Halloween Party

I think the Halloween party was a great success. Kids running every where, candy wrappers all over the floor, hyped up children from a major sugar high, and girls upset if they were separated from their best friend.

Katie was sitting in a tot's fold up lawn chair, this is why she looks shorter than everyone else.

All parents (that could come) got to school at 9:30 for the BIG party. As soon as we arrived, Mrs. Katie had the children participate in making Pumpkin Pancakes. Every child from both Pre-K4 classes got to either pour in an ingredient or mix together. Everyone, including parents, got to have pancakes. I've never had these and I must say that they are pretty good. Katie must have liked them because she ate her's up before anyone else started eating theirs. I'll share the recipe with you a little later.

Katie pouring in the ingredients for the Pumpkin Pancakes

When it was time to Trick or Treat, all the 4 year olds sat in line on the floor. Mrs. Katie gave them loads of candy to pass out to the trick or treaters. After all the beggars left, it was our turn to go Trick or Treating around the classrooms.

First, we went out on like a little adventure walk and had a class picture taken of both Pre-K4 classes. So cute! Second, we hit the 1st Grade class and the children loved to get candy from them. Then, we headed to the Kindergarten class. This is where Katie forgot she was Trick or Treating because she was too interested in Mrs. Heather's critters (turtles & fish). I tried to get her attention, but I couldn't get to her. Finally, Mrs. Katie brought her back to reality and moved her right along.

Trick or Treat Time

Mrs. Katie & Mrs. Sara's Class lined up to pass out candy

Mrs. Katie & Mrs. Sara's Class Group Picture

Ty, Katie & Olivia

Katie forgets she is Trick or Treating 'cause she is mesmerized with the fish & turtle.

Katie Trick or Treating

Back at our classroom, the children got to eat their snacks and snuck some more candy as well. Poor Mrs. Katie made me tired just watching her, bouncing around like Tigger from the classic "Winnie The Pooh." Most all the children and parents began clearing out by 11:00. We stayed until 11:20, so Katie and Claire could play a little longer.

Everyone's eating their snack - cupcakes, popcorn, cookies, apple slices, punch & Pumpkin pancakes.

The only bad thing is Katie woke up with an attitude problem and it seemed to have stayed with her most of the day today. As most of you know me, I can only have the patience of Job for just a short while before I turn into this mean mommy. I never could stand a whiner nor will I ever. It's like for some, fingernails to a chalkboard. I honestly believe that when I arrived at school, I thought Katie's attitude brightened up a little. I was mildly relieved there for a second. Yes, a second. Then, after Trick or Treating it all came tubbling down. Another little girl sat in Katie's chair. A seat right beside her best friend, Claire. The world has come to an end and therefore Katie declared that everyone in the building should know about this treachery. "Mia got my seat. Hey, get out of my seat Mia. I sit by Claire. I was sitting there. Mrs. Katie, get her out of my seat. Mommy, tell her to move!" Katie announced. Then, they came. . . the lip popped out, the eyebrows dropped down at an angle, the arms were crossed as to make an statement 'this is unacceptable' and the waterworks were turned on wide open. When it started, I tried to get Katie's attention and get her to calm down. Of course, I was on the other side of the room and couldn't get to her. I gradually made my way down the room. When she was getting out of hand, I told Breanna's mom that I was about whip somebody. She giggled and said she had one like that as well, so she understood. Ugh! Mrs. Katie brought out the crafts for all the children to make a bat. It wasn't long after that that Katie made up with Mia, they were friends again. I even made pictures of Katie, Claire and Mia playing with their finished bat project. Shoo!

Mia and Katie are friends once again, eventhough she came between her and Claire. I think what happened is Mia's close friend, Me-Me, wasn't there today. Thursday was Me-Me's birthday, so I'm sure her and her parents did something special today. Unfortunately, it made Mia out to be the third wheel and causing Katie to show her little temper.

I may not have had a lot to do today, but I am pooped. This afternoon, I found myself dragging and having to force myself to do anything. It may have been lots of fun, but I really hope we don't have too many of these type parties. I figure the next "BIG" party will be Christmas.



