Work on the Side

Since I have the fabulous resume builder of being a stay-at-home mom (great job, but the break doesn't exactly endear you to potential employers), I've been thinking of what I want to do when I grow up. When I got my MBA, I really enjoyed my marketing classes and hope that I can find something along those lines when go back someday. So, to help me practice a little, I'm helping Jerry market himself.

Most of you know that Jerry is an amazing Civil War historian and gives great lectures/talks about all topics Civil War. Most of you also know that he's written a book and it's due out in the spring. It's called "The Perfect Lion" and is about John Pelham. To help keep everyone up to date on the book's status, as well as Jerry's talk schedule, I started a blog for him - http://www.jerryhmaxwell.blogspot.com/. It's been fun to work on and it's actually gotten him a few followers for his talks.

So, feel free to check out my little side job and let me know what you think!

Will's Dream Car

Will's a total car nut, so it completely surprised me the other day when he told me, "Mommy, I want a white mini-van." I replied, "We have a silver van." He then told me, "No - when I can drive, when I'm 16, I want a white mini-van." He then says, "No, I changed my mind." I'm thinking, I sure hope so; and he says, "I want a blue one." I burst out laughing! Now, whenever we go past one, Will reminds me, "Mommy, when I'm 16, I want a blue mini-van." I plan to remind him of this fact 12 years from now . . .

Happy Halloween!

Just like the rest of October, Halloween weekend was a busy, busy time. We started off with Will's school party - not only am I the room mom, but I was the party mom this time too. I've been dying to make these Halloween jello molds since Mom gave them to me, and I think they turned out really well. There were pumpkins, ghosts, cats, witches, and bats. Will's class really liked them and I think I'll be making them from now on.

Unfortunately, only the 3 year olds were allowed to wear their costumes, which was kind of a bummer. But, it gave me more time to work on Will's Thomas costume, which was great.

As a treat for Brent and I, Carlene and Jerry were down for the week of Halloween. They had driven to Tennessee for Jennifer's (a cousin's) wedding and decided that since they were so close, they should come see us. Brent and I are glad they did - we took off for a little stay-cation in Greenville. We hung out for the night at a great Irish bar, slept for 13 hours, shopped all through town, had a great dinner, slept some more, and ended our 2 day mini-break with massages (so wonderful!).

We ended our break and went back into Halloween party mode. That night (Friday), we went to something called the Enchanted Tracks. Greenville Parks and Rec does a wonderful Halloween event each year - they decorate George the train, create an enchanted trick-or-treat forest complete with Disney characters handing out candy, and have all kinds of games and bouncy houses.

It was awesome - and completely cold (for Greenville - those of us from the North know how to do cold Halloweens - put the coats on under the costumes, people!) Fi and Will did the golf game (Will got a hole in 2), the sucker ring toss (super cute idea), fishing for candy, and the bouncy houses. They loved trick-or-treating through the forest -- Will wasn't so sure about some of the characters, but the idea of sugar got him through.

Originally, we weren't going to be able to ride the train as they were assigning times; when we got there, they were all booked up. Never one to be daunted (I got my line-patience training from my dad), I got us in line when we were ready to go. I did warn the kids that we may not be able to ride the train but told them we would try. I was rewarded - the conductor told me that they were letting everyone on. He called the assigned time people, and if there was room, just started letting people on. So, Will got on the 2nd train and Fi and I got on the 3rd one. I was very proud of myself and the kids were super thrilled to have ridden the train.

Saturday morning, I finished putting together Will's Thomas the Train costume. Pretty good for two moving boxes, blue spray paint, painters tape, duct tape, and construction paper - if I do say so myself! :) Will was super excited about it, and that's what I really wanted.

I had until 3 pm for the glue to dry - that's when our neighborhood Halloween party started. When we got there, we were really surprised - I thought it would be some little, cheesy thing, but there were 2 bouncy houses, games, popcorn, a cake-walk, and a costume contest. What fun!

The kids played the games and got prizes (always fun) but we weren't able to go in the bouncy houses yet - the automatic sprinklers kicked in during the event and totally soaked the houses! Kinda funny.

