Squirrels, Turtles, and Ducks! OH MY! (And a brief mention of "Tigers", but we arent going there..."

So we've been busy as usual :)
On Saturday, we were so happy to celebrate our nephew's birthday! When Eric and I started dating, Kyle was 4 years old...so, while it was FUN to celebrate his birthday as a family, I just can NOT believe that he is now 12 years old!! And let me tell you, he is the coolest 12 year old we know. Loves God. Love his family. Loves Whitney. Loves us. And is genuinely NICE and FUNNY. We had so much fun at the bowling alley with Eric's bro, Daniel and our sister in law Crystal, and their boys.

Whitney was ready to bowl in her Clemson colors! (Let's not talk about the heartbreaking Tiger loss to the Auburn War Eagles on Saturday night.....AMAZING game, but disappointing outcome.)

So Daddy gave her some lessons :)

There it goes!! Bu-bye bowling ball!!

Where'd it go, Daddy?? Go get it!!

Dean, Crystal, and THE BIRTHDAY BOY!

The Bass Boys (and The Whitterbug)

Gary was able to slip away from being by Robin's side in the hospital.  She called while we were at the bowling alley and announced that she was FINALLY being discharged to go HOME! She had spent another week in the hospital after some more tingling/numbness started spreading. We are hoping and praying that the docs and physical therapy can help get Robin/Nanny back on her feet and tackling life in no time! :) It was AWESOME news to receive when we were all there together :)

And Eric is becoming quite the master of the auto-timer and self-portraits :) He propped the camera up on a table and a pizza box, and snapped this gem :)

Whitney, like her cousin Corbyn, LOOOVES the moon lately! EVERY time we go outside, she looks for the moon. Regardless of whether it is day or night. I try to remind her that we see shadows during the day and the moon at night, but heck, she's only 17 months...so that whole "day vs night" thing might be a little fuzzy still.

So we had to point out the moon when we got home Saturday night.

On Sunday, we headed to the park near Mac and Gramps' house to do some of this:

Whitney saw Gramps coming from a mile away, and sprinted to him :)

LOVE her :)

And it wasnt long before there was a brief, yet exciting encounter with this guy:

Whitney wasnt quite sure what to think.  Can I pet it? Will it bite me? Can it come home with me?
What IS it??

Bubye Mr. Squirrel! Have fun eating your leftover chicken wing! :)

LOVE this.

We came home and were excited to see the ducks in our backyard. We LOVE those ducks :)

But wait....what's that over there on the bank of the lake? See it? Over there on the left side? Kinda looks like the lid of a trash can???

Nope...its this guy. A softshell turtle!

He has visited us before, but it never amazes me just how GIANT this turtle is...and let's not discuss that fact that it eats rodents and other small animals...and it lives in our lake. Awesome.

So our weekend was fun and lowkey and relaxing (aside from that Clemson-Auburn debacle....that was NOT relaxing...at ALL.) Lots of family time and a fabulous Friday night with The Monkey and The Bug in their candy corn dresses (which are for sale, if youre interested or know anyone who wants one! We are Mandy is making several for friends, including the bow and the monogram!)

Which may or may not have inspired me to start a project of my own.  Which also may or may not be the reason my dining room table currently looks like this:

Patterns and Fabric and Sewing!! OH MY!

One hint re: what I may or may not be attempting to tackle (with MAJOR help from Mandy):

 "Trick or Treat!"

I mean, I made the Whitterbug's costume last year....why wouldnt I TRY to make it this year!?

Stay tuned.....this should be painful entertaining ridiculously over my head FUN!!