Trick or Treat?

We had a great time trick or treating. The weather held out well enough for us to fill up half a treat basket. The only casualty of the night was our cat, Play-doh...Frank did not have a Halloween costume so he shaved the poor guy and, well, the picture says it all.

Happy Halloween!

Happy First Year, Alexandra

Hell is....

Target in Atlantic Station the Saturday before back-to-school.  What was I thinking?  Oh well, it could have been worse - I could have been at Walmart.  

What did we really need so badly?  Um, panties.  I had been noticing that Ariana was looking... well... uncomfortable lately, and finally I realized that the poor kid had been growing and needed me to upgrade her unmentionables.  So off to Target we go, and the whole time we're there, she's tugging at the ones she's wearing, and I am really ashamed for not noticing she had an issue sooner.  

Of course, when you go to Target for one thing, you immediately realize that everything you're running out of at home (and more) is sold at Target, so 1 hour later, I'm carrying Alexandra, and pushing one of those ginormous buggies that has side cars big enough for 12 kids.  Neither of my kids are in it.  I have a basket full of stuff and I can't find the panties.  I ask.  They are in a new section that I've never been in - full of little girl undergarments.  OK, so Ari is delighted to find they have a pack of 7 with each day of the week written on them, and Alexandra by this point is crawling around on the floor.  I'm amused too, but I have to get out of here.  So I round the corner to collect our Cart/SUV and there, just one aisle over, I find myself face to face with the training bras.  It's a wonder I didn't wake up at the ER.  Turns out the only thing you can't get at Target is a stiff drink.

At least my girls make everything fun....

Alexandra played with the panties for the rest of the afternoon....

Ariana and Alexandra making each other laugh.

Last Monday I started teaching Ariana to read.  I wasn't sure if it would go well, but so far it has been fantastic.  The material is not over her head and she's enjoying it and learning very well.  It's so rewarding for me!  She spent some time on Saturday teaching her Lion how to read.   I think he's catching on quickly too.  Here they are...

The summer drought has taken a few victims in the garden.  Lost a few perennial geraniums and a cushion spurge who managed to rot.  Here are some happier residents....

And instead of crying over the rotted spurge, I picked up a new silver spurge, called Shorty.  The little nest he's planted in is made up of Dragon's Blood sedum.  

We've Been Busy

First we got to meet the new baby.  

We all high-tailed it over to Tupelo to meet the new star of our family.  Reed Chase Henson.  Isn't he beautiful?  

Not only is he lucky to have such a terrific aunt, his big brothers are awesome.  William and Wes are so generous with the kisses and hugs for baby Reed.  Sweet Wes also gave Alexandra special attention too, bringing her toys to play with and patting (kind of like petting) her on the head.  Adorable.

Here is baby Reed with his mama, Laura.

Alexandra has her first go at pancakes, compliments of Chef Uncle Chase.  

Honey and her 3 handsome grandsons.  How many grandmothers get a grandson who can leap tall buildings in a single bound?  What luck!

Frank, Ari, and I with baby Reed.

We got to see my grandmama too.  Ariana and Alexandra loved seeing her, although getting Alexandra to sit still for a photo was just not in the cards.

Honey and G with 5 out of 7 grandbabies.  Mom & Dad - Good luck getting anything usable for your Christmas card this year.

Alexandra checking the performance of her investments with her Godfather, Uncle C.  Actually she's probably wondering what the newspaper tastes like.

Back to Atlanta -

We all went out to dinner at the Flying Biscuit and had a blast.  Last time the 4 of us went out, Alexandra almost got us kicked out of a "family joint" for all of her squealing.  We braved it again & turns out she's ready for fine dining.  All we needed to keep the girls entertained were two straws and some tap water.  We have discovered that Alexandra's tastes are very grown-up and she's already snubbing the kid's menus.   She wanted our food. 

The next day was Papa's birthday.  Here he is with his little babes.  Ariana couldn't stop licking the candles long enough to look at the camera.

One of Papa's presents....

The upright Sedum is coloring up now and turning a soft and pretty pink.  See the fountain in the background?

What a beauty!  Her name is Lola and you can see how she glows.  Her flowers weren't even opening when I got her, and she was still a knockout.  She's a large rosette and is making about six babies if anyone wants a stunning succulent.

