Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to http://www.mycharmingkids.netread what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.
This is my first not me Monday..and you would not believe what I have not been doing! I certainly did not have a fantastic time on Saturday hanging out with my girlfriends, making a secret gift for my husband for Christmas. After that I did not go to our local watering hole, and I most definitely did not come home at 2 am! I also did not spend all day yesterday cleaning house and doing laundry. I did not tell my husband I had sewn a button on his pants when I had indeed actually not done it yet...I did not get up and fix him breakfast this morning wishing him well on his hunting trip this week. It was not me who secretly inside jumped for joy that he was going to be gone all week!!! and I did not call my cousin Ashley as ask her to come stay with me so I would not be lonely. I would never to any of that! or none of the following?!
It is not me who continually struggles to get my son potty trained!
It is not me who has not finished her Christmas shopping. How many day do I not have left?
It was not me who has not posted any new pictures or anything fun of Gray because I did not break my camera!
It is not me who still has laundry to fold and I am not blogging instead!
This was our annual Christmas party for my carnival group. In past years, we would rent the trolley used for public transport and have a progressive dinner. The trolley is no longer able to be rented for private use and its too expensive to rent a bus..Our group leader this year, Stephanie, decided we would try something different. We had our first Holiday Ho Down. The shirts we are all wearing were designed for us and are super cute. We even crashed another groups pajama party! It was pretty cold, but thanks to a fire and alcohol...it was a good time had by all!
This is the two story Christmas tree in the main lobby...The fireplace to the right...has log burning fire on four sides!
Sorry this one is slightly blurry...It was cold and my hands were kinda shaking. This was our view from our balcony. Gorgeous Huh?
Major props goes to Nan and Ashley for decorating our room so beautifully. Chris and I walked in to rose petals decorating the whole room, candles, champagne already on ice (Thanks GG!) and a goody basket filled with yummy snacks. I will never forget this night. I am so grateful to everyone that participated and helped Chris pull this off. Little did I know, he was planning this since Grayson's birthday!
This bed was not only beautiful, but my lord, was is comfortable! I slept great!
Another awesome moment caught on camera. Gray also has figured out how to flip over and stand on his head in Chris's chair...I haven't got this on camera yet, but I'm trying.
Take Two! So, in came Pop B...then he started kissing Taylor Reese.!!!
Take Three! And finally...Wah-la! Group photo! You might notice there is an extra little girl next to Blake... That's Annalise, Debbie's Neice, she came out and wanted to be part of the picture. The more the merrier!
We had second go rounds with my parents when we got home tonight....Funny story. We left for Newton on Monday, I asked Chris to get the turkey out the freezer. He did. I get a call from Mom Wednesday night...
Hi Everybody, its me, Grayson. I just wanted to tell you about my exciting evening I had! Mama, Daddy, and I had Mimi, Uncle David, and Lexie over for dinner and playtime! It was so much fun! I loved playing with Lexie. We shared toys (I even let her play with Pat, the hammer!). Lexie walked with my old toy I used to practice walking with all over the living room, and we took turns crawling back and forth through my tunnel. Mama and Daddy enjoyed Mimi and Uncle David's company too! Thanks for coming for dinner and playing with me! Please come over and play some more!
Oh...what happens when I dump the sand in the water?
Splash!
Lastly here is a view of Gray's safe zone. We put locks on the gates so he cant get out. There isn't any grass yet...we are working on that too. He really enjoys this because he likes to dig in the dirt any how. My goodness...boys really are dirty little things...!!! 
Alright, So I realize Ramen Noodles are not the healthiest thing in the world, because they taste so good. I had not had any in a long time and decided I wanted some and of course I shared with Gray. He had a blast. First of all, he loves 'noodles' anyway...it took him about an hour to eat them. The fork just pissed him off so he threw it on the floor and decided to use what God gave him...worked much better. The top left picture he is blowing them off cause he seemed to think they were hot (they weren't) but cute picture anyway. When was the last time you ate Ramen Noodles? Happy Monday.If I did this right, there should be a video of Grayson on his Tractor pulling a wheelie.... Chris and Ryan decided one evening to let Gray try out speed 2 on his tractor. I was perfectly okay with speed 1. BUT as it turns out, Gray loves speed 2 and soon figured out that when he goes in reverse then pops it hard into speed 2, well...you'll see. The video is a little rough, but I was experimenting with my camera. I just happend to catch the wheelie. He loves it and I freak out cause he has almost gone over backwards a few times...
We had some good old fashioned family fun today. We went to the festival, watched Alabama win (ROLL TIDE), ate gumbo and sat around enjoying our company. Ahhh....good day. I am truly blessed.
Thanks to Mom, I found this beautiful new bed set at Hudson's for a fraction of the price it would have been at Target. So I splurged a little...along with some a new color for the walls and hopefully soon some new curtains. Something old is now something new. I am really excited. I didn't have anything new to post about Gray currently, but I will tomorrow, most surely. Aunt Lu-Lu, Uncle Tommy and Christopher are visiting this weekend. We will be heading down town for the Peter Anderson Festival and its ROLL TIDE VS LSU (Game at 2:30)...Gray will be wearing his game day shirt. Should be a good game...good thing we have DVR!! Go Bama!
