Trick-or-Treat!

Happy Halloween!!!

The girls had a blast this year running around trick-or-treating and collecting candy and we certainly enjoyed being able to stay a safe distance behind and watching them "do-it-themselves" and of course, encouraging some thank you's!

Since Toy Story is all the rage this year, Addison knew exactly what she wanted to be for Halloween and we even talked (which wasn't hard!) Da'be into making her outfit. Didn't she do a fabulous job?! Maggie got her outfit somewhat by default, but I LOVED it! While we were in Tuscaloosa visiting CC one weekend a few months ago we did a little consignment shop browsing and we ran across this costume for only $8! I didn't get it at first then couldn't resist so we went back and bought it and I am soooo glad. She was absolutely adorable and loved wearing the outfit (she always was making sure that her hood/ears were up!). We got some many compliments on how classic her costume was!

Trunk or Treat at Ridgeland Freedom Ridge Park - the girls had a grand time and got buckets of candy! Da'be sent the girls a Halloween package and below they are enjoying their marshmellow suckers! The dentist will probably be racking in the money!!!

Jessie the Cowgirl!

Dumbo!

We went over to Eric & Jaclyn Durham's house for a little trick-or-treating on Saturday night and afterwards watched some football and enjoyed visiting with friends. Toy Story was well represented - hate we couldn't get all the kids together for a group picture!

Parker and Addison held hands almost the entire night while going door to door!

The girls with their candy stash and their choice of "one" piece - Addison is my chocolate girl and Maggie will always choose a sucker over anything else!!!

Fun at the Fair!

We didn't make it to the State Fair downtown this year because we usually go on Sunday afternoon and this year instead we had Maggie's birthday party! We weren't really sure that we wanted to try to go anyway because we were a little afraid that Maggie wouldn't be able to ride everything and she would really NOT be ok with being left out after she LOVED to ride at Disney World this summer. I had heard a little bit about the Yazoo Co. Fair and it ran the week after the State Fair so the Friday night after Lee got back from his hunting trip we took the girls on a surprise trip to the fair and they were so excited! It was great - you paid $9 to get in and it covered all the rides you dared to ride (as many times as you wanted and we didn't have to deal with tickets!), there were no lines, and it was a lot more patroled. The girls smiled the whole time they were there and there was only one thing that Maggie got turned away from. We had a funnel cake to top off the night and we will definitely be returning!

Addison's 1st Field Trip...

(click to enlarge and I think if you double click it will zoom in!)

AND we went to the Pumpkin Patch!!! I took the morning off and joined her (you know because she won't always want me to tag along!). We had a great time and it is always fun to see her interact with kids that she plays with on a daily basis (those girls are definitely little prima donnas - they were too funny!) and it is so amazing how much they pick up on that we are sometimes oblivious to! We went to the Nichols-Boyd Pumpkin Patch on Hwy 43 in Brandon. There we all enjoyed a hay ride, ran around the hay maze, dug in the "corn"box, swung on potato swings, petted a few farm animals (Addison was rubbing all over the cow!), drank some pumpkin juice, and of course, picked out our pumpkins!!! It was a beautiful day outside and I had a great time with Addison, her friends, and all their moms, dads, and grandparents.

Thankful...

Now that Lee is back and I am no longer home alone...I feel comfortable posting that I spent 5 nights (well really only 3 since Mom came for the weekend!) at home by myself with the girls!!! And if you know me at all, you know that this is a huge accomplishment - I am a big scaredy cat and hear every creak and crack! But...I prayed a lot about this fear and the need to conquer it and God really sent a peacefulness over me and I wasn't really worried at all. Lee, Les, and Justin went to New Mexico last week on a guy's hunting trip. It definitely sounds like they had a blast (even though they didn't kill anything) and I know that it was special for them to be able to spend some father/son/brother time together without all us women around!

They drove out to their good friend Jerry's house in New Mexico and then they all set up tents, camped out in the mountains, and hiked out each day to hunt.

Lee said this is where they set up camp - beautiful fall setting. I wish he would have taken a pic of the actual camp!

