Daily Adventures

Layne decided that she wanted to catch up on some reading yesterday morning-Every Woman's Battle. She flipped to the important pages, pointed at the words, and jabbered away.

At lunch she decided to stick some bread up her nose, which doesn't surprise me in the least. When I was little (probably about 2 or 3) we were out for a family walk after dinner and I picked up a cherry seed and stuck it up my nose. Off to the hospital we went. Now that I type that I am unsure if the cherry seed story was with me or Johnny. I know that one of us stuck a cherry seed up our nose and the other stuck a pea up there. Needless to say, it runs in the family and since Layne is a spitting image (personality wise) of me as a baby it just didn't surprise me when I saw it.

Here's Hayden catching up on some of her reading as I put clothes away. Gotta get comfortable in order to enjoy a good book, right?!

Tonight we are having Jonathan, Rebecca, and Geo over for dinner. So, this morning I got to work on the bbq chicken and brunswick stew. Layne decided that she was going to test out those tempting onions that were sitting in front of her. She actually ate a few pieces before she decided that she didn't really care for them.

She helped me put all of the onions in the brunswick stew pot. What a good helper. And she made sure to say "thank you" after each handful.

Daddy Day

On Saturday I had an all day staff meeting up at the church so daddy got to spend some quality time with the girls! Here they are playing on our bed-what nuts!

They had breakfast at the Waffle House. I guess everything went well there because I didn't hear any stories...

They went to look at a house somewhere and then they both fell asleep on the drive home. It was a good daddy daughters day and I was sad that I missed it (but very glad they had the bonding time without mommy around!).

The Three Little Pigs...

No clue where Hayden got the idea that she has to poke out her lips to retell this story, but it's really cute! She loves to hear stories: on CD, from a book, from mommy's mouth. She just loves stories of any kind. And I love that she is soaking it all in and able to retell them to me!

Practicing School Stuff

Yesterday when we were out running errands we stopped at Hobby Lobby. When we got out of the car Hayden looked up at the Hobby Lobby sign and got so excited. She said, "Mommy mommy, there is an H!!! Right up there!! Just like Hayden!!" She was so excited and so right! It was just adorable.

So, last night I asked her if she wanted to practice her circles. I had her look through the Toys R Us magazine and circle the things she liked. I asked her to put an "H" by the circle too so we would know who wanted the toy. She tried to circle some stuff for Layne too and put an "L" by those.

There you go!

This is one of Layne's favorite stuffed animals. It's the panda that Morgan brought back from China.

Hayden wanted to act just like sister, so she got a stuffed animal too.

Cuddling with the panda and giggling....

3 Year & 15 Month Check-ups

So, the girls finally went for their check-ups today. The morning started pretty early for Hayden and me. She woke up around 3:15 and was crying. When I went in there I found that she had wet the bed-she doesn't do this very often at all. So, I got her all cleaned up and brought her into my bed since daddy had just left for UPS. She tossed and turned and cried for about 3 hours because her ear hurt. So, at 6am we came out into the family room since we weren't sleeping. Well, she fell asleep sitting up on the couch, so I let her sleep until 8 since we had our doctor's appointment at 9. She was the crabbiest I have ever seen her, but that was to be expected! I don't normally bring my camera to the doctor's office, but I had it in my purse from last night so I thought I would snap a few!

Now that she's 3 Hayden gets to wear this paper robe thing. We even brought it home so she can play with it for a little while before Layne tears it to pieces. No shots for miss Hayden today. But she did end up getting the flu mist. Miss Layne, on the other hand, got three shots this morning. None of which were the flu shot because they were out of the shot kind and she can't get the mist.

Here's the nurse checking Hayden's blood pressure. Ok, here are the numbers that you all have been waiting for-Hayden is 35 1/2 inches tall (10th percentile) and weighs 26 pounds (5th percentile) Layne is 30 3/4 inches tall (40th percentile) and weighs 18 pounds 3 ounces (less than 5th percentile). Nothing we didn't already know. I DID see our regular doctor today though-Dr. Jattan-who I just love. She was not concerned about the girls weights at all. She just said that there is a tiny gene in there somewhere and it's nothing to worry about. Good enough for me!

The other night when Matt and Jamie were over for dinner they were telling us about a weekly dinner that they and their friends have. One of the ladies cooks for everyone and they all get together and hang out and eat. They solve the world's problems through debate and laughter (mainly laughter). I just loved the idea so, last night we went over to Jonathan and Rebecca's house with David and Lisa for a meet and eat dinner!

The food was wonderful and we think it went really well. Both Lisa and the Cipolla's are into photography. Jonathan works for RCPS and Lisa will begin working for them next week. Jonathan is a teacher and David would like to be a teacher in the near future. Both couples have boys....... I just thought it would be a perfect fit for friends and conversation. So, we are going to try and meet weekly and end eventually bring another couple or two into the mix. As you can see by the pictures, the kiddos had a great time too. It was nice to be able to have adult conversation and just let the kids play in the next room. Tots were jumping all over the couches and the babies were rummaging through Layne's diaper bag-and all were happy!

Crunch Time!

