Fear for Christmas...

Sounds like such a scary topic, right?! One probably more suitable for Halloween, not Christmas, where everything should be jolly and bright. However, it is those fun Christmas festivities and jolly traditions that have brought out the fear in our little P's. I'm beginning to worry, that unlike most children, when the P's think of Christmas they will begin to shake, cry, and ball up into the fetal position, rather than singing Christmas carols and penning a Wish List for the big guy. One Christmas adventure after another has done nothing but leave them crying, unable to talk, and even worse I'm afraid, scarred.

It started with our trip to Sleepy Hollow Tree Farm, where we intended to cut down our own tree. As a kid, my Mom would take us here and it was always alot of fun and left me with great memories. Not so much this time. As we are driving through the farm, we find a field of tree's that seem to look like what we wanted. We park the car and set out with our saw to find the perfect tree. Every time we'd say " Hey, what about this one, it looks nice" Presleigh would say sternly, "No, its too big, I do not want that tree." After about 5 attempts and a few tears later, we decided to let her pick out the tree. So, off she goes and just a minute later, she's found it, our tree......or more like our sapling. This puny thing put the Charlie Brown tree to shame. Because I didn't understand her fear of all the normal, full grown tree's, I decided to ask her what it was that made her so afraid. She stated that she was afraid it would fall and if it fell, we would have to get a new house. I get it, I guess. Passing up on the sapling, we discovered that they sold Frasier Fers from NC so in all, our trip to the farm to cut down a tree, ended with us buying one netted and ready to go instead.
Cutting down your own tree to drum up the Christmas spirit= FAIL

The following weekend was our trip to see Santa Claus. I book this appointment 3 months in advance every year. Not only is he a phenomenal Santa, but I love that you can get a dvd recording of the visit each year.I thought this would be THE YEAR. The year that the P's would pee themselves with excitement as soon as they saw him. I talked it up for weeks, Oh, Santa he's great, He brings you sooooo many toys, He's really nice and by God if you don't sit in his lap with a smile on your face this year and tell his fat ass  jolly self what you want for Christmas, you will not get anything! Only kidding about that last bit of course, but I sure did think it. I don't know why I continued to lie to myself, I should've known better. In previous years, it was the 4 of us plopping down on Santa's lap to soothe the P's discomfort, why did I ever think it would be any different this year!? Off we go anyway, dressed in Christmas gear, singing Santa's praises all the way to Phipps. We take our spot in line and before we know it, it's their turn. Annnnd, guess who got a free visit with Santa again this year..... yours truly. They would not move once positioned, as if they were frozen, would not by any means make eye contact, mummer a word, and I don't even think they blinked. They gazed off into the camera and the obnoxious guy shaking a Elmo in their faces and would not crack a smile. NOTHING. The only one's smiling were the rest of the families in line, who found their reactions hysterical. Red faced and embarrassed, I corral us over to the picture counter, where up on the monitors the attendant has our pictures ready. The only thing I could blurt out was " Oh my God, they're terrible!" Honestly, everyone makes a bad photo once and awhile, but this, it was genuinely AWFUL. Mouths open, eyes widened, the fear of God written all over their faces. Pretty sure, it was the worst day of their lives. I didn't buy the picture, but in hindsight wish I would have, just so you could see it and say, Yea, you're right, that is bad.
Trip to see Jolly Ol' Saint Nick and share our Christmas wishes=FAIL

Keeping with the traditions, each year after our torturous visit with Santa, we go to Macy's to ride The Pink Pig. The girls LOVE the actual riding of the Pink Pig, however, they despise Priscilla, the actual Pink Pig. As you made your way through the line, you reached an area where you could have your photo taken with Priscilla. She's a doll, decked out in her poodle skirt and saddle shoes. As cute and sweet looking as she could be.  As it was our turn to have the picture taken, we walk up and the picture takers try to get the girls to sit in Priscilla's lap- not having it. Instead, they hide behind me. I pick Paisley up and sit her on my hip closest to the pig and she loses it, full blown hysterics. Switch her over to the other hip and she's fine. Presleigh meanwhile, is latched onto my leg with a kung fu grip and ol' Craig- he's just standing there, smiling and gritting his teeth through the whole experience. I did buy that picture, see it below- Notice Paisley's fake and fearful smile.
Experiencing a family tradition in the city of Atlanta since the 1970's= FAIL

It was a rough start to December with all the Christmas fun and to keep my kids from sounding completely abnormal, there were some things they enjoyed. For instance, the Christmas parade, all 2 hours of it, they loved that. Or decorating the Christmas tree, they were really involved this year and still are. That tree has been decorated, un-decorated, and re-decorated for weeks now. And lastly, watching all the Christmas movies on tv. Which I'm counting my lucky stars for- finally a break from Harry Potter, however, I may have bigger issues because Paisley now says her boyfriend is Woodstock-a bird, you know, from Charlie Brown. Yea, ISSUES. Athough we hit some rough patches this month, I really do love sharing the holidays with the girls. Whether it be through tears or laughter, they really do make the holidays so much more fun and I'll let you in on a little secret, I fear they day they actually stop believing in the guy who scares the crap out of them. So I'll continue to take a seat on his lap each year, if need be.
Finding the true joy's of Christmas=SCORE!