We entered the kids into the costume contest. It was separated by age and I didn't really think I should put Fi in since her Tinker Bell costume was just OK, but I didn't want her to feel left out either. Plus, our friends Tara and Andy with their kids Cooper (2) and Allie (8 months) had us beat hands down. Tara's super crafty and her whole family was from the zoo - she was the zoo keeper, Allie was a monkey, Cooper was a giraffe, and their dog (a huge, sweet golden), Sadie, was a lion (she made him a mane and tail cover!) I can't believe they only got 2nd place - they got beat by our neighbor who was a dragon. His was cute, but it wasn't homemade like Tara's. Oh well - there's always next year!

Next up was Will with the 4 - 8 year olds. He got a ton of applause and ended up winning 1st prize for his costume! I'm so proud! He got a $20 Walmart gift card and we let him pick out a toy - he, of course, picked a train and let Fi get a Sleeping Beauty figure too.

After that, we carved pumpkins. Well, Brent did . . . He claimed he never did this as a kid (something both his parents refuted), so I wanted him to have the experience. We cleaned them out (my least favorite part), and then let the kids draw them. Fi picked circle eyes and nose with a "sad" smile. Will wanted triangle eyes and circle nose and teeth in his smile. I think we did OK, all things considered. But, we saw a lot of really, really good carvings while we were out in the neighborhood - we may have to up our game next year.

Saturday night was a party for Brent and I. Since we didn't want to spend any money, we found some good costumes in our closets. Brent was a beat up Red Wing hockey player and I went as an Indian princess (thanks Reshma for the completely beautiful dress, bangles, and bindis). We had a great time at Brent's friend's party and I got a lot of compliments on my outfit.

Sunday was finally Halloween (I know - 3 days of Halloween is a little crazy!). The kids got into their costumes (it took forever) and we got ready to head out!

Jerry and Carlene were nice enough to stay at our house and hand out candy (Jerry walked with us a little bit and then went back to keep Carlene company), while we went out with the kids. At the first house, Fi didn't want to let go of my leg (this was at Cooper's house, a place we've played at tons of times). She did a little better at the next house - each little plunk of candy bolstered her confidence. She turned to me and said, "I got MORE candy!!" and had a huge smile on her face. She was ready to roll from then on out. Will was just making tracks, going to as many houses as he could. He even knew not to go to the ones without lights.

I was impressed with our little neighborhood. Some of the cul-de-sacs banded together and instead of making the kids walk down the road, the house on the corner hosted a little party. People put their candy on chairs in the driveways, so you just walked around the chairs, said trick-or-treat and thank you, and walked on down the road. Good plan and I think we're going to try to get our little cul-de-sac in on this next year.

One of the last houses on our main road was totally done up for Halloween - they had a blow-up gargoyle on top of the garage, ghost holograms on the garage door, huge cemetery gates in the front lawn, and movable figures and ghosts coming out of graves on the way up to the door. I should have taken a picture - it was totally awesome! And, it totally freaked Will out. He wanted nothing to do with it - he wouldn't even come over to that side of the street. Fi, on the other hand, tells Will, "It's OK, Will. It's just pretend," and marches on up to the door to get candy, laughing the whole way. :) I couldn't believe it! And, I wonder if she'll be as confident next year.

We ended the night and Brent and I handed out candy for a little while before turning off our lights. It was a wonderful 1st Halloween in our new neighborhood and we look forward to many, many more.

October Activities - LOTS

We've been unusually busy this October - it's been a lot of fun (and a little tiring). First, we went to the town of Laurens (small downtown with shady/rundown outskirts - we weren't sure what we were driving into) for our first Barbeque Festival. The ad for the festival claimed they had Thomas, which sealed the deal in Will's mind. However, the little golfcart Thomas is what we rode. Will and Fi loved it anyway.

After riding Thomas first, we then went around and sampled some barbeque. We tried one from South Carolina (it was just OK) and then waited in a really long line for some that said "Tennessee Barbeque" only to find out that it was from Ohio. However, it was totally awesome and worth the wait. We could see why they had won all the awards they showed.

After eating, we found the classic car show (Will wanted to see each one - he's such a gearhead!), the petting zoo (a little overrated), and then the fire engines. Will and Fi got to sit in the "ready" seats where the fireman sit - they can just latch their gear on from that seat, and get out ready to go. Will really liked that, and by pure accident had his "future fireman" shirt on. We were all really tuckered out after that and called it a day. While I enjoyed our first BBQ Fest, I think we may try one in a different town next time.

The following weekend was Fall for Greenville. This is a super fun event that starts Friday night and goes through Sunday - all the restaurants have booths with different foods to try, there are all kinds of music acts at 5 different stages, competitions for foodies and food service personel, and a kids ride area.

