Fun Saturday

Despite Luke running a fever since Wednesday we decided to go out and find something fun to do this morning while daddy plays golf. (I took him to the dr yesterday and its just a 'fever virus' which I'm pretty sure means that they don't know what's wrong with him)
Last weekend we saw a pumpkin carving kit while shopping and I decided to go back and get it today. You turn your ordinary pumpkin into Cinderella's carriage! Ella is so excited to do it.
On the way to the park this week I saw that a church down the road had their pumpkin patch set up so I thought we could grab some cfa and have a little picnic and find a pumpkin. When we pulled in I saw signs that they were having their fall festival today. Of course Ella spotted the bounce house right away. We ate our lunch in the back of the car and then went to play. They bounced and 'fished' for prizes and Ella got her face painted. We walked around in the pumpkins but they were really big (= expensive) and who wants to pay $20 for a pumpkin?! Ella was disappointed but I promised we could go get one after church tomorrow since there's an aldi by church and they are only $2.50 there!
Hopefully we can carve it tomorrow, I think she will enjoy getting messy!

Picnic Time 

We love a bounce house :) 

Face Painting

Cupcake of course!

                                        

Fishing for a prize

                                                  

Looking for a pumpkin

October!

I love October. It finally starts to cool off outside. The leaves start changing and the mountains look so pretty. There are so many fun things to do. And there are so many birthdays to celebrate! Linkins 7th was on the 2nd. Today is my 31st.
That used to sound so old. I have had a pretty fun weekend. Sister and Michael and sweet Will are here visiting and Bibby and Pop came to ride the train with us to the pumpkin patch. The kids loved it and we all had fun. We had dinner at OG which is always yummy. Although the boys didn't make it back from Dega in time to join us for dinner. We had cookie cake which is my favorite. And very dangerous around me and my mom. It was GONE before lunch today. We talked Bibby and pop into staying the night even though they didn't plan on it and didn't have anything with them. That's what air mattresses are for, right? Today papa stopped to see us on his way back home and the kids were excited to see him for a few minutes. Then we had momma g's for lunch and went in a few stores before nap time. We played and cooked dinner while waiting for the boys to get home from the big race. They had a great time! It's been a good birthday surrounded by family!
I have many close friends with birthdays this month and we will also celebrate Bibby's and Mimi's and Will turns one!
And I can't believe my sweet girl will be three. I remember the day she was born my buddy Pete's oldest had just turned three. He said these next three years will fly by. They definitely have! She is getting too big. I discuss this with her on a daily basis. But she insists on growing up. She says she wants to go to school. But she doesn't want to be a doctor. She wants to be a teacher. I wonder where she possibly gets that from? :) not from me. That's for sure.
We don't have much planned for this week but I am sure we will find some fun things to do!

More fun

We haven't done a whole lot during the past week but we have been having fun! We went to MoPs and to play at the park and then to auburn again for the LSU game and had such a great time. Luke does his arm in the air and says 'Waaaar Eagle, Hey!' And it is super cute. Ella and Mal had fun playing with rocks and sidewalk chalk.
We were all excited to see Mimi and Steph since they weren't there for the last game.
Sunday morning the neighbor at the Lakehouse was about to go out on her new paddle board and she let me and Steph try it out. It was SO fun. I have been wanting to try it and now I really want one! I love that you can use it without getting wet as long as you don't fall off.
Today we have tried a couple of fun things that I found on Pinterest. I found a good size rock outside and put it in the oven to warm it up. Then Ella and I colored it with crayons. We also put some paint in ziplock bags and taped them on the window to 'finger paint' without the mess. Luke loved this one too. Ella kept saying This is so much fun!

Playing with rocks

our rock

painting!

Football

We went to Auburn on Saturday for the first home game of the season. Even though we barely got the W and it was SO HOT in the stadium, we had a fun day. We got there and set up our stuff at the tailgate and we went in to the stadium. We want to take the kids in to the games when we can, when there are extra tickets that have already been paid for. Despite the heat they were excited to be there. I was over the direct sun and heat very quickly though and felt bad for having them in it even though they were lathered with SPF 55. We tried to make it until the end of the first quarter before going back to the tailgate. We had a much better time in the shade under the tents watching the game via satellite! We stayed out there until around 5:00 and came back home so that we could be at church Sunday morning.
We are super excited about going back to the lake and to Auburn again because this time Mimi and Steph will be there too!

Walking to the stadium with Brodrick

On the way to the stadium

Leaving the Stadium

Mallory Ella and Addison

Playing football at the tailgate

Luke sleeping on 'Shell' 

playing with friends is hard work!

