Costume Friends

We had a last minute pre trick or treating get together with one of Nathan's friends that is also a resident and his family. My friend Alison & her little boy Alex also joined us. We enjoyed pizza and politics while the kids ran around crazy outside. Then we met up with our neighbors Stephen & Tami and her sister Pam and all of her kids and her other sister Angela's kids to trick or treat, so we had quite a group! Definitely more fun together than going solo!

Here's Ethan aka Spiderman


Here's baby Henry as a little pumpkin

Here's a picture of the group waiting on someone to answer the door



Here's Alex being told to smile at the camera or he won't get any candy... look at that pouty little face!

Trick or Treat

We trick or treated around our neighborhood tonight and had so much fun! The weather was cool but not freezing and it really felt like fall. This year Ava is a butterfly & Noah is a frog. We went with a large group to trick or treat and Noah always seemed to make it to the door before anyone else. He had no shame asking for candy!

Look how CUTE Ava is with those striped tights on!

Noah the Frog with Alex the Dragon
(They're self-proclaimed best friends!)

Halloween Candy Recall

you can verify this on snopes: http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/coins.asp

There is a new warning put out by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency....
Sherwood brand Pirate's Gold Milk Chocolate coins are being recalled due to the fact that they contain Melamine, the ingredient in milk product that has caused many infant deaths in china. These candies are sold at Costco, as well as many bulk and dollar stores. please make sure to check your children's halloween candy and DO NOT LET THEM EAT THE PIRATE COINS (you know the ones wrapped in the shiny gold foil) and please let other parents know about this!

The Pumpkin Patch

Well we finally made it to the pumpkin patch this year! I've been trying to go for the past two years and just had to make it happen this year. We formed a small group called Flowood Moms in order to get out there on a weekday. I think the kids all had a great time- I know Ava & Noah did! They got to see the "quack-quacks" (ducks) as Ava calls them, hear some turkeys gobble, see April the zebra-donkey (that's right), and see lots of cows. We enjoyed the trailer ride pulled by a tractor and had lots of fun picking out a pumpkin. Noah really picked a huge one! He is ready to make a jack-o-lantern but I think I have talked him into just painting it. We'll attempt it soon and post pictures of our creation. Hopefully you can click on the collage to see close-ups a little better.

Halloween Treats!

My mom and dad sent the kids a Halloween happy. It was one of those rare special days that both kids were napping at the same time and I too took a quick snooze... until the phone rang. But we all woke up to such a nice surprise! Inside the cute bags were pumpkin cookies, white chocolate dipped pretzels, fudge, pumpkin cups, glow bracelets, sixlets (I love these!), and even a chocolate scented pencil! Noah loved this and said it smelled like root beer and we had to get some paper out to draw with the new pencil immediately upon discovery... it took awhile to get through all the candy to see what else was in the bag! Thanks Mimi & Grandpa! Here's a few pics of my babies enjoying their treats!

First College Football Game

Okay so I am having some major technical difficulties with this post, so please excuse the fact that the pictures are out of order and uncropped and all of the writing is in the middle..... I should just go to bed.

I love this picture!

Can you believe we are all looking at the camera and smiling at the same time?

I wish I had put some more lipstick on....

Saturday we went to Starkville to visit Nathan's brother Jason and we also attended the State Game. The first thing Noah did when he woke up that morning was come to my bed and tell me he was ready to get dressed so he could go see Uncle Jason. He was so excited the whole day and unfortunately that translates into not the best behavior but he did okay. It was Noah & Ava's first college football game. We had a great time kicking the soccer ball around and tailgating before the game. Noah collected several acorns that he made sure to show off to everyone around, and Ava enthralled everyone with her cute new squeaky shoes. Noah said it was "too loud" during the game with all the yelling and cowbells, but Ava clapped from the second we stepped foot in the stadium until we left. Do you think we have a future cheerleader on our hands? It was pretty chilly but we took a couple of blankets for the kids and we made it to about the middle of the 3rd quarter I think. Pretty good considering how late it was for the kids. Anyway, we had so much fun and it was great to see "Jace" as Ava called JJ all day.

