Happy Halloween!

We had happy haunting and hunting....we hope you all did as well!

Mom and I got back today from Connecticut/Rhode Island mid-day and never stopped going until right now. Audrey had her class party at school, went to pick up the BigMan and then we carved another pumpkin ~ my cutesy monogrammed polka dot pumpkin....I know, I have issues :) Then pizza for supper & birthday cake for dessert. I was quite surprised when I was welcomed home by a homemade birthday (i turned 30 wednesday while we were out of town) cake by Brett and Audrey ~ how sweet was that!?!?!?! And it was so good, yummy chocolate....Quick costume change, few standard pre-trick~or~treating pics and off we went...Audrey had to be carried most of the way due to her uncontrollable, unbelievable fear of dogs/cats....Grant, god-love, kept falling down because his pants were too dang tight! Sorry son, fashion & costumes come first, comfort later :) 10 houses of drama and we were DONE, baths were given and we all settled in for an encore of the Great Pumpkin.....

Good Times...

Pecan Picking...

Our new yard has been quite plentiful to us.....this summer we had pears, lots and lots of pears....now we have pecans!! This afternoon we went Pecan Picking with Grams.....hmmm, maybe there will be a pecan pie at Thanksgiving dinner!

The fruits of our labors......

....I won't be posting again until probably Saturday or Sunday.....Grammy and I will be boarding a plane bright and early in the morning to head up north.....Grandpa Russ has passed away and we are going to Providence to spend some time with Grandma Gert.......please keep Grandma Gert in your prayers and Grams and I as we travel this week....

Introducing....

Dorothy & the Lollipop Munchkin

OH MY GOODNESS!! She looks so beautiful and he is the cutest thing EVER!!!! Seriously, we laughed until we cried - for hours.....I hope he cooperates as well friday night for trick or treating.

good day....

as i am sitting here in the bed next to my peacefully sleeping daughter i began thinking of our good day....

fall festival at audrey's preschool ~ seeing grant dressed as the lollipop munchkin, priceless!! (pics to come soon.)

birthday party at the lake for sweet read ~ drama of audrey with dogs, RIDICULOUS!

football, food & new friends at shea & bill's ~ being able to relax after a long day, perfect!

~ we feel so blessed by the new adventure we have started, old friends we have been able to reconnect with and new friends we are meeting along the way....God's plan is being very good to us :) we ABSOLUTELY miss being close to our georgia friends and family but know that they will always be there for us, through thick and thin....we are thriving so in our new little home and new town.....thank you everyone for you prayers and thoughts throughout our move!

audrey tried to make it through the Great Pumpkin tonight but tiredness got the best of her.....she is beyond sweet sleeping here so soundly.....oh i love this dramatic, smart, beautiful, feisty, little girl......

tomorrow morning is church....as long as grant's runny nose stays clear! we are looking forward to a wonderful start to another great fall day....

searching for the great pumpkin....

his head his big and round like charlie but he loves his blankie like linus!

is this the great pumpkin?

who's idea....

who's idea was it to make grant's costume myself??? someone remind me in a week or so that it was all worth it!!!

so, as i said in an earlier post....he is going to be the lollipop munckin.... green plaid shirt, shorts with little pockets, whole nine yards...i will not take the credit of actually sewing the clothes myself - i have not become that crafty yet! i managed to find some look alikes....but i did have to do some alterations....that's when trouble started....

i cut the shirt to get the jagged edges.....did pretty good, not too bad for eyeballing it.....i round up my munckin to see how the shirt looks on him and there it was - the issue - his big ol' buddha belly! i did not take that into consideration when hacking off half the shirt.....what does any good non-sewing mother do??? pull out the iron-on hem tack! i managed to put his shirt back together with my iron and these little god-send pieces of sticky stuff.....for the love!

but then there were the striped stockings....UGH! think, think. ok, he will be wearing a pair of his sister's old tights tomorrow - you all can use this against him when he is older, i give you permission :) of course, remember he probably will end up being bigger than all of us! now, i have the tights but no stripes.....green washable marker and an hour later we have striped green socks and i have green finger tips.....i'll get you my pretty!!

is it over?? i hope so, but we will see for sure in the morning when i dress BigMan....why are we doing this so soon you ask?? tomorrow morning is audrey's fall festival at her school....fun, fun ~ wish me luck :)

fyi ~ audrey's dorothy costume was bought ready-to-go at Target....worth every penny!

so nice....

aahhh, 65 degrees a little cloudy and a great fall afteroon..... the kids and i are outside enjoying the weather before the rain gets here..... grant could stay outside for HOURS.... and this fenced in yard is my life-saver! it is like an oversized play pen - Perfect!

what an awesome time of the year....WE LOVE IT! i've included some pics of all things fall.... Enjoy!

yum-o....

things in life that are good:

babies


really cute babies


really cute fat babies


really cute fat babies eating cupcakes

mmmm, mmmm now that looks good.....those cupcakes were yum-o!!

