Overdue Update

I can't believe we're in December and I haven't updated the blog since early October.  Life has been super busy around here.  Nothing extraordinary, just the usual stuff.

Every year we take the kids to the pumpkin patch to pick out the perfect pumpkin to carve for Halloween.  This year was no different except that we added a newby to the tradition. This was Huck's first visit to the pumpkin patch.  Let me just say that taking pictures with three kids is quite the task.  It was almost impossible to get a picture with all three cooperating at the same time.  Here's what we got...

Seth and McKayla were scheduled to be with their mom this year for Halloween so we decided to take the kids to Thomasville for their downtown trick-or-treating festivities.  Most of the shops passed out candy for the kids and the bookstore even had story time. 

Seth played flag football through October and finished the season just before Thanksgiving.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, we celebrated the holiday here this year.  My dad came down from Tennessee to celebrate with us and Justin's parents were going to join us as well. Unfortunately, Justin's mom got sick which made only six for dinner.  We had tons of delicious food and leftovers for days.

Now, let's see if I can stay caught up in December.

Celebrate It!

We've had a few birthdays around here lately and some other things to celebrate. Let's start at the beginning.

August 31st was Justin's 36th birthday.  We celebrated by spending the day together, just the two of us. We went out for breakfast and then headed to Firefly Pottery to do some painting.  Justin made each of the kids a little something. Seth got a shark, McKayla got a turtle, and Huck got an inch worm.  I decorated a plate (more on that later). After our pottery painting Justin and I headed to lunch and finished off the day with a special birthday dinner at Ted's with the kids and his parents. 

That last picture is of the plate I made.  I call it the Celebrate It! plate.  This is an idea I heard about several years ago on an interview with Jennie Garth and have been wanting to create it ever since.  She explained in the interview that the plate was used to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, and special accomplishments.  The person with the special occasion to celebrate, gets to eat off the plate.

Not too longer after we brought it home, we had something to celebrate.  McKayla finally learned how to ride her bike.  We were so excited and so was she. 

That night she was even more excited when she saw that she got to be the first to eat from the Celebrate It! plate.

Not longer after this, we celebrated two more birthdays.  Seth turned 7 on September 25th and McKayla turned 10 on October 3rd. Unfortunately, the kids were with their mom this year for their birthdays so we had to celebrate on alternate days. 

Justin and I got Seth some new clothes, a game for the wii, and a .22 rifle.  It's a small one that fits his body size.  Anytime you asked him what he wanted for his birthday, this was all he mentioned.  He LOVES going to the range with Justin to shoot it. 

We had something extra special planned for McKayla's big double digit birthday.  She gets to go on a trip with her daddy.  Just the two of them are going to spend about 5 days together to any place she wants to go in the contiguous United States.  Basically, she and Justin will pick a few cities which they will research together.  Once they pick a place, they will plan the entire trip together.  Right now it looks like it will probably be San Diego.  Seth will get to do the same thing when he turns 10.

The kids also got a really cool present from my mom this year.  They both went on the converse website and got to design their own "Chuck Taylors" right down to the color of the stitching.

 

 

I can't wait to see what we get to celebrate next!

 

College Football Kick Off

As I'm sure all of you know, this past weekend was the first weekend of the college football season.  Thanks to my cousin Anthony, Justin and the kids got to start it out in style (Huck and I stayed home).  He got them Hospitality Tent tickets, On Field tickets, and tickets to the game.  The kids were super excited and they all had a great time.

Thanks again Anthony!!!