Well, I am 3 week out until the big day-1/2 marathon day! Fortunately, I have been feeling well enough to continue my training. The way that my schedule will work out though (because of my three week sickness break) I won't actually run 13 miles until the day of the race. My long runs are on Fridays, so this week it will be 10 miles, then 11 the following, and 12 the next. I am sure that come race day I will be able to add that last mile in with no problem because of the excitement of it all. I am getting excited!

When I first got sick I was pretty discouraged and frustrated that I couldn't run. But, it really was a good thing when I look back on it. At that point in my running schedule I was running 10 miles for my long runs and 6 and 7 miles on my shorter runs during the week. I think the schedule was just really hard on my body. Maybe it's because I had been running 6+ miles so consistently and I hadn't really given my body a break. My ankles were hurting ALL the time-I couldn't even walk around the house without shoes because of how badly they hurt. My toes were bruised and sore. And my knees were starting to hurt when I ran too! Needless to say, that three weeks with no running really did the trick! No pain anymore and I am feeling more and more ready for the big race everyday.

Little Miss Independent

Layne is known for sneaking into either her room or sister's room to play all by herself. Today I was reorganizing our closet (I have time for that stuff now that my house is spotless!!) and I heard Layne her room. She was just looking out the window....

I guess she got tired because when I found her she was trying desperately and unsuccessfully to lay down on top of this chest that has molding on it! She wasn't too happy about it. So, she decided to just sit up and stick those fingers in her mouth. Maybe she would have fallen asleep sitting up if I left her there long enough!

As I was getting the sewing machine out this afternoon I saw this fabric that I bought for Hayden's boppy cover-it was the extra. I decided that I needed to use it in order to make Layne something for Christmas. As I have said before she is such a cuddly touchy baby and this fabric is the softest fabric ever! So, I made her this little taggie blanket and taggie giraffe or whatever it looks like! I hope she loves them. Now I just need to think of something to make for Hayden. After I made these I decided that one of the girls gifts is going to be homemade each Christmas. I think that will be a fun and neat little tradition that they will enjoy until they are like 10.

Halloween

We went to the Lehman's for Halloween this year. We all ate chili and cornbread before the big event. It was a great night with good friends-and Hayden's first real time trick-or-treating. Lisa took some pumpkin pictures before dinner. Here is Layner in the pumpkin.....not so sure about the whole idea.

Sarah, Philip and Angela's littlest one was a much better subject.

Wumber Woman ready for the night!

I think that we took about 500 pictures of these cuties before we went trick-or-treating. I just love the idea of the theme for all of the kids costumes.

Crime fighting chick duo.

Hayden and her boys taking flight!

The moms took the kids trick-or-treating. What an adventure!

I don't think that Hayden stopped smiling the whole night...except for at the very end when she had me carrying her up to each house. Her little legs just didn't go as fast as all of the other kid's. She was always the last one to the house, the last one in the van, and the last one out of the van. But she had a GREAT time!

It was raining on and off, so we decided to take the seats out of Lisa's van and just pile everyone in there. It was a tight squeeze but we stayed pretty dry.

Everyone had to hold someone's hand when we were walking house to house. I think that Hayden has so many "boy friends" that she has a hard time choosing her favorite. She split the night between Connor and Ethan....and Micah got a few hugs too. She said to me as we were driving over to the Lehman's , "Mommy, Ethan is going to see me in my Wumber Woman costume and think I am cute!"

Elmo Cake

This cake is for my neighbor's grandson whole will be one on Halloween. The cake is lemon with lemon curd filling and lemon butter cream. So lemony but so good (there were a few scraps left over). Elmo is make out of rice krispy treat and covered in butter cream. It supposed to look like Elmo is popping out of a present.

Halloween Caramel Corn

Tonight we are going to play Texas Hold 'Em up at the church. We were asked to bring a snack so I decided to search the web for a festive treat. This is what I came up with. Something people can munch on by the handful.....if they like their caramel corn with a faint burn taste! I have to work on my caramel corn making skills. I think I will talk with my mom about it-one Christmas she made everyone and their mother (or at least it seemed like that many people) huge tins of caramel corn. It was SO good! Any way, not sure what happened....but it looks good doesn't it!?

I just drizzled melted milk chocolate and peanut butter chips over the caramel corn. Then I topped it with peanuts and Reese's Pieces.

Puppy Dog Compare

To the left is Hayden in her poodle costume last year and the one on the right is this year.

"Wumber" Woman ready to fight some crime early this morning before preschool!

Thinking about flying to preschool this morning....

Training of a Walker:

A painful to watch kind of story

Layne was taking about 4 steps this morning with no problem! We were so excited and she was just getting more and more confident about her walking skills as the day went on.....until we brought out the video camera!

You also need to keep in mind that we decided to try and video our little ball of emotions 2 minutes before it was her bedtime. Needless to say, after the first fall (painfully caught on tape) she just didn't feel so confident anymore and she let her emotions get the best of her. We made sure to end her night of walking disasters on a good note though. Tomorrow is a new day and I better enjoy having a "not very good walker" as much as I can because this child is going to be a doosie on two legs!!

Dress Up Day #1 at School!

Hayden dressed up today for school and she is also going to dress up for school tomorrow! She wanted to rock it old school today by wearing her poodle costume from last year.

I put her hair in this do so it would look like little doggie ears! She's going to be "Womber Woman" (as Hayden would say) tomorrow!

Here's what Layne was up to while sister was at school this morning. Just watching Grady eat.

