Happy Halloween 2013!

Ready to trick-or-treat!



Anakin Skywalker

our lovely doll

a clone trooper

This Halloween was super fun and candy-filled! But, we did have some last minute costume anxiety/changes that happened this year. For some reason, Brad was unsure if he really wanted to be Anakin Skywalker 1 day before Halloween. We gave him some homemade costume options if he was truly unhappy with Anakin. But, in the end he decided he liked his store-bought costume best. Rach was really unsure of her costume. She had chosen to be a LaLaLoopsy doll and we had bought several things to make her outfit. But, when we began putting it on, she didn't like anything about it. Off went the polkadots and purple hair. She ended up being a "doll". Trent was sure he was going to be Iron Man or Incredible Hulk or Iron Man or Incredible Hulk or Iron Man...you get the picture. Both of these costumes were in the closet, so we didn't care which one he chose. In the 11th hour, Brad suggested he be a clone trooper since he was Anakin. Trent thought that was a brilliant idea, and it was already in the closet. So, we ended up with a beautiful doll, a tough Anakin Skywalker and a fearless Clone Trooper. Maybe next year we'll feel more secure in our costume choices!?!
Happy Halloween!!

Virginia's Chess Pie

During our study of Virginia, we learned so much about this cool "Mother of Presidents" state. It's chock full of presidential history. It was super fun to visit there too! Rachel found a recipe for a chocolate chess pie in one of our books, so that's what we made in honor of Virginia. The pie was DELICIOUS! Juju was over when we happened to have all our necessary ingredients, so she and Rach each made one. This pie was one of my faves for sure! Can't wait to see what yummy recipe we make from our study of Tennessee!

13 years!!

Today is our 13th wedding anniversary! (The pics are horrible quality because I took a picture of a picture in our wedding album.) I am so thankful that God brought us together over 19 years ago...first as friends and then as husband and wife. What a wonderful 13 years it has been...I'm looking forward to many, many more!

Happy Anniversary to my handsome, sweet, funny, loving hubby!
 I love you Nick Milligan!

Vacation 2013 Pt. 7: The Griswolds head home

 there was some sleeping...

 and some chatting...

 and some smiling...

 and some more sleeping...

 and some cheesing...

 and some posing...

and some relief!

 

 

 

By the end of our vacation, Nick was feeling like Clark Griswold (and I was calling him "Sparky") from The National Lampoon's Vacation. All poor Clark (and Nick) wanted to do was take his family on a fun vacation. But, he had obstacles and disasters at every turn. :) 

 

Honestly, we feel very thankful and blessed that we didn't have more serious issues to deal with. Each of our "challenges" were overcome and dealt with and we all still had a really good time. Nick is a rock star when it comes to dealing with car issues and I can handle a bout of vomit with one hand tied behind my back! (Not really, but this definitely was NOT my first time cleaning up barf!) The biggest joy we experienced was being together as a family. We definitely created some unforgettable memories on this vacation and believe it or not, we can't wait to plan another trip! Maybe our next one will be a little less eventful. :)

Vacation Pt. 6: A walk thru Appamattox, Virginia

ready to tour the beautiful area!

an old home place

some gorgeous fields and scenery

the boys in jail in Appamattox

The pool was a welcome end to our last day of a fun (but tiring) vacation. We were very glad that we had chosen 2 hotels with indoor pools. The kids have an endless amount of energy and the pool was always a great way to

swimming fun

my 4 favorite people in the world

swimming in the hotel's heated pool on our last night of vacation

Appamattox Court House- the actual building where Lee surrendered

our pretty girl

our silly boy

our handsome guy

a (tiny) old home place

a pic taken by our sweet daughter (guess I was sleepy!)

After a restful and uneventful night in our hotel, we woke up ready to go. Nick got up super early to be at the tire store when it opened so he could have our tire patched. Unfortunately, they said the tire was damaged on the side wall which meant they wouldn't be able to do a patch. So, Nick had to buy a new tire. :( But, at least that part of our journey was over!

Lucky for us, Lynchburg is very close to the historic site where Lee surrendered! Appamattox, Virginia is only about 30-40 minutes from there. So, after a delicious breakfast of pancakes, biscuits, eggs and bacon, cooked by our friends, we hit the road.

It was quite surreal walking all over this beautiful site where so much history took place. The homes were beautiful and the courthouse was so cool! It had a museum on the upper level with depictions of Lee and Grant actually signing the peace treaty. There were artifacts from the war including: weapons, uniforms, furniture, etc... I know the kids didn't fully understand the significance of this, but hopefully they'll look back on this one day and be excited to say that they visited such an important historic site.

Anyway, visiting Appamattox was very cool and absolutely beautiful! After we walked all over the land, we had a picnic on the lawn. Then we went to a cool little coffee shop and then went back to the Green's house.

(To Be Continued...)

Vacation Pt. 5: Lovely Lynchburg

the kiddos playing at Amelia's table

Rachel and the smiliest baby, Emmaline

2 wild and crazy guys!

Rach and Amelia

all the cute kiddos

my BF, Jen

Long time friends

Lynchburg was absolutely beautiful! And, we were so thankful and happy to be there (finally and all in 1 piece!)! After we checked into our fancy hotel, we went to see our sweet friends, the Greens. I've been friends with Jen for 20 years and Nick and Micah have known each other since birth (35 years!!). We love the Greens so much and were so happy to have the opportunity to visit them at their home!

As soon as pleasantries were exchanged, Nick got on the phone to call around to the local tire stores. We were hoping to have our tire patched and put back on our car on a Saturday. Thankfully, he was able to find one that was open all day on Saturday.

Jen and Micah (and Amelia and Emmaline) were the perfect hosts...having some yummy, gourmet pizzas for us when we got there. We had so much fun sitting around chatting and catching up. The kids all got along great and Amelia was a wonderful playmate to my kiddos.

