Happy Birthday, Mamaw Kat!

October 11th was Mamaw Kat's (Matt's mom) birthday. It just so happened that she was in town visiting us, so we helped her celebrate her big day. Well, actually, we started the celebration on Wednesday night when she arrived at our house. Caroline and I had baked her a cake, and after it was ready Caroline informed me that we would need to eat it when Mamaw Kat got to our house. So, the party started early. Caroline also gladly gave Mamaw Kat her birthday present early and while handing it to her informed Mamaw Kat of what was inside.

The reason Mamaw Kat came in to town during the week was so that she could go to the Canton Flea Market with me on Thursday. The original plan was for us to drop the kids off at playschool and then head to Canton for a few hours. Well, Mamaw Kat decided she would rather spend the day with the kids, so I jumped at the chance to have a few hours to myself. This was my first trip to Canton and the flea market and boy was I in for a surprise. I was stunned at how many vendors and shoppers there were. For those who know me, you know I like to shop but this was almost too much for even me. I only stayed for about 2 hours, but I did come home with a few cute items....for the kids of course!

Anyway, on Friday, we went to Chick-fil-A (Caroline's favorite place to eat) and Belk. As my husband would say....we should be thankful that the police didn't come after us after we left Belk because Mamaw Kat practitically stole the items she bought at Belk because they were so cheap! Just stick with me and Caroline and we'll show you where the good deals are to be found. To wrap the day up, Matt and I went out on a date and enjoyed a little peace and quiet.
You know the old saying...The best made plans of mice and men often go awry...well, that describes our Saturday. The plan was for Matt and I to get up early Saturday morning and go for a nice bike ride down the Natchez Trace. Instead, we woke up to MAJOR plumbing problems. So, instead of biking we were frantically trying to solve a problem that we believe originated with our daughter's infatuation with wipes. Thankfully my Dad was in town and voluntarily came over to assist Matt in his quest to clear our pipes out. By the middle of the afternoon, it appeared our problems had been solved, so we quickly got cleaned up and headed to the State Fair where Mamaw Kat and Caroline had gone to meet Janet, Mick and Mason. Once we found them in the huge crowd of people, Caroline quickly informed us of how much fun she was having. The kids had a blast riding a few rides, petting the animals and even milking a fake cow. I was shocked to see Caroline take to it so well...we may have a farm girl on our hands.



To top things off, Mimi and Pop met us at the fair. Of course before leaving the fair, we made sure that we all got a free homemade biscuit with syrup...yum yum! Needless to say, we had a pretty busy weekend and I think we accomplished our goal of keeping Mamaw Kat entertained for her birthday.

Coupon Caroline

I'm sure all toddlers have a favorite activity of some sort...playing with their doll, their truck, swinging, etc. but I doubt very seriously that many enjoy clipping out coupons as much as my little girl. Yep, Coupon Caroline as we fondly call her absolutely LOVES clipping coupons out of the Sunday paper. It is the highlight of her week. I've always looked through the paper to find what is on sale and often clip a few coupons for myself. Perhaps that is where she first got the notion, but Coupon Caroline has now taken it to the extreme....clipping every coupon she can find. As you can imagine, it doesn't take long to accumulate a lot of coupons, so I try to eliminate a few here and there and just as soon as I do, she asks me...where did my other coupons go?

Sunday lunch with Reese

Just before we all sat down for lunch today, Caroline informed me that I did not have a place to sit. I asked her why and she stated that Reese would be sitting in my seat. Well, thankfully I managed to find an empty chair, so that Reece could enjoy a nice lunch with us.

Happy Birthday Hunter!

All week long Caroline has been looking forward to Hunter's 6th birthday party, and on Saturday the day had finally arrived. There was plenty of things for the kids to enjoy...pony rides, a super big slide, a playhouse, a trampoline and much more. Believe it or not, I even decided to try out the trampoline since it has been years since I jumped on one. I asked Mecie and Kevin if there was a weight limit before I got on to which they responded "I don't think so". I ensured them that if there was, I would let them know after I jumped.



I think Caroline's favorite part was just hanging out with her cousin Helen....well, that and the cake, ice cream and Cheetos! As for Hunter, he loaded up on new toys and a swanky cowboy outfit. Just check him out!

Dinner with Matt and Mandi

On Friday night, we had Matt, Mandi and their cute little girl, Anna Lauren, over for dinner. No, I'm not in a motherhood state of confusion ....their names are really Matt and Mandi. Matt Calvert was a good friend of mine from MC, and he somehow managed to marry such a great person who also shares my name. (Matt, I know you will be reading this, so I had to put that in here.) In all seriousness, Matt was one of the nicest guys I knew while at MC and I am so glad that he has done so well since we graduated. His family is precious and we had a great time visiting with them. Unfortunately, though, my kids weren't on their best behavior, so I hope they'll agree to get together with us again despite some of the more chaotic moments of the night! As for pictures from our little get together...well, I waited a little too late in the evening to get a good picture of all three of the kiddos together, but thankfully Anna Lauren was willing to give me a big smile.