She thought about digging in, but I strongly encouraged her not to.

Can you believe it! I found Hayden's old Christmas dress (the one she wore last year) at a consignment sale last year. Layne is going to wear that one this year. Then today I found the same dress in 24 months (which is technically 12 months younger than Hayden.....but that's the size she wears!). So, this year they will have the same Christmas dress!!

They are standing so far apart in the first picture because this is what happens when they are close to each other...Layne hits! Poor little Hayden just takes it too.

Daddy took the girls outside to finger paint tonight while I made dinner. What a special treat.

Layner just loved it....in more than one way!

Yummy!

What a messy little nut!

The finished product...

The BEST Halloween Costume...EVER!

So, we are going trick-or-treating with some friends of ours. They have a superhero theme this year-which works out perfectly for us since we have the Wonder Woman costume already. I decided that that's what Hayden would be on the actual day of Halloween since she will be walking around trick-or-treating with the other kids. Layne will be in a stroller or be carried, so she doesn't have to fit the theme really.

Last night I thought and thought about what it the world little Layner could be. We have some camo clothes for her, so she could be a hunter with that dead animal hat. We have a UPS outfit for her too, so she could be a UPS worker. I really wanted to have her make a statement with her costume.......

Then it hit me.....A TERRIBLE TOWEL! The guys on staff at DP...ok, really it's just 2 of them...like to talk trash about the Steelers. It just so happens that we will be trick-or-treating with both of them on Halloween. SWEET!

I actually have 3 terrible towels (2 Superbowl XLIII versions and 1 original). I sewed together the 2 Superbowl versions to make the "dress" for Layner. Don't worry, it's a very simple wide stitch that I can easily undo when Halloween is over!! I really wanted her to wear something on her head but I COULD NOT cut up one of the TTs. So instead, I cut up my favorite towels from my childhood. I know it sounds weird that I have a favorite bath towel from my childhood, but this one wad my name on it in big bright colors. It was just a special towel. But, I would have rather sacrificed that towel than cut up the original Terrible Towel!!

For those of you that are interested in learning more about the Terrible Towel, click here....

She's Got Lots to Say...

We just have no idea what it is that she's saying!!

This is a normal everyday conversation that Layne has with us. Poor girl has so much on her mind that she wants to get out, but she just can't seem to communicate it in English! I hope this is not a sign of how talkative she's going to be in the future.....

Two Little Pumpkins Riding in a Wheelbarrow!

Here is video of John pushing Hayden and Hannah in the wheelbarrow at the pumpkin patch. They had such a fun bumpy ride.

It's also video of the girls "cleaning out their pumpkins"....not really! Neither one of them wanted to get their hands dirty. So disappointing!

Cuddle Bug

This morning while I was cleaning up a little around the house I spotted this dead animal skin hat in our dead animal exhibit room (aka-the master bedroom!). I just knew that Layner would love it. She loves to cuddle up with soft things. I think she's definitely going to be the child that has a favorite blankie or stuffed animal for years! Sure enough, she cuddled right up with the dead animal skin and fur.

I do want to share some very exciting news! One of my friends, that I knew from HHBC preschool and now she's working for me again at Discover Point, is going to start cleaning our house once a week!!!! I am just so excited about this because it's not going to cost us a cent. She'd like me to tutor her son in order to get him ready for the CRCT and she brought up the whole bartering idea. So, I am going to tutor her son every week and in turn she will clean the house. It starts in November and I can hardly wait. It's going to be such a treat to have a professionally cleaned house once a week!

Please excuse the blinding reflection from the flash on my greasy hair! I don't shower until I get back from running each day and my hair is so thin that it just greases up in 24 hours. Not sure what was going on with the little pony tail either-I think it had a mind of it's own this morning. What I am trying to say is just try to focus on the bundle of tiny cuteness on the right of the picture!!

Wonder Woman!

Here's our little super baby scoping out the problem in the distance and getting ready to take flight!

"You think I can fly with this cape Miss Priss Sis?"

"I mean, I can't even walk...well, really I can but I am just milking this baby thing for every thing I can."

I have a few theories about what Hayden was doing with her hand in this picture:

~Modified peace sign

~Representing for her super hero sister (W for wonder woman)

~Letting everyone know she's three

Hayden told me right before we left the house for the Fall Festival that she actually wanted to be a dog instead of the princess. Wasn't happenin'!

We have a wig for the costume, but she would have nothing to do with it. So, she's a bald Wonder Baby!

Fall Festival

Some of you may remember video footage from last year's fall festival when little tiny fearless Hayden was crawling up HUGE inflatable and sliding down. Well, this year she has discovered fear! She barely did anything!! Most of the things that she attempted ended with her having second thoughts and coming out the entrance! Here she is looking up at the wall she had to climb having one of those second thought moments. She didn't make it!

Here is Layne wishing that she had some hair so she looked less like a baby and could conquer this beast! Maybe next year girl.

Here is Hayden sliding down the one inflatable she decided to do.

Not a very graceful princess on the way down!

Getting the Junk Out...

When Layne woke up from her nap we started getting the junk out of the pumpkins. We put the seeds in one bowl and the junk in another. Neither girl would put her hand inside the pumpkin!

Layne really enjoyed playing with the top of her pumpkin though....

