Happy Halloween

Well, another Halloween season, come and gone. And it's a good thing 'cause I have probably gained 10 pounds from the mellowcreme pumpkins and candy corn that's been "decorating" my house this month. :-)

Tonight was the last thing for us in our week full of Halloween events. We celebrated at our Fall Festival where we played games and won candy. We dressed up for school, Jonah on Thursday and Owen on Friday. We made Halloween cupcakes on Saturday with cute cupcake toppers. And we finished it out with perfect weather for Trick or Treating in our neighborhood!

Everybody say, "Happy Halloween!"

As you can tell, we are very into Star Wars right now. Jan bought the set with every Star Wars movie in it, and he and the boys have been watching them for the last few months. So, I thought it was only fitting that we all dress up as classic Star Wars characters...Darth Vader, Yoda, and Princess Leia.

 Mary Claire was telling people, "I be Pwincess Weia" translation-"I'm going to be Princess Leia."
She was sooo cute tonight as she walked up to the neighbors' doors and without one bit of shyness said, "Tick r Teat!" She even got into handing out candy once we got back to our house.
I was glad that our friends, the Bondurants, decided to come over, too. It was fun "trick or treating" with them!

Here's a shot of the group. I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Halloween!

Oh, and I couldn't leave myself out on this one...

I don't think I blogged about this last year, but our school has Book Character Day on the Friday before Halloween which allows even us grown-ups a chance to dress up, too! Last year, I was Pippi Longstocking complete with the stand-out, braided pigtails! (I can't seem to find the picture I took and downloaded last year. Maybe I'll come across it later and add it.)

And this year, I was Olivia the Pig. (My co-workers, Mr. Peter and Ms.Rachel, were having fun on Book Character Day, too, dressed as Robin Hood and Bad Kitty.) 

See, we grown-ups can have fun at Halloween, too?!

(Now...what to dress up as next year?! Hmm...)

Happy Halloween!

Mountain Memories

(Pardon me while I play "catch up" on our scrapblog.)

Back from the Smokies and back to daily life at the Hensley house...
Here's a glimpse at our 2010 Fall Break Vacation in Gatlinburg.  

We felt as if we were sleeping in the tree tops in the cabin where we stayed. It was awesome!

Jonah clowning around & hugging the bear!

Jan, Jonah, John Owen, Mary Claire and Mimi at the trolley stop in Gatlinburg

 The boys loved the Touch-A-Ray Bay at the Aquarium of the Smokies.

 Mary Claire loved waving at the diver feeding the fish!

 Jonah and his Davy Crockett hat at the Pancake House..."Minnie Pearl style" with the price tag still on!

:-) This made me laugh!

Why does John Owen look as if he's laughing? hehe

Are we having fun yet?

Inside the Missionary Baptist Church at Cades Cove.

After our picnic, this is what ran out in front of our car. I was so excited, I almost didn't grab the camera in time before he crossed the road and headed into the patch of woods. The kids (and grown-ups) loved it!

These are just two of my favorite pictures from the many pictures I took of our trip to the Wilderness at the Smokies Indoor waterpark. We finished our trip to East TN with our stay this resort and had a great time. The food was great, and we had a blast on the water rides. I felt like a kid again screaming on the "Storm Chaser"! We had a great trip, and we are looking forward to a trip back soon for more memories in the mountains.

A Busy Month Begins

We had a very busy 1st weekend for October in which we prepared for & held a yard sale on Sat. with our neighborhood, then celebrated 2 birthday parties with friends, and finished the weekend up with our church activities on Sunday. The yard sale was a success...we made over $400.00! I thought that was pretty good and the best part is we have less "stuff" now! That always feels good. I let the boys have $5.00 each and we rode around the neighborhood on our golf cart checking out the othe other neighbors' "stuff". I told them they could pick one thing out. Jonah wisely chose a "Luigi" from Super Mario Bros. dress up outfit, a former Halloween costume for some other little boy...a perfect fit for Jonah! And it only cost him $1.00! He was so proud, and he has worn it every day since, I think!
John Owen chose to buy a Tennessee jacket for $4.00 formerly owned by his new friend, Scout, who lives in the house directly behind us. Scout even brought his own money Sat. morning and joined us as we shopped at the different yard sales. We had a great time at our neighborhood yard sale!

After a busy work week, we are packed and just about ready to head off to the Smoky Mountains for Fall Break! I just have to finish cleaning. I have this wierd thing about cleaning my house before going on vacation...I know, it's probably stupid, but it sure feels good to come home to a clean house after being gone. The boys are so excited about staying in a cabin in the mountains. Mary Claire even chimes in with, "We goin' to 'da mountains!" My mom is going with us, and we are going to brave the Wilderness at the Smokies indoor water park while we're there! With a 3 to 3 ratio of adults and children, I am hoping we can pull this off successfully! hehe

So, off we go! Next time I blog, it'll probably be with pictures from the trip. Here's a few cute pictures from the birthday party I took Jonah to at the Firefighter Museum last Sat...which, by the way, was a terrific place for a birthday party!!

Pretending to drive the fire engine!

 I love this picture! Don't they look like they are swapping a good firefighter story? :-)

Wonder what all these buttons do? Boys love buttons and gadgets!!

Jonah and Owen T. climb, climb, climb!

A neat place for a party! As you can see, he had a great time pretending and playing and celebrating his friend's birthday!