Happy Halloween!!

We have been dressing up and trick or treating since Friday at 3:00. Mt. Pisgah had the class parties on Friday. Then we traveled up to Bob's work for some more sugar! Then the kids went home and had a sugar crash attack. That was enjoyable for the first 10 minutes which felt like hours. I had both of them melting down while I was the only adult in the house. Thank you to the creator of Olivia which contained the madness. Saturday we chilled at home and then went to a party at the Dills house. The kids had such a blast. They dressed up, painted pumpkins, destroyed the playroom, played outside with every riding toy and somehow fit in a tiny bit of non sugar. Then today (the actual day for trick or treating) we went to my sisters neighborhood for some trick or treating!!! Unfortunately, James thought that each house you sent to you got to eat the candy. He got cut off and returned to Caroline's house while the others filled their bags up. All in all it was a great weekend. We even got one looker at the house. Check out the pictures.

Ansley's Harvest Party...they made some yummy vegetable soup!

James class Halloween Party!

This was right before we left her shoes at home!

Yes this was the best pic out of the bunch!!!

The lion trying to climb the tree

Rooaarrr!!!!!!!

She had Daisy Duck with her all night!

Growing UP!!

I grew up a little bit more today. There is no crib up in my house anymore!!! I finally allowed Bob to take the crib down. James has been in a big boy bed for over 2 months now. However, we didn't take it all the way down it is just being stored in the playroom closets. I have to give a shout out to my Dad who did a great job building and putting up Ansley's curtains. And to my mom who is my personal shopper!! I have almost finished both the kids rooms. James room is just missing a set of curtains. Below are some pictures of the kids room

The golf clubs that are above the window are Bob's Grandfathers clubs!

Here is the finished product

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Ansley's first Cherub Choir Performance

Today Ansley sang in "big church." She did a wonderful job. I have a video I will post soon!!

First try at the Pumpkin patch

On Saturday we packed up the kids to make a trip to Uncle Shucks Pumpkin Patch. We were almost out of the driveway only to get a text that someone wanted to come see our house from 1-3. Two things wrong: 1) we left the house looking like a tornado came through it and 2)1-3 is prime nap time for James. So we pulled back into the driveway, left the kids in the car, and began cleaning. By this time it was after 10:30 so the morning was lost. We decided to just head to a church pumpkin patch.

Pictures

It has been a while since I have posted pictures so here is a bunch from the past few weeks.

Daddy's Girl!!



Big boy Sunday shoes





Help!!!

This week Ansley got to go see Charlotte's Web with her class. When I arrived to pick her up from school they were in the process of completing their newspaper articles about the play. All the kids were drawing Charlotte the spider and the rest of the farm animals. Ansley was drawing a family of people. Ansley literally spends Sunday nap time drawing in the kitchen. Occasionally, she will come and check on me taking a nap in our bedroom (which is on the main floor) and Bob taking a nap on the couch. She usually starts off laying in bed with me singing me a song then gets bored and tells me she is going to draw!!
Ansley loves to write in small notepads. Lately, she has been so proud of herself because she is learning how to write lowercase letters. She will come to me with her notepad and point out her lowercase e or n. She is starting to spell words when I tell her the letters.

James has gotten over his nasty cold. However, he has taken on a new challenge of breaking free from toddler proofed areas. Now that he is in a big boy bed I have had to add knobs to the door that will keep him in his room.When he first started sleeping in his bed he did not know how to open doors. Well give him a couple weeks not only can he open doors but he can open toddler proofed doors!! In any other house this might be a small concern however, our bedroom is on the main level and the kids are upstairs. Therefore, he has to walk down a tall flight of stairs. Not cool. At 5:30 this morning when I came upstairs from working out I heard him talking through his monitor. At 6:00 the talking sounded rather clear and I could hear him walking down the stairs and jumping down the last two. He came walking into my bathroom smiling and chatting away. I asked him how this happened. He said "Door open, Door close." Already a smart mouthed one. I guess this weekend we will be getting a baby gate to go on his room. Nothing like giving him a better challenge.
I have been trying to upload pictures but I am having a bit of a problem. It is probably user error (possible the glass of wine) but stay tuned for pictures.

Update!!

Yes it has been a while since I have posted. Thank you Caroline for reminding me. Let's see where to begin. Well I am going to be an Aunt again... Caroline and Rusty are having a little girl named Hannah in January!!!!!
James will be 22 months this week. He is still sleeping well in his big bed. We had two 5 am wake up calls from him. When I say wake up calls I mean he was standing in our room talking to us. Ansley never even thought of  leaving her room much less her bed. James has a different view on that philosophy! At 5 am I would hear little feet coming down the stairs and a full blown conversation from him. It was too cute that I couldn't be made. This had to be stopped as cute as it was. He now has a knob on his door he can't open and some toys in his room. This morning I heard him climbing out of his bed to and comment "oh" followed by his own language. Translated this meant "oh yeah cars." He played for a good while until it was an acceptable hour to get up!!
James (22 months)
1. Can count to 10
2. Recognizes yellow and green
3. Animal sounds: cow, pig, duck, dog, cat, and lion
4. Favorite TV shows: Little bill, Jungle junction, Mickey, Diego, Dora, lion king
5. Favorite book: Numbers book and Picture book
6. He weighs about 30 pounds, 3T shirt, 2T pants
7. Activities: Riding in his car, running, coloring with Ansley, swinging, and taking a shower.
8. Favorite saying: anything sister says!!

Ansley 4
1. Learning how to write lower case letters: mastered e, a, f
2. Enjoys riding the "white school bus"
3. Favorite activities: playdates with Frances, baby dolls, coloring in the lines, writing in her notebook, running, riding her bike.
4. Favorite book: I can read books (toy store, Dora)
5. Favorite TV shows: Olivia, Little Bill, Maggie and the Ferocious Beast
6. Favorite Movie: Lion King
7. She is a daddy's girl: At night I hear her up with Bob telling him all about her day and more!!!
8. Ansley's favorite saying: "What's going on here?"