My newly discovered cousin Katherine (she's Barry and Cathy's daughter) and I went Friday night. We had a great time walking around, talking, and eating. My favorite was a goat cheese, duck, and plum crepe - so darn good!

Saturday, we watched Reid for the day so that Jaime and Ross could go to the Bama/USC game (she's a huge Bama fan). While the kids weren't as into the food as we were (they had pizza), they totally liked the rides. They all rode the little train (duh!), then the little ferris wheel, then the bouncy slide (they only got to go one time so it was a total gyp). We gave the kids a choice with the remaining tickets for one last ride - the boys chose a super fun bouncy house (time limit this time) and Fi wanted to drive the helicopter. I couldn't believe that she didn't want to go with the boys (she usually does), but she loves to "fly" things.

After getting back from a full day downtown, we came home and played. We had a really great time playing playdough - Reid made a great snowman all by himself. Will and Fi thought it was so good that they wanted me to make them ones just like it. Reid spent the night (he and Will are so cute talking in bed when it's lights out) and we had a really fun weekend. Unfortunately, Jaime's team lost but she and Ross had fun too.

After our busy weekend, Mom came down to visit - yea!!!! This was the first time she got to see the house actually put together. As a present to Fi, she made Dolly (aka Scary Dolly, per Brent and Jaime) a tutu to match Fi's. It was sooo cute - Fi held Dolly's hands and danced her around in circles. I think I got video, so that post will be next. She made Will a "Wonder Pets" Lenny cape - it's sparkly blue with a "W" on the back, either for Will or for Wonder Pets. He really likes it, but I haven't been able to get a picture yet. As a present to Brent and I, she watched the kids so we could go out for our 7th anniversary.

Since Mom can't sit still, she helped me organize my spare room a little more and get more boxes out of the dining room (currently the catch-all room). Then, she moved into the garage and got that more organized. We trimmed hedges and took plant clippings to the local nursery to find out what it all was and when we can trim/prune it. They were really helpful and I ended up getting 3 bushes from them that will look really good next year. They were really, really hard to plant though - the ground is clay and it took forever to dig the small holes we needed. It's put a damper on my landscaping plans (but that's OK - I'm really not much of a gardener).

Mom was supposed to go back after a week, but because Brent was going to China, she extended her stay. It was awesome!! We didn't just work - we also went to the Children's Musuem and played all day. And, Mom and I managed to go out by ourselves one night too.

While Mom was here, Bismark graduated doggie school - he totally hated the hat and kept trying to get it off. All during our sessions, he was the model student and did all his commands. However, on graduation/test day, he almost totally failed Sit-Stay." He didn't want to sit - he kept laying down. After tons of trying, he finally did it (and everyone applauded). He's signed up for the next session so we/I can learn some more. He's a really good dog and I'd like to keep him that way.

This last picture is him trying oh so hard to be good - he loves to chew Will's trains and track (if he can get away with it) but he knows he's not allowed. So, he sits on the hearth with this little nose and paws on the trains and looks forelorn. So darn cute!

School Daze

Will started K4 this year. He goes Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9 to 12. He's in Mrs. Armstrong and Mrs. Robinson's class this year and is really doing well. Unfortunately, his good friend Truman is in another class this year. At first, he was really upset but when he realized that he still got to see Truman and that he can make new friends, like Andy, Jack, and Elek, life was good again.

This is a picture of his first day of school. Sofia wanted her picture taken in front of the monkey door too, and she's already on the "I go to school next year" band wagon.



This year, they're more organized towards learning. They do one letter and one color each week. And, they're starting to read. They get a "sight" word (something really common) every other week and a little book. So far, he's learned "my," "the," and "and." I think it's just such a great way to learn and he's picking up on that when we read at night too.

He also surprised me the other morning. He went into the bathroom, and looked at the books we have in there. He said, "Mom, that word is red - R-E-D - red." He was looking at "The Little Red Caboose" book - I'm so proud! Learning is just such an amazing thing and I'm so excited he loves school.


This picture is from the "Lego" center - guess what they do there? :) Will built a town on his first day and is proudly displaying it for us. He's very creative and I'll have to scan some of his artwork for a future posting.

I signed on to be the room mom this year (they didn't have one yet) and am helping out a little bit. I'm looking forward to helping with more parties and field trips as they come.