Meet our Jack-o-lantern

Check out our cool pumpkin, "Jack", that the girls carved with Stephen this evening. Stephen ended up staying home today to take care of Logan. He has had an upset tummy since last Friday. It got worse over the weekend so we didn't want to send him to Ms. Cheryl's today so Stephen stayed home with him. He said he didn't have any diarrhea until this afternoon. We've been having to change him, give him a bath, change sheets/clothes, about every 30 minutes or so. It has not been fun - I feel so bad for him. It doesn't seem to bother him much though. He's not throwing up and he's still eating and taking his bottles like normal. I am thinking he may have a touch of the rotavirus which is like stomach flu for infants (so I've heard). The research I've read on the internet says they can have it anywhere from 3 to 7 days. I'm hoping we've seen the worst of it. Changing dirty sheets and giving him a bath at 3 a.m. last night was torture. Stephen is leaving on Friday to Colorado for a week on business. Thank God this didn't happen while he was gone and I was here by myself.

High School Musical 3 ROCKS!!!

This weekend we took the girls to see the newly released and HIGHLY anticipated High School Musical 3! I must say it was awesome! My personal opinion is that this one is the best of the three. The girls absolutely loved it. We bought the tickets online late Friday night and surprised them on Saturday morning. We went early and there was a line, but it wasn't too bad. I'm sure it got worse as the day went on. We also got the girl's High School Musical Halloween costumes in the mail this week so we thought we would try them on for fun!

May I introduce Ms. Gabriella Montez . . .

And, Ms. Sharpay Evans . . .

And last, but certainly not least . . .

The one and only.................POOH BEAR!!!!

Here's "happy" Pooh . . .

"Frustrated with this silly hat" Pooh . . .

And "Pooh on the prowl!"

Donuts with Dad

Today the girls got to attend "Donuts with Dad" at school. They have been looking forward to it all week. All dads are invited to come and have breakfast with their kiddos before school starts. It was the highlight of their day. Later this year they will have "Muffins with Mom" so then it will be my turn!

Reunion weekend . . .

We had a great time seeing and visiting with family and old friends at my home church in Huntsville yesterday. They had a nice service followed by a delicious catered lunch and then a special celebration program after that. We went to my parents house afterwards to hang out with them and my brother and his family. MawMaw's pumpkin cookies were a hit as always!!!

Here is a picture of the program from yesterday . . . they also had really neat pictures and murals on the walls of past church members and pastors.











This is my friend Nicole - she was my roommate when I graduated college and while I started my first "real" teaching job at Huntsville Elementary.










Speaking of Huntsville Elementary, we usually drive by there on the way to my parent's house so I took a quick photo of it as we were driving by. I taught there for 2 years before we moved here in 2001.






And here are the kids (big and little) enjoying MawMaw's pumpkin cookies!

Stephen made it home safely on Friday after being in Georgia for a week. We survived without him, but are soooooo glad he's home. The girls were really good while he was gone which made things so much easier for me. It occurred to me today that I hadn't even discussed with the girls what they wanted to be for Halloween this year. I started searching costumes online and was looking for a Mickey Mouse costume for Logan, but had a hard time finding one. We are doing a Mickey Mouse theme for his first birthday so I thought it would be fitting for him to be Mickey for Halloween. However, the majority of Mickey costumes I found were those really furry, hot looking costumes. So I thought......well......if I can't get Mickey, we'll get the next best thing - Pooh Bear! I did find one at Costumes Express that is very cute, reasonably priced and doesn't look like it will be too stuffy for him. We shall see. I had the girls in here earlier tonight looking at costumes online - I didn't think they would ever make a decision. We probably looked at costumes for over an hour. Finally, Lauren decided she wanted to be Gabriella from High School Musical and Leah wants to be Sharpay. I told them it should be the other way around due to their hair colors, but couldn't convince them. So, looks like we're buying wigs too! That should be interesting. They sure have got some strange things that you can be for Halloween these days. We saw everything online from a lifesize whoopie cushion to an infant's Billy Ray Cyrus costume complete with brown mullet hair. What the heck is up with that????
On another note, we are heading to Huntsville tomorrow to attend a special reunion celebration at the church I grew up in. It is the 75 year reunion at University Heights Baptist Church. They are having a catered lunch and special services tomorrow to honor the occasion. I'm looking forward to seeing old friends and faces. I attended this church from birth up until we moved here in 2001. I was baptized in this church as a child, met my childhood best friends there, was part of the youth group and then later the college ministry, was married there in March 2000 and had the girls dedicated there in 2003. So, obviously it holds many special memories. We go up to visit whenever we can, and have tried to find another church like it here in the area. However, I've come to realize that there will never be another UHBC. We attended Gateway Baptist here in the area for 7 years, but it didn't even come close to being like my church home back in Huntsville. The church leadership is going through some serious issues there right now and we believe God has called us to move on and worship somewhere else. We have recently started attending Fellowship of the Woodlands.....one of our very good friends is now a worship leader there. They offer two services on Saturday night and two on Sunday morning. We have tried all 4 services several times and like different things about all of them. We have several friends from Gateway that have visited with us as well. Never thought I would like attending church on a Saturday night, but we love attending the service they offer called Emerge. Alot of people say it's too big....why would you want to go to a church that's so big? Well, I'm going to worship God and I'm not worried about how many people are there. I think there are alot of misconceptions about Fellowship and now that we've been going there for about 3 months I can say that I feel they believe in what we believe ---the Bible is truth. The girls love the children's program there which is great! They have a Bible story each week, they learn scripture and have alot of fun! They had gotten to the point where they didn't even want to go to church at Gateway - that is NOT a good sign! Gateway is currently without a Children's minister and a Youth minister so this was another reason we felt it was time to move on. And let's just say that the nursery at Fellowship is on LOCK DOWN! That has always been one of my biggest "fears". I know it may sound silly, but I have issues with leaving my babies in church nurseries - especially ones that have no security systems and any Joe Blow from the street could walk in and take your child! Logan loves his little room at church and let's just say there ain't no way anybody's getting out of there with him! I'm tellin' ya - LOCKDOWN baby!!!
Anyway, we're excited about it....even though I know it could never replace the memories and the people of UHBC......I'm excited to make new memories there if that's what God continues to call us to do. I'll post some pics after tomorrow's reunion. TTFN....