Pumpkin Puff Pancakes
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup cooked pumpkin
1 3/4 cups Bisquick baking mix
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp each cinnamon, nutmeg & ginger
1/4 cup salad oil

Beat eggs in small mixer bowl on high speed 5 minutes or until thick and lemon colored. Stir in remaining ingredients.

Pour batter by tablespoonfuls onto medium-hot ungreased griddle.

Bake until puffed and bubbles begin to break. Turn and bake other side until golden brown

Yield: about 5 dozen 2" pancakes
Note: Mrs. Katie used canned pumpkin (pie filling)& Canola oil.

Maple Rum-Flavored Syrup
Heat 1 cup maple-flavored syrup and 1 tablespoon butter or margarine.
Remove from heat; stir in 1/2 teaspoon rum flavoring.
Serve warm. About 1 cup.

I hope y'all will have a fun and safe Halloween tomorrow. If the weather will cooperate with us, I will go with my original plan (visit relatives for Trick or Treating & take Katie to Fall Festival). If the rain continues all day because I think it's suppose to be 80% chance of rain, I think we'll just have a party here. Both Doug and my parents are suppose to come over for dinner (chicken & dumplings w/hot rolls & garden salad). Maryann told Doug that if the rain kept us home, for us to call them and they would come over.

Our Little Mermaid in Training

Colton was sleeping and Katie asked me if we could try on her Ariel costume. No problem! I needed to see how it would look and ways that I could fix her up tomorrow for the BIG Halloween party at school. Oh, she is sooo excited! I just hope I'll have enough time to make her up the way I think she'll look good. I'm going to have her wear her ballet leotards and tights under her costume tomorrow.

What's New In The Kitchen
I've been on a pizza making kick lately. This probably isn't good for my diet (at all), but I've been in the experimenting mood. I love to experiment with food. A while back, Doug and I came across "Mama Mary's" pizza crust (already made). We really like it and cut out on a lot of time lost, waiting for your pizza crust to cook. Well, Doug still didn't like the crust being so thick. Guess what mama found? Yes, I found the "Mama Mary's Thin Crust" and Doug likes it now. They come package with 2 already made pizza crusts in all sizes. Last month, I bought Katie a package of small (personal) size for her pizza. She loves my pizza.

Tonight, I whipped up a pizza that (according to Doug)tasted exactly like a restaurant style bruschetta. Yummy! I didn't go by any recipe, I went by what I thought I would like on it. I'm so glad I did because I will definitely be making this again very soon. If you like pizza, you've got to try my pizza. This is what I did:

Mi's Tomato Style Pizza
1 large "Mama Mary's Thin Pizza Crust"
Olive Oil
Small jar of "Classico Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto"
Small jar of Black Olives, Chopped
Small Vine Ripe Tomato, thinly sliced w/skin
1 package (1 lb.) Pizzeria Blend Cheese or you can use the Italian Blend Cheese
1 small package of Pepperoni Slices
6 slices of bacon, cooked & chopped
1/2 small green bell pepper, finely chopped & sauteed to desired texture

• Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. While it's warming, brush a little olive oil on crust.
• Spread pesto onto the crust.
• Arrange the following onto the crust: olives, peppers, tomatoes, bacon, pepperoni & cheese. Note: I didn't use the pound of cheese, but I guess you could if you really like a lot of cheese.
• Turn the heat back to 425 degrees. Put pizza in oven for 7 1/2 - 10 minutes.
• Let cool for 1 minute.
  Serves: 8 slices
  

Halloween Treats
Laura made the cutest Halloween treat for Alise's school. She made little bat candy holders. She got the idea from another blogger, who got it from another. Such a cute idea and would have loved to have made these, but there are just not enough time to make them. I really liked the mummy.

Can you believe these little treasurers are actually Hershey's Chocolate Bars? The Halloween candy holders (mummy or bat) are made out of either crepe paper or construction paper. Such a cute idea! You'll have to check out Skip To My Lou's Blog RIGHT HERE in order to get further instructions. I'll have to do these next year. Have a great Halloween Eve!


