To all who came to the pottery party, thank you so much. I had a lot of fun and hope you did as well. Pottery is guaranteed by Dec. 18, but I hope it will be a few days sooner. To those of you who had to wait a little while, I thank you all for your patience. Hopefully you will find your little angel's prints worth your wait. :-)

Bama vs. LSU. Cold fall night. Wiener roast. Time with family (4 grandparents, 3 neices and nehpews, 2 brothers and sisters, 1 guest.....and a partridge in a pear tree.) What more could you dream for?
We ate around 30 hot dogs. (like one for every field goal we missed, haha!!) This was a lot of fun and I look forward to doing it more often. Check out my dad gettin' riled up during the game. That's just exactly why I love watching football with him. :-)

The other morning before work I took Daniley over to Sarah Katherine's for a play date. She had had some minor surgery so we thought she might be happy to see a friendly face, especially since she'd been booted from daycare (only by the Dr, of course!). And yes, we are in our morning robes. Don't worry about it.


I just sent Erin these pictures, and she was quick to remind be about "yesterday."

Now matter how big they get, they'll always be my baby girls!!

Last night was Parent's Night at the dance studio. We missed week before last due to sickness, and last week due to vacation, so I was caught off guard by the whole thing (meaning I didn't even have a camera or even my phone). Someone was nice enough to capture this on their phone and email it to me. The girls and music were so sweet. I just started crying. I hope no one noticed. I love my little Sugar Booger so much and sometimes I just get all choked up. She is so precious!!

I'm TOTALLY not in the mood to be blogging. But it's been a while, and I have family and friends that need this blog to keep up, so here I'm fulfilling my duty.
HALLOWEEN!!
Yes it's been almost 2 weeks since then but I've been running nonstop since. We had parties from Thursday until Monday. Thursday was our party at dance class. I guess the pictures are still on a camera card but there wasn't much to see anyhow.
Friday we went to Hoover's Veteran's Park for Trick-or-Treat and a hayride. Their hayride was pretty impressive. They had the woods decorated and people in the woods to scare you. We happened to be on the very back of the hayride (both trips) so Daniley was the target. Serious blog readers probably know by now the kid isn't afraid of much. I was concerned we might have our first scare-down, because they were pretty scary. But she tried to scare them back...and on we went.



Saturday...in the morning, Alabaster's Buck Creek Trail. They had trick-or-treating and a little craft show. We tried it out for the first time and it wasn't our favorite thing we did. Probably won't do it next year.

Next up...our favorite event of the weekend...The Payne Party. This was a first but was so awesome I have a feeling it won't be the last. What was so great? What wasn't? Campfires. Kids. Haunted House. Play room. Outside. Costumes. Snacks. Need I keep going? The invitation read, "Wear your costumes." So we did. Dan and I always dress up with our children. We try to do a unit costume where we all tie in to one theme. I requested no one reveal pictures of me on the internet because I typically will not disclose my costume until I arrive in it. Daniley was a bee. Little Darlin' was a flower. Dan and I were bee keepers. I was wondering how we (Dan and I) would fit in and then one day it just hit me like a ton of bricks (as things usually hit me.) :-) The most memorable part of this party was the haunted house. They had an empty garage out back that they converted. When we arrived I heard chainsaws. I suppose I considered that this could freak Daniley out, but quite honestly I needed to see what it would TAKE to get Daniley scared. I have never seen her scared. Well, as you guessed it, this did it. It wasn't the chainsaw the freaked her out though. When we first walked in, the first thing I saw was a monster with a 12" knife down his leg. She's aware that knives stab people because there is a scene in Snow White.... Then there were some scary clowns and other creatures. They took it easy on the little ones...they didn't jump out and such but I know she was freaked. I was a little worried that this could lead to big problems, but thankfully, it did not (no nightmares, crying later, etc). However, I did try to get her to go back through the Haunted House once more, just to see if she had any common sense, and I'm happy to report she does. She would NOT go. I could not DRAG her in. So at last, I found her limit. :-) We all had a GREAT time at the party and can't wait for next year. We won't miss it!!


Sunday. First Baptist Church of Pelham (Sarah Katherine's church). (My church did an event too but it wasn't convenient for us to make it.) We did not wear our costumes because I knew there would be slides and such and it wasn't worth the battle. We had a great time. They put on a really nice event. Thank you guys so much for inviting us.

