Life lately...

Not much new here....just realizing that these are my last few weeks with just Emma...and getting a bit sad:(  Sorry for the sap...

Last Sunday, Brent and some other F3 guys went to Snow Hill to deconstruct some houses that had been destroyed with the flooding from Hurricane Matthew.  We were beyond proud of our guy for spending his talents and time doing it, and enjoyed a girls' day.

Emma got dressed all by herself for church and packed her own purse (insert eye roll and sigh here...)

She even wanted to kiss the camera to send it to daddy...

Emma used to get up on her own and walk downstairs to find us.  But lately, she sits up and yells "MOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM" really loud and annoyingly.  This morning, she woke me up from a dead sleep, so I was not up and ready like I usually am.  She helped me "put my eyeballs in" (which is what we call putting my contacts in) and then pretended to be me:) 

We are having summer here again (sigh), so Emma and I went to the Botanical Gardens to walk around and explore.  I love this place and wish we went more often.  Now that it is finally cooler, I hope to.  It has trails and neat little outdoor nooks for kids, and just reminds me of childhood.  I used to play non-stop in the woods behind our house growing up that connect to the Bolin Creek Trail, so I have such fond memories of these kinds of spaces.

Here we are learning to fine art of shoveling.....this will come in handy given the fact that Brent will not have any boys to help him with yardwork.....

Emma spotted these cute (or creepy????) bird people and wanted a picture with them.

Then we found a good spot to sit and admire our giant leaves we had collected, and take some silly selfies.

I had not been feeling that great for the past few days - a ton of back pain that doesn't seem to go away, so we had to cut our trip short.  I am hoping that we can go back before Merritt gets here for some more fall hiking and exploring.  But, I do plan on taking both girls here a lot in the future:)

Friday, Brent took the day off so he could attend Emma's Halloween parade.  I was so excited to do this with them.  We had a bake sale (I even made something!), and watched the kiddos parade around in their costumes and then sing some songs with a witch together.

Emma was not feeling her ears, or the parade....but oh well.  Poor Ms. Messick had to hold her hand, and I think Emma's face sums it up her lack of enthusiasm.

She did perk up a bit when she saw us, though!

The kids sang "Puff the Magic Dragon" and Emma was belting it out.  It was such a neat moment for me because my dad used to play this for me on his guitar at night when I was growing up.  I was definitely that sappy, preggo fighting back tears.

Saturday night, my dear friend, Tommy, had a party celebrating his recent nuptials!  It was a BBQ at his in-laws house in downtown Rockingham.  It was absolutely gorgeous, and the weather was so perfect for it. Just my dad and I went, which was really nice to get away for a bit, especially since Brent had been gone so much lately on weekends.

Tommy's face cracks me up here, and I look like I ate a house....but anywho....

This is a bit more normal size...it was so good to see my ski family outside of lake life:)

While I was gone, Brent and Emma had a big night of painting pumpkins, carving, and pizza eating at Pop's!  I was glad for them to have that special time together.

Phew....that's what we've been up to....if you made it to the end, then great...no special prize, but have a great day anyway:)