Katie Curly Locks
I bought these foam rollers a long time ago, but kept forgeting to use them. Whitney came over today to visit with us for a little bit and reminded me about them. So after Katie's bath, I rolled up her hair. I didn't do a very good job because I've never done this before. Ever! I guess it will be a trial and error for me.



Katie loved her hair rolled up. She was prissing around the house. I really didn't think Katie would keep these rollers in her hair all night, so I blowed dried it before she went to bed. It felt dry enough to take them down, but when I began unrolling them, I soon discovered that they need to dry more. Oh well. It did leave her hair with a lot of full waves. She has a lot of natural body in her hair already, this just seem to make them more full. It's cute and she likes them.

Frankenstein Cake
We went to Walmart last night and picked her up another pumpkin and a pull-a-part Frankenstein Cake/Cupcake for her Halloween party at school tomorrow. I liked the Pumpkin Cake better, but Katie insisted on Frankenstein. All the little kids are going to go home with green mouths. LOL!

Doug is going to watch Colton for me, while I meet Katie at school for her party. They are suppose to make Pumpkin Pancakes, so this will be interesting. Katie loves to cook, but she's never had homemade pancakes. Every child was to bring an ingredient for their treat, Katie had to get shortening. Later, they'll go trick or treat around to every classroom. It should be lots of fun!

I promised June, I would bring the kids to her work after picking up Katie from school. I believe other employees' children are coming by there as well. The police department moved to a new location and building, so I'd like to see what it looks like on the inside. She gave me directions to her office, so maybe I won't get lost. A little girl that Katie has ballet with, Jacy, will be there as well with her mommy and little brother, Jake. I've gotten to know Jacy's mom a little more and she seems very nice. She knew June, so we got to talking and her husband is a police officer. She's been reading a Dave Ramsey's book and I mentioned to her, me about to start reading "The Twilight" series. She's read all 4 books within a week or so. She wants us to have a girl's night out, me, her and June and go see "New Moon." I think it would be fun. I haven't had a girl's night out in forever.

Prayer Request
Please remember a lady, I went to school with, Marilyn. She is maybe 3-4 years older than me. She has been fighting cancer (tumor). Today, she announced that the chemo is working because the tumor shrunk from 16.9 to 10.5 ml. I know she could use all the prayers, she can. Also, if you are in the Cullman area tomorrow, please stop by Chick-fil-a and order your lunch or supper in her honor. I believe 10% of proceeds will be donated to Marilyn tomorrow only. If you can't make it to Chick-fil-a, People's Bank in Cullman are taking up donations as well. Thanks!

Zayne Smith, Whitney's (my niece) husband, is in desperate need of a job. Currently, he working with he dad at their business, but he needs something that pays a little more (got bills to pay).

Nolan and Liz still need your prayers, going on an interview out-of-state. They too are in search for another job. Nolan's current job is cutting back on hours and they have mouths to feed, so they can't afford to cut back.

Ballet

Today, Katie's ballet class was to dress up in either their Giselle Recital costumes or a non-scary costume. I was so hoping she could still fit into her costume 'cause I just had it dry cleaned along with her flower girl dress. Sure enough, it fit like a glove and I was surprised she actually wanted to wear it. I just knew I was headed for a fight over the costume because she REALLY loves her Ariel aka "The Little Mermaid" costume.

I wanted to experiment with the spray on glitter and make-up, to get an idea for Halloween night. Well, I took too much time because we barely made it to practice in time. Oops! We got there as everyone was headed up stairs to practice. Needless to say, I didn't get to take pictures. Darn! Fortunately, I was able to take a few photos before we left the house, which made us even more late. Oh well.

I didn't get to take pictures of Katie this evening with her Ariel costume, like I promised her. I hated it, but I was very limited in time today. Tomorrow is another day and Lord willing another chance.




Halloween Treat
Spider Cupcakes

These Spider Cupcakes are soo adorable! Katie & I will definitely have to try them out.

