Pumpkin Festival

This past weekend our neighborhood had our annual Pumpkin Festival. The neighborhood volunteers do such a good job putting together activities for the the kids, bake sales, a silent auction, live music, pumpkin carving/painting, etc. This year was chilly and windy but we all had a good time. The highlights included...

...Anna in her new jacket and hat...

...Grandma and Grandad coming...

...again, the hat and jacket (you could spot her a mile away!)...

...running around with Jonathan...

...the football toss...

...which he did well enough to earn a prize...

...putting Anna's face in a pumpkin...

...playing on the neighborhood playground (which is there year round but somehow looked even better on this day)...

...coming home to watch Bama beat Tennesee by the skin of their Tides...

...and playing with each other!!!

We are gearing up for Halloween around here and all I have to say is that thank goodness it is on the same day as the Georgia/Florida game because we will need to get our minds off of what those Gators (who eat boogers and wear jean shorts) will probably do to our poor Georgia Bulldogs. Can't wait to post pictures of our fun!

"A" is for Apple...and Anna, of course

Blondebeard

Tagged

One of my fellow bloggers (Donges Family) "tagged" me and so now I will follow through with this little game. The way I know Katie Donges is technically from work but at the same time she married the brother of one my friends in high school and she is the sister of two guys that Blaire hung out with during most of middle school. Small world!

So Here Are the Rules: Only use one word, Pass this Along to 6 of your favorite bloggers! Alert them that you have given them this award! Have Fun!
1. Where is your cell phone? purse
2. Your hair? dark
3. Your mother? Jill
4. Your father? Randy
5. Your favorite food? chocolate
6. Your dream last night? weird
7. Your favorite drink? juice
8. Your dream/goal? happy children
9. What room are you in? kitchen
10. Your hobby? scrapbooking
11. Your fear? fire
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? here
13. Where were you last night? asleep
14. Something that you aren’t? patient
15. Muffins? chocolatechip
16. Wish list item? LASIK
17. Where did you grow up? Alpharetta
18. Last thing you did? clean
19. What are you wearing? jeans
20. Your TV? loud
21. Your pets? fishy
22. Friends? awesome
23. Your life? fulfilled
24. Your mood? tired
25. Missing someone? grandparents
26. Vehicle? sorento
27. Something you’re not wearing? bracelet
28. Your favorite store? LOFT
29. Your favorite color? red
30. When was the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? today
32. Your best friend? husband
33. One place that I go to over and over? Publix
34. One person who emails me regularly? Robin
35. Favorite place to eat? mexican

Okay and I will tag The Sanders' Blog, The Crutchfield Family, Crystal, The McArthur Boys, The Goldsworthy Clan, and I don't have a sixth, Sorry!

Licking the Plate Clean

Frenzy

Last night I wandered into the kitchen to get a drink of water. I glanced over at my computer and saw this...

My heart skipped a nervous beat. You may be thinking I am referring to the LOFT magazine. No, in fact the LOFT warms my heart. Clothes that fit and in styles I like, what could be better?

No, my eyes went to the ornaments gracing the cover of the Crate & Barrel catalog. It was the ornaments that got me. I suddenly felt myself in the middle of the frenzy of Christmas shopping. Not being able to find what I wanted to gift someone. Standing in the lines, with an 11 month old, crying with snot running out of her nose because Mommy just HAD to go shopping instead of letting her nap. Not getting all the decorations up, not getting everything wrapped and the thought that I was scheduled to work on Christmas Day. I quickly let the feeling pass and told myself there is plenty of time. Plenty of time to feed the frenzy. Is it upon us already?

Road Trip!

This past weekend Justin and Brice headed to Nashville, TN to cheer on the Dawgs, in the freezing cold! The boys brought home a "W", thank goodness, as well as some new dinosaurs from Cracker Barrel. They did the male bonding thing while Anna and I hung out together. As much as I love girl time, I sure do like it when my boys are home with me!
Bags packed and ready to go. Brice insisted on taking Uga who is sitting under his hat.

Waiting outside for Dad to get in the car!
Oh, and happy 100 posts to me!

A Preview...or Should I Say a Review?

Een-neee's

Yes, you read that correctly. Maybe you didn't pronouce it correctly though. "Eeeeen-neee". This is what one particular person in our family used to call raisins when he was little. I am going to let some of you guess who it was. Although, most of my family already knows, maybe you could refrain from guessing. This person LOVED raisins so much that he (okay, there is your first clue) would devour them so fast, they would show up whole in his diaper. I remember this very clearly (another clue about our age difference?) when his mommy would change him. And when you would call them "raisins" instead of "eeen-nees", he would get mad and tell you that you weren't saying it right!

Well, we have another raisin lover on our hands. This girl LOVES them! She knows the box when I pull it out of the pantry and goes nuts until you put some on her tray. I have to limit her to half of the box because if I don't, well you can imagine what I find in the south area. Okay, go guess who it is!