Papa left for London yesterday.  I didn't know if I was allowed to mention it before (all 6 of my readers already know anyway), but he sold the business he has been running.  Huge congratulations to Frank, we can't wait to confiscate your passport!

If you've read this far, you must be exhausted... and I'm definitely going to bed!  

Never Too Young for Good Hygiene

We were all really happy to have Ariana back home this week, especially Alexandra.  I think Ariana missed us too.  Maybe a little.  Just a tiny bit?

Ariana had such a good time with Honey and G that she came home and asked me if she could move in with them when she grew up.  I told her she could and I'm thinking I will too since they had donuts, ice cream, brownies, an oreo Blizzard, and a few rounds of pizza.

Alexandra is too little to dive into a DQ Blizzard yet, but while Ariana was gone, she stopped eating baby food completely.  All of a sudden she eats salmon, mushrooms, pesto rice, salsa, guacamole, goat cheese, arugula... basically whatever we're eating, she wants it.  At least she's brushing between meals.

Guess we'll be taking her out for tacos soon.

Papa's Home so Bring out the Cake

We got our papa back again this week, but before he arrived on Wednesday we started the week off with two visits to the doctor's office for Alexandra's fever.  The test results revealed a UTI so we reluctantly hit the milestone "baby's first round of antibiotics".  She's doing much better now & her fever is gone, which is a huge relief.    Here she is waiting for her exam...

Ariana comes to every doctor's appointment that Alexandra has - she is so fascinated with doctors that she actually likes going in for her shots.  She always takes her own doctor's kit and "fixes up" the ubiquitous lion.  She watches the pediatrician like a hawk and performs every step of the exam with her own instruments on her own patient.  It's so cute!

The camp theme at Ariana's school last week was "Superheroes".  Here she is in her Super A cape.  Also she came home with a mask and homemade gadget.  Not sure what it's supposed to do, but I'd be really impressed if it could clean the kitchen on its own.  That's what I call a Superpower.  

Super A giving Super Papa a welcome home smooch.

Here she is in her mortal disguise, wearing the pretty nightgown Honey made for her & ready for a chocolate chip pancake breakfast.

Super A has recently added swimming to her list of super powers.  We are very proud of her!

Alexandra at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, discovering what a living lawn feels like.

Yesterday we celebrated my birthday again cause Mama knows how to milk it.  Ariana made the pancakes this time with some instruction from Papa.

Alexandra enjoying the shade.

Papa helped Ariana and Alexandra get a present for me.... This gorgeous bird bath.  Maybe one day I'll get a photo of the daddy cardinal on it.

Ariana carried the cake.  I'm glad her shoelaces were tied.

Playdoh photographs the whole family at the table.

I received yet another beautiful gift.  A very handsome man showed up to install it...

It's a water fountain from Frank.  It makes such a soothing noise & isn't it stunning?  I love it!  Honey and G gave me these adorable bumble bee lights for my birthday and they are in the gardenia bushes behind the fountain.  I'll have to try for a photo as dusk sometime.

Ariana dictated a note to Papa, which he wrote on my birthday card.  Enjoy... "Mama - I love you.  And thank you for making two nice daughters.  When Alexandra gets old, she will get so many spankings she won't even believe it.  We love Willie (Nelson).  We all have children in the whole world.  We were outside getting dirty making soup.  New dirt for us.  We all eat at the same time.  We are sorry for going in "time out" two times.  Love, Ariana & Alexandra"

Do I sound like a meanie or what?  But just to be clear, it was Ariana in "time out" 2 times, not Alexandra.  Ariana must be ready for Alexandra to get what she thinks is coming to her.  The kid has only had one spanking in the last 10 months, but clearly it was memorable.

This is my sometimes blue sometimes purple hardy geranium, Rozanne.

Here are some of the succulents again, thinking they've died and gone to heaven with all of this sunshine.

Thanks to my wonderful family for a very special birthday, especially Frank who made it all happen.  Ariana just left the house for a week in Mississippi with Honey and G.  She was so excited, not the least bit hesitant.  Dropped me like a dead fish.  I'll miss her though.  It will be way too quiet around here without my little sunshine!