Kaeley Wins 1st Place in Halloween Coloring Contest

Kaeley Grace Morton has won her first coloring contest! I'm so proud of her! I just happened to be flipping through the Farragut Press paper a couple of weeks ago and they had a Halloween Coloring page that you could submit into a contest. I asked her if she wanted to color it and she did. She did a pretty good job so we submitted it. We got the call yesterday that she won 1st prize in her age group of 4-5 year olds. She's entered 2 other contests and this is the first win! Her picture will be in the Farragut Press next week. Here are a few pictures I took today.

My Little Pumpkins

Today was a beautiful fall day... perfect for the pumpkin patch! Here are a few pictures of the girls. Ella wasn't so cooperative, which is pretty typical, and toward the end, she said she was ready to go home. Then when we were getting in the car, she said "we had FUN at the pumpkin patch!" Go figure! Kaeley had a blast running around checking out all the Halloween and fall decorations. We met up with Jessica and her trio - Miles, Mason, and Anna. Also her sister-in-law, Lee, was there with her trio of Jack, Abigail, and Cole. The kids all had a great time playing and we finished up with lunch at Burger King, which meant more play time on their indoor play area. That's not something I usually give in to, so needless to say, the girls had a blast!

Ella's Kitty Party by Kaeley

I can't tell you how proud my little artist makes me! Kaeley LOVES to draw! And recently has taken a huge interest in coloring. This talent comes from where? Not her mama... or her daddy, I can tell you that much! This is a picture that Kaeley made today and she titled it "Ella's Kitty Party". The detail is rather amazing. Last week we had a small family party with my grandparents and Mimi and Papa. Greg's family couldn't make the trip because Kaeley got sick the day before the party, yada, yada... it was a big mess. Party was delayed a day, but my family was able to make the trip up for a Sunday afternoon party. It was a beautiful fall day, and so for cake, we went out on the back porch. I covered my yucky green round table with a pink table cloth and overlayed it with a white crocheted looking vinyl table cloth for a little girly pizzaz. The cake, of course, did not look as lovely as Kaeley's picture, but it did indeed have 3 candles. We had 4 mylar balloons which matched the plates and napkins, which were silver and purple with a grey kitty on each one. In Kaeley's picture, notice the birthday girl standing beside her cake. Blonde hair and a bow. Minnie Mouse shirt with black leggings (which really are too short), this is EXACTLY what she had on today, and her pink crocs featuring her Minnie and Micky Mouse jibbitz. She even wrote Ella heart Kaeley in yellow, which is currently Ella's favorite magic marker color... why? Probably because she can never find a pink one around here! This was a very sweet sentiment on Kaeley's part. Today was supposed to be Ella's birthday party with a few of her little friends, and we had to cancel (yet again!) this time because Ella was sick last night.


Not a great picture...but "the table".



A few more pictures from the party...

The Sweetest Moments

It's been a REALLY stressful day, but it's ending on a sweet note. I went in to check on Ella and turn her light off, and walked in on the sweetest thing... Recently, I would say within the last week or so, she has started to want her covers. Since the transition from her crib, she's never wanted to be covered up with anything, so that made this moment all the more sweeter! She's covered herself up and Mama Pig! Earlier today I caught her reading to Mama Pig and her new Mama Kitty and baby kittens. It was pretty sweet too! She had them in one chair and she was in the other, "reading" outloud and flipping the pages of her new books "Ballet Kitty" and "I Love You All Day Long", which is about a Pig going to school! She had to take these books to school with her today. She told me that Ms. Jessica read them to her. She thought that was GREAT!

Welcome Ella Beth to the Terrible Threes!

