Little Tots Halloween Party

Wednesday morning was Anna's Halloween Party at school.

Siblings are invited, so Caleb got to come, too.

Anna's class: Anna the princess, Mazie the butterfly, Maggie the princess bride, Preston (you can only see the top of his head) the power ranger, Kaitlyn (aka Dorothy), Meredith (big Caleb's little sister), Jazlyn the cherrleader, Caleb the pirate and Drew Incredible.

We started the party off with the Hookey Spookey, and then played some games. We had a spoon and eyeball race, played "Pin the Tail on the Cat" (you can see the results above), and had a pumpkin toss.

Caleb's mommy, Melissa, read everyone the story "5 Little Pumpkins". Then they had to find all the pumpkins that had rolled away and were hiding. They had fun tiptoeing around and "sneaking up" on the pumpkins.

Then they got to paint the pumpkins.

Caleb wasn't really interested in the party.

There were too many cool toys to play with at "Anna's School".

When the food came around, however, Caleb was happy to join in. Pizza, chips and "witches hat" cookies (fudge rounds turned upside down, with a hershey's kiss stuck in the middle by some orange frosting). Now that I think about it, it's no wonder he's so excited about coming to school here. Every time he's gone inside, there's pizza and treats...

Trick or Treat at CFDRC

Jerry's office held a Trick or Treat party on Tuesday night. We couldn't resist the chance to ride in the elevator and see Daddy at work, so we cut our gymnastics class a little short, got dressed in our costumes, and headed over to his office. It was really cute - everybody who had brought candy put a pumpkin sign outside the door and handed out candy to the "trick or treaters". Jerry thoroughly enjoyed introducing his two to everyone he works with.

This was Anna's favorite thing. When you reach into the bowl, the had reaches down to grab you. The first time it happened, she squealed and jumped back. Then she giggled and tried it again. We had a hard time talking her into leaving it to go trick or treat some more.

Caleb was serious about the trick or treating thing. It took about 5 people before he realized what he was supposed to do. Then he'd get in front of us, peek in each room and yell "there's some Candy!". After we finished trick or treating, we headed over to the conference room for some snacks, pictures and a costume contest. Mommy had a meeting to go to when we got home, so before bath time, Jerry took them on a "ghost hunt" in the house with all the lights off. Quite a day!

Creekside Fall Festival

Hi there! It's Caleb, and I just have to tell you what happened on Saturday. We went to the Fall Festival at Creekside Elementary. It is a fine institute of learning that I hope to attend someday. Thanks Meemaw and Peepaw, for the donation for the silent auction. Some really nice people bought it and are looking forward to seeing Skunk Ridge.

While we were there, we met Sparky the Fire Dog. Anna and I were both brave and shook his hand. He gave us stickers, and I was so fascinated I stood there for about 15 minutes saying nice things to him. Daddy had to bring me back later, too. I told him all sorts and stories, hugged him several times, and he was so impressed he gave me a goody bag, too! He didn't know I used to run screaming in the other direction anytime I saw someone like him. I've gotten so brave!

I spotted this right off. Don't you like the train's name? I sure do! If Mommy and Daddy had let me, I'd have ridden this all day long!

I was so excited when I got in my car for the first time.

By the second ride, I had my routine down.

First, you chill out until the conductor takes your ticket.

Then you hide for a little bit.

Just when Mommy's starting to think I must have climbed out, I pop out and throw my hands up in the air. Wheeeeee!

Anna even got a turn riding on the train. She picked the pink car of course. Then she ate some pink cotton candy (she shared a little with me), and we played some games. Daddy helped me score some baskets, and we got to try to knock a frog onto a lily pad with a big hammer. THAT was fun! We had hot dogs for supper, and then went home to go to bed. It was a fun day!

Block Party

My friend Amanda lives a few doors down from me in the neighborhood that used to be "our" cotton field. Her church had a block party Friday night at her house, so we decided to run by. It was a great "dry run" for the Trunk or Treat that Fairview has planned for Halloween night. Any chance to play dress up is good for Anna!

Anna got to go as a princess. Her favorite part of the party was the bouncer. Several of her friends were there, so they buddied up, ran around without Mommy "hovering" so much, and had a ball.

