Silver Linings

So my silver linings of this week are as follows:

1) A box of Cheryl & Company Halloween cookies arrived at my doorstep Wednesday afternoon from my parents. These are the absolute best cookies in the world and we l-o-v-e them and look forward to them every year.

2) Ella Ann is in possession of all of her teeth. Spencer took her to the dentist yesterday and the doctor said that it was looking good, although it is now gray, and to keep an eye on it. We go back in 3 weeks for a final follow up visit.

3) Ella Ann has a Halloween party at school today and she was so excited.

She was ready to go this morning and decked out in her Halloween attire!

4) Tomorrow is Halloween and I am so excited! I love this holiday and we are going to have a blast with the kids!

5) Laughter.

This would be my roll of toilet paper that Rane ate through...and swallowed! He attacks every single roll of toilet paper he can find and will eat a hole through it!

The Scoop

I must give a big long sigh before I begin....sighhhhhhh. I am currently typing from our new laptop. This would be because our old laptop was stolen yesterday out of our home when someone broke in and robbed us while I was visiting Jana all day. I had turned my phone off for most of the day because I realized my battery was low when I got to her house so I wanted to conserve power for my rainy trip home. This ended up being a blessing in disguise because our neighbor came home and saw that the door inside our carport was wide open and our cars were gone so she called the police and tried her best to get in touch with me and after many tries she eventually reached Spencer who came right home and took care of everything. Had she gotten a hold of me at Jana's I would have completely flipped out and then drove home in the rain with my two very tired kids. It was good that Spencer got there first and took care of the police report. He was sitting in our doorway (since he couldn't shut the door) when I pulled up and I knew something was wrong. I first asked him if I had burned the house down since I left our dinner in the crock pot all day and I was overwhelmed with shock when he told me someone broke in our house. Long story short, they kicked in the door and quickly grabbed whatever they could before leaving. Our house, thankfully, was not ransacked and everything was in complete order, except for our missing microwave (got it on Craigslist for $40 so who cares), laptop, every single DVD and Wii game that we have to our name (I do still have a Dora and Veggietales DVD since that's what I packed for Ella Ann to watch in the car on the way to Jana's house....ohh goodie), DVD player and my jewelry box. So sad. The funny thing was they did not take our Wii....just the junkie DVD player right beside it. I actually keep all of my nice jewelry in a hidden spot so they didn't take that. Whew. They did get a pair of pearl earrings that Spencer gave me when we were dating that I wear nearly every single day, obviously except for yesterday, my charm bracelet that I've had since early high school, all my "fun" jewelry and a pair of earrings that belonged to my grandmother that I just kept for sentimental reasons.

I did not handle it well at all. It's the whole being violated thing that gets to me so I cleaned our house like crazy last night just to get "them" out. Our door got fixed last night but even with that being done Spencer and I still didn't sleep well. I just keep telling myself that it is just stuff and what is truly important are the two precious children sleeping down the hall right now and my husband at work. So life goes on.......
`

Freebies & Fun

I have managed to swing us some seriously good freebies this weekend! I've done really well with free samples in the mail lately, coupons I actually use and just free things in general. By Thursday Ella Ann's mouth was much better so I thought I would go ahead and pick up my FREE box of chocolate dipped fruit from Edible Arrangements. Wow, it was tasty! The best was the chocolate covered pineapple! Who would've thought? Ella Ann still has trouble eating anything crunchy and has to put food on the side of her mouth to eat but she had no trouble downing those treats! They tasted even better knowing I got them for nothin'!

