Life with the Shirley Family

Life with the Shirley Family

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

More Fall Fun!





Well, Fall is almost finished! My fall began with Nathan's birthday in October and ends with Dave's on November 30. After that, the pumpkins get thrown out and the Christmas decorations get hauled down from the attic.

In the busyness of this Fall, we did have fun, though! After Nathan's birthday, Fall festivals and Halloween took center stage. Camden had a Fall festival at his preschool complete with a pinata (yes, very fallish) and a hay ride.

Camden loves to have his picture taken!!



He also got to dress up in his Halloween costume at school and he went as a cowboy. Why a cowboy? Well, he is into Toy Story and Woody (although he wanted to be Mr. Potato Head or Buzz), but Nathan was a cowboy at his age, so Camden gets to wear his costume!



For the church Fall Festival, however, he switched to another of Nathan's old costumes, a lion. Nathan was supposed to come up with his own super hero costume, so he decided to go as a hero who saved animals from poachers. Thus the reason we sent Camden as a lion who needed protection.


But as usual on Oct. 31 in Charleston, it was too hot for an animal costume! And there were horse rides at the festival! So we changed into his cowboy costume! If for nothing other than the picture!


And what Fall would be complete without a trip to the pumpkin patch! I love the pumpkin patch. It is so much fun finding the right pumpkin (that is a task I leave up to the boys, so the right pumpkin is not always the nicest looking!) and running through the hay maze. This year, they did more crawling through the cracks than finding their way out of the maze! We also took a hay ride out to the cow fields. They gave us food to feed the cows, but I thought Camden would be scared of them. The driver told him to not be because they were just like bigger dogs. My only reply to that is that he is terrified of dogs! But to my surprise, Camden had a great time with the cows. He was more into putting the food on the rail and watching them get it with their super long tongues, but he was right near them. Nathan of course let the cows eat out of his hand. We had fun, even if the cows made your hands feel icky!!





Our last night of fun before Camden's birthday, was Nathan's school Fall Fundraiser. I was not in charge this year, but 2nd in command and in charge of the carnival. We had a successful fundraiser (almost $8000! and a smartboard on the way!), and the kids seemed to have a good time at the carnival. I was glad to be involved, glad it is over, and was happy to arrive at Camden's birthday party with my sanity intact.


Apple bobbing was very popular with those who wanted to get wet!


Now to make it through Dave's big 40!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Fall Recap...part one


Fall is a great time of year! The weather is not as hot and sometimes a little cool! I get to wear jeans and people are no longer exposed to my white legs! What could be better than that.

It is, though, a busy time of year for me. I have two birthday parties and Nathan's school fundraiser and life just flies by. So I am starting a recap series that will hopefully be finished before Thanksgiving!



For us, Nathan's birthday is the beginning of the fall fun. His birthday, October 15, fell on a Friday this year, so he had his party on his actual birthday. That is always fun. He received his presents before going to school. He got a titan necklace, a trip to Medieval Times with me, and a fishing and hunting trip with Dave. He also received a Disney pin from Camden. What a way to start the day! After school, four of his friends came home with him and we took them to an indoor climbing wall that evening. After pizza, we brought them home to spend the night. Since he had a baseball game the next day, I was actually able to set a curfew on talking. The next day after his baseball game, we met Dave's family at Wild Wings for lunch. Then home to crash! What a fun weekend to celebrate 10 years of Nathan in our life.

Camden wasn't too sure about this climbing thing!


Amy got to the top fine, but the jumping down part was a little unnerving!
Dave makes it to the top




Nathan and his friends


The Staley's and Wanner's celebrated with us at Wild Wings.


The next weekend, Nathan and I were able to go to Myrtle Beach one afternoon and stay for the Medieval Times show. It was a lot of fun!




Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Camden turns 4!!


Although I am a little late on my birthday post for Camden, I do want to wish him a happy birthday! This year he finally got the concept of his birthday coming up and that he was having a party in our backyard! He was very excited! His birthday came at the end of a very busy month that was full of fundraiser planning (this event was on Nov. 5th-a dinner and carnival and his birthday was on the 6th!). It was hectic, but turned out great. It is such fun to plan a party for a special little boy. He is so full of joy and energy. He loves to laugh and is only beginning to show defiance when he doesn't get his way. He is also very silly! I think he will be the class clown. One little girl in his Cubbies class said that "Camden is silly". It is already happening. But he still fits right between my waist and my neck and it the perfect size for cuddling.
Camden at his preschool birthday-his cupcake had no icing by request! He does not have a sweet tooth!

This year since Toy Story is so big, and that was Camden's first movie in the theatre, we had a Toy Story party. It was complete with a jump castle (we jumped to infinity and beyond-at least until it deflated on the kids!), toy horses so we could ride like the wind, a plinko board for catching the aliens (borrowed from the carnival the night before-being in charge of the carnival has its perks!), and potato head pieces galore to play with. We even planted sweet potato vines in jars decorated with toy story stickers. We had a blast!

Buzz and Woody joined the party! Notice the names on their shoes!Playing Buzz and Woody after the party...Nathan has claimed Camden's present of Buzz wings!

After having such a hectic month of October, it was nice to end the craziness with a fun party to celebrate four years of an amazing little boy!! I love you Camden!

-Mommy