Just under the wire

Here it is, New Year's Eve and I still haven't done my Christmas wrap up post. I figured I better get it done today, or I'd surely decide it was too late once we get into January.

One of the things the kids and I look forward to the most is the PJs and Pancakes breakfast that my friend, Tricia, started hosting three years ago. Sadly, the day before the breakfast, Evan came down with a stomach bug. I was so hoping that he would be better in time for the breakfast, but he was still pretty puny that morning. Luckily, my friend Nicole swept in and became a hero by volunteering to pick Pressley up and take her so she wouldn't have to miss it. I am so grateful to have selfless friends! Here are some photos I got from Tricia of the party fun.


Once Evan got to feeling better, it was time to put up the little cedar tree we brought back from Knoxville for them to decorate in the playroom. They thoroughly enjoyed putting the ornaments on it and fully appreciated the fact that mean old mommy allows this tree to have colored lights. They were SO silly that night. But the silly pictures turned out cuter than the ones I tried to make them pose for. I'm sure there is a lesson in there for me about letting kids be kids, but I'm sure I'm too stubborn to learn it.

Next up was the small family celebration for my side of the family. This is when we get together with my parents, my sister and her family, and my Granny to go out to dinner and exchange gifts before all the craziness fully carries us away. We left mom and dad's house that night thinking that we could call Santa and tell him he could skip us this year because the kids had already gotten everything they wanted and all they could handle. Of course we didn't. Who are we, the Grinch?

My sweet 90-year-old Granny ended the evening by reading the four kids a book. It was so special, and a perfect way to have the kids settle down a tiny bit while the adults were loading all the loot in the cars.

The next day, Corin's family began to arrive. As usual, Kerry and Kate played tirelessly with the kids. There were many rounds of croquet in freezing temps, several spirited games of Jenga, the annual sugar-cookie decorating, and Barbie hairstyling galore.

We also went to see Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer at the puppet center. It was excellent. They should be putting on this production for at least the next four year, and I'll put in a little plug for the center. If you are looking for a new fun Christmas tradition with kiddos, this is an excellent thing to add to your already-busy repertoire. It is one of the best shows we've seen there. And we've seen a lot. But every show was sold out this year, so you'll have to get your tickets early.

Finally, on Christmas Eve, after many tasty meals had been prepared and enjoyed, it was time to put the kids to bed and wait for Santa. Santa thought he had it easy this year because there were no toys that required assembly. What Santa did not realize was that the giant inflatable outdoor ball that Pressley asked for would take an hour and a half to inflate. With an electric pump. (Rumor has it that he originally started the process with a hand-held pump, but was nearly exhausted after inflating only one or two chambers.) Poor Santa. It was a long night.

But Santa's work was well worth the effort, as the kids were thrilled with their new toys. We quickly re-named the Giga Ball the Liability Ball or the Certain-Trip-to-the-Emergency-Room Ball as we discovered all the ways the kids could potentially get hurt in it. Other than a few scratches and bumps, all was well.

After opening more presents than you would think would be humanly possible and having brunch with all the McCarthys plus GranNan and Poppy (my parents), we were off to Lake Hartwell to celebrate some more with my mom's extended family.

There was some narrowly averted drama when Pressley realized that she had already worn all of her festive outfits and was left with some pretty lack-luster wardrobe choices (in her mind) for Christmas day. We had a dress picked out for her to wear. A cute red corduroy number that she wore last year. It was a bit big on her last year, so I was sure it would still fit. But I was wrong. She came down in the dress, which was about two inches too short on the arms and prevented her from moving her arms much at all. We were about to have a full-on melt-down on our hands when I took her upstairs to see what we could come up with. Thanks to the snow in the forecast, I was able to convince her that a brown knit dress with pink snowflakes (also from last year) was the perfect festive option. It was way too short on her this year, but luckily we had some matching leggings we could throw under there and she ended up happy as a clam. Whew! A Christmas miracle.

It was great fun, as always, but was cut a little short this year due to the impending snow and freezing temps, so we wanted to make sure everyone was home safely before the precipitation started to freeze on the roads. It snowed hard on us most of the way home, but the streets were not yet slippery, so we made it home safe and sound with two exhausted young-uns.

And that, my friends, is the Christmas wrap-up 2010. We have, once again, had a year so filled with blessings. We are so grateful for healthy kids and jobs and family time and fun and faith. We wish you all those things going into 2011. Hope it is a great one for you!

See you in the New Year!

A rude awakening

I still plan to do a Christmas wrap-up post, but first I need to report on the events of the morning.

This morning, I was awakened at 7:05 when Evan climbed into the bed with Pressley and me. I thought his arrival meant all four of us were in the bed together, which never lasts more than a few moments, but I was still hoping I could sleep for a couple more minutes.

Next thing I knew, I heard Corin bellowing at Evan from a place that was definitely not the other side of the bed. As I struggled to understand with my cobwebby brain what was going on, the bellowing turned to me. "AMY!!", it went, "We have a crisis.... of EPIC proportions!"

So, up I jumped and ran down the hall (OK, shuffled quickly) to Evan's bathroom to find water pouring into the hallway. Corin was already on his way to gather up every towel in the house, so I stood there and rubbed my eyes until he returned and we started sopping up water.

