Sunday, October 31, 2010

Trick or Treat!

Happy Halloween!  Our Halloween started Friday night with a costume party at the Cothern home.  We went as Disco Dawleys.  It's always fun visiting with great friends.

We went trick or treating early Saturday night.  Gabe was a dinosaur for the second year in a row.  He was a different type of dinosaur, but we did tell him that he would have to switch to something different next year.  He had fun with Connor, Peyton, and their friend Lane.  They were soldiers who were going to protect the dinosaur. 

Gabe got plenty of candy, and enjoyed trick or treating.  We didn't trick or treat very many houses, though, because it was time for Mr.Power's Pumpkin Party and Gabe was definitely looking forward to that!


Mr. Power's party was really more like a small carnival than a party.  He had three large inflatables that the kids absolutely loved.  I think Gabe spent most of his time there.  In addition to that, there's a candy walk, hayride, disco dancing, and face painting.

I think the adults had as much fun as the kids did.  Everybody brought a dish and we were able to sit around, eat, and laugh while keeping our eyes on the kids.  Most of the adults dressed up as well.  David and I recycled our utensil costumes from the Cothern costume party a few years ago.
All in all, we had a great Halloween weekend which we followed up on Sunday night with Trunk or Treat at church!

Fair Fun

The Mississippi State Fair holds so many fond memories for me.  As a child, I remember the excitement of seeing the rides being put up near the Coliseum.  My father always took me on opening night.  It was just the two of us and  we would have so much fun riding the rides together.  As I got older, those father/daughter opening nights gave way to the teenage years of going with friends and double dates at the fair. 

Today, I can honestly say that the fair still holds the same allure for me, but in a different way.  I love walking down the Midway with David trying to figure out exactly what I want to eat. (I always peruse everything but my choice is always the same: a Pronto pup smothered in mustard) A new addition to my fair "must eats" is a fried snickers bar.  I figure I can indulge once a year on one.  Besides the food, I like to see Gabe's smile when he rides a ride and hear his laughter when he feeds a goat a carrot.



Through the many years of attending the fair, I can say that it seems unchanged to me. (Everything but the prices that is) I know that Circus Maximus will always be there.  The acts may vary a little from year to year, but they are basically the same I have grown up with.  The Trademart with the car show is a standard, as is the 4-H display.  We simply have to purchase our honey there, just as my mother always got her honey straws in my childhood.  The State Fair is truly a walk down memory lane for me.  In a time where everything changes, the fair is a constant.  It is there that I have memories that span seasons of my life, and I love the new memories I add to my storehouse with David and Gabe.


Pumpkin Patch

We were so happy that David's oldest brother, Chuck, and his family were able to come for a visit and go to the pumpkin patch with us.  They live in Columbus, MS, and drove down to spend the day with us.  We really appreciated it, because we remember how hard it can be to travel with a baby.


The Nichols-Boyd Pumpkin Patch has become a Dawley tradition for us every October since we had Gabe.  We always look forward to going every year.  Gabe loved being able to point out everything to his cousin, Hunter.  Tiny Krissi slept through most of the hayride. 


After seeing the zedonk (zebra/donkey mix), the goats, the catfish pond, and the cows, we finally made it to the pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkins.  This always take serious consideration, especially for Gabe.  He insists on finding the perfect pumpkin. Lucky Daddy gets to cart around the pumpkin picks!


The pumpkin patch area has a hay maze for the kids to run through and pumpkin swings to ride on.  Hunter and Gabe had lots of fun running through the maze, playing in the corn sand box, and climbing the haystack tower.  It was a very fun day that we topped off with a yummy dinner from Cock of the Walk.

Soccer

We have had such a busy October!  I truly don't know where the month has gone! 

Gabe has enjoyed playing soccer so much.  He was reluctant to play at first when we discussed the idea, but quickly turned over a new leaf when he realized how much fun it was.  He had a fun season, especially since his friend Braden was on his team. 

Gabe scored his first field goal on a Thursday night.  He immediately ran, full of excitement, right off the field and into my arms.  His smile covered his face and I don't think I will ever forget that look of surprise mixed with joy.  We were both so sad that David was unable to be there that night. He was at a business meeting out of town.  David and I had jokingly laughed beforehand that perhaps Gabe would score his first goal on the one game David would miss.  Wouldn't you know it would happen! Oh, the irony!



Gabe's team wrapped up their season close to the end of October with only one loss.  They played a good season, and Gabe is definitely looking forward to the spring season!

Thursday, September 16, 2010

School Days Take Two






Our beginning theme for this year at UCS was the ocean/beach.  I have had such a fun time decorating for it.  I searched Myrtle Beach shops for an authentic fishing net.  Some of the shells also came from the beach there.




