Fall Vacation!!!

After Caleb's fall party, we left town for a much needed vacation...with all the construction going on, we haven't taken a week off since last October. Before we left, some precious, anonymous someones from our church left cards under Corey's office door with money inside for us to take on vacation...thank you...what a thoughtful, sweet blessing! You'll never know what that meant to us. We headed to Gatlinburg to enjoy a few days with Nanny, Michele and David. We had a fabulous time enjoying the beautiful changing leaves, the mountains, and perfect weather. In the past, we have stayed in a hotel, but this year we rented a cabin, and it was so nice. We had lots of room to spread out, and a pool table and hot tub! The boys loved it, and so did we! We enjoyed wonderful dinners, Krispy Kreme doughnuts, Marble Slab ice cream, some fun Christmas shopping at the outlets and the Christmas Place (I'm always ready to put up my tree after going there), go-carts, and getting to know our future brother-in-law better! Here are some pictures of our time in Gatlinburg! it was a wonderfully refreshing week!

Caleb's Kindergarten Fall Party

Caleb's fall party was October 28...it was a great kick-off for Fall break! This year I have the honor of being the room parent for Caleb's class which meant that I was in charge of planning the party. The other parents in his class were so great to volunteer to help and to bring things...it made everything go very smoothly. The kids rotated through four groups...balloon animals, face painting, a pumpkin craft, and a bean bag toss. It was so much fun, and the kids did great! If you know me, I love being creative, and I love hosting things, but I am not an organizer/planner...details are not my thing...so I was quite nervous I would mess up this big day...it was so sweet after the party was over when Caleb said, "Thanks, Mom for doing such a great job teaching at my party today." Ahhhh...how precious! He is getting so big and doing so well in school...we are very proud of Caleb and how well he is reading and adjusting to being in school. God has blessed him with a precious teacher and a very positive kindergarten experience this year!

Welcome Baby Andrew!

Congratulations to Fred, Jennifer, Clayton and Jack...Andrew Shackelford was born October 26, and he is precious and adorable! We're looking forward to adding a sweet new personality to this group of buddies! Jennifer did awesome and was up walking around looking beautiful as always...what a lucky little guy to have such a great family, and I know they are going to be blessed to have Andrew in their family!

Halloween Story Hour

One of our favorite weeks of story hour each year is Halloween week...it is soooo much fun! All the children wear their costumes, go to the "pumpkin patch", then a hayride, and finish it all off with snacks. What's not to love about that! This year because we were going to be on vacation on Halloweeen, we didn't get new costumes, but Bennett had a cool Batman costume that he plays superhero in, so he wore it. Could he be any cuter?! And check out his adorable buddies!

UT vs. Bama

This year for the UT/Bama game we were invited to David John, our music minister, and his wife, Gini's beautiful new home to enjoy the game. We had such a fun time, and the game couldn't have been better...well, unless we'd made the field goals and won! They even had an awesome cake made for the occasion. The boys' favorite part of their new home was the doggy door, and they actually used it several times! Thanks so much DJ and Gini for your hospitality and your friendship!

Pumpkin Carving at Rhea

Before Fall Break I had the joy of getting to help Caleb and a group of his friends from school carve a pumpkin...our pumpkin turned out pretty cute, but not as cute as these kids!

Golf AND Soccer

October 17 was a busy Saturday! The boys spent Friday night with Michele because Corey and I got up early Saturday morning to be at Maplewood's second annual Honduras Golf Scramble fundraiser. We had a wonderful turn out and were able to raise funds to support our 2010 mission team. Thanks so much to Jack Pressey for all his hard work planning the event! Caleb had a soccer game that morning also, so while Corey was golfing, I ran over to the fields to meet Michele, David, Caleb, Bennett and my family who were also there. After enjoying an exciting, but very cold game, the boys and the family had a big time playing on the inflatables that were out at the soccer fields, and I headed back to the scramble for a while before heading back to meet family for lunch, whew! What a fun-filled day!

Clayton and Jack's Big Brother Shower

Our friends the Shackelfords are expecting (well, now they have already had him, but at the time I'm blogging about he wasn't here yet ;) a sweet new baby, Andrew! So a few weeks ago, some of Jennifer's friends threw Clayton and Jack a big brother party! It was so much fun! There were baby food eating contests, diaper changing races and much more. They even made a special picture to hang in baby Andrew's nursery with all their fingerprints. We're so excited about our new buddy Andrew...hang tight...there will be another post about him soon!

Fall Decorating!

I LOVE fall! The cooler weather, the changing colors, the decorations...it makes home seem even more cozy and warm! It ushers in the holiday season, which is part of the reason I love it so much! The boys and I picked out pumpkins for them to paint, and I was able to find some beautiful mums this year! One of my favorite things is putting the decorations on our entertainment center and sticking gourds on the candle sticks...I know it seems silly, but sometimes it's the simple things that make me smile :) What's not to love about this time of year?! So, welcome to the Cain home this fall...here is a sneak peak into our fall fun!

Fall Fun and a Baby Shower for Andrew

The boys and I have been blessed to have a wonderful group of friends! We enjoy spending time with these friends each Monday at story hour...however, now that the kids are getting bigger, several of them are now in school or preschool, so we don't all get together as often. But a couple weeks ago, after story hour Katie hosted a "Halloween" party/ surprise baby shower for Jennifer and baby Andrew, and we got the whole gang together again (except for Caleb and Clayton who were in school). We had a wonderful time together. Katie even had a pinata for the kids...she ended up having to throw it down several times and finally rip it open...she was quite tired after this fun game, but the kids loved it! After Jennifer opened gifts, we decided to get all the kids together for a picture...this was quite an adventure, but look at all our little blessings!!!