First Haircut

Libby finally got her first haircut, which was more of a "whisper-cut" (that's Aunt Jill talk for not much of a cut at all). I got a little nervous that we were cutting all the curl out but by the time we were finished it was curlier than ever.

Nannie came down for a quick visit that day. We all loved seeing her. Cooper had her out in the front yard throwing the football (when she got tired I was instructed to "jump on in, mommy") and she fixed us a yummy dinner! Thanks Nannie!

This weekend the kiddos went to CeeGee's house. I know peanut butter pine cone ornaments were on the agenda but I never heard if that actually materialized. I do know they had a great time and Libby didn't want to get in the car with me :(

Thanksgiving will be here before we know it!

Chocolate Thief

I guess if we're going to continue "hiding" treats in David's office, we need to make sure it's secure...

Halloween Craziness!

When did Halloween start lasting weeks? When I was little I don't remember wearing a costume except on Halloween. Now the costumes are worn out by the time Halloween rolls around!

Thursday night we went to the Boo Bash and Haunted House at the tennis courts. It was lots of fun! They had a big blow up Halloween cat that Libby was obsessed with. She walked through it about 100 times.

The two little fairies...

The costume contest (Libby was robbed)...

Friday morning Cooper wore his costume to school for a parade and party.

His precious class...



FINALLY, on Saturday we trick-or-treated...

Somehow we also managed to fit our last game of baseball, a family tailgate and a football game in our week. Now the craziness REALLY begins...

Fall Festivals

We had a busy weekend of Fall Festivals. Saturday we headed down to Lane Packing Company for their festival with the Moores. It wasn't all it was advertised to be, but the kids had fun. We spent a lot of time in the corn maze and Cooper loved playing in the corn box.

The "big boys"...

The "little ones"...

The corn box...

Sunday was the fall festival and Halloween party at church. Cooper arrived in full Darth Vader garb but shed it immediately. Luckily I have pictures from last week of him. Libby kept her costume (which was a huge hit) on for most of the evening. They trick-or-treated in the hall, played carnival games and jumped in jumpys for 2 hours. Oh, and consumed WAY too much candy...

Where's Libby and Where Did She Come From?

Libby is fascinated with David's office. The fax machine, phone, computer... there's just so much to play with in there. For that reason, we have to keep it locked. But sometimes we slip up... I was missing her last Saturday. "Libby, where are you?!?" no answer. Then I found her...








Yep, sitting in Daddy's office chair with his M&M stash...


Last week we had a parent teacher conference with Cooper's kindergarten teacher. He is doing wonderful in school and she had nothing but good things to say. She did seem a little confused about one thing - they were discussing little brothers and sisters and Mrs. Williams asked if they remembered when their mommy had a baby. Cooper informed her that his mommy didn't HAVE a baby, she BOUGHT a baby! We might need to work on that verbiage...

My (Somewhat Lame) Excuse

Two months?!? Really?!? It's been TWO MONTHS since I last blogged. I've been catching a lot of flack for it too. Everyone is like, "where are you? what have you been doing?" And the answer is.... in a word.... BALL!

Cooper has been playing fall baseball. Now the beauty of fall baseball is that there is no weekend commitment. The flip side of that is that it is EVERY Tuesday and EVERY Thursday. Add that to church on Wednesdays and that makes for very busy weeks! No excuse, I know.

Anyway, the baseball season has been great. Cooper got "rookie of the year" for his team and improved so much. We are so proud of him and see many more baseball seasons in his future. I think Libby is a little "over" the ball field but she's been a trooper.

Braves Game!

We've been talking about it all summer and we finally took Cooper to his first Braves game! We had baseball tryouts on Saturday morning, got everything packed and headed to Atlanta. We stayed at the Westin Hotel in Buckhead and honestly, I think that was Cooper's favorite part. I'm thinking he's never stayed in a "nice" hotel before so he thought it was super-cool when the valet opened his car door and when we ordered room service at 11:00 at night. The game was fun too. We ate everything in sight (hotdogs, dippin' dots, cotton candy, etc.) and the Braves beat the Marlins (he had told me earlier that when he was in Tennessee with PawPaw watching baseball the Marlins "beat the butts off" the Braves but I guess we were good luck). Libby was really good through the whole thing even though she really wasn't feeling well and it was WAY past her bedtime.

Sunday morning we got up and had a nutritious breakfast at Dunkin Donuts and headed home. That afternoon we had a special treat - PawPaw stopped by for a visit on his way home from Bainbridge! The weekend was complete.

