An Alice in Wonderland Halloween

If you know us at all, you will know that this Mama Loves a Theme!  We have dressed in theme for the last 4 years and it is just way too much fun.  This year, with Poppa Peter in town, we even got to include him in the theme.

Olivia was Alice last year for her fairy tale night, so we new that we would be doing an Alice theme this Halloween.  Thanks to my friend Sheri, even I had a pretty cute costume!   We had such a fun time and got so many compliments on our costumes.

I thought we would dress up again and have someone get a picture of ALL of us together, but sadly that didn't happen.  And, I wish I had a picture of my parents because they were dressed up too!  My mom was a witch and she scared the %*^$ out of Sydney!  And, my dad dressed as a pirate!  Such a fun night -- extra fun since it was a Saturday!

Monster Mashin'

It has been a CUH-RAZY few weeks.  Between Halloween festivities, an awesome visit from Poppa Peter, and heyyyyyaaaaaaaa buying a house {and basically gutting it, but that's a whole different story}, I haven't had the time or energy to blog.  So, here we are, two weeks after Halloween and I'm posting about it.  You get what you get, and you don't throw a fit.  ;)

Somehow, yet again, I got roped into helping plan the class parties.  OY.  Thank goodness I have two other moms to work with.  We came up with five fun stations for the first graders to do - carnival games, monster photo booth, monster craft, and two different snack stations {because what kid doesn't love to eat tasty snacks?!}

Olivia's first grade teacher was worried that some kids might finish at the stations early, so we made the class some Monster Books that they could do fun activities in.  We also made each of the kiddos glow in the dark trick-or-treat bags.  I saw the bags on someone's IG and had my brother get one of his coworkers in Atlanta to find 25 of them from the Publix grocery stores and send them to me.  Am I spoiled rotten?  ummm, yeah.  Sheri came up with the idea of making punch and putting dry ice in it.  Who's spoiled now?  Wow.  These kids are so lucky.

➹ I spent two hours one night making all of those cups.  ➹

➹ Ok, how perfect is that monster dress on Olivia?! ➹

Sydney's party was awesome!  I had NOTHING to do with it, and only volunteered in her class that day.  Lesson learned.  :)  She got to wear her costume to school and they did a little parade around the classrooms to get their candy.   Their party was at the end of class and she changed her clothes at the first opportunity!  Since Poppa Peter was visiting, he got to see Sydney in full party mode!  What a fun morning she had!

Dance, Dance, Dance All Weekend Long

Last weekend, Olivia attended the Dupree Dance Convention in Phoenix.  While she was there, she had the opportunity to learn choreography from some highly trained choreographers in the tap, jazz, ballet, contemporary, hip-hop, and musical theater.  I love that she has the courage to try new things and have fun while she is doing it.

It was an eye opening experience for me.  Dance Moms are a real thing, y'all!  Look at my girl up there in the middle.  She's in wild leggings and a tank top and is surrounded by girls in ballerina outfits and real dance clothes! Ha.  

➹ This is Ellenore Scott, who placed 4th on the show So You Think You Can Dance!  She was Olivia's Musical Theater teacher and she was amazing. ➹

Sunday was a very long day, but we had a huge break in the middle of classes, so we spent an hour and a half at the Children's Museum.  It's so crazy to see how big she is on some of these toys  compared to when we used to go all the time in preschool.

At the end of the two day session, the girls in Liv's group performed a cute hip hop routine on the big stage.  I'm so proud of her for being fearless when it comes to performing!

Honestly, I think the highlight of her weekend at the convention was riding the glass elevator!

When October Flies By

Can you guys believe Halloween is next week!?  Has this month flown by or what?  We have been busy little BOOgers this month, and if I know you like I think I do, you're wanting to see what we've been up to.  So let's get to it.

➸➸  We celebrated Magnum on his special day.  He turned 15 this month!  Bless his sweet heart, he has overcome so much in his life.  He's broken his leg 4 times before finally having it amputated, and his most recent ailment was having a cancerous spot above his eye removed.  Since the surgery, he has not been able to blink his eye.  But, good ol' Magnum is still kicking it with the best of them.  {It probably has to do with the frozen waffles he eats on a daily basis!}

➸➸  School resumed and all the moms in the neighborhood breathed a collective sigh of relief.

➸➸  My brother has moved to LA, and my parents have been watching Peyton while he is in corporate housing.  They left to Vegas last weekend, and so Peyton spent the night at our house for two nights.  Let's just say, I'm glad we only have one dog.  :)

➸➸  We got BOO'd, and inside our Boo Basket were these delightful suckers.  The girls had fun making scary/funny faces with them.

➸➸  The weather has FINALLY cooled off, and we can be outside without sweating!  Now, if these darn mosquitos would disappear!  We took the girls for a long bike ride after school last week and it was glorious!

➸➸  I booked a last minute mini photo session for Christmas pictures on Saturday {like booked it Friday afternoon and the session was the next day}, and so on Saturday we scrambled around like mad trying to find something for the girls to wear in the pictures {because their closets are empty}!

They did a good job posing for pictures and were rewarded with playground time and milkshakes.  #beingamodelishard

➸➸  And, what's a miscellaneous post these days without pictures of us eating MOD Pizza?!

➸➸  And, let me leave you with this fabulous picture of Sydney.