I am glad to have the girls back tonight from their camping trip. They were ready for bed and I told them they could sleep with me tonight since Daddy is out of town. They had fun telling me all about their camping adventures - they went fishing, four-wheeling, and just enjoyed the beautiful fall weather. Maybe next time we will all be able to go. Stephen made it okay to Georgia on Sunday. He is at a conference/training in order to get some sort of license he needs for property tax......I'm sure he could explain it better than I can. I miss him alot and will be glad when he's back at home on Friday. Logan was glad to have his sisters back as well. He just kept smiling and laughing at them tonight when they got home.

A Quiet House . . .

It is going to be a quiet house today and tomorrow - Stephen is leaving this morning for Atlanta, Georgia for a week on business. The girls left Friday night to go camping with Stephen's parents until late tomorrow. So, it's just me and Logan!

Logan goes to bed early so I'll probably use that quiet time to catch up on grading papers and other schoolwork that I've been putting off. Maybe even watch an Oprah episode or two on the DVR. I also thought this would be a good time to finalize our plans for the Disney trip coming up next month. The majority of it is planned and ready to go, but I need to think through some of the little things now. I've got our itinerary done so we'll hopefully get to see all of the things we want to see while we're there. I keep reminding myself that I know we won't be able to do it all.... so we're going to try and hit the "must-sees". I've come to realize that you can stay at Disney for weeks and still not see everything - it is SO huge and there's so much to do! The only thing I'm sad about is us missing the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party (and that's because they're not having one during the week we're there - bummer!) The other thing we will have to miss is the Osbourne Festival of Christmas Lights. It is being unveiled at Hollywood Studios at the same time we're going to be at LaNouba:Cirque de Soleil on Friday night. Oh well..... I didn't know that back in the spring when I made reservations. We will still get to see all of the Christmas decorations around the parks which will be neat though. I have always wanted to see Cinderella's castle in Christmas lights. We are having breakfast with her the last day we're there in her castle and I'm sure the Christmas decorations will be breath taking.

I have the day off tomorrow in honor of good ole Columbus.....so I'm going to take Logan into the doctor to get his second flu shot (they give them in two doses when they're little). Not fun.

Logan and I are going this morning to view all of the proofs of our family pictures that were taken last weekend. Misty (the photographer) is going to give me the link to her gallery that I can share with you too so you'll be able to view all of our proofs online. Speaking of pictures, here are some of Logan I took in sequence of him trying to stand up yesterday . . .

"Okay, here I go!"

"Is anyone watching me do this?"

"Is anyone going to help me do this?"

"Fine. I'll just do it myself!"

"Hmmmmm. This looks very interesting.

"Mommy won't mind if I take a little nibble will she?

Here is video I captured of him standing up in his room. Sorry it's sideways...guess I did something goofy with the camera and couldn't figure out how to fix it. I just had to post it because of the cutest wrinkled-nose rabbit face he is making in the video. It's funny because both of the girls used to make that same face!

Pictures online

Misty posted some of the pictures from our family photo shoot last Sunday. They are on her blog at this site http://blog.photographybymg.com/
Once you're there, scroll down until you see us. I thought the few that she posted turned out cute! I can't wait to go see all of the proofs this weekend. Logan was a little toot in that Christmas wagon - it's a wonder he didn't pee all in it!

Career Day

Today at school we had Career Day. Here is a picture of me with my friend Jennifer that teaches across the hall from me with "Mr. Bones". We had a Career Day parade this morning and all the teachers who had dressed up as various career people got to parade around the school. Jennifer was a doctor and I was a nurse. I borrowed some hot pink scrubs from my friend LeeAnn who is a real school nurse. I think I could get used to wearing those everyday - very comfy!


