The Results of a Successful Playdate

After a successful and fun playdate at Borders and then lunch at Chik-Fil-A with some friends, I look in my rear view mirror and they both almost immediately fell fast asleep.  They were so exhausted.

Halloween Playdate at Borders

I got the girls dressed up in their Halloween costumes and we met a couple mom's from our play group at Border's for story time.  Isabelle was a little ladybug and Lexie was the Cat in the Hat.  Isabelle was walking all over the bookstore.  I needed a leash (half kidding).  Alexis was enjoying reading all kinds of books such as the Hungry Caterpillar which is one of her favorites.  They also had fun playing with a huge assortment of animal puppets.

Isabelle chased Joshua (Yoda) most of the time and tried to kiss him on several occasions.  I don't know what I am going to do with her.

They are so cute!!

Halloween Cookie Playdate

We went to Rachel's (Isaac's mom) house to make halloween cookies and play with the other kids from our play group.  The kids made a huge mess with the toys.  Sorry Rachel!  I guess that was evidence that they all had so much fun!!  I love getting together with fellow mom friends and having the kids play.  I look forward to it!

Jade and Alexis were holding their ears because the fire alarms went off.

Alexis, Isaac, Ella and Jade decorating spooky halloween cookies.

Lexie Cut Her Own Hair!

Okay...I know this picture is gross! But I had to share what happened. This morning I woke up to Alexis in an extra cheery mood. We started our morning with our usual routine, we ate breakfast and got dressed. I was brushing Alexis' hair and noticed on the side of her head, she had little pieces of hair. It was very random and luckily easy to hide. I couldn't figure out what happened.


Later that morning, I went into her bathroom and noticed hair in the sink. See photo below. Then it dawned on me there were some little baby scissors in the medicine cabinet. Lexie climbed up onto the bathroom sink vanity and got into the medicine cabinet. Needless to say that cabinet has been emptied. We then had a talk about how she is not allowed to cut her hair or anyone else's hair. She said she understood. Kids do the darnest things!

Adult Kickball Match

Last night we participated in an adult kickball match with some friends.  First, we started the game by playing guys vs girls.  The guys kicked our butts so the second half, we switched up the teams and split the guys and girls evenly.  We had so much fun!!  I ran so much and got quite a workout.  This morning I woke up so sore!!  I called Julee and she said she was really sore too.

Julee and her husband, Gordon.  It was their anniversary too.  They celebrated over cheesecake.

Teresa and Kristy
The whole kickball gang...all hot, sweaty and hungry...so we ate pizza at Ferrando's Pizza.

AJ's Birthday Party

Today, we went to AJ's birthday party held at Emily's (Beth's Mom).  I have never seen so many kids in one place at one time.  My pictures do not show exactly how many people were there.  We all had so much fun.  We really enjoyed spending time with Melissa B, AJ and Sebastian who were in GA for a short vacation.

This photo is so cute of baby Hank and baby Nora holding hands.  Awe!!

Alexis trying to steal AJ's b-day glory by attempting to blow out his candles.  Luckily, she was unsuccessful.
Alexis was in heaven in Beth's room.  She had all of her favorite toys, My Little Pony and Littlest Pet Shop.
Izzie loved playing with all the new and exciting big-kid toys.
Alexis and her "Buddy" AJ from our play group who recently moved to North Dakota.

Izzie's First Sippie Cup

Isabelle has been taking every chance she can get by stealing her big sister's sippie cups.  So I decided to give Izzie her own sippie cup today.  She really liked it and knew just what to do.  I think she felt like a big kid drinking out of a cup.  We still give her a bottle of milk too at least until she completely masters the cup.

By the way, isn't this a cute outfit?   She is so cute!!

Stuck in the Soccer Net

Lexie laying on the soccer net as if it were a hammock.  

Lexie and her friends, Jade and Isaac were playing in the net, occasionally getting stuck.  They had so much fun playing together.

Lexie's 1st Attempt at Soccer

Lexie's attempt at soccer.  She was totally focused and even through her entire body at the ball a couple times.  She made a couple scores and was very excited about it.

