Halloween Birthday Party, Hayrides, and Baby Showers

Dear Abigail, 

This past weekend we headed to Mimi's house for a jammed packed weekend full of fun. We picked Daddy up at work on Friday right after you got out of school and headed straight that way.  Our first does of fun involved a Halloween birthday party for James Welton.  It was your first time to get to wear your costume and Mommy, I mean, you, were super excited.  This year for Halloween, you are a witch!!!  I have to say, it's the cutest witch I've ever seen, if there is such a thing.  Miss Jamie had the house in complete Halloween decor for the party and guess who was there???

A clown!  Nah, that's just Clara Lee dressed up as a clown!!  She was silly, indeed.

Both of you were! And the birthday boy was Luigi (with Jack being Mario and Miss Jamie being the Princess, of course!).

You had tons of fun at the birthday party hiding under the bed, playing with Nacho, eating lots of yummy cake, but we eventually headed to Mimi's house for bed.  The next morning, Mommy, Ash-ash, Mimi, Lynnie and Emily ran the Race for the Cure and we had to get up REALLY early, but it was all worth it, especially when I got to write Nona's name!

While Mommy was winning, I mean running the race, you apparently were back home having a tea party with Pic-pic.  I text Daddy "what are y'all doing" and his response was "Abs is having a tea party with Pic-pic and Kate's asleep."  When we got back from the race, Pic-pic was walking around with you on his shoulders.  I don't think it's too crazy to say that you and Pic-pic get along just fine and dandy!  

Also, upon arriving back from the race, Ash-ash and you convinced me to let you go with her to see Clara Lee at her house.  I thought you needed a nap because we had a big night ahead of us, but decided to be the nice mom and let you go.  For the record, I regretted this decision about 3 times later that night, but anyway... 

So you went with Ash-ash and surprised Clara Lee!  And apparently you gave a dog a bath, or so that's what you told me the other night when you helped me give Kate a bath.  Your exact words were "Hey, we did this to a dog at Ash-ash's house yesterday!" as you were scrubbing Kate's head!  I think you helped Miss Jamie give her dog a bath, but nonetheless, a dog was bathed.  So that was fun.  And then eventually, you did rest, not nap, but then the real fun happened!!  The Wait's had their (or what Mommy thinks should become their) annual hayride!  

An attempt to get Mimi with the kiddos!

If you cannot tell from the 2 million pictures, it was COLD!!  You and the other kiddos didn't seem to mind, and to be honest, Mommy didn't either.  We all had a blast with singing and telling lots of knock knock jokes.  Uncle Bub, John Michael, and Em were there along with Lynnie and your BFF Sarah and the Billings joined us - so extra tons of fun!!!
After the hayride there was some tree climbing...

And hay bale jumping (and still tree climbing for those who refuse to not climb...)

And then we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows!!!

You were a wee bit scared of the fire (shocker!) so Ash-ash and Paw-paw (oh, yeah, Paw-paw and Mammaw came out for the bonfire too!) helped you out with your dogs and mallows :) After dinner and dessert, you kiddos played like there was no tomorrow, inside, outside, in the barn, in the dog house, in the playroom, in CL's room, everywhere!  There were a couple times when a nap would have come in handy, or, well, when a nap might have prevented you falling to the ground crying, but overall, a great night of fun.  One of my favorite moments was when you came out crying (no, not that part) and someone was saying Sammy pushed you.  We got you, CL and Anna Beth together with Sammy and asked what happened and Sammy explained if very well (with the cutest country accent) "This is what happened.  The girls were in her room (pointing at CL) changing their clothes and they wouldn't let me in.  So I pushed the door in.  And then she (pointing at you) pushed me out.  So then I went in and got in a fight with them."  And that was it.  That was the story.  At the end of it, everyone apologized and promised not to shove doors or go in while girls were changing, but man alive it was all I could do to not laugh!!
Mommy let you spend the night, which I'm just not even going to think about what time you actually fell asleep, but you did sleep late the next morning, so that's good.
The next day, we had a family baby shower lunch at the McCormick's for Katie.  She's having a baby in December, a little girl, who I know will be as beautiful as her mommy AND her daddy!  Anyway... We got all prettied up for the shower and Mimi grabbed a few pictures of you and Sister before we headed that way...  

You two sure are beautiful...

The shower was tons of fun with Bebe, Robert Hale and even Sam and Jarrod!  Bebe did a great job of taking care of Kate while Mommy chit-chatted and you did a great job of fitting right on in with those boys, jumping on backs, playing with them on the computer, eating cupcakes, you know - boy stuff :)

You had a hard time grasping the 'shower' part and asked if her baby was going to have pink chocolate on it like Clara Lee did when she was born.  Yeah, I didn't know what you were talking about either.  I soon learned that you looked at pictures of Clara Lee when she was first born, and saw the blood/other gross stuff, I mean saw that beautiful, miracle stuff all over her, not pink chocolate.  

