This past weekend we attended the Fall Festival held on the square here in Magnolia. There was live music, sidewalk sales, a cake walk, a bouncy house for the kids, and lots of other fun activities. We enjoyed walking around and enjoying the cooler fall temperatures. Pink and Blue Avenue held a costume contest on the courthouse lawn for the kiddos. Owen would not take a morning nap on Sat. so he was very cranky while we waited for the contest to begin. As soon as it was his turn and he got on stage in front of the crowd that had gathered, he turned his showman skills on and did a great job! We already knew that Owen loves to be the center of attention (insert obvious joke about where he gets that from here) but he cracked us up with how well he behaved on stage. He stood so still and let the judges look at his costume.

this first picture is me dragging him off the stage when it was time for the next contestant….don’t you think Batman with a pacifier is fierce!

Owen is obsessed with balloons and threw a massive hissy fit when he saw another kid with a balloon at the contest. Nonnie sprung into action and ran across the street to Brittney’s flower shop and scored Owen this halloween balloon

Owen was so exhausted by the time the contest was over. Chris took him home for a nap while I stayed and shopped awhile.

Unfortunately, a very cute little boy in a Nemo costume who shook his booty when he got on stage beat out sweet Owen in the contest. We all had a great time and look forward to Halloween when Owen can ride in his souped up batmobile that Chris is fashioning for him this weekend. More pictures of that later!

Owen got a special package in the mail today with lots of fun surprises! Grammy made him a Halloween costume and sent it along with a new ball and a stuffed animal.

He really loved the ball and played with it all night long

and here he is debuting his Halloween costume…I know I’m biased but I think he’s the cutest little batman ever! He’s not wild about the hat but we’re going to work on that.

Now all Chris and I have to do is turn his wagon into the batmobile and he’ll be ready!

I resolved over the weekend (as I was tearing into a hamburger at Mulegate) that I had to get back to exercising this week. So, I promised Owen that we would walk to the duck pond at SAU and feed the ducks today. I seem to have forgotten how far the duck pond is from our house! As I was pushing the stroller up the hill for all to see as they whizzed down University St., I contemplated how out of shape I have become. At 8 months pregnant I could walk 3 miles without breaking a sweat. Now, 15 months post baby I can’t even walk a half mile without huffing and puffing. Needless to say there will be more exercise in my future!

The weather was so nice this evening and Owen enjoyed riding in his stroller and talking to people as they passed us by. People really get a kick out of him hollering at them in “owen-ese” and he always finishes his monologue with a friendly “hey!”. Some of the meaning gets lost in translation but I’m pretty sure he was telling them “yeah, that’s my mom…don’t worry about her…she always looks like this when exercising….something about too much ice cream and chips….she obviously needs to be doing this!”

It’s like dangling a piece of cheese in front of a mouse…Owen was riding along chowing down on his Doritos as I burned calories behind him

We got to the duck pond and all the ducks immediately came out of the water to see what we had to offer. Owen was in shock to see that many ducks coming toward us……

then he became very amused at all the quacking

I fed the ducks some bread while Owen sat in the stroller and then once I earned their trust I unleashed the little man….

I gave Owen some bread but he just threw it on the ground right at his feet and the ducks were smart enough not to fall for that trick! So, I threw the bread and the ducks would come forward to eat it, then Owen would chase them back toward the water. This cycle went on for quite some time.

He was not happy with me when I told him it was time to go. As I huffed and puffed pushing the stroller back to the house, I promised him we’d go back everyday until mommy was back in fighting form or until I do collapse a lung…whichever comes first!

We had a very hectic week with everyone going in a million different directions. We took a time out on Wed. afternoon to spend some time together playing outside before I left the next day for the ArkSHA conference in Hot Springs. It was a very windy day so Chris thought it was perfect kite flying weather. It was actually a little too windy for the kite which Chris realized after it got stuck on the roof of the church. Despite our kite flying catstrophe, we all had a great time running and playing outside!

This picture cracks me up! Owen looks like a mad scientist….from the weird way his eyebrows look to the windblown crazy hair…it’s too cute!

I included this one because Owen looks like such a big boy running across the grass to Chris. When I looked at the whole picture, I really cracked up because if you notice in the background Chris is all tangled in the kite!

These next two are my all-time favorites….isn’t he the cutest!?!

On the way back inside, Owen had to stop for a chat with the scarecrow.

Hope everyone is enjoying the fall season!

We’re heading to SAU Homecoming activities in a few hours so we’ll have some new pictures to post later on. We also want to say “Happy Thanksgiving” to our Canadian readers. We’ll be having turkey and all the fixin’s tomorrow afternoon to celebrate!

I’ve overloaded myself with afterschool contract work this year so Owen and Chris have time together afterschool for “man stuff”. This usually includes wrestling, watching sports, playing outside, and lots of snacks. Owen will take your hand off for a cheeto puff! I caught them enjoying a snack afterschool on Friday…..notice Owen is very focused on whatever they’re watching on tv….he’s such a little man!

Owen met the coffee table running full speed and the coffee table won the fight. We’re enjoying watching his eye turn various shades of green, purple, and blue and anticipating the whispers we’ll get at church tomorrow!