After such a long and stressful day, we headed back to our hotel to get some rest for our next day. The  next day we were visiting Appomattox Court House!

(To Be Continued...)

Vacation: Pt. 4- the worst is over...right?!

the boys in front of the awesome super hero display at Smoky Mountain Knife Works

still puny-feeling Rach with Brad and one of his cool souvenirs

Trent with the bear he bought

our FLAT (as a pancacke) tire

Pit Crew on the side of the interstate in VA

We checked out of our smelly room and left Pigeon Forge on Friday morning. Rach was finally feeling like her old self again. :) We were headed to Lynchburg to see our oldest and dearest friends, the Greens, and we were excited! We knew things couldn't get any worse than vomit in a hotel room...right??!!

Our first stop was in Sevierville at the Smoky Mountain Knife Works store. That place is huge and filled with millions of different kinds of knives...many for sale and many just for display. They also have water features with indian scenes, hunting scenes, etc... You could spend about 2 hours JUST looking around in there. The kids all found souvenirs to purchase with their remaining spending money. Brad was most excited to pick out his first knife, a swiss army knife. Nick has discussed this with him for quite some time and he is aware of the care and safety one must use when handling/owning a knife. Brad is taking his new knife responsibility very seriously. He keeps it on Nick's dresser, so that a curious Trenty doesn't accidentally get a hold of it. SMKW also has a huge super hero section, so it was fun looking at all the super heroes on sale and on display. Brad kept referring to this store as the Smoky Mountain Pocket Knife store, which Nick and I thought was so cute. He knew that was what he might purchase there, so it made perfect sense! :)

After our stop in Sevierville, we hit the road to head to VA. We had a nice, pleasant ride. The views were spectacular! The leaves were changing, the homes were beautiful, and for about 2 hours, the main things that came out of mine and Nick's mouths were: "oh wow, look at that!" and "oooohh! Pretty!!!". We stopped for a quick lunch at a Chick fil a and then got back on the interstate. All of a sudden, we hear a horrible noise and our tire sensor goes off. Nick pulls over immediately and we know that we have a flat tire.

It's 39 degrees, we're on the shoulder of a busy Interstate, trucks and cars are whizzing past us and we have a FLAT-as-a-PANCAKE tire. We were scared! The kids started to get upset. Nick was frantically throwing all of our luggage out of the back of the car and onto the grass so we could get to the jack that was hidden next to Brad's seat. I told the kids we were okay and not to worry (even though I felt like crying too). Brad was the calmest one...comforting a crying Trent and Rachel. I tried to help Nick by just standing behind the car so I was visible to approaching cars. Thankfully, we did have a good-never before used- spare tire. Nick was able to get the tire off, new tire on and everything put back in remarkable Nascar pit-crew time. We had one kind Asian man who stopped to offer assistance. He made sure our tire was on before he drove off. (Thank you kind person!!)

As soon as the tire was back on, we threw the luggage back in, buckled everyone up and drove to the nearest gas station to put some air in our spare tire. Unfortunately, the rest of the ride to Lynchburg wasn't very relaxing. The thought of further car issues or another flat tire (with no spare) was just too much to make my poor sweet husband feel secure.

(To Be Continued...)

Vacation Pt. 3: Putting our way through Pigeon Forge

a really cool train that took us to the beginning of the putt putt course

the wild and crazy boys

our poor, sweet little sick girl, trying to enjoy putt-putting

the sweet kiddos

So, after resting most of the morning, we bought some saltines for our sickly Rachel and decided to go play putt putt. No one wanted to do this more than Rachel did. She LOVES playing putt-putt! We picked a really cute course with a train that drives you up a hill to the starting point and there are tons of cute mining/cave features. Rach was still feeling pretty puny with zero energy, but the boys were absolutely crazy with excited energy.

Rach would hit her ball and then have to sit down to rest and just generally didn't enjoy herself very much. This was our only full day in Pigeon Forge, so we felt like we had to go ahead even though, under normal circumstances, Rach would have been on the couch for the entire day. Rach was disappointed in her performance and wants a do-over.

Brad took his putting very seriously. He tried to hit each ball with precision and he was very interested in seeing who was in the lead the whole time (HE was). And, he won the game!

Trent was very funny to watch because he had 2 methods: 1- hit the ball, then physically beat the ball to the hole, and, 2- treat the putter as a broom and push the ball all the way down the course and into the hole. Needless to say, it was very hard determining how many strokes it took him to get his ball in the hole. (So, we stopped trying.) He did NOT win the game, which thrilled Bradley.

After our chilly game of putt putt, we went to the Christmas Place, which is a huge store with ornaments and Christmas items galore. Even though that place is cool and definitely Christmas-inspiring, Rach didn't feel good in  here either. After shopping and looking for about an hour, she had to go sit down and rest. She did pick out a miniature stuffed polar bear in here (because she always needs MORE stuffed animals!) and was happy with her new toy.

Next we headed to our (smelly) hotel room for a little rest before heading back out to dinner. Poor Rach still wasn't interested in eating anything. We ended up getting her some CFA chicken noodle soup and fruit (which she did not eat) to take to Fuddruckers. Nick and I used to love eating at Fuddruckers when we were dating many moons ago. When we noticed there was one in PF as we were driving around, we felt like we had to eat dinner there. The food was great...just like we had always remembered it. The boys loved it too, and poor Rach was mad that she couldn't eat it. She just couldn't put anything on her stomach yet.

Finally, we headed back to the hotel for a dip in the pool and to get some much needed rest. We were leaving the next day to head to VA!
(To be continued...)

Santa Brad and Reindeer Trenty

a huge outdoor train track that was really fun to watch

Silly antics outside the Christmas Place