Trick or Treat

Happy Halloween to all! We sure did enjoy our time with our little penguin on Friday night. Miller was so excited he could barely stand it when I told him that Grandmama and Poppy were coming over with "see-sa" (translation pizza). He waited and waited by the front door for them to arrive with his favorite treat. Little did he know that, "see-sa" was only the beginning to all his trick or treating fun. Miller loved Grandmama and momma's matching pumpkin shirts! This penguin couldn't get enough playing in the candy bucket. Miller kept digging and digging in our stash like it was a game.


Landon and Mr. Chris started off the evening carving their "punkys" in the driveway. Mr. Chris brought over his drill to carve the jack-o-lanterns 15 minutes before all of our greeters were coming to the door. What a whirlwind..Maddie and Miller dodging pumpkin juice in full costume. No, it's not mommy's style to do so much carving last minute, but it's been QUITE the busy week. Luckily they carved, scooped, and even raked the orange goop off of our grass just in time for our first trick-or- treaters...whew!


Grandmama and Poppy passed out candy from our driveway, while our family headed out for our first trick or treating experience. Our penguin was so excited to journey off that in his rush to get out the door, rolled around & around in his fat suit down the grass. Runaway Penguin!! When I rushed to his rescue, he just laughed from all the of the tumbling fun. I adjusted his hat, and we were on our way.
Miller was adorable in all of his penguin cuteness. I loved how his beak would inch down over his eyes and he would flip up his hat so he could see. I was so relieved that the weather turned somewhat chilly, so our Arctic penguin would feel comfortable in his padded, insulated suit. He proudly sat in his car while we walked with our neighbors from house to house. Grant, our neighbor friend from across the street and Miller were car buddies on the trek. Miller was mezmerized by Grant's "melmo" costume.


It was too cute to watch him figure out the whole process of asking for candy at each door. Mr. Happy Feet himself put the candy in his bag, only to take it out and share it with the other costumed kiddos passing by. He was so thrilled to take part in all the action. 10 houses and two cul-de-saks later, our penguin had enough candy to share with us so we migrated home for the evening.

Toddler for McCain

Tuesday, I made plans for Miller to stay with Grandmama and Poppy while I anticipated a LONG afternoon waiting in line to vote. Some friends have had a wait of 3+ hours for advance voting in GA. I can't fathom waiting with a toddler this long on a cold day. To my surprise, I only had to stand in line 30 minutes at our local library in Woodstock. I must have just gotten lucky with the time I chose to vote. It was a pretty painless experience and a welcome surprise after dreading the wrap around lines I've heard so much about. Happy voting to all!





So here's to our future President McCain. Miller did a little campaigning in our front yard today. He proudly held mommy's "ticker" and tried to do his part by sticking it on our sign. Oh, and we do PROUDLY support Governor Palin too. Our sign was printed before she rocked us with her announcement of McCain's running mate.

NKOTB

Yes, ladies the New Kids have reunited and are back better than ever. Last night, I reflected with my dad over the two concerts he attended with my girlfriends and me way back when. Yep, he was the cool dad with cotton in his ears! Ahh..memories of the 80's and early 90's. I was totally hooked on Joe, the youngest New Kid at the time. My room was plastered with wall posters, door posters, and even ceiling posters all donning pictures of my favorite teen heart-throbs. I even made a New Kids scrapbook with pictures from "Bop" and "Big Bopper." My jean jackets adorned large buttons with pictures of the New Kids. I was a BIG fan. Call it... reconnecting with my 12 year old self or reliving the glory days of 4th and 5th grade. One thing's for sure..these heart-throbs are no longer kids!!
So..when we heard that the tour was a go, Laura beat the crowd at Ticketmaster and got us all tickets for the concert. They sold out in 6 minutes!!

Last night, Seven + girls loaded up in Laura's Armada "party bus" and headed to the Gwinnett Arena to relive all the magic of our teenage years. The crowd definitely had specific demographics, all women 25-35 years old. Now, there were a few men dragged by their wives who looked thrilled to attend, let me tell you. We saw a lot of NKOTB vintage buttons and T's. Some girls even crimped their hair and sported hot pink and purple leggings!
The concert didn't disappoint what I had anticipated. They played all the classics and even suprised us with two encore numbers prompted by all the crowd shouting oh,oh ,oh ,oh ,oh...Hanging Tough. They definitely still have it and all the screaming and cheering from the fans was electrifying. This girl's night out was definitely needed, and I'm still recovering from my 2:00 a.m late night out!!

