Happy Halloween!!!

Yeah, Yeah...I said I would update my blog more regularly...well, bite me! :)

I know I'm behind the times a bit but work travel has been insane lately and kept me from my usually blogging duties! (not that I don't love my job though...cause I do!) Good news though...I just received word that I don't have to travel for work for the rest of the year! HOORAY!!!!!!

It's the greatest feeling knowing that I'll be spending the month of December where I belong...at home with family!!! (And DC and Spartanburg...but that still counts as family time)

Since my last post, we've had so much going on! I won't bore you with details but I'll highlight the happenings!

1. Tyler's Nursery School Fall Festival was the weekend of Oct 22nd. Tyler had a ball at Trunks of Treats, had his first hot dog for lunch (see pic above) and rode on the Choo Choo Train. Sunday, our friends Roberta and Mike came over for the Skins game and we had a great time hanging out with them.

2. The week of the 24th, I was in Nashville for a night for work but was still able to make it to one of my favorite honky tonk bars, Tootsies with my coworkers! It's a Nashville establishment and so much fun! The 27th, I hosted book club at my house. I made spicy dishes for our discussion of "Catching Fire" (the second book in the Hunger Game Series) Good times were had by all! (Can I take a moment to mention that I cannot WAIT until the first movie of this series comes out in March 2012!!!!)

That Saturday Steph, Pat, Ben and I took the boys to the Pumpkin Patch up in Elijay, GA and finished up with a playdate with our friends Emma and Mike and their little girl Bella...it was such a fun day!

3. Then it was HALLOWEEN! Our neighborhood is SO Much fun at Halloween! Tyler had the BEST Time! We started right at 5pm, with a potluck dinner at our neighbor's house. The whole street showed up! Then it was off to Trick or Treat! We pulled Tyler and his buddy Jack around in the wagon and Tyler was so excited to say Trick or Treat at least 100 times! We put an exhausted little man to bed around 9! The next day I headed to Florida for a couple of nights for work. The weekend of Nov 3rd, Ben went camping with our neighbors (a boys trip) so I took Tyler to Spartanburg to hang with my parents for the night. (which included a trip to the Fire Dept with Aunt Kelly to see where Uncle "Travvy" works...see pic above)

4. The weekend of Nov 12th, We had Tyler's second haircut, Maddie's 3rd Bday Party, a football party at our neighbors, and dinner party at another neighbor's...all on Saturday! It was exhausting but fun. Sunday I left for Dallas for 3 days and Ben took Tyler to see Santa in Alpharetta.

Before I left, I was able to get out Tyler's Second Birthday invites...which I'm SO excited about! I've attached the proof so you can see how adorable they are (note: I took out our address and stuff...so if there's a little more "white" on the invite that's why...never know what freaks are out there on the internet!) Can't wait for his "Two hot to handle" Party in December even though my heart aches that he's growing up SO fast!!!

5. Last week (Nov 14-16) I was in Dallas and came home to a little man with a bad cold...who in turn gave it to me. So we spent this weekend doing a lot of NOTHING and getting better! But it was So nice to just have some quality Family time!!!

I cannot believe how quickly Thanksgiving has gotten here! We are headed to Spartanburg for a weekend of Turkey eating, and family time! I can't wait!!! Sometimes things get so busy, but the older I've gotten, the easier it is for me to see what I'm TRULY grateful for! A healthy family who I love and friends and neighbors that I hold near and dear to my heart!!! We are blessed in so many ways!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Fall is Here!

Well, just like that...Autumn is upon us!

I love Fall! It's my favorite season of the year! Changing leaves, cooler temps, football, and the holidays! So much has been going on over the past month that I've been delinquent in my blogging (this is unfortunately starting to become a habit).

But let me update you on all the happenings!

The week of 9/17 was a crazy one! Ben totally surprised me for an early bday present by having Johanna (by BFF and Tyler's Godmother) fly down and spend the weekend with us! I was so excited! I picked her up from the airport on Friday and we ordered pizza and hung out. Saturday I had to work all day (the joys of being a trainer sometimes) so Johanna played Godmother all day with Ben! They took Tyler to Gymboree where he did his normal "run around holding the ball and not listening to the teacher" routine! Late afternoon, they met me and my coworker at Taco Mac for a happy hour! Tyler loved the french fries! Sunday we had Brunch with Amanda, Steph and Pat & the kids, got mani's and pedi's and watched the Emmy's! Monday I dropped Johanna off early at the airport and then got on a plane myself late morning for a trip to Phoenix. I was out there to help our West Zone roll out a training. It was great hanging with coworkers and seeing my friend Melissa, but I missed my boys so much that I took the red eye home!

Turns out Tyler missed me too because his teachers said he did a lot of crying for Mommy while I was gone (talk about breaking my heart). So it was especially nice that Ben had a Boy's Weekend/Bachelor Party planned in Minneapolis so that I could take Tyler to Spartanburg for the weekend. We went up to Spencer, NC for a "Day out with Thomas" with Nana and Papa and Tyler had a BLAST!!! Ben ended up having a lot of fun with his grad school buddies too! Lots of beer, football and poker!

The next week, my dad was in town all week for a training for work...so we had a lot of dinners out with him. Thursday the 29th was especially nice at Sip in Downtown Alpharetta! Dinner on the patio was fantastic and Tyler loved to watch the cars go by!

