November????

I mean, seriously, November already? Well, let's not forget October quite yet....

We kicked off Halloween week last Monday with the Fall Festival, then Thursday night headed to Sorority Row for trick-or treating.

The children loved it, but we will probably not make it again...WAY too crowded for my tastes....who wants to stand in a long line waiting for a few pieces of candy (well, my children of course!!!)???? The week is busy enough without it, so next year we will pass.
Halloween night proved to be gorgeous after a day of rain - Will joined the festivities as Michael Myers - now don't judge - we LOVE scary movies around these parts. Will and his sister grew up watching them and I LOVE them even though I don't remember watching many growing up - I DO remember R.L Stine being my favorite author as a child though, and I can remember writing scary short stories.

I kept begging Will to scare some kids once it got dark, but the right opportunity (meaning older children who it wouldn't scar for life) never arose.

Emma Claire helped him paint the blood on - she was thrilled with his costume choice. Henderson on the other hand was scared silly!

Here we are waiting for the costume parade to begin! Henderson did not wear a costume b/c all of his involved a hat of some sort that he refused to wear!

Emma Claire was all bundled up - prepared for the chilly night!

Spider Man was ready too!

along with his cohort, Batman!

The little guys were excited to be free in the streets!

Henderson did a little flirting with Sarah Davis!

Then we began the walk - to find PIZZA at the end!

Some chose to ride!

Henderson did a little trick-or treating for the first time! Everytime I would hand him his bucket to go up to the door, he would hand them the bucket and then walk away - he didn't quite "get it" - thank goodness - b/c we still made it home with 4 buckets FULL of candy!

It was a fabulous night of trick-or-treating with friends and lots of good fellowship!

I am in swe at how we (including me) always handle the time change. Within 1-2 days, everyone adjusts just fine - back to normal as if no change ever occured! Maybe it's because EVERY event throughout the day changes, not just sleep and wake time. Meals change, naps change, baths change - all an hour later. Now, if only we could have left all the whining back in October - all would be great. Is it just me, or is 3 worse than 2 as far as whining and crying goes??? Wilson, oh Wilson - truly a strong-willed child, I will never judge other parents again - you have humbled me beyond my wildest imagination!

I pray for patience and guidance more than anything these days, "Jesus, please just show me how to be a good mother to him, to be consistent and patient and firm, yet loving and compassionate and gentle, and I pray that I will not dampen his excitement for life while still reigning in his emotions. Help me to know how to balance love and discipline."

Now comes the month of November - Christmas decorating and gatherings of friends and family - I'm resolved to truly "soak" it in this year and enjoy each and every moment! To slow down and let the boys play in the leaves after school like they did today, instead of rushing them to their naps. To enjoy the cool evenings and the cuddling on the sofa. To begin, even now, focusing on the true meaning of Christmas and remembering, like Emma Claire told me last Wednesday night at dinner, "Mommy, Christmas is NOT about the presents, it's about Jesus' Birthday" - Why oh Why can't that always be the sole focus? It's my goal this year to make it ours!

Ironic

Is it ironic that Wilson, who has woken up between

4:45 and 5:00 AM for the last 2 years

is now sleeping until 6:30 AM or later, just this week,

THE WEEK BEFORE TIME CHANGES!!!!????

I know, I know, I should be thankful that this means he will start waking up at 5:30 and not 4:30 next week, but come on, couldn't this have happened about 6 months ago??? - sure would have made for a more restful summer!!!!!

He's a mess, but I love him all the more for it!

Bye Bye Blondy!

We had a blast last night at the Fall Festival at the boys' preschool. Emma Claire and Wilson both wanted "dark hair", so dark hair they got! I used an aeresol can of black hairspray - it was pretty potent and messy and you should have seen our bathtub when we got home - I had to bleach it and use a half a bottle of soft scrub to get it all off (the bathtub that is - it came out of their hair with 2-3 shampoos!)!

It was quite funny the double takes we got when people realized who they were!

Despite the puffy eyes, Henderson had a great time with a cupcake!

Emma Claire and Wilson loaded up on goodies - a great start to this fun week of sugar and "cavity bugs" - thank goodness my brother-in-law is our dentist!!!!:~)

I took Henderson to the doctor this morning and he had no fever and she diagnosed him with a sinus infection and put him on an antibiotic. I took him on to school and an hour later I got a call from the school that he was running a 104 degree fever. I picked him up and sure enough his fever was 103 - he took a nap, still has a fever, but is eating and playing and seems pretty normal except for the fever and puffy eyes, so hopefully it's not the "oink-oink" flu!