Poor Little Fellow

Okay, in telling this story I think it will become abundantly clear that I am no longer in the running for Mother of the Year. As you can see in the picture, Will is suffering from a terrible rash on his face. Believe it or not, the picture doesn't even represent how bad it has looked over the past few days...the redness, the swelling, the flakiness....oh how terrible it has looked and probably felt as well. The rash began on Sunday afternoon, so I attributed it to me putting Will on a bale of hay to take a picture for his birthday party invitations. It appears that Will is going to follow in his mother's footsteps in having allergies, so I was pretty sure the hay was the culprit. Since we are a family who enjoys farm life, I was a little disappointed that my little cowboy would have to be medicated in order to enjoy the life of a farmer, but quickly realized that I should be thankful for the good health my children have been blessed with thus far in their lives.

Since I have had my fair share of skin irritants, I was sure that cleaning the area and letting time take its course would be the best treatment for Will's ailment. Well, as the week progressed, the little rash seemed to be getting worse instead of better. Then on Wednesday, I noticed a rash was beginning to appear on his bottom as well. OH NO....it hit me like a fast moving train! Will is allergic to the new knock-off brand of wipes I bought in an attempt to save a few measly pennies. Yes, instead of helping my son heal, I was in fact making his symptoms worse by constantly wiping his little face after he sneezed with the wipes. Thankfully, his little rear decided to oppose the wipes, otherwise who knows how long I would have subjected my son to such torment. Since I have destroyed all of the culprits, I can thankfully say that his symptoms are getting better and we may be turning the corner soon. As for the silver lining to this story...at least maybe Will isn't allergic to hay after all and can be a farmer when he grows up!

Ridin' in style

In addition to all of the wedding festivities, I also managed to ride horses with my Dad. Matt agreed to keep the kids so that I could have a little down time, so I jumped at the opportunity to go for a nice relaxing ride in the enjoyable fall weather. It never fails that when Matt has the kids, they both sleep the entire time for him. Of course that NEVER, and I repeat NEVER, happens for me. When we finished our ride, I went in the house to get Caroline so that she could ride a while and to my surprise, they were all still asleep. Unbelievable! Anyway, they finally managed to wake up just in time to ride in the wagon with my Uncle Randy, Sarah Betts and Baby Lane, who, by the way, cannot deny that she is a Deweese...just look at her! To my surprise, both Caroline and Will really enjoyed the leisurely ride and didn't squirm around too much.

Caroline's Nail Salon

Somehow, Caroline talked her Uncle Stephen into letting her do his nails. Since he works on a cattle ranch in Texas, this was quite a task for such a little girl. During his manicure, the conversation went something like this:

Caroline: Now be still, and don't move.
Stephen: Okay
Caroline: Oh no, you messed them up. Mommy won't be happy.
Stephen: Sorry.
Caroline: I'll have to do them again, now don't move.
She then proceeded to blow on them to ensure they would get dry.

In case you are wondering, she found some sort of fur ball and was pretending it was a cotton ball and polish.

They Do

This weekend we traveled to Philly to attend Rachel's, my 1st cousin's, wedding. On Friday night, we went to the rehearsal dinner where one of the groom's family members made, in my opinion, a wonderful toast. Summed up, it went something like this: "In the years to come, when you look back on your wedding day, may you say to each other that on that day we loved each other the least." That really struck a chord with me and got me to thinking about my marriage, and I thought it might resonate with others as well. Remembering back to my wedding day, I thought I could never love Matt more, but as time has passed, I have realized that I had just started loving Matt on that day. Over the years we have faced lots of different things...some happy, some sad and some challenging. Having your best friend by your side makes the happy times happier and the difficult times manageable.
Okay....enough food for thought and now back to the wedding festivities. My grandmother suprised us all by going to both to the rehearsal dinner and the wedding. On the day of the wedding, you would have thought she was the bride with all of the pampering she received. Ms. Brenda came out to do her hair, my mom did her makeup, I did her nails and my sister helped her get ready. Once she was all dolled up, she was absolutely beautiful! Of course, Caroline had to get in on the action as well and had her hair done as well. Once she was done with that, she challenged Pappaw to a water gun fight outside.



The wedding was beautiful, the food was delicious and the bride was stunning. I was glad to see some of our out of town family members at the wedding and even got to visit with Gary, Stephanie and Leslie at Mommaw and Pappaw's house afterwards.

Of course I didn't dare take my kids to the wedding, so Pop and Mimi kept them and brought them to the reception afterwards. Caroline's favorite part was throwing the roses at the bride and groom as they departed. Once they were on the ground, she started picking them all up again to throw on everyone else that came by. Since everyone was all dressed up, we took several family pictures to remember the occasion.

First day of Fall

Today marks the first day of Fall! Yeah...maybe that means cooler weather is here for a while. It was so nice outside that we spent most of the day enjoying it. Miss Priss is finally warming up to the camera and Will the Thrill keeps me on my toes. This time, he decided to see why cows like to eat grass.

Coon Country

Ever since Matt and I began dating, when people would ask me where he was from I would jokingly respond, "Coon Country". Well, it is no longer a joke! Nope, I now have proof!Meet Mr. Coon, whom we met this weekend at the park near Matt's parents' house. I can now say that my kids have played where the coons play. Not only did the kids play with the coons, but they also played with Mamaw Kat, Pappaw, Aunt Erin and Ben. And, of course along with the playing came a little spoiling too, as you can see in the pictures.

As for my husband...he decided he would have a little fun at the park as well. Obviously he didn't think that the slide has a weight limit and better yet forgot that a toddler was watching him. I should have a lot of fun telling Caroline that she cannot go down the slide like her Daddy does the next time we got to the park.