October 30, 2013... just in case!

 My girlies had a great night of trick or treating tonight.  BUT... the forecast said RAIN, RAIN, and more RAIN!  So, Jusssst in case... we went out last night too!

 Ellie Sue was a fox, and Gabs was Merida from Brave.

 We went to a church that we are not actually members of, but we do visit from time to time.  And I figured if I went ahead and did this, in the case of rain on Halloween, they couldn't be too distraught.

 We were among the first to arrive.  That was cool, because we didn't have to wait in long lines.

 Gabs wasn't just wild about the balloon popping game!

 Ellie was perfectly fine with it.

 They both seemed to like the throw the beanbag through the toilet seat!

 We ran into Miss Polly, who does our hair.

 I took this side shot to show how Ellie's tail was velcroed up.  Funny looking.

 Gabbi's costume ripped early on, and she was showing a little midriff for the rest of the night.

 Ellie ran into her classmate and friend, Isabella, and they palled around for awhile.

 and then we saw my cousin, Drew and his family, including his son, Sam.

 The crowd really started to pick up, and this was IN the rain.  It sprinkled just about the whole time.

 That didn't matter to my little Halloweeners!  We also ran into Kaitlyn, one of Ellie's most favorite!!  (She is Jessi's girl!)

 So after a jumpy house and a couple of slides, we made our way to the exit.

 I ran into a few friends on the way out.  This is Shelby (she works at MMPT), and ...

 we saw Cannon, who is another MMPT regular!

 and his crazy mama and brother, Camden.

 But I could not have done it without the help of this young'un, Alex.

 Alex has been our babysitter this entire school year, and will be sticking with us this coming summer.  She has been a breeze to work with.

 I made a few calls and had a few folks rounded up and aware that we would be coming to trick or treat, in the event that Oct 31 tr or tre'ing was cancelled.  (As it turned out it was NOT!).

Thank you Christ Church for sponsoring such a fun event for our community. 

Stay tuned to see our visit with JinJin, DeeDee and Granddad and KK so we can at least say we went "door to door", per se.

Mo

P.S. I am getting so excited about our upcoming retreat.  Just sayin'!

Decorations for Fall at the BAH!

I have had a special request from one of my retreaters!!

Riley asked if she could see the BAH in all of its glory, decorated for Christmas.  I usually DO decorate before Thanksgiving, as I host that event each year, and I like the house to be festive.

Because I aim to please, I am undertaking this MONSTROUS task to have the house Chrismatized by November 10th.  Hey, don't judge!  To each his own!!  Besides... I've been looking at these decorations since late August.

If I'm going to go through all the effort, I want to get my money's worth!

So, after tomorrow, bye bye Halloween pics.  Yes, I DO put all of these up in boxes, then get them all out so I can be surprised all over again!  It excites me!

But I DO wish this cute polka dotted platter could stay out.  I just love her!!

and look at this baby doll on her first Thanksgiving, in her turkey smocked dress!!  That is pure sweetness right there!!

My 5' scarecrows will have to come down.  (that's jewelry I am selling in the frames on the hearth.  NO, I don't always have windows on my hearth.  Just sayin!!)

But I DO always have about 8 "cozy blankets" piled up to the left there!  We are blanket SNOBS and totally love soft cozy ones!

I also change out every picture frame and even the lamps when it is time to go to the fall colors!  I'm referring to the lamps in the bookshelves.

See that amber glow?!  It'll be bright red this time next week!!

And look at this ... That was Jake's first pumpkin patch trip at St. Jude.  He was bald.  We were in Memphis.

And this baby was too little to take dancing at this time, but she was at the recital to watch her big ol 3 year old sister perform!

I love pictures.  They seem to be the best thing to take me right back to the actual event as if time never passed.

And this angel?  He'll be holding a bright red ornament next week!

You are welcome, Riley.  Cause this will be a BIG TASK!!

Jewelry headed to Herringstone's next week.

I have a couple of big fall arrangements.  I forgot to take a pic of the other one.  Or anything in the entryway or front of the house for that matter.

It pains me to put this one up.  That is Gabbi at her 4th birthday party!

ANd this was her first Christmas.  Ellie was probably 16 months old and Gabs was about 3 months old.

sweet boy.

This is somewhat new to my Halloween decorating collection.

Gabbi's room got minimal treatment this year.  A few little fallish things in the bookshelves.

And I rearranged a few of my favorite little sculptures to make them more appropriately seasonal.

Have I shown you the new montage on her wall?!  A couple pieces of her artwork, one of her tiny sandals, her bib, her ruffle panties, my baby Bible and Todd's Packer jersey from when he was about 2 years old.

Gabbis' room suits her so well.  It is sweet and quaint and peaceful!

Just like her.

Ellie's room might even have less decoration than Gab's.  I am in the process of totally redoing hers!

Mine was pretty slim too.  This is the sole velvet pumpkin in the master bedroom.

NOPE.  Wait!  Here's one more!!

And it too will find its place in the attic this weekend.  I have got some WORK to do!!!

MO