Halloween Round Two--Trick or Treat

We just got home form trick-or-treating and BOY, are we wiped. I had no idea Max would get so into it and last so long. We originally thought we would take the wagon incase his little devil feet got tired, but Kinsey was so in a hurry to get out the door we just decided to all hoof it. What a trooper! We walked almost a mile and came home with WAY too much candy. I've already got a stomach ache--ugh!

Our neighbors are so cool. One had a coffee bar set up in her driveway, one had an entire haunted trail in their backyard, and awesome decor all around.

It's amazing how fast they grow up. It was just a couple of years ago that Kinsey first went out like Max did and tonight she ran around with the big kids and nothing scared her. How time flies! Soon Max will be one of those 17 year old high school boys with a plastic grocery sack in nothing but jeans and a tee-shirt trick-or-treating. Yeah, right, over my dead body!

Tomorrow we are off to the mountains for our anniversary trip to Highlands. The kids will stay with Nanny and Papadad (best of luck to ya) and we are so thrilled that we will get an extra hour on our vacation!

Halloween Round One

These were the "school costumes" Kinsey and Max wore today. Really, this is what Max wears every Friday before a Georgia game, but Kinsey's costume has a funy story behind it. Her school, in order to maintain their sanity, requested that the kids wear costumes reflecting what they would like to be when they grow up. Kinsey's first idea a few days ago was a "nastics girl" (translation--gymnast). After this idea, she changed her mind and wanted to dress up like a teacher. This morning she decided no to both and announced she wanted to be a leaf-raker. What exactly is the pay for a leaf-raker because I might be interested? After the leaf raker, she wanted to dress up like a cowgirl, but without the boots and hat. Confused, I asked what that left and she said a "horse shirt". Next was a cheerleader, and finally, she decided she wanted to be Knowshon Moreno--pink bow and all!

Round two coming soon...

Clam Chowdah and Hah-ved

Congratulations to my cousin Pete and his beautiful bride Kara. They got married this past weekend in Boston. Despite a very delayed plane leaving ATL, I ended up having a wonderful trip to the city on the beautiful Charles River. My first highlight (other than NOT being woken up by my children on a Saturday morning) was that I ran a 10-mile loop from our hotel to Harvard campus. Unfortunately, I must have been running too fast for any intellectual osmosis to take place! :) I was proud one, because this was my first long run on my own, and two, because I did not take a water or an energy break (mostly because I was too lazy to carry water and had forgotten to bring my power jelly beans). I digress. My crazy-long run was followed by what seemed like a 40 mile walking tour of the city (probably more like 3) with my parents and my cousin Alex and his tour-guide wife Anna. We walked through Boston Garden, Boston Common, and my personal favorite was walking the Freedom Trail where we saw the graves of Paul Revere, Mother Goose, and Sam Adams to name a few (obviously NOT listed in order of importance here). After our hike, we went back to the hotel to catch the first quarter of the AWESOME Georgia game (who am I kidding--I was "that person" at the wedding and reception who followed the game play-by-play thanks to modern cell phone technology). A lovely dinner, dancing and post-party trip to the hotel bar wrapped up the evening. Sunday, after a wedding brunch, mom, dad, and I took one of those amphibious duckboat tours through the city and the river. The weather was beautiful and did I mention that I had NO KIDS!!!

Jack and I celebrate our 9th anniversary tomorrow. We have a nice dinner date planned, but our big celebration will be this weekend as we relax in Highlands, NC again WITH NO KIDS!!! I'm starting to see a trend here! :)

Finally, here are some pictures of Max at the local pumpkin patch from a few weekends ago while Kinsey was at Nanny and Papa's house.

Pumped Up!

What does pumped up mean? Well, to Kinsey, it was and afternoon at her school friend, Senna's 5th birthday party. Rooms full of inflatables, pizza, cake, and goody bags--what else could a kid ask for.




For Max, it was his school's Fall Carnival with his Daddy and Nan. Pizza also involved.

For me, it's a little more involved. Pumped up is what I am about my trip to Boston tomorrow. My cousin Peter is getting married and Jack graciously offered to let me go ALONE for the weekend. What will I do with myself on an airplane ALONE? What will I do at mealtimes ALONE? And oh my, the potty ALONE??? Ah, the suspense builds!!!

It's MONDAY!!!

This is how our morning started. Can you believe this hair!!! But really, it was a great day. My proudest moment was this...



Kinsey taking her very first SOLO ride on a HORSE! I still can't believe it. Today was her fifth riding lesson and on the way to the ranch, I told her we had five more lessons until our annual trip to Clear Creek Dude Ranch in North Carolina. She told me she wanted to ride alone, so I told her that she would need to talk to her intructor, Cowboy Phil. He took the lead line off Miss Rosie and the whole lesson was done on her own. She was truly amazing! After riding, we ate supper and put on the Halloween costumes for Say Boo to Drugs at the Civic Center--an extra shot at some candy and another opportunity to get some use out of the costumes. Right when we walked in, my little devil was awarded one of the four finalist positions as "Cutest Costume". Sadly, I report that he lost to a pink poodle. Kinsey got her picture with Hairy Dawg and Max's favorite was the fire truck. Oh yeah, this was what Kinsey was doing (color-coding her candy) while I was unloading the car...

Georgia Fall Days

No one could've scripted a more perfect day for me. Today was Homecoming for the Bulldogs and while we thought about taking the kids to this game, we opted to get a sitter and go with our friends, the Bridges. This was the first time this season that we've gotten to go with them. We got to tailgate a few hours with some of Jack's yummy burgers and some delicious "bullfrog" beverage. The game was wonderful. I think this was the best weather to date.