Yummy food!

Happy Fall Ya'll!

Just a few cute pics from our front yard this afternoon. Noah decorated his pumpkin we got a few weeks ago with these cute push-in decorations. So much easier than trying to carve one & Noah really had fun putting them in there. Couldn't get Ava to look at the camera. We are going to the Pumpkin Patch in a few days and I hope to get some cute pics of the two of them then.

Trophy, Pigtails & a Haircut, Oh My!

Noah's 1st Soccer season is already over! It only lasted about 6 weeks but he had so much fun & we had a blast watching him. It was an overall positive experience. Last night his team, The Rockets, had their party at Cici's Pizza. Coach Laura presented him with his very first trophy. He loves it!

I put Ava in pigtails for the first time yesterday. She really looked cute but they kept falling out since there was so little hair pulled up. Here she is relaxing in her pink chair drinking her milk.

Nathan has been wanting her in pigtails for awhile now, so we surprised him with this hairdo when he got home from lecture. I think they make her look older but she was cute in them!

Noah got a new hairdo yesterday too. I think the last time I took his picture getting a haircut was when he was 12 months old getting his haircut for the very first time. Noah is such a big boy that he sits all by himself in the chair and sits very still & even lets Ms. Shelley use the clippers on him!

Obama's Plan as the Pro-Choice Candidate

Okay so my friend Emily
has been discussing HOT TOPICS on her blog lately. One of note that I would like to pass along is Do Christians have a moral obligation to always vote for a pro-life candidate?
There is a lot written here and a lot of comments. One of the comments sites this link
to read about Obama's pro-choice stance. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE if nothing else read this article. And just in case you decide not to, I am going to cut & paste some of it here:

• Obama has promised that "the first thing I'd do as President is sign the Freedom of Choice Act" (known as FOCA). This proposed legislation would create a federally guaranteed "fundamental right" to abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, including, as Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia has noted in a statement condemning the proposed Act, "a right to abort a fully developed child in the final weeks for undefined 'health' reasons." In essence, FOCA would abolish virtually every existing state and federal limitation on abortion, including parental consent and notification laws for minors, state and federal funding restrictions on abortion, and conscience protections for pro-life citizens working in the health-care industry-protections against being forced to participate in the practice of abortion or else lose their jobs

• It gets worse yet. In an act of breathtaking injustice which the Obama campaign lied about until critics produced documentary proof of what he had done, as an Illinois state senator Obama opposed legislation to protect children who are born alive, either as a result of an abortionist's unsuccessful effort to kill them in the womb, or by the deliberate delivery of the baby prior to viability. For him, a child marked for abortion gets no protection-even ordinary medical or comfort care-even if she is born alive and entirely separated from her mother. So Obama has favored protecting what is literally a form of infanticide.

• He has co-sponsored a bill-strongly opposed by McCain-that would authorize the large-scale industrial production of human embryos for use in biomedical research in which they would be killed. In fact, the bill Obama co-sponsored would effectively require the killing of human beings in the embryonic stage that were produced by cloning. It would make it a federal crime for a woman to save an embryo by agreeing to have the tiny developing human being implanted in her womb so that he or she could be brought to term. This "clone and kill" bill would, if enacted, bring something to America that has heretofore existed only in China-the equivalent of legally mandated abortion. In an audacious act of deceit, Obama and his co-sponsors misleadingly call this an anti-cloning bill. But it is nothing of the kind. What it bans is not cloning, but allowing the embryonic children produced by cloning to survive.

