Beecher Hills Fall Festival

Justin, Connor and I went to my fall festival at school and had a blast. I regret not having any pictures, other than her hugging a co-worker's son, but I spent the whole time "manning" my jump rope station (which the children LOVED)! Administration offered dancing for as long as you want for only FOUR tickets! Well, we got it half price because I know people...

Anyway, this is Connor dancing to Cupid Shuffle, a very popular song among my students:

Let the Fall Festivies Continue!

We finally got a chance to go to the pumpkin farm! It was awesome. Connor enjoyed every bit of it. She especially liked the hayride. We got to feed the horses, pet the sheep and listen to a story. We asked her to pick out a pumpkin for her and doodle and she did just that. It was so cute watching her choose the best two in the bin.

She was almost tall enough to get her picture taken but Daddy hoisted her up a bit.

This is her excited laugh in action. It is a cross between a screech and a yell. Good thing we were on the hayride because it is loud when she gets excited!


The turkey with the one leg was chasing her. I think she was enjoying herself! :)




On Friday, we went to YMCA for their spooctacular fest. We dressed Connor as a clown for this event. I have two costumes for her; the clown costume came from a friend of mine whose daughter wore it 8 years ago. Her mom made it so we had to use it! She is going to be a ladybug for actual Halloween.

At the spooktacular they had real tortoises that were just walking around the ballet studio. Kind of freaked me out but Connor loved it. We also got to pet a chinchilla but I didn't get a picture of it.


Taylor was Tinkerbell. Isn't she cute!

Connor liked Y Bear. It did take her a little bit to warm up to him though.

Ha! I just LOVE this cute little clown.


We love the YMCA. It is great for workout, pool over the summer and also cheaper gymnastics for Connor! Woot woot!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month...

... and my school is taking the initiative to raise money for breast cancer awareness and research. Each Friday, the students (who wear uniforms every other day) may wear jeans and a pink shirt if they donate $1.00 to this special cause. It is one thing to donate because you know it is for a good reason and it is completely different when you are donating in honor of your mother and grandmother.



Life takes unexpected turns and because my chances of getting this dreadful disease are somewhat higher, I am doing my part by donating every Friday, even if I forget to wear my jeans. It is also so important to set an example for my students. To them they are giving a dollar and really don't know the impact they are making. But if I continue to donate, as all the other teachers are doing, then it will help increase the awareness in our students because the reality is that if they do not know someone now who has had breast cancer then they will.

It honestly did not surprise me one bit that my school decided to dedicate a portion of the donations to my Mom and Grammy. It brought tears to my eyes just thinking that that their battles have trumped so many others' battles and they are both still here to spread their love and strength and to be with their families. I do not know what I would do without these two strong, independent and influential women in my life and I am thankful to be writing this blog, not in their memories, but in their honor. I love you both, Mom and Grammy! Continue to instill strength and belief in all of us, even your grand babies, so we may grow into women like the two of you.

19 Months Old...

... and you are SO cool! We just love you! This post is not going to be sappy because as I write this post I am chuckling just thinking of you, how silly you are. Your personality has evolved. I can't imagine what it will be like next month so I am enjoying EVERY bit of it now.


Some of the things that we have been forced to initiate:

timeout: yeah, not so much. Unfortunately you have to go to timeout at least one time a day for the same thing ( squeezing our cheeks so hard that it hurts). The first couple of times it was cute but it really isn't so much anymore. That is only because you know that you are inflicting pain and you want a reaction. Disciplining is not fun and I hear that it will only get harder as your personality continues to evolve. Eeesh!

Stats:
You weigh 24 pounds
You are 33 inches tall ( FINALLY out of the 33 percentile!)
Your head is still in the 89th percentile (thank you Daddy!)
Your shoe size is between a 5 and 5 1/2
You are wearing 18 month pants and some shirts are 24 months (only because we are entering into winter and I will not buy 18 month winter shirts just to buy size 24 month shirts in December)
You are attached to "blank" and "pink teddy" and you just became the official Mommy to Carol, your baby doll. You wrap her up to put her night night and before you do so, you sing "rock baby, rock baby". It is so cute to see you so loving to something other than Mommy and Daddy.
You are a Sesame Street fanatic and you especially love Abby and Elmo.
For Halloween you are going to be a ladybug. One of our wonderful neighbors is tailoring the costume so it doesn't look so trashy (sorry, bug, it was cheap).
You repeat everything we say and you are beginning to put words together. Your favorite phrases, get this, are "no mommy and no daddy".
New animals that you recognize and can make the appropriate noises are elephants, monkeys, sheep, lions and cats.
You have all your teeth and have had all of them since you were 15 months, I just think I forgot to document it. :)
You do not take a paci at daycare anymore and pretty much only take it at home when you go to bed.
You are pretty much down to one, two hour nap.
The color you know is blue.
Whenever you see any type of football game, you chant " GO GO GO!"
When we chant " GOOOOO Dawgs. Sic 'em!" You reply with "WOOOO WOOO WOOO!"

