Happy Halloween

Bees and their keepers.

Time Out

I can't help it. I love Bennett in time out. Well, let me rephrase that. I do NOT like the hitting that leads to time out. But she is so sweet when she gets there. I had to videotape the way she repeats what I say. I did not tape the 10 minutes that she had to sit there by herself. I make her stay in her chair for 5-10 minutes and then I go and get her and try to teach her that what she did is wrong. That is the part I had to get on tape because it kills me.

I love the way she tried to say, "It hurts people's feelings," but she can't quite get it out and I love the very last thing she says in this video. "Hugs."

Autumn Days

Moving to Kansas was worth it for the leaves and for the weather. This fall has been just gorgeous. Rob and I often take drives in the evenings just to see the leaves and I can't even describe how much I love this cool air. Fortunately we live right next to a walking trail that cuts through this beautiful patch of trees. These are some pictures of our walk a few days ago.

Sweet little Will all bundled up for our walk

Okay, seriously. Isn't this beautiful? I absolutely love this shot of Bennett and Rob walking through the woods.

Enjoying a sweet moment

My happy little girl

Happiness

Someone got sleepy on the way home.

Being careful with words

I love that Benentt can understand me. We have such a great time together and I can tell her anything. She also makes me realize things I say all the time without thinking. Whenever I put a DVD in, Bennett will say, "It's coming!" I wondered where she got that until I noticed myself saying it every time I put a DVD in. There are other phrases she says now that make me laugh at myself, but then there are times when our communication goes horribly wrong. This was the scene before church yesterday. Bennett was laying on her changing table and I was putting on her tights.

Bennett: Socks?
Me: No, these are tights.
Bennett: Tights?
Me: Yes, we wear these in the winter to keep our legs warm.
Benentt: No, no, no tights. Socks. Please socks? Pumpkin! Okay, pumpkpin? (She wanted her pumpkin socks, of course. To mach her blue smocked dress naturally.)
Me: No, you will like tights. They keep your legs warm.
Bennett: Warm?
Me: (Realizing that she has no idea what the word "warm" means) Yes, that's right. Warm.
Bennett: Okay, socks?
Me: (Trying to think of a work that Bennett will know to help her understand) No, we need to wear tights in the fall. They keep our legs warm. You know, like hot. They keep our legs nice and hot.

I realized my mistake immediately. Hot is a bad word in our house. I didn't mean for it to be a bad word, but it became one. She can't touch the oven because it's too hot. She can't eat certain foods right away because they are too hot. She can't get in the bath right at first because it is too hot. We are always saying, "No, it's too hot." Bennett knows that hot is not good. I saw the look of fear in her eyes as soon as I told her that tights were hot. She started yelling-

Bennett: Oh, no! No, hot. No, hot. No, hot. Bye Bye tights. Bye Bye tights. Oh, no. Pumpkin sock, okay? (She was crying hysterically by this point) Oh no, hot! Bye Bye hot. Socks, please Mommy? Socks.

We changed outfits. I need to find a book all about the beauty and comfort of tights or else it is going to be a long winter.

Someone loves the camera

I can't videotape Bennett anymore. She has discovered that the viewfinder turns around. And now my little narcissist is obsessed with seeing herself. I know all kids do this, but it's still pretty funny. She has started saying, "Hey Budd-ee" to Will, and "Hey Guurllll" to Meg and so I wanted to capture that. This is what I got.

Oh, and please notice how she will go from screaming to sunny once the camera turns on her. Poor William never had a chance to smile for the camera. He was too overwhelmed.

No fear

I had to go into Party City. I didn't want to because I was afraid that it might scare Bennett. Okay, so maybe it scares me a little. I mean come on, when you walk in you are immediately greeted by a 15 foot monster wielding a chainsaw and wearing a ski mask.

She seemed unfazed. I mean how can you notice all the scary ghosts when there are Elmo and Mickey Mouse balloons everywhere. (Side note- I hate marketing executives.) So, I let her out of her stroller since the witch cackling at the top of her lungs was scaring me more than her.

I found what I needed and I was checking out. But then I couldn't find Bennett. I panicked and looked all around the checkout counter. I was calling her name, and then I finally saw her. All 2 1/2 feet of her were standing right in front of the monster at the entrance to the store. She didn't even come up to his knees. She saw me and turned and smiled. Then she looked right up at the monster and said, "Hi, Bud-dee."

"Hi Bud-dee" is what she says to Will. Hmmmmmm.....

