Trick or Treat!!

This past weekend was the Fall Festival at Maysville. This year we had food and games inside, then went outside for "Trunk or Treat." I think all the kids had a great time! They left with huge bags of goodies, so how could they not have had a great time! :)

Seth and Daddy J made a couple new games this year. You may remember that last year they made the Frog Launcher. This was a HUGE hit with the kids because they got to be violent. You hit the bullseye with the hammer and try to launch the frog onto one of the lily pads.

This year they made "The Cat in the Hat Game" and "Jack O' Linko." For The Cat in the Hat you have to throw the ball into the top of the hat and it will come back out of the front of the box. It is actually much harder than it looks!

"Jack O' Linko" is the Halloween version of Plinko. Both new games were bigs hits this year too!

Seth was soooo excited that he got to dress up as a Ninja this year! I got to dress up as a Ninja, too, but Seth got waaay more into the character than I did. :)

I was more pumped about the cute cupcakes that I got to make!

Eli went as a Pirate this year. I told him to say "Cheeese!" but instead he said "Arrrgghh!".....thus the scrunched up face.


Myles went as a caveman and was the cutest thing ever!! He even had a club!

Do you like it, really??

Over the past few years, I have been asked many times if I “like” baseball just because of Seth. I guess some may find it hard to believe that before Seth ever came into the picture I went to my brother’s little league and high school games…to Braves and Cardinals games…to Freed and Auburn games…and I greatly enjoyed it ALL!! I may not have the same passion for baseball that my husband does, but I still enjoy a sunny spring afternoon at any ballpark. I consider myself very blessed that my husband’s favorite pastime is something that I can easily enjoy with him!

If you were to ask me who one of my favorite ballplayers is, I would say Josh Hamilton. The past few days I have been reading his book “Beyond Belief.” I liked him before reading the whole story of his decline, but now I am even more impressed with him. It is absolutely amazing that this young man survived the things that he put himself through. I find it even more impressive that he only blames himself and is not ashamed to give all the glory to God for his success. Even though we may not have exactly the same beliefs and even though he has made other mistakes …I am still impressed with his attitude and determination.

If you were to ask me who my favorite team is…I would have to say…yeahhh, don’t have one…not that big of a fan! :) Ha! But who am I pulling for in the playoffs this year?? The Texas Rangers! Seth and I watched them beat the Rays a couple nights ago. When they went to the locker room to celebrate, I mentioned to Seth that it looked like they were using soda instead of champagne. Was that really what I saw?? Then the next day I read this article, solidifying my support of the Rangers this year!


“In the minutes after the Texas Rangers clinched their first division title in 11 years, the team’s best player hid in the trainer’s room. Josh Hamilton is the leading candidate for the American League MVP award. He’s also made a remarkable recovery since his nascent career was derailed by crippling addiction to drugs and alcohol. So when his teammates popped champagne after clinching in late September, Hamilton absented himself. While the team whooped it up, Hamilton left early to address church groups. Mindful of his absence, the Rangers re-jigged their celebrations after Tuesday night’s Game 5 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. This time, as Hamilton jogged into the tunnel toward the visitor’s clubhouse at Tropicana Field, team staffers stopped him and gave him a pair of goggles. As Hamilton walked warily into the locker room, teammates screamed “Ginger ale!” and doused him with bottles of Canada Dry. “It was the coolest thing for my teammates to understand why I can't be a part of the celebration, and for them to adapt it for me to be a part of it says a lot about my teammates,” Hamilton said afterward." ... "Asked to describe his bumpy journey to stardom, Hamilton once told ESPN, “I’m proof that hope is never lost.” "

Now, that’s pretty classy of his teammates if you ask me!!

Finally, it's Fall!!

The changing of the seasons is such a spectacular thing to me. I am so thankful that God blessed us with four seasons to experience every year. I am one who thorougly enjoys each season. I am not a cold weather person, but I do enjoy the winter because of all the holiday fun it brings....and maybe even a little snow. :) Once the holidays are over, I am usually tired of the cold...and that's okay, because spring is right around the corner! I love the summer, because it means enjoying the sunshine, going to the river, getting a tan. But by about the end of August, the heat has worn out it's welcome and I am ready for a little cooler weather. Which is where we find ourselves now, Fall. Ahhh. :)

Here are a few of my favorite things about the Fall:

(1) Decorations. My mom always had the most beautiful decorations for every season....and still does. Now, I can put up decorations at our home...and even though we are many miles from my family, it reminds me of that home I grew up in.

(2) Sweet Goodies. There are those few little sweets that for some reason are only made during the fall season. Those are always something to look forward to!

(3) College Football. Even though Tennessee is not having the greatest year, I still enjoy spending Saturdays with family watching the game and eating tailgate food.

(4) Fall Scents. My current favorite from Bath and Body Works is Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin.

(5) Halloween. I always enjoyed Halloween growing up, but it wasn't my favorite holiday. Seth, however, LOOOVES Halloween!! He turns into an even bigger kid than he normally is. I love seeing him get so excited about it. It can be pretty entertaining! :)

(6) And finally, I like the fall because I know Christmas is right around the corner!!! My favorite holiday!!

The Beach

Seth and I went to Gulf Shores with my parents and my aunt and her family a couple weekends ago. It was sooo nice to be able to just relax and be lazy! About a year ago, I booked us a 3 bedroom condo at Phoenix West in Orange Beach. Thanks to booking so far in advance, I got like 30% off the normal rates, so we got a pretty good deal! This was our first time to do the condo thing...usually we go the hotel route...so we weren't totally sure how we would like it. It didn't take us two seconds when we walked into the condo to realize that we had hit the jackpot! It was amazing!! The decor was beautiful, it was extremely spacious, and it had a gorgeous view of the ocean! After this condo, I don't think we'll ever be able to go back to the hotel route.

Phoenix West from the Beach
Kitchen

Our Bedroom

The Living Room

We had a very nice weekend to be at the beach. There was some rain a couple of afternoons, but we still had plenty of good weather to enjoy the sunshine! For the most part, the beaches were very clean where we were at. Seth did find a few tarballs in the water. But the sand was white, the water wasn't oily, and there was no smell. We did see the crews out at night cleaning the beaches, but it was nothing that interrupted our fun. Here are a few more pictures from the weekend.

At Lambert's enjoying our rolls!

Luke devoured his!

Arrgghh!

The Nephews

A few weeks ago Eli told me that his "hair fell down." That translated to "he got a haircut." And not just a haircut, he got a buzz!! It actually looked good, but no more baby boy Eli. He looks like such a big boy now!! I love this picture of Eli and Gillian...such pretty smiles!!




Myles has been growing so much lately! Seth was trying to get a good picture of him the other day. How many times do you think it takes to get a 9 month old to look and smile??

Best Yet

I made a cake a couple weeks ago for Caleb's Off to College Party. I think it's my best yet! I guess I did learn a couple new things in the Hobby Lobby cake classes!

Fun in the Sun

We went to Henderson a few weeks ago to visit for the weekend. Since we missed my dad's birthday, I made him a tractor cake to make up for it! (a Ford tractor of course!) It was devoured within minutes, so I guess it tasted okay! This was the best picture I could get of dad with his cake. He is getting to be worse than Eli when it comes to cooperating for pictures...too busy cutting up! :)

So, what do we do for fun while we're visiting the folks? Well, when it's summer....what else would we do but go to the river?! It turned out to be a perfect, non-crowded day to go out on the water. Seth enjoyed getting tossed around some.

Mom and Dad even did a little skiing!