Happy Halloween!

Get ready for some cuuuuuuuteness overload!

My little ladybug and fairy. 

Aren't they just the sweetest little girls? I could just eat them up with a spoon.  :-)  

Once Josh got home from work we got the girls all dressed up and went to see Josh's parents. Emma was so excited to go trick or treating at Granddaddy and Gran-mare's(Emma's word for grandmother) house. After we left there we met the Hollifields and my mom and dad at our church. They do a trunk-or-treat every year and that's where we always take the girls. Emma was a little shy at first but once she figured out she would get candy she did great.....as long as she was holding Papa's hand. She didn't want anyone but Papa to walk with her.

This was the best picture of all 4 girls. It's absolutely impossible to get them all to smile at once. 

(Ryleigh-19 months, Hailey-2 years, Emma-3 years, Cheyenne-3 1/2 years)

My little lady bug and daddy. 

After they went around to all the cars they all sat down and ate a free hotdog for dinner. It was such a fun time and I'm glad that all the girls got to do it together.  

::pumpkin patch::bonfire::

This past Thursday we took the girls to the pumpkin patch. We went to the same one that we've been to since Emma was born. The girls loved going around and looking at all the pumpkins. Ryleigh mostly loved walking on the hay and picking it up. If we gave her a pumpkin to look at, she would put it back and then clap for herself. She thought that we wanted her to put it where it goes. Poor thing didn't realize she could have it. Emma had a really hard time picking out a pumpkin. It seemed as though she couldn't find the right one. So we finally just had to pick up one and say "Emma, let's take this one home." We ended up with 3 little pumpkins (that I'm going to let them paint tomorrow). 

Today was a pretty fun day too. After nap time we headed up to Stokesdale to spend the day with my family. We went to Autumn's neighborhood where they were having a little Halloween get together. There were snacks, face painting, a pumpkin decorating contest, and a hay ride. We didn't stay there too long but afterwards we went back to my mom and dads house to start the bonfire. Every year for Halloween we have a bonfire and fix hotdogs and s'mores. Whenever Halloween is during the week we do it on the weekend so that we have more time. I love when we do the bonfire but it's a little difficult keeping small children away from the fire. 

My mom brought out the ball hoppers (which the girls LOVE) and Ryleigh laughed everytime they bounced up and down. When Emma got off hers, Ryleigh tried so hard to climb on it and bounce. Autumn put her on it and helped her and Ryleigh was so excited. I am so glad I caught these pictures. Her face is priceless!

The girls were so funny with their sticky s'mores. It took me about 10 wipes to get them all cleaned up. 

We had such a great day. I am so exited to dress them up tomorrow evening and go trick or treating. 

Hope everyone has a Happy Halloween!

::saturday::

Today was just a typical Saturday. Josh worked this morning and then after the girls got up from their nap I took them out to a few stores while Josh worked on his truck. I was on a mission to find Ryleigh a Halloween costume. I can't believe I waited till the last minute, but I did. Emma's costume from last year still fits her so Ryleigh is the only one who needed one. I finally found one at the 5th store we went to. She is going to be the cuuuuuutest little lady bug. :)  After we got home I let the girls color a little bit. (sorry for the horrible phone pics)

Emma asked for pizza for dinner so I got the ingredients from homemade pizza at the store and let her help me. She loves to help me cook or bake. 

Zoo!

I am finally getting around to posting our pictures from the zoo. I have fallen a little behind. I had a ton of school work this week.  I actually just got done with my first exam and I still have another exam due by Sunday. But anyway, I'm trying to get caught up. 

This past Sunday we spent the morning at the NC Zoo. My whole family went last year and we did the same this year. I love that we can all go and enjoy a morning out together. It's not very often we get everyone together anymore. We got there as soon as the park opened at 9am. We walked through the whole zoo and then had a picnic lunch on the grass. The girls all did really well. Emma loved seeing all the animals that she had spent the whole week talking about. Ryleigh mostly rode in the stroller and I got her out to see some animals. She did so great and loved looking around. I thought we got more pictures than we did....but I guess keeping up with all the kids was first priority.    :)

 Emma go to ride on daddy's shoulders...which she obviously loved!

Emma LOVES her Aunt Katie

My favorite....the Zebra!

Ryleigh mostly enjoyed playing with her shoe strings.

She is a papa's girl. 

We really had a great time there and I'm looking forward to taking them again next year. 

I will hopefully post our trip to the pumpkin patch in the next day or two. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Girls Night

Believe it or not, tonight was my first ever girls night. I went to the movies with both of my sisters to see Footloose. It has been atleast 4 or 5 years since I'd been to a movie. I used to really love going but now they want your first born to see a two hour movie. Anywayyyyy, I knew when Footloose came out that I had to go see it. I love the old movie and I knew that the new one could never be as good as the first, but it was sooooo good. I was surprised at how much I loved it. It was nice to go with both Autumn and Katie. I can't remember the last time the 3 of us went out somewhere together. We were 3 of only 5 people in the theater and we couldn't help but sing and dance. It was so fun and exactly what we all needed. 

I will post our pics from the zoo soon. Right now school is occupying my time on the computer and I haven't had time to edit them, but will get to it soon. 

a tiny bit overwheled....

