The Rucker Family

Our relaxing weekend

2012-02-02T19:38:00.001-05:00

This past weekend was a nice and relaxing weekend for us. We just hung out at home and had some good family time. Thanks to an idea I found on Pinterest, I did a craft with Will that I hung outside the boys' bathroom...

It was a little chilly, but nice enough to ride around with the top down. It cracks me up to take pictures of the kids in the car. I can just imagine what they're thinking in those precious heads...for example...Daniel is thinking in this one, "Oh man, Will, you are about to take out the boat trailer!!"

And here, Will is thinking, "Would you get out and help me, Daniel?? Can't you see this thing is stuck??"

They are both thinking..."This is SO much fun!!"

And Daniel is thinking, "Over there...we must explore over there!!!"

They are so much fun! I just adore them!

Mama's little helper

2012-01-20T16:59:00.000-05:00

The other night after dinner, I began unloading the dishwasher so that I could re-load it again. All of a sudden, I turned around and saw this...

My precious three-year-old was putting away all of the silverware by himself!

We got the job done in half the time...thanks, sweet boy!

***And, no, Will is not wearing pants. He does NOT like wearing pants once we get home. I don't know where he picked this habit up, but he drops his drawers as soon as we walk in the door!***

Riding around in a car with boys!

2012-01-20T16:46:00.000-05:00

Last weekend was nice weather to hang outside. The boys decided they wanted to ride around in their Mini Cooper. Will has really enjoyed driving it all around the yard and the driveway. Daniel hasn't been too sure of it.

But, he decided to give it a try, and I think it's safe to say he liked it.

This is too funny of them driving away!

And then Will thought it would be fun to drive through the leaves. Yep, that idea did not work! The tires just spun and spun!

You can just see what he's thinking..."Man, I wonder if Daddy is going to be mad, or if he is going to help us???"

And now Daniel is thinking..."uh, oh...here comes Daddy!" Daddy rescued them and they went about their business again!

Then cousin Kate came to play, so Will took her for a ride. What a fun day of outdoor play!

Just call me Pioneer Woman

2012-01-20T16:23:00.000-05:00

While browsing on my new obsession, Pinterest, I found a recipe for homemade laundry soap....what??? Yeah, I started reading about it and looking at the comments from people who made it, and I thought I'd give it a try. So, I went to Walmart, and for less than $20, I brought this home...and I got to work...

And here is the end result. This is a 2-gallon jar that was almost full of homemade detergent. It smells great, and it cleans fabulously! The woman whose recipe I used said it lasted her 9 months doing 8 loads a week. We will see how long it lasts the Rucker family. So far though, I'm very happy with it!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-09T14:23:00.000-05:00

Happy 2012 to everyone! The year has not started off too healthy for the Rucker family! Daniel's double ear infection returned and he also developed RSV. He was not able to go to Jackie's all of last week. Will started getting croupy and yucky at the end of last week, but he got better over the weekend. Here he is with his new hair cut on Saturday...

My sweet little one last night...starting to get some appetite back...

And a family craft we did this weekend. I saw this on http://www.pinterest.com/ and I knew we had to do it. I bought all the materials and then hung it in my laundry room above my washing machine! It looks so good. I am obsessed with Pinterest now. Love it!!! I have been getting so many ideas and recipes from there. 2012 is the year of the family crafts. Haha!! Thank goodness I have a husband and children who put up with me!

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

2012-01-01T20:25:00.002-05:00

This year, I made sure that Will knew the true reason we celebrate Christmas...and that it is Jesus' birthday. I have been asking him for months whose birthday we would be celebrating, so he knew it was coming! It was so sweet a few weeks ago when we were in downtown Gainesville riding by the Methodist church. He saw their nativity scene and began to talk about Jesus. Then he asked me, "Mama, where does Jesus live?" I explained that Jesus lives in heaven with his father, but that he also lives in Mama's heart and Daddy's heart, and a lot of other's hearts. I told him that one day he will make a choice to invite Jesus to live in his heart. He sat there quietly for a little while, and then he told me he would like Jesus to live in his heart one day...at the new house. If you ask him where Jesus will live one day, he will tell you, "in mine heart." So precious!

Anyway, we woke up Christmas morning at our house, and we had to check out what Santa had brought...let me restate...we were finally able to play with what Santa had brought. See, Will got up at 4:30 and ran in and pulled me out of the bed to show me what he found in the den. Then he got his Daddy up. We convinced him to get back in bed until the sun came up. One of Will's gifts was this cool Santa Express. He LOVED it.

Daniel was just in awe of everything. (He fell in the driveway two days before Christmas and got a boo-boo.)
Brad and I had my parents, my sister and brother-in-law, Brad's parents, my cousin, and my aunt and uncle over for Christmas dinner that night. Here are the boys with their Aunt Abigail. Yes, they are still in Christmas pajamas...they wore them all day.

Christmas Day was actually a pretty crummy day as far as the weather goes, so the boys were not able to ride around in their big toy Nana and Granddad got them until the next day. Here they are in their BMW Mini Cooper. They are too funny riding all around in it!

2011 was a wonderful year for the Rucker family. We are looking forward to a great 2012!

Christmas Eve

2012-01-01T20:13:00.002-05:00

On Christmas Eve, we headed to Snellville to Meme and Poppi's house. They wanted a picture with all four of their grandchildren, and this is the best I could get. Not bad compared to what I got when trying to get a Christmas card shot. Haha!

Meme and Poppi gave all of us some wonderful gifts. Once all the presents were opened, each of the children had one more gift...they all got new helmets. What were those new helmets for, you might wonder??? Well, Daniel got this great truck...you can't see much of it from this shot, but boy, isn't he cute??
And my sweet Will finally got his "Yightning" McQueen bike! Fun was truly had by all!

Who is this man?????? HELP!

2011-12-21T14:23:00.002-05:00

Brad, Meme, Poppi, and I took the kids to Bass Pro Shop (or just Pro Shop if you ask Will) to see Santa on Monday night. Daniel was great until Brad put him in Santa's lap. He wanted to get as far away from him as he could!

Brad readjusted him, and he still was not happy! But, at least Will told was able to tell Santa he wants Cars 2 movie and Daniel wants a ball. Santa said he would bring the movie and bring Daniel a big red ball...thanks, Santa!

Christmas crafts...

2011-12-21T14:13:00.002-05:00

Last year we put a gingerbread train together with Will. However, it only held up about 10 minutes. This year, Will saw the gingerbread house kit at Walmart, and we had to get it. He really had fun putting it together...

The final product....we made this about 3 weeks ago, and it is still standing! :)
And, of course, Mama wanted to do a cute hand/foot craft. That is Daniel's foot with Will's hands!

Cousins

2011-12-07T14:21:00.002-05:00

A few weekends ago, Brad and Will went to Tennessee to Brad's cousin's wedding. Daniel and I stayed home together while they were gone. Beth just sent me this picture of Will, Kate, and Jackson. Look how precious they are! Does Will look like a Brad, Jr. or what??

Christmas card pictures

2011-12-06T12:20:00.001-05:00

The picture I took on Thanksgiving Day for Nana's Christmas card...

And the picture I took for our Christmas card...

Happy Thanksgiving...

2011-11-25T13:59:00.002-05:00

This is the best picture I got of the boys together yesterday...besides the picture I took that Nana might use for her Christmas card, and I don't want to post that and spoil her card! Here they are with Granddad...

Here is Will after the big meal...full tummy=tired three year old!
But this one wasn't sleepy at all...haha! He was trying to get his Mama!

I am very blessed!!

It's Impossible...

2011-11-25T13:47:00.002-05:00

...to get two children to look at you and smile...

...much less, FOUR children to look and smile...but we tried...and failed...
...and I told Myra she should just send one like this for her Christmas card, so people can see how real life is like with a 4, 3, 2, and 1 year old!

While Will was in the leaves...

2011-11-25T13:44:00.001-05:00

...Daniel was playing in the grass! :)

The Biggest Leaf Pile...

2011-11-25T13:28:00.003-05:00

We have a LOT of leaves in our yard. When the weather started changing, all the trees were beautiful! Now they are pretty much bare, and every day there are more leaves covering our driveway, our yard, and our porch! Brad usually blows the leaves once a week. Will loves when Brad gets out the blower. He runs around following him for about an hour while the leaves fly all around. The other day, Brad had a big pile (just from part of the driveway) and I got my camera out...

