My big 2 year old

Playing a game

Gifts from Grandma

Emerson got his birthday gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Jacobsen on Monday. He was so excited when I told him that they were presents. It turns out that he really loves the Fisher Price Pop-Onz and has played continuously with them since. Thanks so much ya'll!

What do we have here?

One happy guy 

Guess where we went today...

We went to see the Fletcher Fire Station for Cole's 4th birthday. The boys had a blast! Cole was completely decked out in his cute fireman gear. They climbed in and out of all the engines while we learned about how they work. It was a very cool way to spend the morning. After that, we went to lunch at Pizza Hut. I had a hard time eating since I am now missing 6 molars, but I somehow managed. It was so yummy. Usually PH pizza is very greasy, but it wasn't today.

Cole and Hayden driving a fire truck 

Cole getting a driving lesson

Hayden and Emerson

Fireman Cole

Harper and Emerson

Wild Week

This week has been a total whirlwind. I prepped for the Halloween party all day Monday and Tuesday. Poor Hayden had a bad fall on the playground when he was in preschool Tuesday. The incident was complete with an ambulance, fire truck, and a doctor's appointment. Don't worry, he is doing well. I think that he was more scared than hurt, thank God. The party was held that night and it was a huge success. We all had a blast! Wednesday was supposed to be my oral surgery, but they canceled and moved me to Thursday. Mom and I cleaned up all the party decor and then I went shopping by myself for next year's Halloween.

The kiddos had their picture day at the preschool today. Supposedly, they did really well. We shall see when the pics come back. I went to get my 4 wisdom teeth and 2 molars extracted while they were at school. It sucked waiting so long for the procedure. I was about to pass out due to nervousness, taking antibiotics on an empty stomach, and starving to death. Once I got called back, I began to relax. They administered the IV and then I saw the doc. He loaded my IV with something and then I quickly got drowsy. That's the last thing that I remember. I don't even remember leaving the place, lol. Clayton had to practically carry me to the car and inside our house. I am doing really well now and the Vicodin is making me feel comfortable. All in all, getting your teeth pulled is really not bad at all. I have ate 2 eggs sandwiches, some broccoli/cheese soup, and yogurt. I am so glad that I can actually eat.

Tomorrow, we will be taking a fun trip with Bolicks to the fire station. We will be celebrating Cole's 4th birthday. I will take my camera and try to get some pics. Afterwards, we are going to have some lunch together. It should be a fun morning. Mom is planning to take Hayden back home with her in the afternoon and he is super excited. He loves going to her house.

Joanna rocks!

My neighbor Joanna is the bomb! I asked her to take a few pics at the party last night and she got some good ones. Thanks so much gal!! Check them all out below. :)

The Boys (Carson, Jackson, Hayden and Cole)

Hayden in his Woody costume (from Toy Story)

Peeking In

Our House

Kitty Cat Cupcakes

Mummy Dogs

Ghost cookies

Trick or Treat

I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween! We sure did. We threw a party for 30 friends last night. I was so busy cooking and running around that I didn't get any pics. My friend Joanna took some though, so I hope to steal some from her. ;) After everyone ate, we went trick-or-treating around the 'hood. I can't believe how many fuddy duds we have. There were a lot of houses with no lights. My Mom stayed at our house and handed out treats while we were gone. She said that a couple of people commented on our house being the most festive and decorated. They didn't even see the inside, lol. Our sun room was completely decked out for the party. She also had a few people comment on our awesome pumpkins that Clayton carved. I hope Jo got a pic of those also, because I sure forgot. Ugh. Anyway, we had about 130 trick-or-treaters.

Cole and Hayden anxiously awaiting their treats (Austin is the Power Ranger in the corner of the pic)

Hayden 

Emerson and Clayton 

Catching Up

We went to get some pumpkins last Saturday. Clayton is planning on carving 5 for Halloween and he is so excited about it. He already has his designs planned out and I believe that he is going to carve one a day beginning tonight. As he finishes them, I will post them here to the blog for all to see. ;)

After getting our pumpkins, we went out on the Blue Ridge Parkway to see the trees. It was beautiful, but there was way too many tourists out there. Here's a pic:

Here's the view from our house:

Our Entry

Here's our entryway after getting painted last week. It is a funky brown color that looks purple at certain times of the day. We love it! Now we need to get some stuff up on the walls.

Just shoot me and get it over with

Oh man, I had a bad dentist appointment on Wed. I went because I had been experiencing sensitivity in multiple areas of my mouth and a throbbing molar was killing me. The molar had a root canal when we lived in Atlanta and it was crowned in gold (Clayton refers to me as "Grand Master Brandy" because it makes him think of a rapper). I thought that a root canal would mean that the tooth should never hurt again. My gosh, it has no nerves so how could it? Go figure. Anyway, the dental hygenist prodded around in my mouth and I about jumped out of my seat because it hurt so bad. It wasn't the gold tooth that time. Unfortunately, I have a molar on the other side of my mouth that is being ruined by the wisdom tooth pushing behind it. All 4 of my wisdoms are in and they have never been a problem until now. So this is what I am currently dealing with and what is going to be done about it:

-All 4 wisdom teeth and the gold molar are being extracted. I have a consultation appointment with an oral surgeon next Thursday.

-The molar that is being ruined by one of my wisdoms will have a root canal and then be crowned.

-I have 2 other teeth that have mercury fillings in them. The dentist insists on removing the old fillings and re-filling them with a safer metal. He refers to mercury in you teeth being like asbestos in a house. Yikes.

-Since I will be removing so many teeth, I am finally going to see an orthodontist for braces. I have always wanted straight teeth but my parents could never afford it and I have always been too chicken as an adult to have my teeth pulled for it. I guess I will have no excuse now.

The good news is that I have some Vicodin to help alleviate the pain. My gold tooth is absessed and it is killing me. Everytime I feel the pain coming on, I begin looking forward to the surgery. I guess that is helpful, lol.

BTW, in case you are wondering why I chose a gold crown for my tooth, it wasn't because I thought it would be cool. The dentist chose to crown it with gold because the tooth was whittled down to almost nothing. Supposedly gold was the strongest and best solution for it. Too bad that after $3000 worth of work the dang thing is still getting yanked. Ugh. Maybe I could pawn it? LOL

Wow!

We are having our entryway painted and it is looking so good! The painters (which happen to be my friend Tracy's parents) did a fabulous job putting on the first coat yesterday. It was nice to not be the one to do it for a change. I painted our whole last house and most of this one, but I cannot possibly reach the top of our foyer to do the job. It is open to the second floor and both floors have 9 foot ceilings. It is way too high up. They will be coming back this morning to finish it with a second coat. I can't wait! It is amazing what a difference it has made. Our house now feels like a home. I will post some pics this weekend.

Totally unexpected

A while back I sent in some layouts for a design team try-out for 3 Scrappy Boys. I have been a long-time subscriber and have always wanted to design for them. Well, I surprisingly got an email yesterday telling me that I had made the team. Wow!!! I am just amazed to have made the list!

Preschool

Emerson has been really enjoying his first year at the preschool. I can't remember his friend's name on the left, but I know that they pal around quite a bit. In the photo, they are sitting in a 6-chair stroller waiting for their mommies to pick them up. The teachers were blowing bubbles at them and I could hear them giggling before I made the turn into the hallway. 

New layouts for TSR

These layouts were all made using the latest kit from The ScrapRoom. I just love Tammy's kits! The papers and embies are just perfect.