Pumkpin Patch

This morning I went with Zoe on her first field trip of the year. We went and visited Strawberry Hill USA. I knew they had strawberries( from the name) but they also have pumpkins too. But I did find out that their not grown on site.

I think this was the coldest day yet. We will probably all be sick by the weekend(I hope not ).My fingers are still unthawing as I type. But no matter how cold it was to us adults the kids had lots of fun.This time I did remember to take a coat( if not I would have sat on the bus). We tried some apple cider slushies ( we needed some hot cocoa) and man they were good.



Me and Zoe before the hay ride.

Farmer Zoe
They were making a scarecrow! Zoe was stuffing the legs.

This was the morning class and the afternoon class.

She was trying out the scarecrow's hat.


She was looking for just the right one.
My pumpkin with her little pumpkin!
Zoe running through the peach maze ( that was a first for us, the maze ,not Zoe running).

Drum Roll Please....

I just got back from the Parent /Teacher Conferences and am happy to report...

Noah made the Principal's Honor Roll!!! ( I know you can't see the writing on the paper but I promise that's what is says)

Kain made the Honor Roll too!!!

I was notified once again that Zoe talks too much. Mrs.Brown says Zoe has a story to tell about everything. What am I gonna do with her? I wonder who she gets that from? Cause her mama never talks...lol!

But the thing I am most impressed with is they all have PERFECT attendance. Maybe this is the norm for most kids. But you don't know my kids.We usually have some kind of serious sickness the first weeks of school!!!

We are so proud of them!!!! Keep up the good work!

Noah

Congratulations, Noah for being the Student of the Week!!!

Not ME! Monday

Check out MyCharmingKids ( the post title is the link) to read more about the NMM. You will definitely get a laugh out of it. If you haven't read MckMama's blog,please take the time too. She is a wonderful Godly mother. Try to remember them in your prayers too. MckMama loves her prayer warriors!


So things that I have not done this week:

I did not lay in the bed this morning(technically Saturday morning) begging my kids to be quite for just a little longer. No I am so happy to be up at 6 am on a Saturday morning.

I did not go to see The Secret Life of Bees with my friend and leave my husband home with the kids. What kind of wife would do that? Not me.

I did not say "we'll take a bath in the morning" and then forget about it the next day.What kind of mother would forget to give her kids a bath? Not me, never!

I did not wait until Wednesday morning to get my things together for cubbies(class on Wednesday nights for preschoolers at church,for those who didn't know.). What kind of leader waits until the day of to do things? Not me!

I did not feed my kids at 9:00 Thursday night after the fall festival. Who would wait till then? Maybe someone waiting on Summer L. (just kidding). Not me!

I did not write this on Saturday while my kids are running through the house.Then saved it until Monday to post it! Not me!!!

I did not wish that I could have just one kid free night. I love my children dearly and would never want to be away from them, even for one night. I mean what kind of crazy woman wants a night alone with her husband? Not me!

I did not go to a football game at night and forget to bring a coat or wear long sleeves.Then sit there and freeze all night.While everyone keeps saying "you must be cold". And if that was me I would reply " No I'm fine" but thinking to myself "how could I forget my coat? I made the kids wear one".

Go Big Blue

Tonight we took the kids to their first high school football game. It's the first one Corey and I have been to in about 10 years. It was awesome!!!!! Just in cause you haven't all ready heard....
Dorman won...woo woo!! The kids loved it too! Except for the part where we waited a hour to just move the car off of the grass :(

Waiting for the game to start. Please notice the shirt I am wearing with no sleeves.I about froze to death.

Zoe using her binoculars.

Some pregame munchies.

Dorman storms the field
It was getting cold! And even though I was totally freezing ( being the good mother I am) I didn't take the kids blanket.

Dorman 35 Byrnes 28...how about that!!!!

The crowd goes wild!
Look who we ran into while sitting in the car for a hour waiting to move. Zoe's most favorite teacher ever...Mrs. Cassidy!! We love her!

Quick question

How do I change the the middle of my blog?
The part where all the writing (all that pink).
I tried once before and lost all my pics.
I'm scared I will lose everything .
But I'm getting tired of the pink.
Can anyone help?
I'm not computer literate by no means.
Thanks in advance!

Early Risers

Could someone please tell me when kids start "wanting" to sleep late?

I hope it's soon cause we rise before the sun does.

It would be nice if they just let me lay in my bed till at least 7:00.

They know how to make a bowl of cereal but of course they have to come and tell me all about it.
And they do this No matter what time they go to bed.

I guess they don't want to waste a minute of their day sleeping.

But I sure would like to waste some of mine!

Lesson Learned...

Zoe learned a new lesson today when playing with the boys.

They were laying on the floor playing with their cars.

You know the ones that you pull back and let go? Well Zoe was down on the floor watching TV.

One of the boys pulled the car back and let it go.

