In House Halloween 2009!

Took some pics of our Cinderella and our lion after dinner!

Carter loves the glass slippers....and for once his sis didn't mind that he had them...she was too busy "smarming" him...

It's times like these that I know she is my child...

And again...there is no doubt!

Realized yet again that sometimes these traditions are more for the parents than the kids...they had not a clue that day was Oct. 31st...but we didn't want them to miss out on Halloween this year!

About to "smarm" again...one day he might be bigger than her! She better get in her "smarming" while she can! :)

And here she is yanking his tail as he went for a ball...just to document that he isn't the only one who yanks things and gets in trouble... :)

Then we headed upstairs for Trick or Treating!!!!
(A little different than last year...)

It was the quickest Trick or Treating ever!

About three visits to her room and we called it a night...

Carter enjoyed his first 3 Musketeers bar (he squeezed it out of the wrapper...then I traded him for another one once his suit was off) and Mallory chose a box of Nerds as her candy for the evening. :) Good Night Halloween 2009...def. one we will remember for yrs to come! :)

Trick or Treat! :)

Carving a la Mike

Well in keeping with tradition we started out helping Mike with the carving...only to leave him to finish...these little ones are so busy!

Mal wanted to use the special carving tool on the plastic pumpkin in the Family Room...and Carter was all about playing with a balloon...

Then back again to see what Daddy is up to...

Carter was in the corner last year ...now he was cruising to get a peek of the action!

Then off to chase Sissy to the beloved cabinet...and about to yank on some hair...something he gets in trouble for often...we are working on it!

Paper towel roll...hours of entertainment!

Thanks for carving again Mike! Maybe one of these yrs they will be old enough to help! :)

The pumpkin is lit and ready for the indoor festivities...

Aunt Susan stopped by with gifts for the little ones...it will be so fun for them to wake up and see the changes in the Family Room while they slept! :)

Sickie Poos

Mallory joined the ranks of the sick on Thurs. :( We have been pushing the videos and trying to make her rest...a challenge for a little person! We get our daily dose of Cinderella and we have watched Aladdin for the first time. Mallory is enjoying all the "perks" that go along with being sick. She doesn't think she is sick and always says, "I not sick...I feel good!" It's gonna be rough around here when life goes back to normal for the little girl and all the extras are taken away! (like Mommy sleeping with her..."I rub your back so you feel better Momma..." So sweet!...and she is the sick one!) We hope the "in-house" Trick or Treating goes over well tonight...Mike and I are going to hide in their bedrooms and have the kids knock for treats...and we will have a candy scavenger hunt as well. Wish us luck! And pray we are on the mend soon! :)

14 Months!

Our little man turned 14 months yesterday! I love snuggling with him when he comes down in the morning and has his sippy cup of milk. It is nice alone time for us and it is the only time he stays still enough to snuggle! He loves bath time and is like a bull when he splashes...he will even lean over and put his face in a bit! He is constantly pulling up on my leg and "chatting" with me around the house...if he hears me talking from another room...I can immediately hear him crawling like crazy to get to me....I love it! He is quite fast these days! And the Elem. kids comment that he looks like Spiderman as he cruises fast along the walls to get from room to room. We love our little guy and are so blessed by his personality and the joy that he brings to our family each day! :)

Alligator Juice

We have been laying low around here as sickness swirls all around us! So many Elem. kids are sick and Daddy has been home the last 2 days feeling under the weather. Mal and I made him sugar cookies and she liked delivering "alligator juice" (aka Gatorade) to him...and she also enjoyed having a little herself in a "big girl cup"...our little Clara Barton! :)

Hayride 09

Had a blast at the neighborhood hayride... MiMi and PaPa even came with a sign advertising their FREE kitten...it was quite the conversation starter! But no takers!

Our Cinderella and lion were still sleeping when it started so Aunt Susan and I headed down with the HOT Cider and Mike and MiMi got the kids dressed and brought them down for the festivities...(PaPa was watching the game and headed down later...)

The kids got to eat pretzels that were Halloween shapes and drink cider (kids had the cold and the adults had the hot...)

Then we jumped on the hayride for a ride (or 3!) around the neighborhood while Mike manned the cider...Both kids were quite stoic for the journey...much like last year...Gotta love traditions!