Waiting on pictures from friends to share. My camera's too big for concert going.

"Spook" tacular Playdate

Miller and I were invited to a fun Halloween playdate at the Dahlby's today. Meg and Kate & Heather were the perfect hostesses for such a spooky event. The kiddos dined on pizza, or as Miller says it "spee-sa" and other spooky treats including cheese stick & lima bean fingers, pumpkin cookies and Oreo spiders to name a few. We played underneath a large black spider hanging from the ceiling. Miller couldn't get enough of Meg's fuzzy "Melmo" chair. He was also entertained with all of his costumed friends. There was Snow White,a monkey,bee,zebra,cowboy,turtle,and butterfly..did I leave anyone out? Check out the costumed kiddo lineup. It was set up your baby and run to get at least one picture. We knew they wouldn't sit still for long.




After lunch, Heather helped us with a handprint/footprint craft. We made festive decorative tiles to keep for years to come. We had to press Miller's foot three times to get just the right print for his ghost foot. It turned out so cute.



Miller (& mommy too) were so thrilled that he's gotten to wear his costume more than once this season.Thank you Heather for hosting such a fun playdate at your home. Every detail was perfect and we loved our keepsake craft!

Patch Memories

Berry Patch Farms-October 2007

Berry Patch Farms-October 2008

What a difference a year makes!!

Pumpkin Pickin'

Oh the anticipation of more fun in the patch. Grandma "Ma ma ma ma" and Poppy joined us for pumpkin pickin fun today at Berry Patch Farms. Miller walked up to the farm just like a big boy. We reflected about our time in the patch last year, when Miller bobbed in his Bjorn on daddy's chest at the patch!



We enjoyed the tractor ride out to the patch. Miller sat proudly with Gradmama in the hay. He kept announcing to the passengers "wheel" & "tractor"! Out to the patch we rode, observing all the cotton and mini pumpkins for the taking. Since it was the last week in October, the patch was "picked over". We still managed to find a few pumpkins to pose with! Now posing with the pumpkins is an all together different story. We had two things working against us...full sun, long shadows, and a toddler who is SO over the Mom-a-razzi. This lens has been following him around for 18 plus months and this go-go toddler can't stop for one minute for any formal poses. His body stiffins immediately and out comes the tongue if backed into the "look at the camera" trick!! I do think we managed to capture a couple keepers.





Our little guy toddled around the patch and couldn't help but freeze whenever a tractor dropped off more guests in the patch. He's enthralled with the noises, and big wheels. With a open mouth and following eyes, his gaze followed every movement of the tractor. At the end of our visit, Miller got to sit in his own red tractor like a big boy. He entertained us with tractor noises and even honked the horn saying "beep beep". Miller tried to turn the knobs and gears but he quickly found out this tractor had no gas.

We had to peel Miller off of the tractor to give the other little boys a turn. He wasn't quite ready to give up the driver's seat! What a fantastic, cool afternoon in the patch.

Fall Festival

This afternoon, we enjoyed a fun fall festival in our neighborhood. I can't think of a better kid friendly event to usher in the spirit of Halloween. Miller was so excited to debut his Halloween costume for the first time. Doesn't he look so dashing in his Penguin tuxedo? He is so proud of his penguin flapper wings bow tie that we can hardly take the costume off of him without a full fledged penguin fit. He prances, or should I say, waddles around the house and stops at every mirror to check out his black and white costume.Now the billed hat is a different story, he'd rather leave that cumbersome bother at home.


My neighbor Trina and I headed up the cookie decorating station. The kids made spooky oreo spider treats. While mommy worked, the boys had a big time touring all the sights. Poor Miller was too small to join the bigger boys in the Thomas the Train jumpy castle. He thought he'd keep trying to squeeze his fat penguin body through the entrance to the train...poor buddy! Miller did manage to entertain himself with the Ping Pong pumpkin toss with his new friend Wonder Woman. He also loved helping dadda in the bean bag toss. He laughed everytime Landon made it through the Jack-o-lantern. Mr. Chris entertained us all with his enormous bubble blowing gadget. We wrapped up the festival playing and sliding on the playscape. What a fun afternoon as a family!

18 Month Portraits & Stats

The fabulous Heather Dahlby of HD portraits graced us with her talent & skill the first weekend in October for Miller's 18 month portraits. We met up at Barrington Hall in Roswell for our mini session and even managed to squeeze in a wardrobe change to get a few holiday shots in summer like weather. Heather worked well with our on the run ,rock throwing, grass stained, stick his tongue out, kind of toddler. Miller just thought we were on a playdate in the gardens enjoying all the grounds had to offer. Here's a preview. Look.... there's a smile in mid launch to find a rock!