Sweet Home Alabama

Finally, a week after we got back, I am posting pictures of our trip home. I really don't know what to write about the trip. It was needed, it was wonderful, it was fun, and it was rejuvenating. I hadn't been back to Alabama in 7 months and I was thrilled to finally go home and see my grandmother, introduce Will to my friends, worship at my church, and just be surrounded by familiarity and comfort. I think I had every lunch and dinner with a different friend every day and then I would meet someone else for coffee after the kids were asleep. I loved every minute.

But you know what's funny? I was ready to come home. To Kansas. It was nice to know that I do consider Kansas home now and I really do love my life here. After a wonderful week in 'Bama, we were were all happy to be back and settled in our home. That was a very nice revelation and it's nice to know that I have 2 wonderful homes. Here are some pictures from our fun week.

Will meeting his great grandmother.

My sweet friends Courtney and Suzanne.

Bennett and Will with the kids of our best friends, the Segars.

Chilling with our cousins.

The old planning team reunited. We love John and Cyndi!

Some of our dearest friends and partners in ministry

Me with my blog's biggest fan!! Shout out to Julie Oakes!

Last year Jerrod would always hold baby Bennett, but this year he and Abby are holding baby Will.

Rob, Corey, and Phil back together. But this year, they aren't sopping.

I miss my dear friend Lenore more than I can say, but we are going to start a book club through Skype, so it's all good.

Rob with Anthony and Tommy.


God has truly blessed us with friends that remain close no matter the distance. And we are very thankful.

She thinks I'm a genius

This morning I was drinking coffee and unloading the dishwasher. I had the Today show on. I needed to know if Balloon Boy's parents would be arrested. Will was asleep and Bennett was playing with her Alphabet letter magnets. Okay, she was eating them, but we're working on it.

I guess she grew tired of Matt Lauer. She ran and got the remote control and brought it to me. She said, "Okay, Elmo? Please Elmo?" What to do? It wasn't time for Elmo and the DVD player had some random DVD in it from a failed attempt at a movie night. My hands were covered in soap and I was about to force little B to go back and learn letters instead of watching TV.

Then I looked at the clock. I was wrong. It was the exact time for Elmo to start. I changed channels right as Elmo came on. Bennett thought I was a genius and magic. She thought that I made Elmo appear at the exact moment she requested it. She started clapping and said, "Yay, Mommy! Yay, Mommy." Indeed.

Sunday Afternoon

Next time we're flying

So, driving home from Alabama we decided to follow the Garmin's directions. We knew that it was taking us on some back roads far away from any Interstate, but what's life without a little adventure, right? I think someone needs to remind me and Rob and you shouldn't try to be adventurous when you have 2 babies under 2.

We left Montgomery at 2:00 Sunday afternoon (More about the trip later, I promise.) Bennett was exhausted. If you don't believe me, scroll down to see the picture of her at church sprawled out on the floor. Will did not want to be in his car seat and didn't mind letting us know. So here was our trip.

2:00 We start out for home.
2:15 Bennett is crying and wants to get out and walk. She keeps crying,
"Okay, walk. Please, home? Okay, Home? Please, Mommy?" We are not even to Prattville.
2:20 I am trying to sing "Twinkle Twinkle" and make everyone happy.
Bennett tells me stop.
2:30 I spell something suspicious in the car. Rob blames it on Will. I have my doubts.
2:45 Bennett yells, "Home! Please, Mommy?" We're not even to Birmingham.
3:30 Bennett has finally calmed down and is reading a book but STILL hasn't napped.
4:00 Will needs to eat.
4:15 Will is finished eating. Bennett hates all of her books and wants a new one.
We don't have a new one to give her. She hits the back of Rob's seat.
4:30 Will is crying because he hasn't slept either.
5:00 Bennett needs to eat.
6:30 I need to go to the bathroom, but we are on some back road in Arkansas
and I refuse to stop at Big Lil's Stop and Go to relieve myself.
7:00 Still no bathroom. Bennett is demanding Night Night.
7:15 I am on my sixtieth round of "The Wheels on the Bus."
8:00 Still no bathroom.
8:30 Will needs to eat. Bennett is mad because we stopped the car.
9:00 I finally use the bathroom at a broken down BP. I don't touch anything.
9:15 Bennett falls asleep and stops hitting the back of Rob's seat,
10:00 Rob needs to go to the bathroom, but we are in the middle of Missouri
and don't want to stop at Ted's firework shack.
10:30 Something smells in the car again. This time Rob's right. It is Will.
We stop to change Will and Bennett wakes up. She hits her head against
the window and begs to go home
11:00 We are exhausted and ready to stop for the night.
We decide to pull over at the next hotel.
11:30 No hotel.
12:00 No hotel.
12:30 Bennett wakes up and tells us she is going to report us to Social Services.
12:45 Will decides to file a report as well.
1:00 We find a hotel in Springfield, Missouri. Thank you, Lord.
1:20 We are in our room. Bennett gets a huge second wind and starts jumping up and
down on the bed.
1:45 Will is crying. Bennett is still jumping. She has had a change of heart
and thinks that this is the best day ever.
2:00 12 hours after we left Montgomery, everyone is asleep.
7:00 We're up and ready to start all over again.