Monday. HALLOWEEN. It's one of my favorite "holidays". I took the day off to just hang out with the girls. We trick-or-treated at Dan's office, had a nap, and prepared for a long, exciting night. First we started at LeLe's who has an awesome-isn't-enough-word party. Since Honey and G-Paw moved in next door, however, I was anxious to spend some time at their place too. So I decided we would split the night. We met at mom's and Daniley and SK played at the party and then went trick-or-treating. Before I blinked twice, it was time to go. I have to admit, it was hard leaving, even though I was very excited about Honey and G-Paw's. We have always trick-or-treated at their house, that wasn't new, but this time we would be there during prime time. :-) Their neighborhood was awesome!! Next year I'm going to plan better and hopefully have the girls a hayride! Honey and GPaw seemed thrilled with the HUNDRED OR SO :-) trick-or-treaters.

I can't wait for next year. Here's my favorite picture from all the events. Love this picture.
The only problem on Halloween--fitting it all in! Happy Halloween everyone!

Has your two year old ever just REALLY embarassed you? Not like Haha funny, like Haha NOT FUNNY. Something that happened back several months ago that I forgot to make a record of....
We had been at Alabama Adventure all day long. After that was open house at the dance studio. We've never taken dance so all this is new to us. Daniley was tired. We had played hard all day and there was no nap. However, she was behaving rather well. So about 6pm we got at the dance studio, and I didn't realize we would be buying her dance outfit that night. At this particular point in her life, she HATED anything tight, be it panties, shirts, pants, socks, anything. So.....we are in the dance studio and pretty much it's about 5 adults working there, and us. We start to try on a leotard and Daniley starts having a breakdown because the leotard is tight. Then suddenly she exclaims, loudly and madly, "THIS DAMN THING IS TOO TIGHT!!!!!" I heard her, loud and CLEAR. But I was so shocked, I said, "WHAT did you just say?" (Not that I really wanted her to repeat it.) The next two seconds seemed like an eternity, as I was too embarassed to look at ANYONE. As a parent, what are you to do at that point? Look up and say "She didn't learn that from me!" or "Oh please excuse my little angel." Or then again do you just yank them up and whip that butt? Wow, that one really caught me off guard...something I had not anticipated. Quite frankly, I didn't even know that she KNEW that word, better yet how to correctly use it. Honestly, I know everyone in there was looking at me like for sure this was every day language. I wanted to crawl under the bench, or at LEAST get out of there absolutely as quicly as possible.

About the next week, we were on our way back to Alabama Adventure and Erin and Sarah Katherine were meeting us there. Brooke rode with us too. We were talking about seeing Sarah Katherine and Daniley suddently exclaims, "If Zarah Kaffrin says 'damn it' one time her Momma's gonna spank her butt!!" Well that wasn't much of a learning experience at all because all I could do was bend over the steering wheel in silent laughter. LOL.

Daniley now knows that this is a bad word. If you say damn or dang, dern, dadgum, or anything like it you will immediately be reprimanded! Glad we got that cleared up and behind us!!

Daniley is really starting to like Little Darlin. She has been touching her, talking to her, letting her smell her feet, all kinds of stuff. Sunday after the pumpkin patch, she asked to feed her. It was messy like crazy but if you thought I would have complained about her trying to help out you are dead wrong, even if the clean-up was longer than me just feeding her myself. Little Darlin LOVES Daniley; she watches and laughs at her all the day long!
(Excuse the hair-do...it was left from pumpkin patch! We always have fun hair at the pumpkin patch!) :-)

Happy Halloween!!!!!! I am so excited about the festivities this year. Our party starts tonight at 5:00 and doesn't end til Monday night at bedtime. One thing in particular I am excited about is Honey and GPaw being next door. We have always trick-or-treated at their house in PG but now that they are so close it really opens the door for us to do more at their locale! Seeing all my family on Halloween has always been a priority but now we'll have more time playing and less time driving! My mom is the Queen of Halloween and festivities at her house are a-rockin' too!! Looking forward to EVERYTHING HALLOWEEN!!

Several of the homes in Honey and GPaw's neighborhood are decorated and last night we took Daniley out for a Goblin Hunt. We walked up the streets and at the decorated houses she would go up and take a close look around the bushes to look for goblins and check everything out. I made her go up by herself each time because I certainly DIDN'T want any homeowners to come out and see US Goblins....It was a lot of fun and we might have to make a "Goblin Hunt" an annual event!
Not to get my cart in front of my horses but I'm SO EXCITED about Christmas too! I have a lot of my shopping done already and I cannot WAIT to decorate the tree and wrap the gifts and spend time with my sweet little Angel Babies!