10 Months

Today Anna is 10 months old! She is so fun, babbling all the time, stuffing anything in her mouth (food or not), and following Brice everywhere. She is very fast when she crawls and pulls up on everything. She will stand for a few seconds on her own and can transfer herself while standing from one piece of furniture to another. She loves books and likes to "kiss" the people and animals in them. She has five and a half teeth and is just so sweet!

Here is Anna looking out the window at, you guessed it, Brice.

Today also would have been Aunt Lil's 80th birthday. I miss her. A lot. I know she would love seeing pictures of the kids grow and would also love hearing about Blaire's wedding plans. I may have to make cookies today to celebrate her and how wonderful she was!!

Distressed Anna

What is causing little Anna such distress????
Please, let me see what's over there!

And now you're just going to take my picture instead of going and getting it for me?

It is something in this room. What is it?

Why, it's this cute little pumpkin...
...and cute little witch!

She inspected them thoroughly and now every morning she waves at them. She immediately noticed that something was different and just HAD to touch and drool on them!

Interesting Facts About the Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday, Justin! Here are some facts about Justin that you may or may not find interesting.

Born October 6,1978 at Northside Hospital. Weighed in at 10lbs 13oz and a whopping 24.5 inches long. Excuse me, what? Yes, that's right he broke the record for length at Northside Hospital!

Has lived in some part of Atlanta his entire life. He's a southern boy and can drink the sweet tea to prove it.

First word was ball. Not a surprise since his dad used to roll a ball to him as soon as he was able to sit up! Dads and their boys!

Was a cotton-top as a kid. I mean so blonde, you couldn't see his eyebrows.

Loved to swim at the pool and joined the swim team when he was four years old. This was breaking the rules, but oh well. He even earned himself a few blue ribbons!

Was hit by a car when he was six and a half.

Went to Barnwell Elementary, Holcomb Bridge Middle and Chattahoochee High Schools. I'm sure his best memories are those from CHS where he met a certain someone!

Has a younger sister named Kelly, who he has taught how to burp louder than he does. Sorry Kelly but it's true.

Justin also taught Kelly how to fish as a kid. Justin is an awesome fisherman. When we went to my aunt's house one time, he caught fish off of their dock, to which my aunt responded, "There are fish under OUR dock". Ummm, yea. Justin is now teaching Brice how to fish and this is one their favorite things to do together.

In high school, Justin played baseball, and football. For most of his life though he was at least one sports team.

Justin has always been a Dawg fan and can remember plays, scores, and players' numbers long after they have graduated. He often references them to which I just nod and say, "yes, honey, I remember that exact play!". Not!

He is so faithful to those Georgia Bulldogs. One day in college, he came over to my dorm room and said, "We can't stay up late tonight because I have to get up early." I asked why to which he responded, "I walked on the football team today and I have practice in the morning.".

Played under Coach Donnan and Coach Richt. Brought to the team, "Honorary Captain".

Planned the best engagement day ever for me. He thinks of every detail when planning a trip or something for us to do together.

He is a little OCD.

He loves sweets, and comfort food.

Works out of the house.

Works hard for his family.

Weak stomach when I try to tell him about my work.

Has driven the same car since freshman year of college. A '96 Explorer.

Are you bored yet because I can't think of anything else?!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SWEET HUSBAND! I LOVE YOU!

Seriously?

Yes, close your eyes or don't if you want to see what my kitchen looks like most mornings. I am hoping I am not alone!
Above shows breakfast being made at the same time lunch is being packed at the same time the dishwasher needs to be unloaded and then obviously reloaded.
But...it sure does look pretty once it is clean.
If only it stayed looking like this!

Bad Habits

We all have them.

They annoy those around us.

Heck, sometimes they annoy the actual person.

We pick them up from others, usually those close to us. As in, those we live with, or look up to.

And when I say "look up to", I mean it literally. We have a couple of people in this house who are currently more like sponges. Every little habi...I mean mannerism is absorbed and later squeezed back out.

As parents, Justin and I try to be conscious of this, but it is hard. My bad habits are cracking my bones (really gross), playing with my earrings, pulling out gray hairs (yes, I have them and anyone who knows me well has seen them so don't try to deny it!), and I'm sure Justin would add that I have a habit of nagging. Don't most husbands say this about their wife?

Anyway, back to the point, Justin has habits too. One of them is pacing while on the phone. And another, that I can't stand, is spitting while he is stressed. So that means, if he's on an important phone call, he goes outside (because we have two noisy children), paces the driveway and sidewalk and then spits. I'm talking like every three words. He also does this when we are walking back to the car after the Dawgs have lost. I understand. It's like you have a bad taste in your mouth and you want to get rid of it.

But....

There are little eyes looking up at him and following every move. When Justin heads outside for those phone calls, he often gets a little visitor. A little visitor who adores him and wants to do everything like him, who repeats what he repeats, and when he thinks no one is looking...

Walks to the front porch....

And spits on the sidewalk.

(I was upstairs on the catwalk and saw him through the window panes of the front door. All I could think was, "he looks JUST like Justin except that it's cute when he does it." One day, these bad habits will drive his wife crazy. Oh well. I'll tell her, this one, he got from his father.)