Santa.

We went to visit Santa Claus at Bass Pro Shops (of course!) the first week in December. It was hard to figure out when we were going to squeeze in a Santa visit between afternoon basketball for Fawn, school schedules and farm weekends. Plus, to visit the best Santa -- the BPS Santa -- earlier is definitely better as that place gets insane. Buck knew he was going to be able to slip away from work a bit early and join us on the Santa outing. What a treat for the boys!

Going early was a great decision -- we barely waited at all, really just for Santa's break to end. The boys were so excited! And Fawn was just the best big brother -- he has really stepped up to the plate lately. He told Small Fry just what to do and held his hand waiting for Santa. Oh my heart!

The boys went right up to Santa and hopped on his lap. Fawn did most of the talking, but Small Fry was much less shy and spoke his requests too. Fawn asked for a Nerf or Nothing cross bow, a small air gun and target set (that he picked out at Bass Pro before we saw Santa!!! what?), and the Lego Batman bat cave. Small Fry asked for the Lego Duplo Batman bat cave, a Ninja Turtles toy, and a bulldozer. After they finished their requests and smiled for the camera, we were off to play the BPS games and ride the carousel. What a fun way to celebrate the Christmas season!

All smiles.

Explaining his requests. There was much angst later that evening that perhaps Fawn had not specified the Nerf or Nothing crossbow and had just said crossbow. He was very concerned he would not receive the correct one. So we wrote a letter to Santa clarifying his request and mailed it in one of the Santa mailboxes in Mountain Brook village. 

Carousel.

Love.

Thanksgiving Through Fawn's Camera.

Christmas Card Outtakes.

We took Christmas card pictures at the farm this year -- what a great setting. I love what we ended up with and there were some other great pictures too. We will definitely be making it a tradition.

Dad got in for the first few while I adjusted camera settings.

Fawn's bite is just too funny to me. Trying so hard to smile.

The lighting is terrible, the pond is gorgeous.

Joy to the World!!!

Cherubs.

And I present to you the front of the Christmas card.

Bulldozer driving.

The back of the card.

Merry Merry.

Fawn on Marriage.

Fawn does not like it when Buck and I kiss. Eww. Gross. Ick. The other day he spotted us kiss in the kitchen and told Small Fry he couldn't kiss anyone because he wasn't "in marriage." Too cute. Buck and I have been cracking up over it ever since.

During the same conversation we asked Fawn and Small Fry if they had any girlfriends. Fawn was adamant that he did not. Small Fry hesitated and Fawn quickly told him, "you don't have any girlfriends because you don't know if they would make a good wife." Sweet boy.

Farm Living.

Someone was excited for bow season and his first real bow hunts with Buck.

He loves the farm. He doesn't love to smile.

Hanging on the dock with Mom while the big boys hunt.

All smiles on our "nature walk". 

Loving on the dogs.

Southside Baseball.

Fawn played baseball in the Southside Baseball league this fall. It was a 5-year old and 6-year old league that met at Avondale Park. I loved the location, and the moms on our team were really sweet. I also loved that it got us out of our bubble. We had a very diverse team, and I know that is such a good thing for Fawn to experience starting at a young age. Buck stepped up to the plate and coached again. While he really loves it, he had very little help from other dads this season. That coupled with our super-young and inexperienced team....not to mention this was coach pitch and not tee ball....made for a challenging season. But Buck did great -- and all the boys had fun and got a lot better.

To me, Fawn is just the cutest thing while playing. It's so fun to watch him -- especially in the field. Watching him hit makes me nervous! He's a great little player. And, I'm most proud of his good attitude. He seems to love baseball. Only a week after his season was over, he was telling me how much he missed baseball.

These were real fields with fencing around them, so I didn't get good pictures like I did last spring. But, here are some shots from after our last game. Go Braves!

Tossing bubble gum to players and coaches. Fawn didn't realize he wasn't supposed to swallow it.

Last huddle. These boys sure did love their coach. Especially number 8!

The Dynamic Duo.

Another season in the books, another trophy.

Halloween 2014.