He was having a ball!
At some points during this process, you could not even see Will. I love times like these with my family, and I can't wait for Daniel to be doing these things with his big brother!

Let's Race!

2011-11-22T13:41:00.002-05:00

Daniel got this Lightning for his birthday! He loves to ride it, and he is hysterical riding it. He bounces up and down and laughs while he flies around on it. After lunch today, Will asked if we could go on the back porch to ride a little bit. Our porch is pretty big, so they can go back and forth and race in a pretty flat area. Here is Daniel in mid-race! (I took these pictures with my phone, so they might not be that great!)

And here they both are...too sweet! Ignore the fact that Will is not wearing pants...before lunch we had gone to Walmart, and he always removes his pants to get comfortable when we get home! Haha!

Were there ever two sweeter boys?

2011-11-21T09:38:00.002-05:00

Last Saturday night while Brad and I hosted game night at our house, the boys went and spent the night with Meme and Poppi. Meme can always get them to pose and smile. Aren't they precious?

And news on the little one...he is a full blown WALKER now. He started about 2 weeks ago, and he hasn't stopped!

Happy Halloween 2011

2011-11-06T14:53:00.002-05:00

This Halloween, we went trick-or-treating in Nana and Granddad's neighborhood. We did not go to too many houses, but the kids still had fun. Here is Daniel (Nemo) before leaving...

Granddad was excited to be in the presence of Curious George and Nemo!!
Will cracked us up when he would go to each house...after leaving the door from saying "trick or treatING" and "thank you," he would hold up whatever his treat was and tell us, "I bought this one there!!" LOL. Here he is once he decided he was ready to go back home...George and his loot!

Nemo and his loot...still not real sure what's going on, but wanting to eat something!

Our last "first" haircut!

2011-11-06T14:43:00.002-05:00

A little over a week ago, I had just about had enough of Daniel's wild hair! It was so precious and curly on the back, but wild and uncontrollable in the front. For his first cut, I took him to Snip-Its where I took Will for his. He was incredible! He sat so still and did amazingly well. He had no clue what was going on, but what a trooper!!

Say good-bye to those sweet baby curls!
And here he is after the hair cut. Much better, and so grown up looking!

A crafty weekend

2011-10-26T18:46:00.002-04:00

This weekend, I felt like getting crafty! I saw this on someone's blog...someone I don't know...and I decided to do it with my family. Introducing, our "ghost" family...

From left to right...Brad, Daniel, Will, and Debi

I have this canvas sitting on display on my kitchen counter!

Brad was also feeling crafty. He wanted to make a jack-o-lantern out of our pumpkin. Will drew the face, Brad did everything else...
The finished product...and two of the loves of my life...

The third love of my life...this is what he did while Daddy carved the pumpkin! What a relaxing weekend...looking forward to the next one! :)

Our noisy neighbors!!

2011-10-26T18:24:00.002-04:00

This is what we see across our back yard. Isn't it beautiful? Look how pretty those trees are!

And here is the view from our back deck. Brad and I had someone come out and carve out a path for our golf cart to get down to the water. He cleared out a lot of trees and brush, and now we have a clearer view of the lake. It doesn't look that great now with 9 less feet of water in it, but maybe one day it will be full again??
Out where we live, it's the country!! This is the first time we haven't lived in a neighborhood, so it took a little while to get used to how quiet it really is out here. We can't see any of our neighbors from where we live (which is nice), and really the only traffic we hear comes off the lake. Will was actually scared at Abigail's one time by a car passing by...we've grown used to the peace!
However, we have two things out here that are very loud...one is the train! We don't live too close to the tracks, but I guess across the lake is pretty close, and the sound bounces off the water, so every night, we hear that train while we're in bed, and off and on throughout the day. Good thing my kids like trains! :)
The other noisy part of where we live is our neighbors across the lake...at the farm! Brad ran in to one when he was fishing one day. Will has been afraid that they will come over to visit. They sound their voices a lot. And finally, on Sunday, Will and I were able to see them as they came down to the water. Meet our noisy neighbors...

Gotta love the country life!

Pumpkin Patch Fun

2011-10-16T12:42:00.009-04:00

We decided this weekend that we would take the boys to the pumpkin patch. We didn't want to go to one with too many "big" things that our boys couldn't do. So, Brad found a really neat place nearby called Kinsey Farms. It is a Christmas tree farm, but they have a TON of pumpkins and a hayride, animals, plants, and many other things. It was very reasonably priced, and we had a wonderful time!

If you know anything about our youngest son, you know that he LOVES balls! Ball-ball-ball-ball...that's all he ever says. Well, he was thrilled with the pumpkins because what shape are they closest to???? You got it! Here he is staring at all the "balls" around...he did not want to look at the camera!

You do not want to know how long it took to get them both to look at the camera! :)
Could you just eat those little guys up? Look at Daniel holding on for dear life as his big brother pulls him around the farm!

And if you know anything about our first born, he has developed a fear of cows lately. See, we have one that lives on the farm across the lake from us. We hear him a lot. Will is petrified that the cow is going to swim across the lake, walk up our back yard, and come inside our house. No matter how much we assure him that it will not happen, he insists that the cow is coming. Well, there was a cow yesterday...and Will WANTED to feed him!!! Maybe we like cows now?? We were so proud of him!

Look at those sweet curls! He liked the animals!

There is a movie that Brad and Will have watched a few times called "How to Train Your Dragon." This looks like Toothless from that movie. Will wanted to go see him!

Sweet boys!!! My two pumpkins!

On the hayride, you stop mid-trip and get out at the pond. It is full of huge catfish!! They allow you to feed them in the morning time. Daniel enjoyed throwing the food in for them to eat! I think I did hear Brad say at one point, "no, that's not for you to eat." Haha!

Will loved feeding them, too!!

Daniel checking things out on the hayride!

What a little poser! He was excited about our trip! He told me when we got in the car...with his big pretzel in hand, "Mama, that was a really fun day!" I agree, sweet boy!!

An Unexpected Friend...

2011-10-10T14:48:00.002-04:00

We had Will's check-up today with his Orthopedic Surgeon. I am SO happy to report that his femur has healed 100%!!!! I saw the original x-ray next to the x-ray they took today, and you can't even tell that his femur had twisted and popped in half!! What an answer to prayer. When we went 6 months ago, his left leg was 1 1/2 cm shorter than his right leg. Today, his left leg was 6mm shorter than his right leg...not even noticable!!

When we were getting out of the van in the parking lot, I saw someone that I knew Will would be excited to see! Big Bird was at the doctor's office!!! Well, a Big Bird "scarecrow" that is. Will ran right over to him, grabbed his arm, and smiled for my camera phone!! Too cute. I would have put Daniel in the picture, too, but I was holding him, and it had been raining, and knowing that he already hates grass, I knew he would be miserable in wet grass!!

My beautiful boys!

2011-10-09T20:46:00.004-04:00

My boys are precious!!! They are the joys of my life!!! They make Brad and I proud, and they make us smile and laugh all the time! I got some cute pictures of them today. I thought I would share a few!! The quality of this picture is not that great, but they look so cute in their matching monkey jammies after their bath tonight...riding on their matching Lightning McQueen cars. Daniel got one from Meme and Poppi on his birthday, and Will insisted it was his...so Meme and Poppi brought him his own last weekend!

This little chunk now has 1 full tooth and the other bottom one and two top ones have popped through! So sweet!
I went to Target yesterday to get a few things, and I decided that the boys needed new hats for this winter. I found each of them a hat that had matching gloves. Daniel LOVED his monkey hat. At one point once we went in this morning, I took it off, and he brought it to me to put it back on him. Daddy and Poppi were fixing a shingle that had fallen off our roof this morning, so we were hanging out on the back deck. Look how cute his hat is...

And, of course, brother decided to wrestle with him. We all keep telling Will that one day Daniel is going to really get him back. I thought this picture was hysterical!

Will loves to do flips. Here he is in mid-roll. What a little nut!! To look at him and all he does, you would never think that he was in a body cast 7 months ago!

Go Bananas!!

2011-09-12T20:44:00.008-04:00

We had Daniel's first birthday party yesterday. We are blessed to have such a loving family who drove all the way to our new home to share in our chunky monkey's special day! Here are a few pictures I took...

