The Petting Zoo

Look at all the animals! Aren't they cute?....they smell even better!

Face Painting.....

...or hand painting, anyway. For some reason Luke just did not want to have his face painted. Who knows why. After much prompting we finally talked him in to having his hand painted. He chose a spider.

Jumping and Sliding

Lost In The Hay Maze

We got so lost in this hay maze, which was surprisingly difficult!

Catching Some Fish

Actually, there were no fish caught, but all the kids sure did have fun trying!

Going On A Hayride

Finding The Perfect Pumpkin

Pumpkins everywhere!

This is definitely the one!

Halloween Memories...

Halloween 2001 is MIA. Arrggghhh! I think if I remember correctly, that roll of film (before I went digital) was damaged when my camera met rain and went to camera heaven. Anyway, Kaylyn was 9 months old and the cutest little pumpkin.

Halloween 2002

Kaylyn was 20 months old. I was trying really hard to sway her in the right direction when it comes to the Alabama/Auburn debate, but unfortunately, I think her daddy has won that debate for now....I'm hoping it's just a phase!

Halloween 2003

Kaylyn was 2 1/2 years old. Wasn't she the cutest Ragedy Ann?


Halloween 2004

Luke's first Halloween. He was three months old and the most cuddly widdle wion!

Kaylyn was a blue carebear this Halloween, but those are some of those other pics that are MIA.



Halloween 2005. Luke was 15 months old. Notice he's wearing the same Big Al costume that Kaylyn wore in 2002. Kaylyn was 4 year's old and a Bama cheerleader. I was still winning the debate at this time.....(sniffle, sniffle)



Halloween 2006. Cowboys and Wild Indians! Kaylyn was 5 years old and Luke was 2 years old.

Halloween 2007. My themed Halloween costume days are over. Both kids now want to pick out their own costumes, and of course neither want to be anything like the other. Kaylyn was 6 years old and made the purrrfect cat. She played the part well. Luke was 3 years old and Superman. He said he wanted to be Superman, because he had a cape and could fly high.

Halloween 2008 - TBA

Changed....Again...

Chloe's surgery date has now been changed to December 8. Even though it's only 4 days earlier than the December 12th date, if the surgery is done on the 8th, that means she can be activated on December 22 and will be able to hear something at Christmas even if it is just a whisper. Having Chloe hear by Christmas has been Paul and Candace's goal since we learned of her hearing impairment. So, when the earlier date was offered, they took it. Hopefully this date is set now...I know Genelle is really tired of having to change my work schedule so I can be off for the surgery date! We are still waiting word from the insurance company, but either way, Chloe will be getting her implants on December 8.

Another tooth lost....

Last night Kaylyn lost another tooth, bottom right. That makes six teeth she's lost....the tooth fairy is going to be broke if she keeps loosing so many teeth! She earns every dollar the tooth fairy brings. Let's just say Kaylyn gives new meaning to the term "like pulling teeth." Pulling her teeth is a major ordeal. She's excited lose another tooth, but ohmygoodness, the drama is unreal! She cries, and screams, and kicks, and bites....and then says sweetly, "Please pull my tooth." Arrrgggghhh! Talk about frustrating!

BTW, I don't think those top teeth are EVER coming back! They've been out since April and still no signs of permanent teeth....Hmmmm....

A Bump in the Road....

This past week there have been issues with the insurance company regarding Chloe's surgery. I won't go into detail, but the gist of it is, we are having to fight to get her bilateral implants. Because of this, her surgery has been delayed until December 12. Her case will go before the board on December 1. Please pray for a decision in our favor.

Gone Fishin'

Chris and I took the kids fishing this afternoon. They had a great time. They love riding in the boat and catching fish. All together they caught 8 fish. I caught 2 because I was too busy taking pictures. (I also caught about 18 tree limbs.) Poor Chris was too busy baiting lines and taking fish off of hooks, so he didn't catch any fish. Oh well, that's what Daddy's are for, because this Mama is sure not going to touch anything gross, i.e. fish bait or an actual fish!
First fish of the day
Waiting patiently

Still waiting
Yes, he's kissing his fish.... thanks to his Daddy!

Picture of the Day

My Little Ballerina

So, this year the competition team is required to take ballet for technique and strengthening. After all, ballet is the foundation for every dance, so I've heard anyway... Kaylyn LOVES it. I can't believe it. When she started taking dance at 3 years old, ballet and tap were the only dances offered to her age group. She HATED ballet with a passion. Every week she would beg to just go to her tap class and skip ballet. Seriously, it was like pulling teeth to get the child to class. So, when we found out she would be required to take ballet for competition dance this year, I was a little nervous to say the least. I had flashbacks of dragging my child to ballet classes every week for 2 years and the celebration dance we did when she was invited to the competition team, which meant no more ballet. Needless to say, I was shocked when she was so excited about her ballet class this year, and I think she likes it more than her tap and jazz classes! Talk about a turn of events!
Here she is showing off some of the moves she's learned.