She even enjoyed the taste of the top of the pumpkin!

She didn't want to have anything to do with the junk though!

Two big bites out of the top! Now it's time to roast the seeds.

Pumpkin Patch

This morning we went to Yule Forest Pumpkin Patch with the Harman's! It was so great to hang out with them and watch the girls play with each other. We sure do wish that they lived a tiny bit closer to us because we always have such a good time when we get together.

Here are the girls in the pumpkin picking area. This was a big pumpkin!

It was a little colder at the pumpkin patch than it was at the house. At times poor little Hayden was shivering she was so cold! She had a great time though.

Aren't these the coolest looking pumpkins!? I have never seen pumpkins that look like these. I haven't been to many pumpkin patches in my lifetime either, so that may not be saying much. I thought they were awesome though!

The girlies hanging out with the pumpkins. Grant was there too, he must have been doing guy stuff while the girls posed for pictures though.

Little friendies walking back from the "hay" ride. It was a trailer with benches pulled by an old tractor-no hay to be found. Thankfully, they told us to sit in front, right behind the tractor, so we could get a nice helping of tractor exhaust along the journey. We went through this "forest" that had tons of little wooden cut out figures. The tractor man would look back at us and say things as he pointed to some of the figures in the woods. The man is driving a very old, loud tractor for Pete's sake....does he really think that we can hear a word he's saying?!

He dropped us off at the petting zoo. I think the girls were able to reach one of the goat's tails. So, at least they got to pet something. They had a good time looking at all of the animals though.

Remember how I said I thought that these pumpkins were so cool looking, well...so did Hayden (maybe with a little help from mommy)! So, this is the pumpkin that Hayden picked out.

We then headed out to the patch to cut special pumpkins for Hannah, Grant, and Layne. The girls got a free wheelbarrow ride from a nice hunky man!

Frolicking in the pumpkin patch.

After searching and searching and mommy liking and then finding others she liked....we settled on this one for Layner. So Daddy and the girls cut it from the vine using the pumpkin carving tool the patch people gave us.

On the way back to the farm. Hannah picked out the green pumpkin-isn't that so cute!

Daddy with our two pumpkins. The real fun comes tonight when Miss Priss and Miss Dirt Ball get to dig in and clean these guys out!

We traded Layne's in at the last minute for a smaller cuter pumpkin that is still big enough to be cleaned out and carved.....leave it to mommy to change her mind!

Layner the pumpkin head!

What a fun morning we all had! Grant finally made it in a picture!! We finished the trip off with breakfast/brunch/lunch at The Waffle House!! What a loud bunch of messy troops we were!

Reading Stories and "More"

(said in a high pitched voice)

When Layne wants more of anything she says, "mama mama mama mama" over and over and over again. We are trying to teach her to say "more". You'll hear that when she says it her voice changes to a high pitched tone and she makes a funny face. That night Hayden also danced a little to the music on her new Halloween card that Grandma and Pap sent the girls...with a Chick-fil-A gift card in it!! Layne even has a little something to say about it!

On this video you will also see Hayden reading one of her favorite books. She just cracks me up! She sits in her room and reads for at least 30 minutes (after we put her to bed) each night. Last night we put her down at 8:30 and she was up until 11:30 reading, playing with her dolls, talking, sitting on the edge of her bed. She won't get out of her bed-but she doesn't fall asleep right away. I think last night the problem was that I didn't put the girls down for their nap until 4:00 because we were running errands.

Fun in the Bath

Every night daddy gives the girls at bath so that I can have a little time to myself and it's SO nice! Tonight, he decided to add a few bubbles to the bath. They both loved it.

Hammer Time

Product Description
Clean, consistent, long-burning energy. HAMMER GEL use long-chain complex carbohydrates for a smooth, consistent energy release. There's only a trace of sugar, so it doesn't set off wild insulin spikes causing a "sugar high" and "sugar crash." HAMMER GEL is an easily digested, concentrated source of complex carbohydrates with four amino acids added to enhance performance and prolong energy levels during intense training and competition. Use it before, during, and after exercise.

Thanks Amazon!

So I started training with these gels because when I was getting to my weekly long run I felt like I had no energy. I bought some at the bike store down the street from us before Hayden's birthday and had every intention of using them starting that week, but the party planning got in the way then we all got sick! So, I think I have run a total of 4 times this month and none of them have been very long runs. Yesterday I finally decided that I wasn't going to wait for my cold to go away in order to start training for the 1/2 marathon that's in FIVE WEEKS-I was going to run this cold out of my system...by running! Last Friday was an 8-10 mile run that ended up being 4 miles because of the sickness, yesterday was a 6 mile run that ended up being a 4.5 mile run because of the sickness, and today was an 8 mile run that ended up being a 6 mile run. So, I guess I am making progress-but I have to run 13 miles in FIVE WEEKS so I better get back on track, and fast!

So, back to these gels. I took one with me since I really need to start using them in order to make sure that my body is ok with these things. Don't want to find out the day of the race that the gels and my body don't agree with one another!! At my halfway point today I took the little warm pouch out of my sports bra (where else am I going to store it!), tore the top off, and squeezed the first half of it in my mouth. I took the tropical fruit one and the flavor wasn't too bad at all. As I swallowed it I almost gaged-the only thing that I can compare the consistency to is a loogie! Just one big mucusie blob going down my throat...leaving a nice coating on it's way down. I still had half a pouch to get down too! The second blob was when I almost threw it all up, but I managed to keep it down and start running again. Other than the texture the stuff is great. I just kept me feeling nice and consistent. Not tired but not a huge energy burst either. I just hope I can get past the texture!!

