October has been full of activity for us, with multiple birthday parties, including Brian's 34th birthday, a beach wedding, and a mountain trip. Add in weekly soccer, Oktoberfest, Scarowinds, and training for a half marathon, and that equals one worn out momma! But, I do love this time of year, watching the beauty of nature take over and transform the landscape from lush greenness to a world full of autumn colors and leaves falling like rain (I say that for now, having no yard to rake!) I'm soaking it all in and patiently waiting for old man winter to arrive...flurries are in the forecast for the mountains this week, and maybe even a touch of frost for Charlotte. Brrrrrr!
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| With Coach Brett |
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| She loves Coach Brett and is always holding his hand |
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| Caramel Halloween Apples (with Milani) |
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| Scarowinds, for Jon's birthday |
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| The kids were sleeping soundly, so they didn't get to see this big guy. I had to turn around and snap a few pictures. He was happy to oblige...(which surprises me, so close to Thanksgiving! lol) |
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| Always wanting to wear a hat these days... |
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| This is how I feel some days also, son! |
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| Pretty Callie...she'll be 5 in December! |
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| The beginning stages of potty training (with no luck)...sorry to the Topham's neighbors, lol! |
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| CAMRYN's 2nd BIRTHDAY PARTY! |
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| more birthday party fun! |
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| griffin with his classmate and buddy, tolley |
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| payton with chloe, one of her best friends from school (and chloe's twin sister, sierra, in the back, photobombing)...this was for luke's birthday party (a friend from school), so most of her classmates were there, and some of griffin's also. |
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| Payton with Fynn, her school "boyfriend" |
And we celebrated Daddy's birthday also!! We sung to him, gave him a tailgating tent he/we can use at the UNCC football games, and took him to Waldhorn, for Oktoberfest. We had a great celebration!
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| Dancing with Macie |
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| Dancing with her new friend, Isabelle (7) |
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| Glad I checked on him this particular night :-) |
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| We're getting all geared up for the snowboard season around here! |
This is just funny to me...Griffin wearing his bookbag that is WAY too large for him!
HAPPY 34th BIRTHDAY TO DADDY!!!!!
The Wooly Worm Festival is a big fall event for the little town of Banner Elk, NC. We haven't been since Payton was a baby, so my parents, Brian, and I took the kids. We knew they would have a blast! And as always, we visited one of my most favorite spots in the mountains...Grandfather Winery. Payton made some new friends (who are actually from Lake Wylie!) and some old ones visited us. We had a very nice weekend with my parents! Check out these colors!
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| Grandfather (Grumpsfather) Mountain, taken through my windshield...little hand prints and squashed bugs really give the picture character, don't you think? |
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| The kids choosing their wooly worms! |
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| WOOLY WORM FESTIVAL! The lines were SO incredibly long to register for the race that we skipped that, and let our wormies out into the wild... |
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| Silly girl with her Granby at lunch... |
After naps, we headed down to Grandfather Winery, owned by the sweet Tatum family. The weather was cloudy earlier in the day, but cleared up for us. It was a gorgeous afternoon. Payton immediately made friends with 3 adorable sisters, Tatum (5.5), Piper (4), and Rowan (2.5). After Brian and I met their parents, we found out they also live on Lake Wylie, and their parents have a house in Boone! Small world...we're hoping to get the kids together again soon. Our other friends from Lake Wylie, the Watsons, also met us there. Payton and Griffin love their girls, Shelby and Rankin.
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| The boy loves croquet...taking after his Grumps! |
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| Showing the bug he found. Yuck! |
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| Payton with her new friends, Tatum, Piper, and Rowan |
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| This was before the wooly worms "escaped" |
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| The beautiful Watson family |
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| Rankin and Payton |
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| Chasity and Me |
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| Dinner at "The Castle," as Griffin kept calling it. It's really just a mexican restaurant, lol! |
On our way home Sunday, we stopped to take some pictures on my old campus...Appalachian State University. I say "old," but in all actuality, there have been some major changes, additions, and renovations to campus. It's more beautiful than ever! The kids had fun getting their wiggles out before settling in the car...
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| Fun with Yosef |
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| Until next time, Blue Ridge Mountains! |
In the meantime, we totally forgot to make arrangements for Callie to have a friend to stay with, so off to Camp Canine she went (she HATES that place for some reason). It seems cool to us...the dogs have indoor and outdoor access ALL day and night, except for feeding times. She can come and go as she pleases, has a huge fenced in yard, dog beds all over the inside, with TV's FOR THEM!? Then, once we picked her up, she got to have a play date with her buds, Lola and Cooper at the Boughman's house. Anyway, she was extremely happy to see us, completely worn out, and she quietly sneaked onto our bed (which she NEVER does).
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| Sweet girl... |
Quick update on my dad...today he finished taking his first round of oral medication. He takes the pills now, in lieu of the chest port transfusions, for 14 days, then he gets a 7 day break...then, repeat. So far, so good. He was fatigued, at the beginning, but he's gained back some energy. He does have some strange junk-food cravings, but no real nausea. He said it is affecting his memory, a tad, which is frustrating. I'm just glad he's not having those deathly symptoms he had last month. They are eventually going to add some of the transfusions back in, and we're praying for no adverse affects from that, again! Anyway, with October almost over, we're even that much closer to February!! GO DAD, GO!
