halloween & hurricane sandy

we love to visit corn mazes in the fall. we usually go to a big one, but with all of the stuff going on this year, we opted to visit a small, local place with some friends. at the end of the maze there was a big slide that went into a pool full of corn. wes loved it!

it was even more fun once it got dark.

while the kids played, we checked out the pumpkins, gourds and apples.

on the way home, we made a quick stop at aunt tracy's house. she was having a halloween party at her house. 

a couple of days later, hurricane sandy brought high winds to our area. even though the coast of NC is about 250 miles away, we still had extremely high winds and cold temperatures. we came home monday evening to find wes' swingset blown over. it was 6 years old and not the best quality, but i was able to swing on it - so it had to be ok :)

 it also blew everything on our porch into a corner.

 

sunday & monday night the winds blew super hard all night. the big trees around our house were swaying and we were praying that one wouldn't fall over on our fence or house. 

 we're trying to stay warm and getting ready for trunk or treat tomorrow night! i'll be a pirate and wes will be a clown :)

catch up

october has been crazy for us.  

crazy. 

i took a minute to post pictures from wesley's birthday, but there is definitely more to share... i just haven't had the time to compile it all.  i'll try to now :)

three weeks ago, wes and i went with aunt tracy to an event called 'the battle of the youth'. it was pretty neat. wes really loved hanging out with the big kids and they were so nice to him.

 

fall has been gorgeous this year. there was a couple of weeks where we could open the windows and a refreshing breeze blew through the house. callie. really love it. 

(today is 40 degrees though, no open windows anymore!)

the leaves and sky have been breath-taking.

 

marlee loved relaxing in the warm sunshine. 

  

  

wes painted this pumpkin in aunt tracy & pawpaw's sunday school class. and, that's my meter lemon tree that i got at a flea market this summer. i think it may actually be a lime tree though? i'm not really sure. but, it looks pretty and smells citrus-y :)

last week, the elementary school where aunt tracy works had a fall carnival. we went and played games and hung out in aunt tracy's office.

this was what i saw this past sunday when i got out of the car to head into church. gorgeous!

 

a couple of weekends ago we went to a cookout for members of the 'praise team' at our church. i play the violin (i wish i could sing!). these gorgeous flowers were at the smokehouse. a sweet friend of my mom's always brings flowers to her. 

this is what i got when i asked wes to 'give me a nice smile for a picture'. haha.

sunset from wes' bedroom, on a beautiful fall night.

last weekend we took a trip to fun depot and wes experienced 2 'firsts'. playing laser tag & climbing a rock wall (that's him on the left, soooo close to the top!).

sorry that this post is sort of jumbled and all over the place... but that is definitely how this month has felt! fun, but a little nuts!

six & thirty one

six years ago today, was the day wesley was due to make his appearance into the world. he surprised us by coming 1 week early, on his dad's birthday! goodness, i can't believe it's been 6 years. time flies when you're having fun!

this year, october 16th was 'pajama day' at school, so wes got to wear his favorite fleece pants. he sleeps in just his undies, but he didn't think that would appropriate for school :)

happy 6th and 31st birthday wes and gary!!!!

                               2006                                                                             2012

wes reaaaaaaally wanted to have his birthday party at chuck e. cheese this year. he'd never been there before, but those awesome t.v. commercials really made it look exciting. 

 

we wanted to keep things small, so wes chose 6 of his friends to join him. 

below are savannah, kayley, clay, wes, allie, brylee & karlie. nicolas was there too, but he wasn't available for this picture. 

 

they did a dance with chuck e. and he also gave wes a special birthday crown. 

  

we had pizza and cake. yummy!

and, we played lots of games. wes and aunt tracy even got to go into the ticket blaster booth. how fun!

happy 6th birthday wesley!!!

black rock - live

jeremy garret (the fiddle player in the video below) is my hero. everyone in this band is incredibly awesome, but as a fiddler myself, i'd love for master garret to teach me a few things. i can dream. and study youtube videos. 

back in action

last week was a haze of sniffles, coughs and sore throats around our house. fall allergies kicked our butts. hopefully we are finished. i'm hoping for a sickness free winter, fingers crossed. 

by saturday, we were feeling much better. after spending the morning cleaning up our mess that accumulated through the week, we headed out to see hotel transylvania. it was a cute little movie. wes really enjoyed it :)

the highlight of my week was this sunrise. aaaaaaaaah.

this little rainbow was pretty sweet too.

wes thought his saturday morning bedhead mohawk was pretty cool.

a little race time with dad at the movie theater.

a visit to o.p. taylors because someone's birthday is coming up soon!

 

a little talk with marlee about not eating books that he accidentally leaves outside :)