The Mystery of The Mister...

So, tonight I shared an explanation about the purpose of something that I made up in my head and it wasn't even close to right. We all got a good laugh at it, so I thought I would share with my blog family. By now I am sure you have learned that I love to laugh and I don't mind sharing funny stories about myself! So, here it goes.

We (Matt, Jamie, Jerm, and me) were talking about the produce misters at grocery store. Jamie eluded to the fact that the distant sound of thunder that comes on before the misters start is there to warn people about the mist! It was such an enlightening moment for me because all this time I was thinking that someone invented the mister with noise in order to trick the produce into thinking that they were still outside in their natural environment!! I always thought that it was a silly invention considering the fact that produce isn't alive and not capable of thought! I think that someone must have told me that was what the mister thunder sound was for and I just believed them. That's another thing about me-I am very naive!

Art Outside

Today the girls colored some fall pictures while they sat outside. It thought that Layne would color on the paper just as well as she colored on the wall the other night, but she barely put a mark on the paper!

Guess she only likes to color on things she isn't supposed to!

Hayden, on the other hand, colored everything purple-deep dark purple!

Then we collected acorns on the deck. Little Layner just couldn't manage to hold all of the acorns that she wanted. The just kept slipping out of her hands.

So, I got her a little basket to keep them in.

Tonight, Matt and Jamie came over for dinner! It was so great to hang out with them and catch up. Matt doesn't teach tomorrow so they were able to hang out for a while. After dinner we showed them Layne's halloween costume-Wonder Woman!! Jamie was the one that gave us the idea. The other week when we were over at their place Layne was crawling up and down their stairs like a champ. Jamie said that Layne just needed to be Wonder Woman for Halloween because she's so crazy and daring like a super hero! So, we searched and searched for a WW costume in Layne's size-easier said than done. We ended up order one in Hayden's size and then I sewed and modified the costume. The only thing that I had to modify was the shirt. I bought another shirt in Layne's size, made the WW emblem out of felt, sewed it onto the shirt, sewed velcro on the cape and shirt, and there you have it. Hayden loves to wear the costume too, so it's good that we ordered it in her size!!

We finished the night off with this four layer pumpkin cake with cream cheese pumpkin filling. It was pretty good-a nice twist to the good old pumpkin pie!

Autumn Trail Mix

Today we did green grapes for snack. But for tomorrow they will be having a little trail mix. Golden raisins, crasins, cheerios, granola, Halloween M&M's, swirl chocolate chips, and pretzels. Hayden helped me add the candy corns once she woke up from her nap this afternoon.

I cut off the top of the candy corn bag, opened the trail mix zip lock and said, "Ok, these candy corns need to get in this bag with the trail mix. You need to figure out how to do that." So, she did it ONE BY ONE!! Oh my, it took a while.....

Ever Wonder....

What to do with that tomato cage that you used in your vegetable garden this year!? I know I have. Well, my new favorite magazine Disney's Family Fun Magazine (thanks to my magazine subscription gifter September!) had a great solution!! It's a card tree!! So, when all of you send us Christmas cards this year we will proudly display them on our homemade card tree! I still have to get some mini binder clips to hold the cards on, but I think I have a little time before y'all send your cards our way. If you need our address just ask........ :-)

Hey, Look....No Hands!

This morning Layne spilled her cereal and raisins on the table. The next thing I knew she was "cleaning it up" with her mouth!

After she completed the table clean up she must have decided that she liked that method of eating cereal because she continued to eat out of her bowl that way. She certainly keeps me laughing-gotta give her that!

Caught Red Handed...

So, tonight Jeremy and I were relaxing on the couch having a conversation while Hayden and Layne played in the hallway/Hayden's room. Hayden said, "Mommy, you need to come and look at this." over and over-probably about 4 times. When I got up and walked down the hallway this is what I found!!! Oh what a different breed Little Layner is....drawing on the walls-that is unheard of in this house....until now! Not to worry, I went right to the Internet and found that a damp cloth with baking soda sprinkled on will take it right off-and it did.

How ironic that I posted this picture right after the one above! She wore this shirt yesterday. The front says "angel".

The princess having a little trouble with her royal crown!

Preschool Snacks!

This week Hayden has snacks for preschool. I was so excited when I saw her name on the October calendar! This week they are learning about grapes, the letter G, the color orange, and making pumpkin pudding. So, for Monday she is going to bring donut hole "acorns"....what does that have to do with anything that they are learning about this week you may be asking yourself.....nothing! But, it's fall and this snack was just the cutest thing ever so I had to make them!

I guess you could say that Hayden helped out. She did more taste testing everything than helping. Don't worry-her hands we clean...and then cleaned again, and again!

And here is the finished product. A donut hole, chocolate frosting, toffee bits, and a piece of pretzel and you have an acorn snack!

Most of you have no idea how much trouble this little one is....she is into everything, emotional about everything, and has something to say about everything! But man is she the cutest! Look at that little trouble face!! I love every part of our mischievous baby!!

