~Happy Halloween~

And , here they are...our totally spooky and yet all original Jack-O-Lanterns!!

From L-R, Matt's, mine, and Carters!! We were so excited to carve pumpkins this year with Carter just knowing that he would love it....well we were expecting a little too much. He was tired, he was grumpy and wanted absolutely no part in the big carve night. So, as Matt prepared us a wonderful warm meal of tomato soup and grilled cheese cut out like bats I tried desperately to get the pumpkins porch ready! So, without any templates and just a little creativity above is what we came up with. After dinner and after Carter went to bed, Matt joined me and carved his own. Maybe next year will a little more smoothly!

Carter loved looking at the pumpkins until we ruined it by asking him to touch the insides which he didn't even try but apparently the looks of it were enough to turn him off.

Check back later for more pics from the Zoo Boo and from Trick-or-Treating...I didn't want to ruin the surprise by posting pics of his costume too early!

The Ashby Inn

This past weekend Matt and I celebrated our 5th Wedding Anniversary...yeah!! So, to celebrate we took a nice little 9 hour road trip to Paris, VA and spent the weekend at the Ashby Inn. Its a modest little town of only 49 residents that are all proud to boast about the fact that there has been no reported crime since the early 1930's when a lawn mower was stolen and even more proud to be know as the home of the famous Ashby Inn. It was named one of the top 10 B&B a few years back and it definitely lived up to its reputation. The food was fabulous, the views were gorgeous and the people well they were just absolutely delightful. So completely hospitable!

The Ashby Inn founded in 1829

The Library at the the inn where Matt and I shared a lovely evening of hot Peppermint Patties and a decadent dessert before heading back to our room.

A view from our room. I just loved waking up and opening the balcony door to listen to the birds, feel the crisp morning air, and watch the sun shine on the hills. It was too pretty!

Matt and me taking in the views from Skyline Drive, a lovely 30 mile stroll through the mountains with breathtaking views.

The church in Paris!!

Isn't it just beautiful? At night it was really pretty as well with all the stain glass and the lights shining through. And, my most favorite part, while I lay in bed at night and looked out of the skylight, I could see the cross of the steeple right through the window...kind of peaceful.

Matt and I had a wonderful time and the trip was well worth every mile but we both woke up Sunday and could not pack quick enough to get back home to see our sweet Carter...whom survived just fine without us!!

Fall Festivities

Well, so far this fall we have been really busy and this is what we have been doing!!

We, just the three of us, spent the day at Brown County State Park. It was really nice out but we were slightly disappointed that the leaves had not changed more than they had. Oh well, it was still a lot of fun walking around Nashville, listening to the fiddlers from Bloomington and introducing Carter to pumpkin ice cream!!

Carter eating pumpkin ice cream, which he wasn't sure of at first but then he kept asking for more!

Carter and daddy looking at the leaves. Well, really they are smiling at the camera but just before that they were looking at the leaves!

Then it was off to Southeastway Park for a fall party that we were invited to with Ceili's preschool!! Thanks for inviting us, we had such a good time!

Carter showing off his new pumpkin face painting!

Carter and mommy going for a hayride!

It was by far the longest hayride I have ever been on but it was cute and Carter had fun!! The group even broke out in a few camp songs while we rode through the park!!

Here is little Miss Ceili getting her face painted as well. She asked for a Tiger and I thought that the dad volunteering was about ready to break out in a cold sweat at the mere thought of "how the heck do I paint a tiger?" but he pulled it together and it turned out great!!

Tag, I'm It....

and you may be next. So, I was tagged this morning by my friend Sara and now I am supposed to write 7 quirky things about myself. Only 7?? How can I narrow it down? Here's my attempt...


1. I absolutely, obsessively only like white clothes hangers. Except for Carter's clothes, and then little baby blue hangers are cute too.



2. I check my alarm at least 3 times each night before I go to bed. Then if I get up out of bed for some reason, I check it again just to make sure it didn't change while I was up.


3. I prefer to only eat one thing on my plate at a time before moving onto the next item.


4. I really enjoy shopping for deals. It doesn't matter if it is clothing, groceries, or furniture, I get really excited when they are on sale!!


5. I can cry at absolutely any time for no real reason at all. Cute commercials, sad situations, funny stories..they all make me a little teary eyed.


6. I despise rude people. Please hold the door for me when I have my arms full or am trying to manipulate my stroller through a door without the push plate. If you don't, I will usually call my husband all upset complaining about some lady he doesn't even know or about a situation he cannot even fix.

7. I once left a salon mid haircut because I was so upset with how it looked, drove 4 miles to another salon and walked in crying, begging for them to fix it! She did and we are still family friends.

There are so many more, but lets face it...do you really want to know how crazy I truly am or can we just leave at this.

Have fun...its your turn.
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IRISH you were there....

to see Notre Dame's win over Stanford!! If you have never witnessed an ND game firsthand it is definitely a must see! We have been lucky enough to see two games at the stadium thanks to our brother-in-law Tim and we have had a blast each time! Thanks Tim for the invite!!