~ but what have we learned from this experience and other run-ins with sugar in late afternoon?? WE DON'T SLEEP!!! Nor do we sleep if we have been snuck a little sweet tea at the local mexican joint! Audrey we could feed whatever, nothing effected her - Grant, he will forever be limited of his sugar and sweets late in the day :)

playing hookie....

honestly....does anyone else out there have a four-year-old with horrible teeth like mine?? i feel i am a relatively good mother ~ yes, she gets sweet tea at restaurants and an occasional m&m at home but for the love, why all the cavities!!! for those of you that remember the ordeal about a year ago with miss priss' mouth, we again today had to have another cavity filled....UGH!

i took both chillins (children for the non-country speakin' folk) yesterday to see Dr. Rohner for their dental check-ups....a first for Grant ~ he did as good as any 16 month old could...and audrey, who did better than expected, had a tiny little cavity....Dr. Rohner said it could be taken care of with a little laughing gas, numbing the site, TLC, whatever....she was right and it didn't take long - we were in and out of there this morning in about an hour.....we didn't warn audrey of this event (who would?!?!), as far as she knew they were washing a spot of her tooth that they didn't have time for yesterday (which she quickly asked - why couldn't they do it today!?! she is so dang smart!)....she knew the word cavity = pain and we try to avoid ALL drama if possible...she blatantly informed me in the car that she NEVER wants to have her teeth washed off again! could ya blame her??

she was quite sad and pitiful when she came out so we decided to play hookie from school today and have our own school....after a field trip to target (mommy did have some errands on her day off) we came home to Richards' Pre-School (this is the schedule for her normal day at school)...

Audrey: Mommy, first we have to do Sensory.

Me: Ok, what does Sensory mean? What do we do?

A: You know touching - we can do moon sand!

M: Moon Sand it is - but outside!! (love the stuff, HATE the mess)

A: (15 minutes later) ok, all done. now it is time for the playground, i'll just play outside seeing as we don't have a swing set (nice guilt trip audrey, nice).

M: that's fine .

A: wait, what about art? we didn't do art! you make something then say 1, 2, 3 TA DA and then i make it just like you!

M: art? really, we have to do art too? do you do art EVERYDAY at school?

A: yes! we HAVE to do art!!!! (whiney voice starting)

M: fine, we will do art - but could it be just markers??

A: no, has to be paint.

--- do you get the feeling i am keeping up a conversation with a 15 year old?!?! I DO!

M: ok, paint it is.

...so mommy attempts to paint a halloween-ish picture for art for her to duplicate, what do you think?

i asked audrey to tell me about her pumpkins, her response, "well, one is sad and one is disappointed. (gee, wonder why! did they just have a cavity filled too.) and that one is green because it is old. when pumpkins get old they turn green." ahhhh, to be 4.

A: i'm done with art. i'm hungry now. can i have spaghetti-o's for lunch?

M: absolutely! (well that was easy enough) but you know after lunch you guys take a nap at school, are you going to take a nap at home?

A: well, what about motor group, we didn't do that or story time or circle time (we are procrastinating at this point)?

M: we missed some of that this morning, we'll try some more school stuff after lunch and nap.

A: ok. (really, that was it?!?!)

....lunch was good, her spaghetti-o's and my tomato-basil soup ~ yum-o! currently she is napping on the floor in the living room, because at school we sleep on a cot on the floor so we HAD to do it the same at home ~ as if! her classical music is playing, she is in sweet slumber land and i am blogging - oh it is a good day so far.....

teachers and full-time stay at home moms - BLESS YOU! you all must have the patience of saints or are all well drugged :) i applaud you for all you do....while today was fun and i am sure after nap and picking up BigMan it will be even MORE eventful - i don't think i could do this everyday....yes, i am a wimp....i will go back to the operating room, slicing and dicing as my mother says....

another busy weekend...

Seriously....i don't think we know how to have a quiet, relaxing weekend :) we love cramming as much as possible into a two-day weekend ~ and we didn't let ourselves down this time either, we love it!....here's the rundown and the photoshows are in the post below...