Playdate at the YMCA park

Here are some pics of us at the YMCA park playdate.  Our friends, Melissa B. (mom of AJ and Sebastian) came to visit us from Fargo, ND which was an extra special treat.

Melissa T jumped in the toy car with the kids.  She is so goofy, that's what I like about her.

Melissa T put this hilarious mullet-like wig on her daughter, Nora.  This is one to show the future boyfriends.
Melissa B, Erika and Brady
Izzie sporting her cute hat and coat.  She is my little trendy baby thanks to the great hand-me-downs from her big sister, Alexis.
Alexis in the toy car with all of her "Buddies".

Dinner at Lindsey's

Once or twice a month, I go out with my girlfriends, Lindsey and Jessica.  Usually we go out to dinner.  This time, Lindsey cooked us dinner.  We had a delicious soup with bread and wine.  It was so nice.  Jessica had to go soon after dinner to study.  I stayed and watch some TV and chatted for a while before I headed home.  Lindsey is my neighbor so it was nice to be able to walk home afterwards.  It was a beautiful autumn night.

Posted Some Pics

I posted some pics of the Horse Farm and Scarecrows.  Check out all the photos!  Scroll down to posts from 10/12 & 10/13.

Oconee County Fall Festival

The Oconee County Fall Festival was fun.  Since Daddy was out of town, we went with MeMaw (my mother in-law).  We saw some great arts & crafts, wacky hair dos, baby chicks, lama, bunnies, pony, dogs, corn kernal play box (they used corn instead of sand), lots of fair type food, hay rides and jumping bounce houses.  Alexis played while Isabelle fell asleep in the stroller.

MeMaw and her grandbabies
Sisters!
Alexis playing in the corn box
Isabelle passed out with a bottle of milk in her mouth.  It was so cute!

Just The Girls

Here are some pics of Isabelle at MeMaw's.  She loves the cell phone.  

Isabelle and Ralph




Dane and Marlin (our dog) went camping in the GA Mountains this weekend for a guys only camping trip.  They were ruffing it, which is not my idea of camping.  They slept on tarps.  They didn't even bring tents because it added too much weight to their back packs.  I enjoy camping but I at least need a tent! 

So the girls and I stayed home this weekend.  I worked at my Mother in-law's today.  We ate dinner at Memaw's and Pawpaw's.  She made Tator Tot Hotdish which is my all time favorite. How could I say no to that?  It was delicious, and we had Banana Cream Pie for dessert.  I felt bad thinking that Dane is probably freezing cold while eating Ramon Noodles and trail mix.  The girls were exhausted after playing and eating so they went to bed soon after we got home.

I worked hard on school work and completed 5 tests tonight.  I have 5 more tests to complete tomorrow.  The deadline is not until Sunday at 11pm but I like to be early.  I changed up the way I studied to see if it made a difference on my test scores and it did!  4 out of the 5 tests, I got 100%!  

iMac Class

I went to PeachMac and took an iPhoto class tonight.  When we bought our computer, it came with 2 free classes.  I thought I would learn everything I could about organizing my bizillion pictures on my computer.  I learned some great tips and cool effects to add to my photos.  It was a nice class.  

I am thinking my next class will be Garage Band.  That is super fun!  The computer has a built in microphone and you can record music that you play.  I could play the piano, while Dane plays his guitar and sings.  I can also add other instruments via Garage Band and basically we can make our own tracks and music and even upload it to iTunes.  Pretty cool, huh??  Look out Sonny and Cher, here we come.

Another Shot at the Dr's Office

Our Pediatrician got a shipment of the preservative free flu shot for Isabelle. So I had to take her to get that. I was really nervous about taking both girls back to the Dr, afraid of major meltdowns. (See my older post about My Dr Appt Lesson in September. ) To my surprise, they both did really well. I explained to Alexis that she was not getting a shot this time. Isabelle needed a shot. Alexis was well behaved and sat quietly during the appt. We were also lucky because the nurse who does a really good job with shots was there. She gave Izzie her flu shot and just a brief cry and we were on our way. It definitely was not traumatic unlike our last Dr visit. Then again there is a huge difference from 4-6 shots versus 1 shot. I got my flu shot yesterday and my arm still aches a little. It made me feel sorry for my children as they got their shots.