This past weekend was wonderful. I had such a nice time hanging out with the family! First, Friday, we ran around a little bit and then met Honey for breakfast. Daniley played in the Chick-fil-A play area and we let Danslen slide down with her once. I was at the top with Little Darlin' and Honey was at the bottom. I was telling Daniley to hold her like this and like that, and I figured Honey was thinking "Surely she isn't really about to let go of her." LOL. Suddenly Daniley and Danslen appeared at the bottom of the slide...upside down. LOL. They flipped over around the curve, and it didn't bother Danslen until Daniley used her as a crutch to get up. Haha. I was even going to let Daniley try it again but she didn't want to, so I took Little Darlin down a time or two myself. We were so busy playing, that I COMPLETELY forgot Little Darlin' had a well baby checkup at 9:30 am. Oh don't worry, I didn't remember til 6pm so it was no use stressing over it then! :-)
Saturday we went to yard sales, just me and the girls, while Dan worked a while. We had such a good time together. Nothing is like being with them by myself. We just all laugh a lot, especially me! Saturday night, Daniley got an invitation to spend the night with James and Eli at Honey and G-Paws house. Now to me, this was a big deal, because Daniley has never spent the night with any other kids except for at our house. I was hoping to get a good report, which mostly I did. She and James play really well together, not perfect, but really well. While she was there, we took in the game at Danson's with the rest of the gang. Fun fun fun fun fun, as always!
Sunday morning I called over to Honey and G-Paw's and delivered Daniley the special news: "We're going to the pumpkin patch today." I heard, "The pumpkin patch? Oh my gosh!!" LOL. She was excited to say the LEAST. We met up with Rachel, Art, and Everett. We petted the goats, chickens, and pigs, and rode a horse.

Then we went down to the patch where Daniley and her Dad found the perfect pumpkinwhile me and Little Darlin' snacked on the vines.
Man, this stuff is DELICIOUS.
Well, then again, maybe it isn't so good.Then we sat down for a family photo, and Little Darlin' got her a wad of hair (one of her favorites) and Daniley yells and then gives it back to her for another wad. LOL.
And here are a few more irresistable pictuers of the Little Darlin'!!

Weekend. Friday. Stayed home. Mistake? Maybe. I got a little bored, which isn't good for the nerves. Especially with 2 kids. I'll plan better next time.
Saturday.. Family reunion, an annual event we always look forward to. I love my Thornburg family. They are all about as crazy as I am. They are also a musically talented bunch. Daniley tapped with our cloggers and sang after we borrowed a guitar from the audience. She is getting a tad more shy than she used to be so I was proud she got up there on the spur of the moment. We hadn't practiced or anything, it was all impromptu. Next year, we'll be ready. ELVIS. She loves him. We'll start practicing now. :-)

Playing at the family reunion.
I have never really watched a Harry Potter movie, but this picture is something like I had in my mind.


Peer Pressure: noun. Here's the definition:

Huntin' for tadpoles


Bentley and Me

Saturday evening--game on! Bama time at my place. Honey and GPaw joined us too. Honey found her a new grandbaby Bentley. She held her just the same as she has always held her own. I heard the offer "Brooke, if you need to run some errands just drop her off at my place." If I didn't think Honey meant it, I wouldn't have just wrote it either. Honey is awesome. She played with Daniley during the game, and Daniley gets SO WOUND UP when Honey is around. I SWEAR she does not act like that all the time. There's something about Honey that excites Daniley like no one else. She asks for Honey every day. I guess because she sees so much of LeLe and MawMaw, she just wants her Honey every once in a while. Speaking of Honey, I nearly had to call her in for backup Sunday. I usually don't ask for weekend help, but Sunday I was pretty close. The combination of Dan, Daniley, and Danslen was not working out too well for Mommy. I intended to get to church, and at a minimum, get Daniley there, but we failed. We could NOT get our crap together. After several more hours of feeling couped up, we decided to go to the park. There we had a baseball dinner, and stayed until well into the night. It was a fun way to wrap up the weekend. Next weekend, we have plans...so hopefully I won't get so frustrated being at the house. TGIM. That's all I have to say about this weekend!



Wrapping up the night


One last note: If you are tired after a LOOOONG Saturday, and you put your 3 year old to bed without reading her a Big Girl Tinkerbell Book, she WILL awake you crying at 2am, and let you KNOW that you did NOT read her a Big Girl Tinkerbell Book, and you will have to pay the consequences.