I found this recipe on Martha Stewart. What a great way to share time with your little begger than make these adorable little spider cupcakes together.

Prep Time: 20 min.
Bake Time: 18-21 min.
Decoration Time: 25 min.
Difficulty: Easy
Yield: Makes 24 cupcakes.

1 box (18.25 oz.) Devil’s Food cake mix
1 can (16 oz.) dark chocolate frosting
1 can (10.5 oz.) chocolate sprinkles
24 large marshmallows
¼ cup M&M’S® Brand Chocolate Candies
48 red or black licorice laces
1 toothpick

1. Prepare the cake mix according to the package instructions.
2. Line cupcake pans with paper-liners. Fill each cup with 2/3 cup of batter.
3. Bake in a preheated 350°F for 18-21 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and cool completely.
4. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the chocolate frosting in a resealable plastic bag.
5. Spread the tops of the cupcakes with the remaining frosting. Then, coat the tops with the chocolate sprinkles.
6. Cut the marshmallows in half crosswise. Using the reserved frosting, attach two marshmallow pieces to each cupcake as eyes. Dot the center of each marshmallow piece with frosting and attach M&M’S® Brand Chocolate Candies. Then, attach another marshmallow piece with frosting and attach M&M’S® Brand Chocolate Candies for the mouth.
7. Cut each licorice lace into four equal pieces. Press four holes into 2 sides of each cupcake using the toothpick. Insert a licorice piece into each hole for each spider’s legs, 8 pieces per cupcake.

Halloween Song
Katie enjoyed me singing her this song. Sing the song below to the tune of "Mary Had A Little Lamb." The part she loved was when you get to the "BOO." I would really express this word as to scare her. She'd start squealing and giggling, "do it again."

Pumpkin Time
Pumpkin time is here again,
Time to play trick or Treat.
Pumpkin time is here again,
Our Spooky friends we'll meet.

See the costumes we have on,
Monsters, ghosts, goblins too.
See the costumes we have on,
Hear us all shout "BOO!"

Mommy's Little Scarecrow

After Colton and I dropped off Katie at school, I wanted to try on Colton's Halloween costume. It's a perfect fit! I think I picked out the right costume for him because he looks so darn cute in it. I'm glad he was in a good mood, when I took these pictures.

Enjoy!

Colton 7 months old

This is one of my favorite! His little teeth are just a shining.

Special Prayer Request

I meant to post this the other day, but life took hold of me and I forgot. Sorry!

Please remember the Loyd family in your prayers. A three year old goes to the same school as Katie. His father, Matthew passed away recently. I can't imagine what this family might be going through. I don't know this family, so I don't know what caused his death. Mrs. Katie just mentioned him to me in passing.

Early Halloween Greetings!

I wanted to share a cute Halloween song, Katie and I came across. It's sung to the tune of "three blind mice."

Three Black Cats
Three black cats, three black cats,
In black hats, in black hats,
They all jumped into the Halloween brew.
They teased the ghosts and the goblins too!
Have you ever seen such a Hallabaloo?
On Halloween, On Halloween!

Pumpkin Carving Prayer
Dear God,
As I carve my pumpkin help me say this prayer:

Open my mind so I can learn about You;
(Cut the top of the pumpkin)

Take away all my sin and forgive me for the wrong things I do.
(Clean out the inside)

Open my eyes so Your love I will see;
(Cut the eyes out in heart shapes)

I'm so sorry for turning up my nose to all you've given me.
(Cut a nose in the shape of a cross)

Open my ears so your word I will hear.
(Cut the ears shaped like the Bible)-we did rectangles

Open my mouth so I can tell others You're near
(cut the mouth in the shape of a fish)

Let Your light shine in all I say and do! Amen.
(Place a candle inside and light it)

Hope you have a great Halloween week!

Tuesday, Katie gets to dress up in her costume for ballet class. Mrs. Anna usually lets the kids play around, get some candy and no real practice day.