Another Halloween in the books. It was the first Halloween that both boys could Trick-or-Treat, and that made it especially fun. They both got into the Halloween spirit and enjoyed a fun day. Really a fun month...we'd been to Boo at the Zoo earlier in the month, had carved pumpkins and painted pumpkins, done Halloween crafts, celebrated Drennen's first birthday at a dress-up party on the 30th, and Small Fry and I went to a Halloween story time. Both boys had Halloween parties at their school on Halloween. Fawn had such a fun day -- I'd forgotten how much fun Halloween is in elementary school. As the room mom, I was in charge of his party, and it was great to participate in the fun. We did crafts and a game and had Halloween treats. Small Fry could recall no aspect of his Halloween party but was very proud of his goodie bag! We skipped the parade this year. While it is so much fun, we were pooped from so many activities. And Fawn had gotten a terrible migraine at Drennen's birthday party which resulted in a very bad night of sleep. We wanted to make it to Halloween night so something had to give. We did stop by our street's Halloween party for some pizza and to socialize with the neighbors. Luckily, we left before the famous costume contest. Fawn has won three years running and at some point his winning streak is going to end. He's just not quite mature enough to handle that!

Doing crafts at the school party.

Happy Halloween from the Davis Divers!

No Halloween at our house could be complete without a little costume drama, and this year did not disappoint. Fawn had been saying since last year that he wanted to be Optimus Prime this Halloween. Well, in August Pops and I went to Sam's and I found Transformers muscle suit costumes for $12 each. Knowing how much my boys like to dress up and knowing how much they love Transformers, I happily snatched up Optimus for Fawn and Bumblebee for Small Fry. They were thrilled -- and especially loved the muscles in the costumes. Fawn kept saying that he wanted the Optimus sword, but I really didn't want them to carry weapons on Halloween. They have plenty of toy weapons for home play! I was excited to find Transformers shields at Target to complete their ensembles -- and they didn't have any shields for dress up so I knew they would enjoy them when they are on their "missions".

Costume sizing is TERRIBLE, I must say. Fawn is too big for the 4-6, so even though the 6-8 swallows him, I had to go with that one. Small Fry is too big for the 2T-3T, so even though the 4-6 swallows him, I had to go with that one. That left this mama with a lot of alterations on these costumes. While I like to sew, I am uncomfortable altering odd fabrics -- like the weird lycra blend -- on my sewing machine. So I spent no fewer than five hours the night before we went to Boo at the Zoo altering our Transformers costumes by hand to fit my boys. When I was done they fit perfect though! Only problem, on the morning of Boo at the Zoo, Small Fry confidently told me, "I not be Bumblebee." What's a mama to do? I had already planned to go to a consignment sale in Irondale after I dropped Small Fry at IPC. And I lucked into some great costumes for our dress up collection and as Halloween back ups. I got Fawn a police officer and pirate costume for a grand total of $7. And I got Small Fry a Curious George and Bob the Builder costume for a grand total of $3.  The boys loved the new costumes and wore them on various pre-Halloween occasions.

Small Fry even wore Bob the Builder to his school on Halloween. He was pretty insistent that he was not going to be Bumblebee to Trick-or-Treat, but Fawn was equally set that they were dressing up together as Transformers. Bribed by the offer of a lollipop (that he never collected on), Small Fry put the Bumblebee costume over his Bob the Builder costume. And all was well with the world!

As for the actual Trick-or-Treating, the Dedmons were so kind to invite us, the Greenhalghs and the Halls to join them in Liberty Park. What a treat indeed! So much fun to be around friends and the Trick-or-Treating was so easy -- well lit, lots of fun, flat and houses close together. Definitely a change from our hilly, dark neighborhood. It was a blast -- great food and company too! Poor Fawn did end up with another migraine but it was pretty manageable. Another Happy Halloween in the books....if only we can avoid costume drama in 2015! Not this family!

Bumblebee and Daddy

Family shot

Happy Halloween from the Autobots

Proud of his ghost painted pumpkin

Equally proud of his painted pumpkin

Painted Jack-O-Lantern

And the other side of his too

The muscles were so funny

Always serious

Ready for their mission