We have our plane reservations booked for Thanksgiving.

My beautiful children

Thank you so much to Lori Mercer for capturing my kids so perfectly. She captured Will's sweet smile and his gentle spirit. She was able to get Bennett's impish grin and playful attitude in a perfect manner. I am so thankful that I have such beautiful pictures of Will at 3 months and Bennett at 19 months.

Everyone else is posting PPP's, so I will too.

What are PPP's? Why they are Pumpkin Patch Pictures, of course. They have become a Fall tradition. PPP's have joined the ranks of pumpkin muffins, chunky sweaters, and college football Saturdays. In fact, I don't know what we will do when the kids are grown and we don't take PPP's anymore. You may see Rob and I in 20 years wandering aimlessly around a pumpkin patch taking pictures of each other next to pumpkins because we won't know what else to do. But for now, we are thoroughly enjoying our latest Fall tradition and we have the PPP's to prove it.

Will giving his cousin a big smile.

Bennett and her cousins. Will is going to either hate family vacations or always beg to bring a friend. Oh, and please notice the pumpkin on Bennett's sock. She thought she was hot stuff. She was very mad at me the next day because her sock did not have a pumpkin on it. She pulled it off and said, "Pumpkin sock, okay?"

Getting a helping hand

We ran into my cousin at the PP and got a picture of all of the great grands for my sweet Grandmother. Here are 7 of the 8 Patterson great grandchildren. We missed you Elijah Brooks!

Hey, wow! This pumpkin is about 8 times bigger than me.

Hey guys, I know you all think this is cute, but I am seriously about to fall over.

And finally, my family. We added a new member since last years's shot which I am posting below to contrast.

What a difference a year makes.

If you introduce me to one more person.......

We're home!! Tired and exhausted, but home. I promise to blog more later but I had to post this picture that my friend Lenore took. She snapped this shot of Bennett at church yesterday. As you can see, she was completely over meeting Mom and Dad's friends.

Interesting

I will blog later about my trip to Alabama. I can't even begin to blog about it now because it has been so wonderful. I didn't know how much I missed everyone until I went to church on Sunday. All I can say is that I am filled. Does that make sense? Just filled and content. More about that later...

So today I went to an elementary school to have lunch with 2 of my nieces. I surprised them and was waiting outside of their lunch rooms. They get to sit at a special table with their visitor and can choose one friend to join them for lunch. My niece in first grade chose her friend, Braxton. Here was part of our conversation.

Me: So, Halloween is coming up.
Braxton: Yup.
Me: What are you going to be?
Braxton: Jesus! Or an eyeball.
Me: (choking on my lovely lunch meat) Oh, well, I'm sure either one would be great.
Braxton: Or a flag football player.

I went to my niece's Bible Club after school. The leader asked the question,

"What do you think Mary must have been like?"

4th grader: "Well, um..... she was sort of like surrounded by shepherds so she was probably pretty, but not like Hannah Montana pretty."

My niece's friends rock. That's all I can say.

Three Months Old

A few things about my sweet William on his 3 month birthday

-He loves loves loves to cuddle. He would be content to be held all day.

-Soft music calms him down when he is upset. If he is crying in the car, we turn on a classical CD and he stops crying within seconds.

-He loves to smile. Will just smiles all the time. If you leave him alone and he starts to cry, all you have to do is lean over him and smile and he stops crying and gives you the biggest smile back.

-He can't sleep sometimes because he is so happy to see me. I know that's weird, but I will have him almost asleep on my chest. I will just be watching TV or reading a book. Then I will look down and make eye contact with him. He will gasp and break into the biggest smile and wake himself up.

-He follows you with his eyes wherever you go. Bennett was a lot more independent and content to chill at his age. Rattles and toys would occupy her just fine. But not Will. He needs people and would prefer to be held to anything in the world.

-He has the other half of my heart.