Wordless Wednesday: School Pictures - Fall 2010

Fall 2010 - School Pictures

Emerson 

(3 years, 3 months old)

Pumpkin Patchin' at Hill Ridge Farms

Last Sunday we headed to Hill Ridge Farms with the Herman Family for our annual pumpkin patchin' excursion. In year's past, we opted for the much closer Ganyard Farms, but feeling the girls had matured a bit, we felt they could handle the 45 minute ride to Youngsville.  Plus, we knew they were ready to experience more activities and Hill Ridge certainly offers that.

Our first stop was this GIANT slide.  I was impressed that Emerson wanted to go, but she followed right after Ivie up the hill without hesitation.  

Daddy followed closely behind, knowing he would be coming down with her, and sure enough.....

...he was right there with her.  But check out the smiles on both of their faces!!

Before we headed to the train, we took a quick second to take a picture in front of the "How Tall This Fall" pumpkin.  I've seen these at a lot of pumpkin patches.  Ganyard Farms has one and we got a picture there last year....check out the difference a year makes.  I would say Emerson grew a good 6 inches since last year. 

After measuring Emerson, we were off to the Hill Ridge Farms Train. Emerson was adamant we sit in the "Caboosk". So away we went for our trip around the track in the very back of the train!!  

Check out the hay bale artwork!!  These were all over Hill Ridge and I thought they were so clever.  

The ponies were very popular and we had a slight wait for them, but Emerson would contend it was well worth the wait.  She had just ridden her first pony the weekend before and couldn't wait to get back on one.  She was also pretty headstrong about having the white one (she would have picked pink, had there been one).  Thankfully the Herman girls both wanted brown or we might have had a meltdown situation.  Emerson did a great job!!  Mommy is still very happy that it's just ponies she wants to ride!!

A quick picture before following Ivie over the the duck races.

Ivie wanted to participate in the duck races and Emerson was intrigued so the Hermans let us borrow one their ducks so Emerson could have a turn.  She got bored quickly with this as she couldn't get the water to come out fast enough. But if Ivie was doing it, she obviously wanted to do it too!!!

Emerson knew exactly where she wanted to go next...she was headed straight for the Hay Jump (I think that's what it was called).  It was basically a huge open-air structure to jump, roll, kick, and have a great 

time in the hay!!  

After the "romp in the hay" we decided it was time to get on a hayride, which would eventually drop us off at the "pumpkin patch" to get our pumpkins.  I will have to say, the pumpkin patch wasn't very impressive and it isn't really fun to see a tractor putting out pallets of pumpkins, kind of ruins the moment.  But I do understand that they have 1,000's of visitors and there is just no way they could grow that many pumpkins....so I'll let the pallets of pumpkins slide!!

(Photo Credit: Amy Herman) 

After Emerson picked out her pumpkin, we were back on the hayride headed to the car.  We knew the girls were getting tired (and so were the parents), so we decided lunch was next on the agenda.  

(Photo Credit: Amy Herman) 

I quickly got a shot of Emerson coming off the hayride.  I knew I had one for every year we had been going to the patches.  How cute...I just can't get over how big she is getting!!

What a perfect day at the pumpkin patch.  I am pretty sure this is going to be our new tradition with the Hermans (sorry Ganyard Farms)!!

First Sleepover

Last Friday Danny and I inherited two more little girls for the evening, the Herman girls, Ivie and Macie.  Dale had a meeting in Pinehurst and Amy decided to join him for a much needed night of R and R (her work has been CRAZY lately, to say the least).  Danny and I picked the girls up from school and then headed to the Herman house for some pizza.  We decided to have pizza there because Macie is very scared of Hogan (or "Woof" as she calls him).  While the oven was heating up, we had a little bit of time for some play outside. The girls opted for their bicycle and tricycle while Macie stuck close to Danny's side. 

We had a little more time before dinner and the girls decided to play dress-up.  Macie, again, opted for alternate activity, walking over and turning the tv on herself.  I think she may have been a bit overwhelmed by the two older girls. 

Dinner was a pizza from Papa Murphey's.  Although Danny and I somehow managed to slightly burn the pizza.  Sorry we stunk up your house, Hermans!!

After dinner, the girls were ready for some indoor play before heading to bed (Macie upstairs, and Emerson and Ivie to our house).  Macie joined in the fun this time and surprisingly they all played very well together.  You'll notice the mess that surrounds them, I had the girls play a clean-up game so Dale and Amy didn't have to come home to a mess.  Hopefully Danny cleaned up the rest of the mess for you guys!!