You are growing so quickly and we are truly enjoying every moment. It is incredible watching you grow and develop. We never realized how fascinating it would be watching you. Mommy and Daddy (and the rest of your family and friends) love you so very much. Thank you for putting that perma-smile on my face every morning.

We love you, little girl!

Alan's 30th and Sunday Brunch

Connor and I met a friend of mine from Ga State for brunch this morning. Justin couldn't go so he stayed home and we brought him back yummy goodness. We went to Thumb's Up Diner on Marietta Street. So delicious. I was dying for a cup of good coffee too. You should try it out, very good food.
I just had to get a picture of Connor with the waitress:



Yesterday, we went over to Alan and Amy's house for his 30th birthday. We were supposed to go to Athens but since Justin got sick Friday night, we wound up staying in Atlanta and Connor and I were able to go to the birthday party! It was great seeing everyone!




Kaitlyn feeding Connor a chip:


We PROMISE we are in the cooler JUST for the ice.



Happy 30th Birthday, Alan!

Pumpkins with a Passion

We had a neighborhood pumpkin carving "party" Saturday night. My carving skills are lacking but my neighbors' skills were all but. I had bought a Sesame Street carving kit that came with a bunch of character cutouts. I was not skilled enough to use one but Frannie and Nick definitely were.

This is Nick's masterpiece, Bert and Ernie :


My masterpiece is the plain one, with very little detail, to the left of Elmo:


Just a little idea to what Connor does with Mommy's Halloween decorations (the ghosts are supposed to be on stakes and she keeps pulling them off so I think I am going to hang them from the tree):

Honey with my pumpkin, giving it some love:

Krystal, Fran, Melissa and me:


Connor and I are going to carve pumpkins with Daddy on Wednesday because this pumpkin carving extravaganza took place when the little girl was sleeping.

Fall and My new jogging stroller!

I am super excited about fall. It is my favorite time of year because you have a great mix of weather. I especially cannot wait for this time of year because Connor is older now, wiser and more mobile. This helps us plan to do fall things. I have two costumes for her this year: one a ladybug and one a clown. We are probably going to go with my parents again to the Smyrna United Methodist Fall festival again and we will also trick-o-treat with our neighbor so she will get to wear both!

The clown costume is actually from a friend whose mom made it for her little girl. The ladybug costume is still in the works... actually, I am not creative so I am leaning on my friends for their help. I know they wouldn't allow Connor to be a jacked-up ladybug so we are in good hands. :)

This weekend we may be having a pumpkin carving contest with our friends. I will post The Horton's winning pumpkin on Monday, after the competition and after everyone has had a chance to let it soak in. Hehe.


My new jogging stroller is absolutely wonderful! What I did find out though is that my arms were jello well before my legs ever were. I had to stop and let my arms just dangle for a minute but I am sure it is just something that I will have to get used to. Either that, or I need to build more strength in my arms! Ha!

Anyway, I love, love love jogging at the polo fields by my house. It is a wide open field, they have horses and when we bring Oscar he can play in the creek. It is a private residence that allows visitors and dogs as long as they don't mess with the horses. Now that it is fall, I will be going there more often because it is nice and shaded in parts too.

Connor enjoying her new stroller while eating a snack with Carol, her baby doll.

Fun with our Friends

Last weekend we took the girls to Imagineit Children's museum.  Our tickets were half off because we got there at 4 and they close at 5!  We couldn't believe that out of all six of us, no one thought to check for their hours.  No worries though; the hour that we were there was just enough time so it worked out well!  After the museum, we took the girls to the park across the street for some fresh air.

I would put pictures but my uploader stinks. STINKS!