Trick or Treat!

As we usually do, we spent Halloween nite celebrating with Jeremy's family. I love their tradition of a Halloween party, and last nite's was as much fun as it always is. Though Jones, inexplicably, wanted NO part of being in the "cousins" picture (see right), he did okay  trick or treating (and he ONLY did "okay," because I told him there'd BE no treats if he didn't act sweet and say, "Thank you" to everyone).

If he was a little stand-offish, as we walked around Academy Street, Freddie was Mr. Halloween, helping himself to hands full from any candy bowl someone stuck in his path. One of my favorite parts of watching him walk around with his daddy was seeing him drag - literally - his candy bucket beside him. Jones was also VERY concerned about keeping custody of his "punkin buckt."

Though we are admittedly still in the stage where the hustle and bustle of holidays can be a little bit of a headache, I can definitely see us turning the corner and getting to the point where the boys' joy WAY outweighs the hassle of trying so hard to make things happy.

A new (holi)day dawns!

Farmer Jones & Freddie Bear

This time last year, I read a blog post saying that, to get really good Halloween pictures, you should take your tiny tricksters to a location that's appropriate for the characters of their costumes. That's why Hoss & Little Jones Cartwright ended up at the Ponderosa-like Cataloochee Ranch last October.

This year, the "location" shoots were held at Riverview Farm & Garden and in the cabin area of the Lake Logan Episcopal Center.

"Farmer Jones" came from the fact that Jones is obsessed with tractors and farming AND from the fact that the Little Golden Book "The Animals of Farmer Jones" is one of his favorite books. I bought his copy at McKay's in Knoxville when Leslie and I went used book shopping a few months before Jones was born. It's a book that I had as a little girl. In fact, there's a picture of a 3 year old me sitting at our kitchen table in Greenup, KY, holding the book in front of my face and my VERY LARGE head of unkempt hair. Because of that, I've been wanting to get a picture of Jones reading it, too.

The origin of "Freddie Bear" is pretty obvious. I figure next year, he and Jones will have been around long enough to know what Halloween is all about, so I'm assuming this is my last chance to come up with their costumes for them. That's why I thought it'd be a good idea to squeeze in a Freddie Bear costume, just because it's too perfect for a little Bear named Freddie, and because there's NO WAY he'll ever pick it for himself. We also own a Little Golden Book called "Freddie Bear," and though I love the fact that there's a Little Golden Book link to go along with the fact that both of their costumes were plays on their names, the truth is that we hadn't even heard of the "Freddie Bear" book until AFTER we'd picked their costumes.

Speaking of which, here they are!

That harmonica in his pocket caused
something of a wardrobe malfunction at
a Fall Festival we went to on Friday nite.
A friend gave it to me for the boys,
and Jones fell in love with it. As we walked
out of the festival, he tried to put it in his
front pocket but ended up putting it
down the bib of his overalls instead,
so we had to basically do the
hokey pokey to get it to fall out
of his pant leg.

Hymn of the Month

"Psalm 103," by Kevin Inafuku

Pre-Halloween

On October 30, the boys and I met Jeremy for a Halloween party at the Folkmoot Center in Waynesville. It was a little too sophisticated for the boys - we weren't there five minutes before leaving to get Bojangles for dinner - but they loved hanging out at Daddy's office before hand - and meeting Ms. Denise's dog, Valor.

Also, here is a video of Farmer Jones playing his harmonica and then sticking in the wrong "pocket." You're welcome.

Photos of Frederick

Here are some pictures of my favorite Freddie Bear, as well as a video in which you can see how he's gotten confused by all of Jones's birthday celebrations!

(Obviously, Freddie's not even TWO yet, but since he's a LOT more "two" than he is "one," I'm just going with it.)

Freddie LOVES his daddy's new car,
which he calls "MY car."

Happy Anniversary to Daddy & Mama!

For our fourth anniversary, Jeremy and I went to Linville, NC, to spend a nite at the Eseeola Lodge, known better to Jeremy as a place where Bobby Jones spent many of his summers (so where else WOULD we go?!?). Jeremy tried to surprise me with the trip. Little did we know how hard it is to surprise a super sleuth like me. 

Though Jones's birthday celebrations meant we celebrated the weekend AFTER our anniversary, it was an amazing weekend at an amazing place. The leaves were pretty much at peak color, and the weather was picture perfect - cool enough to need a sweater but not cold and coat-worthy. It just felt like a textbook "fall" 24 hours. 

As we drove around the Linville Golf Club - where Jeremy played his first round in 18 months - I thought to myself, "I am SO thankful we got married in the fall, because every year that we celebrate, it will look like this outside."

I am also so thankful that Jeremy has a taste for the finer things; I tease him all the time about having "Sea Island taste and a Myrtle Beach budget," but he has taken me - who'd been to a lot of amazing places (thanks, Mom & Daddy!) - to some of the best spots I've ever seen. 

The Eseeola Lodge is definitely among them. The dinner, for one thing, was one of the top five dining experiences I've ever had. It may actually be top two. Plus, it was fun to HAVE to get dressed up for the first time - maybe since our wedding. 

And the macaroons ...

Let's just say we accidentally spent $40 on 9 cookies. Here's how it happened: at dinner, the people at the table across from us were eating something for dessert that we didn't recognize. We went from thinking it was bread to thinking it was hummus, so we asked our waitress, who told us it was a macaroon, which is one of the things they're known for. Did we want one? OF COURSE. 

Meals were included in the room rate, so we were definitely up for getting our money's worth. She gave us one to take back to our room. The plan was to eat it in the morning. Of course, that didn't happen. When he took the first bite, Jeremy said, "My mom would love this," so at breakfast the next morning, he asked if there were any macaroons left. That meal was the last service of the season for the Eseeola, so we thought they may be trying to unload them, anyway. Plus, if they were free the nite before, why wouldn't they be the next morning?

The maitre'd asked how many we wanted. Jeremy just guessed, "Four." Minutes later, the maitre'd brought out a box, and we headed back to our room. On the way, we stopped to settle up at the front desk. Jeremy reviewed the bill and asked about a $25 in-room dining charge; the girl behind the desk sweetly said, "That's for the macaroons you just ordered."

Say WHAAAA?????

At that point, though, what can you do? So he signed the ticket, and we headed to the golf course. We ate lunch after the 11th hole. They asked if I wanted any macaroons with my egg salad sandwich, adding that they were cheaper there ($3, instead of $6.25!) than anywhere else on property, so Jeremy decided to buy the five that they had remaining, and that's how we headed home with $40 worth of 9 cookies, which, I'll have you know, his mother DID love. 

After all she's done for us, it's the least we could do for her!

Neither one of us can wait to go back. In fact, we're eyeing a trip this spring. We will know, however, that if we want to takeaway macaroons, we should order them at dinner.