Friday, Katie will get to dress up in her Halloween costume for a class party. They will get to make pumpkin pancakes for breakfast. The parents are invited to attend for the pancakes and party. Mrs. Katie will take the children around to the other classes and go trick or treating. I know they'll have a great time.

Orange Party

I believe the "Orange Party" was a success! Each children received a bag of goodies for a snack (cookies, chocolates, gummies, Teddy Grahams, candy, Halloween pencils, etc.) along with a "Happy Halloween" card, signed by Katie and a Hi-C juice box. All the children dug into their bags of treats, giggled and chattered the whole time. I got to know each one of Katie's little friends a little more. Claire asked if Katie could go home with her. I told her that I didn't care, but her mommy had to call me first to see if it was alright. Me-Me told me that her birthday was coming soon, next week, and she wanted a "Barbie Three Muskateer" movie. They were all so adorable! Of course, they were all bouncing off the walls as soon as I got there. I'm sure their mothers appreciated me giving them sugar for a snack to really make them bounce off the walls. Ha Ha! Overall I think everyone had a good time. Below are a few pictures of our big party day.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Next week, Katie has a Halloween Dress Up Ballet Class and a Halloween Dress Up Party at school. She is so excited! On the Halloween/Pumpkin Party, all the children will be making pumpkin pancakes. Katie is suppose to bring the Crisco. The parents are invited, but I don't know if Doug will be off work that day or not. We'll have to see.

Saturday, I think we'll do our usual run. I'll take our little beggars to their grandparents and other relatives to do a little Trick or Treating. Later, we will head to church, Northbrook Baptist Church for the Fall Festival. I will try to take a few pictures of the children in their costumes for you to see before my usual Halloween photos.

Congratulations Doug!
I'm proud to announce that Doug is an official graduate from DeVry College. It was official today, Doug received his Bachelors Degree in Business Science of Technological Management (I hope I didn't chop that up too much). He wants to take some time off before deciding if he wants to go for his Masters. We (family and friends) are so proud of him and knows how glad he is to finally get done with school.

To celebrate, we (Doug and I) went out to eat. We decided, last minute, to try "Connors Steak and Seafood Restaurant." I wished we decided to go here well in advance because you definitely need to make reservations whenever you eat here. As soon as we started eating our meal, we knew why we would need reservations. Oh my gosh! Everything was delicious! Doug got their special dish, Boursin Filet with a Caesar Salad and Baked Potato. I ordered the 8 oz. Prime Rib with House Salad and Baked Potato. Oh my my my! We shared a bite of each other's steak and they were absolutely delicious! The steak was so smooth and very tasty. The only Connors Steakhouse is located in Knoxville, TN and Huntsville, AL. If you ever have the chance to eat here, you must. We highly recommend our meals that we ordered tonight. I spoke to a lady in the waiting area and she said this was her 10th visit because her and her husband love their steaks. You won't be disappointed. The one thing, I'd advise is that you be sure to make reservations. You can visit their website HERE. We had a great time at Bridge Street Town Centre. I found Katie a sweet fallish polka dot cordouroy jumper from Gymboree on sale for $15.99, it was regular $34.75. She's got a pair of leggings that would go good with them. I love Barnes and Noble, so I visited them while Doug was at his favorite store, The Apple Store.

I'm sure you're aware that "The Wizard of Oz" is coming out soon in Blu-ray for their 70th Anniversary celebration. I don't know about other bookstores, but Barnes and Noble had "The Wizard of Oz" stuff everywhere. I found a sweet (if that can happen) Madame Alexander Wicked Witch of the West stuffed doll. I immediately thought of Katie. As most of you know, she is a big "The Wizard of Oz" fan and one of her favorite characters is the Wicked Witch. I had to get it for her for Halloween. They had other movie characters, but I got the last wicked witch they had on display. I wanted to get Katie a book, but all the books I wanted to add to our library were no less than $13. I wanted to get her a paperback of "The Spider and the Fly," but according to the clerk they don't sell the paperback. Ugh! "The Princess and the Frog" is out, but I couldn't see purchasing a hardback $10 for a book that Katie may not enjoy. I had in my hand the story of "The Little House" and nearly decided to get this classic when I noticed "Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving." Yep, that's it! She loves the "Charlie Brown stories" and I thought she might like it better. I went ahead and gave her the doll tonight, but I'll keep the book for another time. I've been looking for Colton a bath book, something that he could chew on and I won't worry about it too much. I couldn't decide between "The Rainbow Fish" and "Baby Einstein, Who Lives In The Pond?" The first book is a great children's story. I've checked it out at the library before and read it to Katie when she was smaller. I decided to go with the second book. Colton seems to like it, especially since he can chew on it.

