Spooky spider webs....Thanks to Grandma!

We received a Halloween package in the mail a couple of days ago from Grandma and Grandpa as we get every year. This year, Grandma decided to send us spider web decorations with skeletons, bats and spiders to put in the web. Joshua couldn't wait to decorate the porch in the webs. So, we thought about doing it last night, but it got too dark and cold. Joshua was disappointed, but took it well, and was able to hold out until today. We all had fun hanging four different webs and even Taylor got in on putting spiders in the webs. I must say that it looks pretty good on our porch. I had to take some pictures to show Grandma the finished product. I have to remember to send it to her! She also sent us all candy and sent the kids bright card stock and paper to make crafts with as well as Halloween paper plates and napkins. We'll have to give Grandma and Grandpa a call and thank them for the goodies!!

Locked in!!

I had just finished my workout in the exercise room as Taylor came into the room and began playing around with the elliptical machine. Somewhere in the process of her walking in and me finishing up, she had shut the door to the room. Years ago, when Joshua was in the room, we had changed the lock to be on the outside of the door for timeout purposes as well as a way of him not being able to lock himself in his room. Well, she had decided the flip the lock around before shutting the door... To my dismay and panic, I was unable to open the door as I prepared to go out into the living room and get the kids upstairs for their bedtime routine. My first thought was "Stay calm"...hoping that if I pounded on the door loud enough and yelled that Doug would hear me. I pounded on the door several times and yelled at the top of my lungs as Taylor sat on the floor looking very sheepish, knowing that she had done something wrong. Thankfully, Doug heard us from upstairs and came to rescue us before I went to plan B which was to try to force something between the lock to pry the door open. I would have found a way to bust that door down before I was going to be stuck in there for an hour or more in panic mode! Hopefully, Taylor won't pull that one off anymore!!

Fall Reading Challenge

Joshua received a certificate for participating in the Fall Reading Challenge at school. He read 450 pages in a month, which we are very proud of him for! He is really enjoying reading and picks up books on his own in the car and will read to himself now. So awesome to see his reading skills blossoming. He also got a certificate for a free milkshake that I'm sure he will very much enjoy! Go, Joshua! Keep up the great reading:)

All About Me Project

Joshua's first project for 1st grade was the "All About Me Project." He was to put together a poster of pictures, souvenirs, etc telling about his life. We ended up printing up a bunch of pictures after interviewing Joshua on his current favorite things to do/eat, as well as family pictures to add to the mix. He told us that his favorite food is cake, and his favorite healthy food is strawberries. His favorite place to visit is his cousins in Charlotte and his favorite vacation is Disney with his favorite ride being "Everest" roller coaster. His favorite activities are playing with Legos, building car tracks and drawing. Favorite things to do are jump on the trampoline, play basketball, and ride his scooter. He also loves to splash in the ocean and play in the sand. We put a cross in the center of the poster as the center of his life and he wrote each of the our family names around the sides of the poster (his idea). Taylor and I came to school to see him present his poster and he mumbled a bit as he seemed a bit embarrassed up in front of the class, but he was all smiles and it was fun to see him up there. Taylor was wanting to be part of the show by calling out for her brother throughout the presentations and wanting to play with her new Mickey Mouse key chain with buttons that make car noises. That didn't go over so well in a quiet classroom! So Taylor and I spent some time outside the room looking at all of the kids posters who had already given their presentations. Great Job, Joshua!! Way to go.

Daddy's birthday weekend

Daddy's birthday weekend was a lot of fun. We started out the weekend by going to Burt's Pumpkin Patch. Doug took the day off from work and Joshua had the day off at school so we headed to the North GA mountains. We ended up picking out a medium sized $10 pumpkin and Taylor picked out a smaller pumpkin that is good for making pumpkin pie with. They also each got a mini pumpkin (which ended up being Taylor's favorite). After buying pumpkins, we headed over to the hayride area. The hayride is always a big hit, and it was fun to see the pumpkins in the fields, and just enjoy the beautiful Fall leaves and fresh air. After Burt's, we headed to Amicaloa Falls and hiked from the top of the falls to about half way down...the point were you can stand on a bridge with a close up view of the falls. Taylor walked part of of the time and got a ride from Daddy the other half of the time. Joshua is quite the hiker now and keeps up a good pace. We then drove down to the bottom of the park and the kids played on the playground for close to an hour. We ended out the day at the outlet mall...per Mommy's request and Daddy's dismay:)