She's eating some dried fruit in both pictures. She doesn't really know how to take one piece at a time. It's all about shoving as much as she possibly can in her mouth. Mostly because she's afraid that sister is going to eat it before she does!

Fall Picture

I realized that I dressed both girls in brown today so I thought it would be a good opportunity to take a picture. This is the best one that I could get of both of them looking.

Not so bad of Hayden....Layne is off in la-la land though......

A close up of our growing up too fast 3 year old!

Disney on Ice

This morning grandma took Hayden to see Disney on Ice! They went with Grace and Grace's grandma. They were in a box with other people from HHBC! So, Hayden had lots of friends to play with as she enjoyed the show.

They gave her this hat and grandma got her the Mini Mouse purse. Thanks for the tickets Dan and thanks for taking Hayden grandma!

Grocery Tower

Today when Hayden and I got home from the grocery store it was time to start dinner. So, daddy brought in the groceries as I started dinner. Some of the bags ended up on the floor so Hayden decided to build a tower.

As we were shopping at Kroger today a Backstreet song came on. Instinctively, I just started singing it out loud to Hayden. I just wasn't really thinking about what I was doing. I sang and sang and even busted out some dance moves (just kidding about the moves!). All of a sudden as I walked down the frozen foods isle a man coming towards me was really singing loudly with the Backstreet Boys. I was feeling a little embarrassed for him and then right at that very moment I realized that I was doing it too-I had been singing out loud too!

Tonight as I was putting Hayden to bed she looked up at me and said, "Mommy, can you sing to me?" I guess I must have done a good job with the Backstreet Boys song this afternoon! She's never asked me to sing to her-even though I do it all the time. The way she asked me made me feel like she things I have one of the most beautiful voices she's ever heard. It was just so sweet and it touched my heart. Then on top of that, when we were saying a prayer she said, "thank you for mommy coming to my cool (school) today and bringing cookies". She definitely know how to make her mommy feel loved :-)

Birthday at School

Today Layne and I went to Hayden's school to bring a birthday treat for Hayden and her friends. I made prince and princess crown cookies for all of the tots. The girls had pink and the boys had blue.

Layner just explored while the kids ate their treat.

Then Ms. Starla gave her a little cookie of her own!

They even broke out the huge birthday crown for Hayden!

I took a few pictures of all of the friends eating their cookies, but I am not posting them because some parents don't like pictures of their kids on the internet. She does have friends at school though-I promise! Here are the sister posing for one last birthday picture before we left.

Do Better Chair?!

Layne has discovered the "do better chair". She doesn't like it too much at all. The look on her face is like she's saying, "You guys gave this chair to me as a gift...now I have to sit here as a punishment!? I just don't get it!!" We do like to use the "do better mat" but sometimes it gets up away for company, so the chair has to stand in.

Mother Daughter Haircuts

Yesterday, I got my haircut (pictured below) and Hayden told me that she wanted her hair "longer just like mommy's hair". So I cut her hair just like mommy's.

It was getting too long anyway, so now she has a fresh new look for school tomorrow!

Miss matchy matchy camo girl sporting the new do...

Me with my new do. It's short and easy!

Birthday Celebration!

Yesterday was Hayden's actual birthday so we had a big day planned. I made her chocolate chip waffles and Aunt September made her hash browns for breakfast. Then we got ready to go to the Aquarium! We stopped at Johhnny Rocket's for a special birthday lunch.

This is one of my favorite exhibits. Sep took a great picture of Hayden looking at the jellyfish.

Layner was great in the beginning, but pretty much after this exhibit she had a meltdown on and off for the entire time we were there! Hayden had a great time though.

She loved looking at all of the fish.

We even saw the 4D movie....well, Hayden and September saw the movie. Layne and I had to leave due to fussiness. Hayden sat on September's lap for the movie and just about jumped out of her skin every time something "came at her". She said the movie scared her. When we got home she told me that she likes our TV better because the things are stuck in there!!

Sweet little Layner....for the moment!

Here is the hat that Layne gave Hayden for her birthday. What a cutie.

I can't believe that one of our precious babies is three years old already! I remember the day that she came into this world-all 6 pounds 13 ounces of her! She was so perfect and so worth the wait. And I remember the trying months that followed during the time that Jeremy and I tried to figure out what on earth we were doing when it came to raising our amazing gift from God. And I remember the first time that she smiled at me and the first time she said "mommy"then later followed it with "I love you mommy" and the first crawl, and the first steps, and the first day at preschool, and the first time she prayed at night, and the look on her face when we brought sister home, and how she has loved her sister from day one...... There are so many memories and I cherish every single one of them. I am so grateful to God for giving us such a sweet, loving, tender hearted, innocent, honest, compassionate, joyful, silly, smart, beautiful, and simply amazing miracle. She has changed our lives in such a great way, I pray that when she looks back at her childhood she will have mostly sweet memories. Happy birthday lovey!

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THE Par-Tea

Saturday was the big third birthday celebration. It was a Fancy Nancy tea party. Here is Ethan showing off his Spiderman skills on the swing.

For lunch we ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, chicken salad sandwiches-no crust of course, goldfish crackers, grapes, fruit cups, and raspberry punch. It was quite a fancy lunch.

