Crick or Creek!

"Crick or Creek" is how Ava says Trick or Treat and I think it is so cute!  This year Halloween came a day early as Trick or Treating was on Saturday instead of Sunday.  Chili was cooking in the crock pot as we got Ava ready for her first time out to Trick or Treat.  Mark stayed at home while Ava and I went around our small little neighborhood in her wagon.  As we went down the streets Ava would point to a house with no decorations and say " I want to go to this house Momma.  It looks nice and not spooky!"  She did not like all of the skeletons, ghost and goblins that decorated a few of the houses in the neighborhood.  We only went around to about 7 houses and then headed back to help Mark pass out candy. Ava and I sat on the porch and had so much fun seeing all of the cute little costumes.  I think Ava stuck more candy in her own bag than she did the others who came.  Trick or Treating was only from 5-7 so afterwards we headed in for some chili and some home made cup cakes that the neighbor had brought by and enjoyed a relaxing evening on the back porch by the fire pit.

 Some candy and playing before we headed out

Ava wasn't too sure about this candy dish!!!

 The cutest strawberry fairy in the patch!

 They yummy eye ball cupcakes from my neighbor.  

The day was in the 80's but in the evening it was cool and perfect for a little fire.

Happy Halloween Everyone!  I hope you had an enjoyable one like we did.

Fall Fun!

On Saturday we headed to Applin Farms for a fun filled day at the pumpkin patch.  This year they had so many more fun activities for kids of all ages.  As always they had the petting zoo, corn maze and wagon ride to pick out your pumpkins but this year they also added a train ride, two huge inflatable slides, games and life size halloween characters made out of hay bails.  Ava had a blast.  They were even serving food this year so we were able to grab some food and have a picnic on the gorgeous October day.

 Ava was so excited about her pumpkin.  She turned to all of the people in the patch and said "look guys...I got a punkin"!!!

After all of the fun and picking out the perfect pumpkins we headed to a local nursery to pick up some mums and pine straw to spruce up the landscape out side.  It was a perfect fall Saturday spent as a family!

Ava just had to be in the picture.  I love how she posed!

"95" Girls Getaway

Each year all of my girl friends from high school try to get together for a girls trip.  So far both times we have all met in Gatlinburg since it is central to where we all live making the trip an equal distance for us all to drive.  This year everyone could make it minus Shawunta who is in the middle of getting her nursing degree and could not miss classes.  We sure did miss her!

We started out on Thursday from our different locations and headed to the cabin. The drive down there was fun catching up with Tiffany.  We followed Heather and Jenny and  even got lucky and stopped at the same exit for lunch as Julie, Amanda and Atiya.  We had a mini reunion at Taco Bell off of I75 LOL!  Mandi was the last to arrive that evening.  Everyone couldn't wait to see her cute little baby bump.  The first night was full of laughs and good times.  I laughed so hard that I rubbed a blister on my elbow from where I had it rested on the table!

The next day we had a little shower for Mandi.  She got many cute things and lots of books to start her library for baby Rocco.  I loved the idea of not giving cards and giving books instead!!  Afterwards we headed out to do some shopping.  We had such a great time sharing old and new stories and I hope that we can always find a way to get together each year.  Miss you guys already!!!

Family Photos

Last weekend my friend Regan flew in for a weekend visit.  Regan is a friend of mine from when we lived in Clarksville and we continue to try to visit with one another when we can.  This past summer a group of our friends went to Napa and we have all stayed in touch even though Mark and I moved away over a year ago.  It was so nice to have Regan down for a visit.  Her husband Josh had lived here 6 years ago so Regan had been here before.  She enjoyed recognizing some spots and taking a drive by the apartment he lived in.

While Regan was here she took our family photos as well as a few other of our friends who live here.  Even at 8:30 am when we started our session it was hot and humid.  However we still got some amazing shots and I can't wait to see the final pictures once Regan is finished putting it all together.  Ava is not the easiest child to get to smile on the spot but we did manage to get a few good smiles.  Regan had her work cut out for her with us!

Regan wanted Ava to pose by this tree.  She saw it as the perfect opportunity for hide and seek.  1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 ready or not here I come!

This pose we really had to work with Ava to smile.  We finally said that we didn't believe she had teeth and to show us her teeth.  This was the result.  I think it is cute how she posed with her hand on her knee all on her own.

Saturday night we got together with our other friend Laura and had some girl time over some yummy Japanese food.  It was nice catching up and spending time together.  Hopefully it will work out for Regan to come down again soon.

 After all of the picture taking of the weekend this was the only shot we got of the two of us.  Of course Ava wanted to be in the shot as well.  She was all about Regan the whole time she was there.