Halloween Recap!

Our Halloween started bright and early. Actually, it wasn't too bright--it was quite dreary and rainy when we awoke but we had places to be--namely, the Silver Comet Half Marathon.

We made it to the race with plenty of time to spare so I made a beeline for the toilets (aka, the woods) while J occupied Cutie Face. The race was postponed by ~15 minutes so I got to do a few photo-ops with the kiddo, pre-race and pre-torrential downpour:

She got her workout in, too, letting me and J chase her all over the parking lot. Who knows where she gets this much energy at 6:30 AM!

{If you look closely enough, you'll notice that she is wearing KITTY pajamas. Stay tuned for this is a sign of many more kitty sightings....}

The race was GREAT. G-R-E-A-T. I had a BLAST B-L-A-S-T (okay, done with the spelling and caps but seriously i cannot tell you how much fun i had!). i met a new friend on the course and we ran 12 out of the 13 miles together. She is an amazing runner--a mom to five (5!) and an Olympic Marathon Trials Competitor.

She kept me talking in sentences the whole time which was perfect--my OB said running and racing is fine as long as i can keep up a talking pace. If I find myself short on breath, he asked that i back out. I let my new running partner know his "rule" and she kept me true to it! We talked about tons of things and had so much fun getting to know each other that 13 miles flew by--so quickly that we managed a 6:27 pace! Yay! That was good enough for third place woman so i was beyond thrilled.

Cutie Face was thrilled, too, because she got a balloon out of the whole deal. She also devoured quite a few mini bagels and two bananas. No complaints there.

The race was also hosting a costume contest. I made this little number on Friday and was planning on wearing it while I ran but the rain would have made it one soggy mess so I put it on after the race...and it won first place in the costume contest! Mad props go to Jenny and Mark who inspired me from their costume contest two years ago (yes, I pretty much stole their idea).

On our way home from the race, we wandered through the local countryside. Who knew that Georgia had a covered bridge community? J loved it because it reminded him of New England.

I loved the covered bridge sign!
The things that you never knew existed on highway signs...Here is one of the covered bridges we drove through--ONE lane!

This covered bridge was located near an old mill--
and this very cool, very old stone house was the original mill house

Upon our return home, Cutie Face balked at a nap so we threw her in a jaguar/cheetah/leopard outfit, put some whiskers and ears on her and took her to the library. She was pretty complacent.

She did get a big kick out of wandering around the library dressed like a cat, though:

Upon our return home, Cutie Face ate a late lunch and settled in for a long nap. She took a verrrrry long nap, long enough that we ended up leaving for the 'burbs (to see my parents and the cousin) more than an hour late!

When we finally arrived, we were greeted with the warm smells of soup and chili on the stove. I was in charge of the pumpkin carving. After my failed Tutorial Tuesday attempt at carving a (rotten) pumpkin, I tried again and (with the help of J) managed to eke out a pumpkin carving that kind of resembles its original inspiration--Buzz the Ga Tech Yellow Jacket mascot:

Next up was a quick dessert-making session. My brother-in-law was incredibly helpful as I tried to recreate yet another Tutorial Tuesday craft--the chewy cobweb bars (this time with cheerios instead of chex). It was quite a messy process:

Finally, we were ready to take the kiddos trick-or-treating. I cannot believe how dismal my photos turned out. They are so blurry and just...dismal. But i hope you get the idea: Cutie Face was a kitten and Lil' Miss was a most adorable chef--the apron and hat made entirely by my crafty twin (and, in fact, you can buy this outfit on her Etsy store!).

We took them around in the Radio Flyer wagon. The girls loved it!

We set out in the neighborhood, us adults on the hunt for some good candy (because, of course, our kiddos wouldn't be allowed to eat it!)

The first house we stopped at didn't have anyone to man the door but they did leave out jackpot goodie bags full of great candy!

The next stop was...kind of sad...kind of scary...but mostly funny. In fact, you have to watch the video to see what happened:

As you can see, the cousins were fine and gladly accepted candy:

The third stop was at Lil' Miss' favorite pumpkin house. She got out of the wagon and gave kisses to the pumpkins. Cutie Face was enthralled by their puppy (no picture sorry!) but i think the woman behind the door thought we were a little crazy for taking such young kiddos out for candy (either that or she knew our secret plan was to eat it all!)