Cookies & Christmas Classics



Hi My Name Is.....

Lil' Red Fred aka Freddie.

I traveled all the way from the North Pole at Santa's request to meet The Orrell Family, specifically The P's, the weekend after Thanksgiving. I come from the Elf on the Shelf family, where our mission set forth from the big guy is to keep children on their best behavior. For if they misbehave and do not mind their parents, they risk finding themselves on Santa's naughty list. My magical powers allow me to fly all the way to the North Pole each night with a detailed report for Santa Claus. In the morning, before they awake, I will have returned from my journey and they will run to find me, for I may be hiding or I may be found getting into mischief myself!

Boy were the P's suprised to see me after their weekend trip to Nana's. I had found a nice cozy little place right beside a beautiful fireplace in their dollhouse. The dollhouse was the perfect place for my first nights rest, I couldn't have asked for better accommodations! I made sure to leave my girls a little note on their chalkboard, thanking them for the hospitality and telling them we were going to have lots of fun this month as we get ready for Christmas. That Presleigh, she was a skeptic at first, I wasn't too sure I was welcome or that she was buying it. I kept catching her glancing my way in disbelief, waiting for me to flinch with what  sometimes seemed like a wee bit of fear. Little Paisley however, was sooo excited as she said to her Mom " see, I told we'd get an elf, Santa knows we're good "They snuggled in their beds that night as Mom and Dad read them my story and the name Freddie was born. I am now an official member of the Orrell Family. A very large family at that-I was not prepared for all those beastly dogs and curious cats, this place is a circus! For goodness sakes, my first week here I nearly drowned in the toilet when that rico suave of a cat, Romeo, thought it'd be real cute to bat me with his paws right off the bathroom counter and into the the toilet bowl. Revenge will be so sweet, Rooooomeo!

So here we are with 2 weeks until Christmas and I've got to tell you, those girls are a tough crowd. On some days Im not too sure they give a lickity split whether I have good things or bad things to report to Santa and then others, their just as sweet as Mrs Claus' gummy gumdrops. All I can say is I'm thankful my employment is seasonal whew! and God bless their parents! I'll make sure the big guy gets them something extra special this year, especially Mom </;o)

I Am Thankful....

Thanksgiving has come and gone with a blink of an eye and a few stuffed bellies. Between 2 Thanksgiving Feast at FBK w/ the P's and our regular Thanksgiving lunch at my Grandparent's, we were definitely eaten' good for about a week straight.

I look forward to Thanksgiving and my Grandmother's cooking ALL year! As a matter of fact, I'd venture to say, that anyone who has a lick of sense eaten my Grandmother's Thanksgiving Feast would say the same thing, it's that good. I pretty much fast for 2 weeks leading up to the day so that there is plenty of room in my tummy for all the goodness. Creamed potatoes- SHUT YO' MOUTH! There are photo's and videos of me dating back to age 4-5yrs old eating her creamed potatoes, licking the bowl, spoon, counter, whatever may have a smidgen of tater left on it and yes, if you're wondering, you can still catch me acting like an unfed animal when it comes to getting the last bite. That Craig's one lucky guy ;)

My brother Josh came out Thanksgiving Eve to hang w/ Craig and I for a bit. We watched I Love You, Man and called it a night. I needed to be well rested for the run I committed to the next morning. He says he does this every year, that way he doesn't feel so guilty for all the carbs he eats and because he's always been the smart one, I decided to tag along. I woke up, prepared frittata's and met Josh for our first annual Thanksgiving run annnnnnd struggled. Running in 30 degree temps is no joke, especially when you've never done it before, my chest was on fire. Needless to say, it wasn't my best, but hey, it was a solid effort and I will do it again.

When the Orrell " We're always running late " Family finally arrived in Trenton, GA- it did not disappoint. Babies, Grandbabies,Great Grandbabies, OH MY! There were 22 people in attendance this year. I remember the days where there were less than half that. 2 plates at lunch, 2 pieces of cheesecake, followed up by another plate a couple of hours later and I was finally content. Mmmm mmmm good! You out did yourself again this year Grandmother, and me and my 5 extra pounds, Thank You.