To the best of my now-wide-awake-understanding, it happened like this:

Last night we had a babysitter stay with the kids so we could go shopping and out to dinner. While said babysitter was here, the toilet apparently became clogged and nothing was done about it. Probably because Evan didn't alert anyone to the problem. (This assumption is based on plenty of precedent.) Then, when he woke up bleary-eyed this morning, he stumbled into the bathroom, relieved himself, flushed and left the room, not knowing that the water was now rushing out of the toilet.

The part about him not knowing is being assumed after much questioning by the father figure. He swears up and down that he didn't know and his feet were not wet when he left the room. If we find out differently, the punishment will be swift and harsh.

Luckily, Corin had gotten up at 5 a.m. with a headache and was downstairs. He was thus able to hear the running water. He thought Evan had left a faucet running, so he was coming upstairs to fuss at Evan for leaving the faucet on when he discovered the real issue.

All that to say, it could've been much worse if it had gone undetected for any longer. Even with the immediate discovery, the damage was pretty extensive. By the time we got to it, the water had filled the bathroom and run into the hallway onto the hardwood floor and begun entering Evan's carpeted bedroom through both the bathroom doorway and the hallway.

We were able to schedule a steam cleaning for today with the second company I called. Which began a ripple effect. If the company was going to come and steam clean Evan's room, we might as well get the two rugs downstairs cleaned - which cleaning was long overdue. If they were going to clean the carpet in the living room, then the tree would have to come down. We thought about asking them to clean around it or just having a different room cleaned instead, but after careful consideration, I decided the wisest thing to do was just buck up and take down the tree.

Thus, as soon as we finished sopping up water off the bathroom floor and wet-vacuuming the bedroom carpet to the best of our abilities, I began the arduous task of taking the ornaments off the tree. Pressley "helped" (which was stressful), and then Corin came in to take it out to the porch and get the lights off. The minute he put the tree at the curb and brought in the two ornaments we had missed, the lawn refuse truck pulled up and carried it off.

To top it all off, our housekeeper was here today for a regularly scheduled cleaning. She has been a real trooper about working around all the obstacles... from kids that have been cooped up and largely unsupervised all day, to carpet cleaning people and the like. And I have been working like a dog to stay one step ahead of the housekeeper and the carpet people.

I need a nap. It has been quite a day and it is not even 1:00 yet.

Sigh.

(P.S. If this has been the least bit coherent, it is an absolute miracle. This is probably the most stream-of-conscious-post I've written in a while, but I'm too tired to go back and read it to make sure it makes sense. I also don't want to have to re-live it one more time by going back and reading it. So, you get what you get.)

That's all.

Another reason I love my husband

I could go back and list for you all the reasons I fell in love with Corin in the first place. There were many. Those reasons evolve over time, and new reasons come into being.

When we had children, the new reasons became ever more abundant. I feel so blessed to have a husband who loves our children so completely. He not only loves them in a way that drives him to care for them and provide for them and shape them into the people we pray they will become; he loves them with a fully involved kind of love that means he enjoys playing with them. Really playing with them in a way that I've never been able to replicate.

OK. That is the back-story.

Sooo.... You may know we got some snow here in Atlanta on Christmas day. We were away during the afternoon and evening of Christmas day spending time with family, but when we returned, we had about an inch of snow on the ground. The kids had fallen sound asleep on the way home, so they didn't get to play in the snow Christmas night. But they got up the next morning and bundled up and their daddy took them to play in it. They tried a number of different sledding spots until they found the "right" one.

We had plans to have a late lunch and see a puppet show with friends, so the snow fun was limited to the morning, and everyone seemed ok with that.

Fast forward to Monday morning. Corin got up and got dressed and headed off to work, just as he had planned. He had been gone about 5 minutes when he called and asked me to put him on speaker-phone with the kids. He told them it looked like there was still some good snow/ice on the hills in Candler Park that would surely be gone once the sun came out. He asked if they would like to go sledding one more time before the snow melted and they said yes. So, while he turned his car around to drive home, I got the kids dressed and bundled.

When Corin got home, he went and put on old jeans and neatly tucked his work-appropriate button down into them. I think he also changed his shoes and then they were off.

They were gone about 45 minutes before they arrived back home. As they were stripping off their wet stuff in the garage, I heard Corin ask Lil' P... "Did you tell mommy?" "Tell mommy what?" "That I broke my finger?"

WHAT?!?

Turns out that there was an incident where the sled went airborne and my precious husband took heroic measures to ensure that the children were not dumped into the street. In the process, his middle finger was at least dislocated and maybe broken. We'll know more after his 12:30 appointment today when he has it x-rayed. It was pretty swollen this morning and he couldn't move it.

I cannot begin to comprehend what makes a grown man turn around while heading to work, come home to pick up his children, leave part of his work clothes on, go sledding on mostly melted snow, and then do something that ends up possibly breaking his finger. But it is sometimes what we least understand that makes us love the most. I don't always understand the man, but I always love and admire him.

Now, let me get back to praying that his finger isn't actually broken....

Knox-enville

We took a trip to Knoxville for the day last Saturday to continue the tradition of helping Gran and Grandaddy chop down their tree and decorate. Having grown up with asthma and horrible allergies, not only did we not have any quaint traditions like this, but we were never even able to have a live tree unless we wanted to risk my being in the hospital for Christmas. So, I love that my kids have the opportunity to participate in this neat tradition.