Saturday I took the kids in the morning to Boo At The Zoo. I let Ella Ann wear her Tinkerbell costume because I have yet to buy her the costume she will wear on Halloween because she changes her mind weekly. I do know, though, that it will be some sort of insect because that is the category she seems to be sticking to. Strange. So we braved the cool, windy morning and had a blast. They had the zoo decked out to the nines, no joke, for the event. We got there an hour after it opened and the main parking lot was full. Yeah, it was packed, to say the least. Every single kid I saw was dressed up. As soon as we walked in the front gate Ella Ann completely ignored the animals and all the beautiful decorations and was yelling, "MOMMY! THERE IS SNOW WHITE!! MOMMY! THERE IS A LADYBUG! MOMMY! MOMMY! MOMMY! THERE ARE DINOSAURS!" And so on and so on. She was beyond thrilled to see all the kids in costume. This is going to be the best year yet for Halloween with her and the upcoming holidays. She's really aware of everything now and can understand so much more of what is going on and has a lot of fun, so that means Spencer and I have more fun! On a side note, you should see the kid in Lowe's. I have had to go there a few times in the last few weeks and they already have out ALL of their Christmas decorations. When we walk in the door Ella Ann starts jumping up and down, squealing and takes off in a mad dash to the Christmas isles. I wish I could record the excitement in her voice when she sees it all. It makes me so happy to see her SO excited over just decorations in a store! Of course we have to press every single snow globe they have and sit there and listen to a rendition of all Christmas music. She found the Disney princess snow globes and I thought she was going to lay an egg when she saw those. Oh and Rane is in awe as well. He doesn't move in the cart and goes all bug eyed. It's so cute. Okay so back to the zoo. We walked around the entire zoo twice, looked at most of the animals and did some trick-or-treating. We had SO much fun! I packed a lunch for the kids so we had a picnic as well.

On Sunday the kids and I went to church (Spencer worked both mornings) and by the time I got home Spencer was home so we hopped back in the car and headed to downtown Decatur to eat brunch at Ruby Tuesdays because I had a buy one brunch get one free coupon. It was a four course brunch that was very good. Rane ate his weight in food, as did Ella Ann. We rarely do anything of the sort so it was nice to just have a nice, relaxing brunch after church....you know, like most people do! I went to Trader Joe's in the afternoon and Spencer and Ella Ann carved two of our pumpkins. Spencer went all out this year and did an "advanced" carving. He worked forever on one of the pumpkins and it turned out really well. As the sun went down tonight we lit them and Ella Ann was over the moon about them. She kept saying, "Oooh that one is scary!" Of course then she wanted to stay outside and play on her playground in the dark. We are the only people on our street that even have pumpkins, let alone jack-o-lanterns (we live in a Jewish neighborhood). With that said, we will head down to our old stomping ground in the Highlands and trick-or-treat this year. I would have done it anyway because I will not miss "Halloween Row!"

Yummmmmmm!

She did not want to pose for me because she was too busy yelling and pointing, "Look Mommy!......"


I know, I torture him. I bought the ghost shirt and candy corn hat in the dollar isle at target. Oh he looks so cute in his hat but as you can see, he reaches up and takes it off as soon as he feels it touch his head.

Tink checking out the tigers.

Both of them stuffing their faces. This was Ella Ann's first encounter with an Air Head and it literally took her 45 minutes to eat it. Never again.

She jumped right in and started helping Spencer.

All that digging around and she pulls out 4 seeds......

then stands up and says, "I'm done Daddy."

Rane wanted to eat the pumpkins and kept chewing on the stem!

We couldn't get a decent picture. Rane was ready to take off and eat the bits of pumpkin that littered the porch.

All lit up!

First Big Injury

Warning: Sad, pitiful post ahead. Spencer and Ella Ann worked a big floor puzzle before bed last night. Ella Ann started jumping up and down (socks on) when it was completed because she was so excited to have finished it. Well she just slipped and slammed down on the hardwood floor face first. No hands, elbows, knees or anything else caught her first....just the face. It happened so fast but Spencer and I knew it was going to be a very painful fall. Spencer grabbed her and cradled her and she was just screaming. At that point she started bleeding from the mouth. It was not a pretty sight. After icing her big busted lip and getting her to finally open her mouth we saw that she had really done a number on her lip and her teeth. Her front left tooth was pushed back and crooked but it was hard to see anything because of the blood and she wouldn't open her mouth wide at all. We knew she would be visiting the dentist asap in the morning. She did calm down pretty quickly and we soothed her to sleep (Spencer fell asleep with her) because she couldn't suck her thumb....she didn't want to either.

