Congratulations Katie and Scott!

On Saturday, my sister Katie called from Florida to tell me that Scott had just proposed. I was so excited for her, although not very surprised at the news. They were celebrating their first anniversary of dating and we were getting definite vibes that they had forever together in mind.
This is probably one of the first pictures taken of them together. This was at Christmas when they'd been together about two months.
Scott went above and beyond for his proposal. He and Katie were staying at a condo in Florida. After they went to the Melting Pot(a repeat of their first date) he took her down to the beach so they could exchange gifts. He made her a scrapbook of their dating relationship complete with photos, stickers, poems and drawings. On the next to last page, he wrote, "Will you marry me?" He got down on one knee and popped the question. Of course she said yes!
Scott and Katie. I wish them so much happiness. I'm so excited for my little sister who has waited so long for this. I know that they'll be so happy together.


The GORGEOUS ring!! What a stunner! Scott, you outdid practically every other man I know!! Congratulations Scott and Katie!

A Visit with GG and Great Grandpoppa

Brent's grandparents made it down for a visit on the third weekend in October. We were so glad that they made the trip down for a visit. They arrived on a Sunday afternoon, right as Maura got up from a non-existent nap. There was chaos in the house as she showed off for our visitors! GG and Grandpoppa were so glad to see the kids. We haven't seen them since mid June, so Tristan had certainly grown up in that period of time.

Grandpoppa visiting with his great grandbabies. Tristan is the first Allen male great grandson, so he holds a special place in Grandpoppa's heart.

GG holding sweet Tristan. Actually he wasn't so sweet that night. He was fussy and would only allow me to hold him. I couldn't figure out what was going on until I checked his gums and realized that he'd just gotten a tooth! Poor little man was teething!

Maura spinning like a Tasmanian devil. Actually she was kind of a little devil that evening. Generally, we're able to keep her under control, but that night she listened to NO ONE!

Everyone was in a better mood the next day. GG helped Maura dress while I got ready and we headed down to the fort to show it off to Grandmother and Grandpoppa. Unfortunately there was very little training going on that day, but it was fun to show off the base where we spend so much of our time.

We met Brent for lunch at the officer's club. Maura loved the buffet, as you can see! Tristan, as always, is just staring at her adoringly.

That is, until we gave him a spoon! He loved that spoon!

The whole gang enjoying a lunch out.

Proud Grandpoppa and Grandmother with Brent. They have a good reason to be proud--Brent is a fine officer and a wonderful man. We really enjoyed our visit with Grandmother and Granpoppa and were so honored that they took the time and effort to come for a visit. We'll see them again soon at Thanksgiving.

Pumpkin Patch

Let me preface this piece by saying that Pumpkin Patch refers to a party rather than a real patch. Those of you who know me well know how much I enjoy a good pumpkin patch and I despaired of finding one in Georgia where they apparently don't grow pumpkins. Our church decided to do a fund raiser and ship in a bunch of pumpkins. We planned a big kickoff party to coordinate with the beginning of the pumpkin sale. I thought it would be a great place to find our pumpkins, however just three days before the scheduled delivery, the church got word that the entire crop of pumpkins had perished in an early frost. Sadly, we wouldn't be selling any pumpkins this year, but the leadership of the church pressed on and we had the party anyway. We're so glad they did!

Maura was SO excited about going to Pumpkin Patch. We had talked about it all day long and the thing she was most interested in was the bouncy castle. She couldn't stop talking about how she was going to go jump in the bouncy castle. She was so excited, in fact, that she didn't take a nap the day of the party.
Brent and Tristan enjoying the day. It was such a nice day for a festival. Not too hot, not to cool, just right! Tristan took it all in from his front pack. He didn't know where to look first.

We took Maura first thing to ride the ponies. She was really excited about it up until the moment that they told her that she'd have to wear a hat. She flatly refused to put a hat upon her head until I told her that she couldn't jump in the bouncy castle until after the pony ride. I'm such a mean mommy! I knew she'd love it once she got up there.

She spent the whole ride holding onto her hat to keep it from falling off her head. Isn't that a little silly? The hat would have fallen off long before she hit the ground if she did fall off. Oh well, I guess it's a liability issue.

She really did love her pony ride, so I was glad I "encouraged" her to take it!

She loved the little race too. She had zero control of the little car, so it was a really good thing that she was the only one on the racetrack!

We finally made it to the bouncy castle and she couldn't have been happier! She jumped to her little heart's content. I actually had to staff it for the last hour of the festival, which meant I just let her stay in there and jump as long as she wanted. She was one tired girl at the end of the night!

