Happy 8th Birthday Dalton!!

On December 13th, 2002, I was blessed with a little boy named Dalton Blake.  I waited all day for his arrival and he finally showed up at 9:55 pm on Friday the 13th (yes, but it was not unlucky in the least).  He is so smart, he amazes me everyday.  I'm so proud of him. I'll share this, when they were writing what they were thankful for on Thanksgiving, Dalton wrote that he was "thankful for church because without it he would never get saved".  For the times when you think they are not paying attention, they will surprise you.  I'm proud that he knows the difference between right and wrong, loves his little sister (and let's her tag along) and is this wild and crazy little boy that fills our life with laughter. 

Dalton wanted an ice cream cake.  He said that he saw one with a construction theme.  Well, luckily Dairy Queen cake through.  Beware though, don't get blue icing...everyone had blue mouths.  I told them it was a trick cake.

Dalton had a few buddies to stay the night.  I think they stayed up all night...  I caught them playing Wii at 12:30 am...

If you'll notice in the background, Olivia has already been sampling the blue icing.

Happy Birthday Dalton, We Love You!!

         

Christmas Tree

Finally up and decoated.  I was so proud of the kids, Dalton brought the tree down from our storage area, found the directions on what color branches go in what order and put it together.  He had some help from Olivia and me, but he did the majority of it.  I put the lights on and the kids put on all the ornaments.  They were a great help! 

I got this plate in the Heartstrings Clearance store for $11, I thought it was a steal and super cute!

When we were on vacation, the kids bought me this plate at Cracker Barrel.  I thought they did a great job picking it out.  These make for great kitchen decorations. 

More photos later when I decorate my stairs!!

Weight Watchers

Hey, I tried the new Weight Watchers plan this week they just introduced.  I am doing the plan online using E-tools and I weighed myself this morning.  I lost 5.5 lbs.....  I've never lost that much in one week.  I'm very excited!! 

Fall Festival

Just a few pics of my kiddos at the Fall Festival. They had a really good time. Didn't have my camera, so here's a few pics with my phone...  Lots of people asked me about Olivia's shirt and I told them proudly that it was done by "Creekside Creations".  Hopefully I generated some new business.  Sorry I missed the deadline on the Christmas ones..

My Deer Hunters...

Well these are the rewards for spending countless hours in the woods.... 

Dalton was really excited when he came home.  I think he was just ready to get into a warm house!  

 

Dalton doesn't know about this deer, he was at school today when Brian killed it.... He will probably be upset he missed this one. Good job guys! 

Face Painting Gone Crazy

Well, I bought face paint for Olivia's scarecrow costume, but didn't anticipate the sheer temptation that it would bring to my children.  This is the result of kids begging and mommy giving in...  They apparently decided to be UK fans, of course in a mirror the UK can be easily distinguished, I think..  Even after washing it off, Olivia looked as if she had a Kool-Aid mustache.     

Scarecrows and Hunters

Olivia's first grade class performed at the PTO meeting on Thursday.  They were asked to dress as scarecrows.  I'd say it's a really good ploy to get parents to attend PTO meetings, just have their children perform after it's over.  Anyway, it was too cute. 

The Great White Hunters decided to venture to the woods, so I took some photos of them beforehand and told them if they killed a deer that I would post more pics.  No deer, just pics of the excited hunters. 

Notice Dalton's thumb's up, he was excited about going.

Cool hunting gear!!

This is just a random pic.  Apparently anything with a peace sign is cool.  We got these boots from Old Navy on Saturday night and she wore them the rest of the weekend.  I just thought it was such a girl thing to do!

Happy Halloween!

Dalton and Olivia had a blast this Halloween.  I took off Friday and got a few pics of their school parties.  The kids got lots of treats!!  We had a great time Trick-or-Treating on Saturday night.  I think it's my favorite thing all year long.  I love all the people that said "ya'll come on in" and they would bring in some special bag they made for the kids, take their picture and just gush about their costumes.  I look forward to seeing those people every year.  

Olivia and Ms. Monica (she is such a great teacher)

Olivia, Caroline and Lilly

Dalton won one of the Scariest Costume Prizes.  He got a DQ gift card (thanks Laura for the great prize idea).  Dalton has Ms. Becky, she is such a great teacher, too.   

Witch on her broom!!!

I"m scared, how about you??

We always go trick-or-treating as a family, it's always so much fun. 

This was our favortie spook of the night.  

Not sure what Chris was whispering, but it must have been funny!!

Also, Missy, I loved your pumpkins, so cool!!

