Happy Halloween!

This has been the best Halloween with the kids yet. The only bad thing was that Tony didn't get to be with us tonight, and we really missed him, as I know he did us. Over the weekend, we went to a Halloween Party that our neighbors' put on and it was really nice. Here we are in our American Gothic costumes. It was something we threw together last minute because originally we couldn't go because Tony was going to have to work. Luckily, he didn't have to and we got to go to the party. It was a lot of fun!

Sunday we carved little pumpkins and roasted the seeds in the oven. Audrey loves them, but Jack won't try them. He doesn't know what he's missing out on!

Today we had parties at school and Audrey and Jack got loads of stuff. Tonight, we went to Mamaw & Papaw's first and they had made fudge and cupcakes; of course, they got handfuls. We then went to Nana and Clive's and they got so much stuff it isn't even funny. We went up to Monroe's, Mom's neighbor, who gave them so good chocolate, too. We also went to Louise's, Erica Snowden's, and Audrey's friends's Clair and Cooper.

The kids were wired when we got home, but we had a lot of fun and I cannot wait until next year. Maybe Tony will be able to celebrate the fun holiday with us.

It's Been a Long Time

Having fun at Trunk or Treat

This morning we had a soccer game and tonight we had Trunk or Treat at Church. The kids really enjoyed it. They had a cupcake walk, face painting, lots of games, food, and of course tons of candy.

Hilton Head Vacation

Jack's 1st day of School

Audrey's 1st Day of Kindergarten

I thought I might just give this blog thing a new try. With the cold weather approaching (well, it has already approached given the frost on the ground this morning), I thought it would be a good time to write. Many, many things have happened since the last post of Christmas 2009, but things are going well and the kids are growing and doing so well. Audrey started Kindergarten this year, and Jack is enjoying school very much. He gets upset when he can't stay when Audrey goes (he only goes 3 days/week). I am working at their school every day, for 2 hours a day, and I really love it. Tony is still on night shift, and it doesn't look like he'll ever make it to dayshift at Toyota. But we may as well not dwell on that, because there is not a thing we can do about it, other than pray that one day something will open up. You would think with him being there 13 years he wouldn't have to wait much longer. With today's economy, there is not much turnover like there used to be, so no spots really open up.

Something that happened right at a year ago is that my Aunt Joann died. It was such a shock to our family since she was only 46. My cousins are having a hard time with it, and my uncle is still trying to accept it. I think of her all of the time because she was such a special person to me and so many other people. The good Lord blessed us with her, and I know one day we will see her again in Heaven, but it is still had to understand why she had to die so young. We all need to be ready for our own time, that is for sure.

My Nanny had a bad fall last week and broke her hand, busted her knees, scraped her arm up really bad, and bruised her face terribly. Thankfully she is going to be okay, but she looks horrible. We visited her yesterday and the kids were so sweet to her and were so good while we were there. On the way home from Versailles, we stopped at Kohl's and Claire's, where Audrey raked in with some new Skechers, a feather for her hair, and clip-on earrings. She said she's just not ready to get her ears pierced with the "needle kind" as she calls them.

This summer we got to go to Hilton Head, a last-minute trip. But even though we didn't have much time to plan, it was really wonderful. It was just the four of us, and we drove straight-through on the way down. The kids did great. Our condo was nice and clean and the swimming pools were nice. We had a fairly short walk to the beach, and had it not been so humid it wouldn't have been a bad walk at all. If we get to go again, we'll try to get a room that isn't on the 3rd floor (no elevator) and maybe a tad closer to the beach. We absolutely loved Hilton Head. It has a reputation for being expensive and not family-friendly, but we didn't find that to be the case at all. Next year we will be celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary, and are hoping to get to go back to Sanibel Island. But after that, we would like to keep going to Hilton Head.