Halloween 2013!

Pumpkin carving time...

Emma drew the owl on a piece of paper and I carved it onto the pumpkin. We all pulled out the pumpkin guts!!! Lots of the neighborhood kids helped! Belina, the boxer pup, helped with the clean up. She ate lots of pumpkin guts:)

This is my tennis team!

About 4 of the ladies are missing from this picture. We are all beginners, and slowly improving. Our tennis coaches, Stacy and Genaro are wonderful and encouraging and make learning the game fun! I've always wanted to play tennis, but when I failed it in college, I decided it wasn't for me. I was very intimidated to join a team because I knew I was really bad and didn't even understand how to play the game. Amy, my new neighbor, encouraged me to play saying, "We're all beginners... everyone has to start somewhere." I'm so glad I listened to her because I am really loving the game! 

Amy is 3rd from the left. On top of our regular group lessons on Thursdays, and our matches on Tuesdays, we tacked on 4 private lessons (or semi-private, since we do them together) on Fridays. We just needed someone to show us the basic strokes and how to serve. We have been taking the kids up to the neighborhood courts in the afternoons with us about once a week. The kids play so well together and are enjoying it and we are getting in some extra practice. Our husbands are both really good tennis players, so the 4 of us go up to the courts on the weekends and play. They are about 10 years younger than us, so they kill us! 

Today I played my first doubles match. We lost, but not without a fight. We took it to 3 sets! We killed them on the first set 6-1, but then they came back strong and won the second set 4-6. Since we were tied, it took us into a third set, which they won 3-6.  (So my first match lasted 26 games, whew!) It was so much fun though! I'm so glad to have my first match behind me because I've been nervous about it all week. Thankfully, everyone is very gracious and encouraging.

I signed up Ellie and Emma for 4 private lessons. They had their first one on Sunday and absolutely loved it. Much better than the group lessons they had in the past. Although, they were much younger then and mostly just ran around and played. I was surprised at how well they did at their first lesson. Hopefully, we can all get good enough to play together as a family at some point. It's great exercise and a great way to spend some family time.

Update on the boys

Ty and Alex opened for another band at Boarshead in Athens this weekend. Emily and Laurel are so cute. They always say, "The other band should have been the opening act, Tyler and Alex were so much better!" Next weekend they are going to Auburn to play at a Fraternity Party. They are really enjoying playing their music and are getting more gigs. They keep trying to get Drew to join them, but Drew likes to play to the beat of his own drum:) Tyler recently got a part-time job at UGA which will allow him lots of study time and save him some gas money while he's in school there. Drew just got a job at a flower shop in Athens... that boy is my plant lover! 

The girls made their "Chalk City" in the cul de sac last weekend with some of the other kids in the neighborhood, as they always do this time of year. Alex came out and said, "I want to be the mayor of Chalk City." Ellie said, "You can't be, I'm the mayor and Brendon is the city counslor." Alex said, "Well, I think we should vote!" Poor Alex lost; and so his job search continues...

2013 Halloween Carnival Lane Creek

We had our annual Halloween Carnival this year and Emma won both a dance and a costume contest. Ellie helped me do the 4th and 5th grade scavenger hunt. Ellie was dressed like Pocahontas and Emma was dressed like a fairy. The girls had a great time!

Semper fi... Always Faithful... Marine

So proud of Judson Scott Jones! He survived 13 weeks of boot camp and graduated a U.S. Marine!!! He's only home for 9 days and then is off to North Carolina for further training... We were honored to have him stay the weekend with us before heading home to Alabama. The girls were really cute, they were like, "Mom, I can't believe we have a marine staying in our house!" I know Kat is a proud mama! The girls love it when their "Aunt Kathy" comes for a visit! She showers them with hugs and kisses and lots of attention!

Planning the Halloween Scavenger Hunt with Amy, Renee, and Renee's sweet mom!

Making Pumpkin Patch Pie with the Quilter boys!

Cali n' Tito's with Matt and Amy and the kids...