Halloween Decorations

Saw an idea in my Martha Stewart magazine to create my own spider web on the wall. I did a larger version and loved it! Then I cut out a spider that I printed off the computer. The end result was really cool and I'm excited to see how Bella reacts to it in the morning. Here's a picture from close-up and a little farther back in the room.

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Bella's Carousel Ride

Going to try and post the video of Bells on the carousel. She's actually not in it very much, but it's still fun to see her riding. This sounds odd, but she's in a yellow top and shows up at 7 seconds and 20 seconds. :) Keep an eye out for her!

State Fair

We took Bella to the state fair on Saturday night. It was wicked hot, but we had a good time! There was a petting zoo, a carousel, and all of the usual fair goodies. We walked around for about an hour and a half and looked at all the various games.

Our family shot in front of the funnel cake stand. It's just not a fair without funnel cakes!
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Yummy french fries and ketchup! She loves all things dipped in ketchup!

I think she was a little disappointed that there was glass between her and the baby chicks.

She loved the horses, cows, and goats!

She loved the carousel! When the horse started moving, she went, "Oooooooooo!"

Copy-Cat

I'm sure it won't last long that Bella will want to do things that I'm doing, but last night was precious! I was sitting on the brick fireplace after dinner and had a blanket covering my legs. Bella walked across the room and sat down next to me on the brick. While I was talking to friends, she reached over and pulled part of my blanket over her lap. Then she looked at me and smiled. It was so cute! Our friend, Melissa, was able to get a quick shot on her iPhone.

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Softball on a Saturday Night

Mel's small group had a softball game on Saturday, so we decided to make it a family affair. We brought a blanket and some snacks and cheered Mel on! Bella even met some friends - there was a boy about 8 or 9 who kept coming over to our blanket to play with her. He wouldn't tell us his name because he said he "didn't know us" but he spent most of the night playing near Bella and feeding her snacks. It was really cute. I was a little nervous when he touched her food with his grubby little "boy hands" but I decided that's what vaccinations are for! Plus, Bella loved it.

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Mel in action

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It's a good thing Fal weather is coming, because Bella is clearly growing out of her summer clothes.

Happenings

It has been a pretty low-key week for us so far. It's been a very good week with the babies; no sniffly noses or crying fits. This week is Steve's first class of his last semester. We are extremely excited about the prospect of being done with school forever! Bella is trotting around the house like usual and learning new words. I think she can say "thank you" but it sounds nothing like the actual word; it sounds more like "tsh." I had to include a picture of her rockin' a headband. She hates them and usually pulls them off right away, but I had to keep the hair out of her eyes.

Lunch with Daddy

I didn't have any extra babies today, so it was just me and Bells! We decided to bring a picnic lunch to daddy. There's a little park near Steve's bank where we could sit at a picnic table and then walk down by the water. Bella loved checking out the water and pointing at the ducks!

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No More "Baby"

My project this week is to pack up Bella's baby clothes and "gear" into plastic bins for safekeeping. Up to this point, I've been stuffing out-grown clothes and pacifiers into whatever cardboard box or trash bag was nearby. Since she's officially a little girl now, and we won't need bottles or infant carseats for another couple of years, I decided to pack them into nice bins to keep them in the attic. The first step was to empty all of the old boxes so I could see what I had, what could be thrown out, and how many bins I will need. Here's our dining room table, covered with clothes, bottles, and maternity clothes. It's been fun to see all of her little sleepers and onesies, especially the ones I remember buying that I thought she would NEVER fit into!

Labor Day with Mom and Dad

We drove to Helen, Georgia on Monday; they have a little Bavarian town there with shops and restaurants. We ate a picnic lunch and walked around. It was alot of fun!

Bella got to see a horse! I'm going to post a cute video on Facebook of her interacting with him.

After Helen, we decided to visit the Anna Ruby Falls that were just a mile away. The hike almost killed us (or just me) - it was only about half a mile, but most of it was uphill and we were pushing a stroller - talk about a workout!

A Good Start to the Weekend!

Dad waited patiently until Friday night to check out Steve's bike. Steve rode the bike to work on Friday because "some of the guys wanted to see it." Mom and I decided that was code for "I really want to show it off!" We met Steve for lunch on Friday at a little deli, and then relaxed at home that night. A relaxing start to the weekend!

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While Steve and Dad were checking out the bike, Mom, Bella, and I took a walk. Bella insisted on walking down the street by herself. We managed to get at least one shot of her turning around to check on us. I think she would have walked out the subdivision if we had let her!

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Steve's Project

Steve's last class of his semester was last night, and the groups had to present their final projects. The assignment was to create a new company and provide all of the research, examples, etc. to show how that company would operate, and hopefully, succeed. Instead of presenting the projects in front of the class, the professor decided to set up all of the presentations in a banquet hall so that everyone could see them. Grades would be based on peer evaluations.

WELL...everyone else in the class set up triboards and had little candies to hand out and maybe a visual to go along with their company. Steve's group blew everyone else away! His company was a tailgating service that brought all of the supplies to you (tailgating is huge in the South). Theoretically, if you wanted to have a tailgate party at one of the college football games, but you didn't want to worry about buying and bringing all of the supplies yourself, you would hire Steve's company to "supply and set up" your tailgate party.

THE BEST PART...Steve's group decided to go all out and bring a ton of visuals. They brought a tailgating tent, chairs, a flat screen TV, the works. It went over so great! They even ordered pizza and handed it out as people walked by. His professor and the other people in the class loved it!

I'm sure that was way too wordy of an explanation, but I was really proud of him! Here's a picture that he took on his iPhone. The booth wasn't completely set-up yet, but it will give you an idea. Go Steve! Only one semester left!

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The week so far...

This will have to be my boring "no pictures" post today. It's been a quick week so far, which is always good in my book. Steve stayed home with us on Monday to help me out with the babies, but I actually ended up feeling worse on Tuesday - go figure! I'm feeling a lot better today, though; still tired and I have a stuffy nose, but I don't have as much of an achy body as I did yesterday. Rex didn't come today, so Bella and I met Steve for lunch at Chick-Fil-A! It's been a while since we've been able to do that. I brought Bella's food with me, and I had coupons for chicken sandwiches, so we only paid for drinks! Woo! Hoo!

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I'm going to join choir tonight! In the past, I could never do it because I help out with the youth on Wednesday nights, but I'm really excited about it. I spoke to the youth pastor to make sure he didn't think I was "ditching" and I spoke to my small group because I didn't want them to think I was just leaving either. I haven't been in a choir since college, so I'm really excite about getting involved before they start their Christmas rehearsals.

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Tomorrow will be my cleaning day, and then Mom and dad Wires will be here tomorrow night! We're excited to get to see them now that Bella is more mobile and more talkative! Hopefully, she will stay nice and healthy for their visit!