We found a pretty splendid tree this year, if I do say so myself. Actually, there is no reason for me not to say so, since I really had nothing to do with it except watching and trying to keep the Lilly from eating gross things that dogs eat and to keep her away from the swinging axe. I succeeded in keeping her away from the swinging axe.

Evan, on the other hand, helped chop, saw and carry the tree back to the house. I am amazed every day at how big he's getting. It will be no time at all before he wants nothing to do with any of us. :o( Boo.

Since I missed last year's trip, I was unaware of the new tradition that Gran started, which consists of skipping the hot chocolate after the tree chopping in favor of some hot fudge sauce poured over a brownie a la mode with ice cream. Slightly more fattening than hot chocolate, but it'll do. Yummy!

So, the splendid tree caused a few problems. It had to be trimmed quite a bit because it was too tall. And then, well, then it (or Corin) broke the tree stand that was only 40 years old. So it was off to The Walmarts to get a new one. Yall know how I love me some Walmarts - especially on a Saturday nite. Anyway, the end result was lovely.

And it made a lovely back-drop for this little Norman Rockwell scene:

Gran and Grandaddy gave Evan and Pressley new books that featured, well, Evan and Pressley. Evan's had him assisting Spiderman in a caper and Pressley's had her attending Aurora's wedding. (For those of you less familiar with the princess lingo, Aurora is a.k.a. sleeping beauty. They loved their books and loved seeing them all cuddled up to their grandparents like this. So sweet.

I may be back with one more post before Christmas day, but if I get busy and don't get back to blogging until after Christmas.... Just wanted to wish you and yours a Merry Christmas. Thanks for taking the time to read about our little family and our little piece of crazy.

** Oh, I just realized that I never explained the title of this post, speaking of our little piece of crazy. Knoxenville is what Pressley continues to call Knoxville. I think it is probably because Poppy used to drive to Jacksonville at least once a month, so she was always hearing about that city as well as Knoxville, so she still gets them confused. It cracks me up. It can't last much longer, so I thought I'd document it while it is still going on. **

Traditions with friends

For the third year in a row, we met up with friends from our Sunday school class and their kiddos to ride the Pink Pig and enjoy dinner together afterwards. I love that we started this tradition. The Pink Pig is a fun and kitschy Atlanta institution at Christmastime, and it is especially fun to share it with friends.

I was all ready to ride with Pressley when she ditched me for Russell and Helen's son, Benjamin. (And so it begins....) So, I rode in a car with Corin and Evan. Pressley and I had ridden together during our big day of fun a few days before, so I got over it pretty quickly.

A new addition to the Pink Pig this year (or at least new to us) is the costumed character of Priscilla the Pig that kids can have their picture made with. When P and I went to the mall on Thursday, she had her picture made with Priscilla, but the kind folks at the Pig wanted $24 for me to take it home. Ummmm, no thanks. So, imagine my delight when we found Priscilla out of her photo booth and available to pose for pictures that we could take for free. And, Evan was with us this time, so I am SO glad I didn't take the bait for the $24 photo of Pressley alone.

(Pressley also sat on Santa's lap on Thursday, though she had told the Macy's ladies she would most certainly not. I almost caved to the unconscionable price of that photo - also $24 - to mark the occasion, but again, without Evan in it, I just couldn't justify it.)


After the excitement of riding the Pig, we were tasked with figuring out the dinner option. In past years, when we've done this on a Monday night, the food court seems like a perfectly acceptable option, but I believe I was not alone in feeling like the food court was just sloppy seconds for a Friday night dinner. We called our favorite Mexican restaurant to see if they could seat 24 of us for dinner, and were not at all surprised when they said no. But, undaunted, we decided to stop by the California Pizza Kitchen on our way to the food court just to see. We were all amazed when the hostesses put their heads together and figured out a way to seat us. Not in an hour or so, but immediately.

The older kids (4 and up) got their very own kids' booth, which thrilled them, and the rest of us all sat together at one big long table. It was a surprisingly low-stress event for the first hour or so, and luckily, when kids started to lose patience, we got our checks quickly and got the heck out of dodge. It was lovely really to be able to sit and talk with friends over dinner. We feel so very blessed to have such a large Sunday school class of people with whom we genuinely enjoy spending time. Parenting is so much easier when you can share your struggles and victories with folks who share your values.

Early Christmas festivities

Lord knows we are nowhere near done with all the celebrating. But, I'm going to try to go back and catch up on all the fun we've had since we got back from New York.

The first Wednesday after Thanksgiving was our "Praise Pals" Christmas program at church. This is my first year being responsible for the Praise Pals music, so the program was particularly stressful for me this year. Especially since we had exactly 3 20-minute sessions after Halloween in which to prepare any Christmas songs. I just couldn't bring myself to start doing Christmas music with 3, 4, and 5 year olds before Halloween. Who does that?

Anyway, they did a great job. We did 3 non-Christmas songs, a simple version of Come All Ye Faithful, and a rousing rendition of Jingle Bells, complete with jingle bells. They were cute. And, I was relieved when it was over.

