Weekend Review

We had really nice, low key weekend.  After last weekend, I really didn't want to do a single thing for 3 straight days.  I knew I'd change my mind, but it was nice to not have any absolute obligations.  We got to do a lot of fun things because we wanted to not because we had to.  

Friday, Barrett was out of school for a teacher workday.  We had big plans to go to a friends small group at a park and then go play and have a picnic at another park and hike a fun trail.  But the weather didn't cooperate.  The small group got moved to Chick-Fil-A so we headed there Friday morning to start the day with some friends.  Since our picnic and hike got rained out we decided to invite a couple friends to come to our house and play.  I have finally reached a place in my life we're I can invite people over when my house is a disaster and I have nothing to eat or drink and not care.  I always give a warning, "hey, we have no food so bring your own snacks!".  Sometimes those impromptu playdates are the best.  

I didn't get a picture of the big boys but Dawson and AveryAnn played so well together. They are so sweet.  They cooked in the kitchen and then had a little picnic.

While AveryAnn was taking a nap, I got out the Osmo Genius that Barrett got for Christmas last year.  We tried to play with it not long after he got it and he wasn't really into it.  I got it out to see if he would play with it now that he really knows his letters and sounds.  He loved it!  He played all the games we got with it and just had the best afternoon.  He played for over an hour.  It really is so neat and I don't feel so bad about him playing on the iPad since he's playing educational games.

My mom took us to the high school game Friday night to watch Ava march in the band one last time.

The kids said they were freezing even though they refused to wear their coats. So they were snuggled up together under the blanket. 

We went over to see Ava before the game and I made her picture with the kids.  Time is so crazy, it seriously feels like last year that Ava was AveryAnn's size, and here she is finishing up her first football season in the marching band.  

The kids had the best time.  AveryAnn danced her little heart out.  She tried to mimic every move the dancers did in both halftime shows.  (I'd add the video if I knew how).  It was so funny and we had the best time watching her.

They wanted their picture made with the rocket.

We left at the beginning of the fourth quarter.  I don't normally support leaving early but it was raining and the kids were getting tired. Ok it was me, I was getting tired.  We were losing 53-7 and it was at that point I realized what it must feel like to play Alabama.

Saturday, I had big plans to clean around the house and just hangout until it was time to go to a pumpkin carving party we were invited to.  Well around 10:00, I was texting with my sister and she said she was at my parents and my little brother and his family were there too so we changed clothes real quick and headed there to hangout.  We had a wonderful day! I got to hold Brooks while he took a nap, the girls played and played together and Barrett and Uncle John played together too.

He is so happy!

Madelyn is so bossy and AveryAnn just does whatever she says.  It's really funny because she is so John. 

John and Barrett were trying to play SORRY! but the girls wanted to play too.

Granddaddy makes the best pony!

We left there around 2:30 to rest up for the pumpkin carving party.  It's been a good 15 years since I've carved a pumpkin.  I was a little nervous.

Barrett was so excited!  AveryAnn was just there for the snacks.  Uncle Patrick held her for most of the pumpkin carving portion of the evening.

Getting all the guts out.

He was so proud!

Truthfully, I was too!  I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out but I think it was pretty good!

Sunday was our last baseball game for the Fall season.  We hadn't won a game all season.  Spoiler alert: we didn't win Sunday either. Ha!  But the boys played really well together and had a great time.  Barrett has improved so much and we are so proud of him.

He got to play catcher during the last inning.  He was so excited. 

We had to get a team picture!  These boys are a hoot!

Coach always gives out 3 ring pops at the end of each practice and game to the kids that had a good practice or game.  Yesterday he gave out those three, then he gave one to each of the other players and said a few things about each one.  It was really sweet.  There was "the kid that gets the dirtiest", "the most catches", "the best hitter", "the best base runner", "most versatile".  Then,  Coach said, "this kid has the best attitude, was the best listener and just overall a great kid.  and that's Barrett".  Now, he didn't have the best attitude all the time.  He had a couple of really embarrassing melt downs.  But we couldn't be more proud of him.  A great listener and attitude is going to get him far in life.  Being a great hitter or catcher is amazing.  I hope he's those things too, but I'm proud that he's known for being a great kid over everything else.  We've had the most fun playing baseball.  I'm so happy to have my Sundays back but we'll miss seeing our friends at practice and games.  Barrett has already started asking when he get's to play again.  It's so fun watching him develop a love for the game.

We wrapped up the weekend with dinner at home and the World Series.

She got these glasses in a kids meal and I die every time I look at her.  You can attach different "frames" and she wore them all evening.  We laughed and laughed at her.  

It's Red Ribbon Week at our school this week!  Thankfully we don't have anything too crazy and already have something that fits the theme everyday. 

