Boo Bash!

Grace and her school friends had the best time trick or treating each other. First, they decorated big brown paper bags with thumb print polka dots and with help from Mrs. Maria and Mrs. Patti added their names. Then they each took turns passing out their goodies to their friends. So sweet!

And although they have to save their trick-or-treat bags for home, they had a little boo bash with treats after lunch.

Grace was so excited to show me the jack-o-lantern she made during art time and even more excited to dig into her stash. This little ghost lollipop made her giggle. How cute is this little candy corn lollie??! She just plopped down on the floor and took her time enjoying that lollie! Don't you just love that about little ones - they stay so in the moment and just enjoy the simplest things that we tend to overlook. Tomorrow's the big day - can't wait to see my little cupcake and squishable tootsie roll!

Pumpkins Pumpkins Everywhere!

Such a fun annual tradition! This year we smarted up and brought the wagon for Grace to ride in. She loved it...and the pumpkins :) Hudson loved being outside and even took a little catnap.

Some of our favorites...
The slogan on the icee display was too clever: Boo! Icee you! ha, ha, ha. Seems I have the sense of humor of a grade school kid these days.

And did you see the "If you give a Pig a Pancake" one? Love that one! I think that one's my favorite. Here's a better view. And here's more of the group displays...mostly made by elementary classrooms. So fun!

Mama Spidey and Baby Spideys Spookley's Pumpkin Patch - such a cute story. Can't wait to read that one again to Grace. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Where the Wild Things Are Look at this one!!!!!!!!!! Ahoy Captain! This one probably takes the cake for 'most creative' this year: Monsters Under the Bed And which one was Grace's favorite???? Cinderella of course! Too bad there wasn't a Curious George one. Or Strawberry Shortcake. Hmmmm...maybe next year we'll have to enter!

Bucket full o' treats

This past Tuesday when Mimi watched Grace and Hudson, she not only came ready to have fun with the little pumpkin and the cutest little rollie pollie you've ever seen, she also came bearing lots of treats!!!

Grace was so excited to dig in to her PINK pumpkin (you know her well Mimi!). Hudson's thinking all this halloween/treats business is pretty cool too! Thank you Mimi & Pop!

XOXO,
Grace & Hudson

Hudson - 4 months

Time is passing by way too fast. My sweet little guy turned 4 months a couple of days ago. He is one sweet baby. Loves to be held. So long as he's being held he's happy. He's content to just sit back and watch his big sister dance, twirl, sing...she's quite the entertainer you know...and he just eats it up! Just a laid back guy saying, "Yea, I know I'm cool" But wait...a little someone has a brand new trick to show you! {Just in time for halloween} He's also mama's little sidekick...my little exercise buddy pretending to FLY! This one...he's a fearless one. The higher the better for him.
Let's make a deal...promise me you'll stay little and sweet forever and I promise you I'll always make time to "fly" you on my knees, deal? Oh, how we love you Hudson!!!!
XOXO, Daddy, Mama & Grace

As featured in Little Miss Heirlooms

I remember reading a comment left on one of my posts from sweet Priscila of Little Miss Heirlooms and clicking on her site to check it out. My, oh my was I in for a treat! Pure eye candy for this vintage-loving gal! I looooooooooooove pretty much everything in her SHOPPE. Maybe I need to start dropping some Christmas hints - he, he, he.

I mean check out these adorable hAlloWeeN lOoT bAGs! That little owl!!!!!!!! I can already see an entire party centered around these! How fun would that be?! and then look at these - the sweetest little CiRCus cuPS...you know I'm crazy about vintage circus!!! And if that wasn't enough to get you clicking, clicking, clicking over to her adorable shoppe, then check these out: Yes, she even creates vInTAge INspIrED PaRTy iNvITatiONs. How perfect is that?!

So when Priscila asked me to do a little interview, I was more than honored. To be in the company of the talented Jennifer Hayslip of Sweet Eye Candy Creations...Sweet! Want to read about our recent Chick-fil-A incident? Then click right HERE. I promise you it'll make a bad day not seem so bad. So there you have it, my two minutes of fame :) Thank you Priscila for being so sweet!

October = birthdays

October must be a popular month for birthdays...yesterday we celebrated four of Lance's relatives birthdays. Of course, the moment Grace hears "birthday" she thinks it should be her turn :) She loves to sing happy birthday and sneak a taste of birthday cake...this was no exception. When she heard so many names called, she wondered why hers wasn't one of them (oh, to be two again!). Thank you Aunt Marilyn for indulging her and relighting one little candle so she could make a wish. Must be a good wish...can you see how hard she is blowing? Sneak Attack...in full sight! That's cousin Jade sneaking a little taste too! ;) All the while this little guy was happy as a clam to hang out with Mimsy and Papaw. Check out the sweet grin! So Happy Birthday Mememaw, Aunt Evelyn, Aunt Martha, and Lexi! Aunt Evelyn~ I hope I'm doing as good as you when I turn 94!!! God bless you!

