these leaves!

On Saturday, we hiked over at the lake and Sean carried Will in the Kelty pack for the first time. He did great and seemed to like it! Unfortunately, I forgot my camera! It was another gorgeous day and we enjoyed being outside! After church today, we headed to the Cove park and had a picnic lunch. The kids enjoyed some time on the swings! Here is Helen in action....

And a few of Beckett pushing Will. He is such a great brother! Will was loving it!

This one is a little blurry, but you can see Will's giant smile!

Just a sweet one of big brother checking to make sure little bro is having fun!

Finally, it isn't a good day outside unless Beckett climbs a tree!

I love to change the music on my blog to go along with the "theme" of the post, or just a song that I enjoy. Evidently, this song has been around for a while, but I just heard it and really liked it. It just has a happy, light-hearted feel. I thought it would be nice for these pictures of my three sweet blessings who make me feel "bubbly"!

Full Weekend!

On Friday afternoon, Beckett met his friends from his enrichment class at the Icearium for a little ice skating! This was Beckett's first try at ice skating and he did pretty well. He really enjoyed it and only ended up with a few bruises! At least there were no broken bones! I didn't get any pics of him skating because the lighting was kind of weird, but here he is when he stopped for a little break!
On Friday night, we went to our church for The Fall Family Frenzy! This is our church's huge outreach event to our community and it was great! There were over 3,000 people in attendance! It was so fun to see everyone and the kids had a great time playing games and getting candy! Here is our little pumpkin....Will! He would not keep the "sprout" hat on for long, but I did manage one picture!

Connor came with us to the Fall Frenzy and he dressed up like a hunter. That crazy orange hair got lots of compliments! Beckett was a clone from Star Wars and Helen was Tinkerbell! And then there is Will, the little pumpkin! Here are some pictures with friends from Friday night. Beckett's friends Matt and Nathan were Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker....so we had a Star Wars picture! Abbey was Sacagawea and the Bailey boys were the Mario brothers! Too cute!

On Saturday morning, we loaded up the van and headed to Nashville for the day! We ate brunch at one of our favorite restaurants; Noshville Delicatessen, and then the boys dropped Helen and me off at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center so that we could see the matinee performance of Little House on the Praire; The Musical! We had a great time! I loved Little House on the Praire when I was a little girl and I have been reading the chapter books to Helen. When I found out that this musical was coming so close to us, I really wanted to go! Sean knew how much I wanted to share this with Helen, so he checked in to getting us tickets and made it happen! It was a great afternoon! Helen LOVED the show and I LOVED watching her enjoy it so much! We couldn't take pictures during the show, but here is a picture of Helen before the show with her program.

The Performing Arts Center is right beside the state capitol, so after the show, Helen posed for a picture in front of the Tennessee State Capitol. She has a new "pose" every time I take a picture of her! Not sure what that is all about, but it just shows a little of her personality!

The boys went to Brentwood for a few hours while Helen and I were at the show. They hung out at my mom and dad's house and watched football. Thanks to Grankaki and Granbob for all of the snacks and Halloween treats! Sean and the boys picked us up after the show and we headed back home. We got home in time to watch most of the UT football game! It was a great Saturday! We had a good Sunday at church and a great time last night with our Growth Group! It was a wonderful weekend!

I've gotta give some special love to my hubby for buying tickets for Helen and me to see Little House! He has teased me through the years for my (possibly?) crazy attachment to the Little House books/show/characters, but he knows me so well and knew how much I would enjoy going to see the musical with my little girl....and he made it happen! He is the best husband in the world! I am so blessed!

Day at the Zoo!

I have been wanting to take the kids to the zoo for a long time. When I looked at the extended forecast on Monday morning, it looked like that was going to be the best day of the week to go! One of the great things about homeschooling is our flexibility! Why not take a field trip? So we loaded up after doing a little math work and headed to the zoo for the day! Beckett blogged about the trip, so check it out at The Slam! I've just put a few pictures from the day, but Beckett has a bunch more! I loved this pic of all three of them!
They have an indoor section at the zoo called the Wee Play Zoo. The kids enjoyed it and there were several things that even Will could play with! Here he is in a little jeep that was just his size!
Helen with Dora the Explorer!

