Halloween and such

The kids definitely piled up the candy and costume mileage this year. We went to the annual "Boo at the Zoo," and the kids were so happy to wear their costumes (Sydney was Tinkerbell, and Jaxy picked out Captain America - I'm pretty sure it was the shield that sealed the deal there).

There were lots of candy stands to trick-or-treat at, and costumed mascots were ready for each and every photo op. Jaxon would only approach statues and cut-outs, but Sydney was willing to pose with random characters.

They had a great time!

The next Saturday we spent at church for the Fall Festival. There were games, treats, and trunk-or treating activities all night long (and we spent all day preparing for it). We do not have any pictures because Donnie spent the entire time chasing around two kids on sugar highs, and I was stuck at the cotton candy machine the entire time - I can't even remember if I had a chance to eat.

We had carnival games, a cupcake walk, sno cones, cotton candy, hotdogs, chips, a chili cook-off, and lots of candy. Everyone had a great time!

Then on Halloween night we took the kids around our neighborhood. There were a lot of houses to pick up candy, but very few trick-or-treaters, so we all ended up with bags of candy. Donnie and the kids came home to grab new bags and went back out while I stayed to hand out treats at our house! 

Fall in review...

Our Fall was all about playing keep up. Sydney started kindergarten, Jaxy joined a preschool co-op group, Donnie's schedule became even crazier than it already was, I started babysitting a little girl in our ward, and we learned that our family would soon grow to include another little one.


Even with all of that going on, we still managed to frequent Stone Mountain and Braves' games, and fit in some extended family time.

U.S.Open

We went to New York at the end of August/beinning of September to check out early round action at the U.S. Open. We went with our good friends the Hansens, and had a great time.


I forgot the camera, so we only have random pictures from Donnie's phone, and only when we weren't trying to conserve the battery :). We mainly stayed at one of the smaller courts - more action, closer seats - but we did venture in to Arthur Ashe Stadium to check out Federer :)



We saw great matches, including Isner v. Baghdatis and Ferrer v. Monfis, both of which lasted well into 5 sets, a few tie breakers, and even a couple of shirt changes :)


We had tickets for the day sessions (10 a.m. until 7p.m., or the last day match ended), and so we tried to spend the evenings around Times Square. We ate yummy food, marvelled at how many people were still out at midnight, and even found Michael Jackson.

Kindergarten!

Yes, I am aware that the school year is almost over, but better late than never :)

Sydney started Kindergarten this year. Over the summer our neighborhood school was closed (don't get me started on that subject...), so Sydney started the year with a new class and a new school.


She was originally put in Ms. Brelund's class, but after a week of school, it was decided that there were too many 5-year-old students, and a fourth class was formed. They randomly selected 6 girls and 6 boys from each class to create the new class. Sydney was one of the kids moved.


I have so many issues with this. One, they knew how many kids were in each class at least two weeks before school began - that is when they posted the class lists. Two, it took four more weeks before they hired a new teacher, and Sydney had 5 different substitute teachers during that time. Three, it took an additional three weeks after hiring the teacher to get all of the classroom supplies (chairs, books, toys...)


Kindergarten is hard enough, but when there is no stability, and your child comes home everyday telling you she couldn't play because there aren't enough toys or books for the class so they just had quiet time...needless to say, the principal heard from me a lot during those first two months of school.


Things have improved since then :) Sydney has a wonderful teacher, Ms. Thompson. She expects a lot from the kids, but she is very fair, and rewards them for following the rules. Sydney enjoys school, and has made a lot of friends.


She loves art and is becoming quite the little reader.

Idaho - Part 2

The main reason we went to Idaho was for Donnie's family reunion. His family rented an old farmhouse on a ranch in the mountains for 4 days. Some people slept inside, and the others camped outside on the property (I bet you can guess which group I was in).






The place was really pretty. There was a little creek the kids could splash around in all day. We were really excited for the kids to get to know their Idaho family, and were thankful for everyone who changed their schedules and put other things aside to be together for the week.

Idaho - Part 1

This summer we spent two weeks in Idaho with the Young side of the family. It was our first visit there in over three years (it was the first trip for Jaxy). Getting there was a little crazy, but airplanes aside it was a great trip!

Donnie flew standby, and the kids and I had confirmed seats. He made it right on schedule...our story was a little different :)

We boarded our first flight from Atlanta to Denver, and after sitting at the gate for more than two hours (mechanical delay), we finally took off. What should then be a 2 1/2 hour layover in Denver turned into a mad sprint carrying two kids, and three carry-ons. We would have had just enough time time to make it before the flight took off at 10p.m. if we ran really fast.

