Halloween Festivities

The Halloween festivities have begun!  I love this time of year and all of the fun things that go along with it.  I used to love dressing my kids up in coordinating costumes, but this year they all had different ideas about what they wanted to be, so we went with it.

Hudson couldn't decide between a ninja, a Ninja Turtle, a pirate or some random costume he saw at Costco that he couldn't even tell me what it was.  He finally decided on the pirate costume and he looked adorable for his school party yesterday.

Yesterday afternoon the girls got to wear their costumes to dance.  Handley is her idol, Taylor Swift, and was going crazy over getting to wear red lipstick and have her sparkly microphone.  :-)  Harper wanted to be a cat this year and loved her whiskers.

This morning the first graders got to participate in an "I Love a Book" parade.  They dress like a character from a book they love and parade around the whole school.  It's so fun to see how creative everyone gets, even the teachers!

This evening we have pumpkin carving on the schedule and tomorrow after a full day of games we can't wait for trick-or-treating!

Taylor Swift: 1989 Concert

This past weekend the girls and I got to go to the Taylor Swift concert here in Atlanta and I don't even know if I can put into words how amazing the experience was.

Both girls are pretty in love with Taylor Swift, but Handley is totally overboard.  She listens to her music non-stop, writes down every word to her songs, reads books about her, lip syncs in the mirror and is even being Taylor Swift for Halloween!

We had been looking forward to this night for months and months and could not believe that it was finally here! Since this was their first concert they really didn't know what to expect.  I showed them some videos from her previous concerns to they could kind of "get" that we would be far away from her and not on the first row!!!  I also helped them make posters on Friday night and they worked so hard trying to make them perfect.

We had so much fun getting ready together, fixing our hair, me putting make-up on them, and the girls modeling their outfits.  We took a few quick pictures outside before we left and I had butterflies just thinking about how much fun the night would be for them.

Because we knew traffic and parking would be really tough, my friend that was also going with us arranged for transportation to and from the concert. What the girls didn't know was that a limo would be our ride for the night.  When it showed up at our house they were both beside themselves.

The ride downtown was fun for them and as we got closer and closer to the stadium we saw tons of people who had already parked and started walking and that made us even more excited.  After the limo dropped us off we warned the kids of the big crowds and encouraged them to hold hands and stay together so we wouldn't loose anyone!

Entering the stadium was like sensory overload for the girls.  They wanted to look at everything.  People dressed up in costumes, light-up posters everywhere, souvenir booths, and lots of Taylor fans everywhere you turned.  We made our way to the suite where our tickets were and they enjoyed eating while we waited.

Shawn Mendes was the first opening act and he did great.  We love his song "Stitches" and had fun dancing along to it.  Vance Joy was the next act and he was a great singer too, but we were all just so excited for Taylor Swift that it was hard to wait.  I took the girls during this time to pick out a souvenir and they each got a t-shirt and a key chain for their backpacks.

When it was finally time for Taylor to come on stage the place went crazy and I don't think people stopped singing and screaming the rest of the night.  Her stage was amazing, her dancers were amazing, her costumes were amazing and the singing was amazing.  It was all over the top and fun and theatrical and had such a WOW factor.

One really neat thing about the show were these light up bracelets.  Everyone received one and as soon as Taylor came on stage they started lighting up.  I have no idea how the technology works that controls these, but they would chance colors, light up to the beats of the music and it was so cool to look around and see everyone waving their lights.  Taylor even mentioned that because of these bracelets she could see every single person there...all 56,000 of us.  Even the people sitting at the very top of the stadium could be seen by her because of the light and that each and everyone of them were important to her because they chose to spend their evening at her show.

In between some of the songs she would talk to the audience and really try to connect with her fans.  You can tell she is a very authentic and real person who has a great heart and uses her fame in such a good way.  She was talking to all of these young fans and encouraging them to not let others determine their happiness.  She said, "The thing that is better than being cool is being happy." I loved that and loved her positive messages throughout the night.

The concert was really fantastic and the whole evening was so special.  Watching the girls' excitement and awe the entire time was what really made the night for me.  When a new song would begin or when their bracelets started glowing or when the stage would move...every single thing was magical.  We sang and danced our hearts out together the whole time and having that fun together was so special.  It was definitely a night I will always remember.