It's only appropriate that on Thanksgiving, we give Thanks for those things we are Thankful for.

I Am Thankful:

-That I get to attend Thanksgiving with my family as I have every year since I can remember

-That I have a husband who attends that Thanksgiving me with every year, for 7 years, while missing his   own family meals, because he knows how important it is to me.Who isn't turned off by the fact that my plate may be piled up just as high as his is with food.

-For a Grandmother who spends 24hrs preparing /cooking  for 4 generations of family on Thanksgiving and a Grandfather who mans ship and offers full support. For the 2 who love nothing more than to have all of their family under one roof, if only for one day and a few hours a year.

-For my Mom and her unbelievable amount of strength, dignity, and grace. One who always does for others before herself and who can still rock a pair of skinny jeans and high heels. Funny, smart, successful and beautiful, she is the Mom I aspire to be everyday.

-For my Stepdad, who without his inept ability to scare the absolute crap out of my brothers and I from birth to graduation, I would be the biggest baby this side of Paulding County. The one who took me to get my permit at 15-which was the first mistake considering the 2 dented family cars, 2 totaled cars as a teenager,  1 burned out clutch, and 1 curbed/busted tire later. All that and he has yet to charge me for his labor.

-For 2 younger brothers who now, I actually claim and even consider them my friends. Who have turned out to be quite alright regardless of the mass amounts of torture they endured on my behalf.

-For pretty amazing In-Law's that I love and enjoy spending time with. Who treat me as one of their own, accommodate me in anyway ( ex.preparing 2 beef hamburgers just for me while everyone else eats deer ) and love our little P's more than I could ever ask for

-For each and every one of my girlfriends, for without each of you, your lending ears,and a great glass of wine, I'm quite sure I would have lost my sanity.

And last but most importantly, I Am Thankful and beyond blessed for this little brown eyed beauty and this little strawberry blonde cutie, who remind me each and every day what life is all about.

Pre-K Crush or Slight Obsession....

The P's are in loooooove, full blown boyfriend mode with .........Harry Potter! Forget Bieber Fever, they're Hot for Potter! And it's gettin' scary.

It all started a couple of weeks ago when I returned home from a work trip. ABC Family was airing the entire Harry Potter series from start to finish. I thought it might be a good movie for us to watch, after all I've never seen any of the series so why not? Funny to think that in the earlier movies, the young Harry wasn't so appealing to them- it actually wasn't until The Order of the Phoenix, when Harry is now a teenager that the obsession crush began.

Prior to being exposed to Harry Potter, they thought boys were "disgustin'". The fact that I was actually married to their Dad and kissed him, was out right repulsive.

The P's: Mommy, who's your boyfriend 
Me:  Daddy
The P's: Did you marry Daddy?
Me: Yes, Daddy and I are married
The P's: So, do you have to kiss Daddy?
Me: Yes
The P's ( in unison ) EWWWW GRODIE ( pronounced grow-dee )

All things you expect from 3 & 4 yr old little girls, right? So imagine my surprise when a few months later we're riding down the rode and I over hear Paisley say this in the backseat  "I'm going to put on my princess gown and my lip gloss and I'm going to marry Harry Potter" Do Huh? "Paisley, what did you say? " Presleigh yells in between giggles- "SHE SAID SHE'S GOING TO MARRY HARRY!"  I could not stop laughing and Craig is just sitting there, dumbfounded.

And so it begins, since that day 2 wks ago until right this very minute, Harry Potter has been played on the DVR at least 2x a day and if we say no to replaying it for the 3rd time, take shelter, cause sh*ts about to hit the fan. All day long, Harry this, Harry that... Mom, you know what Harry did... Mom, Harry's my boyfriend, Mom, look, I drawed Harry Potter, Mom, Harry's going to be my prince, Mom, watch this, you gotta watch this part, Mom, where does Harry Potter live- is he at Disneyland? Mommy, Harry's my boyfriend, Mom, Harry, Mom, Harry.... AHHHHHHH!!  What began as a pre-k crush is now a deep obsession and I'm beginning to wonder I there's reason to be concerned! I guess it could be worse, a friend of mine said that when her niece was close to this age she had a crush on Captain Jack Sparrow and would pretend to make out with her pillow. Let me catch that happening and that Harry will find himself banished from my DVR forever!

Mommy's at the Airport...

