Halloween Fun

Lots of Halloween activities took place in our household during the month of October. During the month we were able to fit in 8 soccer games, 3 field trips, 3 birthday parties, 2 Halloween School Carnivals and 2 Church Fall Festivals! I guess that sentence alone explains the neglect my blog has experienced. Hope this will catch you up on the lives of our M&Ms!

The girls had a "sliding" good time at Morgan's school carnival!

Merritt really wanted to beat her sister in the obstacle course! I guess Garden Fairies should be more concerned about undergarments!

More "sliding" fun at Merritt's school's Carnival!

Halloween Carnival games are the best!

But the prizes are even better! Merritt had more fun with these teeth!

The girls handed out candy at our church's Fall Festival! They had a lot of fun participating in the annual "Trunk or Treat!"

Pony rides at Mumsie and Poppa's church's Fall festival!

And a petting zoo!

Supergirl squeezes in her 50th consecutive violin practice!

Our first trick-or-treating stop was Mumsie and Poppa's neighborhood.

Couldn't miss a stop at Miss Jo's!

We ended the night at GranMe and Poppy's for more candy and some LSU football! Whew! What a month!

Oompa-Loompa Doompadee-Doo

Oompa-Loompa Doompadee-Doo! I've got a perfect puzzle for you!

Oompa-Loompa Doompadee-Doo! How many Oompas are living with me?

Scott and I are the proud parents of two Oompa Loompas or Yoompa Yoompas as Merritt likes to call them! Merritt will perform in her first play the day after Christmas in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Morgan's 3rd play! Rehearsals have already begun and the girls are excitedly awaiting their costumes and dancing responsibilities! It should make for a fun-filled holiday!

I Want a Golden Ticket!

Last night Morgan and Merritt auditioned for Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory! This will be Morgan's 3rd production but Merritt's first! Both auditions went well. Merritt sang Ring Around the Roses and Morgan chose her favorite stand-by, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Both girls came out of the audition room with grins so that made Momma happy!

Morgan wants to be a girl in the candy shop and Merritt is hoping for a "talking" part! She has big aspirations! Momma's hoping for Oompa Loompas but regardless of the role will be proud of both her aspiring actresses!

Stay tuned for the cast list next week......

I Would "I Do" Again!

Today marks 12 years of marriage for me and Scott! Wow! On one hand it seems like yesterday and on the other it's a lifetime ago! We celebrated it with our girls at church, lunch and then hanging out at home! Couldn't have asked for more! We'll squeeze the romantic dinner in sometime!

Scott, I would be lying to you if I said that I loved you as much as I did on our wedding day! I love you much more than that and in so many new ways! 12 years ago I had no idea what a fantastic father you would be, diligent provider, fun roommate, beach buddy, travel companion, tough back gammon opponent, and the list goes on! I knew I loved you but I never dreamed it would only get better!

Many things have changed since Saturday, October 18, 1997. We are living in our third home now with 2 more roommates. We are PTA members, soccer coaches, violin teachers, carpool queens and role models! For someone who never imagined life after 25, it's been an incredible ride! We have new dear friends in our life while maintaining special friendships with those that celebrated our union with us. We have lost some dear family members but gained new ones through other marriages and births.

I don't know what the future holds but I do know that with you by my side I can handle the lows and will enjoy the highs! I love you!

A Hoopin' Good Time

Monday, October 12th was GranMe's birthday. I won't tell you her age but if she were a workin' girl, she could have retired Monday! We surprised her by meeting her at her favorite restaurant, Chianti's. One the way there I explained to the girls that this was a nice restaurant. In fact, it is the place where Momma and Daddy met and later the place where Daddy asked Momma to marry him. Morgan replied, "It's a special place to you, right?" I told her it was and then a small voice from the very back of the car said, "Did you say, yes?" Yes, sweet innocent Merritt, Momma said yes! Logical and analytical Morgan went on to explain to her that if Momma had not said yes, she wouldn't be here!


The girls had wonderful manners until Merritt discovered her inner talent of hanging a spoon from her nose!
Morgan had to give it a try too! GranMe decided she should try too but I was laughing so hard I didn't get a picture! The art of spoon hanging must be only for the young ones, GranMe was not as successful!

After dinner we headed to our house for GranMe's favorite, coconut cream pie from Strawn's. While the coffee was brewing, Morgan asked GranMe to listen to her violin practice. She surprised her with "Happy Birthday!" Morgan learned it on her own in less than two days! She's becoming quite the violin player!

I think GranMe was quite pleased and proud! It was the 6th Happy Birthday rendition of the day but the only one on violin!

Merritt decided to show off her hula hoop talents which quickly turned into a hula hoop contest!

Morgan shows off her hoopin' talents!

GranMe gets an 'A' for effort!


Poppy takes the prize for least coordinated efforts! We've never seen hips and hula hoops go in complete opposite directions! Thanks for the laughs, Poppy!

Big Tex and Mary Poppins

Saturday we headed to the Texas State Fair via DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit). I felt like we were headed to Broadway via the New York Subway! The girls had a good time on the train even though we had to stand due to the number of passengers!


Big Tex, so good to see you again! It's been too long! We took the girls to the Texas State Fair this weekend mainly to see Mary Poppins. What a thrill it was for me to introduce the girls to Big Tex! I think they were impressed!

After meeting Big Tex, the next stop was the Midway! We told the girls they could pick out a few rides and I was amazed at their choices! Their first choice was a dragon roller coaster that I was lucky enough to "have" to ride with Merritt because she wasn't tall enough to ride alone!

The next stop was "The Tower of Terror!" Just kidding! I'm sure it had a happier, friendlier name but to a momma of two sweet girls it looked like "The Tower of Terror!"

Look how high it went! Higher than the gondola ride! I was a nervous wreck!

What a relief to see two smiles! I knew Morgan would love it but not so sure about Merritt!

Next stop, looking at the museums on the fair ground site! The girls were happy to see this woolly mammoth! Reminded them of Manny from Ice Age.

Our final destination was Mary Poppins! I'm not sure who had the most fun, the adults or the girls! It was an incredible show; full of magic! It's like Cats, I could see it again and again!

It's Revel Time!

Merritt's class went on their annual trip to the Red River Revel Arts Festival. Mrs. Bryan luckily scheduled it between rain storms and we were able to get the trip in! Despite the humidity, fun was had by all!

The grocery store tent sported new shopping carts this year! Perfect replicas of momma's cart! The children were really excited! Merritt stuck to her list, never deviating, unlike her momma!

After much fun, music, story-telling, icees, sand art and face painting, we headed back to school!

Thanks to Mumsie, Poppa and Poppy for joining the fun! A return trip was enjoyed by Morgan, Merritt and Mumsie and Poppa. Momma fit a turkey leg shift in supporting Morgan's school but due to the rainy weather not as much revelling was done this year! See you in October, Revel!