Spooktacular 2008

A Halloween 2008 preview. Tonight we dressed the boys up and went to "Spooktacular" at our gym. They had costume contests, rock walls, trick or treating, inflatables, train rides, and lots of games. It was nice and cool outside so it was the perfect fall evening.



Introducing our little puppy dog...

And Lightning McQueen the race car driver himself...

My boys...aren't I a lucky girl!

This little puppy dog was playing on the inflatable slide and rolling down it.

They had a trick or treat village that was set up like miniature buildings and the kids went around with their baskets. It was a cute idea!

Jackson climbing the inflatable slide...there were too many "big kids" and he was getting pushed out of the way....on to the train rides and games.

Charlie was walking (well, trying to in his costume and he fell). He left behind his cute little handprint on the ground and got a skinned up nose :(

Waiting in the looooong line for a train ride...

Jackson kept talking in his radio to his "pretend" whoever.....he LOVES his costume!

They had a bug station set up from the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans and had some crazy looking, nasty bugs....Jackson didn't want to touch any of them and neither did I! Moving on...quickly.

Gone fishin' and won a sticker!

We finally got to take a train ride after 15 minutes in line waiting. Our camera man was the "train driver" (obviously a teenager) and he was texting on his phone the whole time while driving our precious cargo around the parking lot. I was annoyed....

The boys had fun and we were glad that we got to do this because James and I aren't going to be in town for Halloween next weekend so we have to rely on Grandma and friends to take the boys trick or treating.

A Kid-Free Weekend

And boy was it NICE. My friend, Julie got married this past weekend in Destin....and we got to sneak away for 4 glorious days. All of my girlfriends were there (as you'll see in the pictures) and we had a blast. This was the first time since before Charlie was born that we have gone away by ourselves, and after this weekend, we remember how important it is for us to do it more often....and I think we will!


My friend Ronni and me :)
(preggers) Lindsey, Michelle, Ronni and me
Ray (Lindsey's husband), Nick (the Groom), and James (the love of my life:)

Here we all are...(not the greatest picture) with Julie. I went to high school with all of these girls and we have been close ever since. Such a blessing all of them are to me!
This little horseshoe charm is a TRADITION started at my wedding. My mom bought this for me to carry in my bouquet and since I've decided to pass it down to each of my girlfriends when they got married. Kim was after me, then Lindsey and now Julie. Three more to go! It's such a special little thing that we're doing and more sentimental than anything.
Katie, Lindsey, Kim, Bert (Michelle)
The view from the porch of the ceremony site. It was a beautiful wedding and perfect weather. Crouching tiger hidden cutie....

Julie's nieces.....they are precious!
Daddy Huck and Julie....I love how he is looking at her. sweet.
The ceremony. Short and sweet. As all of them should be :

Alas! Mr. and Mrs. Nick Curry....Congrats!!
Steve, James, Ray....football on their minds.
Ronni, Michelle, Me
The Bride has arrived in our hotel room. It seemed to be the gathering spot of all of us this weekend. I brought the Ipod docking station....dance party anyone??
I realized there were hardly any pics of the two of us together. So we tried to take one ourselves.....didn't work out too well. Someone's a camera HOG!

Lindsey and James

Michelle, Me, Lindsey...At dinner Sunday night. We stayed at The Destin Beachside Inn and they had a surprisingly amazing restaurant and sushi bar inside the hotel. We ate there for many meals. The food was excellent at the reception and the sushi was some of the best I've had.
Everyone lined up at the sushi bar waiting for some rolls! Michelle, Lindsey, Kim, Katie Lindsey, Ray, James and I drove to Destin from our house and got there around noon on Friday. Everyone had already congregated at the beach, so that's where we headed. The guys decided to go golfing that afternoon and us girls laid on the beach then went to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in Destin at Beach Walk Cafe, which was only about a block away! Julie and Nick were having a "poolside" welcome from 7-9 that evening and it worked out perfectly for us to grab some dinner before it began. We dined outdoors mostly...till the wind picked up and we all got cold and moved indoors.

James and us girls at the "poolside" welcome. (Michelle: No one looks meloncholy in this picture:)
Michelle and me...I'm trying to keep my massive bagel sandwich out of the picture. (I see that didn't happen).

