Halloween Weekend

We have had a fun Halloween weekend!

We started it off on Friday at AEH's school. They had a Hoe-Down all morning and the families were invited to come. EMH actually had a Halloween party at his school at the same time so it worked out good that he could just come to this and we could all be in one place. It started at 8:30 and ended after lunch. The kids dressed in their cowgirl and cowboy outfits and enjoyed a morning full of fun activities.


They started off singing some songs outside on a stage. EMH and I barely made it! We were walking up as they were singing their last song. AEH was scanning the crowd to see where we were. This is when she spotted us. Boy, am I glad I made it! Well sort of made it. ;)


Next was the square dancing in the gym. EMH even participated, but only while I was dancing with them. Hence why I have no pictures of us.


This was probably her favorite. The hay ride! She enjoyed sitting with her friends! EMH enjoyed it too.
As we were getting off, SLH had arrived and was waiting for us. AEH was so excited to see him!



We went inside to their class room and they colored a piggy bank. AEH's didn't make it home with her because she accidentally dropped it as she was getting on the bus. :(

Yes, I dressed for the occasion. Aunt Suzi let me borrow her hat and I wore my cowboy boots.


Brother was enjoying some skittles while they painted their pigs. He also wore his cowboy boots.

Next they took a class picture.

Their favorite,the funny one!

The last thing they did before their picnic lunch was watching and learning how a horse is fitted for horse shoes. They were very intrigued by this, as were the parents. It looked so painful for the horse but they promised that the horse didn't feel a thing.


Saturday night was our trick or treat night. We had an interesting combination.

Princess Leia and a Dalmatian dog.

As you can tell in the above photo, our dog wasn't sure about his costume. Meme and Ampy had stopped by to see them and bring some goodies. With Meme's help and waving some candy in front of our dog, we finally got a little smile out of him.

To no surprise, our Princess Leia was ready for the night!

AEH has a friend in her class at school that lives in our neighborhood and they invited us to trick or treat with them. We went on a hay ride with them around the neighborhood.

EMH loved it! He kept saying "I get candy".

AEH's friend also has a brother the same age as EMH, so they had fun trick or treating together as well.

AEH and her friend had a blast running from house to house getting candy.

This was taken as AEH would say, "the real Halloween day", on Sunday morning before church.

Like I said last year, it will be interesting to see what they choose to be for Halloween next year!

Busy, busy, busy!

WE ARE STILL HERE! It has been crazy these last few weeks. I can't believe it has been so long since I have posted. I don't even know where to begin.
Well, first of all, I have had a sinus infection/cold for about 3 weeks now. I went to my ENT for the second time today. He did a scope and didn't see anything unusual. I have taken two antibiotics, a steroid pack and several different antihistamines and decongestants. My mom said the other day that our kitchen counter looks like a drug store. Nothing seems to be working. I think a little rain would help. He gave me a new antihistamine and a nasal spray today. So we will see how that works. I am suppose to sing a solo this coming Sunday and I really need to get well. I may go in on Thursday and get a steroid shot to get me through the song on Sunday. AEH had an ear infection last week and EMH had bronchitis a couple of weeks ago. They are well now. SLH has had something similar to what I have. I have been so tired from the medicines and every chance I get, I want to take a nap. I haven't been able to go to church because of the coughing. I almost had to leave out of the choir loft the last time I was there. I have just kept going but not been 100%for anything. I mean I couldn't just shut down for 3 weeks.
We celebrated my birthday. I had several birthday meals the week before my birthday.
This was one night after we went to Pizza Inn. We picked Pizza Inn obviously for the kids. If they are happy then it makes for a much more pleasant experience. I got my presents this night...gift cards and clothes. I had lots of help blowing out the candles.
We did go out to one of my favorite's the night before I left, Cheddars.


I left for my girls trip on my birthday. We had a great time. We shopped, ate, played games, stayed up late talking and just enjoyed getting away and spending time together.
This was our first night at the Oyster House.


This was our last night at the Hangout.

Our packages took up all the room in the back. We had our luggage on the top. This was after we had already taken some out.


SLH took the kids to Birmingham for the weekend. They met up with his family. My Nephew was playing soccer there. So they just made a weekend of it.

