school parade

I know I'm killing you with the Halloween posts, but this time I have new costumes. I just love October. Addison was a tiger cat and believe it or not wore the mask the entire morning. I was really in shock since it was about 100 degrees outside yesterday. I realized that she doesn't own a pair of black shoes that fit her so we went bold and decided on the pink.

Morgan wore Addison's bumblebee costume from two years ago. Somehow she ended up with two treat bags. She was very serious about her trick-or-treating.

Morgan took a break from the action to check out her loot. She kept pulling out the candy, piece by piece, and was totally oblivious to me standing there.

I love being able to go to their school and do fun things with them. Even if Morgan is super cranky and only wants to be held while we take two laps around the block in the heat. I'm lucky I have a job that allows me to take the time off to make memories with them.

Yep. I'm just lucky.

roger's farm

Sometimes, for just a split second, I wish I lived up North. Some place where they had Fall, real pumpkin patches and farms. But then I remember that I don't like cold weather for long periods of time. I was on a mission to take the kids to a farm for activites and corn mazes. We found one outside of Gainesville and the girls had a blast. Morgan loved this cow train and rode it over and over. Good thing Grandma was there to take her for a couple turns.

Both of the girls loved the ponies, but Morgan won't get within 2 feet of any animal. She's a lover from a distance, but freaks out if she gets any closer. I found that out the hard way when I actually sat her on for a ride. Didn't happen.

They made a stop along the hayride to let all of the kids pick a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch. Addison couldn't wait. Morgan had a rough day after falling face first on the concrete and busting the inside of her mouth open. She just wanted to be held by daddy.

Something about the pumpkins perked her up. She was on a mission to find the perfect one.

Then there were all kinds of animals for petting and feeding. Again Morgan kept her safe distance.

Duck racing is always fun. Especially when you're the older sister and manage to keep winning.

And there was a lot of hay jumping.

It's was a fun, HOT (hello? It's October) dirty afternoon. I just wish I had a picture of the hot apple dumpling with ice cream that I had. It was the best part of my day.

getting our money's worth

Both of the girls are the perfect age for Halloween this year and I'm taking advantage of it. The festivites started early this year when we went to a festival this past weekend. It was held at a cat sanctuary way out in the middle of nowhere. We were a little nervous at first, but they had plenty of arts & crafts for the kids, a haunted trail and a ton of lions and tigers. We brought our own kitty.

This year Addison is a tutu, butterfly girl. Also known as whatever we could throw together from the house. She also wants to be a cat so I'm on the lookout for some ears and a tail for her to wear closer to Halloween.

For some reason the cats were eyeing Morgan all afternoon. Maybe they thought she was one of their own. Or maybe they thought she was a snack.

Last night we went to Chick-fil-a to take part in their festival. Addison has been so terrified of the cow, but last night she finally warmed up and sat on his knee for a picture. Then we were #28 for face painting.

Morgan is in love with "boons" lately so Michael provided her with entertainment for the night by tying a balloon to her tail. She kept one eye on it and the other eye on the cow all night. I was cracking up.

We still have pumpking carving, the school parade, Spooktacular at the zoo, and Halloween night. I'm loving this time of the year.

Happy Halloween!

three and a half

Dear Addison,

You asked me in the car yesterday if you were really three and a half now. Yes. Yes you are. You're not a baby anymore and this makes me both sad and happy. I see you do new things everyday. Just recently you wrote your name for the first time. I love how you dot your "i" with a circle and you like to color in your "o". It all seems so grown up. But then you ask me to help you with your "s" and I know my baby girl is still in there, for now. Then came the stick figure drawing with the big eyeballs that looked just like me. Maybe I had a big belly and no legs, but I got it. You love to practice coloring inside the lines and could draw for hours. You want to practice learning to read words and letters too. We play Candy Land and do puzzles together. I always let you win.

You can now pump your legs on the swing, but still like when I grab you by your feet, pull you up high and let you go. The smile on your face as you fly back makes me so happy. You've finally learned how to roll the bread into balls and throw it in the lake for the fish, but you still like to eat it so I have to make sure that I bring good bread outside too. Riding your bike is a new passion. You go up and down the street without any worries. Sometimes you try to turn around in a small circle which causes you tip over and you cry out for me to help. You are freaked out by the sound of loud cars and motorcyles and come running to my side when you hear one. See, my baby girl is still in there.