MoPs is back! and Labor Day!

I am so excited that today was our first MoPs (Moms of Preschoolers) meeting of the year! I love this time to sit  and talk with other moms and make new friends and just know that I am not along in my SAHM struggles. And I love to make treats to take with me and share. We all bring something to share each time and there is always way too much delicious stuff. This time I made Oreo Popcorn and it was delicious :) And there was some left to bring home, too. I am looking forward to the new year with this group and all of the fun things that are planned. One of my favorites is Moms Night Out! Ella usually protests when I am not there for bedtime but always does okay without me. She and Luke both did great in the nursery today too, the workers are wonderful and know just what to do to keep the kids happy while they are in there. 

Ella in her dress from England

We also had a fun Labor Day weekend at the lake! We left EARLY Friday morning to go down so that Brandon could work. We always have so much fun there playing with GG and Grandaddy and Mimi and Papa. We missed aunt Steph being there this time though. The kids favorite things to play with were the brooms that GG had outside. Luke spent the majority of his time sweeping the deck. I had to pry it out of his hands and drag him inside screaming just to get him to eat or do anything else. :) ha. We went swimming and on a couple of boat rides and fed the ducks and the fish. Luke quacked at the ducks whenever he saw them. This trip was special because Ken and Sue were there from England! Ella loved them of course, she loves to entertain people so the more eyes on her, the better! They always bring them the cutest clothes, too! I am not sure what it is about the clothes from England but they are SO soft and Sue picks the best stuff! 

With their brooms and Mr. Ken

Jumping in the lake with Mrs. Sue and Mimi

Rent the runway

About a week and a half before the wedding that we went to Nashville for a couple weeks ago I figured I should start thinking about what I would wear and make sure that Brandon had something. It seems like we always forget until the day before and then panic about getting his suit dry cleaned or finding an alternative. I figured I should check the wedding website and see what it said about attire. When I read 'black tie. All men in black tuxedos and all women in floor length gowns' I started to panic a little. Where would I find a gown? I couldn't buy one just for this. How would Brandon get a tux on such short notice?
Of course I should have known better than to worry about him. All he had to do was make a phone call and his was taken care of. Ready to pick up the morning of the wedding.
Now. We just needed a floor length gown. I had heard of Rent The Runway but never checked it out. So I made my account and was excited to see that they offer $50 off your first rental! So I start looking through dresses and it took me 2 days to decide that I wanted what was actually the first dress that had caught my eye.

Dresses in the hanging bag (that you keep)

Now I just had to wait for it to arrive and make sure it fit! I was so excited the day it was getting here. I love waiting for packages to arrive. I took it straight upstairs and tried it on when I got it. They send 2 sizes do that you know one will fit. The dress was beautiful. I loved it! It fit pretty well, I really need the smaller size that I ordered so that it would fit better around the top but the zipper wouldn't even go up and down when it was on the hanger. so I went with the bigger size and it worked out fine. It was long on me even with heels but I'm short. And it WAS supposed to touch the floor. My only problem with that was whenever Brandon walked close beside me he stepped on it!
But I thought we both looked great haha :) we had a fun night out while Mimi and papa had fun with the babies.

Trying it on right after it came :) 

Me and Brandon all dressed up

Bibby and pops

This weekend we got to go to Bibby and Pops house to play! We went on Thursday afternoon and had dinner at our favorite place there and went to wallyworld for after dinner excitement. :) Ella had fun looking at all of the toys and asking if we could take them all home. Luke was just crazy and wanted to run around. On Friday daddy worked so we went shopping with Bibby of course. I got THE cutest orange and blue and white dress and can't wait to wear it to a football game. And of course to church after a big Auburn win! We are super excited that football starts next week!
After lunch and more shopping Luke fell asleep in the car so I sat with him while Ella got to go to the museum with Bibby for a cupcake party! She was so excited and had fun entertaining Bibby's friends. And after dinner we went to get ice cream. Ella loves all the treats she gets when we go places!
Luke had the most fun with Bibby's metal trash can. He put it over his head and walked around the living room. We thought it was hilarious and kept laughing at him so of course he kept doing it. He also loved the pictures at their house and kept pointing out 'whee-ul' (Will) and 'ook' (Luke). It will be so much fun to go and play when all of the kids are a little bit older and don't require constant supervision!
We came home Saturday after lunch so that we could be in church on Sunday.
Ella loves her teacher in Sunday school but I think that this was her last day with her before moving up to the bigger kids class. And Luke actually stayed in the nursery without screaming the whole time. We start going to Mops again next week so hopefully he will continue this and be okay without mommy for a couple of hours.
This week will be the same as most lately, Playing and regular day to day stuff and getting ready for GGs house and football next weekend!
Below (because I haven't figured how to put pictures anywhere else or with individual captions) are pictures of Ella enjoying the cupcake party, Luke and his trash can hat, and Ella and her 'baseball helmet' for when we play ball in the house. I love my silly babies!

