Happy Halloween!

Wishing everyonen a Happy Halloween!!! I am taking the kids trick-or-treating tonight with a few neighbors; more on that later.

In the meantime, just wanted to share a few pics of our pumpkins this year. My immensely talented husband has - once again - outdone himself. He drew all of this by hand, and painstakingly carved it all day Saturday!

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?! SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS!!

I am not a fan of carving (hate scooping out the guts, etc) but I did help the kids put together their Mr. Potato Head pumpkins. Nate did a pirate this year and Abby did a witch.

Hope everyone has a safe & happy Halloween!

Old Friends are the Best Friends

We had some visitors from TN this weekend, Hallie & Grant! Though I've only known Hallie for 3 years, it seems as though she's been my "forever" friend...we just GET each other. I was so happy to see her and her adorable son when they arrived on Friday afternoon!!

We woke Nate up from his nap and BOY was he surprised to see Miss Hallie & Grant! (I kept it a surprise, b/c if I had told them they were coming, he would have asked me every 2.5 seconds when they were arriving.) Abby took a few minutes to warm up, but after that, couldn't stop smiling at Miss Hallie. She loved getting chased around the house by Hallie and hugged by Grant. She even got early bday presents! A cute cute cute TURTLENECK dress (not pictured) and a new baby doll!

We attempted to make "spider cookies" out of oreos...

Abby preferred to just lick icing instead of participate

Not sure how these two squeezed themselves into LAST YEAR's Halloween costumes!! Long live Woody & Buzz!

One of the highlights of the afternoon was jumping on G's bed (aka the air mattress) and making funny faces into the video monitor. Hours of entertainment.


After dinner, we introduced Grant to our family ritual of "naked dance parties"....he caught on quickly and had a ball!

Baby Girl can W.O.R.K. I.T!!!

Triple bubble bath!

The last time the boys had a sleepover (in Sept, in Murfreesboro), bedtime was a bit of a disaster. This one, I'm happy to report, went much more smoothly. Hallie & I watched the boys on the video monitor and they were sooo good! Nate settled down pretty fast (and buried himself under his covers), while G was a bit wiggly but was as quiet as a mouse. I think the key was having them in seperate beds (last time they shared an air mattress). My boy likes having his own space!

Saturday morning, we headed to a park to play even though it was a bit chilly! Here is Miss Hallie with Abby - I swear Abby likes her, despite what it looks like here. I think Abby was just ready to play!!





H&G, we had so much fun!! Come back soon!!

Run Forrest, Run!

Following in the Gibbs' footsteps, Nate ran in his first race on Friday!! His school was a having a fundraiser called the Boosterthon, which involves having people pledge any amount of $ they want, based on how many laps they think Nate can run in the fun run. We had no idea he'd be able to complete all 35 laps (this was a small track people!), so he ended up raising $280!!! This is the school's one and only fundraiser, and both of our families very generously pledged money to support Nate. (THANK YOU FAMILY!) The only bummer was that it had to be held inside the gym due to the rain. Needless to say, that made it a bit chaotic.

Since Nate turned in his pledges a day early, he got to bring home all his prizes on Thursday - a HUGE beach ball, sunglasses, braclet, glow-in-the-dark water bottle, and super duper bouncy ball. He could barely sleep Thursday night, in anticipation of "the big race."






I assured him Abby and I would be there to cheer him on, but little did he know that Daddy showed up to surprise him! He was ecstatic. We are proud of our little runner and all his determination.
As the kids finished a "lap," a teacher would mark off the corresponding # on their back. So, 35 laps was the max they could do and Nate did them all!



Myrtle Beach Marathon Relay 2017, here we come!!

Trick-or-Treating, Take 1

Last night, I went with some friends to have the kids trick-or-treat on "Sorority Row" on campus. Picture this: 20+ sorority houses (aka: mansions) with tons of cute girls handing out free candy. It was great!!

Abby got to ride in style in the wagon with her boyfriend, Xavier, but it was a little crowded in there. She was the "Queen Bee" for sure!(And it's hard to see, but Xavier was Alfalfa and was oh-so-cute!)

Captain America was mesmerized by all the candy around him! (And there were lots of super heroes too, which of course he pointed out every.single.one!)

Queen Bee needed a break

Greg was able to join us - it was a miracle he found us - once he finished teaching his class.