Today we went for Miller's 18 month check up (a little late I know). Miller was so calm and sedate in the waiting room. He even sat still in the chair while I filled out his paperwork. We were called back within minutes and assigned the car & truck room. You'd have thought we were in Disney Land. Miller was so excited with all the room decor that he kept pacing back and forth across the cold tile floor to look at every picture. I was very interested to see how our growing boy weighed in. I must say that I've noticed how he's slimming down and growing taller. His height was 33 inches and he weighed in at 26.12 pounds. Both stats are in the 75% except for that big head of his. Miller's head circumference continues to measure in the greater than 95% range. I just pray that his 18 month costume hat will fit over that noggin of his:)
Dr.Gold prescribed Miller an antiobiotic for excess fluid on his ear. Who would have known? He has been sticking his fingers in his ear,but I just thought it was a little game. Maybe this is the reason Miller was SO calm at the appointment. Poor baby!

My Take Home Chef

I thought I should beef up the posts and add some interest to our family other than our beloved Miller. I don't think I give Landon enough props for all the hard work he does around here, especially in the kitchen. We often joke that we "job share" cooking. He's very flattering when he says that we share it 40/60...it's more like 70% Landon to my humble contribution of 30%.

Tonight fell into the 70% category. Landon just so happened to whip up a fabulous fall Pumpkin with Shrimp & Lime soup. He doesn't take the shortcuts like mia the lazy chef. He went throught the whole hoop-la of carving the pumpkin and getting out the meat. I must say that all your efforts paid off tonight and even Miller gave the gourmet soup his stamp of approval with a rousing bravo of "Mmm!" & "more". We're so blessed to have you as our own "Take Home Chef". What ever would I do without your cooking?

Pumpkin Soup with Shrimp and Lime:
6 cups peeled pumpkin, cut into cubes
3 leeks, white part only, cleaned and chopped
4 cups vegtable stock
1 t salt
1/4 t freshly ground pepper
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 c whipping cream
8 oz. cooked shrimp
6 cherry tomatoes (for garnish)
2T pumpkin seeds (garnish)
Finely chopped cilantro (garnish)

In slow cooker, combine pumpkin, leeks,stock, salt& pepper. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hrs until pumpkin is tender.
Strain vegtables, reserving stock. In a blender or food processor, puree' veggies with 1 cup reserved stock until smooth.
If serving hot, return soup to slow cooker and add remaining stock,lime zest and juice,cayenne, cream, and shrimp. Cook on high for 20 minutes until shrimp is heated through.
When ready to serve, ladle soup into individual bowls and add garnish for final touch.
Viola!

Taken From:
The 150 Best Slow Cooker Recipes by Judith Finlayson

Blog Tag

Heather Dahlby has tagged me! I'm so excited as this is my very first game of blog tagging!

5 random things about me:-A pet peeve of mine is when people lick their saucy fingers. I can't stand it. It makes me cringe inside.

- Landon thinks it's crazy that I love yard work.... like pulling weeds, laying pine straw, planting & watering. Our next door neighbor commented once, "What's your wife doing pulling all those weeds?" Almost to say, that's YOUR job.
* Correction: This is not to say Landon isn't right out there with me edging, pulling and mowing!!
-I clip coupons and like to feel thrifty, but then I forget to send them with Landon when he grocery shops!

- Closet, New Kids on the Block fan...The countdown for the reunion concert is only 8 days away. I'm so excited that I go to sleep humming "The Right Stuff".

-I accidentally threw away Miller's new saddle shoes last week!! Still getting over that sad, sad day.

And, now I tag Mandy, Terra, and Kelli R.

Holding Down the Fort

Omi and Grandpa joined us for a wonderful fall weekend in Atlanta. Landon enjoyed having company as he had daddy duty all day Saturday. Miller just thrived on all the extra helpings of attention poured out all over him. On a tour of the neighborhood, Miller showed off his new word "pumpy" while admiring and pointing to all of the colorful Halloween displays. There's just so much to look at on our street now! Miller also showed Omi and Grandpa his member benefits from the "Cookie Club" at Publix. Too bad Landon didn't have our card to get another punch. One of these days we'll have enough punches to redeem our prize.
After church on Sunday, We all enjoyed brunch at J. Christophers. On the way, we fed Miller a quick snack of cheerios. Omi was modeling please and thank you's. It was too cute when Miller joined in with "peez" and "ti-too". Hopefully with more practice, he'll master these new polite gestures.
As we gathered around the table, we refreshed Miller's memory of Omi and Grandpa's names. He's working on Omi which comes out as "Omi" & sometimes "MiMi". Grandpa Fokens comes out as "PaPa" so far. It will be interesting to see how their names evolve with time.
Thanks for visiting us Omi and Grandpa. We'll keep practicing your names with pictures!