Yes, indeed, it's hard to believe it's already that time, but yesterday, my BABY turned 3! Yes, everyone should stop and blink because that's how fast the time really goes! Happy Birthday Ella Beth! She had a fun filled day, starting with SCHOOL! She of course said she didn't want to go, but she is doing SO much better, and really does have a good time there! Greg and I came just as they were finishing lunch, well, Ella didn't even start lunch until we got there because ... well, who knows why, maybe because she's a girl, and she's 3! Go figure! Anyway, Ella treated her class to her favorite - pink iced, sprinkle cookies! She was thrilled to have me and her daddy there! She even got to skip her nap and go home early with mommy - what a special birthday treat! After school, we had to make a pit stop at Ingles. Or should I say the parking lot of the new Ingles, which is set to have it's grand opening -TOMORROW! Papaw took a quick break to come and give Ella Beth her present. A kind thanks to TV advertising for all the commericals promoting her favorite toy of the moment, which is the Dora Prance & Fly Pegas! She loves it! Yesterday, and today, and hopefully longer. We'll just have to wait to see what's advertised next! We picked Kaeley and Miles up from Kindergarten and then the girls were treated to a special play date all afternoon with their buddy Miles. They all had a great time! We topped off the day with pizza at Mr. Gattis. More party plans are in the works. Family is supposed to be coming to town tomorrow for Ella's birthday party. Unfortunately, Kaeley is sick today. Let's pray for a speedy recovery!

A Wii bit old for video games!?!

I'm not sure where the time is going, but it sure is flying! It seems that now I'm married to a 40 year old. Greg is 5 1/2 years older than me and it's never seemed like a big difference until now! Of course this birthday could not go without celebration! However, anytime you celebrate a significant number like 40, one tends to be a little suspicious of surprises. However - I pulled it off! I literally started planning a couple of months in advance when I emailed his brother, Gil, in Texas to see if he could come to Knoxville for the party. Gil usually just comes home at Christmas, so I expected that he wouldn't be able to come. SURPRISE! He was able to get tickets in the midst of hurricane season, but he couldn't come until the 1st weekend in September, which was a week after Greg's birthday. Actually - PERFECT! Greg didn't suspect a thing! I had Gil email him and tell him he had some time off and was coming home to Manchester to spend time with family and wanted to come to Knoxville for a few days and visit. As most of you already know, my husband is not a social butterfly, so I did keep the party small and only invited family and a few close friends. Gil was able to come the Thursday before the party and visit and he was planning to go back to Manchester on Saturday. He was able to keep Greg out of the house most of Saturday morning so I could get the house clean and food prepared. I also had to keep all of this a secret from my two little helpers, which was very hard! I did tell Kaeley while Gil had Greg out of the house that morning. She was so excited - she knew a secret! I told her she couldn't say a word about it - not even that she knew a secret because her daddy would have caught on to that in a heartbeat! Greg's sister, Ginelle, and her family made the trip with Greg's parents. I was so nervous about the surprise getting out, so once they arrived, and I was getting all the food out (and decorating!) - we yelled "SURPRISE!" He was so shocked! Then friends started arriving after that. Now, on his actual birthday, which was the week before, I had to act as if "this is it" ...so I baked his favorite - carrot cake, and had to go ahead and give him his presents. Another big surprise, which I was so very proud of - a Wii! He's been wanting one for a long time now and they are a bit hard to get your hands on. Not to mention to the fact that Greg is so hard to buy for and finally, I had a great idea of something FUN to get him. So, here again, a few months before the birthday, I began searching. I was out with my friend Mindi having a girls day, and she suggested we run into the Game Stop to see if they had a Wii. They told us that they had just checked and the closest one was 400 miles away. Then they decided to check one more time and low and behold, there was one at their other store, right across the street! Mindi had to pay for it because I couldn't charge it on the credit card as Greg was sure to spot that suspicious transaction at a game store! She also kept it at her house for me so there was so risk of nosey eyes finding it at my house. The title of this post comes from Greg's co-worker who wanted to have a shirt for him made that said "I'm a Wii bit old to be playing video games!" I love it! Age 40 and Greg reclaims his youth!

Now... with all of the stress of pulling off the surprise, there are not a lot a pictures, but here are a few. Ella spent the day napping... she was sick with a cold.