Happy Halloween!  Hope everyone had a great night!  We even went to a "costume" birthday party on Friday night for one of Dalton's buddies, JT.  The night was filled with bonfires, hayrides, a graveyard birthday cake and good friends.  We had a great time! 

Halloween Treats

Dalton had already snagged a piece before I got a photo.  I really never knew how delicious DQ ice cream cakes were until my mom brought me one for my birthday.  I'm addicted.  Why wait for another birthday to get another ice cream cake?  It was awesome.  We bought this one the other night when we went out for dessert with friends.  Next time, we'll just go and have ice cream cake instead of blizzards!! 

Girl Scouts Bake Sale

Saturday we had a bake sale for Olivia's Daisy Troop at the Bank of Edmonson County.  We had a really good time.  The mommies did most of the selling, but occasionally the girls came to help with the selling, which really made people buy.  One of the mom's made Oreo Balls, crushed up oreos rolled in cream cheese and dipped in chocolate.  I had never had them.  Yummy!!  We had a good turnout. 

Happy Birthday to Me!!

It doesn't seem possible at all to be 36 today....  It's been a good day.  I came home last night and my kiddos had baked me a cake and decorated it and put a big huge 3 and 6 on it.  They are so funny.  It's still sitting at home on the counter ready to eat (unless they have eaten it while I was at work).  Anyway, it's been a good day so far, have had plenty of "Happy Birthdays".  Our boss is taking all of the October birthdays next week to Olive Garden... :-)  Yum!

Brian was still working last night at 12am and he decided to give me a call and be the first to wish me a Happy Birthday.  That was extremely sweet.  I'm so lucky to have such a great family that loves me enough to make this day special.  I even got a beautiful pot of mums delivered at work today from Brian's aunt. 

Tomorrow Brian and the kids will be taking me somewhere to celebrate.  I have no idea what they have in mind.  It doesn't matter, I'll be spending it with my favorite people!   

Girl Scouts

Olivia expressed an interest in the Girl Scouts, so I thought we could try it.  We had our second meeting last night.  Even though all of them weren't there, the girls had a great time.  We met at Creekside Garden and Nursery and picked out pumpkins to paint.  They were great enough to give us pumpkins for free, that was awesome. 

We decided to dress for the occassion.

All the girls had fun painting their pumpkins.

They especially loved the inflatable the troop leader had in her backyard setup for them.    

Chattanooga 2010

We took a weekend trip to Chattanooga last weekend. Brian wasn't able to take off work for Fall Break, so we decided to celebrate it a little bit early and take a short trip. We had a great time. The weather was beautiful and so were the views. Brian is a little bit of a history buff, so we had to see all the civil war sites and we went to the Tennessee Aquarium. Here are a few pics.



This was at Chickamauga/Chattanooga Miltary Park





There was all kinds of monuments to commemorate the civil war soldiers.



Swimming lessons.. she's getting there. Forgot the lifejackets and had to buy them at Gander Mountain on the way there. You always forget something.



Dalton can swim, he just hasn't learned to float when he stops swimming. As soon as he stops, he sinks!!



The Aquarium was cool. I thought it was better than Gatlinburg's.






This was a really cool area. This was the site of the battle that was fought on Lookout Mountain.

 


The views were awesome, but it made me weak in the knees. We decided not to venture Rock City since we got the same views from this area, plus it was free, can't beat that. We did miss all the gnomes at Rock City, oh well!

 




When we left, this was the scene on the moutain.  I can see why the battle was called the "Battle above the Clouds".

Hope you enjoyed the history lesson.  Since we had to take a day off school to go, we decided we would make it educational as we could.  It was good weekend getaway!

Of course all good vacations must end with someone getting sick.  Olivia got a terrible stomach virus and has missed all four days before fall break.  She is better today thankfully.  I'm so glad no one else caught it.  We were lucky! 

Fair Day

The kids were so excited to ride in the parade. We had bought lots of candy, but still ran out before the end of the parade. It was so much fun spending time with friends and reminicing about Fair Day when we went to school. I don't know of any other counties that do this. Everyone at work didn't know how to react when I said I was taking off for "Fair Day" at school.

The Guys

All the Girls (Emma Grace, Lilly, Olivia and Alyssa)

Good Friends

More good friends and Candy!!

Dalton won 1st place in Coloring!!!

Olivia's school poster won a Blue Ribbon!

Mamaw Helen rode in the parade and went to the Fair with us.  The kids are so lucky to have a great grandparent that loves to spend time with them.

Girls had fun riding all the rides!  It was hot, but they stuck it out.  They were all so tired.