Trick or Treat Smell My Feet

It took some doing, but Maddox eventually warmed up to the idea of wearing her elephant costume. She wore the body of it to a Birthday party a few weeks before, but wanted NOTHING to do with the head. She tried it on a few more times, and all I had to do was tell her "If you leave the head on you can have some candy!" and it worked! Bribery. Works. On. 2. Year. Olds.

Ready to go- but not time yet!

We'll just sit on the front step until it is time.

Now we practice saying "Trick or Treat!"

Looking for houses with people on the front porch to talk to. There were plenty!

It's getting dark and we are heading home, she starts to want the candy!

Checking out her loot back home, and eating a lollipop.

The wedding!

Our friends Paul and Danielle got married in a beautiful outdoor ceremony down in Concord, NC. The Orchard House is just close enough to the highway, and just far enough in the country that it seems like a picture perfect wedding location.

They lit all the lanterns hanging from the trees, and the wedding was timed so that dusk was falling shortly after the ceremony.

After the ceremony we had appetizers and hot apple cider in the garden. I thought this little shed and red tree were really pretty. I was going to go peek in the windows, and my friend Kara said something like: "That is so something you would do". Is that bad? Two minutes later some other wedding guests were peeking in the windows, and I said "Look! Now I can't go and peek or I'll just look like a follower!" Hahahaha!

I was SO glad to see Mdx's godparents, the Beerys. They are in their internship year at two churches up in Boone, and it has been WAY too long since we've seen them. We are planning a long weekend trip to see them hopefully in the Spring. We had a great conversation reminiscing from their wedding, and discussing the most useless or useful items from a gift registry.

I also enjoyed catching up with Kara and Katie, but didn't get a picture of them. :( Kara is getting ready to move and be with her man in California, and Katie is looking for a Youth Ministry job in the Raleigh area. If you know of any, let me know!

There was a HUGE tent where there was dinner and dancing!

Really Really Really Good Food. I took this pic for Marshall. :)

Getting instructions on how to pose for the cake cutting.

The beautiful couple! Enjoy your honeymoon!

Fun stuff we've been doing

A few weeks ago we went to Maddox's friend D's First Birthday party. There were a lot of little kids and babies there and Mdx enjoyed herself very much!

Here is D pointing at his birthday cake. His Daddy is now deployed in Iraq working on the same Project Marshall has been working on.

They baked cake in ice cream cones, and iced them, which Mdx enjoyed eating!

Mdx got this really cute Halloween shirt in the mail from Marshall's Aunt and Uncle in Pittsburgh. It says "Trick or Treat" across the top, with Black cats down at the bottom. It's a little big, but will fit perfectly with the matching pants for Halloween next year. Thanks Doug and Terri!

We took a long weekend trip to Greensboro and Charlotte for a wedding and I took Mdx to the same Pumpkin Patch in Greensboro where my parents used to take us to pick out a pumpkin! (Centenary United Methodist, on Friendly Ave) They have a big blow up pumpkin, and Mdx talked to him for a good long while.

It was nice to see my friend Brandi who lives in downtown Greensboro. We walked to Fincastle Diner and ate dinner on their patio. She brought her pup Piper along.

They have good cookies, and we had exceptional service from a waiter named Breighann(j). I think there was a silent J at the end- either way, he was very funny.

We spent a great morning at the Greensboro Children's Museum, and will definitely be going back! We hoped to meet up with some Greensboro friends to play, but they were all either out of town or sick! Maybe next time.

Brushing the largest set of teeth I'm sure she's ever seen.

She's probably having flashbacks to Aunt Em's house.

They have a great grocery store. She's going for some yummy cheese.

Good thing I take care of shopping for groceries! She enjoyed this way too much!

It is a shame she is so shy

The words are:

"Four little monkeys jumping on the bed

One fell off and bumped his head

Mama called the doctor and the doctor said:

No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

Next verse is Three, etc.......

Out and about

We went to the Hampton Bay Days, which were in downtown Hampton.

You can see some of the beautiful old buildings...on the left is the post office.

Mdx and I helped stimulate the economy, and since we are missing the NC State Fair this year we enjoyed some fair food here!

One of the churches was having a yard sale, and I found this SWEET fondue set for $1.00! I also got Mdx a tie-dyed shirt from the same vendor that does the Greensboro Fun 4th celebration every year.

We went to ChuckECheese for our friend K's 10th Birthday party. Maddox loved sitting at the table with all the big girls.