All is well in our neck of the woods. We had an early start to our day. I worked early today so we could enjoy the beautiful weather this afternoon. Its in the 70s & 80s this week. Sunny with the smell of fall in the air. Autumn is my favorite season!

The girls colored the pumpkins with Sharpie markers. They are so cute. I'll have to take a photo and post it.

Studying, Studying and More Studying!

Most of my free time is consumed by reading, studying and taking quizzes for my Psychology class. It is exhausting to say the least. There are so many times I have kicked myself wondering why I did not finish college before having children? I am so happy I did wait merely because I am going to college for free. In MN and VA, where I previously lived, they did not have the scholarship programs that GA offers such as the HOPE Scholarship. I am actually quite blessed that I did wait because I have dodged the bullet of student loans.

I do all of my studying at night once the kids go to bed. I have to really balance my life right now because once the kids go to bed, that is my special time with my husband. I try to reserve a specific time for studying and then a specific time for hubby. Sometimes, I will study once my husband has gone off to bed. This works well for me because I have always been a night owl. I have the ability to sleep in...thankfully...because I am not a morning person. I resemble something from the Night of the Living Dead in the morning (prior to 8am).

I am taking this Psych class online. I was thinking this would be an easy A because I took a year long, advanced Psych course in high school. This is a subject that interests me and I have done well in the past. I was wrong on the easy part! This course is not easy. I have weekly deadlines to meet. For example, each week, we have to read 1-2 chapters which can vary between 50 - 100 pages. We have to take a timed quiz online for each module which means 6-16 quizzes per week. Last week and this week combined, I had 36 quizzes in total to take. The deadline is always Sunday night. I am assuming the heavy workload is because we don't have to sit in class lectures a couple times a week. I do love taking online courses because I can do the school work as my schedule permits and work around my schedule versus planning my schedule around school. So far I have not had any problems with meeting the deadlines. I am not a procrastinator so I have no problem with balancing my school workload. It's just a heck of a lot of work. I have learned quite a few interesting things thus far. For example, after you burn your tongue, it takes a week to 10 days for the complete development of new taste buds on your tongue.

This is all in addition to watching my children all day, being a Stay At Home Mom, working PT as an Office Manager at my mother in-law's office M-F afternoons, being a Homemaker by grocery shopping, cleaning, cooking, dishes, laundry, making play dates, taking my children and the dog to various appointments such as the Dr....the list goes on and on. Soon I will be adding more activities to our schedule. Alexis will be starting ballet again soon through ACC and also start Gym & Learn (Gymnastics & Pre-K). Yet I still manage to fit in time for fun. Such as quilting which is my newest hobby. I try to do a little each day. It's so relaxing and I love that it is an instant gratification hobby. I try to make time for Mom's Night out with the Moms from the Moms Group I attend. That is always guaranteed to be a good time. Weekends are family time. We do fun family oriented activities together usually on weekends. Some days I am more exhausted (like when Isabelle will occasionally wake up in the middle of the night hungry) than others but for the most part, I have finally found my balance. I enjoy being busy. I am very satisfied with how everything is going right now. Just thought I'd let you know.

Scarecrows and More Scarecrows

Our family portrait...

Wow, those scarecrows look just like humans...
Cousin It and Alexis
Arrr...

Scarecrow Festival

We went to the Hoschton, GA Fall Festival.  They are setting a new Guiness Book of World Record for having the most scarecrows.  I think they have 7,500+ scarecrows and still counting. 

There are scarecrows everywhere.  They line all the streets, in yards, in buildings, in trees...

Some were really creative.  
Alexis and The King
Alexis called this cute scarecrow her friend, named Joey.  This was her favorite.

Horse Farm Pics

Here are some photos of when we went to Dane's parent's horse farm.  The kids had a great time and love seeing all of the horses.

This is Darla (whom I named and is my favorite) I like how she is sticking her tongue out.

Alexis is posing like the horse.  This is 'Star' and her colt.

Daddy and his girls.

Mom and baby....oh I love the babies.  They are so cute!!