Week 138

Oct 19-25

We had lots of fun this week! Now that I'm looking at all my pictures I'm realizing we had a busy week. It is definitely starting to feel more like October. The October I remember as a kid...not the Florida October (which feels like a regular person's June....haha). The leaves are starting to change, the air is becoming cool and crisp at night, and there are fun, fall activities to partake in. :)

Random: these first few pictures were taken by my sister Caroline!

One of the most important things I did this week was finally finish my application to transfer my nursing license from Florida to South Carolina. For all my nurse friends who have never had the pleasure of doing this, let me warn you. It is a PAIN IN THE @**!!! The application alone was 14 pages and it had many, many detailed steps to complete before I could turn it in.

I'm talking FBI checks, SLED checks, digital fingerprints, 2x2 passport photo, online verification using their program to verify that I carry a license in FL, a copy of everything from my birth certificate, to my social security card, to my nursing license. It took forever, but I FINALLY put it in the mail!!! Hopefully it was all done correctly because it cost $$$ hundreds of dollars and is non-refundable. Another thing I did was start applying for jobs. I haven't found a job yet that I feel is "perfect" yet, but I am applying because at this point I just need a job. I can continue looking in the next year or two for the one I really want.

Okay back to the more fun things of the week. We finally had a play date with Hailee. Let me explain. Ed has a friend from high school that he hasn't hung out with in a long time. He has a daughter who is close in age to Jack. She is super cute and we have kept up with her through Facebook for the past few years. We have always said she and Jack should meet. Well they did and it was love at first sight! Jack had a blast with her. At one point she went to the bathroom and he started crying saying, "I want my Hay-hee!" So cute!

We definitely need to get those two together again.

For the weekend we headed up to Sumter on Saturday to Grandma's house (Ed's mom). We brought Hope with us so she could play with Ed's moms dog, Scarlet. Jack started playing this new game where he pretends he is a doggie. He crawls around on all fours and begs for treats. If you don't play along he gets annoyed. It is pretty hilarious. At least he is using his imagination.

Our plan was to check out this Farm that had a real pumpkin patch along with all kinds of activities for kids. Well when we got there they were closed for a "private party" so it was kind of a bust. They re-opened on Sunday at noon so we decided we would go the next day. Jack started getting upset when we turned around so we quickly decided on a Plan B and took him to a local church in Sumter that sold pumpkins. We told him that was the pumpkin patch that we had been talking about all morning and he didn't seem to notice the difference.

We let him play in the pumpkin patch and run around for a little while. He kept insisting that he wanted a "little pumpkin" so that is what we got him. Ed picked out a big pumpkin to carve for his moms front porch. We got some cute pictures of the boys. We definitely realize how much harder it is to get a picture of four people. Nearly impossible.

When we got home we carved our pumpkins. Jack actually decorated his with a kit that Cindy had bought for him. He had a blast. It was so cute how serious he was in executing the task of decorating his beloved "little pumpkin." When Ed was gutting the big pumpkin he kept trying to get Jack to help him. Jack was grossed out by the slimy insides of the pumpkin so Ed kept putting it on his arm. It was hilarious because Jack would get so mad that Daddy interrupted his little pumpkin time.

Abel just chilled in the background and watched from the arms of whoever was holding him. Maybe next year he will be more excited about Halloween.

The next day we headed back out to the farm to check out all of the fun. Jack went straight for all of the fun things they had for kids to play on. There was a huge bounce thing to jump on, wooden tractors to climb on, and a gigantic dirt hill with tube slides. We let him wear off some energy and then we rode the big tractor out to the corn maze. Talk about hilarious! Me, Ed, his mom, Abel, and Jack all wandering through a corn maze to try and find check points with clues to solve a crime. Since it is so late in the season the corn was pretty much dead and so it was easier to see through the path to the check points. Thank goodness, because we would have been LOST! :) It was fun walking around.

We were pretty hungry after the maze so we decided to go into the little shop for some lunch. They had all kinds of goodies and served the cokes in glass bottles, which was a nice touch. After my cheeseburger I had a homemade pumpkin milkshake...yummy!!!

That night we watched the Steelers game and drove two sleepy kids home. Jack went straight to bed in his Steelers jersey since he was fast asleep and wouldn't let me take it off. It was a lovely family weekend.