The following Wednesday night was the Gingerbread House competition at church. I was skeptical of how it would go since last year, the whole thing ended in tears when Pressley realized our house didn't win a prize. I upped my game this year and brought in supplies purchased ahead of time, but still tried to prepare the kids for the inevitable fact that we would not win. Luckily, I had to run off to choir practice during the judging, so I was not there to witness the chips falling where they may. However, I was told by my mom and Corin that, while there was some pouting, it was short-lived and did not ruin the evening.

Finally, the kids both had special goings-on at school on their last day. Pressley had a Christmas program, in which her class sang a song called Holiday Celebrations set to the tune of "There's a Hole in the Bucket." Pressley and her friend, Lila, got to introduce the number to the very large crowd. They did a great job. And then, Pressley, as usual, proceded to steal the show. (Well, that was my perception anyway, and it's my blog.) She was, shall we say, very expressive and passionate about singing the song.

Evan had his class party the same day. One of the room moms planned some crafts (show-off) and of course, there was WAY too much sugar consumed by a room full of six and seven year olds. SOOOOO glad I was not the teacher that had to try to control them for the remaining hour and a half of the day.

Stay tuned. Much more to come.

A celebrity among us

We had a little ice here last week. Very little. But, it meant that Pressley got an unexpected school vacation. (Evan's school - an Atlanta Public School - was open all day, but the private institution where Pressley's pre-k is housed decided to close all day.) So, P and I had a mommy/ daughter day. I had errands to run at the mall and a lunch to go to with my GSU co-workers, but I had to cancel the lunch.


As we were on our way to the mall, Pressley was complaining about not getting to go to school. Trying to empathize, I told her that I was disappointed too, because I had had to cancel my plans. But then I amended my response to add that I was also happy because I was unexpectedly going to get to spend the day with her. She said, "Yeah. Me too. One of my eyes is happy and one of my eyes is sad. [Long pause.] But, now they are both happy because I get to be with you mommy!" So, so cute!


Then, once we were at the mall, we were in the housewares department at Macy's and the ladies there were making quite a fuss over Pressley. They talked to her about whether she was going to see Santa (and were quite amused by her qualification that she was going to see Santa, but that she would not be having her picture made, because she only planned to get close enough to tell him what she wants for Christmas). They came out from behind the counter to see her outfit and fussed over how cute she looked. So, when we were ready to leave, they both shouted after us... "Bye Pressley. Have fun with Santa!" etc., etc. She gave them a little backward wave, and as we were getting on the elevator I said to her, "You are just like a celebrity everywhere we go, aren't you?" And she replied, "That's because everybody thinks I'm so cute!" Ahhh, yes. Well, we don't have any self-esteem issues to work on quite yet!



We had a lovely day together, and though I missed my grown-up lunch that I had been looking forward to, I cherish these times I get to spend with one of my kids, one-on-one.



In other new, Evan has lost a second tooth. My dad pulled it for him a couple of weeks ago. I was thrilled with that development, because much like my feelings about butterflies, I also have an irrational fear of loose teeth. Well, not a fear really so much as they just creep me out. Anyway, Evan was fine with all the tooth-pulling and fairy visiting and money making, but Pressley was completely traumatized by the whole thing. Just last night, she called me to her room well after bed-time and lights out to let me know that she does not want to be six. Because she does not want her teeth to come out and bleed. Oy! We have a long road ahead of us....

Photo update

Since I've been really lousy at keeping the blog updated recently, I thought I'd at least provide a link to some of our fun photos from this month's activities.



http://picasaweb.google.com/apmccarthy1/1012December#


I have a few stories to tell, so hopefully, I'll be back real soon.

What a lousy historian I turned out to be...

I know I've been absent for nearly a month. I don't know what to say about that. I have a lot of catching up to do I guess. I'll start with Thanksgiving. We had a lovely one, as usual. We spent Thanksgiving day with my family here in Atlanta, and then, as is our tradition, we jetted off to New York the next morning. At the crack of dawn.

We spent Saturday morning at Mohonk Mountain House. It was bitterly cold. Despite the fact that Evan had been coughing his head off for days before we left (and was likely still running a fever), he insisted on doing the Rock Scramble for the second year in a row. He is such a little monkey and loves to climb, so it was the highlight of his trip.

Later that afternoon, we went to see the Alpacas that belong to Kerry and Kate's friends, Bob and Ian. We'd never met Bob and Ian before, even though this was our 3rd or 4th trip to visit their Alpacas. Since they were home this year, we actually got to go inside the fence and feed the Alpacas. Well, Evan fed them. Pressley was not a fan of being on the same side of the fence with the Alpacas. Then, we went inside to warm up and Bob and Ian provided the gift that has just kept on giving. They gave Evan and Pressley each an Alpaca finger puppet, made out of Alpaca wool. The kids have played with those finger puppets tirelessly. They were a much bigger hit on the plane ride home than the Leapsters or the DVD player. Seriously. Who knew?

On Sunday, it was off to NYC for a 24 hour, whirlwind tour. We went to the M&M store, ate some awesome burgers and shakes at the Shake Shack, toured the Museum of Natural History, took a carriage ride through Central Park, and swung by FAO Schwartz (where Pressley was reunited with the Big Piano that she loved so much two years ago). After FAO Schwartz, the kids were fading fast, so we headed back toward the hotel for a quiet dinner at a little Italian spot around the corner from the hotel. Poor Evan promptly fell asleep on a pile of coats in the corner of our booth. Bless his heart. For a little guy who'd been fighting a cold for over a week, we really didn't cut him much slack.

