The Train Conductor and Thomas

I took Jack to Leigh Anne Ralls today for her Halloween special to get his picture made in his costume. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the pictures!! It is amazing what a talented person can do in about 20 minutes!! She's doing this again tommorrow from 2-5 so get your kids there. You don't want to miss this great deal!! You can check out the details at her blog or website at http://www.nanabellart.com/ or her blog is under my favorites list!!

Thanks so much Leigh Anne!! Love the pictures of my little train conductor! You've really captured a special time for us while Jack is so amazed with his trains!

Given No Choice

There was never really a choice to be made. It was already decided. Even though for the past two years I have had total control and full power, I was given none this year. I LOVE picking Jack's costume for the Fall Festival. His first Halloween, I found such amazing costumes, he had two. The catepillar was bright and fun and the Jack in the Box was just too ironical to resist. Then, last year, he was that classy and smooth looking giraffe... Not to pat myself on the back, but I just think I have a knack for it, ya know?? And then there's this year....

So, I started looking for the PERFECT costume. Ya know, the ONE that is going to be so great and cute and then... I looked around my house. There are about 350 trains laying everywhere. We have a travel pack of trains with a travel train track, a group that we play with in water, those nice wooden ones that are not allowed to leave the house, and miniature trains that stay in our backpack. We NEVER go ANYWHERE without Thomas the Train and all his friends. As my husband says, "We are Thomas groupies!" We have travled seven hours to ride on his train, four hours to watch him sing and dance, have every Thomas DVD made (and there are many), and a Thomas the Train table that takes up our entire playroom. Jack HAD to be Thomas - there was no other option!!

The problem was the only Thomas outfit I could find was this tacky plastic thing and I did NOT like it, so I put my creative husband to work. We decided Jack would be the train conductor and Ben would make him a Thomas to wear around his waist and this is our result:

Pretty cute, right?? He LOVED it!!

We did have our Fall Festival at church last night. Great fun with great friends!

Is this not the most perfect Snow White you've ever seen?? Shonna has had some technical difficulties lately so I wanted to post some pictures of Caroline in case she can't for a while.

Checking each other out!!

Ben painted some Festival photos for us in addition to the one he made earlier in the year for Jack's birthday. The kids enjoyed being scarecrows, lion tamers, and clowns:)

There's my little scarecrow!

So, it wouldn't have been my first choice. But, I'm telling you, when Ben brought that Thomas the Train out to show Jack, he was soooo excited!! And that made it the PERFECT costume:)

Hope you all have a great Fall!! We're loving it so far!

Fall Changes

It's been Fall for a while now, but this weekend was the first time it actaully felt like Fall. We love this season for so many reasons: football, Fall Festival, Fair - fun, fun, fun!! But especially since God is doing some really cool things in our family this season and we are excitedly awaiting the arrival of baby Ella!

I wanted to personally thank everyone for how sweet and caring you have all been in praying for and asking about Jason, Carrie, and Ella. It's been a hard time full of ups and downs and everyone has been so great. You have all shown such concern and love for them and the rest of our family during this time. Not only have they felt very loved, but so have the rest of the family. It is so wonderful to know that God has given us great friends and family in our lives to lean on when we need them.

I just wanted to say Thanks! And let you all know that Carrie has been doing GREAT the last couple of days. We are so excited about her progress and are still hoping to be waitin on Ella for several more weeks!! Carrie was 28 weeks yesterday so about four more will be wonderful. Now I'll leave you with some pictures of a silly little guy who's VERY excited for cousin Ella to get here and is thoroughly enjoying this Fall season so far!



See how happy and silly he is?? Well, gameday yesterday made us all happy around here too!!
:-) Roll Tide and Happy Fall!!