Funny guy

Yesterday we were cleaning up some of our Christmas mess in the basement and Hunter found these two sleds. ( He calls them skateboards, regardless of how many times I tell them they are SLEDS!!) He loved them. We took them outside and he sat in them and pulled them around. When we came in I put them in the living room. I fixed him a snack and the next thing I knew he had pulled the 'skateboards' to the Christmas tree in the dining room and was sitting in it eating his snack. So, for the past two evenings he chooses to eat his snack in front of the Christmas tree while sitting on his skateboard!

Abby is never too far away from our crumb dropper!

...and finally!

This is Hunter's new big boy car bed. He loves this bed! He did a great job sleeping at Gaga and Grand-daddy's house in their big boy beds but towards the end of the week he kept asking me for his 'car bed.' We had a great time in PM, but we were all glad to be back home. Hunter was exhausted and slept until 9 the next morning!

Ready for bed!
And I couldn't forget to introduce the newest member of the Hunter/Shelton family. Meet Shelton Elijah Knox. He is Hunter's 2nd cousin. What a cutie pie he is!
Chloe loves babies!

T'day with G-daddy

Hunter loves his Grand-daddy! Hunter is showing him how to dig with his rocks.
Hunter insisted that Benji be present for his bath.
Hunter loves Benji and I think Benji secretly loves Hunter. Benji and Toto are not exactly what you would call kid friendly puppies, but Hunter loves them anyway. Benji actually lets Hunter pet him and participated in a friendly game of chase the ball. Toto remains hidden under the bed for the majority of our stay.
More construction underway....
and Benji enjoys the fun too.

More Thanksgiving fun!

Playing after dinner.
Hunter and Chloe on their way out to visit with Granny.
Stopped long enough for a quick picture!
Not sure what they were doing here. Chloe has the best imagination and Hunter goes right along with whatever she tells him to do. I think they just got back from the beach. I asked her where the beach was and she promptly replied, "Go up the stairs and take the first right."
The holidays would just not be complete if Hunter did not get to drive Papa's tractor. Yes, he actually drives it. He is able to stand up behind the wheel and drive.

Thanksgiving PM style!

Hunter and I spent a whole week in PM over the holiday. David caught up with the festivities on Monday after a long weekend at work. We had lots of fun and enjoyed spending time with family and friends. Hunter had a blast and always enjoys the time he gets to play with Chloe. He misses her dearly and has yet to stop asking about her since our return home. We also got to spend some time with Grand-daddy, Benji and Toto, and Great-Grandma.

Joy riding in the Barbie jeep. Chloe is only lucky if Hunter lets her come along!

Chloe and Hunter's special Thanksgiving table.
Caught! He kept hovering around the appetizer table...

with Papa!

Hunter has the Simmons car fever. He loves them! I am in trouble I know, especially concerned with the time when he is old enough for a car of his own. I don't know who will be more excited, David, Norman or Hunter. Right now he is totally happy with his little Ford 150 truck. This is one of the best toy purchases we have made. He does everything with this truck. He loads up sticks and rocks to throw in the woods with Abby, he goes to the gas station and fills up when he is empty (the station is by the front porch, where I fill him up with a special gas can!), he 'parks' by his swing set so he can have a front row seat to the pushers and diggers next door as they work on the lot for our neighbors...and on and on--he does so many fun things with this truck. When he is done riding for the day he parks it back in the garage and plugs it up for some recharging. Well, yesterday the truck seemed to be going a lot slower than usual. Actually, it just stopped and mom (aka tow truck) had to tow us back into the garage. Hunter decided he could fix it and that is exactly what he did.





He put it all back together by himself and off he went!

Rocks and diggers

As the days are getting colder and shorter we have had to retreat indoors to find fun things to do. Hunter really doesn't mind being inside as long as he has all his tractors and mowers to play with. One day he wanted them to dig in the dirt, that is all he says over and over, "I want tractors to dig in the dirt." So, I dumped out a great big pile of pintos and he dug in this 'rock pile' for about an hour. This is a really, really long time in Hunter's world of play. He loves his rocks and we play with them daily.

