A fall visit from GG!

So, this past week, GG came into town to do Halloween with us! I wanted to document a few quick pictures. She arrived Thursday evening and stayed until today. On Thursday night, Everly was so great and let GG hold her and was not cranky or anything! Since Everly doesn't want anyone except me or Vic to hold her these days, this was great! On Friday, GG kept the girls while I went up for Atticus's Kindergarten Fall Party. His party was really fun with different stations including a balloon and glowstick dance party, playdough monster creations, mystery boxes full of food that feels like monstery brains, teeth, ears, and eyeballs!, snacks, and making a hand out of popcorn and candy corn! Atticus had a great time with his buddy Greer and I enjoyed myself even more because I could visit with Stacey, Greer's mom. Right after that, I raced home to dress Grace for dance. She was a little cranky and couldn't decide whether to wear her ballet tutu or her Princess Aurora dress. Last week, they told us the kids could dress in their Halloween costumes and all week she has told me she will be Aurora for ballet and Belle for Halloween. So, she put on her tutu dress and then her princess dress on top and she was happy and set for Ballet class. GG and Everly went too and we watched her on the big screen while she danced away. We ran a couple of shopping errands, picked up Atticus from school, and went home. On Saturday, GG let Vic and I slip away for a lunch and shopping date. Vic and I have not been out together without kids since August 10th when we went to dinner with Ana and Charley and then before that, it was July 4th when we went out with Chris and Katherine! Although this is just life when you have kids, it shocked me a little to realize Vic and I had not had any time together by ourselves outside of the house in that long. It is ok, because Everly is little and I can't just leave her with anyone, but still surprising once I realized it. But, it gave us a great chance to get some Christmas shopping done. Also, Saturday afternoon, we headed up to the annual COALS Ag Tailgate and took the Scarmardo's. It was hot, but a great couple of hours. The highlight was getting to reunite with 3 of our 4 Ag Program girls! Darcee and Lauren and their hubbies were all in town for the game and while we missed Taylor who is in Israel with her husband for the next 3 years working, it was really nice to do a quick little catch-up with the girls! Then, we headed back to the house for crockpot chili with GG and the Scarmardo's and watched the Ags win! On Sunday, we skipped church because there was no Sunday School and no Kingdom Time. And, we went for our 2nd lunch and shopping date. I think we have Christmas figured out now for the kids! Monday, we did Halloween, as I've already caught you up on. However, that morning, Vic and I volunteered to help carve a pumpkin for Mrs. Downs' class. She had 4 pumpkins and split the kids up. We had a group with Atticus, 2 other boys and 1 girl and it was so wild! The kids are just cute and excited anyways, but give them a marker to draw a face; seeds and pumpkin guts to pull out; and allow them to help use a knife to carve the pumpkin and they are really excited! I think our pumpkin was the least professional, but it was the most creative. The best part was watching Vic. I just came for moral support because Vic always carves pumpkins at our house. I don't think he realized how crazy 5 year olds can be! At the end, he told GG it "was intense" and "now I know how a kindergarten teacher feels". Ha! 30 minutes with 4 kindergartners and he is glad he is a CPA! But, he did enjoy it and so did I! Then, the kids recited this cute poem called "5 little pumpkins" and then we left. Vic went to work and we had a regular day at home. When Atticus got home from school that afternoon, of course, he was ready to trick or treat. However, first we helped him write a thank you note to our neighbors who always have such a great decorated yard and always let the kids walk through it during October. He did such a good job; most things he spelled out himself and of course, he spelled the way they sounded. We were really proud of his efforts! He gave the note to our neighbors with some chocolate covered popcorn treats. That night, we trick or treated and after a couple more days, GG went home. But, we had a great time while she was here!

 

 "Dear Neighbor; thank you for decorating your yard with zombies, skeletons, and bats and dogs and ghosts. My sister and I loved it. From, Atticus; 4507 Lapis"