Whew ! What a Halloween!

There should be a law that school should be canceled on Halloween and the day after. After teaching or trying to teach 40 hyper children all day, I was exhausted when it came time to celebrate with my own two children!

Our Halloween started with Carson dressing up as a soldier for his school Halloween festivities. When I picked him up from school, he was already planning what he was going to dress up as for trick-or-treating. It went from being a Power Ranger to a race car driver. When we got home, he suited up in his Jeff Gordon race suit, his black racing gloves, and his Spiderman sunglasses. His daddy helped him get ready while I attempted to get Ella dressed up as a cute caterpillar! That's a whole other story. The costume that I waited until the VERY LAST moment to try on her DIDN'T fit! She couldn't move in it, and the head portion fell right over her eyes. The costume didn't even last long enough for me to get a picture. Needless to say I was heartbroken. This was Roo's first Halloween, and I didn't have her a costume. I called Aunt Lizzie in a panic and asked her to please stop by Halloween Express to see what they had left. Being the WONDERFUL aunt that she is, she did and called me to say that the costumes were still 27.00. Yikes! As much as I wanted Ella to be dressed up, I just couldn't justify spending 27.00 on something she would wear one time. Ella ended up wearing a cute pumpkin outfit that Aunt Lizzie bought her awhile back.

As soon as we finally all got ready, we ventured to Grammy and Papa's house for our weekly spaghetti dinner. Carson and Ella trick-or-treated at Grammy's and received some pretty nice treats. Ella received her very first Barbie doll, a Halloween Barbie at that. Savannah came by to trick-or-treat, and Carson enjoyed giving her her treats! During dinner Sarita came over and brought a delicious cake from my favorite bakery. I have been dieting, but I did have a little slither. Carson and his daddy enjoyed a HUGE piece!

After leaving Grammy and Papa's house, we drove to Rose Marie's house. She had Ella and Carson some great treats! The saddest thing about the visit was when I was taking Ella out of Rose Marie's arms, she begin crying!!! She wanted Rose Marie and NOT her mommy. As soon as Rose Marie took her back, the crying stopped. Roo is definitely spoiled rotten! We have the BEST sitter in the world.

Our big event of the evening was trick-or-treating in Vance's neighborhood. The boys all loaded up in the back of Chad's truck and were gone. They spent about one hour trick-or-treating in the neighborhood while Ella rocked with Annie on the neighbor's porch. Carson and Vance came back with tears rolling down their cheeks. Some really scary guys chased them. Because of the scare, Carson made the decision that he would not go trick-or-treating in Vance's neighborhood next year. Maybe Vance will have to come to ours.

At about 9:30 we ventured out to G.G.'s house. She had great treats for both Car and Ella. Ella was sound asleep during this visit and it was way past Car's bedtime, so we didn't stay too long.

We FINALLY made it back home from our venture all around the town at about 10:00! Five o'clock came WAY too early the next day!

Boo in the Zoo!

Carson, Ella, and I ventured out by ourselves to Boo in the Zoo because their daddy was working. It was quite an adventure because I don't like to drive anywhere that I do not know very well. Anyway, we made it safely and had a great time! We met up with the Cumming and Goode family. Carson had a blast with Hayden and Alex. Ella enjoyed strolling around watching the BIG boys!

Happy Birthday Dawson!

Last weekend we traveled to Grandma Bobbie's house to celebrate Cousin Dawson's 2nd Birthday. Despite the fact that the children couldn't play on the playground at McDonald's during the party because of rain the night before, they seemed to enjoy Happy Meals, cake, and running around.

Too Funny!

I try to ask Carson each day after I pick him up about what he has learned at school that day. Today was so exception, but the response I received made me say WOW! He told me that they had been learning about Native Americans. So of course, being the teacher that I am required him to expand on that... I asked him what he had been learning about Native Americans. He said that instead of being "number tables", they are now tribes. He explained that he is part of the Apache. I asked him what he knew about the Apache. He explained that they lived on the Plains, they lived in tepees, they ate the meat of animals, and so on. He even went on to say that Will Eli's Native American name is Running Bull. I am AMAZED that he is learning exactly what I have just finished covering in my fourth grade social studies class. (It's part of our SC standards) Mrs. Turner has been an AMAZING teacher thus far. It blows me away how much he has already learned in 4K.

