Jeb's Halloween Show . . .

The music teacher at Jeb's preschool does an amazing job teaching the kids little songs, rhymes and dances.  Each Halloween, the classes put on a show for the parents and wear their costumes.  Today was Jeb's show -- his first performance EVER and obviously it won't be his last!  He is quite the little actor!!

Spooky eyes . . .

Silent cheers . . . 
The 2 year old class . . . adorable!!

My little pumpkins . . .

Saturday morning we got up with great plans for a trip to the Pumpkin Patch.  We didn't consider the fact that it had rained a lot on Thursday and that mud was a possibility.  It was so muddy that many of the activities could not be enjoyed but we still had fun on the hay ride around the farm (over 750,000 cabbage plants!) and running around checking out the many sizes of pumpkins.  Here are some pictures from our morning . . .

Virginia coming out of the obstacle course . . .

The spinning tire . . . 
THAT is a pumpkin!
My John Deer man . . .
My little pumpkins . . .

The Park and Soccer Games . . .

Saturday was another soccer game for Ford . . . he stopped several balls while playing goalie (Ford is the guy in red wearing the yellow shirt over it) . . .

And he scored a goal too!  Look at the determination on all those little faces!!

Virginia enjoyed the park during the game . . .

But then she and Jeb decided to relax and watch the last part of the game . . .

Caramel Apples . . . YUM!

Yesterday, I surprised the kids with caramel apples rolled in nuts as an after school snack (and no, I did not make them myself, I bought them at Dierberg's -- hooray for Dierberg's!).  It was the first time they had eaten caramel apples and they were a hit, well sort of.  Ford, as always, ate every bite.  Virginia, as always, ate all the good stuff off and about 1/2 the apple.  And Jeb, as always, ate just the good stuff and then had absolutely no use for the apple!!!

Pretty in Pink

Virginia was looking pretty in pink this morning and wanted her picture taken also!  I can't believe she is almost 5!  Time flies . . . 

Matching Monkeys!

The boys were quite excited about their matching monkey shirts today!  Jeb was ecstatic to see he looked like his big brother and Ford was happy that Jeb wanted to look like him.  So sweet!!!

Breathing Treatment Blues . . .

Jeb has been singing the breathing treatment blues this week . . . his asthma has been bad so the breathing machine has become a part of our day again.  Although it always results in a few tears, somehow he eventually ends up with a small smile under that mask!  

FORD LOVES FOOTBALL!!

Might be dreaming, but this little guy is convinced he could help Auburn out with their lack of a quarterback!  Look out Burns and Todd . . . here comes Balogh!!  Ford is playing flag football this fall and he loves it!  This weekend, his Cardinals team played the Packers and the Cardinals were on fire!!!  Here are a few shots . . . 

Ford catching a pass . . . 

Look at the determination in that face!
Now if he could only teach his mama how to throw a spiral!

Fun with our cousins . . .

My sister, Genny, and her three girls came to St. Louis for the weekend.  This was their second visit and it was a short one so we wanted to do something new.  Ford decided we should take them to the City Museum.  We had a great time climbing, sliding, crawling, exploring and being creative.  Here are some pictures from the day!  And for the record, I won the "cool aunt and mom" award for doing all this climbing with them!!!!

Starting our adventures climbing through the tree trunks . . . Maggie, Mary Claire, Virginia and a little bit of Sarah . . . 

Jeb taking a break in Monstro City . . . chewing gum makes him VERY happy!
Climbing Monstro City -- Virginia (our brave leader), Sarah, Mary Claire, Maggie and me . . .  for the record, this is VERY high.  Check out the City Museum website for exact info!
Virginia relaxing in the GIANT outdoor ball pit . . . 
Jeb exploring the caves . . .
The cousins in the caves . . . Sarah, Ford, Mary Claire, Virginia, Maggie and Jeb
Virginia on the 3 story slide . . . somehow, no one photographed all of us coming down the 7 story spiral slide!
Sarah and Ford  . . . 
Virginia and Mary Claire making pumpkins and spiders in Art Alley.  Ford and Sarah also made pumpkins, spiders and ghosts . . . 
Sarah Kate, Ford, Jeb, Virginia, Maggie and Mary Claire at the end of a fun day at the City Museum . . . 
Thanks for visiting . . . we had fun!!!

Virginia's Perfectly Pink Bedroom!!

Once again, I bit off more than I could chew!  I had a bright idea that while Virginia was visiting Mema and Bud for a week that I could repaint her bedroom the pink that she so desired.  I told Brent of my plans to paint while Jeb and Ford were at school and while Jeb napped.  Brent was so supportive and agreeable . . . I bought the paint on Monday and prepared to start painting on Tuesday.  By Tuesday afternoon after getting somewhat of a 1st coat on two walls, I e-mailed Brent a plea for help!!  Could this please become a joint project for the two of us on Tuesday and Wednesday nights????  Thank goodness he agreed without hesitation and he saved me from my painting nightmare!  I basically became his helper and he did the vast majority of the real work.  I was the holder, runner, paint pourer!  I do love the results and am so happy we conquered this little project together.  It was fun -- in a weird way! :)  So . . . here are the results of our (mostly Brent's) labor!

A perfectly pink room fit for a perfect pink loving girl!!

When things get quiet . . . WORRY!