Last week I headed to Chicago for a Regional Meeting with work. This was going to be a long trip, 3 nights and 4 days, and to say the least, a long week for Craig. I don't have to travel often, maybe 4 times a year or so. I have mixed emotions and worries leading up to each trip. Part of me looks forward to the time away and part of me dreads it. Our Senior Vice President will often say " Now Brittany, try not to whistle as you're packing your bags " A big bed all to myself, no blood curdling screams waking me up in the middle of the night, 7-8 hrs of uninterrupted sleep = pure bliss, all making it difficult to hold back my obnoxious whistlen'. However, the other side knows a few days in I will start to get a little home sick and be ready to return home to the P's and their keeper.

This time around I had a little more worry than usual. Flash back to 3 months ago when I had to head to North Carolina for another long work trip. The P's weren't in school yet and Craig was on his own to beckon to their every demand, hold down the fort, and some how manage to actually work. I prepared myself mentally, knowing that I would probably come home and everyone and everything would be dirty. I know how much havoc those 2 tornado's cause on a daily basis, its a given. On the flip side, I knew they'd be well fed, because we know Craig ain't gonna let nobody go hungry. However, I wasn't prepared for what I walked in to. At first glance everything seemed fairly tidy and I was breathing a sigh of relief until I walked into the girls bedroom, where there to greet me right away were several, maybe 8 little lipstick kisses scattered all over the doorway. Bright pink lipstick. Then just a couple steps further, a nice finger nail polish painting on the floor, finger paint, finger nail polish- its all the same I guess. I'm getting a little more flustered and hot and then I look over and see a large stick figures or "dokie " ( Paisley's name for a her stick figures )  sketched by Miss Paisley, right beside her bed. When I asked her why she did that she replies- "It's you and Daddy, I missed you " How in the hell can I get mad at that?? I was just served a large dose of guilt by a 3yr old. Thank God for that because I was about to hit the roof. With these discoveries, I quickly scan the house combing every room with a fine toothed comb. There was no more destruction or construction found. But now that we're in the light and I can get a good look at the kids and their hair, I can see its clearly matted and on the verge of becoming dreads. It.was.awful. He combed it, very gently, not to disrupt the tangling, but did not bother tackling the rats nest. They have on a nightgown and blue jeans paired with a dirty face and quiet frankly look homeless.The bad thing,  prior to picking me up at the airport, they had been at the ChickfilA playground. ( I started to prepare for defacs ) Presleigh then begins to shout that she needs to potty, so I walk her to the bathroom and there is no toilet paper, no toilet paper anywhere in the house and I don't even want to know how long it had been that way. Craig said they ran out that day...it's probably best I don't know. At this rate I should just be thankful there was not a casualty. Needless to say I wanted to cry, but instead I pitched a fit and took it out on Craig. Lecturing him on it all for probably way too long while he was wishing I he would have just left me at the airport.

Fast forwarding back to this trip and my anxiety about leaving.... The girls would be in school half the day helping some and as luck would have it, picture day would fall the week that I'm gone.I laid our their clothes neatly, clearly labeled with their names and what day it was to be worn and each perfectly accessorized. Made sure that all their princess gowns were clean, we were loaded up on toilet paper and there was plenty of benadryl in the pantry so he could drug them up if need be-totally kidding. My Mom was also going to be able to assist more this time since she is now on the mends from her surgery. All things looking towards the positive, so I left on a fairly confident note. I only received one dramatic call while I was away and that was due to Presleigh pitching a fit because she wanted to open up a Collectors Millennium Barbie her Nana had given her and Craig didn't know what to do. The tears were flowing and the world was coming to an end! With that said, each time I checked in things seemed at ease, almost eerie and the day I was set to come home, Craig felt the need to lecture me and say he would not tolerate my fit pitching this time around.  Guess he had been dealing with enough hormone driven, drama induced mood swings that week. They pick me up, we head home and I walk inside with one eye open and to my surprise, it was clean and almost as I had left it. I do my typical walk through, checking each room, looking for things out of place ( I know, psycho ) but nada, zilch, nothing! The bed was made, this sink was clean, the girls were groomed and actually smelled nice.  I was able to walk in, put on my pj's and curl up on the couch to watch a movie with my sweet P's. I think I might have even pinched myself once or twice. I think the Dad's finally got it, finally.

Although I kinda gave Craig a hard time in this post, I truly am grateful that I can count on him to hold it down while I'm away. He really did a great job this time around and deserves a round of applause with a pat on the back. Also a quick shout out to MiMi, who cooked dinner for my family a couple of times while I was gone, bathed the girls and painted their nails, and for taking me to the airport at the butt crack of dawn. And lastly, a little Thank You to Mrs Sarah at FBK, who informed me today at Paisley's Thanksgiving Brunch that she may have had to put a bow in her hair on picture day.