Mr TrashCan Head

Clearly enjoying her cupcake

In her 'Helmet'

Nashville

We went to Nashville this weekend to stay at Mimi and Papas house. Ella was SO excited to go and Luke was happy about seeing his buddy Papa and repeated his name all day. :) They did really well in the car and Ella was especially excited about getting lollipops!
We got to play and help Mimi cook dinner and see Uncle Aaron on Friday.
Saturday daddy and papa played golf early and got back right after the rest of us woke up. The kids played outside with Papa for a while and got to ride the tractor with him.
We all went to lunch at CFA with Brodrick and then went to the park to play.
After naps Brandon and I started to get ready for the wedding. His long time friend, Polly, was getting married which was the reason we went to visit this weekend. Ella pretended to be sad but quickly got over it as soon as we left. She has so much fun playing with Mimi that she doesn't even notice who else is around (unless aunt Steph is there) and Luke loves his Papa do he was just fine without Mommy. They had fun making and eating pizza and going for a walk.
The wedding was absolutely beautiful. The songs and scriptures and church and pastor and prayers were all so perfect and beautiful. Polly was gorgeous and had the most amazing dress! We had a great time sharing her special day with her and had fun at the reception! It was at the art museum so we got to see some of the art (which neither of us 'get') and enjoy dinner and yummy cake and great music and dancing. Although we didn't dance. Ha. Brandon said he would but I'm not much of a dancer and my dress was so long that he kept stepping on it and I just knew that trying to dance would be a disaster. I'll have to do another post about my dress!
Today we spent the morning with Mimi and Papa and got to see Aaron and Brodrick again. We also HAD to get Pei Wei for lunch since that one (3 hrs away) is the closest one to our house. And we went to visit Aunt Ginny before heading back home. Which is always fun :) she loved seeing the kids and Ella had fun playing with all of her treasures. Luke just tried to destroy everything in typical Luke fashion. I love my little monster.
Overall the kids did great! They are usually polite and super cute :) and Luke showed off his latest heart melting 'skill' by telling everyone 'luhyou' repeatedly. He is such a sweet boy. Usually.
They also did awesome on the ride home and slept over halfway back. Hopefully they are still worn out enough to sleep well tonight!

Weekend

We had a fun weekend around the house. Saturday we cleaned the house up and spent the afternoon playing with Mallory and Mr. Brian and Michelle. We went to the pool and we played in the backyard and had dinner. Daddy got his guitar out and played a little while the girls put on a show for us. They are silly and crazy together.

Sunday we went to church and then lunch with Mal, of course.
While everyone napped I snuck over to the pool to read in the sunshine. Then Ella got to go to the 'wash car' with daddy and she thought it was the best thing ever. She came home and told me that he let her up front while they sat there in the car wash and she held his hand because she was sweet to him.
Luke continues to amaze me everyday with the words that he knows and can say very clearly. He is such a sweet boy and will hug and kiss me and say 'love you' and the way he says 'mama' just melts me.
This week we are getting ready for a weekend at Mimi and Papa's! We are all very excited because we hardly ever see them at their house.

This week

This week has been like most for us, just playing at home most days and nothing out of the ordinary.
There has been a lot of singing and dancing and guitar playing and PBS watching. We are soaking up summer and looking forward to cooler days ahead. Its almost too hot to even go to the pool right now because the water gets SO hot and a little dirty with all of the rain we have been having lately. The mosquitoes are out in full force right now too, so we have to be careful when we play in the back yard. Luckily there are lots of entertaining things inside :)
We went to the Galleria to walk around and play yesterday and had fun playing with all of the fun toys in the toy store. 
Now we are watching out the windows as Daddy cuts the grass and looking forward to a fun relaxing weekend.



Funny things:

Ella started telling Luke to 'Shut it down' when he cries. She told me Daddy says that.

One of her favorite things to do right now is to get a microphone and dance and sing in the living room. I have tried to capture this on video but of course so does not cooperate.

Luke repeats everything you tell him now and it is so hard not to laugh when I tell him to stop and he points at me and yells STOP!

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