I Ain't "Lion"....

I'm working on downloading pictures from my old camera card tonight while Mike has "Bro Night" and came across some old film...It cracked me up...I hope our little lion still fits in his costume! I guess we will find out tomorrow for the neighborhood hayride!!! He was about 8 months old when I took these movies! :)

Baby Fix!!!

We got to love on a little baby today for a bit...One of my friends from church is recovering from knee surgery and she needed help with her little one today so her husband could go into work for a few hours....What a treat for us to get our baby fix! M was in heaven (as was I)! Carter missed a lot of the hang out time with his naps not matching hers...but it was action packed for the couple hrs that they were all awake....Baby J is a-d-o-r-a-b-l-e!!! Such a sweet personality and such cute cheeks! She loves to smile and make raspberry noises! Can't wait to see her again at church!

100 Years of Magic

Tonight was the big night! We went here! The secret has been so hard to keep! I was so excited to tell her today that we were going on a special Mommy Daughter Date tonight...I mean you can't go wrong with Disney and ice skating...and buy one get one free tickets!!!!! :)

Here we are before the show...we got to go with 2 of our playgroup friends and their mommies...
She was so pensive..."What's going to happen next? When is Cinderella coming out?? etc etc..." Here she is during one of the scarier parts...isn't it wonderful how good always triumphs over evil though?!?!!

Buzz Lightyear! (Can't wait til she watches Toy Story, Cousin Alex!)

And Ginny I thought of you during "The Small World" number and took this shot...you would've loved it!

Munching during Part II of the show...

As pensive as she was she waved like crazy during the whole last song..."Momma, Can we go talk to them??" It was so fun to be able to tell her that one day we will get to go visit them where they live...I can't wait! But tonight was a good fix! I'm sure we will be hearing all about it for a long time!
Here she is all dressed in her jammies ready to make the journey home at 930 at night...she was out as soon as we hit the highway! All night I was overwhelmed with gratefulness to have a little one to share the magic of Disney with...God is so good!

Pumpkin Wumpkins

Fall Has Made a Come Back!

We are so grateful that fall has returned! Last week was a little much!!! I'm not ready for winter already!!! Hubby surprised me by baking this apple pie from scratch the other night! It was delicious!! The whole fam has been enjoying it! Thanks for the apples Kelley! :)

We went to Music in the Park this morning...M was so excited to see "The Man with the Guitar" again...and then we got to play...

Love that Carter's tongue is out...he was all over the place...

It was the first time I felt "squirrely" at the park with the 2 of them...Carter is so much quicker and they both have ideas about where they want to be and what they want to do...and the park was crrrrrriz---owded! I guess everyone was excited about the nice weather!!! :)

The most relaxing part of our time there....ahhhhhh the swings! :)

Then we came home and had a picnic lunch out in our front yard and played on the tree...Do you see a "monkey" swinging????? We are soooooo grateful that fall is back!!! :)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

These Are the Days...

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Highlights:
*Getting all bundled up for the event
*Moonbouncin'
*Pig and Duck racin'
*MiMi pushin' Carter through the corn maze
*Paint Ball and Corn Shootin'
*Mallory loving the barrel ride again this yr and Carter waving at her from the sidelines
*Staying almost til the Farm closed for the day :)

2nd Annual Pumpkin Patchin!

We had such a blast last yr we had to go again!!! We had it all planned out and Aunt Laura and Matt were even coming up from NC for it! Who knew it was going to be winter and feel like we should be singing Christmas Carols out there! But the chilly weather couldn't put a damper on our excitement!

The corn pit is always such fun! This little guy will get to romp around in it next yr...

Both kids got to go on the tractor train ride...couldn't take a pic while on it bc I was holding on to this little guy...

A little paint ball shooting with Aunt Suzy!

Ber led us through the corn maze again this year...(click on his name to read his story and find out ways to help children battling cancer...)

Rode the tractor out to the pumpkin patch to find 2 pumpkins for our "pumpkins"...

Carter was in heaven..."bahhhhhs" everywhere...he was a riot to watch...

Thanks for coming up guys!! We had such a great time with y'all this weekend!!! :)

In the words of Mallory (last yr after our day at the patch when she woke up from her nap).... "Yay...FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" :)