Caleb went as Bob the Builder. Everybody loved his outfit, but when they asked who he was, he'd say "I'm Caleb!" By the end of the night, he was saying "I'm Bob Builder Caleb!" His favorite part of the night was snitching Hunter's bicycle and riding onthe sidewalk.

This is what Anna and Caleb look like when high on sugar. For the next week or two, that'll be the status quo.

While Daddy's Away

Daddy had a business trip early in October, so we had some fun while he was gone. The day before he came back, we finished building our new monkey bars. Anna had preschool that day, and was supposed to wear the color orange. We enjoyed sporting our new Tennessee sweatshirt while everyone else wore Halloween shirts.

Caleb worked on his batting stance...

Then he helped Daddy out by "mowing" the lawn.

One afternoon, we headed to Kid's Kingdom, a playground in Madison.

It's great!

There are ropes to climb...

Caleb turned out to be quite the daredevil.

He's also quite the clown.

Anna found Cinderella's pumpkin coach,

and Caleb offered to drive.

I'm not sure she'll let Caleb drive again...

You can't see it, but Anna is sitting on the smokestack of a train.

They both had a ball playing on it, but Caleb didn't sit still long enough for a picture.

They both had a ball sliding down the "monster's" tongue.

They both ran around saying "don't eat me!" for about a half an hour.

Do you remember that Schoolhouse Rock song, "Electricity"?

Anna's hair really flies when she plays on a slide for very long.

But no matter how much fun we have, we're always really excited to see Daddy!

Soccer girl.

A condensed version of Anna's first ever soccer season in AYSO.

She played in the U6 (4-5 year olds) league.

They play three on three without a goalie,

on a field smaller than a basketball court.

Game 1: Before the season started, we'd caught two frogs at the soccer fields.

The first was at evaluations.

The second was while waiting for our game to start.

We made her mad because she didn't want to put her shin pads on.

She wanted to catch more frogs.

First thing we do at every game is warm up.

We touch the ball to our toes to stretch,

roll the ball around with our feet and play "tick-tock".

Then we play some games.

Post office, monster in the middle, red light-green light, OUCH!

(kick the ball into the coach, who yells "Ouch!" when hit).

Our favorite is body part dribble -

they dribble around the field and when I yell a body part,

they have to touch that part to the ball.

Their favorite part was "bottom".

Before each game starts, we check to make sure

everyone has shin pads and proper cleats.

Then we flip a coin and choose goals to "shoot into".

Then it's time to play.

Go Tigers!

At this age, it's "Herd Ball".

Wherever the ball is, most of the kids are clustered around it.

Of course, it does't help that we have a tendency

to kick the ball out of bounds a lot.

It gets a little boring waiting for everything to get set up again.

Especially since no one really knows where to go.

Anna usually plays pretty hard, but poops out pretty quickly.

Good thing the quarters are only 5 minutes long.

My favorite quote of the season:

"Daddy, I smiled at those boys and girls,

but they didn't share the ball with me!"

We do get our feelings hurt when the ball gets taken away-

especially by our own teammates.

It's more like 1 vs. 5 than 3 vs. 3 in a 4 year old's mentality.

See how happy we are that Brianna scored?!

We do have fun playing with the ball on the field before the games start.

And every once in a while, we get the "breakaway ball"

and take it down for a score!

"I scored two goals tonight, daddy!"

Daddy is so proud of how we played!

I didn't get a shot of today's goal, but it was the best yet.

She was really scrappin' for it.
And she did it all on her own!

Tate Farms Field Trip

When we got back from our October trip to Knoxville, it was time for the annual trek to Tate Farms. Anna has been to Tate Farms every year, so it's become a bit of a tradition. This year's trip was with both classes at Little Tots Preschool, where Anna goes three days a week. We had a ball!Anna, Barrett and Avery - the Three Musketeers.

Just after Sissy (Barrett's Mama) shot this photo, we were informed the pumpkins they were sitting on cost about $15-$20 each.

We got them up in a hurry!

Don't worry, Grammaw, there was a big pile of hay just below her!

A class picture. Anna's teacher Mrs. Lisa Carter is on the right.

One of the many things we did was pick a little cotton.

I'll bet this brings back a few memories for my Dad!

Where was Caleb during all this? He got to spend the day with Mrs. Virginia, our pastor's wife. They took him out for pizza, and he treated them with one of his "heartfelt" prayers. Brother George said it was like he was speaking in tongues, but absolutely precious.