Fall Festivities

We have had such a busy fall! It has been full of lots of fun and adventure! :) This post will be in backwards order as I recount all that has been going on.

A little over a week ago, the state fair was in town. We got a sitter for Elizabeth and took Alli ~ and she had an absolute blast! She rode so many rides and once again showed no fear! She literally sparkled with excitement the entire night, and she has not stopped asking when we can go again ~ or when she can have her favorite "furry" treat again (aka cotton candy). She even played darts, and after hitting 3 balloons in only 4 tries, she won herself a purple monkey, which she aptly named "Monkey-a" in true Alli-fashion!

What fall season is complete without a visit to the pumpkin patch?!
We had so much fun at this festive pumpkin patch,and Alli especially liked the "bumpy" pumpkins. We let her pick one out to bring home, thinking of it as the Halloween/pumpkin version of the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree that no one else wanted. :) Alli ran from one area to the next. Boots, on the other hand, had fun at first, but quickly tired of the pumpkins, people, and of course the picture-taking.

Our one Georgia game of the season has been the Alabama-Georgia game. I admit, I was a bit torn, but my heart was pulling for Bama. :) We took the girls for Brad's family's tailgate, and they had a blast! They got to visit with Gigi and PapaDoc, their aunts and uncles, and their cousin Philip. Alli also danced to "Low" and met some bulldogs on the street. Gigi kept the children in a hotel room while we went to the game, then we drove back to Augusta that night.

Nana and Papa came for a visit! Nana has a book at her house that Alli absolutely loves, so she brought it to read to Alli during the visit. Notice that Alli still is wearing her bulldog tatoo on her cheek.

We had friends over for a game earlier in the season. Boots had fun playing with Ella Reyn Duckworth, and Alli loved playing with her new friend, Carly Blackwood. They were two peas in a pod, playing, dressing up, and dancing! They occasionally watched some of the game and did a cheer or two.

The girls are both getting so big!!
Here are a couple of pictures before Church one Sunday....

Here are just a few more pictures from our visit with the Greers in Jackson. We miss them and are looking forward to their visit in a little over a month. Maddox's new friend and neighbor, Alexa Kate, is Alli's age, and they hit it off, as well. The last picture is the chart that we had to make before the big trip, so Alli could count down the days until we left to go see Maddox!

Oh... Now I Get It!

You know the feeling, right? Those "ah-ha moments" happen to all of us. Well, I have had a couple of those today.

For one thing, I "get" my mom more and more every day, now that I have 2 children of my own. I remember when I was little, wondering why she did some of the things she did. For one thing, I wondered why it was so important that we practice our "picture smiles" ~ until I found myself doing the same thing with Alli recently before her own school pictures. I suppose we all think it will decrease our chances of having the "silly smile," or the "chipmunk smile," or one of the many others, as our child's school yearbook picture. Random, right? Those moments happen to me almost daily now....

Another thing that I used to think of as a "mom phenomenon" was that my mom always seemed to do things in various stages of undress. I would wonder why she cooked breakfast in her robe, talked on the phone in her undergarments, or ~ gasp ~ made the bed naked. (Mom, don't kill me for this!) :) Yeah, well, now I get it. I get that something as simple as taking the time to get dressed is no longer "simple" when you have children. You have to get them up, get them fed, get them dressed, make sure they have everything they need, keep them occupied, etc. When does a mom have the time to get herself "ready" for the day? I began to think about that yet again this morning after I got out of the shower, wrapped myself in a towel, and continued where I had left off with Alli and her latest project. I ran around in a towel for a while, then I tried to make the bed (yes, naked) but didnt finish because Alli needed something again, so I threw on my bra and underwear and ran into the kitchen.... And, well, you get the picture. You other moms reading this get it, right? There is no telling how long it took me to finally put some decent clothes on my body, but it did eventually happen.

On that note, I will admit to you that the bed still is not made. Growing up, I remember my mom saying that she liked to make up the bed every day because it felt better to get into a made-up bed at the end of the day. That rubbed off on me, because as an adult, I have been a "bed-maker," as well. Of course that, too, has changed since I have had child #2. I always intend to make up the bed, but it just doesn't always happen. At the end of the day, I find myself recounting all of the things that did not get done that day. For instance, today I have not done a lot of things I had planned on doing.... I have not caught up with my Junior League updates. I have not finished making the bed. I have not cleaned up the den (aka our playroom) for the 3rd time. I have not watered the plants, done my Bible study, made my business calls, reviewed my Church committee notes, finished putting away laundry, or many of the other things on my list. Many times, I begin to feel that I am doing a "bad job" because of all of the things I am not getting done, because let's face it, my list is endless.

But I plan to turn over a new leaf. Instead of letting things like an unmade bed represent my failures of the day, I plan to let them represent my successes. Since I have not made my bed or phone calls or whatever else, I have been able to do many more things. So, what have I done today? Well, I already mentioned that I showered, and as many of you know, that is quite a feat when you have little ones. Even better, I got to wash my hair and shave my legs! Impressive right? :) I have kept my children fed, safe, and they are currently napping peacefully (yay!!). I have begun planning Alli's class Halloween party, as well as our annual Halloween party and trick-or-treating. I had one-on-one playing time with Elizabeth, and while she napped, I had that special one-on-one time with Alli, and we did all sorts of arts and crafts! We also worked on "matching" uppercase and lowercase letters and writing her name. I have cleaned the den twice, and I had supper started by 10am for the second time this week. We even had a picnic at the playground earlier today!

As good as that might sound, I admit, I have never been one of "those" moms. We all know the type. The kind that are dressed to the nines for carpool at 7:45am and look fabulous whenever and wherever you see them, who always have their pedicures and manicures up-to-date, who "do lunch" with girlfriends at least once a week, who play tennis or go to the gym almost daily, and whose cars are not covered in toys and cheerios. I would love to be one of "those" moms, but I can't, at least not at this stage in our lives. As I look around at my friends who are that way, I realize, most of them have nannies or family around to help, or they have older children who are more self-sufficient than my 3 year old and my 10 month old. But that is okay. In fact, it is perfect! Afterall, Alli and Boots couldn't care less about any of those details. They don't care that I am in a t-shirt and shorts today, with no makeup, no jewelry, and my hair is in a ponytail for the 3rd day in a row. And I am lucky to have a husband who doesn't care, either. He also has never wondered why dinner isn't on the table when he gets home, why the den is a wreck because we built a fort and it is covered in toys, or why there are still piles of laundry waiting to be folded. (Thank you, Brad, for that!) At the end of the day, we have two happy, thriving little girls, and isn't that what it is all about?!
Like I said, now I get it!!