When we got home, he began telling Rose Marie about the Native Americans upon my request. He would just tell her one fact at a time, and I would have to ask him another question to get him to tell her more. Well...after I asked him to tell Rose Marie where the Apache lived he said with great confidence in his voice, "They're the ones who lived on the airplanes!"

Maybe he doesn't understand as much as I thought he did... THIS AGE IS TOO CUTE! :)

Happy 4th Birthday Grant!

On Saturday, we helped celebrate Grant's 4th Birthday! His party was at a local fire station. It was so much fun! Carson enjoyed dressing up in Grant and Hayden's firemen costumes. We enjoyed a nice lunch, had delicious cake, took a ride on a fire truck, and participated in an obstacle course race! Carson had a BLAST! Ella enjoyed sitting on the fire truck herself! It was GREAT to be able to spend time with the Goode family again! :)

Friday Night FUN!

Carson had a special "play date" on Friday with Vance and Brianna. Vance came home with Carson after school on Friday afternoon. As soon as we got home, the boys suited up in their racing costumes and were ready for a race! Vance LOVES Car's Jimmie Johnson race car. I had to convince the boys that they needed to eat before racing, so they wouldn't run out of "fuel"! As they were eating, I decided to invite Brianna over to play. The boys were excited, especially Vance being that Brianna is his "girlfriend"! Brianna was really shy when she first got here. She didn't have any interest at all in racing with the boys. She said her tummy was too big for her to fit in the tractor. After a little while of racing, everyone began playing together. Ella enjoyed sitting in her stroller and watching the "BIG KIDS" play. Carson, Brianna, and Vance enjoyed racing, playing hide-and-go-seek, Red Rover, playing super heroes, and of course having their pictures taken! :) Carson's next FRIDAY NIGHT FUN will take place at his Bobbie's house with his two cousins and baby sister! :)

Thursday Thirteen #?

It has been a couple of weeks I think since I posted a Thursday Thirteen! It may be a few more before I have the time to post another one. So, I find it very fitting, but sad to post...

13 Reasons Carson and Ella will be Mommyless Over the Next Week or So
1. It is REPORT CARD time. Our district uses a very lengthy computerized standards-based report card that takes me WAY TOO MUCH time to complete (especially since I teach forty children)!
2. I MUST go to work at my school on Saturday to finish preparing for next week's conferences.
3. My first night of student-led conferences is on Monday until 6:00. Well, they are set to end at six, so who knows when I will get out of there. The room must be transformed back into its norm before I leave. Twenty children will be waiting by my door bright and early to get in. If you are a teacher, you know that you don't want to upset the norm!
4. It takes at least 30 minutes to drive home from work after a L-O-N-G twelve hours.
5. My second night of student-led conferences is Tuesday until 6:00.
6. Immediately following conferences, our PTO meeting begins!
7. Working at least 14 hours a day won't allow much time for anything else but crashing in the bed!
8. Our school's Fall Festival is on Thursday from 4-7. Once again, another 12 hour workday.
9. Late afternoon planning sessions will occur since all of my other time at the beginning of the week will be consumed with preparing for conferences.
10. My tired body will begin wearing down, so I am sure I will catch some sickness going around!
11. My husband will probably kick me out of town because I will be so grumpy! Of course, he will keep my children with him!
12. My mom, dad, and sister will probably kick me out of the country because they have had to keep my children all week!
13. A mandatory after school meeting was called for next MONDAY afternoon from 3-6! AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO TEACHES WHO HAS SMALL CHILDREN WHO NEED THEIR MOMMY TO TAKE CARE OF THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(As I finish this quick post, Carson comes and places his head on my arm and in the sweetest voice says, "Why can't you spend time with me?")
Little does he know what next week holds in store... :(

A Singer in the Making!

