Hape Fdaxgivin!

That’s Happy Thanksgiving in Lola-speak.

Pre-Thanksgiving family time

Our holiday plans this year got a little  . . . complicated. So at the last minute we jumped in the car and headed to Alabama for a little time with most of the Gaddy clan. We were sorry Uncle Peter couldn’t be there, and as always the visit was much too short, but we relished every second of it none the less. We were able to attend cousin Tracy’s beautiful wedding, visit with aunts, uncles, cousins, and of course Grandmama and Grandaddy. It wasn’t quite Thanksgiving, but we were thankful for our time together none the less.

My Life with Chickens: meet Cutie Pie and Whiteney

 

Lola’s first tooth

With just a little help from Daddy, the tooth is out! When it was all said and done, she was so excited she cried. She just couldn’t believe it was really out. In it’s place this morning was a shiny gold dollar. The tooth fairy even dipped her wings in Lola Gray’s bedside water glass, turning the water purple!

The second tooth is already wiggly, so I think that tooth fairy might be back before too long!

Lola’s wiggly tooth

church choir

OK. I’ll tell you up front this is not the best video in the world. And the singing didn’t go perfectly. But these kids are so cute, it really didn’t matter at all.

26.2

See the man in that photo? That, folks, is my amazing husband who ran his first marathon on Saturday. 26.2 miles. Can you believe it? I could not be more proud if he had come in first place!

Rapunzel, Lego Guy, and way too much candy

Rapunzel’s wig itched. The Lego head wobbled and wasn’t totally conducive to night vision. I was so busy with the PAWrade that I barely got out the decorations this year and never got around to making my costume. And Raymond threw his back out and spent most of the day in pain.

And yet, it was a great Halloween anyway.

Kids in costumes, friends, and a few tons of candy – what’s not to like?

 

pumpkin time!

PAWrade

When Fletcher started kindergarten, I expected PTA to be a whirlwind of bake sales and class parties, but it turns out that was pretty naive of me. These days PTA, at least at our school, is all about money. Big money for big projects. And I get that. Last year our school needed digital projectors and smart boards for all the classrooms, and PTA raised $12,000 to purchase that technology.

And I am very proud of that.

This year we are raising money to buy new books for the school library, but we are trying to do it without selling anything. Our first fundraiser this year was the PAWrade, an amazing pet costume parade begun last year by our business partners, TailsSpin, a local pet supply store. TailsSpin graciously donated half of the money they raised from last year’s event to our elementary school (and the other half to local pet rescue agencies) so this year we decided PTA needed to get involved and help out in the form of a good, old-fashioned carnival!

The planning was exhausting, the day was long, and when all was said and done every inch of my body hurt from the strain of it. BUT, it was totally worth it. Tons of people came and every single one of them had a smile on their face. Plus, we managed to raise a good bit of money for library books in the process!