Excellence Lights the Crimson Flame: Homecoming 2018

For the 6th year in a row Barrett and I headed to T-town for the homecoming game and festivities.  It's a tradition I hope lives on forever.  Barrett is really starting to like watching football.  He asks questions and is really trying to understand the game.  My Dad and AveryAnn tagged along to enjoy all the festivities.

We celebrated Matthew and Nicholas's birthday.  

Barrett thought he was so big hanging out with the big boys.  They were so sweet to let him play with them!

We walked to the end of the street to watch the parade.  AveryAnn was very excited. 

I think this is the first year Barrett didn't cry.

They were so cute in their matching elephant outfits!

I love them both so much!  We enjoyed hanging out at the house for a while.  Dad took AveryAnn in the stroller to look at the decorations at the sorority houses and before long it was time for Barrett and me to head to the game.  He was so excited!  I'm glad we left when we did because I'd forgotten we had to go through metal detectors and the lines were backing up.  We got in and headed all the way to the top to our seats.  We caught the sunset and had to snap a picture.

I can't get over how old he looks in these pictures.  Kindergarten has really aged him and it makes me so sad.   He is so much fun but it just pains me to see the time passing so quickly.

He had to stop and look over the ledge on every level.  Then some guy made a comment about "if he had a daughter she'd be wearing boots too" and went on and on about how cute "she" was.  Yall, I've dressed Barrett in some pretty girly things, but I didn't think he looked like a girl at all.  I'm thinking maybe he was mistaking the shirt tail for a skirt? I've laughed and laughed about this.

We didn't stick around to hear Dixieland Delight.  I was sad we missed it but we needed to get back on the road before the traffic got to bad.  It was a wonderful day with my babies.

October: A Story of Overcommiting

October came in like a whirlwind.  We came home from the beach on the 8th and haven't slowed down.

One evening Barrett started yelling for me to come see the sunset because it was beautiful. He was right.  It was so pretty.

What we thought was just a little car sickness turned out to be a full blown stomach bug.  She threw-up in the car and then was fine the rest of the day.  We were on our way to school the next morning and she got sick in the car again.  So I called my dad to see if he could keep her because I had an order I had to finish at work, luckily he was able to watch her for me.  He said she acted fine all day, ate some lunch and never got sick again.  Tuesday night we went to the ballpark for practice and she acted fine.  She ate dinner that night.  She woke up at 1:30 and was sick everywhere.  We got her cleaned up and her bedding in the wash and put her in our bed.  She woke up again at 4:00 luckily we made it to the bathroom with her.  So I headed to Walmart at 4:30am to get essentials for being stuck at home with a sick kid.  She got sick two more times that morning, had a few terrible diapers and slept most of the day.  Thankfully my dad was able to come watch her that afternoon so I could get my work finished.  She was pitiful.  The next day she woke up and was back to her normal self.  Thankfully no one else got sick.

They begged to go to the park so we went one afternoon.

She wanted her picture made before church.

Barrett's sweet teacher came to watch him and his classmate play baseball one Sunday.  They were so excited.  I seriously love this woman.

Barrett has been begging me all month to get our Fall decorations out so I finally got the bin out.  They stole most of my pumpkins to decorate their kitchen.  What I love about this picture is this is so my style.  Everything is total chaos but by golly we've got out pumpkins out.

This past Sunday we had the annual Fall Festival at Barrett's school.  This was our first year.  Every time someone walked into the gym they would simply say "yall must be Kindergarten moms"  I mean 50' of balloon garland didn't seem crazy at the time but after seeing people's faces I was afraid we had over done it.  But we had a big area to fill and it was perfect.

It stretched across the gym.

We also made these really cute balloon towers to mark the entrance to the cake walk.  We did all of this on Friday and the festival was on Sunday.

Saturday was spent gathering last minute things and getting ready to help host a wedding shower for my cousin.

This is the only picture I took.  It was a lot of fun and turned out perfect.

Ok, I lied these are the only two pictures I took.

I was up bright and early Sunday morning so I could go to 8:30 Mass and be up at the school at 10:30 to start setting up.  We got everything up and it couldn't have been more perfect!  I was so excited it turned out so cute!

We were with another Kindergarten class and we all worked together so well!  

Barrett had so much fun!  They said it was a successful day and I believe it.  There were a ton of kids there and I think everyone had a great time.  

Patrick was on kid duty pretty much all day.  He and Jeremy did great with the boys and AveryAnn.  She didn't want to do anything, which surprised me.  I thought she'd be more outgoing.

I finally started reading again.  This one was so good and easy to read.  I read it in just a few days.

We kicked off our week with a pizza picnic in the backyard.  The weather has been amazing here this week.  It's supposed to start raining by the end of the week so we're trying to enjoy it while we can!