This picture makes me chuckle!!!!!!!

Ella's Eight Months Old!

Wow! It seems like I just posted that Ella was seven months old. I cannot believe how time is just flying by with her. This month hasn't really brought a lot of "milestones"! I am kind of glad about that. I am wanting to hold on to the "baby" time as long as I possibly can! I remember with Carson, I couldn't wait to have him rolling over, sitting up by himself, crawling, walking, talking, etc. While I am very excited when Roo achieves all of these tasks, I don't count down to the time when they will occur. She is sitting up very well by herself now. She is in the beginning stages of crawling. She has mastered the scooting backward part! :) She becomes a little frustrated with herself though. She is rolling all over the place and able to push herself back into a crawling position if she rolls on her back. As far as eating goes, she still enjoys squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, mixed vegetables, and pears. I would have to say her favorite food would be blueberry and pears mixed together! :) She continues to only eat four ounces at a time. I don't think we will ever graduate to the larger bottles! I haven't seen any signs of little white things emerging from her gums. I am really shocked at this being that Carson received his first two teeth at four months!

Ella has really fallen in love with her sitter, Rose Marie! She is so cute every morning when Rose Marie gets there. She will be waiting patiently in her swing, and when Rose Marie comes through the door she will get this HUGE smile on her face while her feet are kicking out of control. She begins this little whining until Rose Marie rescues her. I am so thankful that God has blessed us with a private sitter for Ella for the amount of time that He has! She is truly a blessing! This is providing Ella with quality one-on-one time that she otherwise would not have received being that she does have a BIG brother in the house that also needs his mommy and daddy.

A Day at the Pumpkin Patch!

Last Saturday, we took our annual trip to the pumpkin patch! This year's trip was very special because it was Ella's first trip (outside of Mommy's tummy)! It was way TOO hot to be at a pumpkin patch with fall clothes on, so our trip didn't last too long! Carson enjoyed seeing Bubba and all of the other animals! Each year, I have taken Carson's picture standing at Bubba's fence in the same spot. It is amazing to see how much he grows each year in comparison to the fence! He looks like a giant this year! If you look really closely, you will see that we have started the Bubba picture tradition with Roo! We captured the picture right before she decided to try to fall back on the cement! Her daddy was very fast with that catch! :) Aunt Lizzie met us there, so of course, she joined in on the photo shoot! :)

A Day at the Pumpkin Patch!

Roo loved the wind blowing in her face and hair! This picture makes me laugh! :)

Last Saturday, we took our annual trip to the pumpkin patch! This year's trip was very special because it was Ella's first trip (outside of Mommy's tummy)! It was way TOO hot to be at a pumpkin patch with fall clothes on, so our trip didn't last too long! Carson enjoyed seeing Bubba and all of the other animals! Each year, I have taken Carson's picture standing at Bubba's fence in the same spot. It is amazing to see how much he grows each year in comparison to the fence! He looks like a giant this year! If you look really closely, you will see that we have started the Bubba picture tradition with Roo! We captured the picture right before she decided to try to fall back on the cement! Her daddy was very fast with that catch! :) Aunt Lizzie met us there, so of course, she joined in on the photo shoot! :)

Themes and Dreams: Carson's First Post

My Aunt Lizzie is an amazingly creative person! (Okay, My mommy helped me with those words!) She has been making all of my birthday invitations since I had my 2nd Birthday! I am now 5, so that has been a lot of work! She has now started her own little "business" making invitations, Thank You cards, Christmas cards, ... She just finished making my Cousin Ian's 2nd birthday invitation! It is so cute! Visit her website to see more!

VIRUS!!!!!!!!!

For those of you who really know me, I am not talking about what I become obsessed about quite easily - - HUMAN VIRUS! I now have a NEW obsession, and that is a COMPUTER VIRUS! Our computer is SICK, SICK, SICK! I have so many things to post, but am scared to do anything in fear that some crazy hacker is in my personal stuff! I am just dying to post some cute pics of my precious ones from the weekend!