She actually slept fine all night long...not a peep. She woke up with a very swollen face, mouth and lip. Bless her heart. She slept in a big puddle of bloody saliva because she wouldn't swallow. She drooled all morning long and finally shut her mouth after I told her she could wear her leotard if she kept her mouth shut. I knew that would get her! She wouldn't eat or drink anything but she did eat a little lunch and some ice cream after we went to the dentist. Ella Ann said it didn't hurt so I think she was just afraid of swallowing because it might have hurt and she saw all the blood last night in her mouth and she was scared she would swallow more of it.

We talked a lot this morning about her being brave at the dentist....just like Mara Kate was when she fell down the steps at our house and busted her lip and gums wide open. She did so well at the dentist and didn't cry through the x-rays or examination. The doctor said that because she was so swollen they couldn't see a lot, except that her tooth was in the wrong place and she had a lot of inflammation. He, along with the nurses, I think were in a little bit of shock when they looked at her because she looked so sad and pitiful. She wouldn't speak and would just communicate through grunts mostly. They just kept staring at her lip...it's pretty nasty. However, he did say that 1) the tooth IS going to turn dark and 2) we will have to come back in a week because he is going to have to do something. It is either going to be a root canal or tooth extraction. Great. He pushed on it and said because it wasn't loose he couldn't push it back manually.

So that's that. We came home and after she ate a little lunch she was much more energetic and was back to playing. I think once the swelling goes down in her lip she will feel much better. It's just so awkward she doesn't know what to do with it. I took some pictures this morning and afternoon. They didn't turn out too well but I figured you'd want to see anyway.

After waking up. She has matted hair because of the bloody drool.

The 3 white slits are where her bottom teeth went through the lip.

A blurry shot of her pushed back, crooked front tooth.

Looking a little better at nap time this afternoon.....

and she even cracked a smile for me.

Rane's An Animal

Seriously, is this how a boy acts? Sooooo different from my calm (as a baby), non-climbing, passive, tender, non-hair-pulling, will-sit-still daughter! Rane, he's in a category all by himself. He's all over the place. He tries to get in the trash often but since we kick him out of that he will get in the play kitchen and crawl around with "food" in his mouth. It is hilarious! We laugh at him all the time! I can already see Rane as a toddler and the sight exhausts me. On the other hand, he is a very cuddly, loving and sweet baby. He loves to be held and if we are laying on the floor he will crawl as fast as he can so that he can climb on top of you. I already think this is his way of wrestling! How does he know how to do this??

Spencer went to Tocca this weekend so the kids and I filled the two days with shopping, errands and church. It was very cool and windy on Saturday so while we were battling the breeze on our way to the car I asked Ella Ann if she would like to make some hot chocolate with marshmallows when we got home. Of course! Side note, though, she didn't even know what hot chocolate was but if it had the word chocolate in it then she knew it must be fabulous. Good girl. So we hit the door and she starts jumping up and down all excited about this treat right before dinner. I know, can you believe it? So I get a nice yummy mug of warm hot chocolate ready for her with a big marshmallow in it, put her in her seat, she takes two sips and declares, "I don't like this! YOU DRINK IT!" What is the matter with this kid? My typical 3-year-old. On the other hand, Rane was clinging to her chair making all kinds of noises trying to get a drink!

I didn't even make it healthy either!

After I snapped this picture Ella Ann started yelling, "MOMMY! Rane's eating my seat!" I run over to Rane and see that he has taken a big chunk out of her Coushie seat and was chewing it in his mouth! See! He's an animal!

The boy loves to get in all my kitchen drawers as well. I know you cannot see it but his pajamas say "Handsome Just Like My Daddy." Duhhhhh!

I mean, how can you resist that face?

I had to take a picture of Rane today looking all snazzy in his blazer! My friend, Sara, gave Rane the jacket when he was born and I just love it! Thank you Sara!