Here is a picture of several of the teachers that I teach with in 2nd grade as we posed right before the parade this morning. Aren't we a good lookin' crew???

The fence . . .

The fence is finished (well....at least one section of it is)! Here is a couple of pics of Stephen and his dad finishing it up this afternoon. I am so excited about it - it looks much better and now we have our privacy from the annoying neighbors behind us. I ended up staying here and not going to the big city of "Jewett" for the birthday party after all. After we did pictures this morning, that pretty much wore me out for the day. Plus, the girls have been extremely irritable and whiny this weekend so I figured it would be a good idea for them to take a nap this afternoon. Getting home late tonight would have made for a very cranky Monday morning (for all of us).

Here's a video of the finished product . . .

Also, here is a video of Logan from several weeks ago when we were staying at my parent's house after the hurricane. I found this on my camera tonight as I was deleting old photos and just had to post it because it was too cute! My mom put him in this washtub for a bath and he had a blast.

Bunko Night!

We had a great time last night at our first Bunko game! It was the first time for alot of the girls to play, but everyone caught on really quickly and the dice were flyin' everywhere!

Amanda was the big winner - she had the most bunkos, the most snakes eyes and the last bunko rolled. It was a much needed night of fun and laughter and I'm excited about playing again next month.

I just realized it has been a while since I posted anything - where has the time gone? I think the whole hurricane thing has thrown me off a bit, but we're slowly getting back on track. I'm excited about tomorrow night because I get to play in a new Bunko group that some of my friends and I have just started up. I used to play religiously several years ago and have really missed it. It's a great time to hang out with the girls, eat, chat, laugh, you know.....all that good stuff! This weekend will be busy. Stephen and his dad are going to begin the process of repairing our damaged fence in the backyard from the hurricane. They are going to buy all the supplies at Home Depot tomorrow night and get everything set up so that they can get started early Saturday morning. I have begged them to do the fence that backs up to our annoying neighbors with the crazy dogs and kids first. Stephen and his dad patched the fence up right after the hurricane to keep them out of our yard until they could do something more permanent. Since then, the dog has torn up the fence and figured out a way to still get into our backyard. So, we have woken up to him barking through the wall several times. Also, the girls were out back playing the other day and "those kids" (see my hurricane post for more info. on them) were trying to tear the loose boards on the fence down so they could get into our backyard. These are two and three year old aged children and no one was even out there watching them - unbelievable!
Well, I guess I can't complain about that too much since my child did fall in the neighbor's pool after the hurricane so I'll shut up about that one (heehee).
Sunday, we are having some fall family pictures made and some 10 month old pictures of Logan. I figured it was time since I haven't had any professional shots taken of him since EASTER!! We use a lady named Misty Green and she is wonderful! Here is a link to her photography blog where you can see examples of some of her work. http://blog.photographybymg.com/
I like using her so much better than going to Sears or JCPenney's where you have some high school kid who doesn't know what they're doing trying to take your child's picture and makes them sit on pee-stained props. Oh.......the memories of taking the girls there when they were babies.......it's all a blur but some things I do recall unfortunately. I learned my lesson quick - don't even waste your time going to one of those places (especially when dealing with multiples). With Misty you have as much time as you need to get the poses you want and you don't feel rushed because there's no mob of flustered parents anxiously waiting their turn outside the door. It just helps the process go so much more smooth. So, wish us luck as we attempt a family of 5 photo for the first time. Hopefully Logan will be cooperative.....he's been a little wild man lately. Believe it or not (I'll post pics soon so you'll believe it), he is currently cutting 4 teeth...possibly more....at the same time on the top row of his mouth. No wonder the boy's been testy - GEEZ!!!
Sunday, I'll be heading up to the big city of Jewett for a birthday party. I'll be going alone with all three kiddos because Stephen and his dad are going to still be working on the fence so I figured it would be good for us to get out of their hair. I'm hoping Logan will sleep and the girls will be happy watching a DVD so mom can have some quiet time on this two hour excursion. Yahoo.
Hmmmmm....Jewett......you're probably wondering where the heck is that? It's north of Huntsville close to Centerville. Basically, in the middle of nowhere, but it's where the majority of my relatives live including my brother and his family. He used to sing this ridiculous song when we were little and we would be headed to Jewett. It went a little something like this....

Okay everyone, we're on our way to Jewett.
Blink your eyes and you'll go right through it!
Turn around and you've done blew it!
And before you knew it...you're on your way to Hewitt!

The funny thing is....there is actually a town called Hewitt nearby Jewett. Anyway, it's one of those things you'd have to hear him sing. Maybe I'll capture video of it this weekend at the birthday party and post it - oh, I'm sure he would just love that! HAHA!
Anyway, hope everyone is well. Sorry no pics on this post. I'll take some soon and get them on the blog. Until then.........TTFN!