And for dessert we had cake and parfaits! The hat cake was brown sugar cake with cookie dough filling and the purse cake was almond cake with raspberry filling.

Even though it was a Fancy Nancy party we had top hats and bow ties for the guys! Here is Grant with his way too big top hat!

Fancy Hannah came to the party all dressed up and ready for the fun! What a little princess.

Here's grandma with her two girlie girls.

Family sibling picture.

The gang

Hayden getting ready for the big game on Sunday-Go Steelers!

Nice action shot of Hayden blowing out her birthday candles.

Fancy Hayden all ready for her big par-tea!

Pappy with the girls.

Messy=Fun

at least in Layne's little world it does!

Layne enjoys playing with her food way more than she enjoys actually eating it.

Yesterday the sickness hit me. I was felt drained and achy all day. Today I am feeling a little better. Still a little achy but I do have some energy back. Party preparation must go on though! Hayden helped me with dinner last night since I wasn't feeling so well. She did a great job of stirring the soup. Somehow she lost her clothes!!

and Layne just sat on the floor in the kitchen and entertained herself. Check out the tutu!

What a Treat!

Yesterday after church I baked some peanut butter cup cookies. The girls each got one even before the chocolate had a chance to set back up! They both loved dipping their finger into the top and scooping the chocolate off. That's all they ate though! They left the rest of the peanut butter cup and the cookie!!

Still has her pretty princess pink nails! And she is feeling much better too. After her afternoon nap on Saturday she was back to normal and never ended up having a fever! Weird, but we are glad it's gone. Now all we have to deal with is Layner's like cold.

Oh, notice daddy in the background enjoying HIS treat too. He likes to lick the bowl when I am baking....

Sick Little Princess

This morning Hayden got sick! So, our exciting plans for the day, which included Hannah's princess birthday party, had to be canceled. Hayden really wanted to go to Hannah's party. She kept telling us that she felt good, then she got sick again! So, I decided to give Hayden a little princess make-over at home since she was missing the one with her friends.

We did the make-up and the pretty pink princess nail polish on the fingers and toes. Sorry we missed your special day Hannah-we'll have to plan a visit soon!

Where Has My Zone Gone!?

Running just hasn't been going so well lately. For the past week and a half each run has felt more like a dreaded chore than an enjoyable activity! When I start my run I am mentally figuring out how much longer it will be until I get home and as I run I am visualizing the course (since I run it all the time) to see when I will be home. My mile pace has been a little slower lately for some reason and that get frustrating since I check it frequently as I am running. I just want so desperately to get back to my running zone. The zone is a point in the run where you just tune everything thing out and you are just enjoying nature, the music, the movement, and the run. No struggling, pain, shortness or breath, or wishing you were just done! The thing about the zone though is that it's unpredictable, it could last for a minute, 30 minutes, the entire run, or anywhere in between. It's such an amazing desirable feeling though. I have been completing all of my scheduled runs even though the zone is gone....with the exception of today. I was supposed to run 11 miles today and I just couldn't make it. I ran out to energy at 8.5 miles. I just didn't have it in me so I walked and ran the rest of the way...mainly walked! It's just so frusterating.....where did my zone go!? I need you back Zone friend!! Any suggestions to help take my mind off the run and get back into my zone?? Please let me know....

The Foot of a Runner

I know you guys may not want to see this, but I did want to enlighten the future runners out there-your feet will not get prettier by running! Not that I had pretty feet to begin with. I have always has feet that look like there were crammed into soccer cleats all the time-and they were! You know, short stubby toes. But this running thing has destroyed any good looking features that they possibly had! I have to keep my toe nail VERY short or they will get black and blue and sore. My toe nails are super thick too, kind of crazy. Then I have a big blister looking callus on my second toe and then of course the beautiful blood blister like jewel on my third toe. Not sure what that's all about. Now I know that I could do some things in order to make them look a little more presentable-putting a fresh coat on polish on them, filing down the callus.....but who has time for all that!? They are what they are-just a perk of running I suppose.

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cake II

So, last night Jeremy got an awesome call from his cousin, Brandon. Let me back up a little. Brandon works for UPS-he is the one that got Jerm the night job there. So, we have been grateful to him for that. Recently, Jerm has been talking to the higher ups about switching the the pre-load shift. It would be an early morning shift rather than the 11pm-3am shift he's currently working. We just weren't sure if it was going to happen because his bosses weren't making it sound good. Well, that's where Brandon comes in. Basically, he worked some magic and traded one of his guys from his shift in order to get Jerm moved to the early morning shift! Brandon's shift isn't either of the shifts involved so he really didn't have to get involved at all. He did it just to help Jerm out! So, I told Jerm to email Brandon and ask him what his favorite kind of cake was. That's where this second version of the peanut butter chocolate cake comes in! I like the other one I make, but I think it was a little too strong and rich. This one is a chocolate cake with peanut butter chips and iced in a peanut butter butter cream. Hope he likes it!! Thanks Brandon, you're the best!!

*I wanted to share a new little tip that I have discovered about finding a cake recipe. My new favorite method is to type in the kind of cake that I am looking for in a Google IMAGE search! Then tons of amazing pictures come up. Most of them are blogs or other websites that share the recipe to that cake! LOVE IT! That's how I got the recipe for this one.

Let The Celebration Begin!!

