Thirty-ONE and having FUN!! :)

Well, I guess I've officially hit "old-fart" status. I truly can't believe how fast the time is flying.....have I REALLY been alive for 31 years?? Gracious.

Anyhoo, my birthday week was truly awesome. It just so happened that it was also "Red Ribbon Week" (or as I say everyday, "Wed Wibbon Week"), so the teachers got to wear jeans everyday to work. That in itself was a gift enough, but I had many other surprises and blessings to make the week special. Here's Nora and I "dressed up" each day for Wed Wibbon Week:

On Monday, we simply wore RED to kick the week off:

Tuesday, we "turned our backs on drugs," so we had to wear our clothes backwards:

Wednesday was "sock it to drugs" day.....and yes, Nora's feet are nearly the size of mine. :)

Thursday, we were striving to "BEE drug-free," so we had to dress like Beulah BEES:

Friday was "put drugs to sleep" day, so we got to wear our pajamas....I wish everyday were pajama day!!

When I got to school on my birthday, I was surprised by many goodies from my coworker friends. I had some Chick-Fil-A breakfast waiting on me from Ms. Dorsey, some candy-corn (fat-free goodness) and lottery tickets from Mrs. Bowen (I actually WON $16!!! Holla!!), and some Bed, Bath, and Beyonce Goodies from Mrs. Williams. Plus, Ms. Rush made me some of her famous Purple Passion. I also had countless cards and warm wishes from my friends and students. Sweet little Beulah Blessings. :)

My sweet hubs also sent me some birthday flowers:

Earlier in the week, Josh had also bought me a few "document frames" so that I could hang up my diplomas, including my newly-received doctorate diploma. Mrs. Miller actually announced me as "DOCTOR Nesbitt" over the intercom this week......that was so WEIRD and NEATO at the same time :)

That night, Grandmama watched all 3 girls while Josh and I went on a birthDATE to Pappasito's....mmmm...

And yes, I cleaned my plate....sirloin, diablo shrimp, beans-n-rice, and chicken enchilada....along with a billion chips and cheese dip. Don't hate. :)

Birthday festivities aside, it was a pretty busy week....Nora had her 6-year doctor's appt (thumbs up to NO SHOTS!!):

And Claira had her 4-month checkup later on in the week. She, however, did have to get 2 shots. :( We have to take her back next week to get another shot because she had a tummy-ache during her visit (in the words of Nora....she had the "RHEA"). Dr. Dauphin said that she felt strongly that "the rhea" could be due to her teething, but she didn't want to give her a particular shot just to be on the safe side (that equals another shot next week....great). Here's Daddy at the doctor's office trying to make Clairy-Berry feel better:

Even though she hasn't felt the best this week, she can now eat CEREAL!!! Here's her first time attempting...we still can't figure out her reaction...

All of this, on top of dance practice, road runners, deer hunting, football games, and festivals......this is how we all felt every night this week....

 (side note.....Alyssa Barnes recently asked me, "Drew, does your middle kid ever wear clothes?" HA!! The answer to that is ..... not really. :) While Nora changes clothes a billion times a day, Ella prefers to just have an abundance of "naked-Ella time." :)

So, here's to being another year older.....

......but always young at heart! :)

Halloween Memories

Even at 30 years old (actually 31 in just a few days.....I'm getting flippin' old), Halloween is still one of my FAVORITE times of year!! Yes, I STILL dress up and eat my weight in Halloween candy, and yes, I force my family to listen to Halloween music and watch Halloween shows starting in September. :) Here's a few of our Halloweens from the past:

2006

 This was Nora's first Halloween, and since she was the ripe-old age of 5 weeks, she didn't have an actual costume. We just put her in her groovy little pumpkin outfit given to her by Grandmommie:

Because we had a brand-new baby, lacked sleep, and were exhausted, Josh and I didn't have time to pick out a costume to wait for trick-or-treaters, so we just threw some crap together (which was very unfortunate....)

Josh and I, however, were able to get it together and attend a super-fun Halloween party with a slew of old friends. We went as bikers...

 "Uncle Bug" went as Axel Rose....

 (I wish I could've gotten pictures of everyone and their awesome costumes, but since there were soooooo many familiar faces there, that would've taken all night). :)

2007

This was the first year we headed over to the Blue Ridge Mountains for "a weekend getaway" around Halloween with Matt, Anna, & Lilah:

 We always visit Burt's Farm when we're there!!

We also played with our buddy, Terrance, at Stone Mountain Park that year...

Nora was a "Little Lamb" that year :)

2008

We headed back over to Burt's Farm to spend the weekend in the mountains.....

  Nora was a ladybug that year, and Lilah was a bee. Our little insects..... :)

I was a pregnant "Red Riding Hood." :)

2009

This was the year of many changes for our family. Some changes were beautiful (like welcoming Ella into the world), but other changes were very painful. So, we decided to make some new traditions. One thing that we decided is that the WHOLE family would dress up and go over to Grandmommie's & Paw-Paw's to trick-or-treat and be festive. We went with a "Wizard of Oz" theme this year. Ella was the lion, Nora was Dorothy....

Aunt Lea was the wicked witch, I was the scarecrow....

Grandmama was Aunt Em (sadly, you can only see part of her outfit....guess I was too busy getting a pic of Ella's pajamas before she went to sleep)...

....and Josh was...uhhhh....the Tin Man. :)

But of course, we had to keep our old traditions, as well. So, off to the mountains we went!

  

This was Ella's first "Burt's" experience. I can't believe how bald she was...especially since she now has a killa' fro!!

 2010

This was the year of the billion costumes!! For all of our carnivals and parties, Nora and Ella wore their costumes given to them by "Mammie" (she had gotten them on clearance the year before for under a dollar.....if God assigns jobs in Heaven, no doubt that she is His "bargain shopper"). :)

 The weekend before Halloween, we ALL trick-or-treated at Grandmommie's and Paw-Paw's. Nora was a bride, Ella was a "flower girl," and Lilah was SuperGirl. :)

Lea was Dolly Parton, her life-long friend, Lindsey, was Dora the Explorer (spitting image of Dora!), and Grandmama was a "football" player. However, she reminded us of "The Waterboy"...."Dat's high-quality H2O!!" :)

Josh and I were vampires... :)

On the actual Halloween night, we carved pumpkins and went trick-or-treating in our own neighborhood.

 Daddy's silly.

The girls wore their Disney Princess dresses that night (which they still try to squeeze into today). :)

2011 

Last year, the girls both wanted to be Tinkerbell. Basically, Ella would've worn WHATEVER Nora chose. She wanted to be just like her big sis. :) 

 Lea was Sandi from Grease :)

Grandmama was a "50's girl" - she sported her handmade poodle-skirt that she made for me when I was in 5th GRADE!!! (It's sad when your mom fits into your 5th grade clothes).

Josh and I tried to keep it "low-key" by dressing as a cowboy and cowgirl....we had recently found out that we were expecting another baby (sweet Claira!), and I felt like death-warmed-over.

These two would trick-or-treat all night if we'd let them!!

I can't wait for the Halloween shenanigans of 2012, especially with baby Claira! I'm anxious to see what the "big girls" will decide to be. Although Ella used to follow closely in Nora's footsteps and do whatever Nora did, she has become such an independent thinker and decision-maker. I look forward to seeing if they'll choose similar costumes, or be completely different this year!!

Cheers to spooks, pumpkins, costumes......

....and LOTS and LOTS of chocolate (that I will definitely steal out of my daughters' candy bags).