AN APPLE A DAY...

It is that time of year again. The chestnuts are falling in the front yard and the leaves are turning brown. It can only mean fall and apple picking time. We headed back out to Brown's Berry Patch for the 3rd year in a row for their Fall Harvest.

They have a barn with a petting zoo inside to learn about

the animals.

Tucker, Joelle, and Sarah pose for a picture.

Carter found a secret door in the back of the farmhouse.

Peek-A-Boo!

We really liked the goats!

They stand on top of the roof and wait for you to send

food up to them.

Jeff in the Barnyard Twister

Me in the Barnyard Twister

Carter really enjoyed the apple orchard

You can get it T-Man!

Jeff only went for Raspberries which he

made into a yummy pie last night!

We had a great time with our friends the Sperazza's. We will surely be

back next year.

PICTURES FROM THIS WEEK

We really haven't had that much going on this week, so I am just posting some random pictures from the last few days. Notice the long sleeves and pants...it has been cold here.

Tucker was teaching Carter how to play The Rainbow Song

Uma came over with Poppy and Carter wasn't interested in pictures

This is how I found Carter watching Elmo the other day

This was the first time he has ever laid down to watch TV

Carter and Riley waiting for Tucker's bus to come

And finally...this is all that is left of my beautiful garden.

THE QUEEN HAS ARRIVED!

With the passing of a legend, Her Royal Highness Bronxy passed on her crown to her sister Crowned Queen Riley. Riley is basking in glory and luxury. Lounging around the Morris Castle with Bones of Rawhide and Toys with Royal Squeakers. The walks are never ending and every afternoon she enjoys a tea while waiting for the oldest of the Morris children to return on his big cheese colored carriage from a long day of schooling in the ways of servitude to Her Royal Highness. While bathing is not a favorite past time of the Queen, she obliges her pet Courtney with a run through the hose only with promises of an afternoon of ear scratching and pedicures. Here is her first portrait as Royalty...

1st DAY OF SCHOOL

Today is the day that Tucker finally headed off to kindergarten. He has been talking about this day for 2 years! "When I get taller, I am going to kindergarten (pronounced Hin-der-karten)." So after packing up his lunchbox and loading up his backpack, we set out for the front yard for first day of school pictures.

Here he is waiting patiently for the bus. What you can't see is his legs nervously shaking back and forth with anticipation.

He wanted a shot of his backpack for my blog. Isn't he thoughtful?

Carter was having fun posing and waiting too.

The bus driver was kind enough to tell Tucker to turn around for a photo-op.

So sweet...look at his little hand just waving away!

*All bus companies and bus numbers have been changed to protect the children within.

Have fun at "Big Boy School" Tucker!!!

FAREWELL OLD FRIEND

Bronx Morris was Jeff's first pet. He got her when she was just a wee puppy while he lived at his parents house. Bronx became part of the Morris family instantly with her big head and floppy ears. She moved with Jeff into his first house and was witness to lots of shenanigans but stood by his side no matter how late he kept her up during parties.

Then along came this woman (me)! I would come to visit Jeff from Virginia and Bronx didn't like me at all. Believe me the feeling was mutual. It was a complete alpha female thing. Bronx had her own pillow in his bed and her own spot on the couch that she would stare you down for hours if you sat in her spot. She never did get along with me but somehow made allies out of Matt's cats. They once conspired to get a 5 lb venison steak that was thawing out in the sink. Together 2 cats and a dog dragged and devoured every last bit of that steak.

When I moved up to Buffalo I think Bronxy finally realized that there was no getting rid of me. She never would have thought that not only did I now live there, but I bought a puppy!!! As if the hatred couldn't grow anymore. Riley was our new addition and Bronx did get around to liking her even though we still struggled.

We moved into our new house and just when things were settling in...along came a baby. Bronx loved Tucker from the start. She never was jealous of him and was very protective when we had visitors. Years went by and many family tragedies later, Bronx remained faithful and loving. Carter was soon to follow and added a few extra grey hairs on Bronx's muzzle.

The last couple of years Bronx kept growing older and slower. Arthritis paining her every move. You would never know it though. She still let the boys crawl all over her and on occasion she would even gain momentum to trot after a squirrel or rabbit.

The last few weeks Bronx had slowed to almost a stop. The pain pills made her sick and it was common practice for us to have to lift her hind legs in order for her to get up from the floor. If ever a time that Marley and Me was starting mean more to me than just another dog movie. It was in the last few weeks that Bronx and I put aside our alpha female skirmish and bonded as friends and family. It did pain me to see her like that and even harder for me to watch Jeff realized what was coming.