Winter Is On The Way

Uggggghh. Yuck, I hate winter. Luckily we live far enough south that it's really not THAT bad. It's still cold, though, a couple of months. Ella Ann has outgrown most of her clothes from last winter, including her coat, and I have minimal items for Rane, sans coat as well. My pocket book, a.k.a. Spencer, is just thrilled about it all. I, on the other hand, will take any excuse necessary to hit the mall, Atlantic Station, consignment stores, Target, etc. to buy anything! Although shopping with two now has been a challenge. I can usually only go to once place between naps and/or after naps so that has put me behind and made me rush. I went to a consignment store by our house and it was full of good (maybe) items but I had to hold Rane the entire time because there weren't any carts and there was a huge, hairy dog in the store. If I put him down, which I did twice, I had to chase after him because he was chasing the dog and when I picked him back up he was as hairy as the dog. Gross. Yeah and the dog kept licking my legs because, according to the owner, "He likes lotion." Have I mentioned before that I'm not a dog lover? I did leave with a couple of things for Rane, shoes for Ella Ann but no coats. That's my delimma.

So I have a funny story. When do I not? It was high time for us to purchase some pumpkins for our front porch so off Ella Ann, Rane and I went to Fresh Market on Monday, a grocery store next to our church. They had a beautiful pumpkin pyramid display on top of several produce stands inside the store. Of course Ella Ann wanted the big pumpkin on the bottom ("It is the prettiest, Mommy!") so as I start disassembling the pyramid they ALL started to shuffle and shake and before I could get my arms wrapped around one of them they went tumbling down. It was like a scene out of a cartoon. Ella Ann just stood there and said, "Uh oh Mommy." When it was all said and done, I had busted one pumpkin and a couple of glass jars of minced garlic...all over the floor. After apologizing profusely to the employees cleaning up the mess I turned to Ella Ann and said very sternly, "Pick out a pumpkin NOW. We are leaving." It will be a while before I show my face in there again!

In other news, Rane has another gross cold and Spencer caught it as well. At least we haven't been stricken with the H1N1 virus, which I'm sure will be knocking on our door soon...I'm just waiting. He started cruising the furniture earlier this week and he is loving his new-found independence. He also started standing in his crib this week. He can get down any time from a standing position except for in the crib. I don't know why. So he screams until I go in and lay him back down only to have him stand back up again before I'm out the door. I think he's milking it. I could swear he says "Mama" now, and Spencer can vouch for me. I took him to his 9-month checkup on Wednesday and he now weighs 19 1/2 pounds (25th percentile still), 80th percentile for height and 50th percentile for head circumference. He will be tall and skinny. Surprise, surprise.

Ella Ann has been doing great at school and she is loving it, especially ballet. She comes home on Wednesdays and shows me all her new dance steps. I get so excited to watch her! She's almost 4 and I can hardly believe it. She is quite a challenge at times but boy is she a fun kid to be around. I've started really planning her birthday party this week. I'm super excited about it...should be a good time for all! After last year's cooking party I decided that I can no longer do parties alone so we will start having them on Saturdays so Spencer can help. I think his job will be to just keep up with Rane!

I got hats at the consignment store. I love babies in hats!

Before I buy anything I now have to ask Ella Ann, "Okay, if I buy this will you wear it? Promise?" She is not fun to dress. If she finds one single thing wrong with anything (like a string hanging down or something random like that) forget it. The outfit is done and she will refuse to wear it again without a fight. She did agree to wear the hat, though!


Rane pulled up to the kitchen for the first time and he loves terrorizing Ella Ann by getting into all of it!

Disney Was Hit Hard....