We came back to our house to play for a little bit afterwards. From L to R: Xavier, Abby, Nate, and Sadie the Ladybug

We're not sure if we're going to be able to trick-or-treat around here on Halloween (long story, but they "cancelled" Halloween in our neighborhood due to all the construction, etc), so this might be the kids only chance to trick-or-treat. I'm still trying to come up with something for Monday. Maybe we'll just drive to a random neighborhood to trick-or-treat! Nate told me Spiderman wants to make an appearance, so we'll see.

The Barnyard

Abby & I met some friends yesterday at the Tuscaloosa Barnyard, for a playdate. Though a little pricey, this place was really cool! A petting zoo, hayride, pumpkin patch, and playground all rolled into one. (Though I will say, I am REALLY missing our old pumpkin patches in TN - Walden Farms & Lucky Ladds! There is nothing nearby that compares to those. Maybe next year we'll drive the hour to Birmingham, b/c I hear there are good ones there!)

I wasn't sure how Abby would do with the animals, b/c last weekend in NC with my parents she was terrified of the horses. (Granted, they were pretty big!) Well, it took her about 10 minutes but she warmed up to the animals and had sooo much fun feeding them!! I'm sure it helped that they were all tiny (and so cute)! Goats, ducks, chickens, bunnies, and ponies, she loved them all.




I had a "proud mommy" moment when she decided she wanted to RIDE the pony! Not many of the older kids there even did that! We did two laps around the little pen, and though she was holding onto my arm for dear life, she was smiling & loved it!


After her pony experience, she got even more brave and decided to 1) feed the "big" goats herself and 2) get INTO THE PEN with the bunnies. At first, she was just feeding them out of her bucket. Then that turned into chasing them in circles & giggling! At one point, all of the bunnies were crowded together in the corner...I think they were trying to hide from her!!




Next up was the hayride to the pumpkin patch. This was old hat to Abby, since she'd been on a hayride last week with N&P. But, she did have fun at the pumpkin patch and had a hard time deciding which 2 we should take home.

The only downside to the day happened on the hayride back....Abby was super fussy and squirmy and I couldn't figure out why until I found/killed an ant coming out of her shirt. I lifted up her shirt and found about 20 bites on her back & neck :( Apparently she got attacked by ants at the pumpkin patch. And one minute later I realized they were on me too...only about 5 though. She is one tough cookie!!! I was afraid we'd have to go home but as soon as we got back to the Barnyard, she saw the playground and was a happy girl!

Weekend Fun

We just got back from a visit to NC, to both see my family & attend a college friend’s wedding in Winston-Salem. It was our first time making the long trip to NC since moving to Tuscaloosa, and to our surprise, it went okay! We left Thursday morning and with just 3 stops, made it in 9.5 hrs. The kids were really well behaved, especially Abby! Nate had a few mysterious foot cramps that magically disappeared when he stepped foot out of the car. Books, coloring books, movies I checked out from the library (Spiderman & Fraggle Rock), as well as McDonald’s toys kept the kids entertained. We made it to Nanny & Poppy’s house around 6 pm, just in time for dinner & baths.

Check out Nate's pirate attire - including the earring!

Abby couldn't get enough of her Nanny

Friday morning, we all went to the Children’s Museum downtown. The kids ran all over the place, danced, made donuts, went grocery shopping, and watched scarves fly around.





Abby was breaking it down to "Itsy Bitsy Spider"

Miss Priss couldn't get enough of these (pretend) baked beans! When I took the spoon away (b/c she kept putting it in her mouth, gross), she found a spatula. When I took that away, she just licked the bowl & ran off with it. Yes, she loves her beans.

This was the coolest exhibit - a Krispy Kreme factory!




Nate took his job of cashier very seriously

Mom & I went on a mini-shopping spree while the kids napped...it’s so hard to pass up good deals at Carter’s and Kohl’s! (Oh, how I’ve missed my Kohl’s!!) Favorite purchases:
1. Christmas pjs for Abby that have an attachable red tutu for Christmas morning. Yes, I said tutu!!
2. Polka-dot corduroy vest for Abby that was on clearance
(Poor Nate, he got a few shirts for church but nothing too exciting. Girls stuff is just sooo much cuter!)