Bridal Shower in the "Ham"!

My mom and I loaded up the car this morning with all kinds of shower essentials and journeyed south to Birmingham to help host a bridal shower for my sorority sister and good friend Melissa. The shower was at Terra's house. The decorations and hot pink & brown color scheme turned out fantastic. Terra showed that she's the hostess with the mostess, pulling off cleaning and setting everything up with twin boys in the oven!


How wonderful it is to be able to participate in such a wonderful season of life! It was Melissa's very first shower. And, oh I could just feel her excitement and reflect on such wonderful shower memories of my own. You just can't help but feel love from all your friends that go back 12 years already. Friends that travel from far away to help celebrate in your moment....yes, Rebecca traveled from Oregon with her baby bump! Speaking of bumps, something's in the water. Tis the season of weddings and babies. It was a reunion of rich friendships that's for sure. You scan the room and all 15 girls share a history that's close like family, and then you remember just how geographically distant everyone actually is!!
Now bride to be Melissa has hosted some fabulos-o showers in her day, so there was some pressure to lead a game up to her ah-humm... par, if you will. Anna Mac pulled it all off with spunk as we conducted our own interview with the groom before the shower. Melissa proceeded to show us how well she knew her groom. I must add, that she aced the test with flying colors and has been approved to visit the chapel in February.
Congratulations! We're counting down the days to your wedded bliss. We couldn't be happier with your groom...you make the perfect pair!

Mr. "Words"worth

Woah...I've heard that 18 months ushers in many new words, but didn't expect so many different words only 2 weeks into this fun talking stage. It's like a light bulb has gone off and Miller is a little spongue absorbing all that we say. Or, maybe it's that I can really begin to understand more of what Miller says. The nonsense talk is becoming more clear!
It helps that Miller is around his gal pal Caroline (21 months) at Miss Karens. She's a fast talker..typical verbal girly, girl. We credit Miller's new phrase ,"Mommy, be back!" to Caroline's teaching. When I picked up Miller today from his fun morning with Miss Karen she said,"He's becoming quite the TALKER!!"
Here's just a sample of Mr. "Words" worth's new words:
"spoon", "choo-choo","apple", "cookie","nana"-banana,"juice","pumpy"-pumpkin, "leaf", "worm", "bunny","butter"-butterfly, "bee","hoo-hoo"-owl,"see the fish","house","hat", "boon"-balloon,"pane"-airplane, "no"-finger pointed to nose, "mou"-mouth, "head", "tee"-teeth.
Miller now gives us an emphatic "no!" with a side push to the object he doesn't want!!
My mom commented that I should be writing these all down to remember. This post is for you grandmama!

Pumpkin Patch Playing Pals

Andrew, Griffin & Miller looking at the turkeys!
"Caution, they bite!"

Ansley, Griffin & Miller exploring the pumpkins


Miller and I met some friends from our care group at Berry Patch Farms this afternoon. A fun time was had by all the toddlers playing in a sea of orange pumpkins. My, has our lil pumpkin grown since pictures at the patch last October. Too bad Miller's pumpkin hat beanie won't stretch over his growing noggin.(Believe me, I tried :)

Berkley & Miller hunting for the perfect sized pumpkin

Miller enjoyed the sights and smells of the turkeys, pigs and goats. The "viewing zoo" was fun for our little guy. Something about a sign that reads "Caution, Animals Bite" turns a petting zoo into a looking zoo. Of course, he loved the "truck", tractor hay ride out to the patch. It was a party wagon with all his pals.
Last year, all the kiddos just sat up at the patch. What a difference a year makes! These pumpkin playing tots were all over the place barely pausing to take pictures. Miller ran up to the patch proclaiming "ball, ball"! He was in heaven thinking orange plastic balls were waiting all just for him to throw. He quickly found out that they were too heavy to lift, but he did find one just his size. Oh, what an adventure at the patch!

I have a feeling we'll be back to the Pumpkin Patch later in the month with Landon to pick out our most perfect pumpkin to grace our front door. I'm sure the weather will be cool enough then to enjoy the hot cider!