A Cowgirl's Halloween!

Katie's obsession with Toy Story came full circle when she asked to be Jessie Cowgirl for Halloween.  She asked with plenty of time to change her mind, but luckily she stuck to it.  Here's the breakdown of her costume.

Red Hat from a real cowboy store in Dallas, Texas...I found it when I was out visiting Griffin!

Jessie shirt from the Disney store...again, in Dallas.

Cow chaps from scratch...We cut up some cow print pajama bottoms and sewed them to the front of her jeans.

Boots from Target...still getting good use out of them now.

And the braid...I never thought Katie would sit still long enough for the braid, but she surprised me!  She actually got to dress up several times in her costume and sat for the braid every time!

We went to my cousin's annual Halloween party and trick or treating bash!  Katie got to decorate her own cookie with icing and sprinkles.  She kept licking the icing off and wanting to start over.  Just the beginning of her sugar rush.

All the kids from the party line up every year for a group picture before setting off to trick or treat.

My sweet little Jessie Cowgirl!  She's always a little timid in these big groups and it took quite a lot of coaxing to get her to join in for the picture.

Her 2nd cousin, Lucas, was dressed as a cowboy so we made sure to get a picture of them together.  They look ready for some Wild West action!

Maddie lives in the same neighborhood as my cousin so she and Katie got to trick or treat together.  This picture cracks me up because Katie is sitting like a cowgirl and Maddie is sitting with her hands so dainty just like a princess!

 This was the first year that Katie actually went door to door for candy. We practiced saying Trick or Treat and Thank you for a week or so!  She did a great job and loved all the candy!  (So did Mommy!)

Buddy Walk 2011

We headed out to Saluda Shoals Park for the Buddy Walk.  We had great weather and lots of fun celebrating all of the Buddies!  Katie rode instead of walking but it gave her a better view to all the action.

Here's the action I'm talking about!  Loads of people at the start line listening to a marching band kick off the festivities.

We also got some good playtime in at their playground.  There's a mini rock climbing wall that she adores!

The guest of honor!  We love you Lilly and had so much fun celebrating our favorite buddy of all!  Great job Team Lilly Pad!

 

Best Party Ever!

My nephew, Dylan, turned 4 recently and we headed up to Raleigh to help him celebrate.  Smart choice on our part!  Melissa had his party at one of the coolest places ever.  Hillridge Farms is a child's paradise and I think parents have almost as much fun!  

After a train ride around the farm, the party guests hopped on for a hayride!

The birthday boy and his mommy on the hayride!

The hayride took us all to a pumpkin patch where the kids all got to pick one to take home.  This wasn't Katie's first rodeo with pumpkin picking, so she knew what to look for!

Need an idea for some cheap fun for kids?  HAY BALES!  There was an open air barn filled with hay and hay bales and it was all just for jumping!

And more jumping!

And seriously cute jumping!  He's the bravest one year old ever!

After jumping, it was time to explore more that the farm had to offer. And sweet snapshot of the day with cousins walking hand in hand.

Did I mention how fun this place was?  There was a maze for the kids to go through. Dylan and Katie did a good job winding their way through and Chase did well with some outside parental coaching.

And what farm is complete without animals?  We made one last stop before heading hom to peek in at some bunnies.  It was a great day and completely worth our trip!  Happy Birthday Dylan!

Mud Running!

Every year we say it's going to be our last mud run, yet we keep signing up to do it again. We had a change in our team make-up this year and recruited some friends who had never done it before.  (Adam ran the preview with us last year, but there wasn't real mud at the preview.)  This is our team after we got our number tattoos, using energy that we should've preserved for the race.

Post race - everyone's still all smiles so it must mean they had fun. They also look like an Orbitz advertisement.

 

There were no major injuries but we all had the usual shin scrapes and bruises for about a week after the run.  And I'm pretty sure I was still cleaning mud out of my toes for several weeks! 

Pickin' Pumpkins

We made our annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch at Doug's family's church.  We headed over one day after work and let Katie pick out the one(s) she wanted.  She went for some really big ones first, but we told her we were downsizing a bit this year.

We also spent some time playing in their photo area, but instead of posing for pictures she wanted to demolish the place.

She absolutely loves these things but usually goes up the wrong side of them. Or she spends the whole time looking down to see what character she's become.

We gave Katie some quarters of her own to pay for her pumpkin and this is her sweet little face waiting on them to put the pumpkin in her bag.

She also got some pumpkin face stickers to decorate her pumpkin when we got home. She made some scary, silly, and happy faces on all sides of the pumpkin.

And then she wanted to make sure we had a picture of her matching silly face!  She doesn't have the same cross eyed look as her pumpkin, but otherwise - their likeness is uncanny!