Here is K! She is so pretty! We have the same birthday too.

There is some serious dancing going on right at the beginning of this video!

Mdx loves wearing this birthday hat that was given to me by my friend Jen. Her new favorite game is "birthday party!", and we have been practicing the birthday song. Maybe she'll be able to sing it to Marshall when it is his birthday!

Other randomness

On our way home from Raleigh we stopped by my friend Nina's new (old) house in Cary. She and her fiance bought a GORGEOUS house in a fantastic family neighborhood....and the best part of the house it is the personality that comes with it. This house was well loved, and tastefully updated by the previous owners. I only got one picture, the kitchen, but here you can see the beautiful tilework on the backsplash, and how unique the space really is. I'm so happy for them!

I took a quick picture of my classroom at the beginning of the school year. I got moved into a smaller classroom that is across the hall from my old room, but has a bigger closet- so it works out well. Plus, I gained 2 windows! Anything is better than the trailer Wake County had me in! The quote on the wall says "Nothing builds self-esteem and self-confidence like accomplishment". Every classroom has a different quote in it.

Mdx is still enjoying her swimming lessons...although next time we will schedule them at a better time! It is just too hard to try and pick up Mdx, get changed, and get to the YMCA by 5:30 when I'm not leaving work until after 4:15!! It's also not fair to Macy to sit in her crate all day by herself. Here is Mdx staring at the big kid pool waiting for her turn!

Mdx has spent more quality time talking to Marshall on the computer. He mostly listens.

It has rained a lot, and since our house faces tidal water from the Chesapeake Bay that is called the Indian River...we have seen rising waters. God help us if there is ever a direct hit from a Hurricane! The view from our front step after 2 days of rain:

Our neighbors to the left, and our street covered in about a foot of water. Still drivable, and people were not particularly bothered by this sight!

Mdx had her 2 year old check up, and she is perfectly healthy! She maxed out her verbal score, was close on her fine motor skills, and is above 95% for height and weight. My big girl!

Can I push this button? Too late!

We have also taken some walks around the neighborhood in the new wagon that Mdx got for her birthday. We love all the families here, the sidewalks, the water and wildlife. The only thing that would make this neighborhood perfect is for Marshall to be here to share it with us!

Family birthday party

We went down to NC to visit with people over Labor Day weekend, and had Maddox's family party then. The McIntyre's were generous enough to host (plus their house is a great party house!) and it was a much more central location than Hampton, VA. Thanks to everybody so much for helping make Mdx's birthday special, and alleviating a little bit of stress for me!

Uncle Marc and Aunt Kris gave her an awesome dress up box full of stuff they had been collecting. Maddox put on quite a few things and went for a walk!

On party day everyone helped decorate and prepare, I was SO thankful!

Mdx's cake....look familiar? This one was cupcakes!

Mdx and T.A. We had to take Mdx's beautiful dress off before she had any cake.

What's going on?

Now can I have cake?

Good thing I don't have that dress on!

We put it back on for presents.

Mdx opened this baby stroller- and was DONE! She did not want any more presents!

So....when mean Mama tried to get her to keep opening presents and leave the stroller alone...this is what she did! A 2 year old birthday party is not complete without a good cry.

Anderson showed her how to use her new tricycle.

Thanks to everybody who came, and helped with the party! I know Maddox had a great time! Thank you also for all the gifts. The thank you cards will be arriving sometime in 2011....right now we'll have to make do with a thank you blog.

Then she turned 2....

Gosh, at this rate I won't be caught up with blog posts until sometime next year. HA!

We invited a handful of Maddox's friends over for a "friend party" on the afternoon of her birthday. I am so glad that Tam and Tim were here to help me! My Mom also arrived shortly after the party started. She was coming in town to help me with Mdx for the week, since it was a week of teacher workdays for me.

Tim created a beautiful fan decoration. He's an interior designer for the Air Force. Okay, he's an Air Traffic Controller, but I'm sure they are related somehow.

Aa was exhausted and fell asleep before the party started.

Mdx was ready to party!!

There were lots of little babies and friends running around.

8 different flavors of Ben & Jerry's to choose from!!

Mdx's cake!

I was trying to keep her from touching the flame....but we had practiced blowing out the candle ahead of time! Marshall was watching on the webcam, but it was a bad connection so we couldn't really hear him. I'm glad he got to see it though.

We opened presents and let everybody play with them!

It was a fun party, and good practice for her family party which was over Labor Day weekend. More pictures to come!