Fall Fun

Last Thursday evening we celebrated the season with a couple fun activities.

1. Making Caramel Apples




And sampling too =)

2. Carving Pumpkins










Both the kids carved and cleaned their pumpkins completely on their own. Blake thought it was a momentous occasion, lol!

The evening was great "together" time.

Slumber Party!

So the bribe to keep Emily from being sad about not being able to get her birthday wish to go to New York, was to let her have a slumber party. It worked out that the kids were out of school on Thursday and Friday, so we were able to have the party on her actual birthday. The girls all came by between 4 and 6. Until the last one made it they entertained themselves playing games, and showing off their talents.




We had pizza for dinner and for dessert the girls frosted and decorated their own mini cupcakes. After that Emily opened her presents and then we started activities.





They each got to make a sleep mask and decorate a pillowcase. They played "Truth or Dare" and version of "Spin the Bottle" where they took turns spinning bottles of nail polish. Whoever the end was pointing at had to paint one toenail with that color.




Then we did blindfolded makeovers where the person applying makeup on another girl was blindfolded. What a hoot! The girls laughed and laughed. Even the self proclaimed "tomboys" got in on the action. Next the girls were blindfolded and had lipstick applied for our version of "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" where the tried to lay a smooch on a poster of The Jonas Brothers. They played Musical Sleeping Bags (substitute for Musical Chairs).



There was of course a pillow fight before popcorn and some tv. After a busy day at school and a fun night, everyone was asleep before midnight. I made pancakes for them in the morning and they played with Em's new toys until their ride came. Emily had a great time!

What A Weekend!

I mentioned briefly here about my plans to surprise Emily with a trip to her dream store, American Girl. As far as she knew, it required a trip to New York, that we just couldn't take. Truth was, there is a store in Atlanta, GA which is much more doable, lol. With Sam's team racing in Atlanta the weekend before her birthday, it was a great way to get her there without questions. I decided to keep the plans from Blake too. Saturday morning at 6am I woke them up and asked them to get dressed because I had a surprise. I already had their bags packed and the car loaded, so we jumped in and left town. Not one time did they question where we were going, but Blake's suspicions were confirmed when we crossed the Georgia state line. Sam had put us in for credentials (garage/pit passes), so we made our way to the tunnel and hopped on a tram that took us to the infield. Sprint Cup practice had just gotten over, so it was really crowded. We were crossing through a barrier when Blake spotted Dale JR. His chin dropped to the ground! We hussled to the truck garages only to find them empty, so we continued out to pit road. Blake, again in awe, kept asking "Are you sure we're supposed to be out here Mom?". We found the ACL pit area, and that's where we stayed for the entire race. Blake was in heaven being about 10 feet away from live pit stop action! I had a tough time following the race and at one point I looked up at the tower and saw 2 in the first spot. I had to ask Blake how many laps were in the race, lol, and when he told me there were only 5 to go, I got giddy! I took out the video camera and started recording the guys in the pit. Most were perched on the wall, Ernie & Kevin were on their feet, Sam was pacing. When I gave him a thumbs up, he said "we've been here before" and shook his head. He rested his head on the pit box for a bit before pacing again. On the last lap, everyone heard Andy say "inside, inside" and they all threw their hands down in defeat. Ryan dug in and made a comeback though, and when he rounded turn four, they all jumped with joy! It was quite the moment! The first thing Sam did was come give Blake a high-five and then joined his guys to celebrate and head to pit road to greet Ryan and lead him t Victory Circle. The kids and I didn't have Victory Circle credentials, but Sam got us in and we were able to savor the moment with the whole team. Very cool! I tried to back out of the team photos, but Mr Newman (Ryan's dad) pulled us in. As much as a goof as I feel about being in them, it is pretty special for the kids. Post-race inspection took a long time and the kids started asking if we were staying the night, so I told them "Yes, that's surprise #2". We hung out and watched some of the inspections and went out to play kick the can where all the other haulers had cleared out. When things finally wrapped up, we headed North to Alpharetta. The entire way Sam kept sighing, he was so happy and relieved. Happy Anniversary! That day marked 11 years of marriage for us and I know he'll never forget that day. =)

When we arrived at Embassy Suites, Emily was thrilled. It's been her favorite hotel since our trip to CA in 2005. We went in and after watching some clips of the race/celebration on the Internet, headed for the pool. We played for quite awhile and Emily asked to go back to the room. We crawled in bed and said goodnight to a great day.

The next morning we took our time getting up-and-at-em. We enjoyed a delicious breakfast and had to convince Emily that it would be fun to go to the mall. We packed up and drove to North Point, which is a big place. As we drove past directional signs, Emily was reading what stores were listed. Suddenly she got quiet. Sure she must have misread something, she started again at the next sign. This time she screamed out loud "THERE"S AN AMERICAN GIRLS STORE HERE"! When I said "Happy Birthday Emily", she started to cry tears of joy. When we arrived, the store wasn't open yet, but she refused to budge. We waited and she was the first person in the door. She must have spent 2 hours in there looking at everything. She picked out the Bitty Twins, a couple outfits, a couple toys, and a carrying bag. Then we went in the Bistro for dessert. She never stopped glowing. She said at one point "Mom, I know I've said it before, but this is the best birthday ever". I hugged her and told her that it's a good thing that the best keeps getting better!

A Breather

Between work & household duties and getting ready for Trick-or-Treating, I've found myself with a spare minute, so I thought I'd get a post in. =) For starters, I got my old camera working. I guess it was the rechargeable batteries that were bad. I was relieved and disappointed at the same time. I'll be sticking with my 3.1MP camera for a while longer.

I mentioned that we had taken a trip to the pumpkin patch with a neighbor family, so I'll start with a few pictures from there.







I had also mentioned Emily's chorus performing at the PTO meeting. Here are a few pictures Sam took.






I'll fill you in on last weekend next...

Happy Halloween

I promise as soon as I have time to post more than a sentence or two I will. Until then, Happy Haunting!