After the games, it was time for Trunk or Treat and I got Tristan's costume on him. What a cute spider! I love those chubby cheeks!

Mommy with her Miss Muffet and Spider. Maura was more interested in her "turds and whey."
We really had a great time attending the Pumpkin Patch as a family and I was so glad that Brent could be there with us because he'll miss Halloween. It was so much fun to dress the kids up. We got so many comments on their costumes and I think my mom will have to start taking orders for Miss Muffet dresses! Maura loved the Trunk or Treat and I think she was amazed that everyone kept giving her candy. She was in sugar shock! I can't wait till Halloween!

Chuck E. Cheese

I'm in Kentucky visiting with my parents this week, but I wanted to get a few blog posts accomplished while I had less distractions. I've got Mom around to play with and tend to the kiddos which gives me a few extra minutes from time to time. Hooray for Grammy!!


Brent had Columbus day off Monday October 13th, one of the few benefits to being a government employee, random holiday breaks. I wasn't complaining! It was wonderful to have the three day weekend, especially after having house guests over the weekend. I took the opportunity to go to the eye doctor, but I really wanted to do something fun while he had a day off. We opted for Chuck E. Cheese because Maura had never been there. We didn't end up getting there until about 12:30 due to my doctor's appointment and almost turned around and went home in the parking lot because Maura was having a meltdown about something in the car. I wasn't sure how much fun we were going to be able to have when she was obviously already tired, but we persevered and we introduced her to the world of Chuck E. Cheese.

As you can see, she was thrilled. We opened the door to the restaurant and all whining immediately stopped. I asked her if she wanted to stay and she gave us an emphatic, "Yes!" I think she was in sensory overload because she wasn't sure what to do first. We bought about a million tokens and we got to some serious playing.

Yes, we are the awful parents who allow their child to crawl up on the skee ball machines. There were NO attendants in the whole place, so we let Maura go on up to where she could actually get a ball into the machines. She wasn't at all interested in winning tickets, so mostly the balls just went into the gutter. She was thrilled with the arrangement, though.

I challenged Maura to one of those water pistol races. Being my competitive self, I could not allow the time to expire while Maura tried to hit the target in order to let her win. I was focused on that target!

The kids road in a monster truck. Maura was so excited to get to drive her baby brother. Tristan wasn't sure what to think!

Maura loved any and all rides that they had in the place. They're her new favorite thing and she notices them everywhere now.

Maura hanging out with Chuck E. She loved everything about the experience and we really had fun as a family. I still have about a thousand tokens and so I'm sure we'll be heading back before too long. AND, the pizza wasn't so bad after all!

Just a preview of coming attractions of her Halloween Costume. She is so stinkin' cute in it! Mom made it for her. It was another of my crazy brainstorms that mean a lot of work for my poor mother, but she gamely went to work on it and it came out so fabulous. Mom sent it to us in the mail and I couldn't wait to try it on her. I think she looks like such a lady in it!
Oh, so adorable. She's supposed to be Little Miss Muffet, but she looks more like Elizabeth Adams or Betsy Ross, or some other early American. She's loving all the attention she gets when she wears this dress. There will be lots more pictures to follow of her wearing this dress.

And, finally, what happens when you give a two year old non-washable markers to draw with??

Answer: She draws a Hitler mustache on her upper lip!!

Sunday outing with Nan and Poppa

I wanted to post the last few pictures we took while Nan and Poppa were here. We had such a fun visit with them and I know the kids loved the extra love and cuddles. Maura loves having an audience and Nan and Poppa are an enthusiastic crowd. We can't wait to visit with them again soon, probably over Thanksgiving, which is really not very far away!
On Sunday morning, I came out to the kitchen to witness this scene: Maura was sitting very quietly and still in a chair and allowing Nan to french braid her hair. I almost fainted! For one thing, Maura is NEVER still. For the second, she hates to have her hair messed with. Brent and I have to beg and threaten just to get her hair brushed in the morning. Nan must have worked that grandmother magic, because the end result was an genuine french braid.

Maura looked so cute and so grown up with her french braid. It's really the first "little girl" hairstyle that we've achieved. The best I can usually do is a hair bow or two barrettes. Occasionally she'll indulge me with some pigtails. I'll have to see if we'll ever be able to achieve the level of cooperation to repeat this hairstyle.
Maura LOVED having Patton and Lucy around. She was certainly the center of attention at breakfast. These dogs aren't stupid and they knew where to park themselves to gain a quick snack.
Maura loved it because her current favorite book is called "Bittle" and it's about a little girl who has a dog and cat who sit under her highchair and wait for handouts. She thought it was hilarious when we called her Bittle.
After church, Nan and Poppa treated us to a lunch out to celebrate Brent's birthday. Nan took Maura to look at the lobsters.
One of the servers actually got a lobster out of the tank for Maura and some other kids to get a closer look. They even got to pet it! Maura thought it was so cool.