The underwater ceiling was so hard to hang!!  It took seven rolls of blue cellophane to cover the ceiling.  I went from ceiling tile to tile, on a ladder, weaving the cellophane in and out. It took hours!!  After the cellophane was all up, I then went back between the waves and did the same thing with two colors of streamer. Needless to say, I was not ready to hop on a ladder again anytime soon!  The large fish/whales/sharks are each 54 inches in length and were found at one of my favorite stores:  Dollar Tree.










This is my little fella fishing. Note the blue and orange UCS colors. :) The blue plaque above his head says "Fishers of Men". I found the plaque on clearance at a store in Gatlinburg on our trip at the beginning of the summer.







The halls at UCS have all been decorated to go with the beach theme.  The energy level is so high in celebration of the 20th year.  I am so excited to be a part of it!

School Days

It has been forever since we have posted! I have been so busy with the start of school.  It's always a challenge switching gears from the summer time/keeping the house clean/errands to full time work/keeping the house clean/errands. 


Gabe started Kindergarten this year!  We are a month into school and he is absolutely loving it.
I absolutely LOVE being just down the hall from him.  It is truly a highlight of my day to be able to pass him in the hall and give him a hug or to help him open his lunch at lunchtime. 
Sometimes I almost can't believe that he is old enough to be in Kindergarten. Surely it wasn't five years ago that he was a happy, bouncing baby!  Time certainly does fly!  It seems like I just turned around and in an instant that little baby turned into this funny little man who always makes me laugh.  I am so enjoying the young boy he is. He has a strong character, albeit a bit stubborn at times, and he asks me such thought-provoking questions.  My answer many times is, "I don't know, but we'll find out."
As he enters this time in his life, that of "real school", I have found that my prayers for him have increased.  My heart aches for those moments when he will be saddened by the actions of a friend, or hurt when he is not chosen for a game.  I pray that God will give me wisdom during those times to guide him.   Raising a child is such a joy, but it certainly is an awesome responsibility at the same time.  I pray that David and I are doing a good job of being Christian role models for Gabe so that he will one day be a strong Christian man.  My utmost prayer for Gabe is that he will always love the Lord, and walk in His ways.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Myrtle and the Turtle

I have heard many people say that vacationing with family members can be challenging.  I honestly have never felt that way.  We generally take one vacation a year with extended family. On this particular trip to Myrtle Beach, David's parents and siblings were unable to go.  So, we traveled to South Carolina with my brother, sister, parents, and grandmother.    
As I said earlier, I never really felt that vacationing with extended family was challenging...until the turtle.  Like myself, my sister can be a tiny bit headstrong.  When she gets an idea in her head, she rolls with it. Now, Myrtle Beach is great about making all of these little brochure books with incredible deals in them.  Upon reading one such book, my sister comes across a coupon for a turtle for $6.99.  My sister, Veronica, is a true animal lover.  She has a cat, two horses, a dog, a snake, and various other little creatures that I never quite keep track of.  She immediately latches onto the idea that she is getting a turtle. 

 So, we begin the hunt for the turtle.  The coupon specifically gives four addresses of the Waves stores that will honor it.  In the rain, we drive to the first location.  This store worker tells us that we are at the wrong store and that we must drive further.  They, however, have a deal where you can purchase a turtle and the cage for $15.99.  Veronica insists that she wants the good deal that is found in the brochure.  So, on we travel through the bumper to bumper traffic and the rain.

After turning left across traffic and finding a parking place, we reach store number two.  Store number two says that they do not have the $6.99 turtles, even though they are one of the locations listed on the brochure. They have a turtle special where you get two turtles for $19.99 along with the cage.  Veronica's face is quite red at this point as she huffs back to our car.  The store there redirects us to yet another store farther down the road that is a Jaws store.  We are told that they honor the coupon.

Here we go again.. through the rain and the traffic.  At this point, I am silently thinking that I would be willing to just put money towards the cost of a turtle at the next location. We arrive at the Jaws location and wonder upon wonders they have the $6.99 turtles!! Veronica decides to get not one, but two of them. She then purchases the container to put them in.  Turtles = $14, container = $8.  That brings the total up to $22.  She happily brings her turtles back to the car. 

As I am thinking about the cost of her "$6.99" turtles, and thinking back over the other deals that would have equaled out cost-wise, not to mention the time, gas, and stress of driving through the rain & traffic,  I can't help but shake my head as she shows me her turtles.  I tell her that I am happy that she got her turtles and that I had no idea that she had wanted a turtle so badly.  Veronica looks at me and says quite seriously, "Oh Tori, I have three other turtles at home."