Daniel's cake that I made...

Daniel's "banana" smash cake...

A few crazy monkeys were hanging out, too!

Daniel's birthday bib...

Look at all those gifts...and his brother thought they were all for him! :)

Wow...this year flew by!

Not too sure about this...you mean you REALLY want me to stick my hand in this??

I prefer a spoon!

I love sharing with my brother!! And a shot of the sweets I had for the taking...blue and yellow gumballs, banana Runts, banana Laffy Taffy, and blue and yellow Sixlets!

Happy 1st birthday, Chunky-Monkey!!

2011-09-10T09:28:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was Daniel's 1st birthday! I can't believe it has been a year already!! Daniel has 1/2 a tooth, and another one is peeping through. He just started really crawling well in the last week or two. Also, this past week, he has given up baby food completely! He will have nothing to do with it! Last night when we were at Cracker Barrell, he ate pinto beans, green beans, mac and cheese, carrots, fish, biscuit, and drank whole milk for the first time. He is in love...with food! :)

Meme and I took the boys to get some pictures taken after I got off of work. Here are a few of the birthday boy...

You can see his "teeth" in this one...
Is he not the cutest?

We have a picture of Will just like this...same outfit, same pose. This will go in his autograph mat for his party.

And here's my favorite...what a doll! Daniel has brought us SO much joy and love this year. We are very blessed to be his parents!

Little Buddies...

2011-07-25T08:59:00.003-04:00

Yesterday afternoon, our friends Brian (Bubba) and Ellen came over to hang out, go on the boat, and have dinner. They have a little one that is 7 months old named Cole. Will and Daniel both adored Cole being at our house. I think Daniel liked someone his size hanging out!! This isn't a good lighting on this picture, but it was the only one I had with both of them looking at me...sweet babies!!

Better light, but of course, mine is not looking!! I wish Cole were smiling, because he does it all the time!!! Too cute!

For Great-Grandmother...

2011-07-22T18:27:00.002-04:00

Dear Great-Grandmother...So, my mom told me that when you and Aunt Karen were reading the blog the other night, she told you to look at the cute picture below of me with chalk on my face. What was your reply? He looks like Liberace!! Mom showed me who that was...(here he is in case someone does not know what he looks like...)

Mom took me to get my hair cut (which she was planning on doing next week anyway)...do I look better now? Love, Will
And, cousin Kate came and spent some time with us today. These two love each other so much!!

They love to snuggle!

2011-07-18T14:22:00.002-04:00

Sunday morning Brad was very sweet and he got up when the kids woke up! I knew he would bring them in our room once Daniel was changed and they were both out of their beds. However, it took a little longer than normal. Turning on my camera today, I found out why. I guess he took Daniel in to see his brother. Will loves to love on his baby brother!

And, he loves to make a silly-saurus face!! Sweet angels!

Playing with chalk!

2011-07-18T14:12:00.002-04:00

Last week, the weather was beautiful! Will loves to play with sidewalk chalk, so we went outside to draw some pictures. He is very serious when he concentrates on something...

Will knows all the alphabet letters, and he knows that W-i-l-l spells Will. I wrote it out for him and asked him to copy it. To the write of where I wrote it is what he wrote. Not too bad...we will keep practicing though!
And, of course, when your Mama is not looking, you always make yourself a funny face!!

That sneaky brother...

2011-07-11T17:26:00.002-04:00

This afternoon while Will was playing, Daniel started waking up from his nap. I heard giggles coming from Daniel's room, and as I peeked in, I knew I had to run get my camera. Look what I walked in on...

I can only imagine what's going on in Daniel's head during this move...
Wow...what a way to wake up!! They are too stinking cute!

Our family vacation...

2011-06-28T14:47:00.002-04:00

For our family vacation this year, we went back to near where we just moved from! Haha! We spent the weekend at Stone Mountain! Brad got us a hotel room, and we relaxed, had a fun time with the kids, and enjoyed ourselves! It really was a nice getaway!

I wanted a picture of me and both of the kids on the train. This was Will's favorite part...bet you didn't guess that! He didn't want to take a picture though...he was too busy checking everything out. Daniel was ready to pose though!

Will did want a picture in the hotel though. I am not quite sure who this "Splash" guy is, but he must do something at the hotel. Will loves to give characters hugs, so he immediately ran over to him!
And then, of course, he wanted to pose on top of the mountain! He loved riding the red train up to the top and the blue train back down!! He said his second favorite part of the trip was jumping in the puddles on top of the mountain! He is all boy!

Go away sugar bugs!!

2011-06-23T15:45:00.002-04:00

I took Will to the dentist this morning for the first time. We have a Pediatric dentist very close to our new house, and his name is Dr. Tom. Will was very excited to go get his teeth checked out for the first time!! Here he is ready and waiting for his exam!

Ms. Christina was very nice and she told Will everything she was doing. Did you know that there is a train bell that scrapes sugar bugs from your teeth?? Will had 20 teeth...10 on top and 10 on bottom! He was able to hold Mr. Thirsty, too! You should have seen him in his cool shades!
Almost finished...brushing with his new Sally (from Cars) toothbrush and mint bubble flouride!! After his a-okay from Dr. Tom, he got to visit the treasure box. Will picked a car, and what did he do with it? He gave it to his brother when we got home!! His next appointment is in January, and we hope to have a great bill of healthy teeth then, too!

These boots are made for walking...

2011-06-23T15:41:00.002-04:00

Will found the rainboots I bought him...he wanted to wear them last night!! He then wore them to Sam's today. Haha!!

Water fun..

2011-06-22T16:33:00.002-04:00

Monday we went to Frances Meadows Water Park...it is about 15 minutes from our house, and Will loves it! It is very reasonably priced...and this year, we are Hall County residents, so it is even cheaper!! Daniel did NOT like it when we first sat down to play, but by the end of our time, he was putting his face in these fountains!!

Will had a blast. He would not pose for me...he just wanted to keep going.
This guy is too cute. At this point, he was slapping the water with his hands and kicking it with his feet. I think he's a water baby, too!!

I.N.K.

2011-06-22T16:21:00.002-04:00

Meme and I took Will and Kate to I.N.K. on Sunday afternoon...Interactive Neighborhood for Kids. It isn't too far from our house, and they had a blast. It is basically a small version of Gainesville that kids can go around and play in. Here is Will (with Kate in the background) shopping at J&J Foods...he made all healthy choices...fruit, veggies, fish, and shrimp!!

Will was also able to milk a cow. He thought this was fun!

He was able to get inside a real plane, a real firetruck, a real sherrif's car (which better be the last time), sit in the jury in the courtroom, go to the dentist, the post office, the music studio, and many other places. However, his favorite thing was standing and watching all the trains go around the tracks! I told him these are the trains we hear from our house. He was excited. We had a wonderful time, and we can't wait to go back!

Could he be any cuter?

2011-06-21T12:36:00.001-04:00

Where we play...

2011-06-21T12:25:00.002-04:00

One of the best things about our new house is that we have only have one room upstairs, and it belongs to the boys! Will LOVES his playroom!! We try to keep all of the toys upstairs, and it is their place! He is slowly starting to play up there by himself when I can't be up there, too, but I know as Daniel gets older, it will be where they are most of the time!! Here they are last week playing together!!

He is so serious when he is playing!! It is very important to concentrate when putting tracks together!
And this little one plays with everything he can get his hands on!!

It's Picking Time...

2011-06-20T15:21:00.002-04:00

It's been a long time since I've updated the blog. We have just gotten settled in to our new house, and we finally have internet, so we are back in business. Let's see what's happened this past month...

We went strawberry picking with Nana! Will had a blast!!

He was absolutely thrilled with the berries he picked. He wanted to eat them immediately!!
And sweet Daniel had a good time, too!!

The dinosaur mask

2011-05-15T15:18:00.001-04:00

Yep, it's back out again...

This time for a nasty cough...
And this time, for Daniel...following in his brother's footsteps!

Back up, I'm going in...

2011-05-15T15:12:00.002-04:00

So, at his party, Will got to go into the ticket blaster. Picture a money machine blowing money around, but change the money into tickets and vouchers. Let's just say this boy went in and got the job done. He got tickets and vouchers worth more than 300 tickets! You go, Will!!

