It's pumpkin time

It's pumpkin time again!  We have visited the patch, petted the animals, carved the pumpkin, and most of all had lots of fun with friends!

Mary Margo holding a bunny baby

Feeding the goat that tried to make a meal out of her leg.  

Yes, that's right this little baby goat thought it would be fun to nibble on Mary Margo's knee.  She didn't find it as funny as the goat.  She cried like the goat had just eat her leg off.  But we calmed down, realized her leg was still attached and there was no blood.  Then like all good parents (?), I made her go back in the pin, make friends with the goat, and then she fed him some leaves.

Mary Margo and her BFF Jayme

Dottie just looking cute...as always!

Collin telling Mary Margo how it's done!

All the sweet babies!
Foster and Francie Powell, Collin and Mary Carlton McInnish, Mary Margo and Dottie 

Dottie just chill'in with her ugly doll.  
Really Mary Margo's ugly doll that we named Dottie LONG before sweet Dottie came along.

Four Year Olds and Fire
What a lovely combination!

"What have the Hall's been up to?" You Ask

We have been to the ball game

We have played outside and enjoyed some cooler weather!

Mary Margo has been her silly self

Dottie is learning to say TOUCHDOWN AUBURN

Big Sister still can't get enough of Little Sister

Dottie is growing and smiling and laughing

And Rolling Over!
She has been a busy little baby!
She popped out two teeth in the last week too!

Dottie's Dedication

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6

Pastor Steve asking us if we need help raising these two precious girls. I love the expressions on all of our faces.

I am pretty sure we are all in agreement....YES!

We can not do it alone.

Our Happy Little Family

Steve had just made reference to Mary Margo being a good big sister.

She just radiated after that.

Happy Parents

Here we are again with the cake!

That's enough partying for one day. Sweet girl was worn out!

My Little Margie!

Is not so little anymore!

Seriously where has the time gone.

She turned 4 on August 25th and

even though I find it hard to believe at times she has made it the

BEST FOUR YEARS OF MY LIFE!

Here is the sassy little missy posing at the splash park before her Birthday Party!

Best present ever - 12 itty bitty nail polishes, glittery lip gloss and a role of bubble gum tape.

Look at these precious little girls. Can't you just hear them all saying "Oooooo" at the new pink My Little Pony.

Mary Margo and some of her gal pals. Jayme, Abigail, and Alana.

On the actual day, she gets to open her presents from us. She got some pink sparkly TOMS and a doctor's kit.

And of course, her first patient was Dottie. (Poor little girl) She was REAL sick. She got a shot, or SHOTTER as Mary Margo refers to it, and her blood pressure was a little high so we had to check it too.

Celebrating with a cupcake from Gigi's!

It is so funny to me that on her first birthday, she would not touch the cake. All we wanted was for her to dig in and she wouldn't do it.

Well, every birthday since this is how she does it!

With no coaxing at all she just sticks her face right on in the icing.

On the Night You were Born

On the night you were born

the moon smiled with such wonder that the stars

peeked into see you and the night winds whispered

Life will never be the same....

You know those moments in life...the ones you just want bottle up and close the lid down tight. So, one day, far from now you can reopen it and remember every little detail. The way Dottie's sleepy smile was in perfect timing to the story. The way Mary Margo got so quietly excited when I interjected her name in the story and said her birth date at the very end. Her eyes would light up and she tightened all her muscles as if she were going to squeal but nothing came out.

Well, I had one of those moments tonight. There we were, Mary Margo, Dottie and me reading books all curled up in Mary Margo's bed.

Mary Margo said, "you wanna read that special book?"

That special book is On the Night you were Born by Nancy Tillman. I have read it so many times to Mary Margo that I memorized it and would just recited it to her each night before bed. We haven't read it in a very long time. But tonight she wanted to read it and read it and read it! It made my heart SO Happy. We would read it for her and then read it for Dottie and then repeat. I read it about 6 times but I would have read it 1 million if I could stay there, right there in that moment.

It's time to get a Bath

Most nights Mary Margo really dislikes taking a bath. Or maybe I should say she hates the taking of time out of her busy play schedule to take a bath. Once she gets in the bath she loves it and plays for a long time.

Now that Dottie is big enough to sit in her seat, it has made bath time so much more exciting for Mary Margo and faster for Mommy. With Dottie in the tub, Mary Margo can play that big sister role oh so well. She likes to help wash her and rinse her off. Her main job is to keep Dottie warm by pouring water on her belly.

"Yay for bath with sister!" Mary Margo

"Please mother get me out of here I'm a little chilly" Dottie

Love the way Dottie is looking up at Mary Margo.

Giggle, Giggle

We Broke the spell

I am happy to report we broke the spell. What spell you ask? The evil spell of wedding stupidity. Dusty and I have this little "track record" about going to weddings. The last two times we have been invited to one we/I have royally messed up while reading the invitation.

The first time it happened I read the time wrong and didn't bother to double check the day of the wedding. We drove all the way to Clanton, AL only to find that the wedding started an hour earlier that our arrival and all the guest were walking out of the church. That night ended in a nice dinner at Outback in Prattville and lots of quality time in the car together. Most of that time in silence.

The second wedding we attempted I had the churches confused. We were running late anyway. the wedding was at Trinity Presbyterian, not Trinity Methodist. I knew it wasn't the Methodist church but there is a little Presbyterian church next door and I just assumed that it was Trinity Presbyterian. What makes this story so bad is that the Bride's Father told us that is wasn't the church I thought it was. So, needless to say, we ended up having dinner at McAlister's that night.......way over dressed.......... and in silence!

Last night we gave it one more try. Third time is a charm! I got the church and time right! We were early! I did forget the gift but we swung back by the house in between the wedding and reception to pick it up.

Oh, we made plans just in case I messed this one up too. As we passed Amsterdam Cafe, I told Dusty that we were going there for dinner if anything should go wrong. But it didn't and we had a lovely time getting all dressed up and staying out a little later than usual. We will jsut have to plan to eat at Amsterdam another night.