Life was definitely a "little" busier for me as a "single" parent during that almost week, but we did pretty well and had some really good girl-time as well! My birthday was the second day of Lee's abscence and our family and my co-workers made sure that I got plenty of attention! I got lots of texts and phone calls and had breakfast and goodies all day at work. Mom came in for the weekend and we did lots of fun stuff! Saturday, the weather was beautiful so we headed up to Lake Caroline's clubhouse for the annual craft show and I got started on a little Christmas shopping. Next, we drove into Ridgeland for the Annual Fall Festival that is always a lot of fun (Kellis Moore is in charge so I usually get to see lots of CA alumni and their kiddos and that is always fun!). It is a free event for the community - chili cookoff, hay rides, bounce houses, petting zoo, pony rides, characiture paintings, face paintings, rock climbing walls, and cookie decorating!

After an eventful morning, we went back home for some afternoon rest and relaxtion on the back porch since the weather was absolutely gorgeous. Once we were rejuvenated, we took off to the Renaissance to do some shopping and eat out for my birthday.

Now on to Sunday...in case you haven't guess, we love living where there are sooo many fun things to do close by and sometimes even "free". We bought an annual family pass to the zoo earlier this year for 2 adults and children for $40, and since it was so pretty outside...mom and I decided to get some more use out of it! We didn't tell the girls where we were going. We had a picnic by the railroad tracks at the zoo and headed in to play and spend time with the animals. They had a great time!!! Maggie really enjoyed it this time - she seemed a LOT more into all the animals now that she is two.

As you can tell, Maggie was completely worn out! So...I am so thankful to have my husband back home and very thankful to my mom for coming to spend the weekend with us so that we weren't lonely (and I didn't go crazy!!!)

Maggie's 2nd Birthday Party!

For Maggie's 2nd birthday party, we hosted a "play date" in our backyard and other than it being a little hotter than any October birthday should be, we all had a blast! The kiddos jumped on the trampoline, swang, slid on the playset, and played ball. Shelby at Sug' Cakes made the amazing Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cake and it tasted even better than it looks (strawberry cake and cream cheese icing). Maggie received so many wonderful gifts and she has wasted no time breaking them ALL in! Thanks so much for your extreme generosity!!!

About a month ago, Maggie's "mick mouse" that she sleeps with every night "disappeared" while we were in Starkville. Me, Pap, and Lee searched everywhere for about 30 minutes before giving up. Pap began his search to find a replacement not long after we left. Last week, Suzy found "mick mouse" upstairs behind a door and Maggie was so excited to be reunited. In the meantime, Pap collected quite a few and wrapped them up for her party. She was so excited every time she opened one!!!
We hope everyone had just as much fun as we did and we appreciate you spending your afternoon helping us celebrate 2 wonderful years of a very vibrant little girl! Thanks for stopping by!!!

Happy Birthday to Maggie....

Friday morning, October 8th, our baby girl entered the "terrific two's" She had a wonderful day celebrating!!! Thursday night, we made Mickey Mouse sugar cookies (Lee cut them out and I iced them!) for she and Addison to eat with their breakfast while we sang!

Taking one of her many phone calls of birthday wishes...this smile, in particular, was her giggling and smiling to the sweet sound of KK, Sloan & Molly singing "Happy Birthday"
Maggie is TWO!
Birthday Girl!!!

Friday afternoon...Lee and I showed up at the daycare after naptime with cupcakes for Maggie and all of her friends! They were so excited to see us...please notice that Maggie's class is ALL girls (and they have hair! I just thought Addison didn't have any hair...poor Maggie).The poor little boy that will move up next won't know what hit him!!!

So hard to believe that our "baby" is growing up so fast and working on getting out of diapers! Hopefully I will get birthday party pics up before the end of the week!

Pap's 60th Birthday!

Well...as usual, I am late on this post! Pap turned 60 on August 8th and we ALL spent all day with him on his birthday (more meaningful than any gift he got!). Not only did he enjoy it, but it was awesome to all be together in one place.

Suzy pulled off a HUGE 60th birthday bash on Saturday night! I have to say how impressed I was with all the food, decorations, etc. that they all put together - I was absolutely no help at all (I hate that we don't live closer together and Lee has to work ALL day on Saturday). I don't have any pictures from that night because we were late getting there, but I have some great ones from our Sunday by the pool on his actual birthday...

Having a little fun in the pool!

One BIG HAPPY family!
Pap and all of his kiddos!
And his favorite little people!!!
Happy Birthday Pap - here's to many many more!