Zack's Fall Festival

Since Halloween is on a Wednesday this year, the kids will be at AWANA that night and won't get to go trick or treating, so we were thankful for many opportunities to dress up!  The first one was Friday night at cousin Zack's school's fall festival.

 

Charlotte chose to be Cinderella this year...

She already had the costume, so we went to the Disney Store and got some accessories.  And Charlotte wore every. single. piece...

Check out that bling!

Hunter chose Darth Vader...

We had a great time at the festival!

Dinner, lots of games and candy, a hayride.  

 

And lastly, a dance party.  I'm gonna warn you, this is a little disturbing...

If you can get past the elementary school kids dancing to skanky music, you'll notice that Char gets her dance moves (or lack of moves) from me;)

Thanks Kate and Zack!  We had a great time, and now we're even more excited for Hunter's school's fall festival in a couple of weeks!

Howdy Y'all!

Last Tuesday it was finally time to head out to the state fair.  Hunter had asked to take the train down, and honestly, I think he was more excited about that than the actual fair day!  Here he is on the train, ready to head downtown...

Silly siblings:)...

So serious (but always fashionable!)...

 

After we got there, we headed straight to the rides.  Even though all rides were only 5 tickets because it was Tuesday, James and I quickly realized that we could spend a TON of money here in a short time period (no lines!), so we told the kids that they could each pick 3 rides.  Hunter chose first...

 

After the motorcycles, Char chose the fair's version of Dumbo...

Then H chose these little race cars.  I wish I could've gotten a better picture or good video, because they LOVED these things.  The car would turn the corner really quickly, and every time Char would throw her head back and laugh so hard...

 

Char chose these spinning hot air balloons next, but Hunter didn't want to ride, so James went with her...

Sweet daddy-daughter moment:)

 

Hunter chose the airplanes for his last ride, and they were FAST...

The last ride was the swings.  Hunter's thrilled about it as you can see...

 

After flying through $30 on rides in less than 30 minutes, we headed to get lunch...and then of course dessert...

 

Next we headed to see the animals and afterward found this little hands on the farm area that was super fun.  Hunter wanted to sit it out, but Char was the best little farmer I've ever seen!

First she watered her peach trees and picked some peaches for her bucket...

Then she got to milk a cow...

And plant some seeds...

 

And take her little tractor ride (there was a point to this, but I forget...taking the food to plant or harvest or something?  Clearly I'm not a farmer)...

Then she sorted all of her food at the farmers market...

And got paid for her work!...

AND they even let you pick a snack from their store with the "money" you get from all the hard work.  Such a cute activity!

 

To end our day, we went to have some more snacks and headed to the car show...

 

It was a fun (and tiring!) day!  Can't wait for our trip to the fair next year...with an infant!!

PTSD

Friday afternoon, I was starting to sort the laundry while Hunter played games on my cell phone (his current favorite hobby) and Charlotte danced and sang in the kitchen at the TOP of her lungs (her current favorite).  All of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Charlotte up in the air.  I'm guessing that she slipped on a small water spill (that I didn't notice...we have to use ice trays because our fridge doesn't have an ice maker and I had just filled them) and fell to the ground.  She immediately started scream-crying, but she is like her mama, a true drama queen at heart, so I didn't initially think she was that hurt.

 

I ran over and picked her up and she squeezed me with her legs and one arm and was holding her chin with the other.  I kept asking her to let me look at it, which made her more hysterical.  I finally walked her over to the counter and set her on it so I could look.  What I saw was one of the most horrifying things I've ever seen.  EVER.  (Dramatic?  Yes.  But it really was horrifying for me, y'all).  There was a gaping hole under her chin.  I quickly grabbed a wet paper towel and gently put it on her chin so I didn't have to look at it and so all of the blood would stop gushing.  I immediately panicked, yelled for Hunter to get his shoes on and grab Char's flip flops and ran out the door.

 

Once I got to the car, I was so hysterical that I realized there was no way I could make a decision without consulting someone calm, so I called my sister so she could tell me whether to go to the hospital down the street or to a children's hospital.  Somewhere in the midst of our conversation, Charlotte stopped crying, and y'all, I seriously believe it's because I was so hysterical.  Although I am emotional and the kids have definitely seen me cry - and get freaked out at bugs and reptiles - they've never seen me like that.  I'm sure she was so perplexed by my behavior that she calmed down quicker.  Which you know was totally the reason I was acting so outrageous.

