Runnin' on fumes

Ya'll, it's only Friday and Kate's already worn her costume twice.  We've got two more parties to attend (yes, one is actually on Halloween night) and by the end of the week the costume should be able to walk by itself. 

Hamp wears his in small increments of time, as his hot-natured self tends to get sweaty quite easily, and it doesn't really go with his no-fuss wardrobe requirement.   But I think we chose the cutest little costume for him.  He really rocks it.


Kate's had her mind made up since August on what her costume would be, and she never wavered. 

Children's department costume party at church on Wednesday night

Kate's preschool party was on Thursday, so Hamp and I joined her for some festive fun.

performing their songs



This is actually turned out to be an unintentional picture of all three of us.  There we are, we're the lady-with-a-baby-on-her-hip shadow.  Look closely, my sweat droplets probably have a shadow of their own.



The party was lots of fun.  We even went on a hayride that put Mr. Mister right to sleep.



Kate's soccer season is almost over with only a couple of games remaining.  She had a game last night and as you probably guessed, she and cousin Lydia were side by side.

I don't know if they ever really play an entire game without digging in the dirt, playing chasing, or better yet, breaking out their baby dolls on the sideline.




After the game, we went to dinner at Papa T and Grammy Shirley's house.  Thankfully, they live just right across the lawn. 



Feeding the ducks with Papa T



me, kate, and the never ending tootsie roll

M to the Izz-A and I have gotten into the habit of drinking coffee in the evenings. 

I have become my parents. 

I also enjoy going to bed early, like by 9pm or so, but not on Tuesdays because I can't miss my show, Parenthood.  I simply love that show.

And we finally got around to carving our pumpkin this week. 

Originally, it started out with all of us outside involved in the carving process.  Then, Hamp got hot, or the wind was maybe bothering his ears, or the gnats were gettin' bad, or something like that.  I can't remember the excuse I actually ended up going with.  There's something incredibly wrong about having temperatures in the high 80's in late October.  We were melting.

 So Kate and Daddy finished up on their own.  They LOVE having full creative control. 


And look how cute they turned out.


Meet Sad Face and Happy Face.

So adorable, right?

Wait.  Are they making fun of my mood swings?


They probably are, but I'll take it.  Today.

Tomorrow may be a different story. 


Now with Halloween coming this weekend, M to the Izz-A and I decided to just skip the costumes this year.  Some of you will remember that last year the whole family dressed up as pirates. 

Up until last weekend we were still going with the no costume plan, until a few of our friends had a different idea in mind for us.


You guys are going to DIE when you see us dressed up this year.  Seriously, it is a hoot!  Let's just say, long johns have never been tampered with in such a way.  Let's hope I don't chicken out.



Anyway, I gotta run.  Matt just brought me a big ol' cup of hot coffee and a handful of pumpkin seeds that he and Kate just baked in the oven.  Let's hope it keeps me up 'til 9.

Wordless Wednesday

Stuck in the Middle with You

This week we traveled to middle Georgia to be with M to the Izz-A as he attended a training for work.  This is one of those times I'm thankful to be a stay at home mom, so that we could go with him, instead of being apart for an entire week.  Now, on the flip side, it also meant that we were all crammed into a hotel room that wasn't exactly set up to host a family of four for a six-day duration.  But, I must say we did enjoy ourselves and spent most of our time out of the room thankfully, roaming around, finding things to do. 

And so what if the lady at Chik-Fil-A knew us by name and combo # by the end of the week?  I said we found "things" to do.  Entering Chik-Fil-A, ordering at Chik-Fil-A, eating, and playing on the playground at Chik-Fil-A are "things"...plural.

I also loaded up our cabinet of crafts before we left and brought them along so that Kate could have some free fun things to do while we were there.  She and I both love a little crafting every now and then. 



So we loaded up our lives and headed out.

I just knew we'd forget something, and that 'something' turned out to be Hamp's bouncer seat - his all time favorite seat of the moment.  Not to worry.  We made do with an array of items.  I'm beginning to think the bouncer seat was a waste of money. 


See Exhibit A:

 Exhibit B:

Exhibit C:

Kate did a lot of this,

while Hamp did lots of this.

We actually did find several things to do other than make people wonder if we were chicken loving vagabonds.  I, of course, found us a Target to browse.

And somehow Kate managed to come home with twins.



Her specific photo request



Aww, look at Mr. Fella.

And since we didn't have a full kitchen in our room, we did our share of eating out in the evenings as well.  Twist my arm.

The weather was perfect.  Cool in the mornings and evenings, while warming up a bit in the afternoons.

We did find a nice outside shopping area and I had high hopes of doing a little shopping.  But after store numero uno, I decided to just focus on kid-friendly activities for the remainder of the trip.  From Kate ramming Hamp and the stroller into the clothes racks and hanging on the gold necklaces like they were big swings to everytime she picked up something saying with every bit of drama she could muster, "This is gorgie!"  No wait, this is gorgie!"  (as in the shortened version of gorgeous)  I have to admit.  That last part is hilarious.  But shopping with kids is for the birds.  Or crazy people.


We spent a lot of the week in Barnes and Nobles.  Kate ended up absolutely loving it there and Hamp was able to people watch 'til his little heart was content.  The children's section is perfect. 

Kate loved this book.  We read it over and over. 

But at the end of the day, what did we actually end up coming home with?

 Olivia.

Good ol' Olivia beat the llama by a mile.


 

 And we found something to do with all those pretty fall leaves outside.

We were also able to visit the Museum of Science and Art.

Kate enjoyed the art part a lot more than the science.  Hamp, on the other hand, loved looking at the giant insects.  He couldn't keep his eyes off of them...between his napping, that is. 

This trip has been pretty refreshing.  Sometimes it's just good to get away for a little while.

 

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter where you are, what you're doing, or if you've got Olivia sleeping in between you, your kids, and your husband.  What matters most is that you're there, enjoying the moment, making those memories with your family, even if it does include discussions on whether the purple top is more "gorgie" than the blue.