Mrs Sarah: Hey, good to see you here. Where were you last week? All Paisley kept saying was " Mommy's at the airport " Each day she came in " Mommy's at the airport"
Brittany: Awe, poor thing. I had to travel out of town for a work meeting, so the Dad was in charge. Of all weeks to be out it was picture week.
Mrs Sarah: Well he did really good. She came in looking cute every morning. He was so funny, on picture day, he called up to the school and asked if we could put the bow in her hair. (she's cracking up) We figured since "Mommy was at the airport" we'd help him out a little bit.
Brittany: Well thank you so much for doing that, i really appreciate it and I know he does too.

Wink, Wink, Craig ;) Bet you thought I wouldn't figure that one out!

Halloween Week-end Wrap Up

14 days late on this post, but what's new these days? Feels a little odd to be blogging about Halloween as we gear up for Thanksgiving and some are already decorating for Christmas- ie: City of Hiram, who has already put up their Christmas lights on the all the light post and power poles in Hiram. Too early if you ask me-can we just give our Thanks first AND then decorate for Christmas? Why is that so abnormal these day's?

Halloween festivities lasted a good week around this house. Between the girls Fall Festivals at school, the Paulding Meadows Annual Trick or Treat Village and Halloween itself, the P's had to detox on candy for a good week. Throw in a couple of birthday celebrations that weekend and we were partied out.

Here's the run down:

Fall Festivals- Tues and Thurs- Prior blog post

Alicia's Birthday Dinner at La Cocina- Friday- Great time w/ great friends, enjoying our fave cuisine and monster margaritas! The girls really love hanging out w/ their son Brayden, they get along so well and we complete content playing ant smasher and angry birds all night. Here's a cute little pic of Brayden and Presleigh.

Trick or Treat Village-Saturday- Its held at Paulding Meadows every year. Local businesses, vendors, along w/ the fire depts, sheriff dept's etc, set up booths, haunted houses, games, hay rides where they hand out candy. Its always a lot of fun for the kiddos so we go back every year, we've been going since Presleigh was 1 1/2 and Paisley barely crawling. They of course rack up on candy, get their hair sprayed funky colors, play games, pick a big ol' nose full of snot to find more candy, walk through haunted houses, watch a parade, play on the inflatable slides and dance at the dj booth. I only have one pic to share from this year, but its a pretty impressive one. Presleigh showed a lot of courage by having her picture taken with this scary lookin' dude and the look on her face is proof.

Tinsley's Fairy First Birthday- Sunday. We headed over to the McCollum's house for the birthday celebration. Jennie ( the Mom ) did a fabulous job decorating for T's first birthday! Rolling w/ the woodland fairly theme, all the little girls were equipped w/ tutu's, which the P's loved. We had a great time at the party catching up with all the parents that we do not get to see enough. Although we showed up an hour late, because in my mind the party was a 2, not 1, it went off without a hitch and the birthday girl scored some pretty sweet gifts-which I had to fight the P's off of. Here's some pics of the party stolen from the creator's page :)




Miss Tinsley, Mableton's Most Magical Woodland Fairy





Me and sweet Abigail, 1st time meeting this little one in person.




Me and the pretty birthday girl, post party.



On Monday, Halloween had officially arrived and by 5pm trick or treaters were already making their rounds in Downtown Dallas. We loaded up Snow White and Cinderella in their plastic radio flyer carriage and headed down to MiMi's. Each year we have a big group that meets at my Mom's to trick or treat. She's a great hostess, providing food, adult beverages, snacks and little goody bags for the kids. We quench our thirst and fill our tummy's, watch a few of the trick or treaters then head out. The girls LOVED handing out candy to the trick or treaters and looking at all the costumes, especially the scary ones. I'd venture to say, they probably enjoyed this part more than actual trick or treating. A little background info, thousands of kids trick or treat in downtown Dallas every year. If you are a resident in the City of Dallas, you best be stock piling your candy all year because you will spend a few hundred dollars on candy and still run out by 8pm forcing yourself to run in the house before the next group comes up and turn off the lights. Its unreal how many people come out to podunk Dallas for Halloween. We had a couple Princesses,Captain America a Lego, Donald Duck, Spider Man, and  Ladybug in tow as we hit the streets. Some handed out candy, others gave popcorn and one house even gave out cotton candy. After a couple of hours our entourage started to get a little sleepy so we headed back.I didn't get too many pics this year, but I did get some. Notice Craig in his scary old man mask, we decided to have some fun w/ that while we were out. Even better, notice Erik in his Batman costume. I cannot tell you how many little boys wanted their pictures taken with Batman, if he got stopped one more time,I was going to start charging. We plan to pimp him out for b-day parties in the near future!