The next morning, we met up with Kerry and headed over to the Today Show set to say hello to Matt Lauer. We are pretty sure the kids made it on TV when Michael Buble was greeting the crowd on the Plaza. After we had some breakfast and sent Kerry off to work, we headed back over to Rockefeller Center for some ice skating. I kinda figured it would be the most expensive 10 minutes of entertainment in the history of my parenting, but as it turns out, the kids loved it. And they stuck with it for much longer that we might have guessed.

Finally, it was time to head to the airport for a 1.5 hour flight delay and then finally home. It was a great, great trip and we are so blessed to have such fun traditions to kick off the Christmas season.

Rules, Schmulz

It has been a while since the kids and I went to Wednesday night supper at church. First, I'd been on this crazy restrictive diet. And second, I got really tired of doing the same thing at church that I do at home. "Eat at least one more bite of your vegetables before you can leave the table." "You love chicken nuggets. Why won't you eat them?" And on and on.

So, we'd been stopping on the way to church to pick up a quick dinner. But, last night was the special Thanksgiving dinner that the church does on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving week every year. And since my kids thoroughly enjoyed the Thanksgiving lunch our Sunday school class put on last Sunday, I thought I'd take them to church for this event.

We shall now resume our avoidance of the church suppers for the following reason:

When the kids finish eating, they always ask if they can go play. I almost always let them because the other parents almost always let their kids. But, I had two rules. 1. Do not run inside of the dining room. 2. Do not yell inside the dining room. Over time, I have developed quite an extensive set of rules (born of necessity after I've caught them doing the very things prohibited by the new rules). 3. Do not trap your sister in the men's restroom. 4. Do not go up the stairs into the sanctuary. 5. Do not leave the building. 6. Do not stomp across the stage in the dining room.

So, when Evan asked if he could go play last night, I said okay as long as he follows my rules. He recited a few of them and asked if that was all. I said that was all I could remember at the moment, but I expect him to know how to behave himself. And off he went with his sister - who was also warned to behave herself.

(Anyone sensing the foreboding that I should have picked up on when he asked if the list of rules was exhaustive?)

A few minutes (a very few) later, I heard loud wailing and gnashing of teeth from out in the hallway. I knew it was Pressley, so I headed toward the wailing as quickly as I could maneuver through the crowd. Next thing I know, the door to the hallway opened and there stood Pressley howling and holding her back and Evan by her side, looking guilty.

Here's what I eventually got out of them. There is this free-standing metal coat rack about 3 feet long at the bottom of the steps leading up to the sanctuary. Evan thought it would be a good idea to grab one of the wooden coat hangers hanging on said metal coat-rack and swing from one end of the coat rack to the other. And then his sister followed his lead.

Only she's not nearly as advanced in tom-foolery as her brother, so she either let go of the hanger or it slipped out of her hands. And she landed on her back on the "foot" of the coat rack, or more specifically, one of its rough metal corners.

She is fine. She has a nasty gash on her back about one inch long. It has been treated with Neosporin and a band-aid.

Thank goodness (as my dad pointed out) that the incident didn't also tear her dress, because oh.my.heavens, I cannot even imagine how much longer the crying would have lasted. She was wearing her favorite dress.

Now, I ask you.... Does this fall into the category of sweet children behaving themselves? I think not. But in fairness, prior to last night, there was no specifically-articulated rule that forbid them from swinging on hangers on a metal coat rack.

And they wonder why it seems like I have so many rules....

Worn slap out

In one weekend, we went trick-or-treating, had two soccer games, went to Six Flags for Fright Fest, went to church, went to Boo at the Zoo, went trick-or-treating again, and then to a post-trick-or-treating neighborhood party.

The pictures will have to speak for themselves. I'm pooped.

I present my pink rocker girl and my dragon ninja.

Goodnight.

The little things

In addition to all of our big outings this fall, we've also been trying to give attention to the little things that make fall fun. I was at Michael's the other day (can you say, "Fish out of water?") looking for fall leaves to add to the dining room centerpiece I created out of a Target candle holder and a bunch of gourds. I found no fall leaves, but I did find a kit for making a gingerbread Haunted House. And an Olivia book about Halloween.

I brought these things home last Tuesday and they were still in a bag on the kitchen table when Evan and I got home from the bus. I had intended to contemplate whether I wanted to hide it until I was ready to break it out, but I waited too long and it was the first thing Evan saw when he walked into the house. As if he spotted it through the bag.

So, for the next couple of days, it was all I heard about. We ended up putting it together on Thursday night before bedtime, but we couldn't decorate it because we read that the frosting holding the pieces together has to set for at least an hour before you start decorating. So we decorated it on Friday afternoon after school.

I think it turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself. I had to do most of the icing, because My Mercy that icing bag is hard to squeeze. I may have carpal tunnel now. But the kids decided where to put all the candy and they seemed to thoroughly enjoy the experience.

This week, Pressley turned her attention to begging to carve the pumpkin. Having been the proud owners of some Jack-o-lanterns with some caved in mouths in past years, we were trying to put them off as long as possible. But, Tuesday night we finally caved (no pun intended). While Corin was doing the icky part, the kids and I looked on the Internet and they picked out a face they liked and then we made a template. I know it is not fancy, but they are super proud of the way it turned out. (See below.)