And this precious angel was SO good at the party!!!

Will's party

2011-05-15T14:48:00.002-04:00

Will had his birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese this year. It was a great place to have it. He really seemed to have a good time. He was the star for the day...

He could not decide between at Thomas cake and a Lightning McQueen cake. He finally told me he wanted Thomas on the tracks and Lightning on the road, too! This is what we came up with. He loved it!
Right before singing "Happy Birthday!!" I can't believe he is already three!!!

Cupcake celebration

2011-05-04T17:42:00.002-04:00

Last Friday we took cupcakes to Ms. Jackie's house to celebrate Will's birthday with his friends. So, I made him some Lightning and Mater cupcakes. He wanted his picture taken with them.

Aren't they cute?

Blue eyes...

2011-04-27T21:34:00.001-04:00

What a cutie!!

Easter morning

2011-04-27T21:25:00.003-04:00

On Easter morning, we got up and went to Meme and Poppi's church with them. Will had fun in the nursery with Kate, and Daniel came into big church with us. After the singing, he got upset, so he had to be taken out. Here are the boys in their matching outfits before leaving...and NO, neither one would look at me!!

Precious little one!!
And a quick funny story...the nursery gave the kids goodie bags when they left church. It had eggs in it with stickers and jellybeans. Well, Will was eating the jellybeans the other day and he started telling Granddad about them over the phone. Granddad asked him if he got them in his Easter basket. He said, "No, from Jesus at Meme's church." Haha...I guess Jesus gives out jellybeans!!

The Easter Bunny came to visit...

2011-04-27T21:22:00.002-04:00

...and left both boys some treats!! Nana's friend, Joanne, made the liners for their baskets! I love them!

It's hard...

2011-04-27T21:15:00.001-04:00

...to get a picture of Meme and her four grandchildren!!!

So, here's the best we got! Haha!

What a hunter!

2011-04-27T21:05:00.003-04:00

Saturday morning was our neighborhood egg hunt. Will could not wait!! He had a hunt at Ms. Jackie's on Thursday, so he knew what his mission was!! He was just waiting for the lady to tell them to go!

He always had his eye on the next victim!!
And he ran into his buddy Macabe from Ms. Jackie's house. They were showing off their eggs!! There were a lot of kids there, and a lot of eggs!! Will enjoyed himself!!

Oops...

2011-04-27T21:00:00.002-04:00

Right before we went to our egg hunt on Saturday, Daddy handed Daniel one of Will's dyed blue eggs. Daniel put it in his mouth and became as blue as a smurf on his hands and mouth. I scrubbed as hard as I can, but he had blue mouth and hands for a while. Of course, before scrubbing, we had to get a picture!!

Egg dying time...

2011-04-27T20:48:00.002-04:00

We dyed eggs with Will for the first time this year! He really enjoyed it. He kept lifting the eggs and each time he was amazed at the color it was. So cute!!

This boy was proud of his eggs!!! The next day he and his daddy put some Cars stickers on them. He was so proud that he took the box of eggs to Nana's house to show Granddad!

Sweet Daniel James...

2011-04-27T18:09:00.002-04:00

Daniel is such a sweet baby!! He usually only fusses when he's really hungry (and I'm not quick enough with the food) or really sleepy and he just wants to get in his bed. He smiles a lot and is always alert and wanting to see what's going on. Here he is trying to get my new camera...

This is a new face he has been making lately. Granddad calls it the monster face. Today when I picked him up, he had a new face...his tongue sticking way out.
And another one for Granddad...

The Rucker Family

2011-04-26T10:38:00.002-04:00

Saturday afternoon, the entire Rucker family went to Vines Botanical Gardens and had pictures made. Meme is retiring from teaching this year, and she wanted some updated pictures for her retirement party at school. Here is one of her favorites that she sent to us.

From Left to Right...Brad, Debi, Myra (holding Daniel), Rick (holding Kate and Will), Beth (holding Jackson), and Zack.

Also, more pictures will be posted later from the past week or so. We had to get a new camera last week because our old one broke. I will update later!!

Dreams do come true...

2011-04-06T09:32:00.002-04:00

For as long as anyone can remember, Brad has wanted a home on the lake and a boat. Well, in November, Brad and I bought a home for our family of four on Lake Lanier. We will be moving there very soon, and we are all very excited about this change in our life. A few weeks ago, Brad and his dad went to look at boats, and Poppi bought a pontoon boat for the family. We took it out on our first ride the following weekend. Here are a few shots from that time...

Of course, the night before we were at Bass Pro Shop making sure all the little ones had a life jacket that fit...Daniel didn't seem to mind his even though it doesn't look too comfy to me. Haha!

Will loved helping Poppi drive the boat around the "yake." He was excited when we were able to see our house from the boat! Will also loved running all over the boat!

It's fun to look off the front of the boat!

Happy guys!

Two little Irish men...

2011-04-06T09:26:00.002-04:00

If you can't tell from my children's pale skin, they are part Irish! Nana bought this headband for Daniel, but Will wanted his picture taken with it first!

Getting a picture of the two of them is getting harder each day! Will loves to kiss his brother!!

And finally Chunky Monkey got to wear his headband!

Splish, splash, we love our bath!!

2011-04-06T09:19:00.002-04:00

It's so much easier to do bath time now that Daniel can sit up. I can put the boys in the tub together, and they play very well with each other. I guess I should say Will plays well and Daniel splashes and looks around. He loves to watch his brother!

Two cute bathing beauties! You can see here that Daniel's lips are out...Will was singing to him and he started singing back!

Love that smile!!

He loves to splash around!! That's one hot body! :)

Daniel's seat at dinner!

2011-04-06T09:13:00.002-04:00

We have our full sized high chair at our new house, so when I saw this chair at the consignment sale, I had to get it for Daniel. He loves it. He sits on the end of the table each night while we eat. He usually plays with a toy, or he will hit the table like a drum, or just stare at us and laugh! Isn't he cute?

Here is a shot of my two precious angels! And, of course, Boo being silly!!

When I'll post more pictures...

2011-03-28T11:03:00.001-04:00

Well, we have done a lot of things in the past few weeks that were picture worthy. I have taken a lot of pictures. However, when I went to get my camera Friday night to capture Will covered in finger paint, I realized that my camera was at our new house. So, I will get it this weekend and put a lot of pictures up next week! But the big news at our house since the last post is that Chunky Monkey can now sit up on his own really well! He even rocks back and forth and giggles. Oh, how I love my two boys!!

Happy 6 months, Chunky Monkey!!

2011-03-10T11:14:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was Daniel's half birthday. I can't believe my precious Chunky Monkey is already 6 months old. The time is flying by. Meme and Nana met me to get some pictures taken after work. Here are a few that were taken.

Sweet big brother...
Big birthday boy...

What an angel!!!

Not too sure about this basket!

All smiles...
And not all smiles...

And LOVES his feet...

Okay, so this is the last shot they took. I don't know how to flip the picture, so just turn your head. Do you think they were spent by this time? LOL...look at their expressions when we were trying to get them to smile.

Boo could not do everything the photographer said because of his leg...we're still learning how to walk again and how to move around comfortably without hurting himself. So, he was supposed to be on his knees during this shot.

So, there you go. A few of our pictures. I think next time we'll go when Mama, Meme, and Nana haven't worked all day and we all have enough energy and patience to deal with this two hour ordeal! :)

Our sweet baby boy...

2011-03-01T20:55:00.002-05:00

After Will's appointment yesterday afternoon, we went to pick up Daniel. They were on a walk around the neighborhood...is he not the cutest little thing sitting in that big stroller? He has that look like, "hmmm...you guys look familiar!!"

This is how he looks each night after drinking his bedtime bottle!! Does he look comfy or what?
It's March today, so Daniel wore something in honor of his Irish heritage!

He absolutely LOVES his feet!!

And he keeps doing this with his tongue...he keeps rubbing it against his gums...I sure do hope those teeth pop through soon! I love our baby boy!!

So long, green pants!!

2011-03-01T20:46:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was the day we had looked forward to for a LONG 6 weeks! Will had his appointment with Dr. Shrader, and he said the x-ray looked great, and we could get rid of the spica cast! We had watched some videos on youtube Sunday night to prepare Will for what was going to happen. I was glad that we did because he did very well while the tech took off the cast.