We finally made it to our favorite neighbor's house but first we had to climb a hill. Since the cousins had already gotten out of the wagon to kiss the pumpkin and greet the doggy, we decided to not put them back in. Cutie Face thought that was a GREAT idea and pushed the wagon up the hill. She had a blast.

I had to take another video of the fun she was having. Sorry it's so dark!

We finally made it...Here is Cutie Face waiting patiently for G.G. to answer the door:

She answered and gave her two treats--one for her and one for mommy :0

We decided four houses was enough for one night so we loaded the kiddos back in the wagon and strolled them home. Lil' Miss was incredibly enamored with her candy stash...i think she might have even taken it to bed with her! While Cutie Face is still in the "lets chew everything phase" (ie lets eat all that candy!), Lil' Miss was quite restrained and very content to just look at the colorful wrapping:

Since it was daylight Savings Time, we let the kiddos stay up a bit later than usual but they still ended the night with their shared bathing ritual...

Phew! What a day!

Happy Halloween...ah ha ha ha

When we were freshman in college, we were crazy. My twin and I lived next door to each other and had the.best.roommates.ever (shoutout to Em and Megs!).

We often went shopping at our local Big Lots. When went shopping there in October of '99, we found these hilarious "Happy Halloween" mats that cackled "Happy Halloween, ah ha ha ha" when you stepped on them (hence the title of the blog post).

I'm pretty sure it looked something like this:
I had kind of forgotten about those doormats until Halloween night when we took the cousins trick-or-treating...

Yeah...that video kind of says it all. And, yes, I am the mean auntie laughing at her sad niece's reaction. Sorry sweet Lil'Miss.

We ❤ Fridays

Why, you ask?

Because...Fridays {through November 6} mean

FREE BAGEL FRIDAY!

Cutie Face loves bagels. L-O-V-E-S loves them.

She also loves reading the newspaper.

I think she was SHOCKED by the incredible deals she was finding...

what do you think?

Fridays at Einstein Bros Bagels also mean that we get to stop at Sidney Marcus Park on the way home. Cutie Face and i were too busy having fun that i didn't get any pictures but i did manage to snap one as we walked in--even in the pre-rain dreariness of the day, the Fall foliage was spectacular!

I am also very thankful for the few homes along the street undergoing construction--this pregnant mama certainly takes full advantage of an available toilet as the need arises. i'm happy to report that this "Pit Stop", in particular, was immaculately clean--i may have been the 1st user!

Not too sure what is up with the spring mattress, though...

Those are just a few reasons why we ❤ Fridays...how about you?

Full Fall day

Well, naps may have been required yesterday but they weren't on the agenda today. Cutie Face sat in her crib for 2 hours without taking a nap. Before you think i'm super cruel, I honestly thought she fell asleep twice but both times I went to see if that was the case, she was only "quiet playing" or resting.

Regardless, I decided that a nap would be in her future so we went for a long walk to Ikea. Sure enough, she fell asleep on our walk--YAY!

Some kind Ikea patron decided to ogle her and her cuteness which, of course, woke her up, but that was okay--we were there to play!

Cutie Face spied an older toddler playing in the rainbow tunnel. As soon as he vacated it, she decided it was her turn to try out life in a rainbow room.


Let's just say she was completely taken with it. I literally had to drag her away from it. I'm thinking we need one of those...couldn't you make one out of a Wardrobe Cardboard Box? I think yes!


Cutie Face quickly found the tunnel of blue and got a kick out of crawling through it forward {and backward}:

She also found a "kitty ball" that came through the tunnel with her on multiple occasions.

Hey Cutie Face!

We finally made it to the Family Restroom to wash our hands so that we could eat lunch. Cutie Face was a champ and ate everything i gave her.


She plum tuckered herself out (and, seeing as her stroller nap was only 25 minutes long...no surprise)...

So I let her take a nap at Ikea.

JUST KIDDING!

I put Cutie Face back in the stroller for one final spin through Ikea. On our way out we found some awesome red down boots. Cutie Face LOVED moving her feet in them. It was hilarious.

