Horton House Halloween 2014

Halloween is moving up in my list of favorite holidays.  Barrett put on his ghost shirt and we headed to the office. After work I had to run to the store to get some last minute things for our get together. I had to dig past the CHRISTMAS candy and Christmas tree cakes to find some Halloween candy. Then I stopped by my favorite local place and got some mums.  I was so proud of myself because I talked the guy down on a big pot because it was damaged on the back.  Then I walked off and left it.  
This year we added the hayride so we could all ride and hit more houses together.  We were kind nervous how it would work.  It was perfect.  We may have to upgrade to a bigger trailer next year.
This picture just makes my heart nearly explode.

This is exactly how I visioned these years.  Making fun memories with friends.

It was so cold.  I, for one, loved it because we got to bundle up.  We piled all the blankets on the hayride and headed out.  Patrick was so excited!

This was right before we headed out.

The best we could get of Prince Charming and Cinderella. 

Sweet pirate Jackson snuck in!

Cinderella decided she'd rather have the ninja turtle.

She was so excited with the "glass slipper".  It was a near perfect fit!

We died when Jackson and Barrett got my phone and looked like they're trying to take selfies.

Joseph is a children's minister and he some how convinced all the kiddos to pick up the toys and then lay down and watch a movie.  (Barrett bailed pretty quickly)  These four laid there for a lot longer than we thought they would.
We had such a fun night.  I'm just really loving this stage of life.  I know i've said it a million times but my goal in life has always been to have a family and enjoy life together. Now that I'm getting to do it, it's even better than I'd imagined.  I think it'll get more fun as the kids get older and we add more to the group.  Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Party & The Pumpkin Patch

We've been busy this week.

Wednesday, Barrett had a "Pumpkin Party" at school.  I was so excited to get to go and see him with all his friends.  I barely got his costume finished in time.  

My sweet Prince Charming.  I had the hardest time decided what he was going to be for Halloween this year.  One afternoon we were playing with the Keeley boys and Barrett wanted something Amy had.  He went up to her and gave her the most precious face trying to get her to give in and she was like, "he should be Prince Charming for Halloween, that is a very charming face he's giving me." Then I was telling Lorie and she told me that Elise was going to be Cinderella.  That sealed the deal.

I started looking for a costume and the only one I could find that I liked was around $100.  I wasn't about to pay that for a costume he was going to wear twice.  So I headed to pinterest and found a picture of one I liked. They had sewn the entire thing.  I started with a white sweatshirt and hot glued all the stuff on it.  I spent about $35 and 2 afternoons.  I love how it turned out.  I've had to re-glue a few things but overall it's held up better than I thought it would.

The minute I walked into his classroom he started crying.  His teachers looked shocked.  The said he never, ever cries.  I just laughed.  He whines all the time for me.  Turns out he was hungry.  Once we got him some food he was fine.  

I loved watching him play. 

My sweet boy and me.  This was my first party as a mom.  It was kind of surreal to be there, with my son. I can remember my mom always coming to our school parties.  I'm so thankful I get to do all these things.  It is such a blessing to me that I get to work and enjoy all these fun things with my boy! 

With our sweet friends Anna & Drake.  Barrett and Drake play so well together and Anna is that mom I can talk to when I'm afraid other moms will think I'm crazy.  Our brains just work the same way, I think.  She's the person that I know won't judge me when I have a weird question or comment about something.  She loves pop culture/ celebrity gossip as much as I do (maybe even more).  I feel like she just gets me as a mom and even just as a person.  It's funny how there are people that have been in your life all along but then all of a sudden you get why.  I feel like 15+ years ago when Anna and my sister became friends God knew that our babies would be close in age and that we'd be friends.  {Woah, didn't mean for that to get all sentimental.  It just happens sometimes.  I think I always get this way around the holidays.} Steven was so afraid Barrett wasn't going to have a pumpkin for Halloween he went a got a few.  Barrett chose this one.  He was pretty excited! Thursday afternoon we finally made it to the Pumpkin Patch. We were going to go to the same one we went to last year but I was checking the website before we left and it said they closed at 4:00 it was already 4:00 so we decided to go to one a little further in Cullman.  Well everyone said it was "a little further", I didn't think we were ever going to get there.  but we did.  We only had an hour and I was sad we didn't get to do a lot of the stuff.  We will definitely go back. Riding out to pick a pumpkin. I love this picture even though Barrett refused to look at the camera.