By the Simms and the Jensens. We wore it out, or I should say it wore US out! So you want the play-by-play? Of course you do or you wouldn't be reading right now so I will gladly oblige! Let me start out by saying I caught Rane's horrible, horrible cold on Sunday and I was in bed before 7 p.m. that evening. We were to leave in the middle of the night on Monday so I was saying lots of prayers in hopes that I would have a miraculous recovery by then. Spencer's parents arrived before dinner on Monday night because they graciously volunteered to keep the kids at our house while we were gone. (Thank you again Gary and Gayla!) I still felt horrible but there was absolutely no way a sickness was going to stand between me and a trip to Disney so we got up at 1:50 a.m. as scheduled and hit the road. We hadn't even made it out of the lovely state of Georgia before Spencer woke me up saying, "Katie sit up. I'm getting pulled over." What a start to the vaca...a nice, fat speeding ticket. Whatever. That wasn't going to stop us either...it just slowed us down a bit. Anyway, Spencer and I arrived at our hotel, the Dolphin, which is between Hollywood Studios and Epcot Tuesday morning and we were in Hollywood Studios 15 minutes after it opened. Ahhhhh. I rallied and rode the Tower of Terror 12 times that day and rode the Rockin' Roller Coaster at least 7 or 8. The park was practically empty (first time we've ever witnessed that) so we were giddy, to say the least! We even made friends with a cast member on the Tower of Terror and she gave us a reride (we didn't stand in any line and took the service elevator with a cast member back up to the loading area and got back on! It was awesome! We thought it couldn't get any better than that and it did when she offered us an elevator ALL BY OURSELVES! Spencer and I were on cloud 9! We were SO excited and just plain baffled that it was happening! I know those of you that are reading this right now and don't "do Disney" are thinking how crazy we are and aren't following my excitement but let me just compare it for you...it's like personally shaking hands with the Pope...it just doesn't happen!

So anyway, Spencer and I needed a break that afternoon so we hit the pool for some relaxation followed by a nap in the room. We went to the Boardwalk for dinner and then headed back to Hollywood Studios for some more Tower of Terror and Rockin' Roller Coaster action. We slept very well that night!

My parents arrived on Wednesday morning and after a quick trip to the hotel we went back to Hollywood Studios and my parents were equally amazed at the sparse crowds. Oh did I mention it was hot? Ha! Oh man, it was H-O-T HOT! Record heat and humidity....more like Orlando in July, not October. We sweated through our clothes down to our socks every single day and usually before 10 a.m. After sweating it on a few rides we headed over to Epcot and toured around the Food and Wine Festival that they have each year throughout October. We have never been this time of year so we were all excited to see what it was all about. They had booths set up from countries around the world (not just the Epcot countries) and you could sample tapas, wine, beer and desserts. Of course you had to pay a pretty penny, it is Disney after all. So we tried a few places and then went to England for drinks before dinner at France. It was a fantastic evening!

Thursday we went to Animal Kingdom. Sweated until we could sweat no more there and then went back to the hotel to recover before going to Downtown Disney and eating at House of Blues. We went back to Hollywood Studios and watched Fantasmic, a night show complete with water, fire, fireworks, all the characters and lots of fun! I highly recommend it!

Friday we had reservations at Primetime Cafe at Hollywood Studios so yes, we rounded out Spencer and I's rides on the Tower of Terror at a cool 20. Yup, we rode it 20 times. We love it, what can I say? Okay so let me tell you about our time at Primetime. It is a 50s-era restaurant that serves up dishes your mom would make back then (fried chicken and meatloaf) while you sit in your mom's kitchen. The wait staff yells at you to keep your elbows off the table, use your manners, don't ask for anything, etc. It's all part of it and it is SO funny! So my Dad must just wear a sign that says, "Pick on me" because our waiter, Mike, just rode him like crazy! Dad asked for a Diet Coke and water to drink and Mike didn't bring the water so when Dad asked for it he got smart and said he couldn't have it. Five minutes later a root beer, fruit punch, Coke, Sprite and water got slammed down on the table in front of him and Mike threw a bunch of straws at him. At this point I was in tears because I was laughing so hard! We ended up with 17 drinks at once on our table! Spencer's chocolate milkshake was forgotten as well so we ended up with 4 full milkshakes as well (no we didn't pay for any extras)! Dad shared his turkey sandwich with me and Mike saw it on my plate so what does he do? He takes that half-eaten sandwich, loads it up with whip cream and sprinkles and puts it back in front of Dad and tells him to eat it! (Mom always said to clean your plate, remember?) I realize that none of you are probably laughing right now but I tell you, I haven't laughed that hard in years and years and I mainly wanted to record all of it in writing on the blog for my Dad and for the future '09 blog book! Well after that hilarious lunch we rode a few more rides, went back to the hotel to rest and ate a wonderful dinner at Cat Cora's restaurant on Disney's Boardwalk called Kouzinna. It was a Mediterranean restaurant and it was sooooo good! We all loved it and had a great time, as usual!

