Halloween

Todd Gurley, Ninja and VSCO girl

Every year as the children get older, we wonder what will change with the various holidays.  This Halloween, Bennett and Preston made their own plans to trick or treat with their own friends, and Steve and I had Walker all by himself.  It was going to be a cold night, so we all had to layer up.  I was able to get them all together that afternoon for a quick visit to Mimi and Papa's, and then we all went our separate ways.

Bennett was a VSCO girl (based on a app, she is somewhat grungy with Birkenstocks with socks, leggings, oversized sweatshirts, carried her hydroflask and wore lots of scrunchies on her wrists and hair).  She went out with friend, Ada McElroy around the neighborhood and then back to her house to trade candy with her siblings.

Preston was once again an athlete.  He just chooses a football jersey from his closet and pairs it with football pants (easy peasy).  He went out with two friends, Jackson Paulovich and Ty Mayo.  They all went old school and carried pillow cases, and my gosh....Preston just about filled his up!  He had a ball roaming the streets by the park, and was most excited about getting 5 full sized candy bars.

And then there was Walker....our little ninja.  We hit the Mayfair area this year, since it was so cold so we could be closer to home.  We were just getting started when we ran into one of his classmates.  So we trick or treated with him and his father most of the night.  After they peeled off, we hit one last street on our way home.  Walker's pumpkin was overflowing and we were all cold, so we called it.

Another fun night, that led to A LOT of candy!!

Sock Hop at SCE

Kindergarten is so much more fun than when I was a child.  For starters, the kindergarteners now are more advanced than when Steve and I were children.  I remember learning the letters of the alphabet, with different blow-up letters each week.  Nowadays, the children enter kindergarten knowing their letters, some sight words and number skills, some can even read!

Some of kids can already count, but they are teaching those that can't how to count to 100.  Walker can count by 5's, 10's and now 1's to 100.
He also knows all of his letters, their sounds, and about 30 sight words (3 months into the year).

But the highlight to kindergarten is all of the fun stuff, like the sock hop which celebrates the 50th day of school!  Walker was so excited, mainly for milkshakes, but I am proud of him for allowing me to do his hair differently than the typical combover he rocks proudly.

The boys in Walker's class

Cutest 50s boy around!

His gel didn't hold his comb back hair all day! :)

He was nervous what others would think, but was genuinely happy when he got to school and saw classmates dressed similarly to him.  Love my type A little man, and can't wait to see how the rest of this year pans out.

Homewood Witches Ride

Loved my red, white and blue wig!

This year I participated in the 6th annual Homewood Witches Ride with a group of friends.  We chose "Patriotic Witches" as our theme.  We had the Statue of Liberty, an American Flag, and the rest of us were just dressed in red, white and blue.  Like in years past, we hired a makeup artist to do our eye makeup, while the rest of us snacked and had a beverage or two.  We lined up at the beginning, so we could minimize our chances of wrecking with the crowds.  The added benefit of being at the start, is that we finish first so we can get a table at Little Donkey.

As always, I am so proud of friend, Janie Mayer, for her efforts of creating, planning and participating in this wonderful fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.  And cheers to our community for always coming out to support it.  I know our children LOVE the event.  They get to see all of the moms dressed up, riding bikes and they get candy.

Marianne Siegel

Loved seeing Maria - disco witch!

Lauren Tanner and Marianne Siegel

Lauren, Marianne and Janie Mayer

The BIG 90th Celebration!

Turning 90 isn't something that most people get to do, especially gracefully.  So when Steve's father approached his 90th birthday, we knew we needed to celebrate him!  Papa didn't want a big party, so Dan and Myra made plans to have all of the family up for a very nice dinner at The Club.  We had drinks, appetizers, ate dinner and sang happy birthday over a beautiful (and delicious) birthday cake!  It was a great and LATE evening, even on a school night.

The kids loved dressing up for the night!

Walker was pooped and couldn't make it all night.

A Lesson on Faithfulness

A little history.....we have had a major chipmunk problem in our backyard and it is getting worse. I'm convinced they are telling all of their buddies that our yard is the best place to hide out. In fact, I'm afraid our house is going to sink we have so many holes back there! So the problem has gotten so bad, that I have been telling Steve for the past month that we MAYBE need to consider getting a cat to help us out (and Pres and I are allergic, and I really don't even like cats).

Then about a week ago, Bennett and I started a lucky streak (and we NEVER win anything)! I won a shop save card, then a necklace and earrings, and Bennett won a $100 from a drawing at school! THEN....the kids rescued a kitten on Friday. What the what!?! Steve was quick to point out how our luck had turned, and that we now were getting the kitty that we had been thinking about getting.

