Happy Retirement Papa!

Today was Papa's LAST DAY of work and he will officially be retired. I know he is so excited and I can't blame him. After all those years he deserves a break so Papa enjoy! I know he already has a couple hunting trips planned and a two and half month vacation in Hilton Head already scheduled so I don't think this retired life is going to be to hard for him. Well, today we went to see him to bring him a card and gift so I was tell the kids on the way give Papa his gift when we get there and tell him "happy retirement" and Blakely said "what is retirement?" and I said well Papa is old and he has worked a loooooong time and now it is time for him to quite and just enjoying doing what he wants like his hobbies like hunting and hanging out with you guys.... then after a few quite moments Blakely says "Is that what the doctor says he has to do?" It was SO funny! Well, Happy Retirement Dad I hope you enjoy it - you deserve it just don't drive Mom to crazy!

Pre-K Halloween Party

Yesterday I got to attend the kids Pre-K Halloween Party. I was so excited I was able to attend (Thank you Chapel Hill Administration)! When I got to their classroom they were on the rug coloring a candy corn and they didn't see me come it and I really enjoyed that. It was fun to just watch them without them knowing I was there. I was glad to see that they were behaving and doing well. They were coloring a candy corn which was really cute - they had the kids get their orange crayon and color the bottom and then they had to wait for their friends to finish and they were to get a yellow crayon and color the next section and so on well my little miss perfectionist daughter Blakely was taking forever to make sure she got every little part and didn't go out of the lines that she was taking fooooooorever so I heard the teacher say maybe your mommy has a yellow crayon at home and you can finish there because she was taking so long and her friends were starting to get restless. It was really cute - wonder where she gets that from??? Drew on the other hand is not much into coloring so he did the minimum required and was ready to move on. So funny how Twins can be SOOOO different! Eventually they realized I was there and it was so cute Drew looked over with the cutest little grin and gave me a little shy wave - it was so sweet, it just made my day! After they finished the candy corns they headed to the table for the Halloween Lunch. They were ALL so excited about this and it was so fun to be able to attend and be a part of this special day with them. They were excited for me to be there and all I kept thinking is not much longer and they will be embarrassed of me and not want me there so I enjoyed every moment of it. They had a special lunch and a really cool drink complete with worms and all. It was great and after being in that class for that short amount of time I don't know how those teachers do it. They must have lots and lots of patience because I would go CRAZY. They never stop talking and asking questions. I guess that is how you learn but I am so glad I teacher high school where you can just tell them to "sit down and shut up" - Just kidding but I still don't know how they do it. Anyway - Thanks Sikes Pre-K for another great event. The kids really enjoyed it and I really appreciate it and what all you are doing for my kiddos.

Monster Mash

For the kiddos class for Halloween I made these little monsters. I saw them on my new favorite website - Pinterest - and I just had to make them so I did. I know crazy - Phillip tells me all the time but I just thought they were so cute and not to hard so to work I went. They really were easy to make but of course time consuming when you have to make 30 of them. As you can see in the pic the mouth is a little pocket so in the pocket we put a piece of candy and a little note that said "Happy Halloween to someone that is "monsterously" fun to be around! Love, Blakely & Drew" They were so excited to give them to their friends. They kept going through them and saying this one is for so and so and this is for so and so - it was so cute! So I may be that crazy mom for just not worrying about it and not sending in anything or for not just getting some candy and sending it in but I like to do it even if I do act a little crazy and stressed from time to time and really when you think about it how much longer are they going to want me to make treats for their class so CRAZY mom I will be! I hope all the kiddos love them - they were fun to make!

DECA Fall Leadership Conference

Last Thursday and Friday I took six girls to the DECA Fall Leadership Conference which was held at the Crowne Plaza Ravina across the street from Perimeter Mall. We had a great time and hopefully they learned a little along the way. We registered and then we headed to the mall for lunch and a little shopping, following that we headed over to the conference for the students to take the Statesmen Test and to get ready for the Opening Session. Following the opening session they had a dance which was a lot of fun and then we finally got to head to bed at about midnight or later. The next morning we had to be up and ready to go at 7:30. Friday was full of different breakout sessions which I hope the students got a great deal out of. I had advisor sessions to attend and they were pretty good, with good speakers and good information. After the breakout sessions they had the closing session and one of my students Gabby L. was recognized for her great score on the Statesmen Exam. This was a great event with some great students. It is nice to see that with all the negative you hear about youth today that there still are good, respectful students still out there and I wish these girls the best of luck in the future and I hope the best for them.

Halloween at the Church

Last Wednesday night we celebrated Halloween at church. The kids has a GREAT time. First they had a parade around the Jefford's Center so that all the little cuties could show off their adorable costumes. It was so cute - each one so cute and creative! Great jobs Mom and Dad! After the parade all the kiddos and their families headed out to the back parking lot for a lot of fun. They had tons and tons of games and activities for the kids to do and they loved it. The games where great because they were geared for their age group which was wonderful and the kids loved it and went from game to game. They also had food like cotton candy, popcorn, drinks, etc... They also had a station where you could decorate cookies and one where you could do arts and crafts of course Blakely LOVED that. Drew's favorite was the game where he got to shoot a Nerf bow 'n arrow. He did great and actually hit the bulls eye. Guess what he wants for Christmas now??? Anyway it was a great night the kids had a great time, the weather was perfect, and they got to spend time with their cousins which they always love. As you can see from the pictures Maya came to take part in all the festivities and she loved it as well. She actually played a couple of games and did great but I think her favorite part was the cotton candy! As we were leaving we ran into Hadley who used to be in the Twins class at Seeds of Faith and they were so excited to see her since we don't go to Seeds of Faith any more. She is such a sweet girl with such a sweet family and I am so glad we ran into them and got to get a pic with her. It was a GREAT night thanks First Presbyterian another well done event. Thanks for all you do for the kids.

Bonfire Time

Quinn and Jim had us over last weekend for a bonfire. The kids were so excited. ALL day they asked is it time to go now, is it time to go now??? Finally when we said YES! They were so excited. They decided they wanted to dress up like it was a Halloween party so we did - Blakely decided to dress up like a baby so she could match Baby Maya and Drew went has a hunter. His Papa will sure be proud! Quinn had everything really nice we had chili with all the fixins' and smores! It was a lot of fun and the kiddos LOVED the smores. It was the first time they had ever had them and I think I lost count on how many they had - major sugar overload. Maya wasn't quite sure about the whole fire thing - I think she just can't figure this crazy family out! Thanks for having us Quinn we had a GREAT time!

My Little Photographer!

Blakely has been begging to use the camera so the other day Grandma gave in and let her give it a try and here our some of her pics. She actually didn't do to bad for her first time. She was SO proud of her self - way to go Blakely!