• Decent people of every persuasion hold out the increasingly realistic hope of resolving the moral issue surrounding embryonic stem-cell research by developing methods to produce the exact equivalent of embryonic stem cells without using (or producing) embryos. But when a bill was introduced in the United States Senate to put a modest amount of federal money into research to develop these methods, Barack Obama was one of the few senators who opposed it. From any rational vantage point, this is unconscionable. Why would someone not wish to find a method of producing the pluripotent cells scientists want that all Americans could enthusiastically endorse? Why create and kill human embryos when there are alternatives that do not require the taking of nascent human lives? It is as if Obama is opposed to stem-cell research unless it involves killing human embryos.

• What kind of America do we want our beloved nation to be? Barack Obama's America is one in which being human just isn't enough to warrant care and protection. It is an America where the unborn may legitimately be killed without legal restriction, even by the grisly practice of partial-birth abortion. It is an America where a baby who survives abortion is not even entitled to comfort care as she dies on a stainless steel table or in a soiled linen bin. It is a nation in which some members of the human family are regarded as inferior and others superior in fundamental dignity and rights. In Obama's America, public policy would make a mockery of the great constitutional principle of the equal protection of the law. In perhaps the most telling comment made by any candidate in either party in this election year, Senator Obama, when asked by Rick Warren when a baby gets human rights, replied: "that question is above my pay grade." It was a profoundly disingenuous answer: For even at a state senator's pay grade, Obama presumed to answer that question with blind certainty. His unspoken answer then, as now, is chilling: human beings have no rights until infancy - and if they are unwanted survivors of attempted abortions, not even then.

Okay so I don't know about you, but my mouth was agape and I was gasping reading about the industrial production of human embryos. This cannot be allowed to happen. We cannot let this man take office. This is only one of the many reasons I will NOT be voting for Barack Hussein Obama. I hope you join me in my support for John McCain.

Things I Didn't Know about LATCH

Noah is almost 4 and 40 lbs so he is outgrowing the car seat I have now. Ava has also maxed out the weight limit on her car seat so I have been looking into a new car seat for Noah. Ava will get Noah's old seat. I was VERY surprised to discover that once a child reaches a certain weight that the LATCH system can no longer be used. The weight limit is specific to the vehicle. You can look here: http://www.saferidenews.com/pdfs/pg_126_max_wt_07.pdf and find your specific make. Most are about 40 -48 pounds. What a shock! So that means that you have to use the seat belt once the child reaches that weight. I am very disappointed to find this out. I feel that LATCH is SO MUCH more secure that the seat belt. My car seats don't move at all with LATCH. I am a car seat safety fanatic and plan to keep Noah in a 5 point harness for much longer- mainly due to this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azgBhZfcqaQ
Please watch- you won't regret it. So, my question then is if I don't trust the seat belt, what good does it do for me to put my son in a $250 5 point harness car seat that is only secured with a seat belt? Please note also that the back tether has a weight limit too. Does anyone have any insight to this? I don't know if maybe the car manufacturers have just not tested past a certain weight limit or what. This is a major flaw that I think car manufacturers need to address in the future. If anyone know more about this please comment. I don't know what to do!


***Since posting this I have done some more research & found a great car seat safety website that will answer probably any & all questions you may have related to car seats. It's http://www.thecarseatlady.com
and the link for the more specific question of LATCH weight limits is http://www.saferidenews.com/html/LATCH_P49.htm
Sorry I don't know how to link into the blog. I guess you'll just have to copy & paste :)

I have not talked it over with the hubby yet but after reading this I still plan to keep Noah in a 5 point harness longer- I do not feel he is ready to stay positioned correctly with a booster & lap belt. So we will use the seat belt to restrain the car seat AND use the top tether as well. Now my question is do I need to buy a car seat up to 65 lbs or 80lbs? Will he be less squirmy at 65 lbs? I am assuming that is around 6- 6 1/2 years old?? I don't really have many friends with older children so if anyone does or knows I would appreciate your help!!!

Zonta Fun

A couple of weekends ago we went to the Zonta Arts & Crafts Fair in Pascagoula while we were down on the coast. It was hot but they had a lot of fun free activities for the kids and we took advantage of every one!