When the show was over I asked Little Mama what she thought and she answered, "It was more fun that I could have ever imagined."  What more could I want than that answer?!?!

Just as the show was ending we look over and see none other than Trey and Stefanie!  We knew they were going to be there, but couldn't believe that we actually saw them and ended up running into them on our way out.  :-) 

Camping

Last weekend Jen and I had a girls getaway for a little blogger meet-up in Las Vegas!  We had the best time meeting with some wonderful ladies that we felt like we already knew, but it was so nice to put a face with a profile picture in real life.

While we were doing that Robby had the kids for the weekend.  He had planned to take them camping and they were all so excited.  The weather was going to be a little chilly, but they decided to go for it and were so happy that they went.

From the sound of it, everyone had fun, even Walker!  They crossed little streams in the truck, set up in a perfect spot, made s'mores and even visited Waffle House the next morning.

While I had fun on my trip, I was so excited to come home and Monday was spent doing just what I love.  I wore my workout clothes all day, drove carpool, made a grocery store run, helped with homework and watched Harper score two amazing goals in her soccer game.

Pumpkin Patch

Today was our annual trip to the pumpkin patch.  It's one of my favorite outings we do all year.  This year we decided to try out a smaller pumpkin patch that was closer to our house and it was still just as much fun for the kids and way less crowded than some of the other bigger ones.  

Shortly after we got there we ran into some friends and the kids couldn't believe it!  Hudson was so excited to see them!  

There were animals, a tractor, some cute attractions and then of course the famous hayride!  

After that we took a look at all of the pumpkins and loved seeing the different varieties.  I love a good orange pumpkin, but these colorful ones were so unique and we all loved them, too!

We selected a variety of pumpkins and then let the kids each pick a small one, too!

It was a fun afternoon adventure and then we stopped for BBQ on the way home.  The kids were excited to get home and put our pumpkins out on the porch.  Now we just need some fall flowers and we will be all set!

Random Ramblings from this week!

This past week was National Walk To School Day and while we live too far away and on too busy of a road to walk from home, I drove and parked in a nearby neighborhood so the girls could still participate.  They thought it was so much fun!  

Hudson had seen some of his friends playing a game that he just thought was the coolest thing ever and I finally downloaded it for him and the girls.  Oh my.  They are obsessed with the game and Hudson informed me the other day that his new game was "efic."  I'm guessing that meant epic.

Then later that evening he was so excited Robby got home early so he could go out and help with the yard work. Like father, like son.

On Friday afternoon Harper was so excited to get home off the bus and show me that she got to bring home their class mascot, Wally the Whale.  He got to go on all sorts of adventures over the weekend with us and then we are supposed to take pictures and write about his weekend with us.  His first adventure was a playdate with Harper's sweet friend and a golf cart ride!

Later that night Trey and Stefanie came over for a last minute dinner.  It was so nice to have the cousins all together playing and having fun!

Saturday was a busy day!  We went to the preschool fall festival, then to Handley's cheerleading game while Hudson and Robby were at Hudson's soccer game.  Handley's team did awesome and won another one and of course the cute cheerleaders did a great job!

Hudson and Robby showed up just as the game was ending and I was SO excited to get the recap from Hudson's game.  He ran up and said, "Mommy!  I got to goals and a ring pop!" He was probably more excited about the ring pop than the goals.

Gigi and Papa came to watch Harper and Hudson play soccer a few weeks ago and this week it was their time to come watch Handley cheer!  The kids were all so happy to see them.

After that we were off to the elementary school fall festival.  The kids thought it was fun because we got to park at a nearby park and take the school bus shuttle to the festival.

Harper was thrilled to run into her teacher there!  And of course we had Wally the Whale with us, too!

We came home and did a little modeling shot with the girls and caught up on the disappointing football game.  Our Dawgs just can't seem to get a win these past few weeks.  These girls were looking super cute though.  The girls just love any chance to be a "model" for our Magnolia Mamas blog and this day was no different.  They were coming up with all sorts of "poses" to show me.  :-)