Saturday was spent at Epcot and then we went to Downtown Disney that evening to eat at my all-time favorite restaurant, Fulton's Crab House. Man it was good.

Even though it was hotter than you know what every waking second we were there, we didn't care at all because we had so, so so much fun. Spencer and I are beyond tired and I know my parents are as well but we are already planning our trip for next year when we take Ella Ann! Can't wait! Thanks again, Mom and Dad for an amazing vacation and to Gary and Gayla for staying at our house and taking such good care of the kids!

I took a bunch of pictures so click HERE to view them. I posted several below so my parents could see a few.

On the way dooooown riding the Tower of Terror...alone!
Sampling foods from Chile at Epcot.

Drinks at England......

and before dinner at France.


Dessert one evening at Primetime Cafe.

Dad trying to get a word in edgewise with Mike over the drinks!

Mom had already polished off her tea when Mike dropped two more teas in front of her, said, "Here you go, Camel," and gave her a map of Hollywood Studios with all the bathrooms circled!

The second picture Mike took. The first one he cut out Dad and said it was the better pic!

Dad and his dessert sandwich!

Before dinner at Fulton's.


The restaurant is the boat.


Fulton's.

A Wonderful Weekend

My parents came down this weekend to see the kids. Their plans were to leave their home early Saturday morning and leave early afternoon on Sunday. As Ella Ann and I were getting ready after a bath Saturday morning my parents walked in the door as Spencer was also getting home from work! They surprised us for sure! They ended up driving to Dalton Friday night and got up early and came on in to our house Saturday morning. Yeay! Ella Ann was thrilled beyond belief to see them and never left Grandpa's side the entire weekend...she even went with him to Fox Sports Grill while Mom, Rane and I shopped!

They brought down Ella Ann's Disney princess bicycle that they have had at their house for the past year and she immediately jumped on it and started riding it throughout the house! We headed to Atlantic Station for lunch at the Cheesecake Bistro and did a little bit of Christmas shopping. We came back to the house and Rane took a nap, as did Spencer since he was up all night long at work. My parents took Ella Ann to their hotel to play while he was asleep. Ahhhh....peace and quiet all to myself for 2 glorious hours! Once they came back to our house, Mom and I took the kids outside so Ella Ann could ride her bicycle up and down our street. She does a pretty good job, but she really has to master the whole break thing. This needs to be done asap since we live in Toco HILLS!

We went to Buckhead Diner for dinner and it was SO good! We all enjoyed our sweet potato chips with warm Maytag blue cheese. Yummmm! Rane ate half the bread basket and Ella Ann and Spencer split a chocolate milkshake for dessert. Her lips never left the straw until it was nearly gone!

On Sunday I went to church, Spencer went to work and my parents kept the kids at our house. We all met up at R. Thomas Deluxe Grill for brunch and it was fannnnntastic! The owner loves birds so, along with all the absolutely crazy decor all around us, Ella Ann got to see all the birds in the cages, the ones flying around AND she got to have a dove perch on her finger (well for like 1.1 seconds then she freaked). After lunch Ella Ann painted a mini pumpkin for free. Side note to all my Atlanta friends with kids....they are doing this from 10-2 on Saturday and Sunday throughout October. The grandparents left after that but the goodbye was only sad for them with the kids because Spencer and I will meet them in Disney on Wednesday! Yeay!

Testing out the bicycle.

At Atlantic Station.

We found Dad and Ella Ann enjoying ice cream and a Bloody Mary (Ella Ann with the ice cream, Dad with the beverage!) all before noon. Grandparents really know how to spoil a child's appetite, don't they?

The kids got an "appetizer" as well at the Cheesecake Bistro.

Rane didn't waste any time. Ella Ann, on the other hand.....

complained! Once we peeled the oranges, though, she was good to go.


How many family members does it take to tighten Ella Ann's new Dora helmet?


Learning how to ride!


Dinner at Buckhead Diner.


Taking it easy before dinner.

Holding a dove at brunch this morning.


Ella Ann wasn't a fan of the birds but Mimi was!

Painting the pumpkin....she did a good 4 drippy coats. That was fun to transport home.