After the shower, we gathered our things at Mimi's and headed back to the hood.  You were asleep before we could hit the interstate and because we got such a late start getting back on the road, we had to eat dinner in the car.  Well, had is used loosely.  Mommy said to give you both a banana till we got home, but Daddy said he was hungry and wanted the 'gas station fried catfish' ( I do not lie...) so you ate a gas station corn dog.  Again, I do not lie.  You thought it was the greatest thing ever.  Mommy decided to give Kate the banana and ate a bowl of cereal when we got home :)

Lots of fun things, all weekend long.  And lots of unhealthy things to eat, now that I write about it.... Oh well, we'll eat healthy this week, minus that whole Halloween day and all!!

Love you!!! 

First Field Trip

Dear Abigail,

You went on your first field trip with school!  You were so excited, too, especially when I explained that a field trip is when you go somewhere fun with all your friends from school.  You kept asking "Is today when I go on a trip with all my school friends?"  Mommy found out that Kate could go, too, but I would have to hold her the entire time (no strollers allowed), so Daddy stayed home from work and watch your sister while Mommy and you went on a trip!  Where did we go, you ask?  Why to Gentry's Farm.  Yes, this is your third time this year, but what a different experience it is on a field trip.  First off, Mr. Gentry himself takes 3 wagon full of kiddos to a private pumpkin patch that is not on the normal weekend tour.  Then he gives a lovely talk on where pumpkins come from and all kinds of good information about farming.  You and Gracie listened really well during his talk...

 Mr. Gentry continued to tell us that we got to pick a pumpkin right from the vine, any pumpkin we wanted, and even Mommy got to pick one!  You were a little picky and passed on 2 or 3 before you made your final decision...

 And you even helped Mommy pick her pumpkin out.  The adults got to get a big one if we wanted, and I did!

It was just lovely fall weather and we learned about how flowers are on the vines of pumpkins and got to see little baby ones that were still green instead of orange!   

While the pumpkins were pretty sweet, I am positive the highlight of the field trip to you was getting to spend the entire time with Chloe.  That morning when we all met at the farm, you immediately ran up to Chloe and started hopping around, being your typical silly self.  Chloe clearly has to wake up, warm up, get the blood flowing because she just kind of stared at you for a bit.  Her daddy even said, and I quote "Does she always have this much energy?"  Yes, the answer is yes.  But it is maximized when Chloe is around.  Thankfully by the time Chloe picked her pumpkin, she was ready to be silly with you, and that just means you two were inseparable... 

 After we picked pumpkins, we got a tour of the farm, counting the baby cows, 21, I believe, and then continuing on the wagon ride to the other part of the farm.  We got to go through the water to get there! It was very exciting!  We hopped off and enjoyed the play area of the farm.  Sadly, you and Chloe had to split up, she had to go to her class, and you to yours...

 But, you met back up on the hay maze!!!

 We continued on to look at the turkeys and chickens and roosters in the cage.  You kiddos did such a good job listening to the farmer and keeping your hands from getting pecked off...

 As usual, you loved playing in the wheat and corn and Mommy learned a couple things in the process. Did you know that some corn does not pop while others does.  So you have to have specific 'popping' corn to have popcorn.  Crazy, huh...
Your class took a break to get a good picture in...

 And off to the next barn we went where you got lots more playing time in!

 With Chloe right by your side...

 I have to say, your first field trip was pretty much perfect with the weather, the place and the people!  You had a blast and Mommy was happy to be right beside you!  So many more pretty girl, so many more!!!

Yep, Again

Dear Abigail,

Nona and Papa were in town visiting Ellie and Christopher, so we decided to meet them at our favorite place, the zoo!  I think the animals are starting to recognize us because the monkeys were making quite the ruckus when we walked up.  I think they were happy to see us.  And Mr. Ray swam right up to your nose to give you a kiss!

I'm pretty sure even the animals on the carousel gave a little grin when we walked up...

The day was beautiful, even a bit too warm, and while we did see a few animals, you and Ellie were set on playing on the playground!  I think Nona worried a little more than Mom because she kept trying to find you.  That place is so big, but I had no worries, you know it by heart.  And as usual, loved the swings!

In the past, you have not been a fan of the big 'ropes course' and never would go more than 2 feet, but this day, you decided to take the challenge, and Ellie, of course, followed.  As expected, you climbed with great ease.  Ellie, however, did not, and ended up on my back up the rope course.  It wasn't pretty. 

After that, we decided we needed to head back to the house because I knew I had two very tired girls on my hands...

Your momma's never wrong - never!
Love you.