Halloween 2008

Little Bo Peep found her Little Sheep this Halloween!


We had a blast this year for Halloween! As you can see, Alli was the best ever Little Bo Peep, and Boots made a precious little sheep for her very first Halloween. (So what if people thought she was a rabbit because the ears were a little long!) :)

As always, there was a lot going on around here for this fun holiday, so we had a lot of preparing to do. For her part, Alli had fun painting pumpkins...

...Boots crawled around, got into stuff, and made messes for Mommy to clean up...

...and Daddy carved the pumpkin!

Halloween Day was busy from the moment we woke up that morning. It was a Friday, so that meant it was a school day for Alli. EDS preschoolers put on a parade for the rest of the school, and of course Alli loved all of the attention! Her class ended up congregating around in the middle of the courtyard and "posing." There were pirates, princesses, Fancy Nancy, Dorothy, vampires.... But only one Little Bo Peep!

Later in the day, as room mother for Alli's class, I was able to help with the class Halloween Party. For a very few seconds, all of the children sat down to enjoy their snacks.

After school was over, we rushed home for the girls to nap and for me to finish preparing for our now-annual Halloween Party. This is the third year in a row that we have invited friends over for a casual chili dinner and trick-or-treating. Our crowd gets larger every year, and this year, we had 41 people in attendance! It was way too much fun!! We had Nana's Chili, which is always a hit, and several snacks, including yummy home-boiled peanuts and RIP brownies with special treats and prizes on them for the children. Boots was even in the spirit of the evening, posing for pictures and being completely entertained by all of the chaos.

This year, we were joined by the Lewises, Porterfields, Duckworths, Bloodworths, Whitwells, Harpers, Schroerluckes, Pattons, and several others, including our sweet, precious neighbor, Miss Linda.

Elizabeth and Lauren Lewis were the youngest in attendance. Both were troopers, until Boots was ready to get out of the stroller and have her Daddy carry her. :) All in all, chaotic as it was at times, I think children and parents, alike, had a good time this year. Brad, the girls, and I are already looking forward to next year and hope everyone can join us again!!

Vanderbilt 10 Year Reunion

Last weekend was my 10 year reunion at Vanderbilt. WE HAD A BLAST!!!! I loved returning to Nashville, campus, and mostly seeing all of my sweet friends that I miss so very much! Of course, we all returned to just as we always have been, and I love that no one has really changed. The weekend started with drinks at the Bound'ry on Friday night, followed by the class reunion in the tent on Alumni Lawn. I literally couldn't take 2 steps without seeing someone else, and I loved that Brad finally got to meet and really spend time with so many precious, dear friends of mine! I am so passionate about Vanderbilt, my time there, and the lifelong friends I made while I was there, and I loved having the opportunity to share that with Brad. After we left, we met several of my closest friends at Southstreet and actually closed the place down that night! On Saturday, we went to Satco and enjoyed the beautiful weather out on the deck, went to the Alumni tailgate and to the game. After we left the game, we visited the bookstore before I walked Brad through the main part of campus, and of course by the Chi-O house. So many memories.... That night, we had dinner at Tayst with a bunch of my sorority sisters and their husbands and finished the night at Cabana. We returned to Augusta on Sunday, and although we were both exhausted, I wouldn't have traded a moment of it for anything!

Thanks, Mom, for keeping the girls to make this weekend possible! It was our first time leaving Boots, which was tough, but we knew she was in good hands!

More Fall Fun!

This post is full of miscellaneous pictures of the girls this fall. First are mostly pictures of Boots. She is such a little priss and is into everything! She climbs anything and everything and seems to almost look for ways to get into trouble! :) She is still a bit of an "insomniac" and just began sleeping from 8pm until about 5:15am within the past week-and-a-half. Well, on most nights; we still have the occasional night when she is up at 2:15 or so, but we are cutting back on those nights these days. She is a super sweet baby and is always happy, social, and playful. She is "talking" a lot, as well. Of course most of it is baby babble, but she does have a few "real" words: more, mama, dada, a version of dede, and her new favorite, hi. :) She loves her new high chair, and Stanley and Doc love sitting at her feet, waiting for her to drop (or more appropriately, throw) food down to them.

Alli has had a lot going on, too ~ as always! She is taking ballet, and the pictures just below are of her with her class on "Parent Observation Day" just a couple of weeks ago. She loves her ballet class, and does not ever want to leave, even telling her teacher I am not there to pick her up (when of course I am!) when class is over. I know she loves to dance, but I think she loves being in a room full of mirrors, as well. :) I had to take the picture immediately below, because she is wearing her (pink) boots with her scrubs ~ just like her Daddy wears his boots with his scrubs at work! :) We have been working on writing her name, and she is doing a terrific job! We have also been having fun with our Mommy-Alli time and a new favorite is building a fort! One day, we even had a tea party in the fort, and Alli was dressed in a red sequin dress ~ as she said, "to look like a Mommy." I don't know where she gets it, because goodness knows I rarely "dress"! :) She plays dress up a lot, and especially loves to be a bride. Back in September, Alli's class had a teddy bear parade at school, and Alli did a beautiful job making her bear's float! She continues to love school, arts and crafts, dancing, and playing with her friends. She constantly amazes us with some of the things that come out of her mouth, and every day with her is truly an adventure!