Last Monday night Bronxy could no longer walk or even lay down without pain. Jeff held her all night and made the painful decision to end her pain that morning. I never realized how much I would miss her until I had to say good bye to my old adversary, my friend. The vet laid down a soft blanket and we put a picture that Tucker had drawn for her by her head and said goodbye. I left Jeff alone with her to say goodbye. I know next to losing Parker and Grace this was the hardest thing he has ever had to do.

Bronx will forever be missed in this house. And I swear I still hear her whining downstairs while we lay in bed at night.

Farewell old friend...we love you!

TUCKER GRADUATED!

I can't believe that 2 years have flown by since Tucker started the Oral Def Program. He has made leaps and bounds since he first got on that school bus at the age of 3. When he started school he was still using a lot of jargon and non-sense words. By the age of 4 he was able to make whole sentences. Now at the age of 5 you would never even know that he is hearing impaired. I owe it all to his school and his wonderful teachers.

Sorry for the wait for pictures from the graduation and I warn you that they were taken with my point and shoot. I tried my best to find my Nikon before we left, but I had hidden it from the Stanley Steamer guys last week. I guess I hid it a little too well...Jeff did find it that afternoon in the buffet. What? I know!

For some unknown reason my videos wont load today. So I will try again tomorrow!

1-2-3 STRIKES YOUR OUT

I know it has been awhile since I posted on here. I started a new job 2 weeks ago and it is running me ragged! So I am going to have to blog between cleaning, working, playing, and following The NieNie Dialogs.

This past weekend we took Tucker to his first baseball game with his new friend Gavin. We had excellent seats. Even still, baseball can only hold a 4 and 5 year old's attention but for so long.

Before the game started, Tucker's Tae Kwon Do School performed. It was amazing. There had to be 200 kids and teens out on the field. Tucker was enthralled and I think Gavin will be signing up for Tae Kwon Do really soon.

Here are the boys and their Gieco Lizard Fan

This is the competition team lined up preparing for some really cool fighting

Check out all of those kids

This guy is a maniac! He has too many competition awards to count

Tucker getting his very first autograph-Thanks Buster T. Bison!

And when they had enough, we went to spend some time walking around the diamond and came upon a wheel to spin for a prize. You know they loved that!

That's it for this week. A few prayer requests for you this week. Please continue to pray for my Grandma who is now at a rehab facility to rebuild her strength. Also, please pray for the family of Travis who is Nate and Dar's friend who was in a horrible traffic accident. Prayer is a wonderful thing! God Bless!

MOVE OVER DIAN FOSSEY...

Okay, just admit that you may not have known who Dian Fossey is. Don't you remember the movie Gorillas in the Mist? Well, today we went to the zoo. It was raining on and off so we knew that there wasn't going to be too many people there. I must say that this was the most amazing trip to the zoo that I have ever witnessed. I was even brought to tears at one point. I am not kidding people. I don't know if the rain perked up all of the animals or what, but they were all out and ready to put on a show.

It started when we walked into the zoo and overheard a man speaking over at the elephant exhibit. It just so happened that it was the very first interactive elephant show ever and they were doing it for us and asking for feedback. So it was a pretty long show.

We came across the polar bear exhibit which is one of Tucker's favorites. And look at how cute the polar bear is. He almost looks like you could snuggle with him. Well, we better not.

Then after consulting our handy dandy zoo map, we realized that it was Giraffe feeding time. And for $1.00 you can feed the giraffe a cracker. We thought for sure that Carter was too young to feed the giraffes, but surprisingly he wasn't. And you should've seen both of the boys faces as the giraffes tongue came out of its mouth to take the cracker from them.

After the giraffe feeding we were off to see the tigers which we heard were swimming. As soon as we got over to them, they started playing and ran all over the place playing like kittens. By the time I got out my camera, they actually stood by the ledge and I swear to you they were actually posing for pictures.

Then it was off to the Gorilla Exhibit. Now, those who know me know that the Gorillas are my absolute favorite!!! I have always been enamored with these beautiful creatures. They are so human and it really showed today.

DISCLAIMER: I DID NOT HAVE MY NIKON TODAY!!! THESE PICTURES WERE COMPLETELY MESSED UP WITH MY OLD POINT AND SHOOT. IT'S GOOD TO HAVE HANDY, BUT THE PICTURES INSIDE ARE HORRIBLE!!!

I was hanging out with Tucker taking this picture...

when I see the female gorilla make a beeline for the next window over. I hear Jeff say "Courtney-get OVER here!" So Tucker and I ran over to find the most touching site ever.

The female gorilla had ran over to see Carter who was perched in the window watching the gorillas. She would not leave his side. They were kissing each other through the window and she was stroking the glass by his face. It was so moving. I actually had tears in my eyes. He was loving it. He was giggling and playing with her. If he moved to the other side of the window, so did she. The duo drew quite a crowd. It was AMAZING!!!

Though they pail in comparison to the gorillas, the sea lions were also out and about today. It happened to be feeding time. So they were all over the place.