Blue not Red

I woke up feeling a bit blue today because the country wasn't more red. 

Obama versus Romney in the 2012 election and my guy didn't win. I have never felt so invested in a presidential election and it's not just because Romney is a mormon. In fact, during the primaries, I kept a pretty unbiased mindset. But the more I heard from Romney the more I really liked the guy - most of the time. I felt his motives for running for president were not egotistical. I didn't feel he wanted the power or fame and he certainly didn't need the money. I felt like he truly wanted to help our country during this difficult economic and politically polarized time. He is smart. He's had a lot of experience turning difficult situations into better ones and he represented many of my moral and political views. It's not that I hate Obama. I don't. I just felt like my guy could have done a better job. I'm sad because personally, I think it will be a while before we have another candidate that I have so much faith in.

Oh well. Here's what we did to celebrate election night (before the blues hit).

 Patriotic pizza and cake.

 Rob took advantage of a teaching moment to explain the privilege of voting and the ever confusing electoral college.

We let the kids stay up a little later to begin adding up those all important votes. Maycie colors our giant map with red or blue. Go red!

Happy Halloween

Maycie and Avery playing cat and mouse.

Ella and Addilyn.

Halloween night we had a pot luck with the neighbors then the kids did some trick-or-treating while the grown ups kept cozy around the fire. The kids picked their 10 favorite pieces of candy then took my bribe to pay them $5 to dump the rest.

Fall Fun

We took a weekend trip to Boone to take in the fall colors along the Blue Ridge Parkway. We were about one week shy of peak colors but it was still beautiful to see those Smokey Mountains changing.

Maycie found a woolley worm on the trail.

The boys enjoyed rolling/sliding down the hill.

We stopped at the Moses Cone Mansion, built in the late 1800's, to take in more spectacular views.

The kids had a blast with the neighbor kids raking up the leaves jumping and throwing them around.

Random October Pics

Caleb Abbott, the baby lover, taking care of Isaac.

Pinwheel sword fight at Declan Smith's birthday party.

Did Rob suddenly grow hair?

No. That's a stranger at the party that Isaac took to.

Maycie and Alex raided my closet. The funny thing is I remember doing the same thing with my mom's knee high boots that went up to my thigh when I was that age.

Friend Friday.

Claire Campbell, Liam Smith, Isaac

Isaac loves to help me make my morning juice by feeding the veggies into the grinder.

Spinach, carrots, celery, kale, apple and lemon. Mmmm! He actually like to drink it, too.

Rob wanted to re-live one of his favorite childhood activities with the kids. He purchased a rocket kit and we all headed to the local football field to set it off. 1000 feet in the air then a gentle parachute ride down.  The kids loved it.

Girlfriends.

Addilyn, Ella and Chloe.

Night games in the cul-de-sac. 

"Six steps on ice, a game the neighbor kids make up, is a neighbor hood favorite."