Carving the Pumpkin

Here is our front porch with our two Halloween jack-o-lanterns.

Joe & Emmy carved the smaller one Sunday, and the girls & Joe carved the big one last night!

I took pictures and Ross was in charge of lighting the candles inside each pumpkin,

a very cool job for a very cool 6th grader!
Here are the girls with our finished jack-o-lantern!

As you can see, Emmy is enjoying every minute of the fun!


We scooped and counted over 350 seeds from our pumpkin.
Daddy roasted them for us - thanks for the recipe, Melissa! :)

Two little hands doing lots of BIG work!

Right after I cut the top off the pumpkin,
they both wanted to see what the inside "felt" like!

Today, the weather changed and it REALLY feels like fall now.

Perfect time to light the pumpkin for our friends & neighbors to enjoy!

Happy fall, y'all!!

JUDGE'S CUP GYM MEET

Chloe had another meet Sunday. This one, called the Judges Cup, is hosted by, you guessed it, the judges! I was a little concerned because the meet didn't begin until 5:30, and after a busy Widner weekend, I thought Chloe might be too wiped out to do what we know she is capable of doing. Well, did she prove me wrong! Her goal going into the meet was 3 nines and 1 eight, and she hit it! Her scores:

VAULT: 9.1
BARS: 9.2 (her best all season!)
BEAM: 9.45 (her best all season, and the 2nd highest at her gym!)
FLOOR: 8.6

ALL AROUND: 36.35 HER PERSONAL BEST!!!

We have a LONG break before the next meet, which is scheduled for Dec. 6 & 7. And then, we go to Houston for the Mary Lou Retton Invitational in January! Fun for the moms - these girls have NO IDEA who MLR is!!! :)

We have a busy November, complete with a mother-daughter retreat to Sky Ranch a 6th grade science trip back to Sky (Joe is chaperoning), and a trip to Disneyworld at the very end of the month! Keep checking the blog... I will be posting periodically!!!!

Here is the bar routine:

Here is beam:

Here is floor...

THE FLU SHOT EXPERIENCE...

I just wanted y’all to know that you REALLY haven’t lived until you’ve accompanied me on a trip to the doctor’s office for flu shots! I was being “the good mother” today & gave everyone a dose of Motrin before we left the house for the doctor’s office. When we got to the doctor’s office, I decided to take one for the team and be the first one to get the shot. I asked if anyone wanted to watch, so they would know what to expect. No one did. It didn’t hurt much.

Emmy was next and she howled like a werewolf as the medicine started going into her arm, but was quickly soothed when the nurse asked her if she’d like to pick out a sucker (which later ended up getting stuck in her hair).

Chloe went next and freaked out a little before the actual shot. The kid endures 3 ½ hour workouts at the gym and she was spooked by a needle the size of a pen tip. Go figure. When Emmy saw what the nurse was doing, she started screaming, “Don’t hurt my sissy! Don’t hurt my Chloe girl!” at the top of her lungs. More crying ensued. Chloe got a sucker and seemed better. She is a very stoic kid.

Then it was Ross’ turn. He was being tested for strep, so we had to wait for the results before they could administer his shot (negative – thank you, Jesus!). The nurse came back into the room, and I sent the girls to the waiting room in the hopes of avoiding a complete family meltdown. Ross, who was sitting on the table in a very relaxed manner, hopped down and “hid” behind the table. The nurse asked him to sit back down, and he did – in a chair – with a death grip on the handles. I told him to get back up on the table. He started crying and telling me that we needed to discuss this, that he wanted to know how many CONFIRMED cases of flu there were last year and why it was necessary to get the shot (this is his tactic EVERY year, and it hasn’t worked yet. Maybe one of these days he’ll figure that out.)

About that time, the receptionist walked in. She is an older, grandmotherly woman. She said, “Ross, come sit on my lap for a minute and tell me what the problem is. You don’t want the shot? Why not?” Ross immediately walked over to her and sat down in her lap. She grabbed him in a nice football hold and said to the nurse, “DO IT!”, and she did. Before Ross knew what happened, the shot was over. He got schooled by a granny! I KNEW I loved her!

Now, I am just praying that he vaccine works and we don’t get some random strand of the flu. If we do, I will be out of luck with Ross next year!

IT'S PUMPKIN TIME!!

Fall is in the air (the temperature is now comsistently in the mid - 80s!!!)! Texas/ O.U. is tomorrow! Legacy's homecoming game and 10 year anniversary party is tonight! And, today, I took Emily to the Big Orange Pumpkin Patch in Celina! She had the best time feeding the animals, going on the hay ride, and eating lunch at the picnic tables. Some of my best memories (and favorite pics!) are of Ross & Chloe at the pumpkin patch in Flower Mound, and Em & I had a "memory-filled" day! There was the goat who ate her feed cup, and finding the farmer on the hayride, and choosing the perfect pumpkin, and taking pictures. LOTS of pictures. I'm only posting 4, but I have a ton more! Emily wants to go back tomorrow with Ross, Chloe & Daddy. I think 2 out of 3 of them will happily oblige... maybe we will have another "memory-filled" day tomorrow, complete with more pictures. Check back to find out!!

Emmy feeding the goats

On the hayride

In the pumpkin patch

Happy girl on the SECOND hayride!!