Surprise Visitor.

We woke up Friday morning to an unexpected guest in our kitchen.  Somehow a little ladybug found her way to a plate that was sitting next to the sink.  I am going to guess she was attracted to the honey that was leftover on it from Evan's pancakes the day before.  Evan liked his tiny visitor and had a good time watching and touching her until we took her outside and set her free.

The Pumpkin Patch.

Checking out all of the pumpkins.

Hello goat.

And hello chickens.

Hello deer.

And hello llama.

I had to insert this because this is Evan's favorite book right now and every time he passed a llama, he would say, "Hello, llama llama red pajama!"

This kid could chase chickens all day long!

Trying to get a picture of Luke and Evan together was very difficult.

It's a stare off!

Chasing chickens again.

And still chasing the chickens.

Little Goat.

In the Pumpkin Patch.

Tractor!

Ready to go back to the petting zoo.

Hop over the pumpkins.

Saying bye to the deer.

And the chicken.

And the goat.

Luke and Evan.

Happy Fall!

You can hear him chasing the chickens saying, "Cock-a-doodle-doo," and listen to him answer my question about the llama.  It's not just a llama, it's a "Llama Llama Red Pajama!"

Brother from Another Mother.

Paw Paw's Tree.

Over a year ago, soon after my Dad passed away, our fabulous Barker's gave us a gift certificate to a local tree grower so we could plant a tree in memory of him.  For the past year the certificate has patiently waited behind a picture of my Dad on the refrigerator and we finally put it to good use this weekend. 

Evan being a good helper.

Juice break.

Still juice break.

This little guy was thirsty!

Telling Daddy where to put the tree.

Lunch break.

Hugging the new tree.

Looking for squirrels in the new tree.

Evan loves Bug-Z's oldest toy - a gross, three-legged squirrel.  He asked me to take his picture with it ... I will probably have to put it in a frame in his room!

Watering the tree.

Mommy and Daddy stopped paying attention to Evan to look at the pictures I had taken and guess who ended up all wet?!?

There's that good helper.

What fun! 

We love our new memorial tree. 

Thanks Mr. Jim & Ms. Barbara ... we love you.

************

I have to include this in this post as it seems so fitting.  When my brother and I were growing up (along with ALL of my Crawford cousins), my Paw Paw taught us a poem and to this day we all know it by heart and will probably teach our kids this ever so memorable rhyme.

How little I may be,

at least I too can plant a tree.

And someday it will grow so high,

that it will whisper to the sky.

And on some hot, sultry summer day,

people resting there will say,

Oh, how great and wise was he,

who thought to plant this blessed tree.

The Dryer and The Potty.

Evan's new favorite game has to do with the dryer.  His first favorite is to watch the clothes inside spin and push them back in if they fall out.  (Thanks to my dryer not working properly and turning off when you open the door, this is possible.)  Second, he likes to take everything out for me.  Guess that's not really a game, but he enjoys it and I'm not complaining!  He is a GREAT helper.

Potty training is not going so well for us, but we still try.  We just know one day he is going to wake up and say he doesn't want to wear diapers any more.  After all, that is how everything else has been in any kind of transition he has made.  Let's just hope he makes that decision before his brother gets here ... 18 weeks to go!