Preschool Halloween Parties

Maggie and Tuttle both enjoyed Halloween parties at school this week. Luckily they were on different days, so I could attend each one and give each baby some individual attention. :)

Maggie's party in the Pound Puppy Class was yesterday.

Maggie was so happy to see me that she requested to hold my hand the entire time that she ate her party snack at the table. While she is a wild child at home, she tends to get shy in large crowds, but I love every excuse to hold her. 

The parents did such an impressive job with the decorations and food. Everything was very detailed, and Maggie gobbled up her fruit, carrots, cookie, and crackers. She had a perfect first school party!

Tuttle's Pre-K party was today after a parade of costumes around the school. I was subbing in another class, but I was able to sneak away for a few minutes to celebrate with my sweet boy. He was eager to tell me about the party game that he played where he was able to touch monster brains (spaghetti), witch fingers (carrot sticks), monster tongues (bananas), and something with jello. I know that game was destined to be a hit with four year old boys!

Tuttle and Maggie are ready to trick-or-treat tonight. The preschool parties definitely made the holiday a lot of fun because we could spread it out over several days. I am both dreading and looking forward to all the candy that will end up at our house tonight. I need to have the same limits that I put on Tuttle and Maggie because I usually end up with the worst stomach ache after Halloween! Haha

Happy Halloween!!

A Haircut, A Hot Date, and Halloween

Maggie received her first haircut Friday afternoon. I asked for a trim to clean up the ends. Maggie did fantastic. :)

Saturday evening Gram and Grumps kept Maggie and Tuttle, so Jay and I could enjoy our monthly datenight. We decided to try a restaurant in Virginia Highlands that was new to us, La Tavola. Jay is not usually an Italian fan, but we are already planning our next visit back to eat the DELICIOUS food again. We devoured grilled calamari with garlic cauliflower for an appetizer, a beet and arugula salad, and I enjoyed a rabbit sausage pasta and practically licked my plate clean. Jay and I always feel so refreshed after our datenights, and sleeping in until almost 10am the next morning always helps, too! :)

Tuttle and Maggie have been looking forward to the annual Trunk-or-Treat at their preschool for weeks now, and today was the special day. After rest time the kids eagerly showered and dressed up in their chosen costumes. Tuttle did not even fight me against taking a picture because he did not have to look at me or smile! (And such a typical Maggie picture....)

 Maggie was a little nervous while Tuttle ran from car to car collecting candy. If any of the cars looked remotely creepy with its decorations, she refused to approach them.

Tuttle was thrilled to run into his best buddy from the Dragon Class, Cooper. Their costumes matched perfectly for a Star Wars picture.

This family won my award for best costumes! Although Maggie loves The Wizard of Oz, the tin man was a little big and intimating for Maggie, so she would not pose with them as Glenda the Good Witch.

There were so many sweet friends ready to take pictures. I love seeing all the baby costumes! 

Trunk-or-Treat was the perfect practice for the big event Friday night. Tuttle is ready to fill his candy bucket and is not very eager to share with Mommy or Daddy. :)

 Happy Halloween!

Special Pictures of Maggie

I took some pictures of Maggie this week that I want to make sure to put into our picture vault. :)

The first is a photo of Maggie trying on her pink princess gown for Halloween. The photo captures her reaction perfectly. She truly feels like a princess, and isn't that what it is all about as a little girl?

The second pictures was taken at Maggie's gymnastics class. Several months ago Maggie discovered that the "big girls" practice gymnastics right before her class begins. We started to arrive earlier, so Maggie could watch the older girls perform on the bars, balance beam, and floor. Maggie was ALWAYS in awe, and she started to show a real interest in one child in particular. I discovered the child is the daughter of the Olympic gold medalist trainer at our gym. Her name is Ava, and Maggie always wants to watch her and give her as many hugs as possible. Ava could not be sweeter to Maggie and seems to be just as excited when we arrive. Whenever Maggie is off task during her gymnastics class, I remind her that Ava practices, and if Maggie wants to do flips like Ava that she needs to practice and listen to her coach. Maggie always immediately turns her attitude around. :)

Maggie is so special to our family, and she definitely spices up our lives!