We had a fabulous time Trick or Treating this year! More and More people participate in Trick or Treat Down the Street in Ocean Springs every year. It making waiting in line kinda boring, but there is plenty of entertainment walking around! Lots of great costumes and of course good company. Grayson was a Future Professional Fisherman. He really liked his fishing pole and his pum-pum bucket Grammie and Papa gave him....along with the goodies it was filled with! The beautiful babies above are Lexie Dale as a buzzing bumble bee, Pyper Terry as a beautiful butterfly, Jaycee Carroll as a ravishing red lady bug, and Fisher Morgan as the pirate. Gray apparently was smitten with Pyper's butterfly wings! Pyper and Gray trick and treated in Gray's wagon (Thanks MiMi and Uncle David) and shared each others candy...including the wrapping. It must have been good to them! After a long day....Gray is finally sleeping and I'm exhausted. I'm glad Halloween only comes once a year!
TA-DA! Frankin-Pumpkin. Grayson would like you to meet Pum-Pum, that is what he calls it. I must say he did a pretty good job didn't he? Chris picked out the pattern and I went to work. We even roasted the seeds! Gray had a good time and so did we. I have to give Grammie the most credit because she is the one who came up with the flameless candle for the inside. Looks just like a real candle, Huh? No more melted or burnt pumpkins or worse, burned fingers. The pumpkin can stay inside therefore will last longer, wont get smashed by mean kids, and I wont have to go outside every five minutes so Gray can see it!
Gray and I decided to get out for a bit today and went exploring. We landed at the new playground at new and improved Fort Maurepas. I must say, If you have not seen it or been there, It is really nice. The play structure is made to look like a ship. We also walked down the pier and Gray got a up close and personal with a pelican. Sorry, I couldn't get my camera out fast enough. Gray screamed "Bird" and he flew away. Smart bird. Anyhow, enjoy the pictures.
We had so much fun at the fair last night. Gray liked few things and well a few things he didn't. We tried putting him on one of the little rides...A big apple in the middle and the worms go round and round? He freaked out. First, he didn't like wearing the seat belt, then it took too long for the guy to turn it on, then he turned it on. I have never seen such horror on my sons face! I made Chris tell the guy to stop the ride. Then we tried the merry-go-round. He wasn't sure about this one but was willing to give it a go since Granny was with him. He would not however sit on the horse. Then we let him "go fishing". There was little kiddie pools filled with water and rubber ducks. They gave you a little dip net and if you scooped up three ducks you win. Gray did very well at this, it took two tries, but we walked away with an inflatable Nemo. We also got to see some moo-cows, goats, bunnies, chickens (these were some of the most beautiful chickens I have ever seen), and pigs. We at corn dogs, some terrible gumbo, and of course funnel cakes. On the way out, We let Gray go down the big slides. He loved this part....twice. Once with me and once with Chris. He walked all the way up the stairs and was trying to go down by himself! By this time it was 9:00 and we were all exhausted. Overall, a fantastic time at the fair. We are looking forward to next year!
This picture was taken the Friday morning, when the cold front moved it. It was 52 degrees that morning. It was phenomenal. Gray was warming up the four-wheeler. The little smart butt knows how to turn the key, push the start button, rev the gas and turn on the lights! Thank god it was in neutral and has an emergency brake! Gray loves it, he thinks he is a big boy.
We are going to the fair tonight with Granny and Pop B, so I will have some exciting pictures tomorrow. See ya'll later!
Pop B and Grannie came over for a visit, along with Grayson's cousin Taylor Reese and his Aunt Tracey. We all went to lunch and came back to the house to play for awhile. Taylor Reese loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse just as much as Gray does. They were just a little bit jealous of each other and for Pop B's attention. It was quite funny. Look at their faces! They were like...UH, why is he/she in my Pop B's lap? I guess I will have to agree to this if I have too. Pop B thought it was really funny! Thanks for coming to see us Aunt Tracy and Taylor Reese!
Daddy and Gray. Gray does not quite understand what "look at mommy and smile" is yet. But we are working on it!
Here are the boys...resting and have a snack. They are so cute!
The Swing. Once he gets in he refuses to get out. I remember the first time I put Gray in this swing. He was terrified and cried to get out. I wonder what changed?
Here is Grayson...Im not sure what form I would call this. But I give him a 10!
He has really come along way since Danielle and Marc first brought him home. He is a pleasure to be around and really smart. He is 3 and calls Gray "Baby Gray"...which is kinda funny because they are the same size! Thank you Danielle and Austin for joining our park/picnic day. It would not have been as fun without you! We love you!
Gray helped himself to some Jello from the fridge and Matthew decided he wanted to help him eat it. This was super cute. Matthew really loves Gray and Gray loves him too. Gray thinks Matthew is really funny.
AHHH..... Mashed taters right from the beater. YUMMY! Nanene gave him those. He licked them clean!
Another fun bathroom picture... I was playing with Grays alphabet letters...hence his name on the wall. The stuff in question on his head is bath soap foam. He totally loves it.
And last week I had the privilege of keeping Maddie for the day. Chris needed Ryans help so... I got to babysit. She is almost three months old. She is really starting to smile on her own and she is the best baby. As long as you keep her belly full.....I wonder where she gets that from? LOL.
Catch me Uncle Boo!
Uhhh... Nanene..... Its Raining!!!`
Run!!!!!
This was the best part....let me explain. There is a huge bucket that fills and spills every couple of minutes. Gray was climbing the structure with Nanene, trying to slide. He got caught in this deluge, it knocked him down and scared him a little. Every time that bucket poured, Gray would run. He kept his eye on that thing!
I got a little free time of my own and got to ride one of the slides with Ashley. I guess it has been since Michael and I were little that I have been to Waterville. They now have two and three people rafts. It was really fun. Ashley and I rode down together. We also had a go on the lazy river and the wave pool. Gray thought the waves were fun. Each up and down I would make a rise and fall noise and he would just giggle. All in all a fantastic day, great weather, even better company. Long drive home but so worth it. P.S.--Gray was asleep in the car in two minutes flat!