Well, we're off to go pick Evan up from karate and go trick-or-treating at Corin's office, so I will likely continue my streak of posting every day for a bit longer before I drop off the face of the blog-osphere again. I'll need to tell you how that goes, and about the costume I "made" for Evan's storybook costume at school today, and of course, about the actual trick-or-treating....

Whew. I'm going to need a vacation in November.

Another weekend, another pumpkin farm (with a little "errand" on the way)...

This past weekend we had plans to visit Washington Farms in Watkinsville, Georgia with our friends, the Citrons. We had two overlapping soccer games to attend in the morning and then the plan was to grab a quick bite and show up at the pediatrician's office in time for the 1:00 p.m. flu shot clinic and then off to meet the Citrons.

Due to the inborn drama tendencies of our youngest child, we had decided that we would not tell the children about the flu shots too early on. I had said that we were going to grab lunch and then run an errand and then head up to Washington Farms.

Once we finished lunch and were a few miles from the pediatrician's office, Pressley wanted to know what kind of errand we would be running. Corin and I exchanged the "It's Time" look and he 'fessed up. You would not believe the drama that ensued. Pressley immediately started sobbing uncontrollably about how she didn't want a shot. She promised that she would never get sick and could she please just not have to have one? I was a little worried she may hyperventilate, so I told her that there was a possibility that the doctor could give her the medicine in a spray in her nose and if she would just stop crying I would ask the doctor about it as soon as we got there.

Thanks goodness that stopped the sobbing temporarily and we were able to make it from the car to the office and through the line without drawing any stares. She was very whimpery in the waiting room, but still no staring from the other families. (Oh, and I did ask about the Flu Mist. They were out.)

However, the minute the nurse called our kids' names, she started hollering again. To make a long story a tiny bit shorter, I'll just skip to the part where the nurse had to nod at Corin and tell him to put Pressley on the table and hold her down so she could give her the shot in her leg. Another nurse appeared in the doorway just in time and came in to assist with the holding down of the writhing child. (How on earth she knew that her assistance was required, I'll never know...) Nurse #1 pulled down P's tights and gave her the shot while she sat up as much as she could under the weight of All The Arms and bellowed, "GUYS! Seriously!! Don't do it!! I don't want a SHOTTTTT! No...gasp...No...gasp...NOOOOOOO!!"

Meanwhile I had stepped out into the hallway. Honestly, I was torn between crying and laughing. The child was simultaneously breaking my heart with the earnestness of her pleas and crackin' me up with the phrasing of them.

On the way out, she was still furious and indignant and determined to scare the *@%^ out of every child in the waiting room. Another family who had been waiting for the elevator when we got out into the hallway stepped aside and let us have the elevator and "selflessly" agreed to wait for the next one rather than riding with us. All I could do was shoot apologetic looks at everyone whose mouth was agape at the sight.

I know I tend to exaggerate for the sake of a good story, but I'll have you know, there is NO exaggeration contained herein. All true and accurate. Ask Corin.

She continued to cry and stomp her feet and holler out in indignance long after we left the doctor's office. She threw her sucker to the floor. Refused ice cream. But, finally, the offer of a petit four from Rhodes Bakery with a pumpkin on top calmed her. It. Was. Awful... (The drama. Not the petit four. I didn't taste the petit four, but I know from past experience that there is nothing awful about those.)

We did finally make it to Washington Farms and had a delightful time, as usual. And, as usual, we stayed too late and had tired, cranky children waiting in line at a crowded restaurant, but it was all in the name of fun.

Slide, cow train, and John Deere "tractors"

Petting zoo and pig races

Corn crib, jumping "pillow", and visit with the racing pigs

Corn maze

We're having a busy fall, yall!

I may have said this before, but October has become one of our busiest months of the year. Why? Because it is just so gorgeous here in October and there are so many fun fall activities that we just don't want to leave any out. Add two kids playing soccer....and you've got a recipe for a dizzying kind of exhaustion before Halloween. But I wouldn't trade it.

The weekend after the camping, we took off as soon as soccer games were over on Saturday and headed to Amicalola Falls. It has long been one of our fall traditions to go hiking at Amicalola and then head to Burt's Pumpkin Farm to do a little pumpkin shopping.

This year, the weather could not have been better. There was a hint of fall in the air (just a tiny hint) and a beautiful blue sky. The older the kids get, the more they enjoy this part of the trip. They LOVE climbing on all the rocks on the trail and they are just super troopers about all the steps. (You may note that one of the photos has them posing in front of the sign that tells just how many steps they climbed to the top of the falls.)

We also enjoyed stopping by Burt's for our pumpkins. The kids helped pick out the pumpkins, and since they have been asking non-stop this year about when we are going to decorate for Halloween, we also let them pick out some decor for the yard to add to the stuff I bought at The Target last week for inside the house.

I always thought decorating for Halloween was just putting your Jack-o-Lantern on the front porch, but these kids have the expectation that Halloween decorating should rival Christmas decorating. Perhaps because so many of our neighbors go all out. So, I'm trying to compile enough decorations to make the little people around here happy.

There were four in the bed and the little one said...

I'm crowded. Roll over!

