Halloween 2011

Halloween was so much fun this year! The boys picked their own costumes, and enjoyed getting to wear them. Callie loved getting dressed up, too. She especially like the tail :) We trick-or-treated in our neighborhood first, and it was apparent very quickly that Callie LOVED trick-or-treating! Cool! Knock on people's doors, smile, say "Trick-or-Treat!", and they put candy in your goody bag?! Wow! And all the kids were very polite to say "Thank you" to each household. We trick-or-treated a little while at the country club neighborhood, then on to "trunk-or-treat" at church. Needless to say, the kids got MORE than enough treats in their bags. It was a really nice night out as a family :)

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And here are some of the cousins dressed up for Halloween...

Maddox the firefighter, Wesley as BatMan, Mia the beautiful butterfly, and Eli as SuperMan!

And Aunt Sa-Sa sent me pictures of Brooks as Spiderman and Jesse as Strawberry Shortcake, but I forgot to save them on my phone!! They were adorable, too, though :)

Farm Bureau trip with Mom

For the last several days, Callie & I have been in East TN with Cacki. It was great just to getaway. I'm glad she asked, and glad we were able to go! We stayed in Dandridge. It's a cute, little town. It has some neat shops downtown, & a few restaurants/cafes, too. It's located right on Douglas Lake, too, which I'm sure is quite pretty in the spring/summer. (They had lowered the water level 20 ft or more for the fall/winter.) 

Callie & I got out and explored some while Cacki was in meetings. On Thursday, we met Carol Freeman down on Market Square in Knoxville for lunch. Callie loved playing in the fountains! She threw leaf after leaf into the water.

We had dinner and participated in some activities with Cacki, too. On Friday, we ate at Bush Bros Co Family Cafe, and visited their merchandise store & museum, also. It was really neat.

On Saturday, as we headed back to West TN, we stopped in Knoxville again and had brunch with Brooke Swaggerty & Mae Higgins-Bright, both of whom I taught with at Hardin Valley when we lived in Knoxville. It was great to visit! Would love to get back to East TN with the kids sometime and spend more time visiting & sightseeing :)

Hudson's Awards

Congratulations, Hudson!

Our precious Hudson had his first awards ceremony for the school year today. Unfortunately, I couldn't be there, but Daddy was able to go! Hudson was very happy to have him there :) 

In first grade, the students are eligible for Honor Roll. Hudson earned a spot on the Principal's Honor Roll with all As & Ss. He also got Perfect Attendance for the first nine weeks of school. 

Way to go, big guy! We are SO proud of you!

My little helper

Pumpkin Patch & Cotton Ride

This afternoon & evening, we had a special Fall outing with the children & families of our church. We went to a pumpkin patch where we took a hayride, picked our pumpkins, took a 4-wheeler/barrel ride, played on the playgrounds, & made scarecrows. Wow! Big day, big fun! Then we headed back to the church for pizza and a cotton ride! The kids (& parents, too) had SO MUCH FUN! Take a look!

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Flag Football 2011

The boys have truly enjoyed their first season of flag football! They played on the same team, which made both of them a little more comfortable getting out there for the first time :) I think they learned a lot, too. I'm just really glad they had FUN!

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Hudson's "cotton play"

After football was over today, Hudson went to Cacki & Papa's to spend the night. He had great fun playing in the cotton, and helping Aunt Candi & Papa in the field!

Thanks, Aunt Candi, for the pictures :)

Hudson's 7th Birthday

Can't believe our baby boy is SEVEN! Yesterday, his actual birthday (October 15), we spent the day in Savannah. Hudson & Cade got to go hunting with Daddy! It made their day :) Today, we met the grandparents, great-grandparents, & Aunt Candi for lunch, cake, & birthday gifts. We had a lot of fun together celebrating with Hudson. He is such a sweet, loving, thoughtful little boy... He is special! Love, love, LOVE our boy!!

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Savannah

This weekend, we sort of rushed to Savannah for a night. The kids all got to ride 4-wheelers together, and the older ones got to go hunt with their daddies, too. It was a nice little getaway, and perfect for Hudson's birthday! He wanted nothing more than to ride 4-wheelers, go to Savannah and hunt :)

Here are a few pictures from the drive back... The boys passed out as soon as they got their bellies full! They got a good hour and a half of sleep. The little girl in the middle? She slept about the last 20 minutes of the trip! ha!

Oh my! Can he really sleep like that?!

Fall Break Zoo Trip

Howie took an afternoon to go to the zoo with us on Fall Break. We had a great time! We always enjoy the zoo :)
Two funnies this time:
1) Hudson got chased by a hungry cheetah! Yes, the cheetah was in its enclosure, but he was going to catch him a meal if possible! We had stopped to look at the cheetahs, who, like most of the cats at the end of the day, were pacing their enclosure. As we were leaving, Hudson took off running around the corner. One of the cheetahs spotted him through the tall grass & ran to that side of his area. Thank goodness for fences!
2) All Callie wanted to look for was "wion tin" (read: Lion King)! Like a lot of families, we recently saw "The Lion King" on the big screen when it was re-released a few weeks ago. Callie loved the movie! So when we went to the zoo, we had mentioned we might could see the lions. Well, they weren't out today, but that didn't stop Callie from asking or searching for "wion tin".

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Tent Fun

We've had this tent for a few years, but have never really taken advantage of it. This Fall Break, the weather was perfect for tent play & camping! All three of the kids enjoyed playing in the tent. Hudson was sure he wanted to camp out one night, but when it came down to it, he said he'd rather not :) Cade, on the other hand, was ready to go! He & Daddy set up "camp" inside the tent one night, and Daddy said Cade slept as good outside as he does inside :) Daddy slept ok, but said the train "is rockin'" when you're trying to sleep in the backyard. We'll definitely have to re-visit the tent & camping out with these boys soon!

My lunch dates

It's a great day for an outdoor lunch! I'm so lucky these two cuties are keeping me company :)