Little goblins

In an effort to get into the Halloween spirit, Caroline and I made little goblin treats. As we were finishing up our first batch, our next door neighbor, Abby, came over to help us with batch #2. In case you are wondering, these little treats were as yummy as they were cute! I was just glad that we had a few treats left to share with Daddy when he got home since my assistant seemed to enjoy taste testing our homemade goodies .

On the move

Ready or not, here he comes! Will is now walking everywhere. His sister began walking at 10 months, so I just knew he would be an early walker as well. For the past several weeks, Will has been taking a few steps and walks when prodded, but it seemed as if he preferred to crawl rather than walk. I attribute it to two things: 1). His sister is at his beck and call and will bring him whatever he wants and 2) He figured out he can get places faster by crawling.

Well, today when I dropped him off at playschool, he began walking around the room rather than crawling. I, along with his teacher, Ms. Carrie, was taken by surprise. Well, when we got home this afternoon, Will decided he wouldn't take a nap and instead decided he would walk all around the house while his sister was napping. Just look at him go!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I was so proud of my little fellow today, but soon realized that trouble lay just over the horizon because since he started walking today, he suddenly thinks he is somebody. He began exploring in unchartered territory and as a result, broke 2 things...the first belonging to his sister and the second belonging to yours truly. It didn't take me long to realize just how different boys and girls are from each other. Girls (or at least my little girl) are drama queens. Boys (or at least my little boy) are little destroyers. Needless to say, I'm on a mad dash to lock all the cabinets and put up all valuables because my little Demolition Man is on the move!

Super Reader

Every Wednesday afternoon, I take the kids to the library for Tot Time. The children's coordinator, Ms. Lizzie, does a great job...she reads a few books to the kids, sings songs and has craft time. Caroline is a huge fan of the library, but especially Ms. Lizzie. Anyway, while we are there, we end up checking out a few books for us to read at home. The other day, we picked up one Caroline really liked entitled, This is the Farmer. Rather than telling you all about it, I'll just let Caroline read it to you. She's my little super reader...well, maybe she just has a great memory.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

What's a Mom to do?

It's official...I have a climber on my hands. I was folding clothes in the living room yesterday and took my eyes off of Will for about 30 seconds. During that time, he pushed the pillows from the couch up to the ottoman and climbed right on top. At first he thought it was hilarious until he realized that Mommy didn't like what he had done (as you can tell in pic #2). Well, that's not where the story ends. Nope, later in the day, he climbed on top of the school desk in our playroom which of course toppled over. Luckily, I caught it just in time. Then, Matt came down the stairs later that night and said, "The refrigerator fell on top of Will." WHAT? Matt then replied, "No big deal, he didn't get hurt, he was just a little scared." Supposedly Will decided to use the shelves in the kids' refrigerator to try and climb on top of it. I scolded my husband for not watching him a little better and you know what happened next. He did it again under my watch! I was picking up blocks off the floor while the kids were playing with the kitchenette. Next thing I know, Will is starting to climb again and I couldn't catch the fridge soon enough. Obviously, I'm going to have to either take the shelves out of the fridge or bolt the fridge to the wall. Either way, I know it's about to get very interesting at our house with my little monkey around. I can see him now....hanging from one of the limbs in one of the trees in our backyard. AHHH!

Tag...I'm it

Well, my friend Laura tagged me and requested me to list 6 quirky things about myself. Laura, I know it has taken me a while to do this....probably because I have so many quirks. Anyway, here goes...

1. I, like everyone else, do not like to be in pain. However, while some people cringe over the thought of giving labor, having a broken bone, etc., I dread the excruciating pain of having my eyebrows waxed and plucked. Silly, I know. I've given birth to two 9 pounders, broken both my tib and fib bones in my left leg and yet the thought of having my eyebrows groomed makes my stomach turn more than anything. When I get them waxed at the salon, I have to worn the wax lady that I will cry and cringe uncontrollably. Despite my desperate attempt to not make a scene, I just can't help it. Crazy..I know.

2. I cannot stand having to use public restrooms and this has been magnified significantly since my little girl is now potty trained. The thoughts that cross my mind...who cleaned the restroom, when was the last time it has been cleaned....oh how dirty this floor must be...etc.

3. I constantly make up nicknames for my kids and call them by those names all the time. For instance, there is Coupon Caroline, Will the Thrill, Tooty Fruity (to which Caroline responds: "We don't talk about tooties", Wilgy, Suzy Q, Willy Nilly, Prissy Britches...the list goes on and on. Funny thing is, they actually respond to all of the names.

4. Dirty shoes really bother me...just think about it...all shoes are dirty because they go everywhere...the public restrooms I mentioned previously, the park, the grocery store, everywhere. Then where do those shoes end up? They remain on the feet of everyone who walks in my house that then travel all over my floors where my 11 month old crawls. Oh the germs...I have to move to #5 because I am getting sit at my stomach just thinking about it.

5. I, like the friend who tagged me, wear my watch all of the time. Thankfully it's dressy enough for church, work, etc., so I truly never take it off. It's a Seiko Titanium watch a got for Christmas years ago and it is so light I hardly know it is there, but when I take it off I feel lost. So, it along with my wedding rings stay on all the time.

6. I like to having music playing all of the time....not loud music, just turned up enough to drown out the silence. You would think I would enjoy silence since it is never silent at my house except while the kids are asleep, but actually I find music very relaxing and upbeat.

Okay...now that I've listed 6 of my quirks, I tag KK, Brandi and Ashley and Caroline wants me to tag Granger and Eden!

Look at him go

Pushing his big sister around on their little car has become one of Will's favorite things to do these days. I caught it on video yesterday so I thought I would share it with everyone. Of course when you pull out a video camera with young kids, you should always be prepared as to what might get caught on camera. I thought about deleting the end of the video where Caroline provided a little entertainment, but instead decided to keep it so that everyone else might get a little laugh too.

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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!