Sweet little pumpkin!

Laughing at his brother and sister!

It was a great day!

Happy First Birthday!

On Saturday, October 24th, our baby boy turned one year old! We had a great time celebrating our little guy and I have several pictures to share of his special day! This first picture was taken before everyone arrived. I wanted to get a picture of this shirt that my friend Marilyn gave Will for his birthday. I LOVED his special birthday shirt....it was too cute! Thanks to Betsy at Lollidrops for the special design!

I made Will's "smash cake" to match the decorations that I bought.
The cake table! I made a carrot cake for everyone else to enjoy!
I always take a picture of the kids with the birhday flag. That way we can see how much they have grown each year!
Beckett and Helen with the birthday boy!
Me with my sweet birthday boy!
Here comes the cake!
We always wait until our kid's first birthday to give them anything sweet, so we were anticipating that Will would really dig in and go for it! We certainly did not expect the reaction that he had.....not so sure........
Get this thing away from me! He melted down!!!
We gently tried to help him taste it and see how yummy the frosting and cake could be.....but he would have NOTHING to do with it! He was quite unhappy. We didn't force the moment for long. We got him out of his seat and cleaned him up quickly! It might have had something to do with 20-something people standing there staring at him with cameras clicking away! I'm sure it was a tad bit intimidating! Poor guy!
Time for presents! Will really enjoyed this play cell phone that Beckett gave him! He is also wearing the REI vest that Aunt Susi gave him. She works for REI and keeps the kids in great gear all year long! He is also wearing his new pair of shoes that we took him to get last week. We always buy the good Stride Rite shoes for their first pair of shoes. I love these and think they are too cute. They make him look so much older! He hasn't really worn any shoes until now and he just looks so big!

Here he is pushing the walking/riding toy that Nana and Papa gave him. Nana showed him how to use it and within a few minutes he was pushing it and walking all around the room! It won't be long before he is walking on his own!

Just another pic of Will with his phone while Beckett and Helen help him with some other gifts. That is my mom and her sister (Grankaki and Auntie Mame) watching in the background!

Yes, I scheduled the party during the UT/Bama game. Not to worry, the guys were still able to watch! We sat Will right by the TV to open his presents so that everyone could watch both Will and the VOLS! It was an exciting end to the game! (although it was not the ending that the Vol fans were hoping for!) Here are Papa, Sean, Granbob and Mike watching the game!

Grankaki helping Will with one of his new toys!

It was a great day! Thanks to all of our family and friends for coming to celebrate with us! We enjoyed cooking out, sharing a meal and enjoying time spent with family! The kids had so much fun with their cousins and playing with Will! It was a wonderful celebration of our precious little boy!

We couldn't help but think about Will's birth father and siblings on this special day. We pray that they know just how much Will is loved. I'm sure that it was a hard day for them as they have been through so much in the year since Will's birth. We continue to pray for their health, peace and well being in the coming year. They are very special to us!

Will, you are a child of God, His treasured possession. He created you in His own image. He chose the day for you to be born. He has a plan and a purpose for your life. We are so honored that we get to be your parents and help you find this purpose that God has planned for you. No doubt it is going to be awesome!

Weekend Fun

Last Thursday, we took a 2 hour trip to western North Carolina to visit my aunt and uncle. We had a short but sweet visit....about 24 hours. We had not seen them since July, so we did a quick over night trip to say hi and catch up. One of these days I will get together my "penguin post"! When Beckett was little, we began taking a picture of him with the penguin on their front porch every time we visited. I have pictures of all of the kids with the penguin from the time they were each very little. One of these days I'll get around to it, but in the meantime, here are the kids with my "Auntie Mame" and her penguin!

We are getting ready for our 6 month post adoption visit from our case worker and we have to give several new pictures of Will as well as one of our family....so I had Auntie Mame take a picture of us when we went to the playground on Friday afternoon. We just don't do family pics very often...just thought I'd share!

