Halloween Pics...

Here is cowboy Anson riding his horse! I made Ella a fall dress instead of a costume.

She was more interested by the cars driving by than having her picture taken!

Like any good cowboy, he loves his horse!

I think he was trying to look like the horse here!

Happy Halloween! We just got back from trick-or-treating and Anson had so much fun! He kept saying, "Can we get MORE candy if we knock on THIS door?" as if he was astonished to know that all you had to do was knock on doors to get candy... and to think that all this time we've just walked through the neighborhood and never knocked on doors! :o) At one house, they answered the door in a spooky costume and he high-tailed it back down the sidewalk to me! After that, he was quick to come up with a plan... he told his little girlfriend Sagan , "You go knock on the door and I'll wait right here, OK?" Is he his father's son or what??? Always has a plan. :o) But he was very polite and said "Happy Halloween" when they answered the door and "Thank you" when they gave him candy. I just had to remind him to only take one piece and not a fist-full! We stayed out a little over an hour and Ella already had her little head down on my sholder. We were home and kids in bed by 8:00 so it was perfect. Poor Dusty missed out on the fun but had he been home he would not have felt up to it anyway. He is the last family member with the lingering flu. Poor guy. Hope you all had a great day!

(As you can see, Anson fell in love with the cowboy costume. He kept neighing like a horse and saying "ya hoo!" like a cowboy. He really got into the role! I was just glad to find a costume at the last minute!)

Happy Fall!

Silly "Mr. Pumpkin"

Anson playing soccer in the park

Ella hanging out in the swing

Ella inspecting our big pumpkin

Anson was quite proud of the big pumpkin

We are really enjoying Fall this year! Now that we are feeling better we are able to go out and enjoy the weather. The foliage is beautiful everywhere we go. It is so neat to hear Anson say "Mommy, look at those beautiful leaves!" I'm glad he likes it as much as we do. We went to the park this afternoon and Anson played soccer with a little boy and his dad. He was pretty good at running and kicking the ball at the same time (I don't know the correct soccer terms... who knows, maybe I'll be a "soccer mom" someday and have to learn them all! :o)

We also carved a big pumpkin this afternoon, who we lovingly call "Mr. Pumpkin"! We gave him a silly face and not a scary face per Anson's request. We try not to make a big deal of Halloween, but we are planning to go trick-or-treating with his little friend Sagan. They live on the street behind us so we will just walk down their road and home again. I made Ella a little fall dress to wear instead of a costume. I don't have a costume for Anson yet so I hope I can find one tomorrow! (Nothing like waiting until the last minute!) I was going to try to make him one but my creative juices were not flowing! I'll post the Halloween pics tomorrow...

A new verse...

Well, Anson has learned a new verse and we are very proud of him! It only took him 5 minutes to learn this one. Hopefully we can add one new one every week. So here he is reciting Genesis 1:1...

While Ella is not quoting Scripture yet, she is walking quite well now! I would say that walking is now her preferred way of getting from one point to another! Ella is still very stuffy but Anson is almost over his cold. Dusty and I are still in and out of feeling well but hopefully will be better soon! We are having some chilly fall weather here with highs in the low 50's so we have been inside most of the day (trying to get these colds to go away). But the leaves are really turning now and it is very pretty! I'll go out and take some pictures soon and post them.

Have a great week!

More Sniffles...

Well, now we all have it! The night before last night was Ella's and my turn and today Dusty is home feeling achy. Anson is finally on the mend so at least it is not a long sickness. One thing that really helped us all was the mentholatum rub for babies... (Like Vicks Vapor rub- I have the target brand for babies called "chest rub - baby") I did what my Mom said to do and rubbed it on their feet, chest, and under their nose before bed. The baby version has aloe, lavendar, eucalyptus and rosemary in it and it worked miracles! They both slept all night last night! So if anyone has a cold, go get some! It is rainy and cold here today so we don't plan on leaving the house. I was supposed to get a massage today while Dusty kept the kiddos but I don't even feel up to it! Oh, well... next week. Dusty is still using my cell phone with his sim card (he had a slight mishap with his Blackberry :o) , so call the home phone if you need me. Have a great weekend!

Little Dipper and the Sniffles...

My little sick guy showing Ella how to use the dipper... I think he actually enjoys being sick because we're letting him have popsicles!

Ella feeding herself. Yes, she's wearing one of Anson's old sleepers. I guess I need to buy a pink one but she doesn't care at all! :o)

Ella learned how to feed herself today! Big brother showed her how to use a "little dipper" from Gerber, and away she went eating her applesauce! She was really quite good at it!

Anson woke up at 11:30 PM last night very congested with a cough and a stuffy nose. I guess it's our turn for a cold because it's been almost a year! After some medicine and a little TLC, he went back to bed and slept until 6:45. He seemed to be feeling better (and behaving better!) this morning but is laying low today because he has a low-grade temp and still very stuffy. We were supposed to go to our friend's house for dinner tonight but had to cancel.

