November

Maybe I can do a post a month. We spent Thanksgiving with the Ponds and Batsons. What a fun weekend!

We also visited Mom and Dad for a day.

Pico, lately.

Making Christmas cookies!

A finished Michael product.

Halloween 2013

This was probably the first year that Michael really understood what Halloween was all about. He was involved from the beginning, choosing a train costume (of course), choosing the colors, buying the supplies at the store with me, and painting the costume himself. It was a family effort!

 He was also willing to reach inside the pumpkin and get some guts for the first time.

 Yes, it was a train pumpkin.

 At school, he was in a costume parade, but he was kinda shy about it. I ended up letting his friend Liam the pirate borrow the costume so that there was a pirate train running about.

 He was in a better mood that night for trick-or-treating with Logan.

 Our neighborhood goes all out for Halloween. Neighbors set up fire pits at the end of their driveways and sit outside to give out candy. It's nice because you never have to ring a doorbell and wait; it's more like a block party with everyone outside, having fun together. Then, because the neighborhood's big and the houses are far apart, many people fill their trailers with hay and take hay rides between houses. The Smiths gave us a ride, so we got to see everyone even when the kids were tired.

It was a really fun night.

The Month of October

It all started warmly with a Shorter Homecoming festival, after which, we ventured across a bridge in Rome that was lighted by the American Flag. What a beautiful night.

 Life was tough for a few weeks when Michael fell off a golf cart, got strep throat, and JD came down with a stomach virus.

 But we bounced back.

 

It got colder! We attended a Shorter football game where Michael loved Harold the Hawk.



 We also went to my mom's school, The Swift School, where they were having a fall festival, complete with festival rides, decorated pumpkins, scarecrows, and catering by the Varsity.

 There was also a playground.

 We went to Euharlee's fall festival, even though it was kinda chilly and rainy.

 And, I went with Michael and his class to a pumpkin patch for his very first ever field trip.

And THAT was the month of October.

Can't Keep Up

Here are some pictures from two weeks ago when we traveled to Birmingham for Stacy's surprise party and then stayed the night with JD's grandparents.

 There were costumes involved.

 Michael when he's forty?

 And have I introduced you to my one-year-old niece, Kiki? Yes, she's a real person, even though she looks like a perfect doll.

Since then, we've had a week of JD out of town, Michael staying with the Ponds for two nights, a case of strep throat, and Michael falling off a golf cart. I'll put up some injury pictures soon. I just can't keep up.