Pumpkin Carving

Monday night we decided it was finally time to carve our cute little pumpkins!  We've had them for over a month now and they were begging to look festive just in time for Halloween!

David loves Halloween and the girls certainly share this enthusiasm - pumpkin carving got everyone in the mood!  Catherine Ellis loved helping carve and pull the insides out; Caroline - not so much!  But, it was a team effort and David was super creative by adding two smaller pumpkins with Catherine Ellis's and Caroline's initials.

Our front porch is ready for Halloween night!

 Daddy drawing his spooky face

 Someone's ready to carve

So excited about our jack-o-lantern in the making

 Helping pull out the jack-o-lantern's eyebrows

 Looking good...

 Pulling his "head" off 

Yucky, yucky! 

Catherine Ellis loved cleaning out the pumpkins this year 

 Hard at work...

 This wild little wee wasn't as excited about the "insides"

Catherine Ellis and her "CE" pumpkin

 The finished product - thank you Daddy!  Didn't he do a great job?

 Catherine Ellis and the pumpkins

 Caroline and the pumpkins - she's being silly and squinting her eyes like a wild wee :)

 This is such a great picture for so many reasons: it captures Caroline's little personality, Emma's strong guarding sense and Daddy's handiwork!

Happy Halloween from the Cains!

Picture Perfect

Sometimes I'm such a great planner, others not so much:)  On Sunday I was both!  We finally took our summer pictures in late October and our Christmas card photos early!

Most of you know that our wedding photographer - Jessica - has been a constant in our lives for almost 10 years now.  She started out as a wedding photographer and became a friend - she's captured Cain memories for a long time now and I don't know what we'd do without her!

We drove to Clanton to make it easier on Jessica - plus she had a really awesome location for our Christmas card photos that we are STILL talking about this week - it's one of the most beautiful places.  It reminded David and I so much of Camp McDowell.  It was perfect for capturing our love of the outdoors - the girls had a blast!

Did I mention we were surrounded by water???  Did I mention the girls were on a rock in the middle of the creek alone???  Daddy was near by, but still!  And let me just say - y'all already know this - but David is a saint!  These pictures are HARD work for everyone and I promise y'all he works the hardest making these wee ones smiles!  This session included throwing rocks ... there is nothing beneath him to get a laugh!  Can't wait to see the finished product!

This is how we started - but we warmed up quick...

 Nothing like touching each other to get it going quick ...

"STOOOPP" is a word we hear often

 Then the real fun began...

 That smallest wee - she's a wild one - hard to catch in a pose!  

How sweet does our biggest wee look?

 Jessica hard at work - these girls are a handful!

 Caroline checking Sissy out to make sure she's okay

Silly wees

 Caroline and Jessica - sweet little friends!

 Isn't this gorgeous?!?

 Daddy hard at work ...

 Wild wees in the middle of a creek - fun times!

 Love of my life ... just sayin'

 Gorgeous, gorgeous!

 We had a LOT of fun - can you tell?

Snoozing sweet wee

This really was our best photo session yet - we're so excited - stay tuned! Thank you Jessica for all of your hard work and for loving us like we were yours:)  

Welcome Mary Ryan!

We got to meet Mary Ryan Farrell on Sunday - she's so, so precious!  Perfect in every way!  It was so good to see her older brother - Wyatt - and her Mom and Dad.  Ryan and I were best buds in graduate school at BSC - I'm so thankful for his and Marybeth's friendship - we Cains sure love some Farrells!

This was a twofer - Wyatt and Catherine Ellis got to play their little hearts out, while I got to catch up with Marybeth and feed/cuddle Mary Ryan for an hour!  I wanted to bring her home with me - she's so snuggly and sweet!

 Sweet Mary Ryan 

Playing on the playground 

Sweet besties - Wyatt and Catherine Ellis!

A little glimpse of these two silly friends dancing to a little tune:

Mommy and Me Date

Catherine Ellis and I had a Mommy and Me date Saturday afternoon!  We were both in need of a hair cut and some time together - she's growing so fast that I'm trying hard not to blink, y'all!  I can't believe this time next year she will be in Kindergarten - times flies when you're having fun.  So, quality time we had and a great time at that.

This was Catherine Ellis's second salon haircut and she's a pro already - she really likes Ms. Brittany and Ms. Brittany is so good with her.  We went in like this:

(and she's seriously cute!)

And came out like this:

How cute is she??!  She looks so old with shorter hair, but it's really a must as thin and fine as her hair is - the shorter it is the thicker it appears and the easier it is to fix.  It also stops her from wearing a ponytail every day of her life:)

I told her she could pick where we ate lunch and she picked Milo's - a girl after her Meme's heart!  Meme trains them young that Milo's is the best burger joint in town .... think your brainwashing has been successful Meme!  :)

With a mouth full of course...

Boo at the Zoo

We had a wild weekend of fun this weekend with great friends!  The girls have been asking to see Archer daily so we decided a visit was in order - what better way to visit than among thousands of our closet friends at Boo at the Zoo at the Birmingham Zoo. Yeaaahhh.

So we've been to Zoolight Safari in December and it's fun, lots of lights and such - gets you in the holiday spirit.  Boo at the Zoo is INSANE.  Lots and lots of people, kids dressed up, spooky music, a maze of trick-or-treating, train rides, merry-go-round rides, games, dance rooms - and general insaneness.  This was our first Boo at the Zoo experience and we survived - not sure I need to go back anytime soon, but the kiddos had a BLAST - so I'll just enjoy this entire year I have to rest up for the next one.  :)

We stood in line for about 45 minutes to ride the train - always worth the wait with this crew.  Archer and Caroline had a blast with glow in the dark swords and a baby doll, while Catherine Ellis met a new friend in line.  The glow in the dark paraphernalia was a must, thank you Jesus that it entered my mind to grab some while at the Dollar Tree.

Train Ride Fun with Amanda and Archer 

 Me and my wildest wee - love this pic - thank you Amanda!

 Halloween lights from the train

 Archer and Caroline

 Three's company 

After the train ride is when the real fun began - on the search for candy and the merry-go-round Catherine Ellis led us to the front of the zoo and all the madness.  Caroline was a wild woman flying through the crowd, refusing to hold a single hand, and off.the.chain.  She's a wild wee, that one!  Archer and Catherine Ellis held hands and remained calm for the most part. Lots of inflatables - I didn't realize there was such a market for Halloween inflatables - but there is.

 Isn't this the cutest group of wees you've ever seen?

 Caroline and one of her many poses

 Wild wee poses again

Caroline found the monster mash and went bananas - she loves to dance.  She, Archer and Catherine Ellis had a big time - we got in on the fun too.  Who doesn't love a little Michael Jackson? Thriller .....  I had to carry Caroline out of the monster mash - wild wee loves a party.

Dancing her hiney off 

The crew all dancing at the Monster Mash:

 Hoops for candy

Aubie and Al were there of course - what about that AU win folks??!?

 Caroline and the giant spider

We really did have a wonderful time - the kids were nonstop and there was SO much to take in.  Now that we have one under our belts, we'll be pros next year.  Happy  Halloween!