Looking for all of his tractors.
Digging and pushing.

More digging and pushing....

More and more digging in the dirt!

Shut In Trail Race

This is one of my most favorite races to run! This year I crewed for David as he made the grueling 17 mile ascent up Mt. Pisgah in Ashville, NC. The day was a little warm, perfect for us non runners, but a little annoying for those making the climb. David had a great race and is already looking forward to next year's race...maybe I will join back in the fun!

Getting ready...

Nervously awaiting the start in the freezing cold!

One of the pit stop stations.
Just one of the beautiful sights during this run. I think I enjoyed the scenery a little more than David!
Running strong, about half way through the race.
Almost done...

Done!!!

me: You did so well!!! What a great run, how do you feel?
D: Where are the shirts so we can get out of here?

More Halloween Fun!

We all know that David can not ever sit down and eat a meal, instead he wanders aimlessly around and just munches on stuff. You can see from this picture that David forgot to put the top back over the cake plate and Hunter was quick to realize that was to his advantage. Notice the chunks of cake missing. Our conversation went something like this:
David: (laughing) Look at Hunter
Me: Did he take the top off?
David: No, I forgot to put it back on.
Hunter: I like it.
Me: I bet you do! I think you have had enough!

Just finished carving our Halloween pumpkin.
"Reach in and pull out the seeds Hunter." Eeeewwh yucky, he laughs.

Halloween party at the Pillion's house. This was so much fun. All the kids dressed up, we had dinner, kids played and then we all went trick or treating in their neighborhood. Hunter was not into this at all. As you all know, he is so shy and there were so many people here. Some he knew and some he didn't. To make a long story short, Chloe had a blast and made lots of new friends. Hunter refused to wear his costume and didn't want us to put him down until we were more than half way through with trick or treating. He eventually got the hang of it thanks to his buddy Chloe.

David trying to help Hunter, he finally walked up to the house by himself and said trick or treat. Eventually, with Chloe's assistance he walked without a parental escort. Maybe next year will be a little better for him.
Playing at the Halloween party.

Chloe showing him how it is done. She had already been to these houses once, but she was sweet enough to go back and help Hunter.

I think she is telling Hunter to, "run!" We had to remind her that he can't run as fast as she can just yet.
Now she is telling that nice lady where to put Hunter's candy. I think Hunter must be so thankful to have her around as an interpreter!
All done and ready to go home! I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween! and we want to give a special thanks to Miss Chloe for being such a big helper for Hunter this year.

Halloween!

Halloween was a fun week around here. Hunter was so happy to have Chloe here with Gaga and Papa to show him what to do and how much fun it is to dress up and get lots of candy. Thursday, Chloe went with Hunter and I to his music class while Gaga and our friend LeAnn decorated my car for the preschool's trunk or treat. Chloe really enjoyed music class and fit in like an old shoe. She is a great singer, participant, and now a great dancer thanks to her new dance classes~!

Chloe was brave enough to take candy from this scary little man! Afterall, no one really messes with spiderman...spiderwoman!

Hunter wouldn't get anywhere near that man and opted to take candy form the friendly looking ghost from the next car!
Okay, so Hunter FINALLY let me put on his Halloween costume, a spider, which he picked out. He refused to wear his hat and insited that at least one of his pant legs be pulled up at all times. Maybe he is in some sort of preschool gang and doesn't want me in on it! He had a great time and really enjoyed saying trick or treat, which kind of came out sounding like treat treat!
Creative car next to us.

My car decorated by Gaga. I think it looked really good!

Our spider and spider woman done trunk or treating and getting ready to go party! I think they ate themselves into a candy coma that day. Just a really cute picture too.

Classroom party!

Hunter's favorite part of the party. The cupcakes, or should I say just the icing. I know he wishes he could have cake everyday for lunch.

Carving pumpkins and trying to get a good picture!

Chloe's pumpkin!