Pumpkin Carving

Halloween Fun Part One

We had a very busy weekend, full of fall fun and festivities! On Saturday, there were two fall carnivals at schools near our house. Scott took Shelby to one in the morning while I ran errands and then we all went to the elementary school carnival in the afternoon. Saturday night was "trunk or treat" at the church and then Sunday afternoon was our annual neighborhood block party! Whew! We haven't even gotten to Halloween yet!  Enjoy some pictures - there are more in the gallery. We are getting lots of wear out of her costume of choice this year: a fairy. She's into all things princess, fairy and Tinkerbell right now. 

Sliding and bouncing with a friend!

Pumpkin bowling... strike!

Fairies always travel by tricycle. 

Shelby and a school friend at trunk or treat. 

Crafting with neighborhood friends at the block party. 

More Half Marathon Photos

More half marathon photos in a gallery right here. The other person in the pictures is Tim, a friend of ours and my sort of training partner. And even though we didn't stay at the same pace the entire race we ended up finishing at the same time! Shelby was most interested in my medal and drinking all my Powerade. 

Athens Half Marathon Weekend

We had a packed weekend in Athens that concluded with my first half marathon on Sunday! I finished in 2 hours and 13 minutes and had a great time, even though I am very sore right now! It was a chilly morning and a pretty hilly course, but I ran the entire time and am proud of myself for setting a goal and completing it. The day before the race we had some fun kiddo time with the Kellys, including... 

A pumpkin patch visit! Shelby and Luke pulled these wheelbarrows all over the place and had fun "playing farm." 

Look at these little Georgia fans. So cute! The game was disappointing but we still  had fun with a... 

Halloween dance party at Athens' famous 40 Watt Club! The 40 Watt had a children's band during the day so we dressed them up in costumes and headed downtown for some Halloween dance fun with a mini Hulk and little ladybug. Shelby wanted to "save" her fairy costume for Halloween day.

Tim and I the morning of the race! It was cold and dark but warmed up quickly! The crowds were great and Carrie, Scott and the kids were there to cheer us on in Five Points and again at the finish line. It was rather grueling at times, but we had a lot fun! Afterwards, we celebrated with EPL soccer, a pint and some food at the Royal Peasant pub. 

My little cheerleader! Shelby said she'd like to run a race with me one day. Maybe we will find a one mile fun run in the spring. Her big takeaway: "I want to run a race and throw my shirt on the ground." HA! When we ran in Five Points, I tossed Scott my warm up shirt and it fell on the ground. For some reason, that really stuck with her! 

Princess

Shelby is into princess everything lately, particularly The Little Mermaid. I don't even know how she became aware of princesses... I guess her little friends discuss it at school?! But she can name everyone of them! We finally watched The Little Mermaid and I must say, I enjoyed it as much this time around as when it first came out. We've also watched Mulan, which is pretty good. Before I had Shelby, I thought I'd never have a little girl who was obsessed with princesses, but she has proven me wrong! 

Rosemary Beach Pictures

It's only two months late, but I finally got around to uploading some of Scott's Rosemary Beach pictures "from the good camera." You can view the gallery here. He got a new lens recently and had a lot of fun experimenting with night and long exposure photography.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

I made this dip for the game on Saturday and it was a hit! It's one of my favorite dips to make but I don't get to take it to tailgates enough because it's better served hot right out of the oven. It's perfect for football watching at home or at a friend's house.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

1 8 oz package of cream cheese, softened and cut into cubes

1 8 oz  bottle of Franks Red Hot Sauce (or your hot sauce of choice)

2 12 oz cans of chicken (I use Tyson white meat), drained

1 4 oz package crumbled bleu cheese

1/2 cup (or more) bleu cheese dressing

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly spray small casserole dish. Pulse all ingredients in food processor until blended. Pour into dish and bake for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Serve with your choice of Fritos scoops, celery, pita chips or other veggies. 

Our Weekend

Why do weekends seem to fill up so much faster in the fall? Football takes up a good chunk of our Saturdays, but even on bye weeks or away game weekends, we still find plenty to do, and there's even more I wish we could do! It seems like every weekend there's a festival or fall event that I want to make it to, but never get the chance to! 

On Saturday, we had another gymnastics birthday party! Shelby thought it was great! She's rather fearless when it comes to jumping, somersaulting and swinging on things. After the party we watched the Georgia game at our friends' house. They have a 7-year-old girl and she and Shelby had a great time playing. They disappeared into the playroom and we hardly saw them the entire game!

On Sunday we went to the Atlanta Greek Festival. Greek food, music and children's activities - can't get any better than that! Parking is limited at the event so you have to ride a shuttle bus over there. We rode on a school bus and Shelby thought it was so much fun - probably the highlight of the event for her! We also ran into a friend from school and it's always a treat for her when that happens. 

Mini carnival rides... a festival must!

She can't resist these things. 

Scott's Birthday

Scott's birthday was on Tuesday and we had a nice time celebrating. Bill and Glee came over and we went out to eat at Local 7. We were going to go to the cupcake shop next door afterwards but it was closed! So Shelby and I decided to make some homemade cupcakes. All we had were Hello Kitty cupcake liners and toppers, so we used those... sorry dad! But we bought some Batman crepe paper streamers, plates and napkins to balance it out. Shelby is really into theme birthdays and decided Scott should have a Batman party so that's what we did! 

Shelby shows off her handiwork. 

You forgot your hat, dad. 

Blow out the candle, dad!

She loves celebrating birthdays!

Pumpkin Patch Pictures Through the Years

Here's a year-by-year comparison of Shelby's pumpkin patch pictures. It's fun to see how much she's grown and changed! 

2010

 2011

2012

2013

The Pumpkins are Here

There's a church in our neighborhood that has a pumpkin patch during the month of October. It's run by  a Boy Scout troop and we drive by it every day on our way home from school. Shelby remarks on it on a near weekly basis: "That's where the punkie patch is!" "No punkies yet!" "Are the punkies here yet?" Well, I happened to drive by Sunday and see them unloading the truck, so I came home to happily report, "Yes! The pumpkins are here!" We stopped by on our way to dinner... I think we were their first customers! We bought some small pumpkins to paint and we will pick our our big carving pumpkins later. We will probably visit a couple more times between now and Halloween... Shelby LOVES it! (The playground next door is also a big attraction.) I will have to look online for some pumpkin painting/decorating/craft ideas because I have a feeling we'll be purchasing more $1 mini pumpkins in the future!

Pumpkin posing time!

Sooooo excited! 

Find the girl among the pumpkins. 

Taking a seat - all smiles!