Here's Noah & his cousin Lydia diligently working on a visor & crown craft.
It's a train! Noah on Pop Pop's shoulders watching the train go by.

Ava & Lydia posing with Tigger. What you failed to see was the kids breaking it down with Tigger & Pooh only minutes earlier. There was no shame in dancing in public for these two!

Noah proudly displaying his visor craft & flower balloon.

You can't tell from the look on his face but Noah loved the pony ride! He kept trying to push to the front of the line & when it was finally his turn he hopped right on with no looking back!

Ava's 9 month Pictures

I meant to post this awhile back and forgot. Here's the link to view Ava's 9 month pictures if you are interested: http://heatherbbryant.zenfolio.com/p611842820
The password is Jennifer.
Enjoy!

Watch This Tonight!

My mom forwarded this to me and I just wanted to pass it along.

HELLO EVERYONE: IMPORTANT INFORMATION!!
SEAN HANNITY, OF HANNITY & COLMES ~ FOX NEWS, IS GOING TO AIR A VERY IMPORTANT DOCUMENTARY ABOUT BARACK OBAMA, SUNDAY NIGHT AT 9:00 PM. HE STATED ON THE AIR THIS EVENING THAT NO ONE IN THE NEWS MEDIA WAS WILLING TO DO THIS.
HANNITY IS GOING BACK TO OBAMA'S EARLIER DAYS, SHOWING EVEN THEN HIS TIES TO RADICAL PROFESSORS, FRIENDS, SPIRITUAL ADVISERS, Etc., HE STATED THIS EVENING THAT HE WILL SHOW IN DETAIL HIS TIES TO REV. WRIGHT FOR 20+ YRS (which we all know) HOW HE WAS PARTICIPATING WITH THIS MAN, AND NOT FOR THE REASONS HE STATES!
HE HAS UNCOVERED MORE OF OBAMA'S RADICAL LEADERS AND WE WILL SEE THINGS THAT NO ONE IN THE MEDIA IS WILLING TO PUT OUT THERE.
THIS WILL BE A NIGHT THAT YOU WILL KNOW MORE ABOUT OBAMA THAN EVER BEFORE. HANNITY IS VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT THIS PROGRAM AND ASKED THAT EVERYONE PLEASE,PLEASE WATCH~~
SUNDAY NIGHT, 9 PM.
HANNITY IS DETERMINED THIS INFORMATION BE PUT OUT THERE BECAUSE AS AMERICANS,WE STILL DO NOT KNOW ABOUT OBAMA!! WAKE UP AMERICA!!
THIS IS SERIOUS,EVERYONE. I KNOW MOST OF YOU WATCH FOX NEWS, AND YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE VOTING FOR, BUT IF YOU CAN, PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW.
THIS IS CRITICAL FOR OUR COUNTRY. MY PRAYER IS THAT WE, ALONG WITH SEAN HANNITY, WILL REACH SOMEONE/ANYONE BEFORE NOV. 4th.
WE MUST NOT GIVE UP!!!!!!!!!
GOD BLESS!!

Check your medicine cabinets!

My brother-in-law Jason forwarded this to me & I just thought I would pass it on.

All drugs containing PHENYLPROPANOLAMINE are being recalled.

STOP TAKING anything containing this ingredient. It has been linked to increased hemorrhagic stroke (bleeding in brain) among women ages 18-49 in the three days after starting use of medication The FDA recommended that everyone (even children) seek alternative medicine.

