It's almost Halloween!!

So purposeful. A mountain out of pj pants.
The craft at the church Halloween party. Personalization makes everything more fun.
Frantic running. Not for the candy, but for the ambulance that he spotted driving down the street.
Went to get a hot dog, turned around & couldn't find mom. Realized he was the 2nd kid in line at the firetruck. Leave it to my mom.
A pumpkin tatoo! It says, I shine for Jesus, or something like that.
That purposeful thing again. Aren't buckets supposed to be for dirt?
Made JPa a pumpkin!
Finger painting turned into body painting.
New car ramp toy thing at Noni's! Adorable Child had a big sale on all of their toys and clothes last week so this was only $7 & it is normally $42. I am not sure what to think about the fact that he has totally ignored the person wearing the glasses.
We have quite a few Halloween shirts to get us in the spirit. I love festivities.
Speaking of, how cute are these pjs? Love the patch on the right side! Kind of hate the fact that he has ripped off the patch and is using it as something to scoop in his bobcat. I did put a new one on as soon as I took the picture!
We are getting desperate to keep the patch on, as you can tell.
Pizza Hut to celebrate another successful round of chemo for JPa!
I got to drop Anderson off at school last week & it was so fun to watch him sprint toward all of the trucks. It's such a sad life because this boy has just a few trucks at his Noni's.

**2 really cheap/free picture ideas!

1. mypublisher.com

10 free holiday cards (completely free! no shipping or anything), use code happy10free

2. inkgarden.com

$13 free, just pay shipping, use code forfree

I got Anderson a placemat and put his name on it & a bunch of clip art of trucks, trains, etc. It was $3.29 for the shipping. They have all kinds of stuff. Not sure of the quality because I just ordered it, but I will try anything to make him eat!

a weekend of champions.

It's safe to say that we had a pretty awesome time last weekend. It started off a bit scary when I thought he had fallen off the couch or something. For a split second my heart stopped when I peeked around the corner and saw this. And, then I realized he was staring at the wheels on his car. We have crossed the line from novice to expert, I think.
Such a weirdo. The perfect, most adorable little weirdo. He prefers "real" looking trucks & tractors more than the kid looking ones. I think he can tell the difference. That's what happens when you leave the novice stage.
Bobble Cole & Lily came through Knoxville on Fri. night on their way home & it was such a treat. Anderson is getting so used to them being here that when he sees jeeps he tries to flag them down yelling, "Stop, Bobble Cole's jeep!"
We went to Fire Safety Day on Saturday & learned how to be safe from fires. We also were reminded of the fun of bounce houses & that we love fire trucks. New shirt & shoes from GG!
How cute are these 3?? I figure Jack will be around so much when they visit that Lily will think of him as a cousin, too.
This will be fun to bring back out when they turn 16!! I love their faces!
Oh, yes. We DO love Servpro. They are the ones who helped rid our house of the skunk smell....

http://thegloverfamilyblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/house-smells-love-you.html

We celebrated Sunny's 1st birthday party! Please look at the grown up in the picture with the real cup of sprite & the snacks. Then, imagine the next second when the sprite was all in his lap, dripping through the chair & the plate of food was totally ignored.
Yay for Sunny! I could not get a really good pic of her with her adorable Minnie Mouse shirt, but I will probably steal one from Saasha's blog to put on here!
On Sunday we went to CVS because kids in costume got a free treat bag! Of course they did. It's CVS. We tested out the pirate outfit for this adventure.
Love this face!

Then we made a quick stop at Dollar General to get a new tractor. Seriously, that was the purpose of the stop. We had a few errands to run, including the grocery store, and I didn't want to take any chances on total meltdowns, ie: constant patch removals. Dollar General is the place to go for kids toys. They have such a random selection. And, this tractor with the reservoir thing attached was only $2. Yes, he is laying on the floor of Dollar General. Don't judge until you have to keep a patch on your kid for 10 hours a day. And even then you shouldn't judge because that's just kind of mean.