So....we went camping last weekend. The significance of this announcement: It was not only Pressley's first camping trip, but mine as well. Corin decided it was best to break this new ground near home until he could see how his girls were going to do with all the dirt and the sleeping in a tent and the no showers and the trek to the bathroom. So we did this camping at Stone Mountain. Turns out, we both did great. Pressley even embraced the going-potty-in-the-woods-thing. Me... not so much. I preferred to put my shoes on and make the 100 yard trek (maybe not even that far) to the fairly clean facility nearby.

Corin was sure all along that I would have fun. I was not so sure, but my goodness, anyone witnessing their children having such a great time would have to be a fool not to enjoy themselves. The kids thoroughly enjoyed riding the Skylift to the top of the mountain (maybe next time we'll hike it), feeding ducks and geese and fish, climbing in and out (and in and out and in and out) of the tent, roasting marshmallows, and peeing on trees.

I enjoyed the family time and the fact that when we realized that our campfire was just not going to start itself, that we were only 5 minutes away from a convenience store that sold lighter fluid and the Sunday paper.

My parents graciously let us borrow their king-sized airbed. So, it wasn’t even that uncomfortable. Well, for the kids and me, anyway. The three of us slept on the airbed while Corin slept on a mat beside us and made comments about how I was living like a queen “up there” until we fell asleep. I was quick to point out that if he ever wanted to take the whole family camping again, it was in his best interest to make sure I stayed as comfortable as possible. It is not that I’m a princess or anything, but I do like my modern amenities. A lot.

The next morning we got up and my sweet husband made eggs and sausage for breakfast. We had a fantastic view of the lake and the mountain from our picnic table. We filled up and then went to check out the old covered bridge and the grist mill.

And when we decided it was time to come home, it was only a twenty minute drive to a hot shower. Not that I went straight to the shower before fixing lunch for my hungry kids or anything. Oh, wait. Yes I did. In my defense, I knew they'd had a big breakfast and nobody was gonna starve while mommy got the dirt off.

Truth be told, I'm still dizzy and maybe a little nauseous

Let me tell you about the kind of living on the edge we are doing around here.

Pressley decided she was not going to take a nap today, so after laying quietly with her for 20 minutes, after no sleep came, I told Corin it would be a napless day and we could do something fun. Evan initially wanted to go to Sky Hike at Stone Mountain, but it was already 3:05, and the internet told me that Sky Hike closed at 5pm today. The internet also told me, though, that Six Flags was open until 10pm, and that if we bought 2011 Season Tickets today, we'd get admission for the rest of this month, all next year, and a parking pass to boot. So, at 3:10, we decided to go to Six Flags.

I know. That's apparently how we roll these days.

We had a blast. Corin and I were inappropriately dressed, because after suffering in the heat at soccer games yesterday, we had Indian Summer on the brain and wore shorts and short sleeves and flip flops. Pressley had already come home from church and put on her new jeans. (Yes, you read that right. For the first time in nearly 2 years, Pressley wore a pair of not-only-pants-but-jeans! I took her to the mall yesterday while the boys played golf and she picked them out herself! OK. I digress....) And Evan had on the long pants he wore to church. Both had put on sneakers when we thought we were going to sky hike, so they were dressed appropriately at least. And I took jackets for them (and me), so no one froze.

But it was chilly! I mean... I know it is October, but this is Atlanta after all.

If I had worn jeans, it would have been absolutely perfect weather to go to Six Flags. The only times I've been there previously, I had melted into a puddle by the time we left, so this was a pleasant change - even inappropriately dressed.

Did I really just spend that many words telling you what we wore? Seriously. You might rather I go back to my bloggers block.

We discovered a couple of new things (aside from how to dress appropriately for October evenings):

1) Pressley is a bit of a thrill-seeker. She did not shy away from one single ride. Her face glowed with excitement and she screamed and clapped her hands with glee on every roller coaster. (Evan was equally thrilled with the adrenaline, but I knew that from summer before last when he and I went to Six Flags with the cousins.)

2) Corin and I are not young. Maybe you knew that. And, I've been seeing signs pointing that direction for a long time, but my old friend The Wheelie made a point of driving the fact home with a vengeance today.

The Wheelie used to be one of my favorite rides, so when the kids saw it and wanted to ride it, I agreed without hesitation. Corin had no intention of riding, but when the lady told me that I could only take one of the kids in my cage, he was pressed into reluctant service. He was a trooper about it, but both of us came off of there a smidge green around the gills.

We proceeded to go from there to my all time favorite ride: The Great American Scream Machine. But, wait.... Has the Scream Machine always been so rough that it makes it feel as if all of your vertebrae are pounding into one another as if no disks are present in between? Because I don't remember that part. Losing your tummy going down the hills, I remember. Crushing pain in my neck vertebrae, I do not recall.

All in all, it was a really fun way to spend a day with the family. But next time, Corin and I will be sticking to the Dahlonega Mine Train and the Wily Coyote Canyon Blaster. With the preschool set.

Here are Corin and Lil' P on the bumper cars:

Evan on the bumper cars:

My three favorite people chillin' (literally) on the sky buckets after dinner:

The kids showing off their souvenirs and happy faces leaving the park:

Honestly, there is no amount of dizziness and nausea I wouldn't endure to put the kind of smiles on those faces that we saw today. Totally worth it!

