Pumpkinpalooza 2013

Friday night was one of our favorite Starkville events - Pumpkinpalooza!!  It's crazy that this was our 4th year to go.  This year we got to take TWO sweet girls!  Ellington and Finley were pumpkins this year.  I have always wanted Ellington to be a pumpkin, but we hadn't done it yet.  I figured we are probably getting close to the end of me having a ton of say in what costume she wears so we did it this year! :)  And what's better than one pumpkin?!  TWO!

This picture makes me feel like the luckiest girl in the world!

Finley's face!  I die.

The cheerleaders and pompom girls were hanging out near where we were taking pictures before the pep rally started.  Ellington was so excited to talk to them!  They were ooooing and ahhhhing over the girls.  I asked if any of them babysit.  They all said YES.  I should have gotten phone numbers. :)

We ran into Old McDonald (sweet Henry)!!!

We also found Mary Mack.  I DIE over her costume!  Adorable!

Ellington was ALL ABOUT trick-or-treating!  Last year was her first year to do it.  This year she was a pro!

A happy little pumpkin!

We had a great time!  We didn't really stay long because it was cold and Finley was getting restless but we try to remind ourselves things like this will get a little easier as time goes on.  

We love this time of year!!!

A Perfect Fall Weekend

Last weekend Robert didn't have to work (yay!!!).  We had the perfect weekend.  Usually weekends are kind of blah.  Robert works most weekends so I am alone with the kiddos and when he is off we either have stuff we need to get done or we feel some sort of pressure to make it awesome because it doesn't happen often.  But this past weekend?  We just hung out and enjoyed being together.  No pressure.  No stress.  We started off the weekend with a movie night in the living room.  Robert brought our king size mattress in so it took up the whole room. :)  Ellington was in heaven!  She looooved it!

Saturday we hung around with football on and the windows open.  So perfect!  On Sunday we went to campus to let Ellington do a "fall walk".  She love love loved collecting leaves!  She collected leaves like it was her J.O.B.  It was a beautiful day!!!

My sweet loves

I am trying really hard to get in the occasional picture!

We have quite a leaf collection now!

What a simple, perfect weekend!

Grams & Ellington Celebrate Birthdays!

A couple of weeks ago my side of the family got together to celebrate my Mom's birthday (the big 6-0! shhh!!) and Ellington's birthday.  We started off with lunch at The Veranda.  This almost went terribly wrong because it was homecoming weekend but I called ahead and luckily wasn't too bad.  But it was definitely busy.  This was my Mom's part of the birthday celebration!

Cutie pie parents :)

Ellington is at a fun stage.  Her drawings actually look like what she says it is!  Ha!

This gal (thankfully) napped for part of the time we were there.  Otherwise it could have been disastrous!

Bryant, LeAnna, and Reagan hadn't seen Finley since the fair.  Needless to say, she has changed a bit since then!!

This party was extremely low key and unlike parties in the past (as far as the amount of time & money that was spent).  We used a birthday banner that I bought for E's first birthday and blew up balloons that we already had.  Simple simple.  It was lovely.

And as if that wasn't enough, I did something I thought I would never do!  We went to Wal-Mart, looked through the cake book, and let Ellington choose whatever cake she wanted!!!  Not only was it muuuch cheaper than the usual route, Ellington loved being able to look at all of her options and pick one!  And honestly?  The cake was tastier than any of the more expensive, cute ones we have had in the past.  I cannot believe that cake has FOUR candles!  Time is flying.

Big smiles for Grams!

Sweet sweet Emerson

Present time!  A 4 year old's dream! :)

After presents Ellington and Emerson jumped in the jumper that we bought used for a steal!

I LOVE these two!  We don't all get together often but when we do, it's like we haven't missed a day!

Grams, Pop, and Pappaw had to go back to Philadelphia pretty quickly but Bryant, LeAnna, Reagan, and Emerson stayed all afternoon.  We had the BEST time.  Finley napped, Ellington and Emerson played HARD, and the adults sat on the back porch and talked.  We wrapped the day up with pizza at our new favorite place before they headed back to Ridgeland.

Grams & Pop got Ellington an American Girl Bitty Baby with matching pjs for them both.  SOOO cute!

What a fun birthday day!

Homecoming Parade

The homecoming parade is one of my favorite traditions.  Really, the parade isn't that great but for some reason I just love it!  It's a verrrry low key event and Ellington thinks it's wonderful.  I think it's perfect for little ones!  

Finley did GREAT!  We put her in the jogging stroller and I think that really helped.  She doesn't like her car seat AT ALL so not only was she not in her car seat but she was also facing out (unlike how she rides in her car seat stroller).

My two sweet girls!

After the parade we went to Chilifest.  It was....stressful.  It was really hot and the kids area was crazy.  Bouncy houses + kids who are not being watched by their parents = disaster

Maybe it's the preschool teacher/strict Mama in me, but I just can't stand that kind of chaos.  At all.  

Ellington was so happy to run into her friend Reese and hang out with her for a little bit!

We didn't stay long at Chilifest and both girls broke down on the way back to the car.  Ha.  Fun times. :)  Overall we had a great evening together!  I love doing things with my little family!

The Pumpkin Patch 2013

We made our annual pumpkin patch trip on Tuesday of last week.  Honestly?  It was probably our least favorite visit.  All of the "attractions" were closed - hayride, corn maze, barrel ride, etc. and the sun was allll up in our business.  Finley wasn't a very happy pumpkin patch go-er either.  But, we made the best of it and I am already looking forward to next year when Finley will be running around with her big sister!

And she's off!!!  Ellington was so excited to pick out pumpkins!

We found the one teeny tiny patch of shade to attempt some pumpkin pictures.

Ellington picked this one for Finley

The corn box is always a hit.

Ellington had the best time on this swing!  She would have stayed on it all afternoon!

I feel like fall is definitely here now that we've been to the pumpkin patch!