I realize that by revealing what I am about to reveal I am risking all of you thinking that I am crazy, but I am just so excited about Hayden's party that I had to share! So, I absolutely love birthdays. I love everything about them: the cake, the decorations, the friends and family, the joy, the games and crafts, and especially the anticipation leading up the the actual day! So, I decided last year, when I was getting ready for Hayden's party, to decorate a week early. I make most of the decorations for the parties and I hate that they are only up for a day. So, most of the decorations go up early! It's so great to see how excited Hayden gets about her birthday throughout the week. Another thing about me is that I don't like stress or stressful situations. So, I often do things well in advance so that I don't feel too stressed about things. Parties can be stressful things, but if you do the decorating a week early all that's left is the cleaning, baking, and cooking! Did you notice the blog background change!? It's the fancies Fancy Nancy like background that I could find!

Above are some of the kitchen decorations. Tissue paper flower balls and a banner and some accessories hanging on the wall.

Another flower ball light decoration and a Fancy Hayden banner. That was so simple-just scrapbook paper and card stock. I printed off the letters on the card stock, cut it out, glued it to the paper, cut that out with fancy scissors, hole punched them and put them on a ribbon! Thankfully, we don't want much TV anymore, so that won't be in the way for the next week!

More tissue paper flowers for the centerpieces on the little picnic tables for the tea party. The things in the pink cup are straws so that they can drink their fancy pink punch!

Plastic straws, fake flowers, and ribbon!

The vase is just a glass vase I got for $1. Covered it with scrapbook paper and card stock. Tied a ribbon around it, put the flower and butterflies in and that's it!

So, you may think that I am crazy, but I do it all for the girls. The excitement in my soon to be three year olds eyes when she see all of the little details is priceless and that's what makes it all worth it!

Now all we need is for all of our guests to RSVP!!

Hair Day!

This wig is going to go with Layner's Halloween costume this year. We have decided not to reveal what Layne will be, but at least you know what her hair will look like!! She LOVED the wig. She screamed when sister tried it on and then again when I put it away. What a goof.

Sister wanted a turn with the wig too.

Layne just new that she looked silly with the wig and the apron look. She loved every minute of it though.

This morning Hayden did not have preschool because of all of the flooding going on. So, after our shower I decided to put her hair in pin curls to see if it's something that I would want to take the time and do for her birthday party.

It took a long time and a lot of hair spray....

But she loves it! I keep catching her standing in front of mirrors just turning right and then turning left so she can admire her curly new look.

What Happened to Chenayi...

**This is taken from an email that Barry Robinson (a missionary in Africa) sent**

The thing is tragic in any sense of the word, but the way it happened makes it even more tragic. Chitungwisa is a separate city but has grown to join Harare. It is not like Harare in that it has no big downtown part, but is one big high density area like Sunningdale where Chitsere lives. They were living in a really nice small house. The electricity there, like everywhere else is erratic at best. They had a small generator to keep the fridge cold. They kept it in a small bathroom when it was not in use. The electricity went off two Saturdays ago a little after dark. Her brother went into the bathroom to fill the generator with petrol and to take it outside and start it. Of course it was dark in the bathroom. Chenai decided he needed some light to see as he filled the generator. I think you can guess what happened. She used a candle for the light. The gasoline exploded and the force blew the door shut with her and her brother inside. They both received extensive third degree burns. She lived for one week, but I think was unrecognizable. He is still in the hospital in critical condition.

**Please continue to pray for Chenayi's family and especially for her brother who is still fighting for his life.**

Hayden Chenayi...Meet Chenayi Moyo

Last night when I was getting Hayden ready for bed she kept saying "Chenayi". She told me that she had to go to heaven to play with God and Dabney. How simple and sweet. I decided that I would give Hayden my framed picture of Chenayi so that she could keep it in her room. After I answered 101 questions about Chenayi (yes, Hayden is in that questioning stage!) I tried to put the picture on her nightstand. She said, "No, I want to sleep next to Chenayi tonight." And that's exactly what she did...

Lucky You're So Cute!

Tonight Hayden was trying to get the box of mini pineapple upside-down cakes down and this is what happened! Don't worry DP family that attended the baptism today....these were the leftovers and this happened AFTER the baptism!

I wasn't too upset about it because I had just told Jeremy that I was just going to throw them away because this recipe wasn't as good as one I had used before. They use biscuits and these tasted "too biscuitie" to me! I know that sounds crazy to all of those southerners out there-but please remember that I am a Yankie (and proud of it!) and we don't really do biscuits that much. This is the look that Hayden gave me as she was cleaning up her mess. How could you be mad at that face!?

Layner wasn't far from the sweet treats. She decided to munch on a cupcake wrapper instead of digging in on the real food-go figure!

Daddy, I picked this one off the floor especially for you!

The other day I gave Layner an Oreo-what a mistake! She loved every minute of it though!

Hayden and Her Boys...

Here are the Williams twins with Hayden in the nursery of Discover Point Church. Brady is in the blue shirt and Connor is in the red shirt. Connor is ONE of Hayden's boy friends. Lisa took this picture and posted it on facebook with a caption that read: Our nursery is a safe environment for your kids!! LOL.

Personally, I think that she posed the children on top of the tables-especially Hayden (she would never do something like this on her own!). Just kidding!!!