Prayer Request
Please keep in your prayers -
My neighbor, Jeff W., he is suffering my Rectal Cancer. He is 39 years old with a family and having a very hard time. He has undergone surgery and treatments, but his mother told my neighbor, Ms. Evelyn, that it doesn't look good at all.

Ms. Evelyn has been having stomach problems for the past several days. Her doctor has been working with her and ruling out all the obvious diagnosis. Tuesday, she is to undergo a scan of her stomach and abdomen area. If the results come back normal, they will schedule an appointment to run a light down her throat. She isn't under a lot of pain, but it comes and goes.

Movies In Review
Finally, I have to introduce to you some really great movie selections for you this weekend, while you're not watch Bama run all over those Volunteers.

"The Proposal" starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds was a great romantic comedy I've seen in awhile. So funny! Doug even liked it, so you know it's good. I plan on adding it to my library.

"Transformers Revenge of The Fallen" is a great action film. Believe it or not, but I like the Transformer movies. They have a great story line that keeps my attention and Doug gets his action fix for the week. Hey guys, if you have surround sound, this would be a great choice for you.

I highly recommend both of these movies for you. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

ROLL TIDE!

My Oh My Baby Boy!

I knew the day was coming, I just didn't know it would be so soon. Can you believe that the month of October is almost over? I'll blink once and March will be here before you know it. Okay, let me get to the point of my title. After changing Colton's diaper, I always sit him in his crib while I throw the diaper away and wash my hands. As I was putting him in his bed, I kind of wanted to see if he could pull up as well, so I set him fairly close to the side rail. Mommy must know these things well in advance before something bad happens. Sure enough, I was walking over to the trash when I looked back and he was standing up, holding on to the railing. You got it, standing up in his bed with all smiles on his face. I ran over to his bed before he even thought about looking down or leaning over the rail. SHOO! So, I set little man on a pallet in the floor, while I moved the bed down. Now, mommy can sleep a little better at night.

Katie's Prayers
I try not to recite the usual memorized prayers to Katie. I just feel that it's better for it to come from the heart without the traditional memorized prayers like I learned. Please don't send me any bad email about it. I see nothing wrong with the memorized prayers, it's just a personal thing with me. You see, growing up that's all I was beginning to think - say the same prayer over and over. It got to where my prayer time was growing bigger and bigger. After awhile, I discovered that I wasn't really talking to God, but working on remembering everything (usual prayers). Now, I just talk to Him because that's all he really wants me to do. Talk to him, tell him what's going on in my life and surroundings, my troubles and trials and those whom I care for and about. I'm trying to sow this seed into Katie.