Another successful and fun Halloween is on the books and the girls are already talking about what they are going to dress up as next year.

Presleigh's First Field Trip...

On Thursday of last week Presleigh had her first field trip. Destination...Carlton  Farms in good ol' Rockmart,Ga. I have not ventured out to Rockmart since I was a teenager and therefor had no idea where I was going or how long it was going to take to get there. I knew we had to be there at 9am sharp, so I was going to make sure I had it mapped out accordingly. Would have been a great plan had this place actually made the map. Now I was worried. I'm terrible w/ directions and terrible with being on time. I get turned around very easily and couldn't find my way out of a brown paper bag if I had to. However, I'm proud to say we made it on time ( Thanks Mom for the directions ) and didn't get lost once!

Of all the things on the farm, the first thing Presleigh spots is a kitten. She chased that poor kitten around the farm for a good 30 minutes, her and about 15 other kids. Poor cat, I'm sure he/she was hoping someone would chase him right on out into the street. This could have been the whole field trip and she'd been just fine with that.

We later lined up and headed over to the petting farm. There were baby chicks, little pigs, baby calf's, a couple donkeys, and some goats. We gather around in the barn as the "tour guide" tells us a little bit about the animals. I could not focus on a thing she was saying because A) It smelled incredibly bad and B) There was this one calf who kept stretching it's tongue out from the cage and licking the woman's pants in front of me-back to that in a minute. I didn't expect to be bothered by the smell after having two babies and all their funkiness, but this kind of smell should have came with a warning. I literally found myself gagging on several occasions and at one point even thought I might have to excuse myself before I threw up. If it wasn't for the calf who I thought for sure was going to eat through the Mom's pants in front of me, i would have. I was laughing and gagging at the same time. That calf was out of control and that Mom's poor pants were soaked YUCK! The little tour guide kept saying " Oh, they're doing that because they are still nursing and taking bottles, they're looking for a bottle" No, this calf was not looking for a bottle, it wanted something more than what it produces, it wanted something of some substance. No wonder they were so skinny, its STARVING! Although they stunk up to high heaven, they were really cute and we did get to see one take a bottle, which Presleigh thought was so cool. However, completely unfair to the other 6 who got NADA. After the little lesson, we walked through and fed the goats and donkey's and watched the little pigs live up to their names. Presleigh's favorite part about the petting farm was feeding the goats and watching the calf nuzzle the bottle when the milk would stop coming out. She'd just giggle and giggle- to her the only thing that drinks a bottle are babies.

Loads of hand sanitizer later, we lined up for the hayride. This was  the mac daddy of all hay rides. It was a huge trailer that was covered, had a bench for parents right down the middle, stuffed with hay in each aisle, and wired for a PA system. We hopped on, parents on the inside, kids on the outside. As we rode along we got to hear all about the farm and its history.

Here are some fun facts:

-The farm had been around since 1914 and became a dairy farm in 1946
-They have 35 cows, who they milk 2x a day. Once at 430am and again at 430pm
-None of the cows are fed anything other than hay, grass, and minimal grain- truly organic. No antibiotics or hormones ( hence the skinnyness from my previous comment ) we have this idea that cows should be huge and fat, but really that's not the case.
-It is illegal in the state of GA to sell the milk they produce in grocery stores. Funny how that works. The healthiest of milk is illegal to sell. It has to be bottled and sold as pet milk on the farm.
-A baby calf weighs 85lbs at birth. Most cows only have 1 calf at a time and in 2 yrs that calf will be ready to reproduce.
-This farm had a cow 2 yrs ago who had triplets, seen once every 170k+ births

After getting schooled on the dairy farming business, the hayride came to a complete stop in the middle of the pasture. Why you ask, it was cow feedin' time. As soon as the tractor stopped the cows came running right up to the sides of the trailer, hence the hay in the floor on both aisles. I don't know if you've ever fed a large cow before, but if you have the chance, beware of the tongue. Holy Cow-creeped me out the first time it touched me! I can't even describe it. Take the texture of a cats tongue x20, add about 7inches to the length and to the thickness and that might do it justice. Presleigh loved it! She'd talk to them, pet them, feed them, the whole nine-she was not phased by the size of their big ol' heads or tongues. I on the other hand was a little nervous. I felt that at any second a cow was going to get aggressive over hay or there would be a stampede.  As we finished up and rode away there was one black cow who chased us all the way to the gate. Come to find out, she was due to have her baby in about a week and was extra hungry. We hooked her up and threw her some extra hay under the table :)

Heavy hand washing was next and then we headed to have a snack-yummy huh?! After that was over we snapped some class pictures, sang a couple songs, and then headed to the play ground. There was a huge pipe slide that was a good 25ft off the ground that the kids absolutely loved. Presleigh would go down backwards, head first and on her tummy, yelling the whole way down. I had to bribe her with icecream just to get her to leave.