We took the kids to the State Fair this past weekend and they had a blast. We went with our friends the C's. We have gone with them for the past several years. It is so neat because our kids are the same ages and it works out well riding rides together. The kids loved all the rides. I think they would have stayed out there forever if money and time would've allowed. They just couldn't get enough. AEH got her a funnel cake and of course we brought home some taffy. The Fair and all it entails is right up her alley. EMH loved it too. He didn't know much last year but this year he was taking it all in. There was not a ride they wouldn't try. No fear in those two.









Another reason I haven't been blogging is I am reading a book that Meme gave me. I don't think I have read a book since AEH was born. It is "Choosing to See" by Mary Beth Chapman. She is the wife of the Christian Contemporary singer Steven Curtis Chapman. They have 3 biological children and they adopted three girls from China. They lost their youngest daughter from China in a tragic accident. I followed their blog for several months after the accident. It is a great book about their life and all the ups and downs they have faced. The only time I get to read is at night after the kids go to bed and that is usually the time I update my blog. Hence the reason I haven't been blogging.
We are also car shopping. I leased my SUV for three years and the lease is up in November. We are trying to decide what we want to get and if we want to buy or lease again. We are probably going to buy which makes us want to be a little more picky, knowing we will be driving this longer. It takes a lot of time to go look for car and the only time we can go together is on the weekend.
My house is a mess and has suffered with us being so busy and me not feeling good. It is driving me crazy. I don't even know where to begin cleaning.
Our shrubs need trimming and new straw put out but that can't happen until I get well. Breathing all of that would probably put me in the hospital.
We have a lot of events going on the next two weeks with Halloween. With AEH being in school now and EMH going two days a week, it makes for many events during the holidays. This is also the time of the year when SLH travels. He will be gone four weekends between now and the end of the year. It's going to be a busy rest of the year.
AEH also has a birthday coming up and we are trying to decide what to do for that.
Having said all of this, I am still thankful for a house to clean, money to buy a car, medicine for my sinuses and most of all, kids and a husband to love and care for.
But for now, I am off to go read my book. :)

Birthday Season

I guess you could say it is "birthday season" for our families. We have a few others scattered through the year but the majority are at the end of the year and September is the big month.
My dad starts it out with his birthday on September 9th. We had a big birthday celebration for dad, SLH, Suzi and I at mom and dad's last Sunday. Dad got gift cards to Home Depot to use for some home improvement projects.

And then of course there was our little two year old who had his own birthday party on September 11th. EMH got lots of toys!
Since I have already showed his birthday pictures, I thought I would share this picture that I took this morning before church. I had gotten my shoes out to wear and I turned around and he had them on. Sporting them in his pajama top and diaper. I could just eat those cute little legs up! :)

We went to Uncle Todd's and Aunt Toni's on Labor Day weekend and they had an early party for EMH and SLH. Granna and Granddaddy were there too. We had a great time! There will be a blog post coming up with more about that fun trip.

Meme's birthday was on September 14th and we got take out from PF Chang's and celebrated on her birthday. SLH and AEH made a homemade birthday cake. I am so mad that I didn't get a picture of that "masterpiece". :) Meme got some Bath and Body Works soap and some Yellow Box sandals.

Next up was SLH's on September 15th. We celebrated at Pizza Inn and then came back to our house and had his favorite cake that Meme makes for him, "Sock it to Me Cake".
He got two LSU shirt's, gift card to Malco Theater, a Polo button down shirt and some running pants.

Aunt Suzi's was on September 20th. We celebrated at the big celebration last Sunday at mom and dad's. She got MONEY and a gift certificate to one of her favorite stores, "Judith Lee's".

We went ahead and celebrated my birthday with my family since it is October 8th and I am leaving that day for my annual "girls trip". I got money to take shopping with on my trip!! :)
SLH is holding his money up that he got at the big birthday celebration at my parent's.

That is all for now. Next up will be my official birthday October 8th and Granddaddy's October 9th.

EMH is two!

