Sunday at Fox 16

Apparently, Cub Scouts is not all pitching tents and shooting BB guns. Today's activity was touring a TV station. Since Jeff was out of town, I got to help the other dads try to get a group of 7 year old boys to keep their voices down and their hands to themselves for an hour this afternoon. Impossible! There are just too many computer screens and flashing buttons begging to be touched.

The first 20 minutes of technical jargon was completely lost on the boys (and me), but they loved playing with the green screen and sitting behind the anchor desk. I wish we could have skipped the rest of the tour and just started here.

Learning about weather maps

Coming to you live from Fox 16 Studios

And here's the weather girl

Last Home Game

Yesterday was a great day for football in LR. We didn't tailgate much due to the early kickoff. Jeff missed the game because he has been in New Orleans this week. It is hard to believe that it is the end on November already. One or both of us has been out of the state nearly all month! We are home now, and I hope to get the Christmas decorations out soon.

Jennifer and Ashley

Will and Nate getting dirty before the game

Miss Priss before the game

7 Years Ago

Seven years ago today, Jeremiah was born. I've been thinking about that fall a lot today. It was such a special time for our family, and I'm am so thankful that we all got to go through it together. Just to recap...

In March(ish) of 2002, I called Amanda and told her that she was going to be an aunt. She said, "So are you!" She was a little further along than I was, so we were due about a month apart. Just a month later, Renee found out that she was also pregnant!!! She was due a month after me. People asked if we planned it, but how could you really plan that.

Brandon was obstinate from birth and was induced around 42 weeks on October 15, 2002. He was born in Jonesboro, and we all got to be there for the big day. You should have seen the look on the nurses faces when all three of us (hugely pregnant!) walked up to the nurses' station late that night when Amanda was admitted!

Brandon was born on a Tuesday. I left Jonesboro on Wednesday to come back to LR. I was still 2 weeks from my due date. Dad also left to go back to work in Missouri. Imagine all of our surprise when I went into labor on Friday morning. Dad rushed back to Arkansas (I still don't want to know how fast he was driving!), and Amanda literally checked out of the hospital and headed to LR. I was in labor all day and into the night. Finally, Jeff got to say, "It's a boy!" around 10:30pm. Thanks to everyone who toughed it out with me and stayed to meet Nathan.

Two down, one to go. About a month later, Jeremiah arrived on November 20th and completed the threesome that changed our lives forever.

Jeremiah, Nathan, and Brandon

Happy Birthday, JJ! Hope the next 7 years are as good as the first 7!

There's no place like home...

I have spent 11 of the last 13 nights in hotels! We got home from Disney on Friday, and I left for Houston on Sunday. I have been here with my boss and his son (our marketing rep) for some intensive training sessions (7:30am to 5:30pm every day!) We've all been so tired that we've not done anything fun in Houston except eat some great meals. We leave this afternoon, and I am so ready to be home!

Making Up for Lost Time

Thursday was a really "magical" day for us. Nathan was feeling great, so we tried to make up for lost time. We started our day at Magic Kingdom where it had magically transformed from fall to Christmas overnight...wreaths, Christmas trees, and carols in the air. We hit a few high points then had brunch at Chef Mickey's.

Late that afternoon, we went back to Nathan's favorite park, Animal Kingdom, for another safari, a couple of other attractions, and dinner at Yak and Yeti (which had the best dessert anywhere in the parks!)

We finished up the evening with a trip back to Hollywood Studios. Though we didn't get to see everything on our list or keep all of our reservations, we still had a great time. We are so thankful that Nathan bounced back so quickly from his illness so that we could enjoy our final day together at Disney.

Epcot and the Road to Recovery

Tamiflu is a wonder drug. On Wednesday morning, Nathan's fever finally broke. Hallelujah! I stayed at the hotel with him while Jeff and Ashley explored Epcot. Nathan was feeling well enough late in the afternoon to go out for a short time, too.

My Little Princess

We had reservations to dine in Cinderella's castle on on Tuesday night for the whole family, but it ended up just being me and the princess. After a brief trip back to the hotel to check on the boy and quick wardrobe change, we were off to the castle. I mistakenly called her "Ashley" on the way there. She corrected me and said that she wanted to be called "Cinderella".

Magic Kingdom - Party of Two

Tuesday was supposed to be the big day for Magic Kingdom. Unfortunately, Nate woke up at about 5:30am with a fever. I was very worried about him since we couldn't suppress it with the usual Motrin/Tylenol cocktail. Jeff took him to a local "urgent" care center, and after a 5 hour wait, he was diagnosed with H1N1. They had to find a pharmacy that would compound some Tamiflu suspension for us. So far the rest of us are okay, but we are all taking the Tamiflu prophylactic dose.

We didn't want Ashley to miss out on a whole day of activity, so I took her to MK by myself. Needless to say, it was not the happiest place on earth for us that day, but we tried to make the best of it.

Animal Kingdom

Since Nathan LOVES animals, we spent Monday at Animal Kingdom. We started the day at Donald's Safari Breakfast where we met some characters. I wasn't sure how Ashley would react to the characters, but she LOVED them. The more affectionate they were with her, the better! ("Mommy, Minnie kissed me two times!") Both kids enjoyed getting autographs (thanks for the tip, Missy) and getting their pictures made with the characters.

After breakfast, we went on a safari and got up close and personal with some real animals.

For the rest of the day, Nathan rode almost every ride in the park. He stretched a little to 48", so he was tall enough for everything. Both of my critters got their faces painted. And later, we watched a couple of shows (Lion King and Finding Nemo the Musical). They were both great!

We wrapped up the evening at Magic Kingdom for the parade and fireworks.

Hollywood Studios

We started Sunday morning with Mickey-shaped waffles, the first of many Mickey-shaped treats. And then we went to our first park: Hollywood Studios.

Nathan's love of all things Pixar has rubbed off on the whole family. We got to meet all of our favorite Pixar characters, rode some rides (Toy Story Midway Mania was a family fav), and finished the day with another classic Mickey treat.

A Very Happy Halloween!

We're at Walt Disney World! Jeff and I have been planning a surprise trip for months, and we successfully pulled it off! We spent the night in Memphis on Friday then caught a direct flight to Orlando on Saturday morning. We told the kids the night before we left.

Saturday was a little warmer and a little more crowded than I would have expected for this time of year. Amanda and the kids drove over, and we spent the first day with them in Downtown Disney. Since it was Halloween, the kids changed into their costumes, and we all went trick-or-treating. They all had so much fun with their cousins!