I have NO idea what she's doing here!

I Have A Dilemma.....

So I found out yesterday that both of my children have field trips ON THE SAME DAY. Can you say PROBLEMMMM!!! Luke has a trip scheduled to see Disney on Ice and he can't go by himself. Even though he's in pre-school at the "big" school, a parent is still required to go on all field trips, not that I would even feel comfortable sending my 4 year old off to a large crowd of other children without me. Don't get me wrong, his teachers are excellent and take great care of him, but you all understand..... Kaylyn has a trip scheduled to go to the museum in Anniston. Parents are only allowed to go on one field trip, because as much as you would think parents would help in these situations, they really don't. There are too many people trying to get into one place and the kids seem to run wild when the parents are around, in other words, total chaos! So do you see my problem? Luke can't go alone and Kaylyn really wants me to go with her. I think I may have the problem solved, Chris is going to see about getting off and will go with one of them. If he can't get off work (this may be a problem since he JUST went back from having surgery) my mom should be able to go with Luke, if there are no mandatory reading coach meetings scheduled for this day. Oh the joys of having 2 children in school.....

P.C. 2008

Oooohhhh, the stories I have to tell.... This weekend was our annual ER beach trip to P.C. This trip was by far the best trip we've every had. We had sooooo much fun. I've never laughed so hard in my life!!! This trip involved an illegal animal at the condo, dance team lessons on the beach, and to top it off....a cannon-ball into a hot tub full of people we didn't know! Okay, let me explain...It started Thursday night when Sara's dog-sitter backed out on her. Her dog Snickers is a 2lb yorkie, who is totally her baby. He can't stay with just anyone and is too small to be boarded. Sara wasn't going to go because she didn't have a sitter for the dog, but we convinced her to just bring him with her. Our condo has a "no pet" policy, but it's a 2lb dog, on a hurricane weekend in September, we knew there wouldn't be anyone there to tell. Snickers behaved perfectly. He got so much attention, I'm sure he's spoiled rotten now. When we left the condo, he stayed on the balcony in his playpen, which BTW is a REAL pack-n-play, for a real baby. So we ALL got to go on the trip. Next came the dance team lessons. Staci and Miranda had fun reminiscing about all their glory days as a cheerleader/dance team in high school. They were showing off some of their moves. They've still got it too!!! Staci can get some real air! I've been sworn to never post those pics on the blog, so there will be no pics of their dance moves. But, for a small fee.....(just kidding) Okay, I know everyone wants to know about the cannon-ball in the hot tub. Here goes....We went to the hot tub last night, but it was full of people. After about an hour, those people still hadn't moved, the wind was blowing and it was kind of cool. We were about to go back to the room, when someone jokingly said, "Hey Joy, I dare you to do a cannon-ball in the middle of the hot tub!" The next thing I know, there goes Joy, running as fast as she can, yelling "Cannon-Ballllll!!!!!" and yes, she does and actual cannon-ball in the middle of the hot tub, soaking all the people sitting around it. We all just sat there in amazement. Lesson learned....Don't "dare" Joy to do anything, because she will do it, no matter how stupid the dare is. Joy definitely gets the "Miss P.C. 2008" title this year. She kept us fully entertained all weekend. She's such a nut! You just gotta love her! Oh well, the weekend is over and tomorrow it's back to work.

Charter Members of the ER Beach Club

Genelle and I have never missed a trip. We've been on every ER beach trip since 2003. Everyone else from the original group have either quit the ER or stopped going on the trips.

Friday Afternoon...

As soon at we got there Friday, we hit the beach! We had such a good time!

Look at those waves! Thanks to Ike the waves were HUGE and the beach was almost non-existant. On the plus side, we didn't have to walk very far on the beach! The water was so rough, double red flags, so no swiming in the ocean. Seriously, it would just about knock you down in calf-deep water. We actually saw these crazy people who had their children in the water. A wave came an knocked the little girl down and carried her about 20 feet.

Saturday On The Beach...

Eight hours of uninterrupted beach time! No husbands, no kids!!

Dinner At Pineapple Willy's

Saturday night we went to eat at Pineapple Willy's and watched the Alabama Game there. Roll Tide!!!! We had such a good time and ate lots of good food.