We hope you're having a great week and staying well!

Go Gators!

I just had to post this picture for Uncle Jared and Auntie Brittany, both Gator Alumni! Ella really is a big Gator fan and loves watching the games. OK, so she doesn't really watch the games but I'm sure she will soon! She and Charlotte won't have a choice!

Exciting news... (for us anyway ;o)

Dusty and I just booked a 5 day, 4 night vacation in St. Augustine, FL without the kiddos! Toto and Pop and Gramma and Papa have very nicely agreed to keep them for us! So we are staying one night at a hotel we have not been to before (The Casa Monica) and the other three nights at The Casablanca Inn (Bed and Breakfast) where Dusty and I spent our Honeymoon! 11 years later and we're still on our honeymoon :o). We are so excited! We are going Nov. 9 - 13.

I guess that is all for now... I know there are some funny stories from this week but I just can't think of them right now...

I just lost my attitude...

This is a quote from our dearly loved 3 year old... after a dinner time incident. We are going through a stage where Anson doesn't want to eat when or what we want him to, so dinner time conversations sound like "OK, Anson, eat your food... take a bite now...please stop playing and eat... no more milk until you take a bite..." etc. So tonight when we asked why he wasn't eating he told us "I just lost my attitude!" when he meant to say he lost his appetite... how cute is that?

Anson found an old knee high stocking in the closet and had the best time cramming toys into it and carrying it around the house for a few days. Today he realized that he could cram his head into it also! Always on his toes thinking of new possibilities!

And little miss Ella is getting around pretty well now! Here is a quick video of her strutting her stuff!

Have a great weekend!

Odds and Ends

The Georgia Aquarium

Fall is coming to Atlanta!!

Who are those kids in the tank?

The great whale shark

Anson, in front of a jelly fish exhibit

Ella, getting a closer look

Firstly, Congratulations to Calvin and Keidi who are expecting a new little bundle of joy! I know Adessa is excited and will be such a great big sister!

On Saturday we went to the aquarium downtown. We had not been since Anson was a year old and he LOVED it! He got to touch a stingray, an anemone, and a starfish. Everything we saw was his favorite but he really liked the huge tank with the whale sharks.

Tag, you're it!

I was tagged by Brittany to post this and I thought it was cute! After reading Brittany's 6 quirks, I understand why she and Jared are perfect for each other! :0) Now you'll understand more about my quirkiness! ( I wish I could write about Dusty's becasue he is FAR more quirky than me !!! :o)

Rules:
Link to the person who tagged you.
Post the rules on your blog.
List 6 unspectacular quirks you have.
Tag 6 bloggers by linking them.
Leave a comment on each taggee's blog to let them know they've been tagged.

1: In college, I went through a phase where I would only wear green pajamas. Remember, Ranae? We called ourselves the green lounge lizards!

2: When I put freshly folded towels away, I alternate colors so that no two like colors are touching.

3: I have a dry erase board by my bedroom door that I put my to-do's on. It has my weekly to-do's as well as daily things. The things on my list to do every day are:
Laundry (at least one full load)
Dishes
Make sweet tea for Dusty
Enter receipts into MS Money and Quickbooks(which, thanks to Jared, I now realize that I am doing everything twice)

The things on my weekly list are broken down by days...
Monday: Back up computer files
Tuesday: Clean bathrooms
Wednesday: Garbage day/shopping
Thursday: Mop Floors
Friday: Wash all bedding

In a perfect world I would always do everything on my lists... need I say more?

4. I have to have my silverware stacked neatly together in groups and never just thrown in the drawer. And the kids utensils are separated into baskets for metal and plastic. If a silver spoon gets put in with the plastic ones it must be promptly removed!

5: When I close the blinds, they are supposed to close so that you can not see the ground outside (pointing down) because heaven forbid someone should walk up to my window and try to look up into it! Dusty closes them the opposite way because he says it keeps more light out. So we compromise and the ones in our bedroom are closed the way he likes! (I get the rest of the house!)

6: I hate turning off music mid-song! If we're in the car and we have to get out, I at least wait until a good break.

So there you have it! I'm not that weird, am I?
I am tagging Ranae and Keidi! ( Ibroke the rules and only did two!)

Back By Popular Demand...

Here is a quick video of Anson "reading" the Samuel story from his Bible.
His grandparents are so proud of him for memorizing this! (OK, I'm proud too! :o) Toto asked if I would post a new video of him reading it so here he is... (with hiccups, too!)
This is the actual page from his Bible (My First Bible in Pictures by Kenneth N. Taylor)

Today Ella heard Dusty's voice on the cell phone and held her hand out for the phone... she put it right up to her ear and said "Ha!" She really tried to say 'Hi!" And tonight she was "helping" me in the laundry room and climbed into the clothes basket and right up onto the dryer door that was open! It was so cute so I had Anson run and get my camera before she moved! What a monkey!