SO happy to be wearing underwear and real clothes again!!! The doctor said it would take up to a week for Will to regain strength in his legs and start walking again. However, when I picked him up from Jackie's today, he was walking in the backyard! Now that is what I call determination!!! We are so thankful that God healed our sweet little man!!

The Greatest Show on Earth!

2011-02-21T21:07:00.006-05:00

Brad got tickets to the circus from work, so we took Will and his cousin, Kate, yesterday! The kids really seemed to enjoy themselves. Brad and I had a great time, too. Will loved the elephants...

And, of course, any show with a train in it is a great show!!
We had great seats!!!

Can you believe there were THREE women in this box??? Um, I don't think I could get myself in that box if it were empty! LOL!

These people were making me hold my breath!! They were right in front of us doing this!!!

Boo had his first taste of cotton candy. He enjoyed it, but he opted for the popcorn instead!!

Can you see that the elephant was holding a dog? Will liked that part!

Will told me before we went that he was scared of the tigers. I think he felt better when he saw their big cage!

They both were giving goofy smiles!

Will would NOT look at the camera!

They were so funny watching the show!!

He really enjoyed watching the trapeze act!!

At one point I looked down and saw them holding hands!!

It was a great afternoon! I can't wait until Daniel is old enough to enjoy a trip like this, too!

Just some pictures...

2011-02-21T20:59:00.002-05:00

Here are a few pictures from the past week...

Daniel after his bath one night...

Taking a nap this weekend...
Boo and his "big" smile...

Daniel in his Johnny Jump...

And a cake I made for someone this past weekend...

Tomorrow is Brad's birthday!!

2011-02-13T09:24:00.002-05:00

Brad will be 32 tomorrow, but we celebrated at our new house last night with family! Will is on a Curious George kick right now, and he decided that Brad needed a "yellow hat" cake in honor of the Man in the Yellow Hat. So, that's what Brad got!

Daniel enjoyed hanging out in the bean bag chair while all of us ate dinner. He is getting so big! What a sweet angel!
He usually has his hands in his mouth...teeth are on their way!

Aunt Abigail came up to the house early with me and the boys. We had a nice time hanging out together!

And here is my sweet family! Boo was staring at the candles, and Chunky Monkey was looking at his brother. Behind us you can see our back yard. The trees are all bare right now, so there is a better view of the lake. It is so peaceful there! Happy Birthday, Brad!!

Getting used to our new life...

2011-02-08T21:03:00.002-05:00

It's been three weeks and 2 days since Boo got his "green pants." Our life is far from normal anymore, but we're getting used to it. In 20 more days, our son will regain use of his legs again. This will be wonderful. He is so ready! We are so ready!! Fortunately, the doctor said that his bone has fused back together very nicely! Will was going stir crazy in the house, and even though we were doing everything we could to keep him happy and entertained, he wasn't his normal, happy self! The doctor gave us permission to let him go back to Jackie's if it was okay with her. He went back (with yellow chair in hand to use throughout the day) and he had a ball. His mood changed, and he was glad to be back into a normal routine! Here are a few pictures of my little guys lately!

Here's Will in mid spin...he is ALWAYS on the go. These pants don't get him down! He has been trying for the past few days to stand and walk...craziness!!

When he gets really excited, he barks...here he was excited about it almost being time for dinner! Haha!
Daniel absolutely LOVES his Johnny Jump! He never would look at me...he was too busy jumping!

Silly boy climbed up on me back and wanted his picture taken!

And then, of course, Daniel had to join us!!

My boys are so precious!!

Our not so fun weekend...

2011-01-17T21:38:00.007-05:00

Here is Will...in the E.R. at Children's Healthcare. Why? He fell off his scooter. He's smiling though. Why? Morphine shots are a good thing! He's also playing games on his Daddy's phone.

But do you see his leg? Yep, it's wrapped up. Why? It's broken. Which part? The femur. What's that? The thigh bone...also known as the thickest bone in your body.
So, what happened? Well, this nice guy and his buddy came and picked us up.
And Mama and Boo took a ride in an ambulance to Scottish Rite.
And Will got a cool gown and an IV.

...and a cute little stuffed puppy. So, Mama, Daddy, and Boo spent the night at the children's hospital on the orthopedic floor. Before bed, Granddad came and brought Will's favorite train, Toby. Here he is Sunday morning before heading to the OR...

He was put to sleep so that something called a "Spica" cast could be put on him. He chose the color green. The surgeon told me that the "green hornet" did great, and he is hopeful for a wonderful recovery. He woke up, came back to his room, and ate a banana!

Then he decided to show us a carrot that he was eating! Boy, drugs make you silly!

Finally, it was time to go home. See the harness strap on him? Well, that's his new seatbelt. Will lays in the back seat, and we strap the belt through the harness. Interesting.

Boo was so happy to finally come home and play trains! We just have to play a different way now.

Daniel wanted to watch him play. Thank you to Nana and Granddad for getting us some cool bean bag chairsThen the brothers wanted to watch some cartoons together.

Will decided he wanted his shirt off because he got hot. Now you can really see what his cast looks like. There's a hole in the front and the back to help with going potty. Even though he is fully potty trained, he has to wear a diaper with the cast because he can't get underwear on. He keeps asking me to take his "green pants" off.

Then my boys wanted to play blocks. Again...a new way to play.

More brotherly love. Oh, and Daniel had his 4 month check up today. Chunky Monkey weighs 16 pounds 5.4 ounces.

Yes, it was a bad weekend. Yes, it scared the life out of Mama and Daddy (and other family members). Yes, I hope it is the last ambulance ride and the last broken bone. Yes, I hope Will has a full recovery and this is all a bad memory soon. Yes, I know that God is mighty and powerful, and he hears our prayers and was protecting my child when he fell. And the answer to the question I've heard for the past three days...are you guys doing okay??

Snow days!!

2011-01-13T12:24:00.004-05:00

We have enjoyed our snow days!! Will absolutely loved playing in the snow...the cold didn't seem to bother him!! Here he is ready to head out on snow day #1...

He helped his Daddy build a snowman...
What a good helper...and pretty cute, too!

Daddy built a fire in our firepit, and they kept warming themselves up!

Will and the finished snowman. We didn't have a carrot for the nose, so he got blueberry eyes, nose, buttons, and a smear for the mouth. However, I think some critters liked our blueberry idea. They were gone the next day! :)

Boo and Daddy went up to the clubhouse where the best hills were. Daniel and I went out there on day #2 with them, but the wind was so strong and cold, we didn't last long...
They had so much fun!

Boo even went down the hill by himself!

And Daniel and I spent most of the time when they were outside staying inside and keeping warm!! We have had some fun family time this week!

What have we been doing lately?

2011-01-13T12:16:00.002-05:00

If you haven't heard, we've had a BIG winter storm. We had snow Christmas night, but it was nothing like what we had Sunday night. It's Thursday, and we're still out of school, and still in the house. We did venture out Tuesday for just a minute to grab more milk and bread...along with everyone else in Grayson! Brad finally went in to work today, but he said the roads weren't great. We will need to get out tomorrow...we're almost out of diapers and formula! Here are a few pictures of our sweet boys...

Both boys started running fevers on Christmas night, and we found out they both had ear infections. It wiped Daniel out...and Mama! :)
Boo stayed in our bed for a while watching TV while recovering from his ear infections!

And of course, he played some trains!!

Merry Christmas 2010

2010-12-27T11:39:00.004-05:00

We had a wonderful time celebrating Christmas with our families. It was also a nice time for Daniel being that it was his first Christmas. Here are a few pictures...

Daniel checking out what his brother is doing...

One of MANY Thomas items Will received...
Kate, Will, Daniel, and Brad
Meme and Poppi are good friends with Santa. He stopped by early on Christmas Eve to see the kids. They were so excited.
My sweet boys with Santa.

Later on Christmas Eve night...Boo had his cookies and milk laid out for Santa...

Christmas morning at Nana and Granddad's house. Boo tore into those presents. He didn't care too much for the clothes and shoes, but he loved the toys! More clothes?? Haha!

What a sweet little guy!

Boo knew that all the Thomas wrapped gifts were his...he had a ball.

We had a wonderful time celebrating the birth of Jesus with all of our family!!

Guess who LOVES his bath??