School Days

Today is Cooper's first "real" day of kindergarten!

Friday he had orientation. Thursday night comments - Mommy, tomorrow I get to go to school and see my new classroom, right? And then tomorrow night I get to go to the lock-in at church and have a big surprise, right? OOOOOHHH - I'm just so excited (while jumping up and down)!

Here are Cooper and some of his buddies in the auditorium after orientation. While the parents got the low-down from the teachers, the kids went outside. Cooper got so sweaty I could have wrung his shirt out (hence, the wet hair - gross).

And Friday night he did indeed go to a lock-in at church. He didn't spend the night but informed me that next time he wanted to. (He wanted to this time but Ben wasn't spending the night so I decided he should probably come home too.) The big surprise was rolling skating! He had a blast and now wants to know when he can go again.

I sort of had a strange "moment" Friday night. David was camping and riding horses so it was just me and Libby. I had been cleaning the house and at around 10:00 finally sat down. I was so tired I could hardly keep my eyes open but I had to wait for Cooper to get home (Melis was bringing him home). This is when I starting thinking how incredibly fast the past 6 years has gone by. He went to a lock-in!!! My baby!!! Anyway, then I started thinking how in about 10 years someone is going to be waiting up for him all the time! And I doubt he'll be coming home at 10:30. I'm thinking the "waiting up" will have to fall on Daddy. I need my sleep!

Bye Lib! See you after school!

Weekend in the Mountains

Last weekend the kiddos and I headed to North Carolina for a weekend in the mountains with David's family (David had to work, bummer). Kristin and Rusty provided the WONDERFUL accommodations and we had a fabulous time. We picked up Aunt Tracey at the airport on our way. Andy showed up shortly after we did (he was supposed to come the day before but he was "distracted"). Then PawPaw came. Saturday Nannie, Mimi, Emma and Maggie showed up.

Libby ate lots of cookies...

And Cooper played lots of pool...

Saturday afternoon we (PawPaw, Tracey, Kristin, Rusty, Emma, Maggie, me and Cooper) went rafting down the Nantahala River. It was quite an adventure. First we had to watch a video that informed us that "people have DIED trying to stand up in the river...", then we got stuck on several large rocks, and finally to top off the evening I fell off the raft into the river. Fun stuff. Rusty was laughing so hard he could barely pull me in but eventually he did. (Luckily for me, there were no cameras on the rafting trip...)

Saturday night we celebrated PawPaw's birthday. Nannie baked him a beautiful strawberry coconut cake but for candles we went with the Ingles special. It was a good thing.

Libby needed a little taste...

What was left of the cake...

What was left of Libby...

PawPaw and the girls...

My Little Golfer

Cooper went to golf camp in the middle of the month. He had a great time and somehow was able to weasel a new set of clubs out of David. He is so proud of them. David also bought him a golf glove. I don't think he took it off all week. He wanted to sleep in it. He was sort of like Michael Jackson in the '80's. I guess we'll have to keep up with this golf thing; it's quite an investment...

4th of July Beach Trip

The day after Cooper's party we packed up the car (and I mean, it was PACKED) and headed to the beach for the week. It was so much fun. We quickly settled into our daily routine... David and Cooper would get up and head out to the beach or pier or playground. Libby is pretty fond of waking up, having a bite to eat and going back down for a nap, so she and I usually just stayed home. After her nap, David and Cooper would pick us up (on the golf cart which was so great to have down there) and we would head to the beach. Libby doesn't do much "sitting" these days so one of us was chasing her around at all times. We knew several people down at the beach so Coop always had someone to play with - he even picked up some additional southern drawl from some of them, like calling David "diddy". We stayed on the beach until Lib just couldn't take it anymore then went back to the condo. She would take a nap and Cooper would swim in the pool. He met a crew from Maryville, TN that he loved to swim with. After dinner we usually took a drive around the island in the golf cart. So that scenario went on for 8 days... heavenly. No broken arms, no major meltdowns, just fun. Not really "relaxing" but I think we're a few years off from relaxing at the beach...

Cooper and his "beach family" the Neals...

A rare moment of sitting under the umbrella...

Cooper and Guy "Beach Bowling"...

We went through MANY juice boxes...

Cooper practicing his dives...

The "snacking princess" at the pool...

One of Libby's many walks down the beach...

Waiting on the fireworks to start...