Pinnochio!

As I've written before, for a Christmas present last year Chad got me (what turned out to be) the ULTIMATE gift: tickets for Aly and me to attend The Nutcracker in Atlanta. I've said that since then, Aly wears her ballerina outfit at least 3 days a week, pretends to be Clara everyday ("I'm Clara in the morning and Superman after nap"), counts down the days until her weekly dance class, and wants to listen to nothing but The Nutcracker Suite c.d. in the car. Whether Caroline wanted to our not, the fact that she absolutely looks up to everything that Aly does has made her just as much of a Nutcracker fanatic. So, when Atlanta Ballet called with a ticket deal for three ballets for what we paid for one last year, the Ballerina Daddy jumped on it and presented me with this year's Christmas present: tickets for the girls and me to attend not only the beloved Nutcracker, but also Pinnochio and Cinderella!

With all that said, Saturday was the big day for Pinnochio (and Caroline's first ballet ever!) The girls put on the dresses they've been asking to wear all summer, made the drive to Atlanta, and did a wonderful job. Caroline is still too young to have mastered the art of whispering, but even her questions were all about what she was watching, ("where Pinnochio now?!) which just made me smile. We grabbed a milkshake on the way home at Steak n' Shake (everyone's favorite!), and made it home, excited to tell Chad all about it.

My next goal: weaning The Nutcracker c.d. from every carride... poor Jack will come into this world doing plies and arabesques!

Dressed and ready for the big day

Riding in 'boats' (theatre booster seats) before the show started

Just a couple other pictures from the week...

Sit-and-Spin: the coveted toy of choice

Watching a Superman tribute on YouTube
(yes, two BIG crushes on Christopher Reeve, aka Clark Kent, aka Superman)

Third Time's a Charm!

Our family went to the local pumpkin patch on Sunday to pick out our pumpkin, which the girls are just dying to make into a jack-o-lantern right now! As I got home and downloaded the pictures, something occurred to me that I never thought possible even a year or two ago: we have a family picture in the same patch of pumpkins for THREE CONSECUTIVE YEARS!!! Some might call that just a typical Halloween tradition, but it struck me as remarkable to our family! In the years that we have been married, Chad and I have never lived somewhere for three years! In Aly's first year and a half of life, we had lived in 3 different cities in 2 different states and 4 different houses! And now a pumpkin patch picture for three consecutive Halloweens? Now that's stability if I've ever heard it! And even more surprising to me is the fact that I'm enjoying this stability. For the first 5 years that we were married, I loved the fact that we were moving, changing jobs, meeting new friends; there was a part of me that worried that I must be part Nomad (sorry Chris, if that's not politically correct!!) After our first year here, I started assuming we were leaving and getting that itch to start packing boxes. But looking at these pictures just confirms to me that we are so blessed to live in a wonderful town, where Chad has a job he loves, attending a church with exciting growth, surrounded by friends who we're creating roots with! Yes, we are rooted in this community and I couldn't be happier! I guess my days of being a Gypsie (again, sorry Chris!) are over!

2007

2008

2009

Football and Friends and Adenoids, OH MY!

It's been another week of rainy weather here in Georgia, so what better way to keep from getting cabin fever? Do a little traveling! And traveling we did. Chad started practice almost 3 weeks ago, but we have about 2 more weeks before games start, so we took advantage of a less-crazy schedule. As an early birthday present, Chad surprised me with tickets to the Georgia/ Tennessee game in Knoxville. It's been a tradition of ours' to go to this game since we were engaged (as it's usually the last one we can attend before our season starts.) We had a great time, regardless of the loss!


Our good friends from Virginia, the Smiths, now live in Sewanee, TN. Chad's team was having a retreat at the school Monday night and Tuesday so the girls and I tagged along and stayed with the Smiths and their FOUR kids! Cortney is one of my closest friends, so I try to take advantage of spending even a little time with her. When we first met the Smiths, they had one child and we had none; over the years, the kids have increased, the ability to carry on sane conversations has decreased, but we love them more and more!

Late-night ice cream cones

Smiling for the camera

And out with the old, in with the new... Caroline had her surgery today to remove her old (no longer effective!) ear tubes, replace them, and remove her adenoids. The poor girl has been sick since July, so hopefully this will give her some relief. The doctor said that one of her eardrums was about to rupture and her adenoids were enormous...so I guess that it was worth it...again!!

Pre-surgery pose (this is always her face in pictures because she says "cheesburger" everytime the camera comes out...I think I always catch in mid "urger"

This next picture is after she received her "happy medicine", before taking her away for her IV--she kept thinking there was something on the wall! And then she would use both hands to open my mouth and ask, "Is dat Baby Jack?" over and over! Bless her bones!

We told the girls last night that we would be going to the fair tonight, and they have looked so forward to it (calling it everything from 'the circus' to 'the zoo'!) that they have asked when we were going from that moment on! We finally made it, and we had a great time. Chad and I knew that one of the girls would be brave and the other scared...However, we could have never guessed that it would be the careful, cautious Aly who wanted to ride even the fastest, highest rides while Caroline, who usually considers the consequences only after running through the wall, would be absolutely frightened! But she did finally decide to ride the Ferris Wheel and laughed and screamed the whole time. The highlight of Aly's night was riding the very fast Himalaya with Chad. I took a picture of her standing on tiptoes while the Carney measured her!
Many rides, empty pockets, tummies full of fair food, and a tearful good-bye later, we can't wait to go back next year!

Don't let the smile fool you: the Carney had to stop the ride to let the crying Caroline off!

The Surprise Dare-Devil

Atop the Ferris Wheel (this IS a real smile!)

Boarding the Himalaya...
...and riding it!

Sick Days at the Sick Bay

I know that I've posted about this before, but I really feel like we get sick a lot around here. Someone is sick every week! We went to get flu shots on Thursday and the receptionist checked us in by name, and double-checked our address and insurance information- all without having to ask me a single question, then followed it by, "I feel like I know y'all well!" Aly has a high fever, her second bout with this in a month. And poor Caroline lost the tube out of one of her ears this summer and has had 4 straight ear infections...in just that ear! She is getting a second set of tubes in and her adenoids out in two weeks; hopefully that will get her through the winter! Just as a footnote, Caroline also started running a fever before bed! I really am not complaining- I just hate it for these kids! Here is a picture of our pitiful patient tonight:



But, all is not fevers and earaches... here are a few pictures from our past week or two:

Daddy and the girls before "Daddy's Dessert" night at school

Face painting at Alumni Weekend (for Chad's 15 year high school reunion!!)

Posing with cousins William and Warner in front of a HUGE dump truck