EMH turned the big 2 this past Saturday. He is now an official toddler and not a baby. It is sad to leave the baby years behind but it is exciting to watch him grow and learn new things. He learns new things everyday and if asked, we can tell a funny thing that he said or did everyday. He is having some of the toddler fits and testing us to see what he can get away with. He told me today when I picked him up from school, "I pull Ms. Leta's hair". Ms. Leta is his teacher. I asked her if he did and she said no. He will tell you he did something wrong even when he didn't just to see your reaction. He did get in trouble for the first time at preschool last week for pulling hair. His teachers tell me that he has not done it again but we do realize that he probably will. :) The sweetest thing he is doing lately is singing. He can sing several songs in their entirety... "Kum Bah Yah", "Jesus Loves Me", " The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Happy Birthday". He also told me tonight as I was rocking him before bed, " I hold AM's hand". This is a little girl at his school that he likes and talks about a lot. I met her mom the other day in car pool and she told me that she hears about EMH a lot at her house too. Wow, they sure do start this stuff early!
We had a party at our house for EMH on his birthday. We rented a train and he LOVED it! Actually he wasn't so sure about it at first...



but he ended up really liking it and has talked about it a lot since. Meme found him a cute Train Conductor outfit. He wouldn't wear the outfit but he loved the hat! We also gave out train whistles to all the kids for their party favors.





He had the cutest cake that our friend Gayla made for him.

He loved being sang to and blowing out his candles. He keeps telling us "I blow out two candles".

EMH loved all his gifts!

He was a wild man on his truck that Juju and Granddad got him. We have definitely got to work on how to steer and drive it.

The kids enjoyed jumping on the trampoline and just playing around in the backyard. It is neat because EMH's friends (and our family friends) have children that are EMH's age and AEH's age. So AEH had just as many of her friends there as EMH. So much so that when everyone left she said "I really enjoyed my birthday party". This gave be an idea. I may have to combine their parties sometime. :)


Our friends/neighbors let us borrow a blow up jumper that they really enjoyed.

As the shirt says, "This little monkey is two". He had a great time at his party and so did we!!!

A big thanks to Aunt Suzi for taking the pictures. It was so good to not have to worry about taking pictures during the party and she has a much better camera and does a much better job than I do. I just hate that we didn't get any pictures of her. :(

"AEH's Tea Party"

It is probably no surprise to anyone that AEH loves to dress up and adding a tea party to it is just icing on the cake. She had been telling me that she wanted to have some friends over for a tea party. So the week she started school, they split the alphabet for their first day and AEH went the first day and was off the second day. EMH went to his preschool that day that she was home, so we made it a special day for AEH since this was a such a special time with her starting kindergarten. We invited some of her friends over, got some flowers for the table, laid out the tablecloth and had a tea party!

We ordered a cookie cake for her desert.

AEH, being the sweet lover that she is, REALLY enjoyed her sugar cookie cake.

Juju had a cute tea set that we used and AEH picked Milo's sweet iced tea for the drink. They even did a little toasting.

They mostly enjoyed stirring and sipping their tea with their teaspoons.

Two of the girls came dressed in their own outfits, but RB chose to dress up with some of AEH's dress up clothes. We loved what she chose. The horse just made the outfit!!

They had a great time and it was all that AEH wanted it to be!

Waiting for Daddy

SLH will usually call me when he is on his way home and one day last week the kids heard me talking to him and went to the window to wait for daddy. They got AEH's chairs out of her room and they pulled them up to the front door.
They were so cute! SLH always gets a big welcome from them when he comes home. He barely makes it in the door good before he is bombarded. :) They are much more consistent with thier nice welcome than I am. I usually am glad he is home but mostly because I need some RELIEF! Sometimes my welcome is not quite as happy as theirs. I am working on it though and trying to learn from them. :)

The Bus Ride!!

I have an update on the bus ride. I was standing out waiting for her and the bus went past our house and on around the culdesac. I saw and heard him make a few stops.

And then I saw him coming back down our street. I must admit that I was a little nervous at this point. Wondering if she was on the bus and if he was going to stop.
And then right after I took this picture, he honked his horn and I knew she was on there!


AEH then, stuck her head out the window and yelled "MOMMY!!". Can you imagine how happy I was!!! I wish I could have been quick enough to get a picture. He stopped right at our driveway and as you can see she jumped off!


She got home at 2:40, so that means our street was probably the first stop and that she wasn't on the bus more that about 10 minutes. So much better than carpool. It took me 1 hour from the time I left home until we got back home the first day and the second day it took me 50 minutes. That was also with a 2 year old taking part of his nap in his car seat. She seemed to really like it and wanted to do it again. So as long as she likes it and as long as we don't suspect or hear about any problems, we will let her ride home in the afternoon. But if for any reason she wants me to start picking her up again, I will most definitely do it!
One day I am going to have to wake EMH up early so that he can see his sister get off the bus. He will love it!!!