Good Grief

Ok, Kristi has gotten onto a facebook kick and has kinda forced me into that world also. So for anybody that wants much more regular pictures of Thaxton please join facebook and become my friend. Do not join Kristi as we are currently in a popularity competition.. and I need help.

This was from Kristi's orientation ceremony for nursing... I just liked the picture.


Recently one of Kristi's long lost friends came and visited us for a few days. Vishal was in from Brussels (the city in Europe not the vegetable) and swung by to hang out. He was the culprit behind this wonderful picture. And for the record, if you aren't to the second knuckle it is scratching. NOT Picking.


During Christmas Thaxton got a new horse. And every evening he would ride this wonderful steed as he and Pawpaw watched westerns on TV. Wonderful times.

Thaxton is very open minded about people. Especially when they are willing to ride him around on four wheelers and tractors. From dawn to dusk Thaxton traded out drivers. At some point Donnie decided that Thaxton needed to know how to start the four wheeler on his own and promptly showed him the ignition switch... yah that was brilliant. For the remainder of the time in Dunlap the "Drivers" had to scramble to get onto the four wheeler before Thaxton could start it.

Thaxton's big Christmas present was his very own tractor. He is still a little unsure about his driving but this is primarily due to his fascination with the trailor and what he is hauling. He spent most of his drive time looking back at his trailer. This led to a few encounters with trees, bushes, walls and a blood hound. Have no fear he should quickly learn how to drive... unless he takes after Kristi. In which case he will probably end up driving into a few parked cars in the drive way.

Halloween

Well since Beth has nagged and Thanksgiving is approaching... I will post Halloween Pics. These are Thaxton at school as an elephant.


Gunga (Kristi's mom) found Thaxton an awesome Elephant costume. It took a while for us to convince him to try it on, but once he figured out that it was an elephant... well as you can see... we are in bed in the costume.

And see... elephants have trunks.

Hiking

With a big day in store Thaxton started the day with a hearty breakfast in bed. As those of you with a keen eye and astute mind might realize, Thaxton now has a full size bed. This is lots of fun as he can jump, roll and Run around on a big bouncy surface. It also allows for a parent to join him in comfort or a location to sleep should he take over mom and dads bed.

My funny story of the moment: A couple weeks after getting the big mattress one of his juice bottles got left between the covers. It gradually seeped into the sheets. I stripped the bed and piled the pillows under the window on the floor. On my way back from putting his sheets in the wash I hear way too much giggling. Thaxton has taken all of the pillows and piled them into his large wooden toy box at the end of his bed. He is running to the wall, where you see the pillows in the picture, chanting Run Run Run. He then turns and bunny hops down the mattress and swan dives off the end into the toy box full of pillows. I knew this was a bad idea. However, I was so impressed with the creativity that I allowed him to continue. Eventually the toy box was bumped far enough away that Thaxton crashed head first into its hard wooden side. Thus, he learned a lesson and had fun... I am such a great dad.

Momma finally got her annual hike. We loaded up after our hearty breakfast and headed to the mountains. Momma had convinced me that our little man was ready for the rigours of the trail. We hiked an epic half mile up a rugged mountain upon a treacherous paved trail. Eventually reaching our destination of the fire tower.

We were exhausted but our ellation kept us going. The views were hazey but we had fun. On the way back, yes we went ANOTHER half a mile, we had a long talk about acorns. We were finally able to explain to Thaxton that trees came from acorns by calling them "baby trees." The look on his face as he studied the acorn and said, "Baby Tree-Acorn" and then looked up at a big tree was priceless. I think he understood what we were saying but he could not believe it.

Later that afternoon daddy had a soccer game. JoJo and Ada came out to support their momma, Elizabeth, who plays on daddy's team. We tied but had a great time. Thaxton and JoJo went non-stop in their exploration of the area around the field. Momma got to hold Ada as she and Nate took turns watching the game and the kids... although I doubt the got to see much of the game. Afterwards we worked on some of Thaxtons fundamentals.

Farm Life

My parents have been on vacation... thus we have shipped Thaxton off to the kells for a week. Thank god he loves going down there and does not mind staying for several days. It is such a help. But then when you get to cruise around in a golf cart, watch construction equipment put in new water lines and march through muddy fields to get watermelon...

I think you see where I am going with this. It is a little boys paradise.

This bath pic was just cute so I had to post it.

Zoo

Well, we finally managed to go to the zoo as a family. We were treated to an empty house, relatively speaking, as far as patrons went. It was wonderful to pull up and not see ten school buses and fifty minivans.

The chimps were right on the glass and were very interested in the lady that was already there. She talked to them by name and had stuff, like hats and teddy bears, that she said was for them. I think she may have been an off duty zoo worker there with her kids. It was pretty neat to see the chimps interact with her as they seemed to know exactly who she was.

I still have not managed to see the morning release of the gazelles and kudu. Rumor has it that when the gates open those little buggers just fly around the pin like crazy. We did get a nice view of the giraffes as they were very close to the wall.

And of course anybody that knows Thaxton knows he is an elephant nut... thank you Disney. Tonka was eating hay out of a bale tied way up on the center tower. Thaxton liked to watch them use their trunks and "Dance."

All in all it was a very nice day and quite a treat getting to go as a family.

Cleaning Day

Well we got up early and started cleaning. Thaxton thinks mopping is super cool. He saw momma mopping and found a broom somewhere. Walked up and stuck it in the bucket and started mopping. Did a very good job... even if it was wetter then normal.

He got all those hard to reach places that momma could not reach.

And helped to make the floor the cleanest it has ever been.


Next Thaxton and momma headed out to wash their cars. He got his pretty clean but I think he was more interested in gettin wet and bubbles on himself then his car.

The Farm

Thaxton and mom went to visit The Farm last weekend. As you can tell Thaxton had a ball with pawpaw and his tractor.

Thaxton was in Heaven cause three tractors were running in the front field putting up hay.

Next, they all went fishing. Thaxton would kiss each fish before it was released.

The humor part of this weekend was Thaxton's desire to Drive everything. He tried to drive the tractor but it really got interesting when he DEMANDED to drive the boat. It became and adventure trying to keep him off the steering wheel.

All in all it was a great weekend with lots of fun and play.

Playdo

Playdo is a good way to sit at the table while momma is working. You just have to make sure Thaxton does not taste test the toy.

He just looks guilty here...

Concentration is the key to good sculpture. Well a mason jar lid helps.

Thaxton and momma went to the zoo and enjoyed a wonderful day. Thaxton got really good at going up and down the slide without help.

The sand was fun also, but we were a little scared after a cammel snorted at us... in fact Thaxton would not go into the petting area after that. He claimed the goats were giving him the evil eye.

The Wrecks

Well going fast is fun but can lead to wrecks.

As you can tell we got a pretty good "Bump." This one came as we were running in daycare and took a nose dive into the steps.

But that wont slow Thaxton down... he still has no fear of steps. Especially if he can ride down them.

This pic really shows how fast he can go.

Its always good to relax after a blackeye. Thaxton likes his swing.

And later that day we had another wreck. Needless to say we were looking pretty rough. A neighbor saw his bright red nose from across the road and came to check on our Rudolph.

Helpin Uncle Josh

These pics were from back in the day. You know, before Thaxton went to Broadway Methodists Parents day out program. Needless to say he ran with a tougher crowd back then.

He sure did enjoy helping Uncle Josh work on his bike.

Have to be very careful to get all the chrome clean.

Thaxton was good at checking places Uncle Josh could not fit.

Everything checks out... we are ready to ride.


Just love these pics and finally remembered to ask for copies.