Merry Christmas!

THANK YOU to:
1. April for taking these family pictures for us.
2. Saradee for telling me about her friend who designs Christmas cards.
3. and to Cara Orr for creating our Christmas card this year.

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

Sorry for slacking....

....in the blogger department.

Let's see, since my "last" post--and not the "October" post that I just finished today and posted on December 17--we have been a little busy.

A few things that have kept me from blogging...
1. preparing a house to sell
2. moving
3. unpacking
4. garage sale
5. unpacking some more
6. knitting, but not near enough
7. trying to catch up on my new testament challenge
8. my sweet Chalin
9. cleaning the garage
10. unpacking some more
11. painting and decorating Chalin's room
12. decorating the rest of our house
13. JLN (co-chairing keeps me way more busy than I ever imagined.)

A few things that will most likely keep me from blogging in the near future...
1. knitting, lots
2. new testament challenge--I'm almost done!!
3. my sweet Chalin, of course
4. Christmas shopping
5. wrapping presents
6. Christmas festivities
7. reading
8. getting our home back in order after Christmas
9. running. ha, we'll see about that one.
10. SELLING SCENTSY! I just started in November, and I LOVE IT! Chalin loves to help me, too, which makes it that much more fun :)

*Sorry, I've been so SUPER busy. I hope to update you more this month....well, maybe after Christmas :)

O-C-T-O-B-E-R

"It's the MOST WONDERFUL time of the year!!!"......come on, sing with me!

Ok, it is at least ONE of the most wonderful times of the year....OCTOBER. I love this month for a number of reasons:

1. Pumpkins
2. Cooler weather, but not too cold. I like to think of it as "hoodie" weather.
3. Pumpkin bread
4. Leaves changing color
5. Pumpkin Patches
6. Lots of birthdays, including Chad's on the 13th, and mine on the 31st.
7. Pumpkin seeds
8. Cute fall decorations
9. Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks!
10. And of course, HALLOWEEN--which means, dress up and candy.

I've always L-O-V-E-D Halloween for the reasons above, but over the years I've added and deleted from my "favorites" list....deleted the "being scared" part (I've turned into one big chicken over the years, I guess.) AND added an even greater love for trick-or-treating since Chalin has been here, especially this year, because he has really gotten into his costume and saying "Trick-or-Treat!"


I'm sad to say with all that we have had going on with the move, getting our house ready, and just being in a new place, we did not make it to the Pumpkin Patch this year; however, we got to go trick-or-treating at the zoo with some wonderful friends.....




....We went to the Lake Arcaida's Storybook Forest, which was AAAAA-MAZING by the way, and will now be a tradition of ours...Seriously, if you have young children, you MUST go to this. They create scenes from your favorite childhood stories (3 Little pigs, Old Mother Hubbard, Itsy Bitsy Spider, etc...) and you walk along a trail and have the opportunity to read these stories and see these storyb00k characters. They also have games, food (hot dogs, marshmallows for roasting by a campfire, hot chocolate), and a hayride!

Chalin and Humpty Dumpty

Chalin at the Gingerbread House

Fishing with Daddy

On the Hayride, which was a HUGE hit!

(Not the best picture of me, but the best I could get on the hayride with my cell phone!)

State Fair 2010

After Disney on Ice, we decided to take Chalin to the State Fair because we knew how much fun he had at the County Fair earlier this summer. He really enjoyed it, and so did we!

State Fair 2010

Kiddos with their Daddies

Riding the Merry-G0-Round with their Daddies

Checking out the baby chicks

Riding the scary ferris wheel

Riding the train with Mommy

"Hi Daddy!"

Silly boys

Riding the motorcycle

Riding in the canoe

He LOVED this...quite scary for Mommy though.

THANK GOODNESS he didn't listen to Daddy and raise his arms...he might have fallen out!! That thing was fast and jerky!

What a F-U-N time at the fair. Can't wait until next year!

Disney On Ice

This year, we were invited along with some friends to watch Disney on Ice. We didn't know how well Chalin would do sitting through an 1.5-2 hour show, but he did so good. He REALLY enjoyed the part when he got to see Woody and the gang from Toy Story--and "Doo-fy," of course, which he says is his "favorite."

On our way to the show.

Mickey & Minnie and the Gang

Chalin and Haddee sharing a seat & enjoying the show.

All the Disney characters

Chalin didn't get the memo that Mommy was taking another picture.

Sweet Emmee Kate with Chalin's Mickey Mouse ears.

"There's Buzz and Woody!"

"HI Buzz and Woody!"

Some Toy Story characters

Sweet Haddee

Finale

Chalin & Mommy after the show

We had a GREAT time...next, I'll post some pictures of the State Fair, which we enjoyed after Disney on Ice.

"Happy B-Day, Daddy!"

Happy B-day, Daddy!
We celebrated Chad's birthday on October 13. Chalin and I spent the day shopping around for a b-day gift in our new town (which takes way more time than shopping in a familiar town, in case you didn't know), baking a cake, and taking Daddy dinner since he had to work late. I asked Chalin what he wanted to get Daddy for his birthday, and he said, "I want to play dominoes with Daddy!" So, Daddy and Chalin played a game of Disney dominoes after dinner, and guess who won? Chalin, of course!

County Fair

This past Friday, Chalin headed down to Ada to visit family, while Chad and I enjoyed a date night at the movies, cheering at the first OU Football game of the season, AND packing (well, I wouldn't say we enjoyed packing, but it was something that needed to be done!). Mimi and Pops took him to the County Fair, and judging by the pictures, I would say this was a very FUN first experience! Chad and I can't wait to take him next time!

Here we go!

Playing games

Sliding with Pops

Merry-go-round with Mimi

Pink Pig Roller Coaster

Boat Ride

Riding the Ferris Wheel

Looking over the edge!

Liking the green truck

Taking a short break for some dinner.

Another fun ride

"Pops, I NEED to go this way!"

Cool motorcycle!

Yellow truck ride

"Look at all my prizes I won!"

How long after he woke up on Saturday morning do you think it took him to start saying he NEEDED to go back to the Fair? He's really into things he thinks he "needs" these days...and he thinks he "needs" everything!