Katie and I sometimes switch up on who prays. Tonight, I asked her to pray for us. Genuinely coming from her heart, she was telling Jesus all the things she loves. It was so cute. "Jesus, I love you and mom and dad and baby Colton and G'ma Peggy and Paw-Paw Millard and G'ma Jerry and Papa John and Maryann and Kevin and butterflies and unicorns and rainbows and my dolls and Daisy (imaginary friend) and my friends and . . ." Can you tell she got a little off track there for moment? HA HA! I had to direct her back on track and ask what she is thankful for? "I'm thankful for the sun, getting to go out and play and my friends and my mommy and daddy and my dolls and my stuffs and unicorns and rainbows and mermaids and . . ." Then out of the blue, she looked straight at me and told me "God makes all things." "Yeah, you're right baby," I commented. I asked her if she knew what that meant. "Yes," she said. "That means that He made you and daddy and baby Colton and me and G'ma Peggy and Paw-Paw Millard . . . and my movies and my dolls and my fire engine hat." she answered. I had to stop her when she began listing all of her possessions and explained that Jesus made the people that created the movies, dolls and other stuff. Then she got a little puzzled and I think I got through it when she asked me if I made baby Colton in my belly. Oh boy, here we go. I corrected her. I told her that God created Colton, not mommy. God blessed mommy with baby Colton. Wow! She had confusion all over her face at this point. I went on to explain at her level because she began asking "if God put Colton in you, when did he do it? Did he come here and put him in you?" Carefully, I explained that God knew I wanted another baby. He put me to sleep and placed a tiny baby in mommy's belly, just like we plant seeds. She understands the whole growth cycle of a living plant, so I used that method to her in order to make my point. Then, she asked if God came here in the middle of the night to put Colton inside of me and how did he put Colton in me. "Did you see him mom?" she asked. "No" I assured her that you don't see God, but he is every where and he sees and hears everything. Apparently, I got the point across to her, for her to understand, because she was fine with that answer. Shoo!

Orange Party
Tomorrow's the "Orange Party" and I've got pictures, pictures and plan to make more pictures to show you. So, you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see everything. I've enjoyed making the children's treats for tomorrow, I just hope they like their snack. Wish me luck!

Playing Around With JibJab

I've been playing around with JibJab and created these little productions. (lol!) It was a lot of fun doing them. I hope you enjoy them! If you don't already know, these are me and my sisters.

"The Brindley 5"

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

You've met "The Brindley 5," now meet the men in their lives. (lol!) Aren't they adorable! Hunk-a-burnin'love!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

. . . and these are our wonderful and very handsome husbands.

Pumpkin Patch & Olivia's Birthday Party

Wow! Katie and mama had a busy day today. It's time to rest now, shoo! We started the morning off by dropping Katie off at school for a few minutes. I stopped by the ATM to get some money because of the past field trip, needed cash to buy all kinds of goodies and mama had zero dollars. Hey, live and learn. Right? Colton and I got home long enough to feed him and Peggy drove up. She looked after him, while I went to pick up Katie for the field trip. We (parents & students) all caravaned to "Burke's Pumpkin Patch." Since my last experience with field trips, I made sure I came prepared this time. I brought extra shoes, rags, and plastic bags. I should have brought extra clothes, but thank goodness, we didn't need them.


First of all, let me give you a vision of our field trip. We are going to a farm (field) and it's been raining pretty much non-stop for days. The ground is soaked and where the tractor has drove around in it's path all season is mud, ankle deep. It drizzled rain off and on the whole time we were there. The cold front has made it's appearance with the temps in the low 50s and the wind is a blowin'. Do ya have a visual idea of how today's field trip experience was for us parents? The children on the other hand, had a blast. The students split up in groups. The 3-5 year olds went on the hay ride, pickin' their best pumpkin, first and the 1-2 grades went last. Katie and her friend Olivia B. wanted to sit by each other on the hay ride. I had no problem, but me and Olivia's mom had a few heart attacks worrying about Olivia falling out of the trailer, every bump we hit. So on the way back, I sat on the outside. By that time, Olivia wanted to sit by her mommy and Katie wanted to sit by her. Unfortunately, someone else sat down beside her, which upset Katie. I told her that she has to learn to make up her mind fast because someone else will take the seat instead. She got over it quickly when it was time to go through the corn maze. I was sort of surprised, she went through it without me. This is good! She took off with Olivia and I stopped at the entrance. Those kids ran all the way through it without stopping. lol! So funny!

Hay ride - Katie & Olivia B.