Well it shot straight for Zoe's hair.

Her long red locks were wrapped tightly around the wheel of the monster car.

I am about to start panicking at this point and Zoe is crying(melting completely down).

I thought I was going to have to go visit Summer L. for a haircut.

Finally I broke the wheel off and got it untangled . Thank goodness!

I don't think Zoe will be putting her hair on the floor while there are cars around!

Fall Festival # 2

Last night we went with the Martins,Waddells ,Laneys ,and Harrisons to the fall festival at First Baptist North Spartanburg . Boy was it crowded but we managed to ride a few rides. We sure had a big group of kids between all of us. There was a little drama with everyone about who's riding in front. But other than that it was great. Kain is in only one picture because he didn't want to ride the kiddie rides. He did manage to ride the swings last night. I know they waited at least 40 minutes to get on. But overall it was great. We didn't lose any kids and didn't come home with any extras. So I think that was a pretty successful evening!




All the kids when we first got there. So many we could barely fit them in the picture...lol.

Noah and Andrew riding the kiddie coaster.
Zoe , Breaden( I prob spelled that wrong) and Jake. All sitting up front and happy.

Brycen , Zachary, Jake and Zoe

Zoe with the girls Ella Kate, Brynn and Karson

Riverbanks Zoo

We went to the Riverbanks Zoo yesterday with The Martins (minus Corey and Jamie). The weather was really nice.It actually felt like fall. All the kids were really excited to see all the animals. We love the zoo. I don't know if you know this but with a membership you can get in to almost every zoo in the US for free or at a discount. So we go to a lot of zoos because it's free.

We stayed at the zoo for a while and saw all the animals. Then we left and got some dinner at Maurice's BBQ. They had some good food. We will defiantly go back. Then back to the zoo we headed for Boo in the Zoo. We have always went to the Greenville Zoo for this but wanted to give Riverbank a try. It was worth the drive. All the animals were still out for you to view.Plus there were lots of stuff to do. There was trick or treating ,magic show,maze,DJ dance party (which was Zoe and Karson's favorite thing), roasting marshmallows and I'm sure I'm forgetting something. It was great and we will being going there from now on.

Just a little tip if you go. Get your tickets in advance! People were probably still waiting in line when we got back around to the front.

All the kids when we first came in.
My kids with their relative. He was doing some real thinking.
We take this picture every year.
The birds wouldn't even eat the nectar. I guess they were full.
This was the gardens.
Zoe was our tour guide. She keep looking at the map to see where we needed to go.
Another yearly photo
What's that smell? Oh it's the elephants!
Big man on campus. We waited and he finally came out!
Say cheese!!!!!
Noah (cowboy),Zachary(bat), Kain(knight),Andrew (clone trooper),Zoe( Cinderella)and Karson..or is it Hannah Montana?
Trick or Treat
My big brown eye cowboy!!
The kids with Merlin.
Foam bath...warning you will get wet!!! Zoe and Noah got it.
Kain's not too sure about it.
Kain petting an Madagascar hissing cockroach....yucky!
The spooky carousel!
We had a great time!!!!
Zoe dancing with the Martin's Nana!
Summer and Karson roasting some marshmallows.

Halloween Party

Last night we had our first (maybe last...j/k) Halloween party for the kids. I had gotten up at 5 am to start preparing for the night. Everyone started arriving around 7pm and they never stopped coming. I think at last count their were around 30 kids. That's not including the parents. So needless to say my house was full of people.

We had a ball though. They played Suck the Pumpkin seed , mummy wrap and bobbled for apples. Apple bobbing was their favorite. We were going to do smores but it didn't stop raining...ugh! Seeing who can pick up the seeds the fastest!
Marissa being wrapped like a mummy!


Corey trying to get an apple
Kain's looking for the right one

Good Job Noah

I had saw these recipes for caramel apples rolled in chocolate and crushed butterfingers.
So I decided to give it a try. Let me tell ya it takes a long time to do 20 apples. But I managed to do them Thursday and they looked pretty good. You would just have to know Noah but he gets up and eats at night. Now I don't mean a little he eats everything. So Corey took the apples out of the fridge and put them up on a shelf. When I went to get them down the caramel had slide off of them.So note to self they must stay in the fridge till time to eat them.

Over all it was a great party and everyone loved so. Maybe just maybe we will do it again next year. But we will have to hire a maid to come clean up afterwards!




Destiny, Noah and Kain
My nieces Tamara, Cassie and Madison
Tamara, Haley, Madison, Destiny and Kain
The Marlers
My sister and her girls
Stephanie and Lilly
Paula and Autumn
Destiny and Diane
Cheryl ,Abby,Caleb and Brandon
Zoe and Natalie

Us Crazy Cotheran's
Pop, Grandma,Noah Zoe Kain and Draven (my nephew)
The Potter Boys

Princess Zoe