Today's agenda is cleaning my house.  It is always interesting to try and clean with a two year old at home, but I am determined!  The plan was to start with the upstairs and straighten, dust and vacuum everyones bedroom and clean the bathrooms before Jeb needed his afternoon nap.  Then, during nap, I could tackle the basement and the downstairs.  Jeb started by cuddling in my bed while watching Franklin . . . all was good and things were going so well!

Then it happened . . . he decided to get up and play.  He wanted to brush his teeth -- you can't really say no to that, so I moved his step stool to the sink and let him brush away.  I came back about 5 minutes later because it seemed awfully quiet upstairs.  This is what I found . . . busted!

Jeb was cleaning everyones toothbrushes and the bathroom counter while wearing Virginia's orange headband and using a make up sponge on his face.  He also came up with a toy dog bone from somewhere that he remarked was "all clean mama"!  

Sweet, busted boy! 

WAR EAGLE!!!!!

We finally made it to an Auburn game . . . our first of the season.  Maybe not the game we should have picked, since we lost to Vandy 14-13!!  Got to give them credit, those smart boys have learned to play a little football -- this is Vandy's first time to beat Auburn since 1955!!!  Go Commodores!  Even in defeat, we had a nice time.  We saw lots of friends, ate lots of good tailgate food and enjoyed hanging out (except Virginia, who decided football was too hot and sweaty for her -- she chose to get on with her trip to Athens for some time with Mema and Bud!).  Here are some pictures from our day . . . thanks to Nana and Papa Ken or the food, to Claire, Price and Harper for hosting us in Clarksville and to Mema and Bud for taking Virginia for a few days!

Some tailgating fun . . . food always makes my kids happy!

Getting ready for some football (just didn't know yet that Auburn forgot to bring an offense!!) 

My Auburn boys . . .

Jeb loved hanging with Nana (she had m&m's and crackers too!) and Papa Ken had binoculars!

Can you tell the game is going down hill at this point??!! . . . 

Jeb even tried out Papa Ken's headset . . . 

So . . . War Eagle anyway!  And hopefully our next game will end in victory.  I'm just amazed that my 2 1/2 year old can sit through an ENTIRE football game with absolutely no whining, fussing, or tears -- definitely another Auburn boy like his big brother!!

Funny things are being said at the Balogh house

No pictures this time, sorry!  Just wanted to share a few funny moments from recent days.

Ford came home from school recently and seemed a bit sad.  I asked what was wrong and he responded "I hate my southern accent"!  Whoa . . . not what I was expecting.  I asked him why and the story that followed made me laugh until I cried.  Apparently his class was working on their "-in" words (words that end in "in" for those of you not familiar with 1st grade!).  They were making lists of all the words they could think of that ended with "in".  Apparently, Ford listed "hin" on his list.  His teacher explained to him that it was actually "hen" and they discussed that it was the way he pronounced it that made it sound like an "in" word.  Poor guy!  There will be many more southern misspellings to come I'm sure!!!

Another funny Ford comment . . . Sunday night I was going to dinner with a friend.  Brent has a tendency to put the kids to be early if I'm not home so as I'm leaving at 6:15, he is getting everyone to get their pj's on.  Ford looks at Brent and asks if he can stay up a little later than the young ones.  Brent said sure.  Ford then said, "Oh, I get it, you are just "F-ing" with them, right?"  (said as it is written!)  Brent, with a bit of a shocked look on his face, calmly said, "What do you mean Ford?"  And Ford responded, "You know, fooling them!"  Whew, fooling, we knew that!! :)

Ok, on to Virginia.  Jeb is now going to school at Salem with Virginia.  The first couple of weeks of school, she was so happy about it.  When we pulled up, she would unbuckle her brother and give him his bag.  She would then proceed to walk him in to his class.  Well, last week she told me she no longer wanted to walk Jeb to his class.  She said she wanted the carpool teachers to take him.  I told her that was fine but asked her why she no longer wanted to walk him in . . . her very quick answer was "Mom, I have enough to be responsible for".  Hmmmm, wonder where she heard that one??

Jeb says funny things too -- just a houseful of comedians at the Balogh house!  Obviously they all have their father's quick wit, because their mom does not have that trait!!!  Jeb has a couple of new sayings.  First, if he wants you to play ball with him, he says, "Let's play throw" instead of "Let's play catch".  Maybe it is because he is much better at throwing than catching -- he is focusing on his strength!  His other favorite game is hide and seek.  He has a special name for it too -- "Count me, mama, count me!".  That means, count to 10 and come find me!!!

Out of the mouths of babes! :)

Sick Jeb . . .

Poor little Jeb had a stomach virus that kept us up all night Monday night.  The guy was pitiful -- he would throw up and then once he calmed down he would give us the sweetest smile.  That smile allows him get away with a lot!!  Monday was a lazy day for him . . . he rotated between sitting in his high chair coloring (good way to contain the mess in case of more throw up!) and cuddling on the blanket with "yaya" watching a little tv.  Thankfully, he is all well now and can go back to school tomorrow.  He LOVES school!  Now the prayer is that no one else gets sick -- we are heading to Tennessee this weekend to spend time with my law school housemate, Claire and her family, and also to see the Tigers beat the Commodores -- WAR EAGLE! :)