THE WITCHING HOUR

PUMPKIN CARVING AND MAKING RICE KRISPIES TREATS

THE TRICK OR TREAT GANG

LEFT TO RIGHT

FRONT ROW: ZACK (army), HARRISON (batman), STEVEN (pilot) SAVANNAH (cowgirl), DELANEY (scarecrow), MEGAN (butterfly princess), SYDNEE (jasmine)

BACK ROW ME JENNIFER AND TABITHA (the witch)

THE NIGHT HAS FINALLY COME THAT WE HAVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR. WE HAVE NEIGHBORS WITH HAUNTED COVERED PATHWAYS, SCARY SORCERERS, FOGGY GRAVEYARDS AND TONIGHT WAS THE NIGHT FOR ALL.

WE STARTED THE NIGHT WITH PUMPKIN CARVING, MAKING HOT APPLE CIDER WITH RUM FOR THE ADULTS, CARMEL APPLES & PUMPKIN SHAPED RICE KRISPIES FOR THE WHOLE GANG AND BIG BURRITOS FOR DINNER.

AT 7:00 WE GATHERED FOR PHOTOS WITH THE TRICK OR TREAT GANG AND THEN WE WENT DOOR TO DOOR IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD WITH OUR FAVORITE NEIGHBORS: SYDNEE, SAVANNAH, STEVEN, ZACK AND MEGAN AND MOMMIES JENNIFER, TABITHA AND ME OUR DADDY JASON AND THE S's PAPAW. GRANDMA AND GRANDPA STAYED HOME TO PASS OUT THE CANDY TO THE MASSES. WE ARE AROUND THE CORNER FROM THE HAUNTED TRAIL SO WE GOT SLAMMED, I BOUGHT 10 BAGS OF CANDY AND WE RAN OUT LESS THAN 2 HOURS INTO IT.

WE REALLY HAD A GREAT TIME AND DELANEY ACTED AS A SEASONED PRO UP TO THE DOOR WITH ALL THE BIG KIDS.

WE GOT HOME AND HAD RICE KRISPIES, CARMEL APPLES, SORTED THE CANDY AND WATCHED THE GREAT PUMPKIN CHARLIE BROWN. THE KIDS WENT TO BED AT 9:30 AND FELL ASLEEP BEFORE WE LEFT THEIR ROOMS!! IT IS THIS HOLIDAY I MISS BEING A CHILD THE MOST, SUCH GREAT MEMORIES I HAVE HAD AND SO HAPPY I HAVE SUCH A WONDERFUL FAMILY TO KEEP THE MEMORIES COMING.

Day of Beauty

BEFORE BEAUTY DAY
BEAUTY DAY
NEW GIRL
LOVE THIS

Today was the day of beauty for Grandma and Delaney. Mom was getting her hair colored and cut and I had talked about having Delaney's hair cut so while Mom was under the foil Delaney had her first day of beauty at an Aveda salon.

Now Mom has a new color and fancy new cut and Delaney also has a new cut. I have been trying to grow out Delaney's bangs for several months and had a hard time making that look cute so we went for it and had 6 inches cut off and we all Love it, her especially because she is carrying on a love affair in the mirror with herself now!

OUT EXPLORING

My parents are in town this week and we have been out exploring, today we went to The Penske race shop to take a look at what they are doing there.

Penske Racing's state-of-the-art facility in Mooresville, was constructed for performance. Equipped with the first-class, corporate sheen indicative of Penske Corporation, the two buildings totaling 424,697 square feet are nestled on 105 acres. Penske's three NASCAR teams – two NEXTEL Cup and one Busch - occupy 240,781 square feet – 8 acres - of the complex. Watch the crews prepare for upcoming NASCAR races from a 330-foot fan walk. One million pounds of Italian floor tile – 250,000 pieces – provide the flooring in the administrative and NASCAR shop areas, while more than 1,000 linear feet of Kodak graphics give a special glimpse into the team's history. The Indy Car and ALMS teams occupy 55,843 square feet. They share a 3,811-square-foot administrative area, a 16,903-square-foot transporter area and a 6,857-square-foot support area. The Indy Car shop and engineering have a 14,089-square-foot home, while 14,183 square feet is dedicated to the ALMS shop and engineering.

RUBBERMAID HALLOWEEEN

Today was the Rubbermaid Halloween party, the kids had such a good time. Everyone decorated their areas up and they had a Halloween walk. The kids wore their real costumes, Harrison is Batman and Delaney is a scarecrow.

PLAYGROUP HALLOWEEN

Today was playgroup day and since we meet on Thursday's we will not meet again before Halloween so most of the children dressed up. We dug through our dress up drawer again and came up with cowgirl, idolizing Jessie from Toy Story 2.

BIGGER THAN DELANEY'S HEAD

I Guess this flower is bigger than Delaney's head. WOW, I am still amazed!

BEAUTIFUL FLOWER

I know I usually put photos of the family on the blog but we had a flower bloom in our yard that I had to share with you. I have no idea what this is but it is huge and so beautiful it just bloomed a few days ago and after the rain we finally got it started falling over. I clipped it and brought it in. It looks to me like the flowers we used to make with napkins for the parade floats in high school. Does anyone have any idea what it is?? This may be one of a few things in the mess of a backyard that is a wonderful surprise!!

Mystery solved by my semi-pro horticulturist Mom: it is a DAHLIA, blooms in the fall and after some research I did online, they are called Giant Dinner Plate Dahlias and I have the color Starburst yellow and this sucker is as seriously as big as Delaney's head, I guess her head is also as big as a plate.