On Saturday, Daddy and Joshua sold popcorn for the cub scouts fundraiser. On Sunday, we went to church, ate lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, Sweet Tomatoes, and then we hiked at Sweet Water Creek in the afternoon. Joshua did not remember hiking there before, which is amazing, because we have been there so many times before. The water level was low, and so all of us had fun climbing across the rocks and making it out about halfway across the river! Great day to spend outside as the weather was gorgeous. We then picked up a pizza, ate dinner, sang Happy Birthday to Daddy, ate chocolate cake and then Daddy got to open gifts. Before bedtime, the kids went with Daddy outside and jumped on the trampoline in the dark, which has become the new hit which Taylor started the day before!!

Happy Birthday, Doug!!

Joshua's growing up!

Joshua took a shower last night! He and Daddy took a quick shower the other day, and afterwards, I told him that he really is old enough to shower instead of bathe if he wants. I guess that he thought it over because Doug came and told me that Taylor was in the tub and Joshua was in the shower. It's kind of new territory to realize that I don't have little little ones anymore...they are growing up before our eyes!

Parent Teacher Conference with Mrs. Dubsky

I had a conference with Mrs Dubsky today to talk about Joshua's performance in school. Joshua, you are doing great!! I was so proud of you looking at her report. I was proud of you anyway, but you are doing so well in school and the report reiterated that. You are getting all A's!!! Way to go! You have an E in bible verse memory, and the only recommendations she had for you were to work on listening to oral instruction in class. Sometimes, you can get distracted in class....we are surprised with that...you are similar at home! And the other thing was to work on neatness of your work. This one surprised me because you have such beautiful handwriting and have always gotten good reviews on your handwriting from previous teachers. I told Mrs. Dubsky that I was wondered if you were trying to work faster to get your work done and were not being as neat as a result. Last year and the year before, you tended to work slowly and the teachers were always trying to get you to work faster. This may be a result of trying to work faster. She also said that she really enjoys your good attitude in class. You tend to be pretty mellow about most things and are in a good mood almost always. That is a great attribute, Joshua! Mrs. Dubsky got a kick out of Taylor as well and I think that Taylor is pushing her future mommy strings! Joshua, you are awesome and we are so so proud of you:)

Future Salesman??

Joshua and Doug went to the Kroger store off Atlanta Road today to sell Boy Scout Popcorn for the tiger cubs fundraiser. Doug said that he sat back and watched Joshua make the sales. After about 10 minutes, Joshua was in his groove and was approaching everyone about buying popcorn. He would continue to follow people as they were entering the store and tell them that they could buy a bag of microwave popcorn for just $1, or a popped bag for $10 or a whole box (as he stretched his arms out huge) of popcorn for $18. He even showed them how small $1 was with his two fingers to buy a single bag of popcorn. He did great! He sold $145.07 in popcorn in two hours and Doug said that several people couldn't say no because he was just too cute! It sounds like Joshua was definitely in his element, and I would have loved to have watched him in action, but I didn't want to distract him from his "job". Great Job, Joshua! It sounds like you have a natural talent for selling! Way to go:) With orders from family and us, he will make around $250 which earns him a flashlight, pocket knife, carboner bottle and $10 WalMart gift card!

Field trip to Atlanta History Center

I chaperoned the field trip to the Atlanta History Center today. We drove Mrs Dubsky to and from the event. Joshua seemed to enjoy it and they went through a farm once owned by a family right at the end of the slave owning era. They toured the house, learned about cotton picking and growing, bathing back then and herbs to make them smell better, and the blacksmith shop. Taylor got a little bored at times and started being noisy and ornery so she and I stood outside several times to not disturb the group. We learned what a few phrases meant...Marbles are called marbles because they used to actually be made from marble. The term Spinster came from the eldest daughter still at home who was put in charge of spinning wool on the spinning wheel. The term "Sleep tight" came from the beds that had rope strung through the underneath of the bed to hold the mattress up. When the rope became slack, they had to tighten the ropes to make the bed firm again...hence "Sleep tight". Now we know!

Sparkles Roller Skating!

