I only remembered to take out the camera on Easter morning...we did dye eggs and hunt them and all that sort of thing...I just don't have photographic proof. But here is Easter morning, which we did on Saturday since Jon was working. I'm pretty proud of myself, I reused the easter baskets I made last year (whale and pig) and spent a whopping $3.50 per child on Easter goodies. I love this age! They expect only to be surprised and have no care about the cost involved. Laurel's biggest surprise was the cotton candy, which she's never had but has wanted to try since she saw Aquamarine. Luke on the other hand loved his little motorcycles, and of course the chocolate. This kid could eat as much chocolate as you give him...he would never stop.

Easter Morning Pictures...

My little stinkers.

Sunday we spent the afternoon at the new house. At first we thought we'd picnic and fly kites, but it was a little chilly. Then I had another idea...last week I started to walk the property line in the woods. We hadn't really ever done this, and didn't know how far we owned into the woods. Last week I realized we must own more than we'd realized, so this week I thought we'd turn it into an adventure. So, the kids put on their boots and we snuck through a broken part in the fence and began to explore. It wasn't long before Laurel was caught in some thorns. So I pulled her hair out of the thorns, pulled a single thorn out of her hand...and we moved on. (there were better ways to go, but she wanted to cross the bridge) So I lead, and moved thorns and we made our way across a little bridge over a "seasonal spring." (yes that means drainage ditch) But pretty nonetheless. We made our way past what we thought was a deer stand, but I think is actually an old run down treehouse...now our imagination is starting to run away with us! We kept going and going through the woods, down the fence line and to the creek. The kids and I stopped at a perfect spot in the creek to play. There is a place where the creek bends, and the kids can walk around on the rocks. The water rushes down some rock outcroppings and makes it sound like rapids. Back here you hear the water, the birds, and not much else. The kids threw rocks in the water for quite a while while I took pictures. Jon kept walking the far end of the property line...and found some new dog-friends. (the neighbors to the back that own a farm set the dogs on him) They weren't dangerous, but they were persitant. Good to know...when we get chickens we'll at least have the neighbors dog to scare off predators.


We also finally pried off the brick facade of the fireplace to figure out why they'd built such a horrible facade over a masonry fireplace. Whoa nelly...it is the worst made fireplace EVER. Not sure whether we'll knock her down or put the facade back up yet. We also tore down some dry wall...that was fun...even Luke got in on the action. It turns out we don't have to worry about asbestos. Why you ask? There is no insulation in the house. Yep, that's what I said. None. Zero. Zip. Not that it matters, since we would have reinsulated the whole house anyway (saves us from throwing away the nasty old insulation). But can you imagine how cold and hot that house must have been over the years!!

No pictures today. Just mommy's broken heart. We spent yesterday at the urgent care place because Luke had a potentially fractured skull and foot. (Thankfully, the skull seems ok but the foot is fractured) The radiologist will look into it further just in case...but he seems pretty good. He's back to his old normal self...except with a limp. The doctor told me to keep him still as much as possible...HA. And to ice his foot down for 20 minute intervals...HA HA. I kept giving her looks like "are you crazy?" (He was running around the office as she was telling me this) He did take a large nap on my lap yesterday afternoon, and once we put a big pair of boots on he was able to play without limping and without any obvious pain. My poor little baby.

We here in the Georgia-Dorman household have decided that...
1) Snow biking should be an olympic event
2) Grey bunnies should not be left to their own devices (see the trouble they get into!)
3) And that Daddy should not be able to eat the last of the carrots the day before it snows. Poor snowman...

Snow is an amazing thing in the south...when it started coming down on Friday the kids and I were out celebrating Abby's 13th birthday. We were at Moe's and the kids would run outside to the patio and catch snow flakes on their tongues and then run back inside. The flakes were huge and fluffy, and a very rare site here. They kept falling, and by the time we got home the grass was already covered. Within a few hours there was enough on the ground to play in. So we put on our "winter gear" and headed out (note that Luke has one glove and one sock). My theory is that if the kids aren't dressed to the gills to stay warm, they won't stay out too long. With Laurel that has always worked, the first tinge of cold and she's ready to go in. Not so with Luke...this kid could could have full frostbite and he'd still want to play. He threw snowballs nonstop at me, Laurel and Roger.



Later in the evening Roger escaped his electric fence and the kids and I embarked on an epic adventure to find him. In the end we walked nearly a mile, with snow up to Luke's knees...Laurel tracked Roger by the tracks he left in the snow (her brilliant idea), and Luke trudged on deflecting any offers of my help. He refused to hold my hand or be held, he was a on a mission. Every time I whistled for Rog...so did Luke (in his own way of course...but it sounded pretty much the same!). When the tracks disappeared in the woods behind someone else's house we had to give up. Dejected, the kids followed me back towards the house. Suddenly Roger re-emerged at a neighbor's house and we were able to leash him and walk him home. Whew. What a night!


The next morning when daddy got home we played in the snow again. Then we went in for a rest and lunch, and when we came back out to play just barely two hours later almost every spec of our snow was gone. Six inches to zero in two hours flat...that's how it works in the south.

Halloween is over, and we're officially into November. It feels like there was so much build up for Halloween this year (probably because Laurel was SO excited about it). Then, in a flash it's over! Though we did cram a lot in, so I'll try to recount the most important.
The Halloween parade at school came first, which was more than a week ago now. Here are some of the pictures from the little mermaid all dressed up for school. Luke was merely an observer for this, no costume.
Next came a Fall FunFest at Gradma's church...this was insane...attended by thousands of kids. Laurel and Luke jumped on the bouncy things, got candy, got fake tatoos...and most importantly won Goldy, our new goldfish.



Next was trick-or-treating at the Georgia Aquarium. I think all in all this was the most memorable thing that we did this year. We wanted to go to Boo at the Zoo, but it rained all day, so the Aquarium was the better alternative. (And Laurel's first choice, so that worked out well) Both Laurel and Luke were mesmerized by the fish, sharks, jellyfish, etc. They loved it. The best part was watching Laurel and Luke's faces when the came out of the whale slide tunnel.
Next was the Halloween party at Grandma Thurmond's, trick-or-treating and then the last part was carving the Halloween pumpkin. All in all we had a great weekend, and Grandma and Grandpa Dorman finally got to see the new house. The kids loved showing them around the house and the property.

We had a blast at Washington Farms for the second year in a row. The highlight (again) was the corn box. The kids actually didn't do everything this year...the main focus was the corn box, animals, cow train, hayride and the pumpkin patch. We really lucked out, as Laurel picked 3 small pumpkins that came to a whopping total of $1.50...woo hoo! (Luke didn't want any, he just wanted to climb around) The piggy races were a bit of a bust with both kids crying about different things. (I think the pigs initially scared Luke when they ran by. And Laurel wasn't chosen to hold one of the piggy scarves, so of course she was crushed) So after that they were ready to go. Perfect timing I think, we spent enough time to have fun but not so much that we were exhausted.
The next day Laurel and I started (and finished) her mermaid costume. She had full artistic control of the design and fabrics chosen. I really am trying to make an effort not to waste, so we used fabric we already had. She's pleased with the result, and that's all that matters.
On Sunday I had a hankering to make a homemade pumpkin pie...so I split one of the smaller pumkins we had and let the kids go to town scooping out the seeds and goo. I've never made a pumkin pie with fresh pumpkin before, I was shocked at how easy it was to do. And the kids were proud because they helped make it...so that was great.