Sweet boy.  He's grown so much since last year.

Daddy helping him find a pumpkin.

 

Love him.

Our little family.

He loved looking at the animals.

Love this one of my boys and the barn.  We really liked 4d Farms.  We wished we'd had more time.  

2013                  2014

Dirty Thirty: Part 3

I'm finally getting around to writing about our last day.  We had the best last day.  We had breakfast and headed straight to the beach.   We all had books we wanted to read so we spent most of the day sitting on the beach, listening to the waves and reading.  It was perfect!

It was kinda overcast but I loved it.

I read this and loved it.  I'd just finished Tina Fey's Bossypants before I left and I loved it so I knew Mindy's book would be a perfect beach read and it was.

Brittany and Crystal were reading Gone Girl and I wanted to tell them what happened but I didn't.  I can't wait to see the movie!

I loved the swans on the property.

And peacocks!

And these birds.

That afternoon everyone went to the spa.  The other girls got massages on the beach so they had access to the spa.  I opted no tot get a massage and skip the spa.  Crystal joined me and we enjoyed the quiet pool.  They had these big swinging beds in cabana things.  I met some people at the bar from Pennslyvaina and I chatted with them for a while.  I learned something about myself...I like to talk to people.  I'm interested in other peoples stories. 

Some one getting a massage on the beach.

We got ice cream that day too.  I loved the ice cream! 

We headed back to our rooms to get ready for dinner.  We had reservations at 8:30 at the steakhouse for dinner.   Well we tried to catch a shuttle and he told us it was close and we could walk.  Well we ended up in the wrong place and then they told us another place which was also wrong.  We ran from one end of the resort to the other only to be told we were in the wrong place.  We finally found out where we were supposed to be and piled in a shuttle and made it.  We laughed because in that moment we learned a lot about each of our personalities.  I was definitely the "hot head"  I was so mad, and hungry.  Everyone else was more calm.  Crystal and Mallory just wanted to avoid conflict,  Brittany was the problem solver she was on the phone with the concierge telling them to hold our reservations.  Lindsey was always seeing the positive.  She smiled when I wanted to cry because I was afraid they weren't going to let us eat since we were so late.  She never thought we wouldn't get to eat.  After dinner we headed back to our rooms to pack up and get ready to head home.  I had some much fun with the girls but I missed my boys.
When we woke up Tuesday morning it was dreary.  I think Mexico was sad to see us go.  We got our luggage loaded and enjoyed one last breakfast at the resort before it was time to head to the airport.

Our sad faces because we had to go home.

Happy faces because we had a great time and we get to see our babies.
We got on the plane and there was a couple with a 4 month old baby sitting next to us.  She cried a little but her daddy was making her laugh.  She laughed and giggled and my eyes immediately filled with tears.  It was the first time I really missed Barrett.  I mean don't get me wrong, I missed him the whole time but that was the first time it upset me.  (It probably was a mix of anxiety of flying and just being ready to be home.)  The flight home was rough.  I had white knuckles from gripping the arm rest the whole time.  We landed in Atlanta around 3:00 and finally got to our car around 5:00.  Then we had to drive back to Birmingham.  It actually wasn't to bad.  After dropping everyone off I got home around 8:30.  I was exhausted and so happy to see my boys.   They had a great time without me.  I'm so thankful for Patrick, he used vacation days to take care of Barrett so I could enjoy the time away.  It took me two or three days to readjust to being in the real world.  It was just what I needed to recharge before the busy holiday season.