Take a Nap with Me, Sister...

Before school one day last week, the two littlest ones went back to sleep in front of the fireplace before I could get them dressed. They were absolutely precious curled up together.

No Boundaries...

I have always believed that anything is possible.

Given enough time, money, and effort. Anything is possible.

I have always tried to live my life that way, and I have tried to help my children know that they are limited only by their own ambition. If that makes sense....

Ella And The Donkey...

Ella loves the donkey at the farm. The kids named her Mary Jane. Last week, we enjoyed the last few days of warm weather with a trip to the farm to play all day. Ella and Mary Jane spent some quality time together. Ha!

I Think This One Needs No Words...

Can I Take Your Picture?...This is What I Got...

Hmmm. I guess they didn't feel like having a picture made.

Can't Even Eat Lunch Without Being a Boy...

Return of the Pose Queen...

Ella the drama queen busted out a few moves over the weekend.

Nope. She is not a camera hog at all.

Should I?...

After watching the girls play with my old batons and in some of my old uniforms....

I'm wondering if I should dig out some old photos of me twirling for the entire interwebs to laugh at. Hey now. I know competitive baton twirling seems lame. Wait, it is lame. And I spent years of my life doing it. HA!!! But, in my defense, should I ever need to twirl fire or juggle...I'm set.

A Horse is a Horse of Course...

A Deer Salad....

The hubs loves to hunt. We've talked about this before. Things I have learned from the hubs about hunting...

1. You get started WAY before the season opens. You've got to fertilize and have a food plot.

2. You plant this deer salad stuff. I think it's clover and some kind of other stuff.

3. You keep an eye on the property. You never know when a deer may come through. And, you need to know their habits.

4. I hope and pray that this season is fruitful for the hubs. He loves to hunt, and I love him. So, here's hoping to a freezer full of meat soon!!!

Can I Get a Hotdog with That?...

One, Two, Three, but What Are They Doing?...

In the car the other day, the nuggets had some serious fun. Hadley was in the very, very back reading. You can barely see one little part of her head behind Layton's peace sign.

I'm not entirely sure what is going on in this picture. Ella has a green colored pencil in one hand and a baseball in the other. Layton is sticking out his tongue while giving a peace sign...with a giant bruise in the middle of his forehead from an unexpected accident while playing horse on Hadley's back.

Better...

This picture looks better in black and white.

I think.

Sweet Boy Resting...

Layton is "Mommer's boy baby." That's what he calls himself. Yes, he calls me Mommers. Not sure why, but I'm gonna go with it.

He was so sleepy at the storytelling festival that he had to rest on my shoulder for a while. I love holding him. So sweet.

Pucker Up...

I Think I Am A Liberservativecrat...

Election day was yesterday. It was a wild ride for our local community. As predicted the Republicans swept every position except the ones where Democrats were running unopposed.

I went downtown for the election results. The whole square was alive with anticipation, and the court house lawn was littered with supporters. All the candidates were shaking hands with locals. It was a truly awesome sight to see.

Until the results started coming in...

and I realized that some of the people I had supported the most were no longer in office. David Seibert has been one of the biggest advocates of Spirit of Athens. His support and belief in our organization made a lot of things possible over the last few years. Now, we have a commissioner who cares nothing for downtown and wants to relocate our municipal facilities to the land of the strip mall. Not that there's anything wrong with strip malls. It just isn't what has always made our small town so lovely.

I'm going to admit it. I cried. On the court house lawn. In public.

I do not consider myself to be a Republican or a Democrat. I probably look most like a Libertarian on paper, but I don't even consider my core beliefs to line up with the ideals of the Libertarian. I have NEVER voted a straight ticket, and I do NOT foresee myself ever voting a straight ticket. I believe in picking the right people for a job. Without the right assets in place, an official is useless.

I was saddened to see that instead of thinking about who to vote for and who would do the best job, people in my community voted straight Republican tickets. The word on the lawn last night was that at one point 60% of all the ballots counted were straight Republican tickets.

Come on, Man. I know Alabama still uses the 30 foot scantron thing that has to be bubbled in one at a time, but how lazy do you have to be to only fill in one bubble at the top?

Dance...Just Dance...It'll Be Okay...

Layton is a dancing machine.

He dances every where we go.

Even on side walks in public, the boy hears music and cuts loose.

What am I ever going to do with him?

Just Waiting on a Table...

Trick or Treat...

This year was an interesting Halloween for us. I always get the children to pick out costumes way in advance, so that everything is ready before the stores get picked over. Hadley picked out a gorgeous green duchess costume from Cracker Barrel. Ella picked out a princess outfit, and Layton chose to be spider man.

Fast forward to Halloween. Hadley decided to be a majorette at the last possible minute. Thank goodness I have scads of uniforms for her to pick from!! We got my batons out of storage and polished a few rhinestones, and she was good to go!
Ella decided to ditch half of her costume because she wanted to wear her North Face jacket.
But Layton. Oh, my sweet Layton actually wore his whole costume as intended!

I'll Tell You a Story...

My hometown is beautiful and small. Every fall there is a storytelling festival in downtown. It was this past weekend and was awesome. Hadley brought two friends with her this year. They all seemed to have a ton of fun!

I apologize for the funny appearance of the pictures. Everything had a very RED hue. The tent was red and white striped. I edited as much of the color as possible, so these are a lot better than straight from the camera but still a little off.

This is the girls' favorite storyteller. Her name is Carmen Deedy.

I cannot for the life of me remember this man's name, but he can whistle for about half an hour straight. HA!

Overall, the children loved every minute of the event. We walked across the street to Village Pizza for lunch and were able to get autographed books and schedules!!
I love my town.