Brr...Boo at the Zoo!

Our chicken riding a duck??

Our Monkey playing golf:)...and going through the haymaze.

Looking for a Panda...

and getting pretty excited about seeing CURIOUS GEORGE!

Chicken loves Monkey

We had a wonderful family day yesterday. Our local Atlanta Zoo has a Halloween trick or treating every year so we decided to go. It was well worth it. The kiddos wore old costumes from the dress up trunk because it was FREEZING! We picked the two costumes that had hoods! Love that trunk. Micah did not want to be a monkey. Frankly he refuses to wear both long sleeves and long pants on any given day. It has just finally gotten cold enough here that he really can't get away with that. So for the first day we went ahead and sent him straight over the edge by putting him in a monkey suit. By the end of our time...he finally adjusted. It was a packed house at the zoo but we got there early and made our rounds before it was too bad. I was curious as to how well it would be done, but the Boo at the Zoo did not disappoint. I recommend it and hope we can find a way to go next year too.

Play Hard. Fight Hard. Love Hard.

These two babies are the best of friends and the worst of enemies. I can't believe how hard they can love one another yet at the same moment they can be so ugly. (mainly Micah, but I know SayJ's time is comin') SadieJane still adores her Bubba and thinks that everything he does is hilarious, amazing and right. He can talk her into doing anything, which at times is helpful to me, but most of the time gets them both in trouble. Yesterday Micah wanted to rock SayJ, then he insisted I get the camera. It reminded me of when he would do that when she was a little baby. Time just goes to fast. But their love for one another makes me cry happy tears lately. Micah sings to SadieJane almost every nap and bedtime and she always makes him come back for a big kiss! Yesterday he sang her a song to the tune of "You are my sunshine" which is his standard daily song. This time it went like this...
You are my sister, my only sister,
I love my SayJ, I'll give her candy,
Because I love her, I'll give her cookies.
It went on a while longer...but that is all I can remember. I was trying to keep from both cracking up and shedding a silly little tear. I am so thankful that these two have each other and I pray that they continue to stay close to one another and help keep each other in check as they grow. Goodness knows, with their personalities they are gonna need more than just Mick and I keeping them straight.

Only a day away....

4 thumbs up for Rome Beauty's!

Micah and SayJ with "Cookie", my nickname for her since high school because she ALWAYS had cookie's when we got there! She still does!!

Lift!

We headed out Sunday morning after church for a fun family trip to Elijay and Blue Ridge. We went last year for the day and just didn't have enough time to do all we wanted, so we decided to try to stay the night this year. We spent the night with my bff from high school, Angela's parents who pastor a church in Blue Ridge. It was a wonderful 24 hours! We accomplished so much and had so much fun doing it. I am so thankful for our little family. We went straight to apple pickin' as soon as we got there. We went to BJ Reece Orchard's like last year, but it was WAY crowded on the weekends, as was everything else. Monday was so much better and had we not thought it was going to rain we would have waited to pick then. The kiddos had a great time pickin' and seeing the animals and running and playing. After that we headed to Reverend and Cookie's house for some wonderful southern hospitality. We ate and went to church, spent good time with them, then back up in the morning for more good food! After we left there we headed to Mercier's orchard to see all their goodies. We got our pumpkins there, then went to get pictures at Burt's Pumpkin Patch:) We did let the kiddos pick out little ones there. After that we were gonna head home but instead decided to go see the waterfalls at Amicalola falls. While Mick is still hurting from some "hiking" he did, it was an awesome site to behold and was well worth the 475 steps to see it. (Mick did it times two because being father of the year, he went and got the car from the top:)) Lesson learned for next year there. It was so awesome to spend a weekend enjoying all of God's creation. While we know every thing we have comes from the Lord, being able to remind Micah and SadieJane that God made the mountains, the apples, the pumpkins, and the waterfall was just an easy way to give Him praise. It is so clear and pure up there in the mountains. All things seem to point towards the Lord there. I didn't want our time there to end. But it did. I can not wait til next year!

Our Surprise 5K Runner...

Who is that you ask??

Wait for it...wait for it....

number 126~it isn't the Diabetes man...

It's my Dad...aka Budda!!!

So again another post for a select few. My Dad ran the 5K!!! For those that don't know my Dad this might seem not so monumental. But for those that do...I hear you laughing and can see the shock in your eyes:) What happened was...Mom had planned to walk the 1 Mile fun run with Hayden, then she wasn't feeling great so she said Dad could do it. Then they found out to get the shirt Dad had to be registered for the 5K. So instead of just going to get his goody bag while I ran...Dad showed up at the START line, next to me! He starts putting on his MP3 player and pretending he has a clue. I told him I was a little concerned and that he better walk the 3 miles. I mean, my mom has been walking it like crazy lately but Budda, he has been using the golf cart for long distances at the lake. So, 49 minutes later, there came Budda jogging out of the woods! All those in attendance could not believe their eyes! Hee hee. Seriously, I was so impressed and proud. Maybe by next year he'll run it WITH me and cut his time in half:) Way to go Daddy!!

Oh My Bird!

Ms. Jill giving the peptalk!

Micah and Pax showing their muscles.

and they were off!

And someone won first place!!

Paxton who is a whole year younger than Micah got third!! Pretty awesome!

Winning the 50 yard dash will really wear you out.

I figured this needed a full post. I apologize ahead of time for being that Momma, this is for Nana and Pops who weren't at the race...and the two other people who will suffer through it:) But this is my scrapbook as well as my blog so it must be done. Micah competed in his first ever competitive event. We didn't realize it but we really had no idea how Micah would do in a situation like this...I had already prepped him that unlike at home when he races SadieJane, he MIGHT not win. He said he was ok with that. But in those few moments where Micah ran that little dash I felt what I see in all those Momma's of kids Mick coaches and I was frightened and excited all at the same time. I was so happy for him to be competing but also wanting him to do his best. Wanting him to win, but not neccesarily wanting others to lose. It was just a weird first experience for me. Alas, he did win and he did show that he is definitely waaay more like his Daddy than his Momma in the competitive sense. I could see the relief on Mick's face:) Don't go thinking we would love him any less, we wouldn't. But it was neat seeing him do something, enjoy it, and be good at it. I'm not foreseeing a running future, I'm just excited he had such a fun first experience. To make it even better Paxton raced too and they both ended up with trophy's!!

J-Day a Family Race Event!!

SadieJane, Micah and I with JILL Bryson, she put the J in J-Day!

The race was in her honor!!

Megan and Aunt Amy came for support! (and maybe to watch Paxton:) hee hee)

Micahbird was ever patient waiting on his race!!

Here I am finishing my race.

SadieJane just wanted me to be DONE!

Hayden raced too...

and I ran with him to keep him moving!!

Last Sunday was a J-Day Family Fun Race. A dear friend of our families, who taught in our school system for 36 years has a race to raise funds for a scholarship in her name. I usually play tennis so I have to miss it, but since I've been running so much I really wanted to do the 5 K. So I did. Hayden raced in the 1 mile fun run and I thought it would be fun to warm up for my 5K by jogging with him...notsomuch. Hayden is apparently a sprinter and would run hard for about 30 seconds and then walk the majority! But he finished and I chased his booty to the finish line so I was proud of him for that! After that I ran my race and finished somewhere around 28 minutes. That isn't great for real people runners, but for me that was huge. We had a great time as a family and as you read above Budda and Micah also competed well!! We can't wait til next year!