Sunday morning Lindsey and Ray, and James and me, were scheduled to have couples massages. James and Ray decided a round of golf would be more fun...so they backed out. But that was ok because Ronni and Michelle took their places and us girls spent the morning at the spa together. It was relaxing and fun. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me :(

When we got back to the hotel, everyone had gathered at O'Quigley's Sports Bar to watch the Steeler game. I've never seen so many Steeler fans in Florida....it was great. Sunday night turned into one of those surprisingly fun nights. It started out with sushi for dinner at the hotel. Everyone was dragging and tired from the weekend. (One telltale sign that we are getting OLD). So we were tossing around ideas for something to do that night. Most of us wanted to just put comfy clothes on and lounge around....but one brilliant mind came up with going across the street to Hard Rock Cafe. There was a Books-A-Million store next door so the girls decided to buy a board game and we played it in Hard Rock while the guys watched a baseball game. It was SO fun!!! They had to kick us out of there so that they could close. (Just in case you're wondering, the game we bought was "I never" which made for some interesting conversation!!!)

Ronni and myself...again.
Here we all are, again. Me, Lindsey, Kim, Katie, Michelle, Ronni after the wedding. Over the years we have SO many pictures of all of us girls. I'd like to make a photo album of just pictures of all of us posed just like this....they would fill up an album, I'm sure of it.
Michelle, Ronni, Julie's Dad, (Bill), and myself. It was cold and rainy that night. But Daddy Huck kept us warm :)
Thank you girls for such a fun weekend. Same time and place next year anyone??

The BIG 3-0!

Oh no, it wasn't my birthday. I've still got two loooong years before I hit 30. Today is James' 30th birthday! We began the celebration on Saturday night with a surprise dinner party at Keith Young's Steakhouse. It was an intimate party of 8 and James was SO surprised! We got to sit in the wine room which was beautiful, and the LSU game was on right around the corner in the bar.

Micah and James. As always, his phone was ringing off the hook...


Me and my hubby :)




Here we all are. It was such a fun night. And I LOVE a good surprise!

Today my mom and I were workhorses. I am serious when I say we didn't sit down once, except for lunch or in the car. It was a busy day. First of all, we decided to "organize" the playroom. We went to Target and bought shelves and baskets and everything one might need to organize the plethora of toys the boys possess. I didn't take a pic, but I will try to post one soon. Then we made James' THIRD birthday cake (sheesh) and his birthday dinner while cleaning the house (because my friends Lindsey & Ray are coming into town tomorrow from Pa and staying with us til we all go to Destin on Friday) and my house had been overtaken with dog and cat hair and it's out of control. I am pooped. We had Shrimp and Grits for dinner and it was o so yummy. And I made a from scratch coconut cake that was (and still is) to die for since there's half a cake sittin in the kitchen screamin' my name...Jackson told James that he needed a chainsaw birthday cake. I almost called my friend Tracey, the cake queen, for some chainsaw birthday cake tips, but decided I had squeezed enough into my day already. I gotta go to bed. Happy Birthday my love!

A Southern Pumpkin Festival

Since my mom is in town, and we didn't get to go to the REEGER's Pumpkin Festival this year (BIG frowny face), we loaded up the kids and went to the Red Bluff Farm Pumpkin Festival . It was about 20 minutes north of where we live and I guess you could say it was worth the drive....it was no REEGER's Pumpkin Festvial though...

Charlie found some pumpkins and let me have a little photo op session.

So did Jackson!
We all had on our LSU gear for the game Saturday night

I don't want to talk about it...big letdown:(

Jackson grinded the kernels off the corn cob.

And this is his friend, NICK, who thought it was pretty fun too!

the boys eyed up this bright red tractor from across the way and "drove" it for a while

Then it was on to the petting zoo area where we found pigs, goats and peeps running around.

I couldn't help myself when I found this pretty patch of purple flowers. Charlie didn't feel like passing out smiles though...

Charlie and Aunt Lana...I'm telling you, we ALL had on our LSU garb!

I love sunflowers...

And I LOVE this sweet baby face.
This "photo op" didn't work out so well. I have a scary feeling that this is going to be a preview of what the 2008 Gilmore Christmas photo is going to be like. Lots of candy will have to be passed out to get a certain 3 year old to cooperate....You'll see come December...

Jackson and Nick found this cool teepee and played for a little while.
This is Nick's sweet baby brother, Alex.

They were running....
Here's where the morning went sour. We waited and waited and waited for a stinkin' hayride. Kids got antsy, babies were crying, adults were hot. We ended up aborting the mission and went for lunch then home for naps. Thanks for meeting us there Beth! At least the boys got to run around and play for a little while!
I love my babies feet. I love to kiss their sweet (clean) feet. I hate adult feet. I don't want to touch them (even James' feet). But I do LOVE my babies feet.
Chunky monkey takin a walk waiting for the hayride that never was...
It was a good morning. I'm glad my mom and sister were there....I wasn't too interested in anything but my bed that morning. But the boys had fun. And they were outside which is always right up their alley! And WHY did it have to be so stinkin' hot?? I wish we were at the farm.