Storytime

After school today Harrison spread out a blanket with pillows and he read a story to Delaney out of the book Gramps brought us, My very first Encyclopedia with Winnie the Pooh and Friends Nature. They both love this book Harrison loves reading and Delaney loves the real and cartoon photos.

Thanks Gramps!!

TRICK OR TREAT

We are off to our first Halloween party of the year and all dressed up!
Delaney is a ballerina princess, Harrison a race car driver, I am a Bubble Gum machine and Jason an Indian's fan. It was a perfect night for an outdoor party at the fire, it was a beautiful evening and we had a chance to meet some of our other neighbors we have only waved to. Before the party we went across the street and asked our neighbor to take our photo, I did not want to miss this shot.

THE GUYS WEEKEND

THE

BIG WEEKEND FOR THE GUYS, HARRISON WON THE FISHING CONTEST- THE FIRST FISH, THE BIGGEST FISH AND THE ONLY FISH. THEY WENT HIKING, RENTED A BOAT, COOKED DINNER ON THE FIRE AND ALL SLEPT IN A TENT. WHILE THE GUYS WERE AWAY DELANEY AND I JUST RELAXED AND DID NEXT TO NOTHING, IT WAS VERY A NICE WEEKEND FOR ALL OF US AND THE KIDS LOVED SPENDING TIME WITH GRAMPS!!

SO MUCH TO DO SO LITTLE TIME

THE PRO SETTING UP THE SHOT

FORE-READING TODDLER ON THE COURSE

IT SEEMS THIS WEEK HAS BEEN A LITTLE MORE HECTIC THAN NORMAL AND I DID NOT CAPTURE MANY IN PICTURES. I WAS BUSY GETTING EVERYTHING STRAIGHTENED UP FROM THE BIG ROOM CHANGE AND CLEANING THE HOUSE UP BECAUSE WE HAVE HAD VISITORS. MY BROTHER SCOTT VISITED WITH US ON WEDNESDAY, HE IS IN TOWN FILMING THE RACES AT LOWES MOTOR SPEEDWAY AND SINCE THEY HAVE HAD SO MANY RACES THE ONLY DAY HE COULD VISIT WAS WEDNESDAY. I TOOK HIM TO THE BIG OUTLET MALL AND WE MET HARRISON AT HIS BUS STOP, HE STAYED FOR DINNER AND THEN I TOOK HIM BACK TO HIS HOTEL SO HE COULD GET SOME SLEEP FROM BABY EXHAUSTION AND ON TO CAMERA EXHAUSTION.
ON THURSDAY AFTERNOON BILL (GRAMPS), JASON'S DAD CAME TO VISIT US. THIS WEEKEND JASON, HARRISON AND BILL ARE CAMPING OFF OF THE BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY NEAR GRANDFATHER MOUNTAIN. I AM SITTING HERE RIGHT NOW WATCHING JEFF GORDON WIN THE RACE; HARRISON WILL BE SO EXCITED BECAUSE JEFF IS HIS DRIVER. I AM HOPEFUL JASON IS TAKING SOME GREAT PHOTOS THIS WEEKEND.
I HAVE NOT TALKED TO MOM AFTER HER BIG CATERING DAY TODAY, BUT SHE CATERED A PARTY TONIGHT OF 1500-1600 PEOPLE AND SHE WAS BUSY ALL WEEK LAST WEEK BAKING PIES FOR THIS PARTY AND TODAY IT WAS CRAZY WITH SOME ORDERS THAT WERE WRONG. YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE BIG PARTY IS OVER, TEAR DOWN AND CLEAN UP. I DO WISH I COULD HAVE BEEN THERE FOR HER JUST TO HELP IN ANY WAY I COULD. PUT YOUR FEET UP MOM AND RELAX THAT STRESSFUL DAY IS NOW BEHIND YOU!!
ENJOY THE WEEKEND EVERYONE AND I HOPE YOUR WEATHER IS AS GREAT AS OURS.

BIG GIRL BED

BABY ROOM BEFORE

BIG GIRL ROOM



The time has come and Delaney has made the leap into the big girl bed. She never tried to climb out of her crib, but after the experience that we had with Harrison climbing out I did not really want to go through that again. After hours and months of painting her dresser, painting her bed, painting her table and chairs, making the quilt, painting the shelves and mirror for the wall; we brought her into her room and she loved it and I asked what she loved the most "I wuv my tea party set". YIKES, her tea set I had nothing to do with she loves the most, oh well she is only 2 1/2 she will grow to love my efforts. I am not completely finished with hanging things but no more sewing, YEAH!!

AT THE BEACH

Delaney and Bryn, Bryn is Brock and Christies daughter. Jason and Jodie playing corn hole they work together but are on opposing teams in corn hole.

Today we spent the day at Joe and Charlotte's with the Rubbermaid crew. Joe recently added 10 tons of sand to his beach on Lake Norman and the kids had a great time digging in it. The water is so low at the lake and you can see the difference in the beach and the bottom of the lake in the photos of the girls sitting down on the beach. We all had a really good time playing corn hole, visiting with one another and after the sun went down we enjoyed some smores at the fire on the beach. Most of the people we were visiting with have moved from Ohio so we watched some of the Ohio State vs. Purdue game.

I LOVE THE LIBRARY!!

Reading at the library & Flower fountain at the library

Looking at Curious George & petting the Library cat

At home with library books

I don't think Delaney loves anything more than going to the library she really has a great time there. She loves picking out books and looking at them on the way home and she cannot wait to read them when we get home. We really lucked out with both kids, when it's time for bed just offer a few stories and they are in without any trouble.