What We've Been Up To

We've had so many fun things going on in the last few weeks that I have been overwhelmed by the amount of pictures that I want to put on here. I'll try to recap. . . .

Thanksgiving in the mountains--
With the whole family
Sam mesmerized by the mandolin
On Thanksgiving, MG wore one of the sweaters and kilts that my sisters and I wore for several Thanksgivings. Here she is with her SaeSae.
Sam and Pops on the tractor in Pops' driveway.

Picking out a Christmas Tree at the Asheville Farmer's Market

Christmas Festivities
Every year, we look forward to our town's Christmas festival, as it seems to mark the beginning of the Christmas season for us. This year we loved riding a hayride (without hay!), visiting with Mrs. Claus, sitting in a fire truck, dancing to live bluegrass, running into friends, and of course the live nativity--MG's yearly favorite. We are so thankful for such a wonderful town to live in!
MG and Casey
With Mrs. Claus
At the manger
Putting Up the Tree
Thanks for the beautiful tree, G. and Pops!

Thanksgiving at School

On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, MG's school always has a Thanksgiving program complete with a parade, singing, and a "feast" of chicken nuggets, green beans, applesauce, cornbread, and pumpkin pie. This year, MG's class got to dress up like pilgrims. They made their costumes themselves, and then marched in to sing their song, "One little, two little, three little pilgrims." MG did a fantastic job of singing and then enjoyed her feast with her friends.

Up on stage
Sitting with her friend Lexi
The Feast
MG with her teachers

Sisters

I spent last weekend with my sisters in Atlanta. It was great to get that time together--eating, talking, shopping, etc. I am so thankful for you, Mary Lee and Sara! Thank you also to David who made the trip possible by keeping MG and Sam. I love you!

Happy Halloween!

Here are a few pictures from the last few days. We finally went to the pumpkin patch and selected some pumpkins to go with our "spooky" decorations on our front porch. Sam and MG helped carve the pumpkin with Daddy. Sam was scared of the pumpkin at first and then kept going up to pat the pumpkin.


On Halloween, we walked down Main Street in costumes and then headed to our neighborhood. While other years she's been a little timid, MG is now a pro at ringing the doorbell and saying "trick or treat." It took Sam a little time to catch on to what was happening, but he soon figured out that something really yummy was inside his plastic pumpkin. Since we have such a difficult time with getting him to eat anything, maybe we should just start pulling green vegetables out of the pumpkin.
A Green M&M and Tinkerbell

Making things Spooky

MG and I have enjoyed reading several Halloween books during the past week. She has been most inspired by a book called "Happy Haunting, Amelia Bedelia," where silly Amelia Bedelia tries to help decorate a house in order to make it "spooky." After reading this book several times, MG has been inspired to make our house spooky. She has been hard at work making spider webs and drawings of pumpkins and witches which are now proudly displayed on our front porch with blue tape. She loves drawing and making things and is thrilled by our "spooky" house. Hopefully we won't scare too many trick-or-treaters away.

Yay for rain!

We haven't seen a rainy day here in months. So, when it started raining this week and then rained for three days, we were so thankful. MG and Sam have loved putting on their raincoats each time we go outside, and now Sam even demands to wear his immediately after he wakes up. MG went to stomp in the puddles with a neighbor, and they loved getting wet and muddy. It's nice when such a simple thing can be so entertaining!

Charleston Visit

I've had a little trouble getting my pictures to post online, so I'm behind on updating. We went to Charleston a couple of weeks ago to visit our family. Here are a few pictures with the cousins. We love you, Caroline and Elizabeth!

Ballet!

Today was an exciting day--MG took her first ballet class! Although I have been wanting to wait until she was older before starting any extra activities, a great opportunity came about for her to take a combination ballet and tap class once a week. MG has been talking about dance ever since we left camp, begging me to let her take a class. Since she got out of bed this morning, she has been telling every one she sees, "today is my first dance class." From my friend who took her to school, to her teachers and friends at school, to the college students at our house, to the dentist and dental hygenist that she saw today, everyone was made aware that she would be going to ballet today. It has been so fun as a mom and a former dancer to witness her excitement. After her class with her teacher, Ms. Kristina, MG has been showing me "her moves." Her teacher said that she worked really hard in class. What a joy she is to me, especially in her enthusiasm and zest for life. I am so proud to be her mom!

In her leotard. . .

. . . and tights. . .

. . . and tap shoes.

Thomas!

Last Saturday, we went to the NC Railroad Museum for the yearly "Day with Thomas" Festival. Although as MG says, we left home "at the crack of dawn," our time was perfect--weather, attitudes, and festivities. We started by riding in the passenger car "Annie" who was being pulled by Thomas, and then moved on to climb on old trains, get (fake) tatoos, make lanterns, play with train tables, and see a magic show. We even got to watch Bob the Builder as he helped build a shed for Thomas. It was entertaining for all of us, and we can't wait to go next year!

Getting ready to board the train

MG with Thomas
Perhaps we have a future engineer in our midst.
MG and Percy

Fall Conference

This past weekend, we had a great couple days back at camp--but this time with Davidson students. Each fall we get to go back to camp for the weekend and are joined by all the RUF groups from North and South Carolina. It is such a fun weekend of visiting with friends, eating good food, hearing wonderful talks, and enjoying an incredible mountain setting. MG has been looking forward to fall conference for atleast a month, and she loved every minute of it. Who could ask for more than being reunited with a few summer conference friends, getting to swim, slide, and swing all weekend long, and enjoying some favorite Davidson students? MG was in heaven and tears were shed after it was all over, as she asked "why is it only two days long?". We especially loved having our dear friend Claire stay with us all weekend. Hopefully she'll still want to hang out with us! Thank you Claire!

With our friend AndyMG and our summer conference next door neighbors

With friends at the incredible bluegrass band.

Our Big Girl

Last week was MG's first week of 4 year old preschool. She has had a fantastic week and loved every minute of being back! Here are a couple pictures from her first day.

Catching Up

So, I've been dragging my feet on updating my pictures here. My computer crashed a couple of weeks ago, and I lost all of my pictures! (I even had already taken a picture for a Christmas card!) Luckily I had a few still in my camera. No we are not still at camp--although from our blog it looks that way. After camp we got to visit G. and Pops in the mountains and spend a week with Mimi and Freddie in Tennessee. We are so thankful for all the fun we've had. Here are a bunch of pictures from our last month.

MG's favorite place at camp. . . . the swings! We spent at least an hour every morning here.

MG at the WNC Nature Center. We enjoyed seeing coyotes, wolves, bobcats, sheep, butterflies, pigs, peacocks, and even black bears!

Our GPS hopeful! MG loves GPS (where her Mimi went to school and used to work) and was thrilled to try on this old uniform.

One of our favorite spots in Chattanooga is the carousel. This year S got to ride it and loved it even more than MG. This picture doesn't fully convey his excitement.
We love Daddy!
We got to go on the Incline Railroad as well. Here we are at the top.

We love you, Mimi and Freddie! Thanks for a fantastic visit.

When back home, we got a treat--a visit from some of our favorite friends, the Dupees. They were on their way back to Wisconsin--where is that again? We love you, dear friends!

Since we've been home we've spent time in the hose, working in the yard, and countless hours watching the construction right outside our windows. We don't have to go far for entertainment!