2010-12-27T11:32:00.002-05:00

A lot of times babies cry when they're in the bath...not this big guy...he cries when you take him out. He's just about too big for the sink, so he may be upgraded to the tub soon. Isn't he precious??

Does anyone know a good dentist??

2010-12-22T15:10:00.002-05:00

What in the world???

Well, that explains a lot...

Over the river and through the woods...

2010-12-22T15:01:00.002-05:00

We had our Johnson family Christmas celebration at Grandmother's house this past weekend. Our new Aunt Lynn made her homemade spaghetti and meatballs! It was so good, we think we'll let her stay in the family. Haha! Here are a few pictures...

The cousins that were there...Ben, Bailey, Will, me, Daniel, and Abigail...

Grandmother and her children...Todd, Karen, Billy, and David
Me and my sweet baby...and my other child's chocolate hands coming at me...I think his Great Aunt Karen was trying to make him sick with all the goodies she kept feeding him!!

Our Family...Nana, Granddad, Will, Brad, Abigail, me, and Daniel (who seemed to be smiling at his aunt for some reason)

And look what Nana did to Daniel...these were Phoebe's (Aunt Karen's dog) antlers. She didn't like them and chewed them up, so Nana put them on Daniel! Poor little guy!

A tree of memories!

2010-12-14T19:25:00.002-05:00

One of my favorite things about the holidays is the Christmas tree! In our home, Brad assembles our tree, and I decorate it. This year, Will joined in on the decorating...he had a ball. Each time he would hang an ornament, he would say "Yay!" or "woo-hoo." It was pretty funny! I love our tree because each ornament has a special meaning behind it. When Brad worked for Delta and we traveled, I always got an ornament from wherever we went or stayed. Now though, we are collecting ornaments with our children! Here are a few that I love...

The Macy's Pink Pig to remember our ride this year...

Oh, how I wish Brad and I were here again...how relaxing Jekyll is!!
When our family was a family of 3. I need to go to the mall and get a new one with Daniel added in!

And in honor of Brookwood's state championship win this past weekend, here's Brad's ornament from his state champs season!!And here it is...our tree! Yes, my son hung the ones on the bottom...LOL...check out the ball on the very bottom!! (It has since been moved!!)

Will's been working on the railroad...

2010-12-14T19:12:00.003-05:00

Sunday night we put a gingerbread train together!! I'd never done a gingerbread house, let alone a gingerbread train, so it was an interesting challenge. Here are a few shots...

Boo giving a BIG smile!

Working on the train!
Really working hard!

The final product.

And of course, what do you do when you have leftover icing?? Well, your daddy makes you a mustache, that's what!!

What are they up to?

2010-12-14T19:06:00.002-05:00

Friday night Daddy took the boys for a little while so that I could do fun stuff without being interupted...you know, empty the dishwasher, pick up the kitchen, and cook dinner! They sure were quiet...I had to go see what they were up to! Here they are in Daniel's room playing.

He sure is concentrating on those blocks.
By the time they finished, they had all the blocks in one HUGE tower! My boys are so sweet!!

12 weeks old!!

2010-12-02T07:52:00.002-05:00

Has it really been 12 weeks since our precious Daniel came into our family?? He is getting SO big! His brother is happy because starting next Monday, Daniel will be going to Jackie's house with him. That's right...Mama goes back to work...Booooo!!! Look how big this guy is getting...he is sitting up in his Bumbo seat...

So serious!!! Not really sure what to think of this chair!
Will absolutely CRACKS ME UP!!! I told him to give me a big smile...this is what I got. Only after I took it did I realize he had some blueberry muffin on his face. Once I cleaned his face, I didn't get a picture like this again, so you get the muffin picture!

And then when I saw Daniel's eyes in this one, I couldn't resist!!!! "HELP ME, Mama!!! He's got me again." Haha...brotherly love!!

Happy birthday today to Nana! We love you!!

Santa time!

2010-11-23T09:43:00.002-05:00

We took the boys to Bass Pro Shop last night to see Santa. The past few years, I've taken Will to the Mall, but Daddy wanted them to see a new Santa this year. I was skeptical, but in the end, Daddy was right in making that decision...I was happy with how it turned out. We had to wait until our turn for pictures, so we walked around a little while first. Will loved looking at the fish in the big tank...

He kept pointing out different ones as they swam by. Daniel didn't seem to notice!
Will was so excited to finally see Santa and introduce him to his baby brother! He told Santa all about wanting Thomas stuff for Christmas. I asked Santa if he was okay holding Daniel, too. He told me he had a little experience. After talking to Will, he asked Daniel what he wanted for Christmas...then he said, "Oh, you want some teeth?" He was a wonderful Santa!

I am not positive, but I believe by the way it looks, Will is telling Santa that he is wearing his church shoes. Haha...he is so funny!

These are just a few pictures I took with my camera. I'm not sharing the one they took in case we use it for our Christmas card this year. It was cute though! We will definitely go back to Bass Pro Shop in the years to come!

Chugga, Chugga....OINK, OINK????

2010-11-22T08:48:00.004-05:00

After church yesterday, we were thinking of some things we could get out of the house and do! I wanted to take Boo to ride the Pink Pig down at the Lenox Macy's last year, but we never did. Brad saw an ad for it in the paper, so we fed Daniel and hopped in the van! Will was SO excited to ride the "Pig train." Before you go in to the tent where the train is, you get your picture taken with the cute girl pig....BUT they don't let you take your own picture!! Will went right up to her, grabbed her hand, and smiled a huge smile. The picture was cute, but the price wasn't! Oh well! Here's Will and Daddy waiting in line!

This is what the Pink Pig used to look like...
Daddy and Daniel waited in line while Boo and I walked in the gift shop. He kept loving on these stuffed pigs. We bought the cutest Christmas tree ornament that looks just like the "pig train."

Waiting in line...it's almost our turn!

Mama and Will on the train...we got the first seat right behind the pig's head!!

About to take off...

Here it comes...you can see us in the mirror! We had a lot of fun...I can't wait for both boys to be able to ride together!!

Then we went and grabbed some lunch and headed to Stone Mountain! It was such a nice day, so we ate our lunch in the picnic area in the park. Then we hopped in the stroller and went for a walk!

They are getting ready for "Snow Mountain," so a lot of the area was blocked off. Who would have thought we would see snow when it's almost 70 degrees? Will kept saying "Boo play snow??"

Adorable!

Since they have blocked off some areas, there are detours through the woods...Brad took the boys off roading...had to go backwards to make the stroller move. Boo held on to his brother so he wouldn't fall out. How sweet! We had a great family afternoon!

And just for fun...who can't resist a good looking little guy on a Monday morning??

If you have time, please say a prayer for our family. We are closing on our new home Wednesday morning! After years of wanting to live on the lake, Brad and I have decided to move our family. We have purchased a home on Lake Lanier, and we are so excited about it. However, we just put our current home on the market. Please pray for God's will on the sale of our home! Have a wonderful day!

Smile...it's Friday!

2010-11-19T13:48:00.002-05:00

Happy Friday!!

Aren't I cute??
Fridays make me smile!

I'm two months old!

2010-11-12T13:09:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone! It's me...Daniel James Rucker...a.k.a."Dandal Bames" or "pig-pig" if you ask my big brother! I turned two months old this week! Can you believe it? My Mama and Daddy say I'm getting pretty big!

Mama took Boo and I to the doctor yesterday. Do you know what she told us? I weigh 13 pounds and 3.3 ounces! I've gained two pounds since my last check-up!! I am just drinking formula now, and sometimes it really upsets my belly, so we're going to try a new kind, and I can take some Mylanta, too!
Did you know that I'm starting to sleep a little longer at night? It makes my parents happy...especially my Mama! The past two nights, I've slept from 9p.m. until 4a.m. I get hungry around 4, so I call my Mama to come get me! I always go right back to sleep though!

Do you see these Tweety Bird band-aids? Do you know what's under there??? I got shots in my chunky thighs yesterday!! I had another band-aid on my other thigh! I did NOT like those shots at all! However, one of my vaccines came in an oral form...the nurse laughed when I sucked the tube dry! I do like to eat...even if it's medicine!

One of my favorite things to do is talk to my Mama and Daddy when they change me. I like to get my clothes off and kick my feet and punch my fists and talk. It's so fun.

Well, that's about it for now. I'll check in again soon. Have a good weekend!

