Birthday Party

Last weekend we had a joint birthday party for the girls. I figured it would be easier to just have 1 party since their birthdays are so close together. They might be opposed to this idea when they are older, but it was much easier for me.

I decided to have a halloween themed party... complete with plenty of orange and black, pumpkins and ghosts. The kids wore their costumes and looked really cute.

We started out with craft time and decorated foam pumpkins and their goody bags.

Then we moved on to a bean bag toss game and a cake walk.

Had a little break in action and ate lunch.

This is probably where I should note that I am so grateful my mom and sister Ashley came. Ashley made all the food and was "working" the whole time during the party. The kids ate nuggets, carrots, manadrian oranges. And Ash made a great chilli for the adults. My mom had decorated the house.

After lunch was PRESENTS! Emily definitely understood presents this year. She was begging to open them the minute the kids started to arrive. She just torn into all the presents. We will have to hold her back on Sarah's actual birthday and let Sarah get a chance to open her own presents from the family.

Then we had a ghost "cupcake" cake. I didn't really do this either. My mom took care of decorating the ghost. I did make the cupcakes though.

The big 1 year old! (almost 1... she has a few weeks left)

I tried to get some pictures of the kids in their cute costumes, but you know how that goes..

And here is me and 1 of the birthday girls. Emily was all over the place and wouldn't sit still for a picture.

Thanks again to my great sister (and her husband) for making the drive down here. Emily loved having her cousins at her party and I definitely NEEDED Ash here. She was a life saver. I had everything planned out and organized in my head and had bought everything I needed, I just needed someone to pull it all together for me. Oh, and she put together the cute little headband for Sarah's outfit. Too cute.

Thanks to our friends that came over to make it a special day for my girls. We really appreciated it and Emily just loves all her friends and was so excited to have them all over for her party.

NC State Fair

Last week Andy took a day off work and we went to the state fair. We wanted to go during the week, so it wouldn't be as crowded. It was still pretty crowded, but there wasn't much of a wait at the rides. Which was really good, since Emily wanted to ride EVERYTHING! We were shocked at how fearless she was.

We stopped by and saw the animals too. She was not interested in feeding the animals at the petting zoo, nor did she want to milk the cow. But she did pet both!

And don't you worry, Sarah was there for the ride too. She chilled/slept in the stroller for most of the time. Then Andy carried her in the front pack because Emily was worn out by the end of the evening. She was asleep in the strollerbefore we even got to the car.

I was so proud of Emily for being so brave and wanting to ride everything. Andy doesn't enjoy rides, so I am glad I have a little buddy that will ride with me!

Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend we went to Hill Ridge Farms for Keck's birthday party. Emily had a BLAST and could have stayed there all day. The highlight was the pony rides. Back in July, she freaked out and refused to ride the pony when we were at a July 4th event. But she did not even hesitate to jump on this time. She was very adamant about wanting to ride the white pony.

Simon was there too, so that always means FUN! These two are quite a pair.

Don't you just love this cute little hat? (Walmart!) I just might have to go back for the white one.

The hayride took us to the PUMPKIN PATCH! Sarah was pretty excited about that.

OK, it may seem like A LOT of pictures, but really this is nothing compared to how many we actually took. However we never took the time to get a family picture. :(

Andy could have taken pictures of Sarah sitting in the patch all day long. She was so content and smiley.

Late Night with ROY!

Friday night we continued our annual tradition of going to Late Night with Roy at the Dean Dome. (OK, we did miss last year because I was on bed rest while pregnant with Sarah.) For you, Non Tarheel fans, Late Night with Roy is a pep rally to kick off the official beginning of basketball season.

We were worried about how the girls would handle everything, but they did GREAT! Emily hated the fireworks, of course. Yes, they shoot fireworks in the Dean Dome. They just shoot out from the basketball goal each time a player is introduced. Emily's head was buried the whole time during that. But she loved watching all the dancing. And is still talking about the girls dancing ("cheerleaders").





The "boys in blue" breaking it down!

ROY and the rest of the coaches

Andy and Emily were in heaven -- tarheel blue heaven, to be exact.

Anoop was there too, but he couldn't sing due to his contract.

Michelle came with us, which was lots of fun for me! I have no idea what Sarah is doing in this picture... maybe blowing kisses to the basketball team.