Pumpkins & Princesses & Potters, oh my!

Halloween. Need I say more?

Eliza Grace began talking about Halloween costumes 'round about August. 

In the end, she thankfully chose to wear her ridiculously overpriced recital costume from last year and went as a ballerina princess. So now we are down to $25 per wear for that one.

Will kept waffling.

"I want to be a ghost"

"I want to be a pumpkin"

"I want to be nice ghost"

"I want candy...where is the candy??!!"

So, going to the best known source of everything, I asked the other moms at the bus stop, and thankfully my next door neighbor had a pumpkin costume that fit him...it cut up the crotch a bit, but hey, he only had to wear it for a couple of hours, right?

And Will, who could not WAIT to get out there and start bringing in the sugar, happily ran with the other 10 kids up to that first house, someone rang the door bell and when the door opened, they all yelled, "trick or treat!" at the top of their lungs...at which point Will burst into very loud tears and began running down the steps screaming "moooommmmyyyyyy."

And that, ladies and gents, was the first and last house he went to. He hung out in the stroller as we went up and down the street and just enjoyed the view.

Thank goodness that Eliza Grace's bucket was eventually overflowing and she was willing to share :)

Posing before the hunt begins

"um, mommy, my heiny is bugging me" (I LOVE Eliza Grace's expression in this picture)

Lookin' goooooood...

Will bringing up the rear at that first house....moments before he came tearing back down

Some of the gang posing at a house...we had  two Harry Potters in our group this year!

NC State Fair

When it comes to the State Fair I have always been a little indifferent. However, when a friend suggested we go this year I thought," why not?" I am glad I did because we had a great time. 

Because, really, how bad of a time can you have eating fried dough covered in powdered sugar on a 65 degree day with bright Carolina blue skies?

And with the exception of the 3.5 minutes I spent on a hideous ride called The Orbiter, it was a nice way to spend a couple of hours NOT thinking about the 20 years worth of savings that went "poof" in a matter of days.

Plus, it was a great excuse to whip out the new camera :)

Heidi waving from the Ferris Wheel


Amy and I getting ready to hit the Tilt-A-Whirl (my FAVORITE ride!)

Put your hands in the air, oh yeah....

Heidi and I smiling despite the fact that we just

blew six bucks on one of those stupid water pistol games (and I say stupid because we both lost!)

Pumpkin Pleasure

We made the standard October trek to the pumpkin farm today. We had never been to Ganyard Hill Farm before but we really enjoyed it! We took about 125 pictures with the new camera...in less than 2 hours! I promise I did not post them all :)

Will had a blast on the hay slides

Eliza Grace could really work the manual kernel remover

Will did pretty well too!

Eliza Grace practiced milking a fake cow

In the corn maze


Will lead the way through the maze and seemed to know exactly which way to go

Will picking his own cotton


On the hay ride



Picking our own special pumpkins
Eliza Grace was very excited to find a yellow pumpkin!

How-How!

Scott and Eliza Grace are about to join the wonderful world of Y Princesses.

I remember Scott looking up this program on the local YMCA website when Eliza Grace was a couple of weeks old...and now she is finally old enough to participate!

The first 2 meetings were for Dad's only. Yeah, a real hardship to meet at the local "tap" room to discuss tribe names :)

The first official activity was for Scott and Eliza Grace to sew together their own leather vests. In this case, Eliza Grace played the role of management and Scott was the skilled labor. He did a darn good job!


The next step is to glue on the first couple of patches and decide upon their tribal names.  At the top of list?

Big Snoring Eagle and Little Soaring Eagle :)

Afternoon in the park

What a beautiful day! I love Autumn. It is my very favorite season. I love nearly everything about it...except the part about dressing for cool temps in the morning and hot temps in the afternoon - I never know how to dress the kids!

This bright blue sky'd morning we hit Home Depot for the monthly kids workshop and then we spent some time at the park. Here are some pics of the kiddies at the park...and even one with Grandmommy and Will on the swings!

What we need...

...is more cow bell!

More fun with my camera

I have been enjoying my new camera. I do wish I could spend more time to really learn about the different features, but all in due time, I suppose.

Today Eliza Grace, Will and I went to "Henry Paloozza," an event to help raise money for a couple who is adopting their second child from China. It was fun, full of bounce houses, face & hair painting and the kids got to see their first hot air balloon up close and personal.

It took hearing the blast from the flame machine (or whatever you call it) at least 10 times before Will would stop running to hide behind my legs.

And where was Scott while we were having fun eating free cotton candy and listening to great live music? Well, he was working on his latest cooking contraption: a home made smoker.

What you see here is a ceramic flower pot sitting on a single electric burner. Inside is a cast iron skillet on the bottom with hard wood chunks in it and then a grill grate, upon which the food sits. It is all topped with a ceramic flower pot base. Scott drilled a hole in his "lid" in which he inserted the thermometer.

Alton Brown of the Food Network has had quite the effect on Scottie and I for one am THRILLED! Tonight, if all goes well, we will have some very yummy chicken created in his flower pot device. Things look quite promising at the half way point!

15 years and we are still saying "I Will"

15 years ago today, Scott and I said I will in front of God, family and friends.

So what does that mean?

It means I will be there to help you go to the bathroom when the stomach flu has kept you in bed for 3 days and you can hardly walk

It means I will not say one negative word when you gain another 30 pounds on top of the pregnancy weight

It means I will let the grumpy mood slide by without striking back (well, most of the time!)

It means we will sit up all night and stare in wonder at the newborn babies God gave us

It means we will argue but apologize and move on

It means we will laugh together so hard that we cry

It means we will drive each other crazy...but learn to get over it

It means we will treasure and enjoy the good times

It means we will encourage each other through the tough times

It means that we will acknowledge every day that God has blessed us beyond what we could ever deserve

It means we will trust each other

It means we will choose to love each other every day...despite the good, the bad, the what ifs and what nows.

Here's to the next 15 years... and more!

And the wait is over!

SQUEE!

Ginormous kudos to Amazon.com! I got my camera today - less than 48 hours from the time I ordered it...with FREE shipping!

So the deal with this camera is that it is at the very bottom of the SLR camera family. Great for novices like me who want to take really great pictures right out of the box and then have the ability to learn to use the features as I desire. And it did not cost me a mortgage payment :)

I.love. it.

Not really sure how much better I could do above and beyond what I have done in the past couple of hours with the basic auto features though...take a look!

First, the standard flora and fauna up close shots...these are un-retouched...and from my yard :)

little red rose

little pink flower

I love the detail of the "hair" on this plant

Minnie Mouse (our fish) thru the glass tank

And then some family shots (the plant life was way more cooperative!):

kids and hubby

the kiddies

Will says, "Help! Attack of the kissing sissy!"

Waiting is so hard to do...

I just ordered (well, really Scott just ordered) my new CAMERA!! I have been wanting a really good quality SLR camera and decided upon the Nikon D40 SLR.

I cannot wait until it arrives. I hope to start posting some really great pictures in the near future!