Happy Halloween!

I know...I have the cutest kids ever. I really can't get over this picture! They are so happy! I don't think anything makes a mommy heart happier. :) 

We didn't take the girls trick-or-treating this year. I want to wait till they are a little older. We let them dress up in thier outfits from Nokie's birthday and they were very excited. They were most excited about people coming to the house for candy. They stood at the door, looking out the window for kids. When they saw kids coming they would start yelling and then grab handfuls of candy to put in their bags. Mostly it was cute little neighborhood kids. There were only a few creepy kids/teenagers. It was great when it was still light outside. As soon as it got dark Natalie started getting scared of the costumes so we called it a night.

 Shane, the girls and our pumpkins. From left to right...Natalie's pumpkin, Shane's pumpkin, my pumpkin and Heidi's pumpkin.

 I put on fairy wings to take a picture with my little fairies :)

 Getting ready to pass out candy

 Waiting for the kids to come

I love these girls!

Such a Fun Day!!

We had such a fun day todday! All day long. It was so great. We went to Steed's Dairy this morning. I thought that it was a pumpkin patch and that we'd pick out some pumpkins with the girls but it wasn't at all. It was the coolest place though. They had a few pumpkins. 

 Heidi loves pumpkins. Every time she sees one she gets so excited!!

 Shane and the girls

Natalie, Heidi, Dad and Nokie

They had a petting zoo type area. They had some baby cows, chickens, donkeys, pigs and ducks. The girls had no fear. They would stick their hands in and pet all the animals. Nokie kept saying, "Mommy. Isn't she so cute?" about all the animals. 

 This little donkey was so sweet. Heidi poked him in the eye and he didn't even move.

They had a playground that the kids loved. So many cool things to do. They had these water pumps that you would try to pump as much water as you could and race a little rubber ducky. All these cool tubes used as slides and rockers. A huge massive slide that Natalie went down...couldn't believe that!!

 Cute horse swings

Then we went on a hayride. They took us on a little loop through the hay bales to see the cows. Perfect for pictures.

 Natalie and Shane

 Heidi was so excited to see the "moos" :)

 Nokie and Dane

This is my favorite picture of the day. Heidi was being lovey and wanted to cuddle with me. 

Then we went through the corn maze. They had a kid section first and when you got to the end you could either continue to the harder section or just go back the way you came. Natalie loved taking the lead and telling us which way to go.

 Cute girls holding hands

Then they had this really cool jumping pillow. It was surrounded by sand so if they fell off they wouldn't get hurt. But it was huge and they didn't ever go near the edge. They just jumped and jumped and jumped. Shane and I got on too. No bouncing for us though...if Shane even moved too fast everyone on the pillow would go flying. :)

 Nat had so much fun.

 

 Nokie liked lying on the pillow.

Heidi thought she was a stunt man. She would seriously go flying!

We had lunch and then they played in a sand box of corn kernels. This was Natalie's favorite. She loved playing in the sand when we went to the beach this summer and to her it was the same thing.

Natalie got corn in her pants. :)

I know...tons of pictures!! After the kids took their naps we went to an actual pumpkin patch. The girls picked out baby pumpkins for them and two big ones for Shane and I. We let them help get all the seeds out of the pumpkins. Natalie did not like it at all. She pulled out one seed and then she was done. Heidi liked it a little better. She pulled stuff out for a while but then got bored. I let them color on their baby pumpkins and then put stickers on them. By the time they were finished there were more stickers on them! 

It was just a really fun day. After the kids went to bed Shane and I carved our pumpkins together. I can't wait for the kids to see them in the morning. They will be so excited. 

Date Night

 Shane came home last week and after two days off he had to go right back to work. :( He works Sunday through Wednesday so today was his Friday. Yay! I emailed him at work this afternoon to see if he wanted to go out. Then I emailed my mom and sister to see if one of them could babysit and after getting a yes from both I hopped in the shower to shave my legs. :) While I was doing that, Heidi got into my craft room and started drawing all over her and Nat with markers. Nat came running to tell me that Heidi was doing something wrong. So I ran to get Heidi, threw the kids clothes in the wash, tried to throw together a somewhat sexy outfit, and put my face on before Shane got home from work. When he gets home, he runs up to take a shower and Heidi climbs on top of her changing table and dumps all the powder all over her and the floor. She decided not to take a nap today and was getting into everything! When Dane came over I had her take a picture of us. This next picture is of me telling Natalie not to push on the screen of the window. Total mom face. I don't know what Shane's doing. :)

 

My kids love it when Dana stays with them. I told Natalie that Dana and Nokie were going to come over and she got so excited. And then she asked,"And you're going to go away Mommy?" She likes to be left with people. Strange kid! 