 

I listened to my sister and took her to Children's at Legacy, which was such a good move.  They got to us really quickly, totally didn't judge me for my splotchy face and puffy eyes (I called my mom and James and friend Trish on the way and everytime I had to tell the story, I lost. it.), and gave my kids a total of 6 treats while we were there.  Plus they have slushie machines in the ice room.  Not lying.  Two flavors.

 

My mom got there quickly after we got put in a room and James got there soon after that.  Charlotte was AMAZING.  If I tried to take a picture, she'd have this super sad face, but when my mom asked for one, this was her...

Beautiful even with a busted open, bleeding chin.

The doctor came and said she needed "string bandaids" (or stitches/sutures in adult speak), so they put some numbing gel on...

...and that stuff worked magic.  She had to lay for about 30 minutes so it would numb her and then they came in and wrapped her up in a sheet (the only part that she was a little unsure of) and the doctor stitched her up - 4 stitches later, she was still a happy girl.  The doctor said he was amazed at how well she did.  She just stared at him the whole time he was stitching her and didn't even flinch.

When it was all done, she got a popsicle, Tinkerbell puzzle and tiny baby in a baby swing.  Hunter also got a popsicle, matchbox car and dinosaur.  I'm serious y'all...if you have an emergency, the ER at Children's - Legacy is the place for you.

She has done so well ever since, but I am having a hard time recovering...I just keep picturing her falling and looking at the wound and it literally hurts me.  I shudder everytime...James thinks I have a mild case of PTSD:)  Let's hope I recover soon.  I should definitely take a cue from this girl...

She's one brave little princess!  Our friends, the DuShanes brought her a get well balloon and card and that Disney doll, who is named Charlotte!  She is from The Princess and The Frog.

Oh how I love my Charlotte!  I wouldn't change a thing about her:)

Fall FUN!

I was so excited last weekend that my favorite season was finally  here!  The kids couldn't wait to start checking the fun off the list...

Tonight we picked our first activity of the season, making fall treats for friends.  We made Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispies...

and Fudge Brownie Cupcakes with Pumpkin Cream Cheese Icing...

We packaged them up and delivered to some neighborhood friends...

We are all looking forward to the crisp, fall air!  Happy fall y'all!

Charlotte's First Day of Preschool

Well, I made it through the emotion of sending my firstborn to big kid school last week, and then sent my baby girl to her first day of preschool this week.  She did amazing, and I didn't even have one lump in my throat.  That girl makes it easy on her mama.  At least, sometimes she makes it easy on her mama;)

 

Although I wouldn't call Char a model-type, she is definitely more tolerant of picture taking than her brother.  She showed me a little sass before we left the house...

She chose a Dora backpack and lunchbox (which was a little surprising with her princess obsession...she has stopped to admire many a princess backpack since purchasing her Dora one).  The girl loves Dora, so much that her brother frequently tells us how much he "hates that show" because it's all she ever wants to watch!

Such a big girl!

I'm surprised the backpack didn't knock her over...

 

She kept telling me, "I'm a little bit nervous" but she wasn't really acting nervous at all.  I think she thought that's what she was supposed to say since Hunter said it several times for his first day of school.  When we walked in she was a little shell shocked and walked SUPER slowly down the hall, but once we got to our classroom, she threw her bag in her basket, stopped for (another!) picture...

and walked right in the room without me!  I didn't even have time to finish initialing the sheet by the door.

Of course she headed straight to the babies and was in heaven...

I barely got a goodbye out of her because she was too busy taking it all in!  She's going to love it!

She has the same teachers that Hunter had when he was in the Chocolate Chips class (young 3's)...

When I picked her up after the first day, she was so happy and told me ALL about the things she learned and sang all the songs they sang at school.  Mrs. Miller and Mrs. Mayfield told me that whenever they'd try to get her to go potty, she'd step in the bathroom and disgustedly say, "It's dirty!"  She finally went at the end of the day when she couldn't hold it anymore.  I think I need to back off on my speeches about the germs in public restrooms!  That and stop being so prissy in front of my daughter.

Excited to watch her learn this year!