Host of Christmas Past

Every year around this time, my little town puts on a street festival in the town square called Host of Christmas Past. This was our first year, and I felt a little like a resident of Stars Hollow (which has always been a dream of mine) but a little more redneck. There was food, crafts, music, and tons of things for kids to do. Daniel had to work so I ventured out on my own with the two rugrats. Luckily we found a prime parking spot in our church parking lot which was close to the kids area. And of course we started out playing in the snow.

It was a good wait to get into the snow, but it was worth it. They threw tons of snowballs and had a blast. I, meanwhile, was burning up. The day started at 29 degrees, but by the time we got to that crowded black top parking lot around noon, I was pretty hot.

 

I don't think any kid can resist a good bounce house. Luckily there was a 5 minute time limit enforced. My little stinker didn't quite understand that, and the sweet teenager had to chase him through the bounce house to get him out. It was pretty funny.

 

It was time to head to the library for a fun (and free) Polar Express party. We got to eat some yummy Christmas cookies and drink hot chocolate. That same little stinker spilled a whole cup of hot chocolate on the floor. We got to watch a reading of the sweet book. I tear up a little every time I hear the ending of the story. I was a little tired and there were a lot of children so we skipped the craft and walked to the square to see the pretty decorations and run around a little.

 

I was surprised to see Mr. President himself, old Honest Abe. He was doing an interview right where we were standing.

 

 A local symphony was performing some amazing Christmas music. I could have listened to it all day.

 

We had walked past these croquet and checker sets a couple times, and Avery kept begging to play. I paid a silly amount of money for them to play, but they also got their faces painted. Too bad it was the end of the day and oh so close to bath time.

 

Avery chose a cute Rudolph. The girl was really talented.

 

Colt man's face was cracking me up. He looks cute with his Santa.

 

We had such a fun afternoon. I will definitely appreciate an extra set of hands next year! I'm still not sold on moving to a small town in your mid 30s, but this made me happy to live in one...even if it's not Stars Hollow...



Happy Halloween!

We had a fun and eventful Halloween this year! I met my mom the Wednesday before to give her Colt for the rest of the week. Then she was going to bring him home on Halloween and bring Tate too. My stepmom told me about a fall festival at her church in Huntsville, so we decided to take Avery. It was Halloween afternoon and the weather was barely holding it together. Avery decided to switch it up and dress as Mike Wazowski for the festival. We had a ball!

A while after we got there my mom and the boys had made it into Huntsville and joined us at the church.

 

The boys were costumeless but still had fun. They got to trunk or treat and play for a bit.

 

They had an adorable petting zoo with the cutest animals I've ever seen. This llama was my favorite. They had food you could feed them. Those had to be some full animals after all those kids fed them!!

 

We went inside for a few more bounce houses before heading home.

 

We had to park at a nearby high school and take a school bus to the church. I got a little sad when I realized Avery would be riding one next year. We headed home to rest a bit and eat some 50 cent Sonic corndogs before trick or treating.

 

Mike, the bat, and the Flash. Avery switched back to her original costume and Colt very willingly put on Mike. I have never been more shocked in my life. All week the weather forecast told us it would rain Halloween night. For once the weather was right on point. So disappointing. Luckily, our church in Fayetteville had their trunk or treat that we got to go to. We got there and were happy to see it moved inside. It was so much fun. Everyone at FBC did a spectacular job setting up and executing this event.

 

They had it to where you just walked through in a line and got tons and tons of candy. Mike was a hit!! It probably didn't hurt that the cutest boy ever was wearing the costume. We came out with candy, cotton candy, popcorn, chips, drinks....it was amazing! We did what we set out to do and we barely got wet!

 

We got home and took inventory. What a fun night!!

 

Halloween was definitely a success this year, and we were so happy to spend it with Meme and Tate!

 

I found out that Avery has no idea what Thanksgiving is, so we will be spending the next few weeks teaching and learning and reflecting on everything we have to be thankful for.



The rest of October

So I'm failing miserably at coming up with cute titles for my blog posts, but I'm just lucky to be sitting here doing it. It's going to be even harder in a few months...

One Friday I got to go up to Avery's school to paint pumpkins with her. When I got there I was happy to see that the pumpkins had already been painted with chalkboard paint and we would be decorating with chalk. Not quite as messy. It was crowded in that little cafeteria, but we had fun.

We put the pumpkin outside with our cute decorations, and I'm sad to say the rain washed away her sweet designs.

 

My baby sister, Sarah Grace, plays volleyball for Madison Academy. They were in a tournament to qualify for state. They ended up being the top seed in the tournament and made it to the final match in state. They ended up getting beat by a team full of "big ol' girls" (my stepmom's words) who had won state the past 14 years. They were from Bayside Academy and I almost asked if Kelly Kapowski or Jessie Spano were on the team, but I didn't want to be insensitive to their loss. :o) And I didn't know if SG knew who those people are, and I didn't want to feel really old. Avery and I went to a game in one of the tournaments and had fun watching them play.

 

I have absolutely no understanding of the rules of volleyball, so I just cheered when everyone else did.

 

 I wish I had SG's reaction and the reaction of her teammates on video. Priceless...

 

The arena was attached to an Embassy Suites, and as we were leaving we spotted this fun display. Avery threw a few coins in the fountain then posed with these folks. The one in the red is Dolly Parton. We had to take a picture with her; she's the one who sends us free books every month. Thanks Dolly!!

 

I found this cute idea on Pinterest where you decorate the outside of a mason jar to look like monsters or jack-o-lanterns. Then you cut open a glow stick and shake the jar. It's supposed to glow. We decided to try it out since I have about a million "pickle" jars.

 

We just couldn't wait until it was dark outside, so we decided to try a couple in the bathroom. They worked! We patiently waited for the sun to go down.

 

Daddy wanted to cut the glow sticks.

 

The kids with their creation, and one with the flash off. They turned out super cute!

 

We also carved our pumpkin that night. Avery wanted it to look like her trick or treat pumpkin. I think Daddy pretty much nailed it.

 

The day before Halloween Avery had her party at school. She got to wear her costume, which was a bat. Daniel was home, so we both got to go.

 

She had fun eating her special snack and scored some yummy goody bags. She also got to wear her costume to dance and the parents got to watch a special Halloween dance they learned. We had a fun day before Halloween.