Will enjoyed the swings at the playground! I think he would have stayed in it all afternoon and let me push him!

On Saturday evening, we were invited to a pig roast and bonfire by our friends the Guldans. The Guldans and their extended family host this event each year and they pull out all of the stops! Other than it being quite cold, it was SO fun! (Especially for Beckett and Helen!) Below is a picture of a slide that the Guldans created! The kids had a BLAST on it! This first pic is of Beckett going down the slide head first.

Here are Helen and Beckett at the top of the slide as they get ready to go down!

Another picture on the top of the slide with our friend Lake!
This was our first time to be bundled up this Fall. I thought Helen looked sweet in her toboggan! She was getting ready to take her turn on the zip line! They had a kids swing attached to a zip line; they set the kids in the swing one at a time and let them fly! I didn't get any pics, but a couple of good videos!

This is pretty much what Will did all evening. Not much fun for him....or the momma who had to try to keep him bundled up. He wanted to be down on the ground (which was still a little damp) and he was not too happy to have to just sit in his stroller. In fact at one point, while I was fixing the kid's plates with some food, Will managed to squirm out of the stroller and was pretty much hanging out the bottom! Unfortunately we (Will and I) had had enough, so our family had to leave a bit early. We HEARD that we missed a lot more fun....super big bonfire and really cool hayride! We are already looking forward to next year when Will is more mobile and we can ALL enjoy the event!

A Random Afternoon at the Harper Hullabaloo

This is what a typical afternoon looks like at our house. Beckett is finishing up some Reading skills work. Will finds a left-over biscuit from breakfast.

Am I in trouble mom?
Helen is worn out after a long day at Mother's Day Out....goes to her room to play with dolls....gives up and takes a nap. (This is seriously how I found her!)
Will entertains himself by unloading silverware from the dishwasher. (All sharp objects WERE removed before he participated in this activity!)
Helen wakes up, gets a snack and decides to eat it while sitting in Will's saucer. (which he does NOT like to be in anymore!)

And just because this warms my heart....I give you a little video clip of Will "reading". He likes to sit and flip through books now. He loves to sit in my lap and listen to books, and now if I'm not with him, he will get a book and "read" it to himself. He even got tired of the one he was looking at and went for another one! Love it!

If you have an extra moment and would like to see some really cool pictures, please check out my friend Olivia's photography blog! We met her yesterday afternoon in downtown LC for a little photo shoot with the kids! She has an incredible gift and takes the most wonderful pictures! I was honored that she asked me to let her "practice" on my kiddos! She posted some of the pictures that she took on her blog! I LOVE how they turned out!

Check out BACKSEAT PHOTOS here!

Decisions! Decisions!

Helen and I went to Big Lots the other day and she found a cheerleader costume that she wanted to get for Halloween. I explained to her that she already had MANY costumes at home to choose from and there was no need to purchase one this year. We have several friends with older girls and they have spoiled us with their dress-up hand-me-downs! So, today my favorite princess and I went to her room and had a little fashion show so she could decide which costume she wanted to wear. After checking out all of the pictures, she still isn't sure which one she wants to wear. Good thing we have a few weeks to decide! But we thought it would be fun to let you, (our faithful readers!) speak up and give us your opinion. Helen said that everyone should leave a comment to tell her which costume she should wear! We know that you are out there! Don't be shy....let Helen know which costume she should wear to church for our Fall Family Frenzy at the end of October!!

Should she be Aurora???

Should she be Barbie???

Should she be Jasmine???

Should she be Cinderella??? (She wore this one last year, so probably no chance of a do-over!)

And finally....should she be Tinkerbell???

(If it's good old "Tink" we will be adding some tights and long sleeves I'm sure, given that we are already experiencing 45 degree temps at night!!) So, thanks for your comments and opinions! Helen will enjoy finding out what everyone thinks about her costume choices!

Hope you all enjoy a wonderful Fall weekend!