Susy's 80s Party

In honor of Susy's 30th bday, we threw an 80s party! We hoped people would come in costume and boy, did they ever! I think everyone loves the 80s and it is very easy to find the clothes these days!

The Pac Man cake- I was going to attempt a rubiks cube but with two aspiring bakers at my feet constantly, Pac Man was way easier!

Clay and I were a Double Dare team!! We were ready for any physical challenge that came our way!
Barb, Emily, me and Jen

Full length Double Dare

Barb made Bret these Hammer pants Saturday afternoon! She is so talented!

The Disco Ball

Zach Ellet (Best costume!) and Sam Dickson

John and Robyn Callahan

Jacob (Richard Simmons)

The dance floor

Emily, Susy, me and EmilyBirthday girl blowing out her candles

It was a great party!! Clay was a sport to go to someone else's party on his birthday but I do think he enjoyed peg rolling his jeans! Happy 30th Susy!!

Nine Months

Madeline was nine months on Monday. Time is flying by! And speaking of flying, I wouldn't be surprised if this girl starts to do that soon! She is a girl on the go! She started crawling on October 21st and hasn't slowed down. She loves to follow Jack wherever he goes and explore the cabinets in the kitchen. She can pull herself up on most pieces of furniture but cannot figure out how to get down! She has 8 teeth and loves to eat! She eats all table food now- never really liked the baby food. She is not a fan of the bottle so I am still nursing but since she eats three meals a day, I am not needed that much! Her stats at her checkup: 29 inches (75%), 19.5 lbs (50%) and head circumference was not on the chart!!! She finally has more hair on her head than I do on my arm so we are hopeful that bows are in our future! Madeline has the greatest personality and is a very happy baby.

Jack also went for his check-up and at 3 years is 40 inches tall and 35 lbs. He is super tall for his age but we already knew that! He is pretty good with Madeline although now that she is mobile we hear "No, Madeline, that is mine!" very often. She still laughs and thinks he is funny!

Durham Museum

We went to the Durham Life Science Museum with our new friends Abigail and Blythe Lavin. Abigail came into Clay's store a few weeks ago and he recognized her from UVA. Turns out the Lavins just moved here from Nashville and Jack and Blythe are around the same age. Let the playdates commence! We also put together that Abigail's husband is good friends with my college roommate and her hubby - Chase and Katie Beene Whitmire! Such a small world! Friday, we headed over to Durham to the Life Science museum. Jack loved all the bugs and animals and even got to hold a butterfly!

It was a chilly day so Madeline modeled her new cozy coat from Mimi!

Knoxville Girl

We may be North Carolinians now but we are Knoxville girls at heart! Thanks for the shirt Mimi!

Welcome Home Jay!!

Clay's brother Jay came home Tuesday from Iraq after a year deployment. We drove to Fayetteville Tuesday night to meet Jay, Jen, Keller, Chandlyr and Bayli for dinner. We are so excited to have Jay home safe and sound!!

Cael Nicholas Schupp

How precious is he??

Cael Nicholas Schupp

9:21am

7lbs, 8 oz, 19.5 inches

Jack and Madeline are so excited to have a new cousin! My sister is doing well and Maeve is excited to be a big sister!

Happy Birthday Jack!!

Jack has been so excited for his birthday. This is the first year he really "gets it." He has asked every day for weeks "is today my birthday?" Well yesterday we finally got to tell him "YES!" He came downstairs- bright and early at 6am - to find...

Handy Manny waiting for him!
Jack loves Handy Manny (a bilingual fix-it guy for those of you without toddlers) and had been eyeing this toolbench.

He got right to work building a race car before he even touched the other presents.

The airplane from Aunt Julia was a big hit!

Madeline wanted to get in on the action too!

She has a look like "Is Jack watching? I think I will play with his toys!"

We had the Smiths and the Starritts over for dinner , cupcakes and pumpkin pie. This is the adult table.

McKenna turned 8 on Friday so she and Jack shared candle blowing duty!

Today I took cupcakes to Jack's class at school. He was very excited to have me there and his teacher made him a birthday crown!

I can't believe my little boy is THREE! Jack, you are a sweet, sweet spirit that blesses our lives every day! Clay and I never thought we could ever love someone so much as we do you and Madeline!

Standing

Caught Madgirl in the act yesterday. She has started pulling herself up on most everything. But we can find her doing this on the stairs when Jack is going up. She wants so much to follow right behind him!

We love Etsy!

I got a couple of these super cute hats for Madeline off Etsy, which I spend way too much time perusing. The flowers are interchangeable with different colors. Having about as much hair as I have on my arm, she needed something to keep her head warm this winter!

Trunk or Treat

We broke out the costumes for our first Halloween event of the weekend- Trunk or Treat at church. Jack really wanted to be Diego this year. After searching Target, Wal-Mart, Toys R Us and Party City, I finally found the costum on Craigs List! He was so excited!! Madeline got to be a butterfly courtesy of her cousin Maeve. As you can see below, she was pretty thrilled too!

Clay decided to wear a costume to work on Saturday so he bought this beauty and tried it out tonight. It went over well with most people. Madeline was a little unsure!

Jack and his girlfriend, neighbor and preschool buddy- Brooke

We had a great time and Jack was very good at "trick or treating." I think Saturday should go well! Clay is breaking out the cotton candy machine so if you are nearby, come on over!

Doll House

I put Madeline in front of this Little People dollhouse the other day with some LPs to see what she would do. She LOVED it! She would take the people out and put them back on and on. And she would turn to the farm and do the same. It is so cute to watch her. I would have never given Jack these toys at 8 months but she is benefitting from having all Jack's toys around. She seems so grown up!

Swine Flu

We interrupt this blog to bring you the swine flu. Yep, we've been struck! Jack got it last Wednesday and is finally getting back to his normal happy go -lucky self. He was pathetic, the sickest he has ever been. We thought Madeline was out of the woods until Tuesday afternoon when she woke up with an 104 degree fever! She is on the mend now. It is a scary bug- we hope it stays out of your house!

Pumpkin Patch

We took these two cuties to Hillridge Farm last week. It was a great family day!

Jack found just the right one!

Poser

Madeline puts EVERYTHING in her mouth these days. Here it is the grass.

And the pumpkins...

The girls

The boys

There was a hay loft to jump in. Jack loved it!

And a corn house where we buried him in corn

And tried to keep Madeline from eating it all!