a long (but fun) halloween week...

We had a crazy week! Halloween parties, birthday parties, trunk or treat, trick or treating, and Lilly's first play.

Here's the HUGE pumpkin Jon brought home from the store.

Trunk or Treat

Peter Pan strolling around checking out the loot

sweet little Layla with Lilly



The highlight of Trunk or Treat for Lilly was when Brown arrived. I think she asked me 10 times if he would be there.

The girls favorite place to play lately is our closet. I find strange things hidden in my shoes, and my underwear wrapped around all sorts of things. This is how I found them the other day.

The girls and I had a marathon baking day last week. We made daddy a birthday cake, and sugar cookies for school parties. We had some leftover orange icing from the pumpkins, so we made daddy's cake ugly for him :)

Lilly's class all dressed up and ready to trick or treat

Ms. Gloria

Ellie and Lilly

Halloween Night

Lilly was Tinkerbell, Mamie was Peter Pan, and Scole was the crocodile from Peter Pan (tick tock...)

Trick or treating at Aunt Kristin and Uncle Branson's house was fun! The girls got an insane amount of candy. Thanks guys, we'll be sending the bill for the fillings :)

Then we knocked on Sassy's door. She had great treats too :)

Sunday morning after Halloween--I still had my camera in the car and thought I'd try to get a picture.



Then, as if we hadn't had enough to do, we were offered 4 tickets to Little House on the Prarie. I was SO excited (I think I spent about 4 years of my childhood pretending to be Laura Ingalls Wilder). Lilly had never been to anything at TPAC before, but there was no pressure since we got the tickets free. I figured if she couldn't sit still or be quiet, or if she just didn't like it, we could always leave. We took Ellie and Tressa with us, and the girls LOVED it. They were mesmerized by the singing and dancing and had an incredible time. It was so good--and it had Melissa Gilbert (Laura from the TV show) as Ma! Thank you Jackie for the tickets!

Sporting the most Little House on the Prarie outfit we had...there were so many little girls in full costume dressed just like Laura. So cute!

we couldn't leave the little siblings out

All the "big" kids had gotten to go to Walden Farm on field trips, but the little brothers and sisters got left out, so we planned a day to take them all. I barely have any pictures of the little ones--they were running around having a ball the whole time. I think Mamie did the hay maze about 8 times. I couldn't get her to stand still for a picture.

The "big" kids :)

Lilly, Cal, Livi, Ellie

Mamie in the hay maze. not sure what's going on with that hair.

Lilly posing as the scarecrow. There is nothing I could have bribed Mamie with to put her face in one of those holes for a picture.

Looking at the piglets

hungry (greedy) goats

Lilly and Livi

Lowrie picked a couple of nice pumpkins...

random october...

First off, Mamie has never been a fan of costumes. She does not play dress up or put on any of the princess dresses or play clothes that we have. She is strictly a jewelry and high heels girl. Last Halloween it was a nightmare trying to get her to put on (and keep on) her lion costume. This year, Lilly and Mamie decided they wanted to be Peter Pan and Tinkerbell (Peter Pan is their favorite movie right now). Lilly was very sweet and let Mamie decide which one she wanted to be first. Mamie chose Peter Pan. I kept asking Mamie if she was SURE she would wear the Peter Pan costume if I made it and she kept saying, "I will" (which sounds like "I wheel" and is one of her most common phrases). So, one day last week while the girls were home sick (with H1N1 we think), I made the Peter Pan costume. She was no more cooperative than last year. I had to wrestle it onto her and only succeeded because I eventually bribed her with candy. Here are a few pictures I took at my mom and dad's house. I managed to get her to try it on to show CJ and Pop what it looked like. She doesn't have the shoes on and the feather wasn't sewn in yet and looks crazy in a few pictures, but oh well. They might be all we get :)

acting scary with her sword

some technical difficulties with the feather...

Saturday morning the girls and I went to Amy Grant's yard sale at Lipscomb. Mamie picked out a VHS of how different baby animals grow. She was so excited she wanted her daddy to watch it with her the minute we got home. The only VCR still surviving in our house is built into our bedroom TV, so that's where they all were for about an hour after we got home. It was not the most exciting movie...

Here's our Dora pumpkin. I had great plans for this little white pumpkin...maybe a monogram, a cute design, or just a cute little "boo!" but Jon found the website with all the Nickelodeon character templates, so I had to give in. I realize Dora is much more fun for a 2 and 4 year old than a tastefully monogrammed pumpkin. It's really cute lit up--I need to take a picture of it glowing. We still have a HUGE orange pumpkin left to carve...

and does anyone have any suggestions for this mess? I hate these things. IS there any way to clean grass off of these furry crocs? I have put them in the washing machine and it does nothing. I'm afraid the only solution is to sit for hours picking off every piece of grass.
Surely someone out there knows the secret...

fall

This has been the strangest fall weather I can remember, but we've managed to catch a few pretty days and take advantage of the sunshine and cool weather. Last weekend, Cheekwood was free, so I took the girls to look at the scarecrows. They had a lot of fun, but you may want to read up on Mark Twain before you go. There were so many Tom Sawyer and Mark Twain themed scarecrows. I got pretty exhausted trying to explain who the white-haired scarecrows with the mustaches and books were... and why the scarecrows were whitewashing the fence. There were few that they understood without an explanation, and we all had a good time just walking around in the beautiful gardens.