Some kind of wonderful...

A couple of days ago we made a trip back to our old hometown and spent a wonderful afternoon with my high school friend Laura. Laura and I danced side by side on our high school danceline - fun times! Good thing she's quick on her toes because she got quite a workout chasing Grace and Hudson around (well, mainly Grace :). She did a great job capturing their sweetness in all of Fall's splendor. Laura is such a fun, creative person. She does a little photography on the side and is a preschool teacher by day...the kind of teacher you always hope your kids will have. Grace had a blast with Mrs. Laura. She was so impressed that Mrs. Laura could talk "kid-speak" and knew all those special preK songs. When we got in the car after our session, she said "she was a VERY nice girl, mama" - the highest compliment coming from a two and a half year old!

Here's Grace trying her best to spook Mrs. Laura by going BOO! There were so many wonderful pics...I'm working on a mini slideshow, but for now, here's a few more of my favorites. I feel overwhelmingly blessed that God has entrusted me to care for these two precious ones. They truly are some kind of wonderful! Thank you SO much Laura for taking time away from your sweet family to create these wonderful memories for ours. Grace is still going around saying "easy peasy lemon squeezy" ...and I'm now addicted to orange cream slushies from Sonic :)

jack-o-lantern smiles

Every year since my goddaughter Madeline was born (2003), my friend Heidi and I have made our way to the pumpkin patch. It's our little tradition. And as traditions go, after a while you start adding expectations to the mix. Uh-oh.

We had great expectations for this year's pumpkin pictures. Then we were rained out not once but twice. Maybe it was a sign???? Anywhoo...expectations and four wiggly little people 6 and under just don't mix. Lesson learned.

The hour we spent at the pumpkin patch was filled with pics like this - the Pumpkin Potty Pose (say that three times fast): I can't even begin to tell you the bribes we resorted to...lollipops, slushies, extra reading time at bedtime, curious george movie in the car...like I said expectations - ours, not theirs. Big mistake.

Group Photo Take 1 Madeline - 6, Grace - 2 1/2, Ella Kate - 14 months, Hudson - 4 months

Group Photo Take 2 Group Photo Take 3 Group Photo Take 4 Group Photo Take 5
I finally gave up on the "perfect picture" and asked them to give me their goofiest smiles. Smart choice. So this is the one I'm choosing to frame - Goofy Smiles 2009. To remind myself that having a great time is much more important than having great pictures. Hey, maybe we'll start a new tradition and not only name each year's group photo but see just how silly we can get. Thank you Madeline, Ella Kate, Grace, and Hudson!
Lesson learned my little darlings.
I love you so much! XOXO

A-maze-ing

How cheesy is that title??? I know. I know. But our time at the corn maze was SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!

We had talked about it for a while, but none of us had ever been out there, so this past weekend we decided to be spontaneous and make the trek out to the middle of nowhere to go to the CORN MAZE. We're still talking about it...in more ways than one...but we'll get to that at the end :)

It was a bit chilly and very WINDY, but we didn't let that stop us! We just bundled up and off we went.

Off to explore... Love the funny signs posted all around. Little missy ever so prissy wasn't a big fan of the mosquitoes (they were EVERYWHERE from all the rain this past week, I guess). Hudson seemed to have a fun time...he kept kicking his little legs in excitement (sorry for the fuzzy pics - had to use the old point-n-shoot since I had Hudson strapped to me the whole time). Nature Lesson along the corn maze...we even found ant beds along our trek. After finding our way out we had to make a stop for some funny pictures. Cutest little rooster if you ask me! Grace's turn! Off to try out the old horse swing. Is it just me or do you also find it hilarious that in the middle of the open field there's a working coke machine!?! Fun times at the duck races...especially since one of her ducks was PINK :) Obligatory photo op...the little pumpkin is officially 38" these days!! Hudson's turn...he cheated a bit - he, he, he! My favorite part, hands down! Making corn angels! So much fun! Having a good 'ole time! Even Hudson got to check out the corn I wanted to jump in so bad, but I couldn't since I had the little guy in the bjorn the whole time :( Remember my opening comment...we're still talking about the corn maze...well, since I loved the corn bin so much and insisted we FULLY experience the corn (even Hudson had to touch it), it just never even occured to me that both kiddos could have a mild corn/hay allergy :O ...couple of days later and we're still dealing with itchy watery eyes, sneezes, and runny noses. Maybe it was just a coincidence and they've both just got a little cold??? At least that's what I'm telling myself.

One final stop at the cow choo choo and it was time to call it a day. Can't wait to go again next year!