What a great day for us and what a great little place it was with a cool history behind it too. I don't know who had more fun, me or Presleigh. I actually learned quite a bit about dairy farming on this field trip too and  now have a new found respect for those who do this kind of work daily. Outside of the stench that radiated throughout the farm, the hours are grueling-430am to milk a cow, no thank you! I'll take my 8-5 any day ( okay 8-4pm :)

Snow White and Cinderella take on the FBK Harvest Festival...

This week The P's had their harvest festivals at school. They were able to dress in their Halloween costumes and play games all morning and win prizes. Lucky for me the prize was candy, lots and lots of candy. Of course as soon as they'd win a piece of candy they'd eat it. There was pin the tail on the donkey, cake walks, pumpkin toss, frog feeding, and spider seeking. As always FBK did a great job and the kiddos had a great time.

Presleigh aka Cinderella's "Wedding Dress" was first up for the festival. She loved getting all dressed up that morning and was not going to leave on accessory behind. The only thing she told me she did not need that morning was her "make-up" Thank Goodness! Because if I would have had to perfectly place one more thing on that princess, we wouldn't have made the festival that day. She made sure to play every game at least 3x allowing her to rack up on lots of candy. Anyone who knows my child, knows that nothing makes this girl happier than candy...well maybe lip gloss, but candy is definitely the front runner. She was in hog heaven toting that little bag around all day snacking away.

Paisley aka Snow White had her festival a little later in the week. After watching her sister get all dressed up and bring home lots and lots of goodies she was way excited to get in on the fun. Snow White woke up, put on her gown and was much easier to accessorize and get ready than Cinderella until...... it came down to the shoes. This child is a shoe freak, just like her momma. She loves shoes more than anything, so much so that when she gets a new pair she will sleep in them and there are at least 1-2 nights a week where she will go to bed in her "princess shoes"  She had a red pair of shoes that she knew would be perfect for the occasion and as luck would have it, we could not find them anywhere! She was crying and I was running around like a mad woman searching for the shoes. By the grace of God I found them, in the backyard, in the playhouse. Close call.  Paisley is much different in a sense that she played each game once and received a conservative amount of candy and then was ready to go. We still had a lot of time to kill, so we decided to walk over to a little bakery that opened up in town called The Sweet Life. We hung out on the patio and enjoyed some cookies and donuts in the crisp fall air.

Wednesday Weekend Wrap Up...

Say that 3 times fast :) A couple of weekends have passed since my last blog update so there's plenty to catch up on.

A couple of weeks ago we sent the P's to MiMi's and headed to The Westbrook's Annual Halloween Party. As always it was a great time with some great friends. I don't think I will ever stop loving Halloween or dressing up for that matter, it's my favorite holiday. Craig and I dressed up as Bingo Benny and his bimbo Caretaker Betty. She ain't one to be takin' care of nobody with all her nasty habits, but the hefty bingo winnings and the chance of nice gift left in the will are nice incentives :))



The gracious hosts- Batman  & Robin



Brook & Ryan




Is that not the creepiest mask?! We've had a blast with that thing! For example, I can recall several occassions where we've put the mask on when driving around, running errands and stuff just to get a good laugh from all the "WTH'ers" and "WTF'ers" passing by...still laughing. Ashamed to say, I've actually scared the girls a couple of good times as well-terrible, I know, but I just couldnt resist! It was so bad that the first few days the mask was actually in the house the girls would not walk into a room without asking if the "old man mask" was in there first.


The only downer to that weekend was SissyRoo getting "sickie poo's"! A trip to the pediatrician and some chest x-rays later we discovered she had a double ear infection and croup, thankfully it wasn't pneumonia as suspected. We spent the next week getting her on the mends, taking a break from the gym and getting some much needed chores done around the house.

This past weekend was a lot of fun! We made our annual family trip to Berry Patch Farms in Woodstock. We have been taking the girls here since before they could walk. We love this place -its so family oriented with lots of stuff for the kiddos to do. Their prices are a little hefty on the pumpkins, but for all the fun and extras you get, its worth it.