You have the cutest giggle when I tickle you. And I die laughing when you tell us you just peed your panties a little because we tickled you so hard. I'm laughing now just thinking about it. You love to do everything on your own. The other night you cleared your plate from the table, put your pajamas on by yourself and even brushed your teeth. But you always have me do one brush around just to make sure we got everything. You're a little OCD just like me. It's both a good thing and a bad thing, depending on the situation. Music is a huge hit, but only the good songs as you call them. I love when you sing along and I catch a glimpse of you dancing in the back seat. For the record, you get your moves from your dad.

You love your sister so much. Most mornings you snuggle on the couch, drink milk and watch Oso together. You randomly hug her and give her kisses which melts my heart to see. You have the best intentions, but every once in awhile you try to help her along which accidentally knocks her over. You've changed your bedtime routine just a little and will now let Daddy read to you at night, but you still need me to sing you songs and cover you up. I love coming back 10 minutes later to tell you that I love you one more time and find you hugging what use to be my teddy bear. You have that sleepy look in your eyes when you look up at me and say "love you too mommy". At that moment the small tantrums and the not listening from the day just don't matter anymore. You are still waking up at night for random, unknown reasons. I promise we would all feel better if we could sleep through the night.

You looked pretty darn cute at the Halloween festival this past weekend. You are slowing starting to like the camera again.

Mommy loves you so much. A small part of you will always be my baby girl.

Love,
me

the dentist: round two

Our first go at the dentist didn't go so well. Remember THIS?

It's been almost a year and Addison is practically 16 now so we tried again. Last night we took turns being patient and dentist. A spoon for the mirror, toothpick, a safety plug thingy to bite down on, a giant microphone as an x-ray camera, and of course a toothbrush. Seems silly, but it was fun. And it worked.

She wanted to wear her sunglasses so the light wouldn't be bright in her eyes, but they never used the light. Doesn't matter. She laid there so patiently while she cleaned her teeth.

Her movie of choice? Finding Nemo. It was like crack. I pretty much had to scream to get her attention.

We had one mini freak out moment when the actual dentist came in. All week she's been asking me if it was a boy or a girl dentist. I kept saying girl because I knew the hygienist would be. But it was 50/50 when it came to the dentist because I didn't know which one would be there. For some reason she's a little uneasy around males. She does the same thing at her gym class. The dentist knew better though and let the hygienist do the work while he did the looking. Smart move.

The highlight of the day was definitely the sticker, toy, and toothbrush. And they let her paint on some of her own flouride too. I was so proud of her for doing so good. And she was pretty proud too.

good friends

This week was the bestie's birthday. So the girls made a little video. I love how Morgan has no clue what is going on. But she's still cute. You may need to turn the volume up a little since Addison is singing through her teeth.

Speaking of birthday's. Allison had one recently too. She and I have been friends since we were babies. Here we are, thirty somethig years later and we're still the best of friends. I put this together for her. As I was coloring it Addison said, "look mom, go Vols orange". She had no idea.

I love you ladies. I'm so lucky to have such great friends.

Anyone up for another NYC trip?

milwaukee trip

I took a little work trip this past weekend to Milwaukee. It's quite a shock leaving 85 degree weather and landing when it's 52, overcast and windy. Saturday we were cold. So we retreated to the bar at the top of the hotel and had martini's to warm us up. There was a nice view of the lake and the building we would be visiting on Monday. Doesn't it just look cold?

Sunday we boarded a bus for the two hour trek to Lambeau field. I cheered for the Packer's because I was afraid I would get hurt, but my allegiance changed right before halftime when I realized that if the Lion's scored I would win 50 bucks. They did. Yeah!

Me and my friend Beth, who I happen to work with, at the game. She's a blast and we had fun traveling together. The weather turned out perfect for the game. It was mid 50's and sunny all day. As a Florida girl I couldn't have asked for better.

This is Jess. She's who we went to see. I've been working with her for 5 years now and even though we're in different worlds we've become good friends.

Monday we spent all day at the office learning new stuff and meeting people that we talk to everyday. It's nice to finally put a name to a face. It was a fun trip, but I was so glad to be home in my bed late Monday night. Where someone woke me up 3 times, but I'm not mentioning any names (Addison).

eight years

Today marks the eighth anniversary of my grandfather's death. It seriously feels like yesterday. I miss them both so much, but I know that they are happier now.

This was taken December 2000, the day of my college graduation. I have other pictures of my grandparents, but this was one of the last ones I have of them before their minds gave way to Alzheimer's. Honestly, this seems like just yesterday. Where does the time go?

I raised my glass to him tonight. Love you bunches Grandpa.

because it's friday

And summer's almost over. And I really like these pictures of her just having fun. I wish we could do this all the time.

(click on the pics to see the big version)