I was actually hoping that she wouldn't fall asleep on the way home so that she could nap in her crib. Since that was my plan, i knew we would have to create some diversions. So, we stopped at the newly painted and renovated Noguchi Playscape at Piedmont Park.

It is Japanese and kind of cool. I never thought I'd like this architecture but, now that i've gotten a bit more into photography, I think the angles and the design make for awesome photographic settings!

I made Cutie Face sing the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" so that she would look at me and smile :0

But sometimes it is nice to just have a non-posed pic in the mix, too:

It was certainly a spectacularly beautiful fun and full Fall day!

Naps required

The twin and I were lucky enough to each be chosen for a marketing research study (I signed a waiver and can't talk about it for two years. Sorry). Even better than that, we were given back-to-back time slots which meant we didn't have to find a babysitter--we could just use each other!

I drove to the 'burbs to meet the twin and Lil' Miss. The twin was up first which meant I was in charge of the babes in the beginning. I was excited to see what life with two entailed. Granted, it was only for a bit more than an hour but still...

One of my favorite things to do with Cutie Face is take her to Petco to see the adoptable kittens. They are so cute (and desperate!) and I always want to adopt all of them. The best thing about these kittens is that they are very into anyone who visits them--even kids. Which is completely the opposite case in our house where our cats are deathly afraid of the kiddos.

So I took the cousins to Petco and we had a good time looking at birds, fish, and dogs. Sadly, the kitties and their cages were being cleaned so we couldn't visit :(

One tricky thing with two kids and a stroller that doesn't collapse quickly is trying to figure out what to do with them while you are dismantling the stroller. Granted, I could have put them each in their car seats but that would have been too easy. So i put them in the trunk while they watched my mad dismantling skills. I think they loved it.

Soon it was my turn for the study so I gave the twin the car keys and turned the cousins over to her. I went in for my 75-minute study and didn't have a care in the world...

Neither, it turns out, did Cutie Face.

The twin drove the cousins over to my mom's store and, from there, they went to the park. Upon getting back in the car, Cutie Face fell fast asleep. She then stayed asleep when they stopped the car and got out at Sweet Tomatoes. She remained asleep even when Mimi (grandma, our mom) hefted her into the restaurant. And she was even asleep when I met up with them for lunch sometime later.

In the meantime, Lil' Miss had started (and nearly finished) her lunch:

Then us grownups ate...and Cutie Face still slept:

She finally woke up, much to her cousin's happiness. I was happy, too, because it meant that i could feed her the yumminess of Sweet Tomatoes without scrounging up lunch at a later time.

Lil' Miss was so excited that Cutie Face was awake that she even tried to feed her...on multiple occasions:

All in all, it was a great day with the cousin and Mimi! so great that, upon returning home around 4, Cutie Face slept for another hour and a half...and so did I!

Naps were most definitely required today!

Rainy Day shopping

J and I only own one car. {Well, we actually own two but the second one has been in the shop for...oh...a long time now and we really don't count it as our own car since my parents bought it for me and the twin when we were in college.}

Anyway.

When J is working on a local ATL project, he gets the car and Cutie Face and I get the awesome jogging stroller. We really don't need two cars because we can walk everywhere--3 grocery stores, Target and other stores, too many playgrounds and parks to count, etc.

We love being able to walk our neighborhood but we definitely feel a little stifled in our bitty apartment when it rains. Like it did ALLLLL DAY on Tuesday.

But, Cutie Face and I made the best of it and we headed to CVS, a mere tenth of a mile away, door-to-door. I let her out of the stroller and she completely enjoyed walking about and down all the aisles...especially when we came to their Christmas Toy Display (seriously? Christmas toys before Halloween?!?! yes.).

Here is my cute little Tomboy:

She really got into the truck (ha! "into"! Pun intended!) and it almost came home with us:

J finally came home and rescued us from the monotony err extreme fun err rain and we escaped to Whole Foods to return our rotten pumpkin (remember the saga from Tuesday's Tutorial?). Cutie Face was very glad to go shopping for pumpkins again!

Yay for no rain in the forecast...

...until Halloween...

bummer