Saturday we had our yearly visit to Uncle Shuck's Pumpkin Patch & Corn Maze in Dawsonville, GA. As always...fun was had by all....Pony Rides, Hay Rides, Little and Big Corn Mazes, Pumpkin "Picking" and GOOD eating ~ Fall doesn't get much better than that!!

Saturday Night we celebrated Mimi's birthday and wished Pops a belated birthday as well...Dinner was good, cake was great ~ hmmm, who's birthday is next to celebrate?!?! Grant thoroughly enjoyed his cake - umm, i haven't found much food he DOESN'T truly enjoy :)

Sunday was spent visiting with Great-Grands and Cousins....Visit to Mamaw & Papaw Richards' and then lunch at Mamaw Jessie's...YUM-O! It was great to see cousin Charlie too :) The kids had fun on the swings, being outside and of course, feeding the goats - the highlight of each trip to Homer, GA...

....i love visiting with extended family ~ yankee relatives watch out! you guys will HAVE to be next...we miss you all so much and Grandma Gert & Russ need to meet the big man :) and of course there are two new beautiful cousins to meet too!

weekend in photographs...

count down...

15 days until All Hallow's Eve.....oh we do love fall, pumpkins, halloween and all things ghouly around here!

Oh, and the costumes this year?!?! Dorothy & the Lollipop Munchkin - how cute will they be!!!! ....I of course would be Glenda the Good Witch if I were to join in the fun...Brett, umm - Audrey says the Tin Man ~ that could work....

Enjoy the pic of my front door for now.....we are headed to Georgia this weekend for birthday celebratin', pumpkin patchin' and lunchin' at great grandma jessie's.....lots of new pics to come sunday :)

Way to Go Lancers!

Football Season is over.....and the Lancers WON their last game last night (yes, we had not had a win yet!) defeating Chelsea ~ 30-14.....CONGRATS!!

The players, cheerleaders,dancers, parents were all so excited. As were the coaches! It is great to end on a good note. We had a great first year & we were very blessed this year with great parents, teachers and administrators - THANK YOU!

Next year we get to add 8th graders to the team....hopefully the wins will increase :)

Ode to a Sleeping Baby....

Ode to a Sleeping Baby...

Bless you little boy & Bless your four new teeth.

I am so glad you are sleeping again, finally.

Love those cheeks, love those lips & love those lashes too.

My heart is yours, your sister's and daddy's through and through.

I feel so fortunate to have you all in my life,

sweet dream wishes to you until morning's light.

high cotton....

as we were driving home from my mom's house one weekend, peering at the fields of "snow", it occurred to me that my children (and most children that live north of Clanton, AL or Macon, GA) have never seen/touched real cotton.....so i, as any good mother would do, command my husband to pull over so i can pick some cotton....if there had only been a video camera! luckily on those good ol' country backroads the cotton isn't far from the road....

i am here to tell you....those stems may look dried up and dead - but they are NOT! they are quite green on the insides despite their withered outer appearance..... anyhoo....the cotton was picked and the decor was livened up.....cotton reminds me of fall so i felt it worked.....audrey loved looking at it and touching it - though she still doesn't quite understand the difference between it and the cotton balls used to take off her polish.....grant, well he was amused for a moment and then tore it to shreds ~ so typical of our destruct-o maniac.....brett shared some with the science and social study teachers at school....you teachers love stuff like this :) and audrey brought some to school as well.......

sharing the wealth of cotton one blossom/bulb/boll (i don't know the correct term) at a time....as yes i have yet another deep appreciation for ANYONE that ever had to pick cotton in the "good ol' days"....bless them

busy weekend....

below are photo shows from our busy weekend.....as usual we crammed as much as possible into our weekend....we wouldn't have it any other way :) whenever we have "free time" as a family we manage to find lots of things to do....which is why i thought i would try out this new way of posting pics....

here's the run down....Friday, Audrey and I visited Payton and Isabella at their school - very nice! My over-achiever daughter wanted to stay at school while we all went off for the day, her school was closed....she is such a sponge....Saturday, it was Isabella's birthday party.....she turned 6 in September but the party spot was booked so, better late than never. Let me be the first testify that those inflatables are absolutely exhausting ~ for kids and the crazy adults that act like children!!! Audrey fell asleep at 5:45pm while driving back to B'ham and didn't wake up until 6:30am this morning - OH YEAH! So, Saturday Night while sleeping beauty slept... Brett and Grant put together my rocking chairs for the front porch....i have always wanted a house with a front porch for white rockers and now i have it :) .....happiness....

Enjoy the Pics.... oh the beauty of a digital camera - i am still a bit giddy with excitement, can you tell !?!??!

photo shows from the weekend...