Friday, my dad took Tyler back to Spartanburg for the weekend so that Ben and I could go to Columbia for my 10 year college reunion! We had a blast catching up with the crew and tailgating all day Saturday! It's amazing how 10 years can pass and when we get together, it's like senior year all over again!!! I love all of my college friends dearly. Those 4 years were so much fun!!!

Sunday, after goodbyes, my parents met us in Columbia and we all went to the zoo with Tyler before heading home.

The next week was also a big one as it was my BDAY week! I can tell I'm getting old when my birthday just isn't a big deal to me anymore, but I still had a great day! I met up with Ben for a quick Date lunch and Thursday night we met our old next door neighbors Jared, Melanie and Maddie at Your Pie in Roswell. It's sort of a "make your own pizza place". We had pizza and gelato and the kids had a ball!!!

That Friday, we dropped Tyler off in Sparkle City once again to head to the Hilton Head for Sonny's wedding. Sonny is a friend of ours from Ben's grad school days! We had such a great time hanging with everyone!!! The entire weekend was jammed packed with Beach Wedding Parties! It was a gorgeous ceremony (our first beach wedding) and the reception location was amazing! Overall, such a fun weekend!!!! Sunday we headed back to Spartanburg and picked up Tyler.

Last week, I was in Dallas all week for work. It was so hard being away but at least I got to go to the Texas State Fair with all my coworkers on Thursday night. We had an ball...and the fried Cookie Dough was freaking AMAZING! Meanwhile, Ben's mom came into town Wed - Sunday to help out Ben. Anytime I'm gone longer than two days, I try to get back up. Being a single parent ain't easy although Ben is a rock star dad! I got home Friday and we all went for frozen yogurt.

Saturday we went to the mall so Tyler could ride the choo choo with Grandma and Saturday afternoon we all went to the Alpharetta Fall Fest where Tyler tried (or should I say devoured) his first funnel cake.

Saturday evening, Jan got Tyler ready for bed and Ben and I went to Bistro VG with all of our new neighbors. The after dinner fun lasted into the wee hours of the morning. (Did I mention how much I love our new neighborhood)

Sunday, was spent having some serious Family Quality Time!!!!!!!!

So yes, it's been a busy and fun October! I'm looking forward to Halloween and pumpkin patches with my little one!!!

House Pics - Part 1

I wanted to go ahead and get some of the house pics up since I promised them awhile back! This first post is just the outside of the house and the main level (living room, kitchen, dining room, office, and inlaw suite)! More to come of upstairs and the basement!!! Yes, we have no dining room table and our deck still needs to be stained and porch screens added...but all in good time!

Labor Day and Getting to Know the Neighbors!!

The week leading up to Labor Day included a trip to Braves game with our friends Mike and Roberta! We had a such a good time hanging out with them while Tyler stayed with our old next door neighbors Jared, Melanie and their daughter Maddie (who Tyler absolutely adores). They had a great time playing "Simon Says" in the bath, and Maddie even demanded that Tyler sleep in her room. When we came to get him around 10:30 that night, Melanie had some fun stories to share!

Meanwhile, at Turner field, we tailgated and watched the game! As much as I don't like baseball, I love going to games! I think it has something to do with the beer and gigantic pretzels...OH and dippin dots! Who doesn't love some dippin dots?

Labor Day Weekend was relaxed and so much fun!

Friday, I was able to leave work early and Ben, Tyler and I tried a new Frozen Yogurt spot after dinner. Tyler was introduced to M&M's and I believe he's hooked.

Saturday was the long awaited start to COLLEGE FOOTBALL!!! We had our new neighbors over and had a blast hanging with them.

Ben and I are so happy with our choice in home and neighborhood. We ended up hanging out til way past midnight while the kids all crashed on the couch. It was a great time!

Sunday, I went over to Roberta's for a bit and then met Ben and Tyler at the mall to ride the choo choo. We also ran into Jared and Melanie with Maddie, so Tyler and Maddie had a great time on the indoor playground!

That evening we went to the Roswell End of Summer Celebration which was pretty low key due to the nasty weather. At least Tyler got to try out a bounce house or two, have some ice cream and sit in a firetruck before we called it a night.

That Monday, we went to the aquarium since our pool plans were derailed by the weather. Tyler loved seeing the "fishies" as usual!

This past week, included a trip to Savannah for work, Tyler's first trip to the Varsity (when the plans to run my work 5K were nixed due to traffic on I-85), and a dinner party with a bunch of our new neighbors on Friday night. It was so much fun!

The Thompsons from across the street hosted an annual September "Back to School" Kid free bash, and we were excited to be invited this year!

Again, we stayed up WAY too late having fun with our new neighbors!

My parents came into town to babysit and Tyler got his usual grandparent spoiling!

Saturday, Ben went running with the guys while I took Tyler and my parents to the mall to do merry go round and choo choo time. (yes, Tyler is obsessed with the mall)

That night, I cheered my Gamecocks on to Victory while we vegged out!

Sunday, we went and got bagels and watched the 9/11 coverage. It was so surreal to think about how much our lives have changed since that terrible day 10 years ago.

I'll never forget...

The rest of Sunday was spent running errands and letting Ben inaugurate his man cave for the first Redskins game!

Hail to the Redskins!!!!