Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone!  Taylor had a great time trick-or-treating with our sweet friends, the Purcers, last night.  We hit about 10 or 12 houses to make sure that the kids had the full experience.  By the end of the evening, we were waiting on the sidewalk while we watched the kids ring the door bell.  How wonderful!!

Before heading to the Purcer's house, we made a stop at my parent's house.  Instead of candy, they had a Spiderman toy waiting for Taylor.  Of course, Taylor was thrilled!  Actually, he was more thrilled about the toy I think than trick-or-treating.  Thanks, Mimi and Papa! You know exactly what this child likes!

A Laborious Weekend

This weekend was quite laborious in many ways.  First and foremost, it was quite laborious for my dear friend, Christie.  She had quite a long labor before delivering her third child!  Duncan Amsden Williams was born at 2:11 am on Saturday morning.  He is a beautiful 9 pound boy!  We are so excited for the Williams family!

Although I did not deliver a child by any means this weekend, I did work hard in the kitchen.  It was a huge baking weekend for me!  I made 4 dozen pumpkin muffins, 2 dozen blueberry oatmeal muffins, stewed one large chicken, made stock for soup, brownies for Taylor's teachers, and a loaf of honey oatmeal bread.  Whew!  I am tired of being in the kitchen.  My freezer is stocked for at least a month (Taylor is a huge muffin eater!).  We finished out the weekend at a fun, relaxing EP picnic.  The kids played, we ate catered food from Fatz, and caught up with friends.  What a great way to end a weekend!

Taylor and Pooh

Taylor ditched his "Mommy Sue" (aka his white bunny rabbit that he sleeps with) for his new found friend, Pooh.  Pooh has been in Taylor's room since he was born.  However, he has never really taken much notice of him until recently.  Last night, he walked around with Pooh on his shoulders  or else riding piggy back.  Pooh even snuggled with Taylor on the couch as he watched "Piderman."  Pooh also trumped Mommy Sue last night and got to sleep with him.  However, when I tried to put Pooh under the covers with Taylor, he pushed him to the side and announced, "No Pooh, you're too big!"

Spiderman and Potty Training

Two new things have happened this week.  First of all, Taylor started potty training on Monday.  I was a little skeptical when his teacher mentioned that she thought that he was ready.  I just wasn't sure.  Well, we jumped right on in, and we have been quite successful!  Taylor has only had one accident since Thursday.  He still isn't a huge fan of the potty, but we do just about anything to coax him on to it as frequently as possible.  I wonder what this week will hold?

The second thing that Taylor has really discovered is Spiderman.  I am not sure where he discovered him at all, but he has decided that he wants to ditch being a fireman for Halloween, and instead he wants to be Spiderman.  Dave found a short Spiderman video this weekend, and all Taylor wants to do is watch it over and over again.  Every time Spiderman makes his way on to the screen, Taylor screams, "It's Spiderman, Mommy!"  It is just too cute.

We tried to enjoy our weekend as much as possible.  Taylor had a low grade fever and a runny nose on Saturday morning.  So, we went to Dunkin Donuts and headed back to the house to snuggle in our bed and eat a donut.  That was sheer bliss!  There is nothing like snuggling with a toddler, eating donuts, and dozing in and out of sleep while you watch t.v. for an hour.  Now that is what Saturday mornings are meant to be!  This afternoon, we took Taylor to Target and then to the playground.  I think that we pushed him too far.  He kept putting his head on Dave's shoulder at Target and telling us that he wanted to go home.  He made it for about 10 minutes at the playground, and then we headed home for a quick lunch and a nap.  Here are a few pictures to recap our weekend.

Sky Top Orchard

m a little late on posting last weekend's events.  We managed to fit a lot in to one weekend.  On Sunday, the Purcers and the Parkers headed up to Sky Top Orchard in Flat Rock, NC.  The trip was nothing less than perfect!  We all piled in to the Purcer's new van and had the kids watch a movie while the guys drove and the girls relaxed and talked in the back.  That is my kind of trip!  When we arrived, we were the first ones at the orchard.  We grabbed a couple of baskets, a wagon, and headed out to have our pick of the orchard.  The fog was just starting to clear and the views were amazing.  We munched on many apples, let the kids run around, and filled our baskets full!  Poor Kevin got the heavy job of pulling the wagon of heavy apples back up the enormous hill that we all casually walked down earlier.  He was such a trooper!

Taylor became a little fussy toward the end and wanted to be carried.  He perked right up though when we made it back to the store at the orchard.  There were play houses to run in and out of, donuts to eat, and cider to drink.  These things made him perk right up!  To top off the day, we finished with a hay ride around the orchard.  No one else bought tickets, so the we had the ride all to ourselves.  The kids (and adults) got a kick out of seeing the animals and pond that they have on the property.  They truly have a great set up there.  If you have not been to Sky Top, and you are close by, you should check it out!

We have more apples than I think we will ever eat.  I see muffins, pancakes, pies, cakes, etc. all in the near future!!

To finish our perfect day, we had our annual Autumnal dinner with the Weekes.  Last year, Kelly and I decided that we should celebrate the first day of fall with a dinner since it is our favorite season.  We had such a great time that we did it again this year, and will of course continue the tradition in the coming years.  We recreated a similar dinner to last year's.  We such a great time catching up with them and watching the kids play.  Kelly's soup and dessert were amazing!  She is such a fabulous cook.  I can't believe that I didn't take a single picture (that is so unlike me).  However, Kelly took some great pictures.  You can find them on her site here.  What a perfect fall day!!