OK, let's talk about school for a minute. My classes started this week and I am already feeling a little overwhelmed. I have never taken all my classes online so it is taking me a little bit to get used to it. I have been up till 1am or so the last few nights trying to get all my stuff together. Every instructor is differernt. They all want you to do something a different way and I'm trying not to get them confused. Once I figure it all out I'm sure I will be fine, but just getting to that point is exhausting. They all have different deadlines every week and I'm so afraid I am going to get confused and miss something. This is definitely a lot different than anything I've ever done. I am going to do most of my school work during nap time and after the girls are in bed but yesterday I had a really short quiz that I was taking at the kitchen table while the girls were playing. Ryleigh ran by me and my goodness....she stunk!! So I had to stop my quiz...take care of that..and then get back to it. I was laughing so hard at myself because being in school has definitely changed for me. My season of life is different and I have other things that I am responsible for too. Back then my job was school. My job is "mom" first now. It's just different. However, I am so excited to be back in school. I feel like the first time in a long time I am actually using my brain. I have had to do discussion questions the past couple of days that have really made me think and I really enjoy it. I have mostly finished up everything that I have to do for now so I'm going to enjoy my weekend with my family.

Emma's 1st Dance Class

Emma had her very first dance class today. I have been researching dance classes for a while trying to find something for Emma that wouldn't be too expensive but hadn't had much luck. I talked to Autumn last night and  she recommended that we take Emma to the same place Cheyenne goes. She was able to work it out with the teacher and now Emma goes on Wednesdays with Chey. They are in the same class which is great for Emma because she knows someone there. Emma has never been left with anyone other than family so I was definitely really nervous about leaving her. She hasn't been in many social environments which is why we wanted to get her into something like this. Miss Maghan said she did pretty good. Part of the class she stood in the back and just watched and then halfway through she put on her tap shoes and danced with the other girls. She said that Emma would probably be just fine after she does another class or two. She was so excited when Josh got home tonight to show him her new dance outfits and her ballet and tap shoes. She wore her tap shoes all over the house and we had to fight her to get them off. I am so excited for Emma and I know she is really going to enjoy this. Special thanks to Autumn for everything you have done for us. We love you. 

*It was raining today so this was the only picture I got but I will defintely get some better pictures next week. 

What am I thinking?

A few posts ago, I used bullet points and my husband informed me that it was hard to read and was all over the place. He said he felt like it was "5 mintues inside Jenny's head", which is about right. My brain is constantly running. So I decided that I would start doing a post every Wednesday titled "What am I thinking?" This will probably really annoy my husband but that's ok.  ;-)  So......here we go.

• I got my first school assignments today. I am still excited but now a little nervous. Once I get started I will be fine, but just thinking of everything I need to do is overwhelming me.
• Josh had to go out of town yesterday but he is coming home tonight!
• I decided that today was "bathroom cleaning day." I despise cleaning bathrooms but nevertheless, it has to be done. 
• Yesterday afternoon Josh's mom watched the girls so that I could go to school and get my books and take a placement test. I ended up not getting the book I needed due to some issues the school was having but I got everything else done.
• After I picked up the girls I took them to get tacos. Emma LOVES tacos and but she calls them "tatos". Josh doesn't eat Mexican so I usually just take them when he has to go out of town.
• Glee didn't come on last night. That makes 2 weeks in a row that it hasn't come on. What is up with that?
• I am so excited to go to the zoo on Sunday. Emma tells me every day the animals she is going to see.
• I think we are going to the pumpkin patch on Saturday. I can't wait to see the girls pick out their pumpkins.
• I got Ryleigh some snow bibs last night at Target. They had them on clearance for $6.00!! So now the girls are ready for it to snow this winter. 
• Emma has been wearing out her Cinderella DVD. She is starting to recite the movie and the songs.
• Ryleigh has really been loving her little babydoll. She gives it kisses all the time.
• I still haven't made my big pot of homemade soup I've been talking about. Soon!
• I started trying to make a Christmas List for my girls but it's proving to be a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. 
• Since I am hosting Thanksgiving at my house this year I have already started putting my lists together. I am really excited to have all my family here.
• I really love the song "Pumped Up Kicks" that is out right now. I made it my new ringtone.

sunday playtime

Yesterday we finally got to go to my mom and dads house. It has been several weeks since we got to spend the afternoon with them. Emma was so excited to go to Nana and Papa's house too. She knows the roads that we turn on to get there and as soon as we start heading that direction, she talks non-stop about going to their house. When we got to Stokesdale we met my mom,dad, and Katie at the new Town Hall. They have built a new building and there is also a playground and track. The playground was completely empty so the girls had everything to themselves. Nowadays it is extremely difficult to find playgrounds around this area that are small enough for Ryleigh to climb on but this one was perfect. She was able to climb onto the little steps and come right to the top of the slide and come down all by herself. She did this over and over and over. 

 We also took Emma's bike for her to ride around the track but she only rode for a minute or two. Lately she hasn't been very interested in her bike at all. 

Ryleigh discovered that it's also fun to slide on her belly. 

 Of course since Ryleigh did it, Emma had to try it too. 

After we got done at the playground we headed back to mom and dads house and had dinner. Before we left, Emma wanted to play outside for a few minutes. She was able to persuade Papa to take her for a ride on the golf cart and also get the powerwheels out for her. 

It was a really great day and the girls slept like a rock last night. Next Sunday my family is going on our annual zoo trip. I'm so excited. Emma has been telling me all the animals she is going to see all day long.