Class Group Picture (not everyone in photo)
(L-R: Me-Me aka Mary Holman; Claire, Olivia, unknown, Katie, Breanna, Lilly)

Mrs. Katie was able to gather up most of her students for a group picture. I offered to take her picture with her camera, if she wanted to get in the group. I guess she was feeling camera shy because she didn't want to do it. It was cute, we started out with a few girls from Katie's class in the picture and the next thing, we have other children of all ages in the group picture. It just kept growing and growing. Us ladies began laughing because more children kept joining the group. It was cute. I think Katie's favorite part of the pumpkin patch was the haystack playground. As you can tell from the pictures, she was having a blast. The kids were running and jumping all over those haystacks. At first, I was a little scared of Katie jumping from one to another. I was scared because that's exactly how I chipped my front tooth. When I was much younger, I would do cheers on the haystacks in a field in front of my house. I was bad about jumping from one haystack to another and I loved doing roundoffs and herkies right off the haystack. It's a wonder I never got anything worse happen to me (broken arm or leg) other than a chipped tooth. That chipped tooth never stopped me for a minute.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The drizzly rain with the cold air concerned me, Katie being out in it. I was afraid that she would get sick, so I loaded up everything and drug her in the truck. She is terrible when it comes to leaving something so good. I guess she feels that if there is still one person left, she needs to stay until that person leaves. Ugh! I tried explaining to her about the rain and her catching a cold. I knew she was spending the night with Grandma Peggy and Paw-Paw Millard and would hate it if she ended up sick. It was a good thing, we left when we did because we were not far down the road when the drizzly rain ended up being a little harder rain drops. It was just a messy day.

I made amends with Katie because I agreed that I'd go to her favorite restaurant, Sweet Peppers Deli, and get her a bowl of mac 'n cheese. When we got home, I had her strip at the door because she had hay from head to toe. Plus, I didn't want her to catch cold, so I drew her a nice warm bath.

Olivia G's Birthday Party
Later after her nap, I got her all dressed up in one of her favorite dresses. I even went as far as curling her hair a little, she wore her necklace and perfume. She loves to wear perfume. I guess it makes her think she's all grown up. Ha Ha! We were all ready for Olivia G's birthday party. The party was held at the Cullman Gymnastics and Cheer Academy. Well, I've never been to this place, so I got my directions off the of the internet and got an estimated guess from a couple of moms as to where it was. Guess what? We still ended up at the wrong place. lol! Leave it up to me to get lost. I was close though because it was a little further down the street. Yay!

Katie's eyes lit up as soon as she could see through the doors. "Mom, it's a big playground!" she said. She couldn't get her shoes off fast enough, to get in there with the other kids. It was much bigger than what I thought and I got to talk with one of the instructors and she said they had much more than that room, further in the back. I was impressed. I had an interesting conversation with the gymnastics instructor about Katie and possibly coming there one year in the future.

You've got to check out Olivia's cake. Believe me, I checked it out closely. The cake is a pink buttercreme with fondant polka dots. I spoke to Olivia's mom, Susan, about the cake and she said that she liked the fondant look, but not necessarily the taste. She had the cake made by a lady from Vinemont. She did a great job and I duly noted the details of the cake for my next creation. I spoke to Olivia's dad about this being a great way to meet the other parents and the children in Katie's class. Unfortunately, I think Claire was the only other child from Olivia's class. Ugh! Well, I understand too. Friday can be a hard time to get away and go to a little girl's birthday party because you have football games and other family traditions. Katie and Claire had a ball playing at the party. In fact, they had so much fun that us moms had to drag them crying and begging all the way out the door. Ugh! Sometimes it's so hard to be the nice mommy without being the mean mommy hours later.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

It wasn't long before she stopped crying about having to leave the party and focused on visiting with her grandparents. She got us tickled, reading her storybooks to us and we didn't darn laugh or talk, while she was talking. LOL! She would make a good teacher. I could just see her, she'd have everyone in time out.

The Blind Side

Doug brought this movie to my attention. I don't think this trailer has aired on the popular stations (ABC, CBS & NBC). This trailer doesn't show the version I saw on television, but Nick Saban has an appearance in this movie. The real Michael Oher went on to play for Ole Miss and later for the Baltimore Ravens. I'm interested in watching it when it's out.