'Tis the season!!!!

Sickness Update

This sweet little face STILL isn't feeling great. These pretty blue eyes aren't shining like they are in this picture at the beach.

When I got to his school to pick him up at 12:30 today, he was sound asleep (he doesn't nap at school on Mondays, usually). His teacher brought him out of the classroom and from about 30 feet away, I could tell something was wrong - his eyes were swollen shut, red rimmed and puffy.

Ths is not pink eye - the whites of his eyes are perfectly clear. And he looks GREAT in this picture compared to what he looked like when he woke up - I had to put him in the bathtub to clean it all off. I'm thinking we have a bad case of allergies and asthma on our hands. He's still on his breathing treatments, but no oral medication. If he looks bad when he wakes up in the morning, we'll be headed to the walk-in clinic at our Pediatrician's office. He was a trooper though - we went to the boys' Fall Festival at the Dayschool and he walked around with his sucker all night!

Here's a sneek peek into the Fall Festival - Wilson and Emma Claire went a little crazy with their hair - but it was so much fun!

Sick angels

These 2 little angels are a little under the weather, much like this picture day.

Wilson came home from school yesterday with a moderate fever and a cough. He's pretty puney, laying around alot and not eating much (no surprise there). Hopefully it's not the flu and he'll be better by tomorrow for the Tennessee game!!!!

Henderson has had a croupy cough for over 3 weeks now, so I finally took him to the Doctor. He was wheezing and possibly has asthma. We did a nebulizer treatment in the office and went home with one with instructions to give it to him every 4 hours while awake. FUN.TIMES!

He's gotten better with it the last couple of times - I've learned to trap him in his highchair and turn on Barney. He seems to be realizing that no matter how hard he cries, it's still going to happen, so he's slowly giving in and just letting it happen! The treatment lasts about 15 minutes, so it's not a fun 15 minutes when your child is thrashing and screaming and sweating out a days' worth of liquid!


This little wonder of God is quite healthy, thank goodness. She's busy with kindergarten and all I can say, without going into a lot of details, is THANK.YOU.JESUS for this blessing in my life. She is mature beyond her years and she teaches me so much!

A Look Back at FUN!!!!!

Our recent beach trip was FANTASTIC - peaceful, warm, fun, renewing!

There was an amazing sand bar, only a few inches deep that the children loved playing in - the weather was remarkable - nearly 90 degrees and sunny - no crowds and great weather with a great family - we couldn't ask for more! God has been very good to us during our beach trips, so far we haven't had cool or bad weather once, even though we make the trip biannually in May and October. WE LOVE having the pool and beach nearly to ourselves and there's never a wait or crowd in the restaurants (with the exception of The Red Bar - we had a good wait there, but it was WELL WORTH IT!!!)

You see that black circle and yellow circle I drew on that picture there? Well, that's our condo and gate - ground floor, right on the beach - a must have for all our little ones! We can let the babies sleep while we are just feet away by the pool with the monitors on - priceless!

I waited until the last day when we were leaving to do pictures and it was getting cool and windy and dark, and I do not have editing capabilities on this particular computer(why they all look a little "grayish"), so the pictures are straight out of the camera and would look alot better brightened up! I did get a Christmas card picture in Christmas outfits, but I will not share that quite yet!

Popsicles were enjoyed

A little naked sunbathing

Sandcastle building

Boat watching

I captured many sweet moments that were shared.....

this...

and this....

and this.....(a night out with just the 2 couples at the Red Bar)

and this....

fun times were had by all ages!

a little dancing in the restaurant WE. ALL.FREQUENTED!!!!!

This is at the restaurant and YES, it was as crazy as you can imagine - why we love going when there are not huge crowds everywhere!

You go to great lengths to entertain the little ones - at no expense of the mess!

Just think of it as a nice "butter facial"


They touched some fish...(well, at least mine did - not afraid of ANYTHING animal-wise!)

and managed another group photo on the docks (look at that Emma Claire - she just cracks me up!)

We saw a Rainbow!

Played in the water ALOT (thank goodness it was warm)!!!!!

dug some more holes to play in

got buried

threw some sand (alot)

Dear Beach,

We can't wait to see you again in May!!!!!!