Here are some vintage pictures of the family at Berry Patch dating back to 2008, crazy to see how much they change year over year.

                                                                             2008

2009

                                                                                 2010




Sunday I took some alone time and went clothes shopping for the girls. It was so nice to be out and actually spend as much time needed  in as many stores needed without rushing in and out while having two little one's begging for everything in sight. After that my Mom came to pick me up and we headed to Folklore Haunted House.A co-worker of hers is actually one of the owners of this haunted house and had invited the company to pay a visit.  It had been years since I had been to a haunted house so I found myself getting a little anxiety waiting in line to go in-that accompanied w/ the creepy old man who would not stop staring me in the face, def didn't help matters. I let Mom go first and lead the line-I'm pretty sure she screamed at every corner we turned. I was too busy laughing at her to really be scared, her screams let you know there was obviously something pretty intense happening up ahead :) Thanks for the date Mom, I had a great time!


We've had a busy week this week so I have several blog post planned for the next few days. I figured putting myself on a schedule and pre-planning my blog posts would help me get them done in a more timely matter.

Paisley's First Field Trip...

Wednesday I accompanied Paisley and all of her classmates on their first field trip to the Sweetwater Pumpkin Patch. I must say, I was really impressed with how organized and entertaining this field trip was, especially since their little customers happened to be 3yr olds. Paisley was soooo excited that morning! She's usually the difficult one to get out of bed, but not that morning, she was ready to go. Presleigh on the other hand was not happy at all. The fact that Mommy was getting to go on a fun little trip with sister and she was having to go to school instead, did not sit well. The car ride to school consisted of Presleigh saying " Mommy, I don't want you to go with sissy to the pumpkin patch" a good 10x. I tried to explain to her that in a couple of weeks, I'd be taking her on her first field trip as well, but that didn't stop her from throwing a full blown tantrum in the middle of the carpool line.Squalling as I pulled her out of the car, fighting me as I walked her to the door, and absolutely refusing to walk inside. The PreK Director had to take Presleigh from my arms and carry her up the stairs. It. was. awful. I felt terrible, but had to put it aside so I could be happy and excited for Paisley.

When we arrived at the pumpkin patch the kids lined up as we started our first activity for the day. Mrs Sheryl would be leading this part of the tour called the " I Spy Nature Walk "  As we walked through the woods on a little trail, Mrs Sheryl gave the little one's clues about the little animals they were supposed to find hiding around us. There were squirrels, skunks, deer, and even alligators. As we neared toward Sweetwater Creek there was a big teepee ahead where Chief Pumpkin was waiting for us. He told a quick little story to the kids and then handed out arrowheads to each of them. It was one of my favorite parts :)

Our second activity was to build a scarecrow. All of the children voted on whether they'd build a girl or a boy scarecrow and girl it was, they named her Fall. Paisley was not having any part of this. I don't know if she just wasn't interested or if she was a little scared, but she wanted nothing to do with it. She wouldn't help stuff, dress, or have her picture made with Fall, so no pics to share on this one :(


Next we were on to gold mining. The water was flowing through the trough and the pans were filled and ready to be sifted through. We grabbed a spot and began to mine our gems and gold. They had all kinds of little gems in the dirt for the kids to find. Paisley loved this part and would not leave one gem behind. Im pretty sure we left with at least 30 gems. They provided us a cute little bag and a card we could use to determine what gems we found. I have to admit, there were a few times when I thought to myself  " what if we really did find gold" " how cool would that be "

Lastly we were off to our hay ride, the part all the kids had been looking forward too. The tractor took us over to the pumpkin patch where the kiddos could pick 1 pumpkin of their choice. I found it neat that they actually had a pumpkin patch where the pumpkins were still attached to the vine. After they picked their pumpkins we walked over to feed the goats, chickens, pigs and rabbits. There was one rooster who was out of the pin, I'm assuming because he's considered friendly, but quite frankly, he made me a little nervous. I swear he was as large as a few of the kids and being that my brother Jonathan was attacked by a rooster around this age didn't help matters. I thought for sure he was going to peck someones eyes out, if he was hit in the face with a fist full of food one more time. The kids would run after him hollering " here chicken, chicken" and then chunk the corn at him as hard as they could. I laugh now as I type this, but it was no laughing matter at the time :)

The day ended with a picnic under the pavilion and some free play on the playground. Over all it was a great day and Paisley and I both had a great time. When we got home, Presleigh had arrived from school and was much more calm. I had the rest of the day off from work so we decided to bake some Halloween cupcakes and go out for Japanese! YUMMY!