Hodges Farm and Pumpkin Picking!

With Halloween and Thanksgiving right around the corner, we took advantage of the beautiful weather and holiday season to go pick some pumpkins at Hodges Farm. Doug LOVED this location- mostly because the pumpkins are actually on the vine, so you literally have to pick them yourself. It also had some beautiful sunflower fields (I heard that they are going to do a 10 acre sunflower maze next year!!!), a petting farm, huge haystacks to jump on, horses to ride, bouncy houses, food,... It was a lot of fun, and I am 100% positive we will go again next year!

Trey's Soccer Team!

We signed Trey up to play soccer with Strikers, and it's been a lot of fun! He is actually really good (I'm not just saying this, he really is better than most of the kids on the team), and it's been a lot of fun to watch him practice and play. They don't actually play games, they just do drills and learn to not use their hands- important skills for the future :). Unfortunately, the practice that Uncle Adam and Allie came to watch was not such a great one- it was very cold out, Trey didn't want to play, he cried through most of it, and basically didn't show off any of his skills, which frustrated me to no end, but I have to remember, he's only 3! The coach was really sweet and emailed me later that evening to remind me that this is typical of most 3 year olds, and they will all, at some point during the 5 week season, have a melt-down and not want to play. I really appreciated the encouragement! It is funny to me that Trey loves to play soccer, and usually does great once he gets there, but when we get in the car to actually go to soccer, he gets really nervous- almost like he's afraid to get out there with kids he doesn't know! His personality is so sweet, and it makes me always want to protect him and never have him be scared, but he does need to get a little more confidence! The other fun part about this soccer league is that they really encourage the parents to come out there and help with the drills, and I love it!

Some new Carrington "Firsts"

In the past few months, Carrington has had several "firsts" that are so much fun, and really make her be a big girl! She had her first haircut in September, and she loved it. My good friend Tiffany (who also does my hair) convinced me that this was the right thing to do, to help "encourage" a little growth in Carrington's not so very long hair! :) Tiffany was so sweet and came over to the house, where we set Carrington up in the kitchen and let Tiffany do what she does best! She literally took off 1/8" of hair- I'm not kidding, you could barely see it, but it's made a big difference! You'll be able to tell when you see the progression of pictures. Carrington did awesome- thanks to Carrington's baby doll and Avery there for support!

Carrington also went to the dentist for the very first time in October! I, for some reason that is still unknown to me, thought I was super-mom and made appointments for Trey and Carrington at the same time! HUGE, HUGE MISTAKE!!!! Trey cried through most of his visit, although I am proud to announce that he had no cavities, and Carrington was doing awesome until I made her put down the MagnaDoodle, which led to a full blown temper tantrum that lasted throughout the remaining portion of the visit, in the waiting room while I paid and scheduled new appointments (separate next time), into the car, and all the way home. Carrington also has no cavities- or so they told me, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were just saying that to get us out of there!!!! :) But, I'm glad the kids have healthy teeth! The dentist did mention that Carrington only has 16 of her 20 baby teeth, so we still have 4 molars to go- STINK! :(

It's FALL Ya'll! Let's paint some Punkins'! :)

Trey was so disappointed that there were no pumpkins at Rural Hill yet, so when Home Depot finally got some in this past week, I couldn't resist grabbing a few for the kids to decorate. On Wednesday afternoon, Doug came home early, and we took the kids outside to let them paint their little pumpkins. They did an awesome job! Carrington had a few moments of painting her hand, or her face, or putting the paint brush in her mouth (you know, the usual), but all in all they had a blast and did a really great job as painters!

Some new moments in Trey and Carrington's life include Carrington officially being in a BIG GIRL car seat! Her infant car seat has now been passed on to Doug's boss to use for his new little baby boy. I would definitely say that Carrington had a GOOD RUN of almost a full 2 years (23 months to be exact) in that infant car seat. :) I also paid my super fantastic hair stylist, Tiffany, to give Carrington her first hair cut. Note that I only said "PAID", so Carrington has not actually had the haircut yet, but it will be soon. Tiffany assures me this will help Carrington grow her hair faster, but I'm still a little nervous! There isn't that much hair there to begin with!!!! I also scheduled Carrington's 2 year well check- I still can't belive that in a month Carrington will be 2 years old! Where did the time go???? Trey is still doing amazing in his class, and Ms. Primm (his teacher) told me today that Trey is the most advanced in his class for coloring and writing his name! Where did he learn all these amazing skills? It has definitely been a reminder to me that I need to be a better Mommy and work with him at home! In his art class this past week, they did "cities" with houses and buildings, and Trey's imagination was one of the few that actually drew trees around his house and windows on his city buildings. The other fun part of school this week was when I dropped Trey off at his class on Wed. (he goes to school on Monday, Wed, and Fridays), and when we walked into the classroom, 2 of the kids started jumping around saying "Yay, it's a Trey Day!". I was a little confused, and Miss Katie told me that the day before, they were asking if it was a "Trey Day" and she didn't know what they meant until she realized that it was Tuesday and Trey wasn't going to be there, so she had to tell them it wasn't a "Trey Day". I love that the other kids love him! :)I have to admit that this year has been really awesome so far- Trey, Carrington, and Allie are all doing so wonderful in their classes and I am blessed to get to spend the mornings with them taking them into school. The things they chatter about just crack me up! It's definitely one of my favorite times of the day! Trey also had bubble gum for the first time last weekend (thanks to Uncle Brian for giving him a quarter to put in the candy machine). I'm not sure if he loved it, but he didn't swallow it, and now he's been asking for Uncle Brian to come back and give him more Bubble Gum! Ok, I'm sure there are a thousand other trivial facts I could share with you, but I'll wrap it up for now! Enjoy!

Rural Hill and a FUN weekend with Uncle Brian and Aunt Kristyn!

Last weekend, we were all so excited for Uncle Brian and Aunt Kristyn to come visit! Can you believe they hadn't been down here since June?!?! We spent Saturday morning at the kid's preschool helping paint and clean, and then we headed out to Rural Hill for some corn maize fun in the sun!!! Well... we definitely attempted the corn maize, and if it had been about 20 degrees cooler, it would have been awesome, but after about 30 minutes in the heat, in the middle of corn, we were D-O-N-E! The kids were thrilled to finally be out of the maze and ran right for the big huge bouncy castles and slides! So, we spent time flying down the huge slides and watching the kids have fun. Trey couldn't wait to ride the "little tractors", but he wasn't quite strong enough to peddle through the grass and hay, so some really sweet bigger kids helped push him. He loved it! We already miss Uncle Brian and Aunt Kristyn and we can't wait for them to come back to visit real soon!!!!