The Nashville Zoo "Meerkat scarecrow"--my favorite. I didn't realize Lilly was holding her shirt up when I took the picture...

"Crow White and the seven pumpkins" was Lilly's favorite

I wanted a picture of the girls standing by the fountain but Mamie wouldn't get in the picture.

Here she is making a face and trying to arch out of the picture. She does NOT want me taking her picture these days.

Riding bikes in the cul-de-sac across from our house

Scole came out to get a little bit of exercise too.

Sweet sisters.

Lilly pulling Mamie up the big hill--She told me, "Mommy, I learned about helping at church this morning." Thank you, Sunday School teachers. Can I please get you to do a lesson on not fighting with your mommy over clothes every morning? If you see my child in anything other than a dress or skirt, please know that it was a major struggle to get it on her. She will not wear pants, shorts, jeans, or leggings without a fight.

Mamie was the "mommy" when the girls were playing house (which is about all they ever do), so Lilly had to help fix Mamie's hair, earrings, necklace, and high heels. Not sure why they never pick earrings that match...

feeding the ducks at Centennial with Julia and Morgan

and here's Mamie while we're getting the group shot.

walden farm field trip

We had Lilly's annual field trip to Walden Farm on a very muddy day. All I could think about all day were the rain boots sitting at home in Lilly's closet, and that I was not smart enough to think to bring them. It was MUDDY. The kids still loved it and it was actually really nice to be cool--last year we were so hot. Lilly said a special prayer that morning asking God to keep it from raining, and he did, so she was in awe of her answered prayer all day. I know we'll have to go back and take Mamie--she keeps asking when her class is going to get to go to the pumpkin farm :( We love Walden Farm!

Ms. Gloria's class

I know this picture is blurry, but I still loved it. Lilly has always been terrified of the little hay maze they have for kids. Last year I had to crawl through and get her out because she was crying about halfway through and wouldn't move. She's usually pretty brave about things. Anyway, she's obviously over her fear and loved it this year.

Looking at the cute little calves. Our guide this year failed to explain to the kids that "this is where hamburgers come from, kids." THANK GOODNESS!

on the hayride, sitting by her buddy Jack

playing in the corn with Ellie

i never win anything

Carrie posted about this awesome bike giveaway and I really would LOVE to win. Too bad I never win anything. It's worth trying for, I guess :)

beach trip

Well, here's the long overdue post from our beach trip the first week of September. The Hollands and Wells came for our 6th ? annual beach trip. With Courtney and Michael's newest addition, we had a grand total of 12 in the house. What did we do with ourselves when it was just 6 lazy, late-sleeping adults? I can't even imagine...sounds pretty boring :)
We could not have asked for more perfect weather, and the water was prettier than I have ever seen it. It was crystal clear and shallow for a long way out. This was the first year I could truly relax. No naptimes to worry about, and the girls just played on their own and had so much fun on the beach. Lucky for me, because I got sucked into the Twilight books and could not put them down until I was finished with all four of them. Anyway, here are a few too many pictures from the week.

Lilly and Will

Mamie would literally roll around in the sand. She loved it.

One issue we had to address with Mamie: NUDITY. She tried (and succeeded a few times) to strip on the beach countless times. I finally gave up once and she walked back to the house naked.

Lilly learned to swim on her own this year and had no fear. Next year we'll work on diving :)

Mamie is still quite attached to her floaties...

Lexi and Mamie in the plane at the track--they were so cute

Mamie's first ride in a go-cart. I couldn't believe she was tall enough. She was scared to death at first, but loved it and went again with Jon.

Oh, funny drunk man that stole/borrowed Will's alligator float, you brought us such joy. Watching you walk around in the ocean with your beer and a tiny inflatable alligator stretched across your belly was the highlight of my day...

Especially when you pulled your beer-drinking wife around on her float too. I bet you have no idea you are on someones blog from Tennessee.

I loved this picture. Lexi's favorite thing about the beach: snacks. She was really working hard to find those goldfish crackers I had in my bag :)

Mamie showing off one of her shells

Sweet Cal holding the water on while Lilly washed off. They were so cute together and are starting to seem so grown-up.

All six: Quinn, Mamie, Lilly, Cal, Lexi, and Will.

Why won't my girls look at the camera? We look crazy--Jon and I looking at the camera and both girls looking somewhere else.

Lilly's "teeth smile" she likes to do for pictures now

Cal and Lilly (aka Pocahontas)

The best one we got :( Lilly and Mamie were not very cooperative.

And here's what happens when Lilly sits at the other end of a table for 12 and I have no idea what she's doing during dinner. Sorry, Pompano Joe's, I think I may owe you some ketchup.

Sadly, the only picture we got of the girls was on the last night. Hopefully they'll be another trip next year. Thanks so much to Jon's parents for letting us use the house.