Here is Alex during one of many of his push-up sessions! I think he was raised something like 50 times during the course of the win!! It is so funny to watch the stands and see all the bodies being hoisted overhead counting down all the points! Looks like fun, doesn't it??

The Dome!!

and inside the Dome!! It was so pretty with all the murals and woodworking, just beautiful!

The Cathedral

I would have loved to have gone inside but by time we got over in that direction we arrived just in time to see the players file in for Mass before the game.

Touchdown Jesus

Alex and Tim sporting their ND ware. Alex got his new shirt of the game as part of his "Alex Package"!

Matt and I at the stadium

Ok, so we were standing street side waiting for the parade when this ambulance pulled up blocking the street....apparently an elderly man felt faint. The whole crowd had to change positions as the parade was rerouted another direction. Ok not a big deal but we didn't exactly get to see all the parade like we had hoped. But while standing there, Tim was like "Hey, get a picture of us in the window" Then he proceeded to say, "now, that is not a picture you see on your blog everyday!" Too funny. He knows me so well! So, Tim, here it is! We are squeezed into the lower right corner of the bigger window...see Matt, Tim and Alex??

Oh, by the way, the man that felt faint....well he walked onto the ambulance,no stretcher needed, and left without sirens so I believe he is fine!!

keep scrolling down, there is another post from this am. I was a little behind due to my computer crashing.

Apple Works Highlander Festival

A few weekends ago we headed down to good ol' Trafalgar IN for Apple Works Highlander Festival. There were arts, crafts, bagpipers, apples, and of course Carters favorite was the canon shooting!! The whole way home he kept saying, "mama, boom! dada, boom!!" I think he liked it!

Below is a picture of a few of the participants in the weekend, all dressed up, living out of tents, and cooking over the fire.

I just love this little barn. I think it is so pretty sitting against all the green. This cute little barn has tons of little games for kids to play including a bamboo maze, rope climbing, and a huge slide, which Carter and daddy thoroughly enjoyed.

Carter and Daddy loving the slide!

It is so funny to see this picture because last year we have a very similar picture from a different orchard and I can remember that last year I couldn't be more than a foot away because Carter couldn't stand very well and I was so afraid he would fall. Well, this year I couldn't be more than a foot away because Carter wouldn't stand still long enough for a picture. Isn't it funny how fast they grow??:(
(I would have posted a comparison but that is just one of many photos I lost when my computer crashed last week) I mean I have hard copies but no back-up.

As many of you may know Carter basically is in love with anything that has tires or engines. So you can imagine how excited he was when he saw this life-size homemade toy tracker. It took everything we could think of to get him away from it....it finally took a little bribing with the item below, which too has tires, an engine and even steam! You guessed it, Carter's other obsession TRAINS! Choo-Choo!

Carter and I loved our little ride on the train around the farm. We sat in the tender car right behind the conductor and Carter thought he was just the coolest little thing around!!

Totally Spooky

Disclaimer: This story is told based facts and the language and comprehension skills of an 19 month old. Believe if you will....proceed if you dare.


Yesterday evening I was still feeling a little under the weather, so Matt and Carter went on a walk and left me there lying on the couch with my blanket, the remote control and an Oprah I recorded from earlier. (Breast Cancer Awareness special...very important and well worth watching) Besides the point and back to the story. I was lying there, all was quiet, Oprah turned down low when all of a sudden one of Carters toys from the loft starting singing the alphabet "ABCD.."...kind of spooked me at first since nobody else was home. It stopped so I didn't think much of it, until that is when the two of them got home from their walk about 30 minutes later. Carter crawled up next to me and Matt sat down and then that stupid toy started singing again from upstairs in the loft. I looked at Matt, Matt looked at me, and he asked Carter jokingly, "Carter, do we have a ghost?" And Carter replied, "yeah", which totally sent chills down my spine. Matt probed more questions, "What does the ghost say?" As Carter answered confidently, "Rrrhhh". I freaked. Then Matt asked, "Do they say anything else?" I really didn't want to hear the answer but before I could cover my ears Carter said, "BOO"! I screamed! I mean really how does a 19 month old even know that is what they would say, you know, hypothetically?? I mean this is only his second Halloween season and it isn't like we sit around talking about ghost and so on. So to me, this totally seemed real. So about 30 minutes pass and Matt and Carter start going through the mail from the day and in the mail we got a little Halloween magazine with tons of costumes and little fall decorations. As they were looking at it, Matt opened it to a page with like, I am not even exaggerating, 50 costumes on one page. They included animals, people, ghost, Dracula, and many more. Matt asked Carter, "Do any of these look like the ghost?" Totally thinking he would pick like the cow or the chicken since those are the ones he would recognize we were surprised to see what he did point to. THE SKELETON!! Not even a ghost, only a skeleton, all bony and spooky! That was it. I am now forever convinced that my sweet little child has seen a ghost, skeleton whatever you wish to call it. Completely true story. Totally Spooky! The house is now on the market...any buyers??? Happy October!!