That night, we went to our fave Mexican spot for dinner, Mi Pueblo. It wouldn’t be a trip to NC without some Pueb!! The cheese dip, the margaritas, the chips&salsa...we love it all. And oh Abby Reece...once again, she devoured ALL the Mexican rice on her plate. She insisted on feeding herself, and was shoveling it in her mouth with her fork. She would hold the fork oh-so-carefully so not a single grain fell off. Usually, when you’re dining out with kids, you eat fast so you can get out of there before they misbehave. Well, we had to wait about 20 minutes after everyone finished for Miss Priss to finish her rice. Fatty!!

Saturday morning was the long-awaited “West Reunion/Playdate” at a local park. One of my best friends growing up, Erin, lives in Denver now but was going to be in town for Wake Forest’s homecoming. Since we rarely see each other (and our respective adorable kids!), our moms decided to plan this reunion playdate. And then we invited along other friends from high school – and some from Erin’s college days – who lived in NC and could make the trip easily. It was so fun to see everyone and meet their kiddos! Both my sisters drove in for the reunion as well, so it was nice to able to visit with them for the day. The weather was beautiful, the kids all got along, and there were lots of yummy snacks to go around. And Abby took turns charming different members of my family, convincing them to go push her on the swings.

Me and Ronnie (Erin's mom), who I referred to as my "second mom" growing up!

Erin, Alex, and Erin's daughter Addison lovin' on me

Mr. & Mrs. Paparazzi



At one point, Nate asked me if he could “just smell” the Krispy Kreme donuts. (He had already had one for breakfast so he wasn’t allowed another). Then he proceeded to stick his nose in the donut. Not sure if that was an accident or not!!

Miss Hollywood

Abby DID NOT like Addison getting close to her food! At one point she even swatted her hand away, oops!


The Clemmons Gang!!

Saturday evening, Greg and I got to spend a night away as we attended our friend Jeff’s wedding in Old Salem. Once again, it was beautiful weather and we were lucky enough to catch up with 20+ of our friends from UNC! It was a night filled with lots of talking, laughing, drinking, and dancing! In fact, Granny here made it till 2:30 am...that is a new record for me! :)

The new Mr. & Mrs. Jeff Beaudin!

One highlight of the wedding was the CLEFHANGERS!! Most of us were UNC alum, so we knew & appreciated these guys....such a talented acapella group that brought back fond college memories for us. (They were pretty cute too!)

Beautiful centerpieces at the reception

Fellow Tarheels!!



For the first dance, the bride changed into a party dress!


Yes, I realize I look a little crazy here, but there was an old school Usher song playing (and his video in the background) and I love.me.some.Usher!!


Crazy groomsmen...don't ask!



Sending the happy couple off with sparklers


While Greg & I had a night away, the kids enjoyed some quality time with N&P. Deedee came over for a visit, and they had a pizza party for dinner.

Nate insisted that I wash & let him wear his new Christmas pjs ASAP. Weirdo!


Sunday was a bit of a lazy day...the kids stayed in their pjs past 10 am, which was great for Greg & I because we were s.t.r.u.g.g.l.i.n.g after our long night!! One of my fellow Dixie Chicks, Becca, came over with her husband David to visit with the kids before leaving town. (They had been at Jeff’s wedding as well.) She is 5.5 months pregnant (though she barely looks 2 months!) and I cannot wait to meet her baby BOY in February!




Our last fun activity with N&P was on Sunday afternoon. We went to nearby Tanglewood for a hayride & pumpkin patch! Everyone got to pick out a pumpkin, we got to pet horses, as well as play on a playground afterwards. Again, it was just nice to be outside and enjoy the beautiful weather. (It was also a bit sentimental for me, b/c as a kid, every Christmas we would gather for this same hayride around Tanglewood. We'd snuggle under blankets, drink hot chocolate, and sing carols with some of our favorite families. Such a good memory!)

Surprisingly, Abby Reece was NOT a fan of the horses!




This is Nate's "scary spider face!"


Abby was FASCINATED by the hay!!



Some other highlights of the trip to NC (for Abby) included:
- Dancing with Poppy (the girl can shake her booty!!)
- Grubbin’ on Nanny’s mashed potatoes
- Snuggle time in the morning with both N&P
- Reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear
- Playing with O'Malley (Becky's dog)

For Nate:
- Picking up sticks and watering the grass with Poppy
- Reading Magic School Bus books with Nanny
- Eating doughnuts
- Playing the "fishing" game

Monday, we made the trip in a little over 9 hours and again, the kids were pretty good for being cooped up for so long. God bless the mini-van! (And portable dvd players!!) We had such a great trip and I am grateful to have such an amazing family!