Gotta have a stop at a bobcat for it to be a great weekend. I am pretty sure that the construction workers at this day care down the street from us all know his name. It's a frequent stop.
First lint roller experience. He is truly Brandon's son. I made him that little tie shirt with an iron on from etsy. It's as crafty as I get.
Learning colors at Petco.
While getting hashbrowns (tater tots) at Sonic we saw a car carrier. I couldn't capture the initial excitement, but you can still a little in his face. By the way, HUGE shout out to Sonic who sells hashbrowns all day! I believe Cousin Shae is the reason for this and Anderson would like to thank her. Also, please notice the patch is still on! IN THE CAR!! It truly was a great weekend.
We went on a walk. There was no purpose. It was wherever he wanted to go. At one point, he wanted to randomly sit on a curb. So we did. This is definitely a perk of the patch- the fact that we are constantly looking for random things to entertain him and most of them turn out really fun. He also got a haircut/butchering, you will notice.
Picking up pinecones.
I started playing with the random effects on my camera phone.

I like this one.
Found a rock.

And, here is a precious video of us acting like we are cars driving around the house. We do this a lot. Probably a few hours a day. Again, if the patch stays on, we just go with it. Plus, it's fun:)

eGNOMEously FUN!

We went to Boo at the Zoo & had a blast. Anderson is just so much fun & I LOVE him as a gnome. My friend, Elizabeth, made him a gnome hat & beard (she is just an expert at things like that...) & we put it with a flannel shirt & little suspenders to create the cutest gnome ever! He was pretty good at keeping it on for about 5 seconds. But, it was the cutest 5 seconds I've ever seen.

The kid loves some pumpkins and pointed out every one that we saw. There were maybe 300. This was my favorite-a one eyed pumpkin!
Cute little face. I figured the monkey hat served as a sort of costume, as well.
A few more gnome shots. He figured out what to do with his bag very quickly & went up to each booth saying, "trick or treat" and refused to let anyone else carry his bag. He kept saying, "Aesson's bag!"
The parents. Love. Leaving you with a few more gnome pics...

Burnt Rice.

"I can't imagine keeping that on my kid!" is the standard response when people ask about the patch.

Yeah, well.

Unless you are a parent, (grandmother or aunt) of a patched toddler, you really can't imagine it.

Here is what you can imagine:

Picture it... (Sophia Patrillo!) you're making rice. You put the rice & water in the pan. Fast foward about 10 minutes. You have to wait until the perfect time when the rice is still fluffy but not burnt. It is a very close call. Rice that seems ok in one instant will not be ok 3o seconds later.

You think...

"I really want to put the clothes in the dryer, but the rice might burn in that few seconds. "

"I have to pee, but if I do I know the rice will burn and then I will have to throw it out & start over. But, I really have to pee...."

"I kind of just want the rice to cook by itself for about 3 minutes so I can _____________."

"I can vacuum this room...check on the rice...vacuum another room...check on the rice....dang, the rice burnt in that last room. I knew I shouldn't have tried to actually vacuum more than one room."

Take that 1-2 minute feeling where you are really kind of checking on the rice & multiply it until you have ALL day. So it is with the patch. Only it's not rice. It's your kid's vision. It's a good thing that I really love rice. I mean, I really LOVE rice a lot.

a boy, his noni & bop & trucks

Leave it to a boy to make a trip to Hobby Lobby involve building something.
More proof he is just like his Bop-he loves olives!
Fun idea! Use food coloring in shaving cream to make colored "paint" in the bathtub. We have some of the bathtub paint stuff but it's kind of expensive and this made me feel crafty, which was nice. It does create a lingering manly smell, which is ok for us but beware if you have a girl. I do like the fact that the food coloring dyed the water. Anderson can identify colors for the most part, and this helps reinforce it. Plus, it involves food coloring which makes me happy.
Chickens & a rooster in the yard behind my parents' house. How hilarious. I am pretty sure this is one of the main differences between their house here & in Memphis. Anderson is S.poiled R.otten. This is what he does while I am working. Please notice how excited my parents are about this experience.
Bop & his boy.

Anderson loves hanging out with Bop. I think it is because of his fashion. Just kidding, Bop! It is because they are best friends.

Always on the look out for something new to do with his trucks. I love, love how creative and purposeful he is all of the time.

Someone was throwing this truck away! I was riding with Elizabeth & made her back up when I saw it. After a little cleaning, it was ready to go. I love cheap, but free is even better!
The train table at Barnes & Noble. We go there & play because it is a pretty nice set up & I am trying to get him to associate books with fun/happiness/all that is wonderful in the world.