As they made the first boarding call, lightning struck. That closed the ramp for a mandatory 15 minutes. Halfway through that time, it began to hail - golfball sized hail. That lasted for about 20 minutes. When it was through, we had to wait for every plane to be inspected. We were at one of the last gates, so one of the last planes to be inspected. Finally around 2a.m., our flight was cancelled.

By this point, almost every other flight had been cancelled too, and the hotels were all full. I stood in line to get new tickets, and called Donnie (who was relaxing in Boise at this point) to try to find a hotel for us. At first, I was told we would be on the flight the next night at 10p.m. Then I was told we would not receive our bags or carseats tonight. I pleaded with the lady - "I have two little kids, no toiletries, no carseats, no extra clothes or pull-ups (Jaxy only used them at night, but I wasn't going to share that). I could not stay another night there.

She took pitty on me (probably because Jaxon was screaming at this point, and Sydney was sleeping on my feet), and booked our tickets for the next morning on another airline. So we found a buddy family (another lady with 2 kids; there is safety in numbers) and made our way to the only hotel with a vacancy. It was really scary. I mean REALLY SCARY.

We checked in, walked to the gas station next door and picked up toothbrushes and deodarant, and headed back to sleep (and hopefully not get bedbugs). The next morning we arrived at the airport to find that even more flights than the day before had been cancelled. Thankfully, we were one of the very few planes that actually made it out of Denver that day.

We arrived in Boise, went to Darren & Julie's house (where we spent our first half of the trip), and I showered. Thankfully, our trip back went through Chicago, and we had no weather-related issues :)

The kids had so much fun getting to know their cousins...and their pets. Jaxy still talks about "Lainey's dog Buster." We had a lot of time to hang out and catch up, and let the kids run wild.

The weather was really nice while there, so we spent a lot of time outdoors. We went on a bike ride at one of the many parks. We had a picnic at another one. We went to the Boise Zoo (it was only $.25 with our Zoo Atlanta membership).

Kade has a jumpy house business, so he blew up one of his jumpies, and the kids were entertained for hours. We also went to the old train depot and let the kids play in the water.

Jaxy's 3!

In June we celebrated Jaxon's third birthday. If you ask him though, he will tell you, "I am not three!!! I am five!"



I think he wants to be big like Sydney. Jaxy is such a sweet little guy. He loves to cuddle and give hugs. He is quick to comfort you when sad, and has an unnatural obssession with Band-aids. We go through a box a week if they are not well hidden.


Jaxy loves to wrestle and play any kind of ball - he likes the ideas of baseball and golf, but still is a little small :). Donnie takes Jaxy to play mini-golf quite a bit, and he tries really hard to hold his club just right.



Jaxon is a carbaholic. He loves waffles, muffins, cereals, etc., and will only eat cantaloupe from the fruit department. Vegetables are gross (I tried to give him carrots once and he asked, "Do you think I'm a rabbit?! I can't eat this."), but corndogs and chicken are delicious.


Jaxy has a sweet, little voice which he doesn't use a lot. He is shy and quiet, but once he warms up to you (which takes a while) he will chat your ear off. He loves the "Toy Story" franchise, and "Cars" also. He likes to have collections - rocks, coins, leaves, invisible trophies...


Jaxy likes to climb, jump, and, when he thinks I'm not looking, dance. He loves The Aquabats, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Jake and the Neverland Pirates.


He says lots of silly things, but my favorite is when you ask if he needs to go potty, or if he is ready for bed, etc. he responds, "No thanks; I'm fine."


We love Jaxon so much, and are very glad he is a part of our family!


A few weeks before Jaxy's birthday, my mom became ill, and had to undergo a craniotomy. She spent the next 30 days in the ICU, followed by a month and a half in an inpatient rehab facility. Due to these unforseen events, we didn't have a big party for Jaxy.


On his birthday, we ate at Chick-fil-A, saw "Cars 2," and ate a yummy ice cream cake. We invited some family friends to join us, so it was like a mini party. Jaxon had a great time, and after cake, we stopped by the hospital to visit a little with family. We didn't want the kids to see my mom, so we visited with my dad (who never left the hospital), and my sister Jana and her fam.



Jana helped Jaxon and Sydney put on gloves and masks, so they were happy.

Random photos...

Just because I haven't been posting doesn't mean we haven't been busy over the last few months!


We haven't had a lot of play time, but we managed to catch a half dozen Braves' games (Jaxy asks every morning if we can go see the Braves), and spend some Saturdays at Stone Mountain Park 9the kids love, love, love it here :))


The other pictures are random ones I found on Donnie's phone...