Happy Halloween!

Ryan, Will, Owen, John Burton and Miller

We had some friends come over tonight to trick-or-treat

Owen and John Burton are Will's friends from school and Miller is JB's little brother

John Will and Will next to the pumpkins they carved

Will is a Jawa. Don't ask me what a Jawa is-- it is some random Star Wars character from Tattoine that all you die hard Star Wars fans will know.

Ryan was Superman for the second year in a row. He likes to stick with what he knows.

I was a black cat. It was too cold to be Tinkerbell.

Will with the pumpkin he helped carve.

Serious Jawa at Trunk or Treat

Superman at Trunk or Treat with Meme's witch hat

David, Will, Ryan and Dawson

David and Dawson were super cute as Batman and Robin

Fall Break at the Beach

I must admit, I posted pictures on Facebook before my blog for the first time ever!! Never thought that would happen, poor blog.
We spent all last week in Hilton Head. It was wonderful. JohnWill took off work the entire week. He didn't work at all from the beach or anything. My parents joined us for the first time in 3 years and stayed in a condo just down the breezeway from ours. It was great being there with them.
The first two days were chilly, but the rest of the week was perfect beach weather. Highs in the 70s and 80s and sunny everyday.
I didn't really do anything except sit on the beach, read, sleep and eat seafood. It was perfect. A much needed vacation for all of us.

The boys did nothing but play on the beach, play putt-putt, work puzzles (the really difficult jigsaw kind) with my mom, and play Uno with John Will.

Thanks to my parents, JW and I got to go out to eat ALONE at our favorite restaurant on HHI, Red Fish, on Friday night. We sat out on the porch and enjoyed our last night there. (I must share what I had for dessert- Cream Cheese Apple Bread Pudding with homemade cinnamon ice cream. It was amazing.)
We came home Saturday in time to see the UT football game- booo! that was a hard loss!

And now we are back to life. It doesn't slow down. There is something everyday. I can never get caught up on the laundry. Ryan still only wants to eat peanut butter, bread and chocolate milk. I still need to lose 10 pounds. Beds are still unmade. Phones ring, dogs throw-up, ice makers don't work, and the carpet is still dirty. It is wonderful and God is good.

Ryan wanted to play football on the beach everyday

Will with his boogie board

Ryan had to be pulled on his boogie board. And he is heavy.

Will at the Pirate's Cove putt-putt coarse

The 4 of us playing putt-putt

In front of the condo

Will finally lost his other front tooth! And the Tooth Fairy found her way to Hilton Head!

Recent Read that Rocked

I am not going to review this book. Nothing I have to say would do it justice. I have a kind of reverence for Pat Conroy and my menial words can't fully explain how much I love his writing.

I have waited fourteen years for this book. His previous work of fiction, Beach Music, was published in 1995. He is a literary genius and his knowledge and understanding of the South is

unparalleled among today's writers.

My family used to vacation on Fripp Island, SC, where Conroy lives. His house is small and unassuming, not even on the beach. Like his house, he is an unassuming man, not given to many interviews or media hype. Read more about him here.

This book has caused me to become some what of a book club slacker. We were supposed to read the Outlander, but South of Broad came out and I just couldn't seem to get into the Outlander. I am going to try to get back on the book club train now.

Mr. Conroy, please don't make us wait another fourteen years!

Pumpkin Predicament

Will was Child of the Week at school this week. So, today I took these pumpkin cookies to his class for snack time. I have an entire set of Fall cookie cutters. I thought these pumpkins turned out cute and were pretty easy. The ghosts were cute too, but I didn't get a good picture of them. My camera batteries decided to poop out on me so I didn't get any pictures at school today, either.


I know I have mentioned this before, bit I really, really love pumpkin everything. I was going to make more pumpkin muffins this week because the boys love them so much. Well, 4 grocery stores later and I now know there is a shortage of canned pumpkin because of a freeze last year that ruined the pumpkin crop. WHAT?? Seriously, how am supposed to make all my yummy pumpkin muffins and breads? Out of town friends, are you experiencing this same predicament as well? Or is this a middle Tennessee issue only? If things get desperate, I might need someone to ship me some canned pumpkin.

On delightful pumpkin note, I had the Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks this past week. My disgust at spending $4.78 on a grande disappeared with the first sip. It was heavenly. It was even worth being awake until 11:30 that night because I forgot to say "decaf" when I ordered it at 7:30 at night on my way to a meeting at church. I might go get another one in the morning!