Trunk or Treat

Every year our church puts together a trunk or treat event on Halloween. Jay is part of the committee that puts this event on and they do a fabulous job! This year trunk or treat was held on the Saturday before Halloween, which resulted in a huge turnout. It was 45 degrees while we were there. That might not sound very cold, but it was FREEZING!

I got the kids ready at home. Charlotte was a hokie princess this year.





When we arrived at church we had to do some final costume prep. Trey needed to keep his winter hat on under his conductor hat to block the wind from his ears!



Trying to keep the costume together after the wind blew his hat off!



Examining the candy. Trey doesn't really know what candy is, but he will tell you he likes chocolate!



Charlotte endured the trunk or treating. She wasn't exactly thrilled to be out in the cold, but she didn't get upset either. Her face just always seemed to say, "This is ridiculous."





At the end of the night we walked through the church to warm up on the way to the car.

Halloween Package

Dear Nana and Papa,

Thank you for the Halloween package. I was excited to see the caterpillar book and my train conductor outfit.


Charlotte really likes her "Baby's First Halloween" onesie.



I tried on my costume. It is a perfect fit. Mommy showed how to use Papa's train whistle. I am a pro at whistling and yelling, "All Aboard!"





I even shared my whistle with Charlotte. She is not as good as me yet.



Mommy said you can't send me anymore pink soap. After I rubbed it all over my face I couldn't find any more space to roll on my body, so I tried the carpet. It worked great! I put pink in Charlotte's room, Charlotte's closet, my room, my closet and Mommy and Daddy's room.



The carpet cleaner is coming on Thursday.

Love,
Trey

China Patterns

When Jay and I got married we registered for china. Not only did we register for china, but we received twelve place settings and we use them for holiday and birthday dinners. Since having kids I think they have only appeared for late night "date" dinners at home after the kids have gone to bed. I am hoping to bring out the china again for Thanksgiving, but it may be an "at the adult table only" basis.

My Granddaddy has been packing up a lot of his home lately and graciously asked me if I would like some of my grandmother's china. I quickly accepted because you can never have too many sets of nice dishes and I thought it would be neat to mix and match china patterns for a dinner party. You know, when we no longer have high chairs and boosters seats in our dining room.

Anyways, while unpacking the dining room this evening I unpacked the boxes of china from my grandfather. They are beautiful! China is truly classic, no matter the age or pattern. The pattern has a hint of blue that happens to match perfectly with the colors in our dining room. The platter is a bit larger than my china platter so it may be hosting the turkey this year. There is also something extremely dainty and feminine about a cup of tea in a cup and saucer. Charlotte better get ready for some girly tea parties in the future.

We purchased our china cabinet unfinished and one of my first home decorating projects was finishing it after we were married. At the time we just put a polyurethane coat over the wood to keep the natural color, but now we would like to stain it to match our dining room table. That will happen some time when we have an available weekend with nothing else going on, with all the other random projects on the list.



Perfect match



Beautiful Pattern



The walls and ceiling in our home are plaster. We love the extra detail and texture it adds to the rooms. Check out the design in the dining room ceiling.



And what post is complete without a picture of our kids?



Speaking of dainty, don't you wish your legs looked so cute in a pair of tights?

Charlotte's Room

Charlotte finally has her own room! After sharing a room for three months with her mommy and daddy and six months with her brother, she now has a room of her own. The kids did SO well sharing a room together, especially at the beginning. We even contemplated letting them stay together in the new house, but when Charlotte decided not to sleep the past two months we were happy we decided to split them up. Charlotte has been sleeping through the night again since the night we moved in. I am not sure if it is having her own space, being in a house where every footstep isn't a creak she hears, or just being able to shut the door to outside noises (her brother insists on sleeping with the door open!).

She has woken up a few times in the past week, but we just let her talk herself back to sleep and don't have to worry about Trey waking up. She has been napping in her crib for both naps and she loves to roll around on the carpet and play with her toys. Trey also likes to bring toys into her room and says, "I play with Charlotte in her purple room." or he says, "Charlotte come play in my blue room!" Trey has done very well with the split also. We talked a lot before we moved about which room was Trey's and which one was Charlotte's and it was really no big deal that they weren't in a room together anymore.

Charlotte has twin bed in her room for visitors. She likes to sit up and be tall!



As soon as I put her in the crib she grabbed her paci. Now that she is spending much more time in her crib we realized it is time to move the mattress down.



Charlotte is sooo big!

Saturday Mornings

Pumpkin Patch

Last Friday we went with our Sunday School class to a local pumpkin patch. The visit included an animal petting area, a LONG hayride to the pumpkin patch, a corn maze, 2 big slides of hay, and of course pumpkin picking. We had a great time hanging out with other families, spending time with each other, and watching the kids run around.

Trey was a little bit nervous about the animals at first, but then he warmed up to them. His favorite were the pigs and sheep.





At the animal area Charlotte hung out in stroller and people/animal watched. She was not a particular fan of the pigs herself. I think it was the stink that made this face!


Watching the other kids kept her very entertained.



We definitely got our money's worth on the hayride! It was a beautiful 15 minute ride around the farm and over mountains and valleys as the sun was starting to set. Here is everyone hanging on for dear life!



When we arrived at the corn maze we all stopped to take pictures. Trey kept saying "cheese" the whole time he took pictures with Charlotte, but he never smiled! I think he was done with the pictures!




This is our whole group. Everyone either had kids or has kids on the way so it was a great family outing!



A good way to wear out a 2 year old- the never ending corn maze.



The farm set up 2 huge slides with a tarp over the hay. Every kid over the age of one in our group went down, but they all went with their dads :)



Trey and his little buddies at the end of the night.

Moving

I hope Jay likes this new house because I don't think he is going to be able to get me to move again! While the whole house building process has been much easier and smoother than we had anticipated, moving is no fun. So far we have packed up most of the house (which is a good thing since moving day is tomorrow!) but living in this disarray is not an enjoyable experience.

The kids have been so flexible with the whole thing and Trey doesn't even comment about the piles of boxes in every room in the house. Charlotte is still not sleeping... but that is another story. Trey is very excited about moving into the new house and we have been talking about where he will put his bed and dresser and that he will have his own big boy room.

This morning we were supposed to get up early and deep clean the whole house so it was ready to move into tomorrow. Well, say some prayers for us, because it is 8:30 and we haven't even made it to the new house yet! Having a baby and then a toddler in your bed all night, a 2 hour wake up time with the kids from 2:30-4:30 and then coming downstairs at 6:30 this morning to find your lab had an upset stomach and the results are around the crate on the kitchen floor do not make for a good start to the day.

Hey, what is a move without a few fun (but not so much at the time) stories to tell :)



Putting Charlotte in a basket was the only way to keep her from trying to eat all the boxes in the room while we were packing!