Jack-o-Lanterns.

Because our schedule got a little crazy this week, we decided to carve pumpkins last Sunday night.  Even though we moved our carving night up about a week from last year, we did manage to keep the tradition of making both a boys' pumpkin and a girls' pumpkin going strong.

Harry and Babe both selected the perfect pumpkin from Publix, and we wasted no time getting to work soon after dinner.

Harris decided he wanted to make a "spooky" pumpkin, while Hadley wanted one that had five teeth.

And so we ended up with "Meanie" and "Five Teeth," the newest seasonal members of our family.

Here's hoping they make it 'til Halloween!

Fall Festival.

We spent last Saturday hanging out at The Way's Fall Festival.

The highlights for the kids included "Mr. Barry's Hayride" and the jumpies.  It's pretty much next to impossible to get Hadley out of a jumpy.  The girl could could jump forever.

Both she and Harris did check out a few of the games once they realized candy was involved.  It's pretty much next to impossible to get Harris to pass up Nerds.  I think he ate ten boxes.

Ben roasted himself a hot dog over the bonfire, and Granti and me both enjoyed marshmallows.  The kids had a good time roasting things, too, but much preferred eating the marshmallows straight from the bag.

In case I haven't said it enough, I'm so glad it's fall. :)

Dance Party!

Harris and I attended our third annual Mother/Son Halloween Dance Party last night.  He has chosen to be Rudolph for Halloween this year, but his costume (that I ordered two weeks ago!) still hasn't arrived, so instead we went like this:

He told me not to worry about it, though, because we could both pretend like we were from the North Pole.

We had a great time.  We danced, ate, danced, ate, danced, ate, and danced.  We sang loudly when the DJ played "GhostBusters" and "Thriller."  We (well, he) did lots of spins and slides on his knees across the dance floor, and Harry even got in on the limbo action.

We ate pizza and Halloween cookies and smarties and potato chips and drank slimer-green punch from the big punch bowl.

And we laughed until we were exhausted.

I really, really like that kid.

Diva.

After finishing up with swim lessons, the kids decided they'd like to give gymnastics a try.  Gymnastics is much cheaper than swimming, so Ben and I were all for making the switch.

So far, so good.  Hadley is in the preschool class and Harris participates in an all-boys class (very cool!), and both groups meet at exactly the same time, so it's working out for our schedule just as much as it for their growth and development!

Babe has been begging for a "gymnastics bathing suit" for weeks.  Ben and I agreed that if she was able to keep her pull-up clean at night for one week, the leotard was all hers. 

She did it!  And she is so, so proud of her new style.

Matching scrunchie and all. :)

Shower.

Ben and I headed up to Nashville this past weekend to watch the Dawgs whip up (well, at least pull out a win) against Vanderbilt.

We had a fantastic time, and were able to swing through Chattanooga on the way back home for a lovely baby shower given by some of Ben's friends and family.

It's become quite obvious that this is Baby #3.  In addition to the picture above, I managed to get two other shots with my camera.  Which means three pictures total.  I'm a shoe-in already for Mom of the Year.

And the shower was gorgeous.  The weather was beautiful, and we spent the afternoon enjoying lunch outside with old friends and family.  Old to Ben, that is.  They're all still pretty much new to me. :)

I did manage to get this picture of the gift table before everything was loaded into the van.  I've been to many kids' birthday parties where the presents stayed wrapped throughout the duration of the party, but this was my first shower experience where nothing was unwrapped.

We had a great time bringing everything home and opening it all with Harris and Hadley, though.  They're really getting into the whole older sibling thing. 

We're so blessed to be off to a good start with all the things Baby Emmy will need.  I still kick myself often for selling and/or giving away every single bit of my baby things.  I had no idea what God had in store for my life at the time...

Mostly I just look back and smile.

The third and final picture I took at the shower is this one of Ben's sister, Dolores, and me.  I guess DoDo is going to be getting a whole lot of baby book love.

She won't mind.

How fun it is to celebrate Emmy!  Seven weeks and counting...

Homegirl's Homework.

Community Helpers.

It was "Community Helpers" week at Primrose. 

Harris' class learned about policemen and firemen all week long, and Ms. Wendy ended the unit by asking Ben to come in and talk to the kids.  Harry was beside himself excited and Ben was pretty stoked, too.  According to Harris, the best parts of the presentation were getting handcuffed in front of his friends and climbing into the police car with his class.

He's one proud little guy.  Who can blame him?!?!?!?!