October 31, 2008 - Friday

Halloween

We all had a great Halloween! We had a full day of fun things starting with Jack-o-Lantern pancakes. We did Halloween crafts and carved and decorated pumpkins. We made Halloween cupcakes and had other special "treats" throughout the day. When Pete came home, we had a "ghost hunt" with cloth covered lollipops hidden (scattered) through the yard. We went trick-or-treating around our neighborhood then ended the evening on a hayride and with a bonfire with some friends from church. The kids loved the hayride. Logan fell asleep in my lap, Carter thought it was a giant bouncy toy, Peyton was a little scared but still enjoyed it, and Drew just had fun! It was a great day.

October 26, 2008 - Sunday

Picking out Pumpkins

We went to a produce stand to get our pumpkin this year. We can't find an actual "patch" but we are still on the hunt for future pumpkin gatherings. The kids enjoyed looking at all of the pumpkins. Drew tried to pick them all up because he is "so strong." Peyton enjoyed looking for ladybugs since that was the first thing that she saw when we got there. She thought every pumpkin had their very own ladybug.

October 19, 2008

We had our church picnic today and it was crazy as usual but we all had fun. This is where the last post of throwing rocks with dad comes in. Pete took Peyton down to the shore to throw rocks into the water and at some point, she took off from Pete's side and ran straight into the water and sat in it!! It was freezing! Of course, Pete went running in to get her. She was drenched and muddy. She is so funny.

October 18, 2008

Pumpkin Patch craziness!!!

We drove over an hour and a half to go to this supposed pumpkin patch and there was no one there!! Score one for mom for not calling first!! All was not lost. We found "train days" in the Summerville town square. The kids had a blast watching a real steam engine come out on the tracks and turn on the round about. They got to climb on an old train car and go into an old train station. They had a nice playground too. The picture of the kids and Pete on the bank is of them throwing rocks into the water. This activity would lead to a funny story I will fill you in for the next day.

We drove back to Chattanooga to the Enchanted Maize where the kids went on a hay ride, a "cow tractor" ride, jumped in the big blow up jumpy things, and picked out a small pumpkin each. They had a great time. It was a crazy crazy day.

October 15, 2008

Peyton's Toes

For some reason, when Peyton gets stickers, she puts them on her toes! Then she walks around looking at them with her toes up like she had a pedicure! She gets so upset when they fall off and spends tons of time putting them back on. It's adorable and infuriating at the same time because they will inevitably fall off. Stickers aren't meant for itty bitty toes!

October 13, 2008

A Mandi Tip!!

I always burn stuff!!! I get so sidetracked that I forget to flip the grilled cheese or turn the omelet. Keep in mind that I am also feeding a 6 month old cereal, unloading the dishwasher, helping put a jigsaw puzzle together, sounding out a word with a 4 year old, holding an almost 2 year old that wants to "help" and a barrage of other things while making whatever it is that is always burning on the stove! I had an aha! moment tonight. Turn the timer on for a minute. The timer beeps every minute as a reminder until you turn it off! Of course, the kids scream, "it's ready!!!" every minute of cooking dinner but that itself is a good reminder to check on whatever I am cooking. I will never burn anything again. Well.....I will burn less.

October 8, 2008

Carter is sitting up!! This is such a fun milestone. I walked into his room and he was just sitting in his crib smiling at me. He seems so proud. He has been pushing himself up to sitting all day.

Peyton is becoming really cute with Carter. She is always concerned about him. She wants to know where he is and she makes sure that I am taking care of him. When he cries she quickly goes to him and says, "It's OK." over and over again. She always brings him toys and says, "here ya go" over and over as quickly possible.