The following medications contain Phenylpropanolamine:

Acutrim Diet Gum Appetite Suppressant
Acutrim Plus Dietary Supplements
Acutrim Maximum Strength Appetite Control
Alka-Seltzer Plus Children's Cold Medicine Effervescent
Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold medicine (cherry or orange)
Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold Medicine Original
Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold &Cough Medicine Effervescent
Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold &Flu Medicine
Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold &Sinus Effervescent
Alka-Seltzer Plus Night-Time Cold Medicine
BC Allergy Sinus Cold Powder
BC Sinus Cold Powder
Comtrex Flu Therapy &Fever Relief
Day &Night Contac 12-Hour Cold Capsules
Contac 12 Hour Caplets
Coricidin D Cold, Flu &Sinus
Dexatrim Caffeine Free
Dexatrim Extended Duration
Dexatrim Gelcaps
Dexatrim Vitamin C/Caffeine Free
Dimetapp Cold &Allergy Chewable Tablets
Dimetapp Cold &Cough Liqui-Gels
Dimetapp DM Cold &Cough Elixir
Dimetapp Elixir
Dimetapp 4 Hour Liquid Gels
Dimetapp 4 Hour Tablets
Dimetapp 12 Hour Extendtabs Tablets
Naldecon DX Pediatric Drops
Permathene Mega-16
Robitussin CF
Tavist-D 12 Hour Relief of Sinus &Nasal Congestion
Triaminic DM Cough Relief
Triaminic Expectorant Chest &Head
Triaminic Syrup Cold &Allergy
Triaminic Triaminicol Cold &Cough

I just found out and called the 800# on the container for Triaminic and they informed me that they are voluntarily recalling the following medicines because of a certain ingredient that is causing strokes and seizures in children.

Orange3D Cold &Allergy Cherry (Pink)
3D Cold &Cough Berry
3D Cough Relief Yellow 3D Expectorant

They are asking you to call them at 800-548-3708 with the lot number on the box so they can send you postage for you to send it back to them, and they will also issue you a refund.

If you know of anyone else with small children, PLEASE PASS THIS ON. THIS IS SERIOUS STUFF!

To confirm these findings please take time to check the following:
http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/infopage/ppa/

Happy Birthday Anna Jaymes!

My best friend Crystal's baby girl is turning one! We went out to the ranch where Crystal's husband Matt is from for Anna Jaymes' first birthday party. It was a beautiful day and Crystal made some precious decorations. The kids all had a great time playing together and we all enjoyed the homemade ice cream and delicious birthday cake. Noah especially enjoyed the cupcakes with sprinkles and I think Ava ate more cake at Anna Jaymes' party than she did at her own. It was so good to see Crystal & Anna Jaymes again. I think the last time we saw them our girls were 4 or 5 months old. And a big CONGRATULATIONS to Crystal! She and Matt are expecting #2! We miss you! Move home to Mississippi soon!

Back to School Night

Noah had a Back to School Night Luau at the end of September. I got to see his classroom and talk to his teacher and meet some of the other children in his class & their parents. We had Chick -Fil-A picnic dinner and there were so many activities for the kids from fruit loop necklaces to the cakewalk (Noah won 6 cupcakes!) to train rides to fishing for prizes & more. We are so happy with Covenant. Noah loves it and comes home with the cutest artwork and sings some of the cutest songs. The latest one I heard was " It's O-O-K to O-O-bey". Isn't that great? I wish we would have started him here last year and wish we would be staying in Jackson longer. I would love for Ava to attend Covenant as well.

Here's Noah on the train ride!
Face Painting

Noah's little buddy Alex

Close up of Motorcycle on face

Soccer Boy

Well Noah has started "Blastball" with the YMCA. The first game he did not want to play at all but since then he definitely wants to be on the field- I don't think you would call it actual playing- it's more like just running around sometimes following the ball & sometimes not. He has actually scored a few goals- one in the other team's goal- but hey, that counts right? Noah is fun to watch and we have enjoyed his first organized team sport except for making to the fields before 8:30 on a Saturday morning- that's way too early! :)



Noah & his best friend Alex heading to pick some flowers after a game

The Rockets: Coach Laura & Coach JJ
Cole, Jason, Matthew, Michael, Brian & Noah

I was too cheap to buy the real group & single pictures so I just made Noah pose myself. I mean, I'm sure I will end up with tons of sport team pictures- I really didn't think I needed an 8x10 of his 3 year old soccer team. Just look at how cute this pic turned out!