I also had the best time chaperoning Tuttle's preschool field trip today. Maggie was in school, as well, so I was able to give Tuttle my complete attention. We went to the Atlanta Center for Puppetry Arts to watch Wizard of Oz. I loved snuggling with my little boy and hearing him crack up during the performance. What a fun morning! (Sadly it was too dark to get a clear picture.)

Third Annual Apple Picking Trip

Kristen and I took the babies on our annual apple picking adventure to BJ Reece Orchard in Ellijay, Georgia for the third time this past Friday. This year we were joined by more friends! Ellie, James, and Avery along with their mommies made the trip to pick apples.

 

It was the perfect day to go apple picking. I was so excited that it was cool enough to wear a sweater and boots! Kristen and I always ride together in her mini van, so the morning started off with some very excited kids all packed in together!

 

We got right to work when we arrived at BJ Reece. Tuttle and Maggie were both very independent picking their own apples and eating them right off the trees.

 

 

We found two varieties of apples and filled our bags with them to take home. The kids were eating apples the entire time, too. I was surprised Maggie and Tuttle had any room for our picnic in the orchard.

 

 

My favorite thing about our trip is that the adventure is truly good, old fashioned fun. We are completely alone in the orchard, and the kids have the best time running through the trees.

 

 

We contained all the kids in a huge wooden box for a group picture. It was a success!

 

 

I love creating these special memories with Tuttle and Maggie as well as our sweet friends. We will definitely keep the tradition going. Tuttle will have to play hookie from KINDERGARDEN next year! :( We finished up our day with apple doughnuts for the kids and mini fried apple pies for the mommies. Yum!!

 

 

I had to look back to our previous trips to see how much Tuttle and Maggie had grown.....

 

2013

 

 

 

2012

 

 

 

Happy Fall, Y'all! We will be enjoying apples for a while at our house!



Fall Fun!

We have already squeezed in two fun fall activities into our busy week! Since school was closed Monday for Columbus Day, the kids and I had a playdate with friends from school at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. The scarecrow exhibit was set up, and we had such a great time last year that we made it a priority to go again. I decided to get a membership to the Botanical Gardens this year, and I have a feeling Maggie and I will make it a frequent stop while Tuttle and Gigi are in school.

 

Tuttle talks non-stop about his new buddy, Cooper. Cooper is new to OPP, but he has already made a lasting impression on Tuttle and Gigi. His sister is close to Maggie's age, so everyone had a sweet friend to play with.

 

 

The Atlanta Botanical Gardens always does such an impressive job decorating for events. The kids loved exploring all the scarecrows and pumpkin areas set up along the trails. Since I love to take photos, it was a dream location to bust out my camera!

 

Maggie insisted on holding these crazy gourds for her picture. :)

 

 

Tuttle's favorite part of the trip was discovering a small garden snake near the children's garden. He was slithering along the sidewalk, so I used a small stick to move him into the wooded area. Tuttle did not hesitate to pick up the stick to get a closer look. He even wanted to take a picture with the snake. He NEVER volunteers to take a picture, so I jumped at the chance!

 

 

I am so glad we have Cooper, Mallory, and Ms. Stacey to join us for more playdates. Ms. Stacey is scheduled to add another baby to her family TOMORROW. She was such a trooper to hike all over the gardens at full term!

 

Today was Tuttle's first Pre-K field trip. The class walked to a nearby church pumpkin patch to pick out their own pumpkin to take home. It was also a special day for Tuttle because he was snack bringer/line leader. He chose to walk with Ms. Linda to the pumpkin patch, so he could keep his position at the front of the line! :)

 

 

 

Tuttle immediately found a pumpkin that he wanted to take home and carried it for the rest of the time at the patch.

 

 

It was a fun morning with the Dragon class at the pumpkin patch.

 

 

Maggie picked out a baby pumpkin to bring home.

 

 

 

I am impressed with how many field trips that the Pre-K class takes this year. Next week we are headed to the Center for Puppetry Arts. The pumpkin patch was the perfect introduction into field trips. The class was so well behaved and loved going on an adventure!