We had our first ever CCS Sparkles Roller Skating Event. This was an event that I was responsible for and so I thought it would be fun to throw in an 80's theme and have a contest for the best 80's outfits and we also judged the best skating moves. The night was a lot of fun and Taylor and Joshua both tried out skating...with some challenges. Daddy took them both out onto the rink, but it was really hard to keep them up on two feet, so Joshua wanted to go play in the indoor play area most of the time, and Taylor eventually followed suit. She tried really hard to get those skates to work and had the most success on the carpet. She really didn't want to leave at the end of the night and cried pretty hard as well took the skates off of her feet. Daddy won the best male 80's outfit with a true vintage 80's shirt he had kept from high school! We will definitely have to go back and skate again on Monday Dollar Skate Night!! Doug has fun as well skating around the rink and said that he skated just as well as he did back in the day...which I guess wasn't more than one foot in front of another! I didn't even attempt to get out there on skates with my foot and ankle problems due to a previous car accident. But it was fun watching everyone else skate around.

Taylor's "camping" experience with the cub scouts

We arrived about 2:30 pm on Saturday to join the boys camping in Covington at the Trailblazer camping event. Taylor had fun hanging with the boys, running around, sitting with Mommy and playing in the tent. She enjoyed using the ladies room many times (I think mostly for the fun of it) and loved using her glow sticks in the dark. We had spaghetti for dinner and then roasted marshmallows when it got dark. We didn't actually get to do any of the activities because by the time Taylor and I got there, Joshua was wearing down and just wanting to run around at the campsite and play with the boys. He had already done bb shooting, archery, and slingshots that day along with a bird show. I was wondering if Taylor was going to get comfortable enough with the campsite/tent to want to stay the night...and she gave it a good effort, but backed out around 10:30. She and I laid in the tent for an hour and she was having fun shining her glow sticks at the boys running around outside the tent, and then she realized that she was not going to be able to sleep in the tent and she asked to go home. I was well caffeinated, and so she and I drove the hour home and Taylor zonked in the car five minutes after I pulled out of the campground. I carried her to her bed and she happily slept until morning. It was a good experience for her, and I have a feeling that in a year, she will be more than happy to sleep in a tent! Daddy and Joshua are already looking forward to the next camping experience which will be in the Winter and quite chilly. Hopefully, they will stay warm around the fire!!

Camping with Pack 11

Tonight, Joshua and Daddy are camping at Bert Adams Boy Scout Camp in Covington, GA. I just spoke with Daddy on the phone about a half an hour ago and it sounds like you guys are settled in at the campground. The tent was set up with all of the things inside. You are running around with your classmate Jack. It was sweet to talk with you, Joshua, and know that you are having fun with Daddy and your friends. Taylor missed you two tonight as I put her to bed. She wanted Daddy to read her a book. We will be heading to Covington tomorrow after stopping by Maddy's birthday party in the morning. Daddy and I are so excited that you have found an activity that you really enjoy in the Tiger Cubs and Daddy has found something that he enjoys in being your Den Leader and getting to spend time in the outdoors doing "boy" stuff together! Love my boys! And my sweet girl, who cannot wait to sleep in her new sleeping bag and tent!

Muffins with Moms

I got to spend the morning with my sweet boy during Muffins for Moms. He was so cuddly this morning with me and I think that I got at least 20 kisses during the event. He really enjoyed having me all to himself without having to share:) Daddy and Taylor hung out at home while I set up for the event and sat with Joshua during the program. Quite a few of the kids got to get up and share the answers to questions that were sent home for the kids and dads to fill out. I got the form today that Joshua filled out and here were the questions and answers:

1. How has your mom helped you in learning how to "Let Your Light Shine"? because she tells me the right thing to do

2. What is your favorite time with your mom? when my mom plays with me

3. What is the best advice your mom has ever given you? when she tells me to treat others as I would like to be treated.

4. If you could give your mom anything, what would it be? make some jewelry out of paper and give it to her.

5. If your mom could give you anything, what would you want it to be? a remote control helicopter or plane.


Joshua, I love your answers and I will do my best to play with you as much as I can and worry about those items on my "to do" list for later in the evening. I love you so much and you mean the world to me! I am so very proud of the young man you are and know that you are going to do great things! Let your light shine always!!