What did Will want to do??

2010-11-05T13:15:00.002-04:00

Yesterday afternoon, our little family of four was out running errands. We were talking about where all we needed to go, and Will said something about getting a hair cut. All through Home Depot he kept telling Brad he wanted a hair cut. Then as we were about to head home, we were sitting at a red light thinking aloud about if there was anywhere else we needed to go and Boo said again that he needed a hair cut. Brad told him we weren't going to get one right then and he got teary eyed and once again said he needed a hair cut. Needless to say, he got his hair cut...

Happy Halloween!!

2010-11-02T07:54:00.002-04:00

We had a wonderful Halloween! It was a night of firsts...Will's first time trick-or-treating, and Daniel's first Halloween. Jackie had taught the kids all about trick-or-treating. She explained that you ring the doorbell, say trick-or-treat when they answer, get your candy, and say thank you when you leave. We practiced several times before leaving the house. Will did a great job!! He even rang the doorbells when the homeowners were on their porches. He had a ball running from house to house collecting goodies!! Here we are before heading out...

I don't know what my little pumpkin thought about Halloween!
Where should I go next???

This picture is a little blurry, but look at that face...he was so happy and so proud of himself!!

The loot!!

Our sweet little man...

2010-10-26T10:01:00.002-04:00

Our little man isn't always asleep!! He's usually awake at 2a.m. Haha! This morning he had a good hour of play time with his Mama...lucky for Mama it was around 8:30 instead of 2!! He kicked and punched, and he smiled a lot. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to capture any of the smiles on camera. But I did get some cute pictures...

He's getting so big...almost 7 weeks old!
Hi everyone!! Another blonde haired blue eyed gorgeous little guy!!

And he's tired again!

All Aboard!!!!

2010-10-25T14:02:00.007-04:00

This weekend, all Will's dreams came true!! We (Mama, Daddy, Will, Daniel, Meme, Poppi, Nana, Granddad, and Aunt Abigail) jumped into the car and drove 3 hours to Cordele, GA. What were we doing? Going to "A Day out with Thomas" to see Thomas the Train!! Here are some of the things we did while we were there...

Here's Will on the way to the tram we had to take over to the Island of Sodor!

We made it!!
One thing Will kept telling me he wanted to do on the trip was get his face painted. He wanted Toby the train, but the ladies were not painting trains. So, he got a Jack-o-lantern. He sat SO still for his first painted face!
It turned out pretty good!

They had a lot of train tables set up. Will knows how to work those remotes. He loved playing with all the different sets they had.

Then he got to jump...he kept calling this "Joe's" like Monkey Joes...one of his favorite places.

And then it was time to see the main attraction...

Will got his picture taken with the conductor!

He was excited to get his seat on the train!

Here he is "reading" his ticket...he was saying all the letters on the ticket!

Telling Daniel we were riding Thomas!

This is one happy little boy!

He never let go of the ticket he talked about for at least three months!

He stood up a few times and looked out the window.

They were playing Thomas songs over the intercom. One from "Hero of the Rails" came on called "Go Go Thomas." Will was dancing to it, and when we looked over, so were all the grandparents!

Will wanted to get as close to Thomas as he could.

Then he took a walk down the tracks!

Mama, Daddy, and Will in front of Thomas.

Will and some friends.

Then it was time to go meet this guy! Sir Topham Hatt!! Will was crying in line...not because he was scared, but because he wanted to go up and meet him immediately...he did NOT want to wait in line.

We had a great day out with Thomas!!!

I don't think Daniel will remember!!

Our trip to the pumpkin patch

2010-10-18T10:03:00.006-04:00

Brad, Will, Daniel, Nana, Granddad, and I all went to Washington Farms in Watkinsville yesterday afternoon. We had a great time. Here are a few pictures...

Here is Will on the hayride we took to get over to all of the fun activities.

Will and Granddad on the hayride. The sun was in Will's face.
Will getting ready for the cow train to take off. Notice the name of his cow??

What did Will see before the cow train took off??

Chickens!!

Yes, our child is the only one EATING on the cow train. LOL..he loved the kettle corn!!

Nothing sweeter than this face!!

Then we headed over to the petting zoo. I didn't get any great pictures over there. He didn't want to touch too many of the animals. Then we went to this big air pillow that you could jump on. He had a hard time standing up and get started jumping. The big kids were jumping and he kept flopping off.

Finally getting up into a standing position...

Yep, he's up and ready to jump! He was quickly down again. Each time he fell down, you would hear him say "ouch."

Granddad and Will jumped on a big pedal car and took a spin.

We had a cool ice cream treat.

Then it was time for the baby pig races...

Will got to hold one of the bandanas and wave it for the blue pig. He came in last, so Will did not get a pig nose to wear. However, he did get a spider ring. Here he is checking it out...

The last thing to do was head to the pumpkin patch and pick our pumpkin. Here he is looking for the perfect one...Found it...time to weigh it and pay.

He sat down next to a pumpkin sign before leaving...

And again...W.D.D.D.???? What did Daniel do???

Saturday night family time

2010-10-18T09:53:00.002-04:00

It was a BUSY weekend. Brad and I went to Supper Club Friday night while Boo went and stayed at Meme and Poppi's house. Then Saturday morning, Brad had tennis, and I had my cousin's bridal shower. I got home later afternoon, and Brad asked if we wanted to go to Stone Mountain and see the laser show. Since it's getting dark sooner, it started at 8pm, so we decided to go. We got there right as it was starting, and as we were getting out of the van, they shot off some loud fireworks. Boo freaked out and did not want to go. We finally got him calmed down, and he ended up really enjoying the show. Here he is with his Daddy...

A little sleepy...
This was a point in the show when he stood up and was dancing to some of the music. I love that little guy.

And the question of the weekend should be W.D.D.D.? or What did Daniel do??? Here you go...

My sweet little boys!!

2010-10-13T14:23:00.002-04:00

My sweet little one was resting on our bed last night, and he looked so adorable, I just had to grab the camera!! Look at that big Nemo rear end!!

I could just eat those chubby cheeks!!
Then, of course, his equally adorable big brother came running in the room and said "picture, too, Mommy." He has now started really doing the smile up BIG for me now. Too funny!!

See what I mean???

After all that posing, he got tired and decided to rest with his baby brother. What sweet boys God has blessed us with!!

Daniel is one month old!

2010-10-13T14:15:00.002-04:00

Our sweet little son turned one month old on this past Saturday!! He went in on Monday for his check up. Boy has he grown!! He now weighs 11 pounds and 4.3 ounces. That is over two pounds since his weight check at 2 weeks old!! I was thinking he might be closer to 10 pounds, but wow, he surpassed that!! They told me that they are not concerned about his eating. Haha! Here are a few shots of the little (big) guy!!

We love Trains!!!

2010-09-28T10:51:00.003-04:00

Sunday morning we went out to Vines Botanical Gardens. It was the final Sunday of the season for their train show. Some wonderful volunteers have worked SO hard to set up and keep running these train tracks with some really neat trains. Being the train obsessed toddler that he is, we knew Will would love seeing the trains in action. Granddad and Aunt Abigail came with us to check everything out. Here's Will...what did he spy with those big blue eyes???

Thomas, Annie, and Clarabell, of course!!
Will enjoyed sitting on Granddad's shoulders watching all the trains go around the many tracks and through all the tunnels and bridges.

What?? Who is coming around the corner now???

PERCY!!! Who knew we would see Thomas AND Percy that morning??

This is what Aunt Abigail and I did during the time we were there...held the baby! Also, check out the Thomas party going on behind us...Will almost went over to check things out...luckily I saw him and what he was up to!!

And then they brought out a ride on Thomas. Will enjoyed playing with that for a while, too. Our little boy just loves trains. We will be going next month to ride the real Thomas the Train!! Will is going to LOVE that!!! We sure did enjoy our nice cool morning of trains!

Will's 1st trip to the fair

2010-09-24T13:23:00.006-04:00

This past weekend was the start of the Gwinnett County Fair. We wanted to go last year, but it rained every day!!! So, this year, Nana, Granddad, and Aunt Abigail took him to his first fair visit. Here they are before entering the fair. It was a HOT day!!

Lucky Aunt Abigail got to ride most of the kiddie rides with Will!
Will loved going through this obstacle course like play area...isn't that funny how he's coming down the slide?

