An extremely long day - but what a great one it was!

Halloween was a blast - from sun up to sun down!

TJ's regional end-of-the-season celebration and tournament too place. Our first game was at 8am and then we had two more games after that. The Yellow Jackets won the first two games, but lost the third game. That put us in second place for our group (there were two groups). Then we had the playoffs for third place. The Yellow Jackets were tied with their opponents when the game came to a close, so that meant overtime! We had to play two more 8 minute quarters and we won 5-3! WAY TO GO YELLOW JACKETS!

I am so proud of TJ! Even though he thought it was a bust (he didn't make a goal during any games), I think it was a very rewarding experience. I really hope he plays in the spring because I think he will get even better and will find himself scoring goals!


Our day ended at 4pm with Soccer - so that means the girls were good sports during 8 hours of being out on the fields. Here are some pictures I took:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=42013&id=1303620738&l=3cbf60d7f5

We got home in JUST enough time to scarf down some food, get dressed and go Trick-or-Treating. Actually, we did trunk-or-treating at two different churches within a mile from our house. The girls LOVED being out and dressed up for the occasion. Lauren loves prancing around as a Leaf Fairy and Katie made an ADORABLE little Dorothy! Here are some pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=832545&l=11544f5c76&id=1303620738

Fun at the Farm

We went to Lyon Farms today with HAMOM and had a blast! Here are some pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=41057&id=1303620738&l=26cc8af466

It was pretty cold and windy, and the girls were cranky a little, but they still managed to have fun while freezing in the cold! TJ was up and going the entire time we were there! HE had a BLAST!

Teeth, Eyes and Hearts

The latest in pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=39516&id=1303620738&l=8784e33478

TJ lost is first front, top tooth. Although this is tooth #5 as far as the number of teeth he has lost. Lauren is up to 12 teeth now, and Katie sits at only four.

Went to see the opthamologist on Wednesday for Lauren's astigmatism. Is hasn't gotten any worse and since both eyes are about the same, we are good for at least another year. If we see problems, we can go down there and see the doc again (in Birmingham). Lauren will probably need glasses at some point, but when is the question.

Tim and I will be celebrating seven wonderful years of marriage tomorrow! No plans since he and I won't be in the same town tomorrow... but as soon as he is back, I am sure we will find a way to go off and have a nice dinner without the kids :)

So far, everything else is going okay... :)

The latest at the Towle House

I've posted a few good pictures from the past few weeks here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=36954&id=1303620738&l=5a45985c8d


TJ's soccer team, the Yellow Jackets, are doing really well! They've won all three of their games so far! TJ is starting to get better and starting to actually enjoy it. He was very timid and uncoordinated at first, but we've seen some real growth from him.

The girls are doing very well! They had their 15 month check-up on 9/11 and Lauren outweighed Katie 15 ounces. Katie is 3/4 inch taller than Lauren. They are both pretty high up in percentiles for height, and just a little lower for weight. They are doing WELL!

Katie has become quite the lap baby. She loves sitting in momma's lap! Lauren is much more of a go and get 'em type. She loves, loves, loves to dance and be silly. She's a lot like TJ was at that age. Katie seems to be more interested in books and sitting down with herself and her toys. It is so much fun to see the contrasting personality types between them and even TJ!

TJ is doing well in 1st grade. He needs to pay better attention and this shows in his reading comprehension and math, but he is more than capable of acing all his subjects. He's very smart, but right now things like Batman and Iron Man are much more important to him! Boys will be boys, right? He's got a b-day party to go to this weekend and he is so excited about that!

I will post more as things happen! I am not on top of this like I used to be, but I am trying!

So much to say, so little time

There are so many things going on, and so little time to write about it!

Here are some pics from TJ's soccer:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=34293&id=1303620738&ref=mf

They named their team the Yellow Jackets :)

I wish I had more time to write... and I will as soon as I can!

My how time flies!

I uploaded a few pictures from over the past month. You can see them here.

Since Tim has dreams of opening his own Pizza Parlor, I decided to pizza-fy his birthday. He got an awesome pizza stone, a pizza peel, a gourmet pizza cutter, a pizza book and pizza dough mix to get him started. I can't wait to see what comes from this!

TJ started first grade this week and I can tell he loves it. They had a spelling test on Thursday and he got an A+ and was so proud of himself - as was I!

We also started soccer this week. The first practice was rained out, and seeing as how the skies are blue as can be right now, I anticipate practice tonight to go well. He was really nervous and scared about starting sports, but once he got there and saw other boys his age, he forgot all about being scared and just jumped right in. I am just sorry he didn't actually get to practice!

The girls are doing pretty well and are growing like weeds! They are both talking a little, but Katie is the one that repeats sounds more often. Lauren is the physical one - always running around. Katie is my little thinker and listener. Don't get me wrong, they are both full of it at times and they know how to get to me, already! Ahh, the joys of motherhood!

Be sure to check out the pictures! I will post more with TJ playing soccer soon!

Back from the beach ~ and TJ turns six!

First - I've uploaded 130+ pictures... so click here to see.

We had a great but tiresome trip. The girls really enjoyed the water, not so much the sand. We didn't take them out too often because they really didn't need to be in the sun that much. But what time they did spend on the beach was enjoyable for them.

TJ had a great birthday! We went to the Treasure Ship restaurant (just like we did when he was 4) and then we had cake and ice cream at the condo afterwards. Keith, Alice and Josh were vacationing not too far from us and joined us for dinner, too. That REALLY made it special for TJ and I think that's exactly what he needed for his birthday! He really made out like a bandit, too!

I am just glad to be home and can't wait to sleep in my OWN BED! In fact, I am about to go there now!

Enjoy the pictures!

Some new pics!

Here are a few new pictures at Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=28100&id=1303620738&l=651444dcf6


http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=28728&id=1303620738&l=70f58cd7ba

Tim was gone for a week while traveling for work. No fun for the Towle House and we missed him dearly. We sure are glad he is safe at home!

Here's a video we shot for him while he was gone:



Enjoy!

Garbage Pickup

To my neighbors - those in Madison County, we are being screwed. I am so pissed off - our trash pickup is being taken down to once a week. We have five people living in my home! How am I supposed to keep the trash down to only enough to pack up my can once a week??? THIS SUCKS!

Click Here for the Story

In Desperation... it is Dora

Tomorrow I become a single mom for a week. Tim is off to a CISCO conference in San Francisco and I will be all by myself!!! To be honest, I am not that worried about it. There have been plenty of days where Tim's worked 16 hours and I had to do everything all day long. This is just an extension of those kinds of days.

But tonight, Tim is with TJ to watch Transformers the movie. I got the girls home, fed them... too early for a bath, no second nap today... and what? If I sit and play with them like I normally do, they will fuss and cry. Katie will fuss because she wants to sit in my lap, Lauren will fuss because she is just plain tired.

Dora.

Dora the Explorer.

I said I wouldn't do that with these kids. I can't stand Dora. I had ENOUGH of her AND DEIGO when TJ was a toddler.

But that's all that was on Noggin and I don't think our recording of the Backyardigans is going to work again. They already watched Sesame Street today, we've had it on kids music for background noise.

They needed a distraction to keep them going until bath time.

Dora.

Then.... DIEGO!

Awwww Lawd! What the hell... it could be worse. It COULD be that stupid show with the bumpy plastic fallic looking fellow with the disco dude and the strange singing and dancing that not even this dork can enjoy.

sigh....

Dora :(