Checking out the big lobsters.
Maura loved petting the antennae. Notice her pearls. Nan bought them for her because they were similar to a necklace of Nan's that Maura liked. She looks like such a lady wearing pearls!
Somehow the server caught wind of the fact that we were celebrating a birthday(even though that birthday was a month ago!) and she brought over the ice cream and did the embarrassing singing thing. Brent, who had pigged out on shrimp and ordered his own dessert, allowed Maura to eat his celebratory ice cream.
Is this girl happy or what!! She loves her ice cream! She managed to eat the entire bowl. I would expect nothing less from my child. She does come from good ice cream eating stock!!

Callaway Gardens with Nan and Poppa

Last Saturday while Nan and Poppa were here, we travelled up to Pine Mountain, Georgia to Callaway Gardens. We had been told several times since we moved that Callaway Gardens was somewhere we had to go. A friend told me that they were having a Autumnfest there during the month of October and that was all I needed to hear! I don't miss a fall festival if I can help it! Callaway Gardens was about a half hour's drive and we were so glad we went. The grounds are beautiful and even though the weather was less than ideal, we had a wonderful time.

The whole gang at the pumpkin patch. As you can see, we're dressed for summer. The weather forecast was for 80 degrees and sunny. Unfortunately, it was only about 65, overcast and windy. Thank goodness I brought jackets for the kids--just not for myself. Brr. Maura really wanted us to lift her up and put her in the empty space on the pumpkin tree, but I was afraid that would send it crashing down upon our heads!
Maura had the chance to pick out a pumpkin. What she wanted was one of the teeny tiny pumpkins. Unfortunately, Poppa didn't know that and he paid for a big one, so we had to do some persuading to get her to pick a big one.

Eventually she embraced the idea of a larger pumpkin.
Nan and Tristan helped her to pick out a good one. Tristan stayed in the front pack for the whole day. Nan volunteered to hold him and he eventually fell asleep in the pack. I didn't even think about it until later, but she ended up wearing the pack for the entire day. I bet she was tired. That little man is HEAVY!
Maura and Tristan with their Nan and Poppa. I think Nan and Poppa really enjoyed seeing Maura have fun at Autumnfest.
Maura got to paint her pumpkin and she had a lot of help from everyone.
The artist at work. I think the "artist" might have been just as happy to have smeared the paint all around on the plate she was given.

The finished pumpkin. Maura painted an impressionistic side and Nan painted the face. The face is a little spooky.
My girl and I. I really enjoyed having two hands to play with her. I don't get too many opportunities these days to just play with Maura without having Tristan hanging around.
Tristan was so interested in everything that was going on around him, but he finally gave up and went to sleep.

Maura and I finding our way through the hay maze. I was happy to see that a lot of the activities were geared toward younger children. She loved the maze so much that we had a hard time getting her to leave it!
We did something called Leaf Pounding, which I've never seen done anywhere else. They gave us a square of muslin and we picked out leaves a flowers, folded it and then pounded it with a mallet. It made a really cool looking print on the fabric.
Maura was really more interested in picking flowers than pounding leaves.
The finished product. Doesn't that look cool?
I had tried, without success, to get her to pound the leaves, but as we were getting ready to leave that area, she was suddenly interested in using the hammer. We staged a leaf pounding for her.

She was so interested in the honey bee display.
A beekeeper was there to tell us all about the bees and explain the hive to us.
Maura was most interested in the honey bears they had for sale. Poppa had already purchased some honey, but he was gracious enough to buy a honey bear for Maura and she was so excited about it. She couldn't wait to get home and open the honey bear.

You also had to option of making a scarecrow, but Maura was definitely not interested! She was afraid of the scarecrows. Apparently they don't just scare away crows!

Maura and Daddy posing for some pictures. What cute models I had!
Daddy and Maura enjoying the beautiful flower gardens at Callaway. I bet they're even more gorgeous in the summer.
We had such a fun family day.
A fall picture at Callaway Gardens. At this point, it was getting late and the tired and uncooperative Maura would not get out of her stroller for the picture. Did I mention that she loved the honey bear?
We ate a picnic lunch alongside the lake, not realizing that it was probably the coldest spot at the park. We did get to enjoy some bluegrass music as we ate. It was really a lot of fun and we enjoyed our fall outing to Callaway Gardens.