Day 1

That night, the kids named it, fed it, bathed it with a wet toothbrush and loved on it for hours. "Snickers" was very skittish, but I told the kids they had to leave it outside in a borrowed kennel with the door open with food and water. If she was there the next morning, it was meant to be. She wasn't. ☹️

Saturday, no signs of Snickers. Sunday, no signs of Snickers. But Monday night Steve and Bennett caught her eating the food out of the bowl! However, when Bennett opened the door to replenish it, she took off! 😫 They tried to locate her again, but they weren't successful. I was at a meeting when all of this went down, but I pulled in and they told me all about it. We were optimistic since she returned for food and was obviously staying close. Maybe the next day...

hiding underneath one of 100s of cars in the dealership

Tuesday morning, I woke up early and quickly took off for Royal Automotive to get my car serviced. When they opened the hood, the kitten jumped out, scaring the serviceman half to death! It quickly ran out to their huge parking lot with 100's of cars. I tried to locate her, along with several nice service people, but no luck. When I called home to tell Steve and Bennett that Snickers had crawled up in my engine area and had miraculously made it to Hoover without dying or losing a limb in a belt, they were heartbroken. Bennett went to school crying. 😭

Being the good Daddy that he is, Steve drove out to Royal to look for the cat that morning, and again later that night with Bennett. He even emailed the manager pictures and begged him to alert us if they saw her. Steve kept telling Bennett to pray and keep the faith, but I must admit, I had lost it and was heartbroken for our girl.

Today, Steve left for a work trip and I was just settling in to work when I got a phone call from the dealership. Brandon, the gentleman who helped me yesterday asked me if we had found the cat. When I told him no, he said he had good news - they had found her and asked me to hurry up!

Snickers in Beck's kennel, with her makeshift litter box chowing down.

So, I rushed out there and called Steve on the way. We were shocked. God really does work in mysterious ways. When I got there, the good folks there (about 5 of them) helped me tempt her with food and capture her.

Once we got back to our house, I put her in Beck's kennel with some food (which she gobbled down), water, and a few towels. She curled up and went to sleep. Meanwhile I set an appointment with our vet.  I wanted to rule out any issues before I reintroduced Bennett to her. Thankfully she is super healthy.

Snickers is approximately 7-8 weeks old, 1.8 lbs and a beautiful Calico kitten. After a clean bill of health, I checked Bennett out of school to surprise her. Tears of joy this time! 😍 We hit the pet store and Snickers is now all settled in her own kennel, with her new soft bed, and eating her new food.  She has become less skittish and is allowing us to hold her.  She is playing with toys and when we let her out in the basement, she explores a little and then come back to us and crawls into our laps.  I'm convinced she is going to get her best night of sleep tonight.

All smiles and so happy with Snickers just chilling in her lap!

All of the kiddos love her, and even me!   Steve absolutely hates that he isn't here to share in the joy.  He has said since the beginning that he thought this cat was meant to be ours.  Certainly we don't think God gave us a kitten.  But wow....what a lesson! 

The past 4-5 days have been rough on Bennett, but this is what faithfulness is. God has a way of listening, even when we don't think he is. I am so incredibly thankful Snickers wasn't hurt during the ride to Hoover, that she survived for another day on her own, and that people saw her and helped us capture her. 

We pray now that our children remember this crazy story, and how we prayed for her safety.  God heard those prayers.  Whatever it takes to get our children believing that God is ALWAYS there, and to be FAITHFUL in all you do!

Snickers will definitely have a good life with us, and will be well-loved. We welcome her to our family, and hope she thrives!

We fell in love with her black nose on day one!

Some happy kiddos with their new pet!

Nene Comes to Birmingham

Friday afternoon, Nene arrived for a much anticipated long weekend visit.  We all met out for dinner, which is always a good time.

Saturday, Nene took our three kids shopping in the morning, and came home with a new puzzle, which they immediately started.  Then that afternoon, we all went to Brian's house to hang out and watch football.  It was a long and fun day!  The kids swam, played, and we snacked on munchies.

Sunday, Steve left early for a work hunting trip, but the kids, Nene and I hit church.  Then we rushed home to eat a quick lunch before heading out to Hoover to watch Lucy during one of her gymnastics meets.  It was our first time watching her perform, and she did great!  She was performing against much older children, but held her own.  We watched her do beam, floor and vault, but missed her favorite....the bars.  Thankfully, Nene stayed and watched her place!

We had to race to the baseball fields for Walker's game, and Nene and Uncle Brian made the last inning.  Walker was thrilled to see them, even if it was just for a short bit.

Nene had originally come in town to watch Lucy on Saturday, and Preston play in a football game Tuesday night, but since he was out due to his collar bone break....we had extra down time.  She did make an effort to have lunch with both Preston and Walker before she returned (which they loved), and then we celebrated Steve's birthday without him at his favorite place drinking his favorite margarita, Taco Mama!!

Fun, but always too short of a visit.  We all will look forward to her trip back down in December.

Happy Birthday Steve!