Oh, the preciousness

There is a disclaimer for the beginning of this post: If you read it, you must never hint to Evan that you know anything about it. I mean really.... you wouldn't want to ruin my relationship with him forever, would you? And if you do hint to him that you know about what I'm about to tell you, I will deny that I told.

Promise? Okay. Here goes.

Corin called me yesterday morning very concerned about Evan. You see, Evan had told him on the way to school yesterday morning that some girls at school had been making fun of him the day before. Corin said E wouldn't tell him what they were saying, but that one little girl was writing on his chair and the other little girl was reading what she wrote and laughing. Corin told me that he seemed pretty upset about it and I might want to see if I could talk to him about it.

Evan actually brought it up later. He told me that A__ had been writing something on the back of his chair in class and that M__ was reading it and laughing. When I asked what A__ had written, he told me (in a most disgusted tone) that she had written she loved him and M__ was laughing about it.

I tried to explain that the girls certainly were not making fun of him and that he should be flattered that A__ likes him. From the look he gave me, he clearly doesn't see it that way and loudly complained, "But, I didn't LIKE it when she said that!"

I gave him a big hug and promised him that someday he would like it when a girl says she likes him. But for now, he doesn't have to like it, but he should certainly not get upset about it since they were most definitely not making fun of him.

Bless his heart. It's not easy being the smartest, cutest, sweetest boy in the first grade. Okay, maybe I'm biased, but at least I know that A__ agrees with me.

Let's back up a bit, shall we?

I just realized that in my blog-block funk, I have neglected to report on this years' Smoky Mountain trip:

The last weekend of August, we had the privilege of doing something we'd never done before. We combined the Pressleys and the McCarthys for a weekend in the mountains. So, the kids had an entire weekend with both sets of grandparents. They were in hog heaven.

We had a really nice time. Judy and Dennis cooked lots of great food (as usual), and there was lots of rock hopping, river swimming, outlet shopping, trail hiking and over eating.

*This is really not my story to tell, but since none of the eyewitnesses will blog it, I shall record it for posterity myself. When Grandaddy and Corin and Evan and Pressley went hiking, they saw a big black snake in (or right off of) the trail. Upon closer inspection, it turns out the snake was in the process of eating a chipmunk. Whole. So they watched. The 3 generations of boys found the whole thing way cool, while our little Miss P was completely grossed out.*

Here is Pressley with GranNan at Newfound Gap on the way to the cabin.

The terrace level of our cabin not only housed two bedrooms, but also a foosball table and a pool table.

Evan playing pool with Grandaddy.

Here's one of Pressley with Gran at Metcalf Bottoms.

And, finally, some pics of some of the river fun.

A big thanks to the McCarthys for being such gracious hosts and a shout-out to my dad for once again stepping up as family photographer when this lame-brained mommy forgot to take a camera. Again.

There are many more photos of the mountain trip, as well as some September soccer photos and whatnot at the August and September album links.

She made a liar out of me

I may have mentioned that I have been highly skeptical about the success of Pressley's soccer career. I agreed to let her sign up for soccer, and we bought the stuff, but I really doubted she would ever actually play. I was just trying to be a good mommy and let her learn on her own.

Her first soccer practice was last Thursday, and we had 5 minutes or so to kill after we endured the grueling task that is getting a child into their shinguards, soccer socks and cleats, and this is how she killed the time:

That would be an Americal Girl Doll catalog that she is browsing through, exclaiming on every page, "Ooooh, mommy. I want this for Christmas!" Didn't do anything to boost my already low expectations for soccer practice.

But I dutifully filled a water bottle, put her new pink ball in her new YMCA sports bag, and drove us all over to practice. I was shocked when she trotted right out onto the field with her ball and started kicking it around with her friends. Even more shocked when she ran her little heart out doing sprint drills, and I'll be derned if she didn't then do this:

She fell down many, many times during the various drills, but she never cried about getting dirty. She did, however, stop in the middle of her turn to dribble the ball down and kick it into the goal to brush every speck of dirt off of her knee after she fell before she proceded to complete the exercise. A girls' gotta have priorities after all.

In Evan news, Corin was reading a story to the kids the other night called "What Do People Do All Day?" (As a side note, this book is one of the kids' favorites, but it was clearly written very many years ago when it was ok to write things like, "Rail yards are busy places. Some railroad workers ride in a caboose. The frieght train engineer watches the signals. A hobo doesn't work, but he likes to ride in a boxcar." With a picture of a cat in a jacket with patches on it, carrying a stick with a bandana bundle at the end, and labeled 'HOBO'.)

Anyway, Corin is reading this book and starts asking the kids, "Do you know what daddy does?" Evan: Oh, yeah. You settle arguements, blah, blah, blah. "Do you know what my job is called?" Evan: Ummm, lawyer. "And what does mommy do?" Evan (excitedly): Stays home and relaxes!

Corin got a huge chuckle out of that, but quickly corrected him that mommy works very hard, etc., etc. (Probably mostly because I was within earshot, but whatever works.) Then, luckily, the book helped to further explain the situation by explaining what people do with the money that they get when the provide a good or a service. "Grocer Cat (not to be confused with Hobo Cat) bought a new dress for Mommy. She earned it by taking such good care of the house."

And then I burned my bra.