Falling into the Holiday Season

I love this time of year. The mornings are cool and crisp, my windows are open (ha-ha Walton EMC - we are keeping a few of our pennies this month!) letting all the fresh air in (and the pesky preschool germs out), and the back yard is the avenue of my sanity.

Tis also the time of year where we begin to countdown - how many days until Halloween? We have adorned our home with the festive decorations - orange and purple sparkling lights, spider webs and hanging witches cover our front porch, trick or treat buckets litter our living room as we prepare to be experts, and we anxiously await our annual trip to the pumpkin patch.

It wouldn't be Halloween at our house without Charlie Brown and his terrible tale of receiving only rocks when trick or treating, or Linus's devotion to the Great Pumpkin. Our Charlie Brown dolls have been used in many re-enactments!

And yes, it wouldn't be Halloween if we didn't spend hours agonizing over the perfect costume. Will Xander be Sportacus, Superman or Spiderman? Will Mikaela be Ariel or Belle (you didn't think she would be anything but a princess, did you?)? You will have to wait and see - for I have a feeling that the decision will come down to that final moment before our trick or treat departure!

It also wouldn't be Halloween at our house if we didn't use the opportunity to eat lots of yummy treats! This weekend we made spooky ooky cupcakes - enjoyed by all! Mikaela and Xander used marshmallows, chocolate chips, and cereal sticks to decorate their cupcakes (complete with silly feet).

It also wouldn't be Halloween if we weren't already asking, "How long until Santa comes?" The aisles of Wal-mart are getting a face lift as new toys fill their shelves. Saturday morning cartoons are sprinkled with the latest action figures and Barbie accessories (must we have a new tiara for each of their marketing scams?). The excitement is mounting!

So, just 71 days, 8 hours and 45 minutes until Christmas morning - but don't worry, Halloween is a mere 17 days away:).

Thrailkill Family Day Out

Saturday morning, the Thrailkill family awoke in need of a family day out! So, they put on their best play clothes, favorite tennis shoes, packed snacks and drinks, and headed out to......Stone Mountain!

A trip back in time for Tommy and I. We passed the big giraffe putt putt golf course where Daddy used to work. We entered the park, where mommy used to work.

After the necessary potty trips (times two now!), and deciding who would hold mommy's hand (guess who won that one?) - we were ready! We got in line to ride the sky lift to the top of the mountain. It was a little windy - a few were a little afraid (did we mention that Daddy has never ridden the sky lift?). It was very COOL. We all made it safely to the top - where we marveled at the sky line of Atlanta. See the big tall building? That is near the kids museum!

We then began our first hike down the mountain. Mikaela and Xander had their hiking fanny packs - complete with snacks and bottled waters. They did so good! With only 25 stops for water, we made it down in record time. Where we got to wait 45 minutes for the train!

We rode the train from the bottom of the walk up trail, back to base of the carving.

After all that walking, we were hungry! $5 hotdogs for all:) - lucky we brought our own drinks (they were $6!).

Now that we were rested, we were ready for a little putt putt golf. The new putt putt course is now behind the train depot - a great semi shady spot to spend the afternoon. We played 9 holes! The kids really caught on (daddy of course is a retro pro!).

We had earned a treat then! We all decided on Italian ices for the hot afternoon. We cozied up in the story book cottage area and hung out. Mikaela re-enacted the story of the Three Bears for us - complete with breaking a chair as Goldilocks did when she sat in Baby Bear's chair (can you see her jumping out of it in our picture?). Xander told us a fabulous story of a pirate ship that was in search of gleaming booty!

Hot and tired, we headed home. Thrailkill family day - a great success!

She's Walking and Talking!

Nikki and Bradley brought Jaden to visit us this weekend - my how she has grown! She is now 10 months old.

She was talking - "dadada", "uh -oh", "no", "yes" and "ouch" were heard. Aunt Nikki says she says "MaMa" - but we didn't hear it:).

She is cruising along furniture. She can stand from sitting - but hasn't figured out how to go anywhere. She bear crawls - on her toes and her hands - funny sight!

Nikki and Bradley were married this afternoon - Congratulations. We wish them the best.

Soccer!

Today was Xander's first day of soccer. He was decked out in his new Little Kickers shirt, shin guards, and soccer socks! He was the cutest little mohawk kid on the field.

Coach Steve taught us to pass, shoot and dribble. We practiced kicking the ball from Mommy to Xander and back again. We worked on shooting and knocking over a cone.

Soccer is going to a lot of fun!

Freddy the Frog Visits Us!

Xander's class frog, Freddy had a fabulous time!

He went out for ice cream after dinner on Saturday night. He watched Xander eat a yummy purple dinosaur cone (complete with google eyes).

On Sunday morning he went to church with Xander to Ms.Sheryl's Sunday school class and to the 3 year old preschool church class after Sunday School. Freddy enjoyed play dough, a lesson about Jesus, and some time in the activity room.

On Monday Freddy went for a well visit to the doctor. He, just like Xander, is growing so well. Xander is in the 50% for height, and the 75-90% for weight!

Freddy will go to ballet this afternoon, have a good night's rest, and will go back to Ms.Ginger's 3 year old class at school tomorrow.

Freddy the Frog Visits Us!

Xander has the class pet this weekend, a stuffed green frog named "Freddy." He bears a striking resemblance to a certain frog from the Little People?

We have toted him everywhere!

Freddy's first special outing was on Friday evening with mommy, daddy, Kaelee, and Aunt Ashleigh (and Xander of course!) out to eat Mexican. It wouldn't be a realistic weekend with us without a little cheese dip to go around.

We sported our festive supportive UGA wear!

Family Yahtzee!

We have found our new favorite game - Disney Yahtzee! You have 5 dice, you place them in the cup, shake it up, and roll. Your objective: is to get 5 of the same character in 3 rolls. The challenge: once someone else already has 5 Jasmine/Alladins, then the highest you can score is 4! Mommy loves the scoreboard where we can regularly practice counting as high as 24!

While Mikaela is the analytical player, there is nothing cuter than Xander's enthusiasm! He shakes his dice with eyes wide open, and mouth wide open! Daddy has to make a circle with his arms to keep his dice from going everywhere when he rolls them out of the cup!