He wasn't too sure about riding on the pony!

He did enjoy the petting zoo. He kept telling me about the baby ducks!!

Mayfield Dairy was the sponsor of the petting zoo. They gave each child a free chocolate milk. I think he liked it!
On the Bee ride. I think this was his favorite. He is still talking about it.

Probably because Aunt Abigail made them go as high as the ride could go. He likes to be tall!!

Then he wanted to play a fair game. Here he is checking it out. The prize!! It had a hole in it by the time he got home, but Daddy patched it up. He enjoyed hitting everyone with it!

He and Granddad rode the swings. These were always my favorite!
I think he liked them!!

What a cutie!! I'll take him!!

Two weeks...

2010-09-23T09:07:00.002-04:00

Two weeks ago this morning, our happy family of three became a happy family of four!! Our little Daniel is priceless, and we love all the time we get to spend with him. And the best part?? His big brother loves him SO much...sometimes he loves on him too much!! He wants to hold him all the time...

So, the other night while Will was holding Daniel, he started to cry while I was taking pictures. Well, I didn't realize WHY he was crying until I pulled the camera away. Can you see what his brother is doing to him to make him cry? That little booger!! And look at his sneaky face while he's doing it!!
And here's the birthday boy this morning...what a rough life being 2 weeks old!!

Sweet little angel!!

What is going on?

2010-09-21T17:23:00.004-04:00

We are happily adjusting to being a family of four! Will absolutely loves his baby brother whom he lovingly calls "pig-pig." Daniel is a wonderful baby, and Brad and I are very blessed with our two boys!!

At Jackie's house, Will is now doing preschool. For the past week or two their theme has been the circus. Today when I picked him up, I noticed they had drawn clowns on the driveway in chalk. Luckily, I had my camera in the van, so I shot a few pictures. Isn't Will's clown cute??

Then I had Will sit next to his clown...the sun was in his face, so that is why he has the funny expressions!

Last week my husband brought us home a gift. What was it you might wonder?? A 2010 Honda Odyssey. I LOVE it!!! What a sweet hubby!!

Today I took Daniel to the doctor for his weight check. Last Tuesday he weighed 8 pounds and 8 ounces. This morning he weighed 9 pounds and 0.3 ounces. He is definitely eating well and gaining weight, don't you think?? Here he is this afternoon chilling out under a toy...he fell asleep.

Sweet angel boy!! 12 days old and just perfect!! Look at his fuzzy hair...I gave him his first bath this afternoon, which he LOVED...and his hair fuzzed up and stuck out!!
...and then he scooted himself off the boppy pillow and snoozed some more. I'm one happy Mama!!

We're home!!

2010-09-14T14:36:00.002-04:00

Daniel and I were both released from the hospital on Sunday afternoon. It was so nice to come home and be with my family!! Here are a few pictures that we have taken over the past few days...Will LOVES his brother...kisses come very often in this house!!

We were taking lots of pictures, so Will decided that he wanted to take a picture...of himself. :)Will wanted to hold his brother last night after Daniel finished eating. Then he noticed Thomas was on the tv. Haha!

Daddy went to tuck Will into bed last night, and he wanted Mama to read his story and Daniel to be in the bed enjoying the story with him!!

Daniel patiently waiting on us to finish getting ready for his doctor's appointment this morning. He has gained 3 ounces since coming home...what an eater!! Dr. Messick said he's just perfect...that made us feel really good!!! He is such a good little guy...we have truly been blessed with two wonderful babies!!

Will meets his baby brother!!

2010-09-11T23:43:00.004-04:00

We have had a great few days recovering here at the hospital. Hopefully if all goes as well as it has been, we will be heading home tomorrow!! Here are a few pictures from the past few days...Daniel was ready to meet his big brother this afternoon!!

Daniel and his Granddad!!
Daniel with his Meme and Poppi!

Daniel with our friends, Brian and Danny!

Will finally got to meet his baby brother today...it was love at first sight!

He loved kissing Daniel's tummy!
I wonder what he's thinking right here...

Daniel bought Will a talking Toby train. Do you think he liked it? Check out that face!

One happy Mama!

Lots of love sitting in that bed!!

Daniel James Rucker

2010-09-10T11:31:00.002-04:00

Our newest angel came into the world at 9:59 a.m. on Thursday, 9-9-10. He weighed 8 pounds and 10 ounces and was 21 inches long. At first he looked just like his big brother, but the more we look at him, the more we see others in him. He had to go to the transition nursery right after birth due to some oxygen issues. However, he is doing wonderfully today. We thank God that our baby is healthy and doing a great job! Enjoy the pictures. There will be more to come!!

A great morning for a train ride...

2010-09-04T15:17:00.004-04:00

Will went to spend the night with Meme and Poppi last night while Daddy went to Josh and Allison's rehearsal dinner. I am officially resting in hopes that Daniel does not make an early arrival...5 more days!!! This morning, it was such beautiful weather, so Meme and Poppi took Will to Stone Mountain to ride the train...here he is with his ticket...

Checking out the other train he sees...I wonder if his brother's head is going to be that big and cute??
He is checking everything out...

Here he is with Poppi giving the conductor a hight five!!

What a fun morning for a train ride!!

Fun with my cousin...

2010-08-31T09:33:00.002-04:00

Will spent the night at Meme and Poppi's house Saturday night to give Mama some time to rest. Not only did Will spend the night, but Kate and Jack were there, too. Meme made Will and Kate a bed on the floor in the den. Will was covered with the firetruck blanket and Kate had the pink one, but at some point, they switched. Aren't they cute??

What's going on...

2010-08-15T15:06:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was Poppi's birthday. We went over to his house to celebrate with the family. Of course, Kate and Will had to sit in Poppi's lap during the singing. Will always thinks people are singing for him when he hears "Happy Birthday."

They enjoyed helping Poppi blow out his candle!!
Will was moved to an older class in church, so today was his first day there. I explained to the teacher that he is potty training. I packed two extra outfits and two extra pair of underwear just in case there was an accident. He was in the same clothes when we picked him up, and his second hour teacher said he had gone potty while she was there. He is doing SO well!! We are very proud of him.

One month from today...

2010-08-09T16:56:00.000-04:00

...our family will be complete!! I can't wait!!!

The Potty Train...

2010-08-08T20:02:00.002-04:00

We started potty training Boo on Tuesday! He had a few accidents throughout the week, but overall has really gotten the hang of going potty! He LOVES to wear his big boy underwear (mainly trains). Since he has had an accident free weekend...even got out of the pool today to tell me he had to potty...we went to Wendy's to have a celebration frosty. Here's some cute shots...

Will waiting on his frosty...

YUM!!! It has M&M's inside!!!
I like being a big boy!!!

Yep, I'm going to try and fit all that in my mouth!!!

See my M&M's, Daddy??

We are SO proud of our big boy!!!

Our weekend...

2010-07-13T11:41:00.002-04:00

This weekend started out really good. We had wonderful family time!! I had to go out shopping Saturday morning, so Boo and his Daddy had some father/son time at the pool. Brad said they were the only ones there for a while. Will has really taken to the pool. He will stand on Brad's hands, Brad will throw him, he will go under, and then ask to do it again. Brad said at one point, he was out of the pool throwing a ball into the center of the pool, and Boo would go swim to get the ball and bring it back to him. One lady even asked if he had been to swimming lessons. This child has no fear!!

Later that day, we headed to Athens to celebrate Kate's 3rd birthday! It was at a place called Pump It Up...like Monkey Joe's. Will knew exactly what to do...ran in and started jumping right away. Then he followed in line to the party room...here he is checking out everything around him...

Kate and Will right before cake time! After the party, we went to Daddy's favorite Chinese place...Peking! Meme and Poppi went with us. Will loved the food there...he had a little bit of everyone's meal!
Aunt Beth gave all the boys a crocodile as a party favor. It came with a little set of paints and a paintbrush. Will and Daddy painted his crocodile Sunday morning.

Then after the crocodile painting, Will and his Daddy went in our living room and made a big tower, or "house" for the trains as Will would call it. He loves to build things for the trains to ride through. Look how tall this one was...

And although this picture is a little dark, I thought it was cute of Boo...his hair is getting a little longer, and it's starting to curl up again. I love that little guy!