Danny had a very easy job, when all the girls left, he was reading books to Macie.  He said he gave her her paci, put her in her bed, made sure she had her water bottle and then we walked out.  He didn't hear from her again.  He thought he had made a mistake at 11:00 pm when he went in to check on her and tried to move her a bit and cover her up, Macie sat directly up in her crib and looked at him.  He quickly gave her the paci and she layed right back down.  Danny went in the next morning at 7:15 and Macie was just sitting there playing...hadn't made a peep. 

I, on the other hand, had two preschoolers to tend to at our house.  I wanted to be the cool-stayover-mom so I let the girls watch two Little Einsteins and painted their toes and fingers while they watched.  I think the girls had a blast.  If Emerson said it once, she said it a thousand times, "Ivie, I love you so much!!".

Hogan even joined in on the fun and hopped up on the bed with the girls, they loved that and laughed hysterically!!

We got pictures of their toes and fingers and even a picture of their identical "sprinkles" (freckles).  See the picture in the upper right corner.  It's kind of crazy that both girls have the same freckle, on the same foot, and in the exact same location.

After Little Einsteins and making sure all toes and fingers were dry, we headed to Emerson's room for bedtime.  Amy and I had decided that it might be a bit difficult for the girls to go to sleep so we agreed that threats might be likely (yes neither of us are above threats, especially when it involves sleep).  I only had to threaten the girls twice.  I told them that if they couldn't fall asleep, that I would have to take Ivie back to her room next door.  They really didn't do a bad job and both were asleep by 9:40.  Emerson conched out around 9:10, but it took Ivie a little bit longer to go to sleep; totally understandable since she was in an unfamiliar place.  After rubbing her back a few minutes, and reassuring her that I was sleeping in the next room, she finally fell asleep and they both stayed asleep until 7:00 the next morning. 

The next morning when the girls were playing on Emerson's bed, we surprised them with a visit from Macie.  They were excited to see her, but not as excited as they were when we told them they were going to Chick-Fil-A for breakfast.  We got all the girls ready for breakfast and let them watch a quick show while Danny and I got ready.  I love the quick picture I got of Macie and Ivie cuddling on our bed. 

Chick-Fil-A was a HIT...if you haven't done breakfast there on a Saturday morning, then you are missing out.  We had a quick meal and then it was time for play in the playground.  The girls had the entire room to themselves, so they had a blast and were as loud as they wanted to be.  It was hard getting them to leave but they all got one last sip of their drinks and we headed to Emerson's soccer game. 

Miss Macie loves Danny!!

We had a great soccer game and even had a surprise player.  Ivie made an appearance and joined the team when one of our players just wouldn't go out on the field.  I think Ivie enjoyed being on the field and Emerson loved having her idol on the field. 

What better way to wrap up a sleepover and morning soccer game than snacks on the front porch. 

Dale and Amy, We had a great time watching the girls and we hope you will take advantage of your neighbors again, especially with the little one on the way!!  I hope the girls had as much fun as we did....I'll admit, three isn't THAT hard (but I only had them for one night)!!  Love you guys!!

Breakfast with Roy!!

Last Friday, I woke up REALLY early to help my friend, Mary Seagroves, the Special Events Coordinator for Lineberger Cancer Center, with her annual event Roy Williams' Fast Break Against Cancer.  This is my fourth straight year helping with this event that is now in it's sixth year.  Although it's early, and although Mary and I both needed heavy doses of caffeine, to which I stopped and got us on the way, it is a great event and it's for a great cause.  I'm not sure any of us can say that we haven't been touched by cancer in some way, shape, or form.  I even had a special part of the event this year, Mary was actually my first sale with my new job.  I did the cute cinch sak you will see on the chair in the pictures below.  I think they turned out great.

As in years past, the event went great and made a lot of money for cancer research.  Brad Daugherty, former UNC and NBA basketball player and current NASCAR analyst with ESPN, did a great job as guest speaker.  The live and silent auctions raised more than $15,000 alone (by my calculations).  Mary secured some great items this year: a signed Tyler Hansbrough basketball, an opportunity to attend a closed door practice, an opportunity to sit behind the bench at a game, Michael Jordan and Roy Williams signed shoes, and many, many more.  I am so thankful to be a part of this wonderful event and hope to continue my yearly volunteering stint for years to come!!

The Sights of the Breakfast

The Cinch Sak

All the volunteers

 The Lineberger Staff

Coach Williams, Coach Guthridge, 

Eric Montross, and Brad Daugherty

The Auction Items

Woody Durham, Coach Williams, and Brad Daugherty

A horrible picture of me and Coach, but it's a rare occurence when you get this opportunity, so I took it.

(some of the photos in this blog post are courtesy of Lineberger Cancer Center)