After the game, we went back home and picked up the kids and all went out for BBQ. Unfortunately, Melissa and Alan had to head home, but we decided to head to the pumpkin patch for a long night of farm fun. Highlights from the evening were the cow train ride, the bumpy slide, and of course our 2-hour journey through the corn maze. I am sad and embarassed to report that for the first time since we moved to Oconee, we could not find our way out of the maze on our own. What losers!










Gotta go to bed! I've got my eight-miler in a few hours!

Doo Wop

Today was the 50th day of the school year and Kinsey's school recognizes it by celebrating with "50's Day." Complete with coke floats and poodle skirts, it was a day of excitement. Although Kinsey was sorely disappointed that I did not go out last night at 8:00 after my conferences were over and find her a poodle skirt, she still looked precious in her outfit.





Max was in the background yelling "chee" with his goofy little grin, so I had to include a picture of him as well. Notice his Bulldog jersey. I hesitate to let him wear this to school anymore because he seems to assume the role and tackle his friends or headbutt the wall when he does. They've requested a helmet for next Friday!



Tomorrow is UGA Homecoming againt Vandy. Jack and I are excited to spend the day with friends Melissa and Alan while the children stay home with a sitter they really enjoy. If the weather stays nice, we're hoping for another trip to the pumpkin patch and corn maze tomorrow night. Hopefully, I'll have more pictures after the weekend.

Fall "Break"

What a busy week it has been--but loving every minute of it (well, almost). Last weekend was our fall break and Kinsey was lucky enough to get to go to Nanny and Papadad's house for the long weekend. Thursday afternoon, was my friend, Tammy's birthday party where a bunch of us ladies went to a bar and played trivia. Friday morning, I let Max go to his school for a few hours while I went to Commerce with my good pal Melissa and we did some serious shopping (no children's clothing at all--wow!) That afternoon, Max, Jack and I went to the pumpkin patch for a festival that a local church was sponsoring (pictures coming soon). Max's fav was the hayride. Saturday was game day (woof woof) and we tailgated all day with yet a different group of friends. We tried something new by asking everyone who came to our tailgate to bring their favorite frozen drink recipe. Jack is really enjoying his blender and his new generator that my parents gave him for Christmas last year. Sunday morning, I rolled out of bed before the sun to go run 8 miles with my running group. Which leads me to my big announcement...I just officially registered for my first ever HALF MARATHON in four weeks. I have been thinking about doing this for several weeks now (ever since I recovered from the meningitis) but have been chicken about actually signing up and spending the money). Since I made Sunday's 8-mile run with no issues, I figured I could probably do five more, so I have committed!!! Yikes! Sunday afternoon, Max and I drove to Lake Keowee to spend the night with my parents and get Kinsey. We took the kids to the park, walked the dog and taught my children a great new pasttime on Papadad's new birthday present, which we so discreetly call the "Money Game". As you can see from the pictures, I am going to have my hands full with both of them in 18 and 20 years. Today, Kinsey had riding lessons with Rosie again and Cubbies at church. The next two days are conference days for me. Kinsey also has her first preschool conference tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully, I'll have great news from her teachers to report. Then at least ONE of my kids will be getting good notes sent home. Ah, but that is a whole other story... :)

Big Baby (Max)

This cartoon really scares me. It's as if someone has been stalking us and turned Max into a cartoon. The way he "talks", how he bulldozes, the way he chews his hand, his giant blue eyes and his love of chrome epitomizes our Big Baby.

Riding Miss Rosie

Rosie has now become a part of our weekly routine. On Mondays, we go home, grab our boots and helmet, 3 carrots and an apple and head over to the Texas State Line for our weekly Rosie Ride. Kinsey has made a lot of progress in the last month. Her first accomplishment was focusing long enough to go from a 15 minute ride during her first lesson, to almost an hour now. She's learned tons about horsemanship in general, from grooming and tack to neck-reining and balance. Cowboy Phil really has a way with horses and with kids.




Today I took some pictures of Oreo and Star, Kinsey's favorite licking Longhorns!

Trick or Tweetsie

What a beautiful weekend we had for our last trip to Tweetisie Railroad with the kids this season. This weekend also marked their first weekend of their annual Trick or Tweetsie event. Their actual festival didn't start until 7:30 PM and tickets were separate, so we didn't hang around, but the whole park was still decorated adorably for Halloween. Granny and her youngest sister, Sherry, joined us again Saturday morning as we headed up to Blowing Rock for the day. Kinsey immediately wanted to hit the rides. Unfortunately, the first one chosen was the Tilt-a-whirl and Granny stubbornly decided to ride. After what seemed like an hour, the spinning finally stopped and Granny wobbled her way off, not feeling so hot, bless her heart. Kinsey told her she was never to ride it again! :) Max was more into Tweetsie this time than he was in the spring. He even rode the cars with Jack. He really loved the train whistle and the dancing shows. Kinsey's favorites were the Scrambler, which she made me ride three times with her, the ferris wheel, and getting her face painted (ugh). It was an awesome day and everytime I hear that train whistle blowing, it brings back such sweet childhood memories for me and I can only hope the same for my kids.












After we drug our worn out bodies in from the park Saturday night, Jack and I had all intentions of going to Bo's to watch some football. Our age got the best of us, however. I believe we were all sacked out by 9:00. Granny stayed up the latest! ;)

Sunday morning we got up and got dressed for our regular visitors. The kids got to see two of my cousins, Mary and Caroline, and had a blast playing with them. At lunchtime, we headed over to Happy Valley (very appropriately named country town at the base of mountain) for the Winkler Family Reunion. The food was delicious and there was a great playground all the kids enjoyed.


Then we hit the road for the quiet and peaceful 5 hours ride home. HA! Do NOT let this picture fool you!