Dinner was awesome. We got yummy Bang Bang Shrimp and split a salmon dinner. We got to have real conversations and not get interrupted 20 times. We didn't scarf our food so that we could chase after the kids. We even had a candle on the table. Ahh...It was a good day. 

 

Taste of Atlanta

Yesterday, Shane and I went to the Taste of Atlanta with my parents. We had such a great time! Dane watched the girls for us so we were able to really enjoy ourselves. We got to Atlanta at 10:45 and it started at 11. We picked up our food tickets and our wrist bands and got in line. As soon as we walked in they had a Jonny Rockets booth with milkshakes. So I handed over a ticket and got a yummy milkshake. Shane saw a booth with potstickers and some bread with artichoke clam dip on it. Needless to say we got a little side tracked. :) By the time we got to the VIP booth there was a long line and when we finally got to the front of it they had already sold out of our goodie bags. So then we got in another line to sign up for an Italian wine and beer pairing class. After we did all that we just started walking around tasting food. There were so many good things!! We got some chips and salsa, a margarita cupcake, lots and lots of ribs, fish and chips....my favorite!, pizza...another favorite!!...chocolate cupcakes, red velvet cupcakes, shaved ice cream, thai street noodles, grilled lamb, fried pickles, and I'm sure I'm leaving a bunch of others out. We also got to try a whole bunch of different wines. They had a huge tent set up just for wine tasting. Not being an alcohol drinker it was fun to try a bunch of different kinds without having to buy a whole bottle. I really like the Naked Grape wines. Robert Mondavi wines had a whole tent of their own too. I really liked the Fume Blanc. They even gave us a free cup. :) I didn't bring my camera or feel like taking any pictures. I just really enjoyed my time with Shane and my parents! All these pictures are from Shane or my mom's iphone. :)

 These ribs were AMAZING! I'm not even a rib person really. But I kept stealing bites of Shanes!

 This is the Italian wine and bear pairing class. It was really cool. I loved the white wine and hated the red with the first meal that was a seafood dish. Then the next dish was pork tenderloin and mashed potatos...so amazing!...and the white wine tasted aweful and the red actually tasted good.  I wasn't big on either beer. The first one was a lighter beer with a peachy taste. It wasn't too bad but still...the second beer smelled so awful I didn't even want to taste it! I did and it tasted worse than it smelled! Shane and Dad liked it though so I just let them have it!

 Since we didn't get our goodie bag, I signed up for some vacation getaway at KissFM and they gave me a free bag. We just put all our stuff in that! :)

My favorite part of the whole day was going to a food demonstration by Top Ghef's Kevin Gillespie. He was so cool! He was the guy last year that has the red hair and beard. He didn't win but he was my favorite. He's from Atlanta and I really want to go to his restaurant! There is like a 6 week wait for reservations. He was really cool and his food looked soo good! Maybe someday!

Mom and Dad..so cute!

 

 By the end of the day it was totally packed. There were people everywhere. The lines for food were really long. I'm glad we got there as soon as it opened so we could be totally stuffed before the crowd came! We had a great day and even made it home to see the girls before they went to bed.

 

Shane's Home!!

I went to the airport last night to pick up Shane and when he come walking toward me he had a cooler in his hand. It seriously looked like he was carrying a heart transplant or something. :) It was better than that...he brought me my favorite ice cream in the whole world!! He went through so much trouble to bring it to me. He packed the ice cream in a cooler with dry ice and frozen peas. I'll have to have him post his whole ordeal on here. :) It was heaven! I had two bowls last night. Well...two coffee cups. I've always liked my ice cream in coffee cups. Anyway, the deal is...this is the best ice cream ever and they don't sell it out here. Only on the west coast. Whenever we go to California I get a half gallon and just eat it with a spoon. It makes me so happy. :) It was the perfect gift!!

This morning when Natalie woke up, Shane went in to get her. I stayed in bed, listening. She was so excited and started talking a mile a minute. Trying to catch up the whole last 8 weeks in 5 minutes. Then it was Heidi's turn. She was so excited but she doesn't have as many words as her sister. We all cuddled on the couch and watched the girls' favorite shows. Then they showed off their play room. After making Shane play with all their toys, we headed to the park. They wanted Shane to hold their hands, Shane to push them on the swings, Shane to race with them to the turtles, Shane to watch them go down the slide. They are so happy to have their daddy home!! Me too! :)

 

 

 Natalie loves to race. She likes to be faster than everyone else. Thankfully Heidi is still younger and slower. :)

 I'm so happy my family is back together!