Number Five

A mere 8 days after my 4th nephew was born, my 5th nephew came along!  This is Cooper! It was so much fun to be able to be at the hospital during all of the excitement.  It's so fun to see grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins as they get ready to meet their newest family member.  I remember when Cole was born (Cooper's big brother) and I thought he seemed really alert for a newborn.  Then Cooper came and blew that out the water.  He is probably not even an hour old in this picture but he is certainly bright eyed!  Welcome to the family, Cooper!

 



Battlecat Wilhelm

Meet Griffin Wilhelm.  He was born September 28, 2011 and is my 4th nephew.  He was 10 days late and I will let you make your own jokes about how this apple doesn't fall from his daddy's tree. 

I flew out to Texas and got to meet Griffin when he was two days old but he was still being called Battlecat (his in utero nickname) since Gabriel and Nancy hadn't yet picked a name.  From the moment I got there, I realized while they didn't have a name for their son, they were the most natural and at-ease parents I had ever seen!  They were so relaxed about everything - I could certainly take a page from their book.

Considering how brand new he was, Griffin slept most of the time I was there.  But it made for some really sweet snuggle time.

Gabriel, Me, and Griffin...I loved watching him be a dad!

And Katie couldn't make the trip with me, but we still made sure she got to see Griffin! 

 

They are traveling here for Thanksgiving and we couldn't be more excited to get to see all of them again!



More Edventures!

Every time we go to Edventure, we find new things to explore that somehow we missed the time before.  A few weeks ago, while my mom was in Texas, I took Maddie and Katie to Edventure on one of my days off.  These first few pictures just scream "a woman's work is never done."  Doing dishes in the kitchen.

 

Bulldozing...I mean really...What kid wouldn't love to drive a bulldozer? 

 

Bucket pulley system.  The girls worked together to make a big mess and get really wet.  I'm quite sure that's not the educational objective of this, but at least mommy learned to keep a closer eye so they both end up drenched.

 

All those chores were tough work, so they rewarded themselves with a slide!  The spiral staircase leading up the slide was super steep but they didn't seem to mind.

 

One happy slide rider!

 

And another...

 

This was the first time we'd gone when the Aha Factory was open, so the kids got to do some artwork. 

 

Cole and Lindsay met us there too and we found that we have 3 little Picassos in the making!

 

One last ride before we go!  Here's to you, my leader of the pack! Vroom Vroom!

 

It's Fall Y'all!

How do I know?

The temperatures are dropping and the air hasn't kicked on in a few days.

Pumpkin Spice Lattes are back at Starbucks (but actually an Americano with Pumpkin Spice in it is just as good and $1 cheaper - thanks Jessica!)

Our calendar is slammed full of festivals and birthday parties for loads of kids in our family.

I'm irritated at the Gamecocks but loving the Gamecocks all at the same time.

Flip flops are behind the boots in my closet.

Katie's closet is switched out with long sleeves and pants.

Days are shorter but are full of crisp air and we're soaking up the daylight until it's gone.

Chili recipes are filling up my counter space.

A piece of pie always sounds good.

Halloween costumes are being planned.

Candy corn is being stolen out of the dining room table centerpiece.

Our anniversary awaits us.

The State Fair is dreaming up something new to deep fry.

My pants are already snug from the prospect of the coming feasts!

Winter has Christmas and that's hard to compete with. Spring is the season of renewal and fresh starts. Summer is for stretching out of our normal routines. And fall...it's just like it sounds. Time to fall back to ourselves and sit back with something warm to drink, wrap up in a blanket, and open a good book. Fall is here and the good times are waiting!

Preschool

A few weeks ago, Katie's preschool invited a children's train conductor to come to the school for a visit.  He brought his own children's train and took them all for a ride! It's a good thing too, because when we pulled into school that day, Katie could see it in the parking lot and I told her (even though I didn't know) that she'd probably get to ride it.  Phew!  Here she is strapped in with Cole and seemingly having a great time! 

Next stop, Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!  She has quite the wave going on here and I have no clue who she's waving to since it seems like none of the other kids are waving!

Back inside after the ride, the conductor did a puppet show about trains for the kids.  Katie and Cole parked right next to each other and hunkered down for the show.  I'm quite sure that she was picking her nose immediately before this picture.  That's totally her M.O.

Looking like such well-behaved students!  In fact, most of the kids in the picture look like they're behaving! Those teachers must be doing something right.  I could use a few tips on toddler management from them!

We're really enjoying Trinity so far!  The director of the child care center posted all of the train day pictures on Facebook so it was nice to be able to see how much fun Katie had since parents don't usually get to spy on their kids at school!