Happy Halloween!

Well, we had a great 1st Halloween with Bennett. She was a fish, and a mighty cute one if I must say so myself. After passing out a little candy at our home, we packed up the car and headed over to visit with Mimi and Papa and Uncle Dan, and then onto Auntie Michelle and Uncle Louie's. We concluded the evening at our friend Max's house for an adult beverage.







Bennett was quite the sport with her Halloween costume, but after riding in the car and stroller in it and posing for several pictures....she decided that she had had enough. So we put her in "normal" clothes, and then she passed out from exhaustion.




With cousin, John Michael



Our sleeping angel

Welcome Nene!

Since Steve went hunting for a long weekend with my father, brother, his brother, and several friends of all of them in South Dakota...I convinced my mother to come down to visit her grandchildren. She flew in Wednesday night, and the guys flew out Thursday morning. She stayed with Shannon and Christian the first couple nights, and then came to our house Friday for the weekend.


It was beautiful weather all weekend....cool and sunny. And what made it even better...Bennett slept until 9am both days of the weekend! Yes, you heard me correctly...9am!! It was just perfect because I slept in until then too!! I can't even remember the last time I slept that late, it has certainly been before Bennett came into my life.




Anyway, we got some Christmas shopping done, and she got plenty of time to love on her grandchildren...so all in all, it was a successful weekend.




Though this was the longest period of time that Steve spent away from his little girl, he talked to her on the phone everyday. In addition, he had a great time on his first big hunting trip. He went to a private place outside of Mitchell, South Dakota, and had luck killing lots of innocent little pheasants.

The Contagious Laugh

Happy Birthday Papa!

Today, Papa turned 78 years young! Happy Birthday!! The whole family, including cousins Cathy & Lisa and both of their families, got together on Sunday to celebrate his big day. We all enjoyed a big Lebanese feast that Mimi prepared, and boy was it delicious.

Abby, all of 6 years, was anxious to help watch Bennett. In fact, she and Uncle Dan took Bennett for a walk when she got a little fussy (the trick to mellowing her since she loves to be outside). Bennett got so relaxed, she fell asleep. I think we have a babysitter in the making!

Fall is Here!

Yippee!! Today was a gorgeous crisp Fall morning! So much so, that we put a new stocking cap on Bennett for our walk this morning to keep her toasty. A client of mine knitted her this cute little cap that fits her just perfectly.

As always she was cheerful and excited for this little adventure (as was her doggie, Spencer).

Date Day!

Today, Steve and I got up early and prepared for our road trip to Tuscaloosa. We were excited since it was a cool 65 degrees, and we had secured Ms. Shirley for the day to watch Bennett. We hit the road at 8:30 and had smooth sailing for most of the ride. However, when we were about 15 minutes outside T-town we started the bumper-to-bumper traffic. Today was a BIG game for Alabama, they were playing arch rival Tennessee. Alabama was picked to win by 1 point, but there were plenty of people (including us) who thought TN was going to walk away with the win. So, we had to prepare ourselves for the early kick by having a couple of mimosas before the game. We then walked over to the stadium and got settled. Myra & Big Lou have phenomenal seats (on the 45 yd line, about 20 rows up), but the day games don't offer any relief with the sun. So, though it was still on the cooler side, when you pack 92,000 people into a stadium and have the sun beating down on them....it gets warm. Needless to say, we all walked out of there with a sunburn. Who would have thought this late in the season we could still get a tan!

The game started off great, and ended even better...with AL beating the tar out of TN! It was a lot of fun, yes, even I can admit it. About midway into the 4th quarter, Tennessee fans started walking out of the stadium, upset that they were obviously going to lose. Alabama (who last year lost all of their energy by the 4th quarter) just kept getting better today. The crowd was going bananas, and I think they fed off of the excitement. At the end of the game, the entire stadium (except the TN fans and me, since I didn't know the words) sang "Rammer Jammer."
I haven't seen Steve so happy after a game since I've known him!

Since the TN and Birmingham folks all need to take the same route home, we went back to the tailgate to let traffic die down. After an hour and half, we thought it was safe, but it was still pretty bad. Oh well...Steve drove and I took a short nap. See I had to get some zzz's in somewhere since I didn't doze off once during the game. Yes, you heard me correctly....I managed to stay awake for the WHOLE game for my first time! Steve was very proud of me, because not only was I awake, but I cheered and paid attention. Maybe I'll begin to like football after all........nahhhhh.

When we pulled into the driveway, we were greeted by a very excited dog, and a sleeping baby, that I had to wake up and kiss. Overall, it was a great day!