Quick Trip to Kansas City!!!

What a fun weekend we had. My brother Mark has been in town from Utah for the past week and a half and he finally made his way up to our area on Sunday for a visit. He brought along his girlfriend that he met while fighting wild fires this summer out west. Her name is Sarah, and she won the hearts of the entire Charlton family. We had dinner at our house on Sunday night and they were able to spend some time with Molly and Taylor.

Mark and Sarah

Early Monday morning Stuart met my mom so that she could keep Molly and Taylor for a couple of days. When Stuart got home, we loaded up in Marks truck and headed to Kansas City. My Grandpa has been having some medical problems the past few months, and my Aunt Karen and Uncle Bill have been helping him out by taking him to doctor and staying with him after a few surgeries. My mom went up a while back to give them some help and while she was there my Aunt Karen proposed an idea to my grandpa that went over great. She asked my grandpa if he would be willing to sell the big house that he and my Grandma built 30 years ago and buy a little house that has been on the market that is right next door to my Aunt and Uncles house. My grandpa went along with the idea and they have been working on making this move ever since. They have already closed on the new house and have started packing up and cleaning his old house to get it ready to put on the market. They have hired a construction company to renovate the kitchen, living room, bathroom and sunroom in the new house to make it a more comfortable living space for Grandpa.

My grandpa is not able to take all of the beautiful furniture and items that filled their home for the past 30 years to his much smaller house, so he decided to pass it on to all of his children and grandchildren. This started Grandpa’s Auction! My aunt took several pictures of furniture and goodies that he wanted to pass on, and sent out a mass email to the family with a disclaimer that read the first to respond got the item. Several items were claimed by myself, my parents and my brothers and sisters so we thought that this was the perfect excuse to take some time off to make a trip to Kansas City and haul it all back for everyone. We were also able to help pack some things up, and do a little bit of cleaning while getting to visit with family that we don’t get to see as often as we would like.

After an afternoon of packing and moving we headed out to a local pizza place called Shawnee Pizza…it was fabulous. We went with my Grandpa, Aunt and Uncle, and my cousin Amanda. Amanda brought along her boyfriend Brandon, who was a really nice guy. After dinner we headed back to my Grandpa’s and watched a video of Mark and Sarah’s fire tour.

Grandpa Bill

My Cousin Amanda and her boyfriend Branden...

After my aunt and uncle and cousin left and my Grandpa headed off to bed, Mark, Sarah, Stuart and I headed downstairs for a few for a few beers at the bar (yes, my grandparent’s have a bar in their house). My brother decided to invent a new game to play for our last evening at a house where we spent many holidays and party’s with family. And what better game than to see who can finish off a beer while riding up my grandparents stair chair (I know we were acting like we were 21, but I didn’t have kids for an evening, and we can get slightly immature when we all get together).

I have gone back and forth on whether or not to post these pictures, but I thought that they were pretty funny.

Stuart started us out...

I was next...

Mark on his way up the stairs...

And Sarah finished off our little game...

I got up the next morning and had breakfast with my grandpa while the rest of the crew showered up and got dressed. It was so nice to have this time to spend with my grandpa. He says that he is as excited as an 82 year old can be about all of it, but he is very thankful to have a wonderfully organized and smart daughter to put it all together.

I just want to say thank you to my Aunt Karen and Uncle Bill for taking such good care of grandpa, and leading up this move. It really makes me sad that there are so many elderly people out there that don’t have family to take care of them the way that they have taken care of their parents. This is how it is supposed to be! You certainly lead a great example for all of us on how we should take care of our parent’s and loved ones as they get older and need the help.

Group Picture at Shawnee Pizza...

What a great trip. We were so glad to help out, even if it was just a 24 hour trip. I was sad to say goodbye to everyone, but we will see them all soon at Thanksgiving and/or Christmas!

Remember to hug your loved one's often!!!

Halloween 2008

Halloween at our house was an all day event. Stuart is off on Friday’s and stays at home with the girls, so I decided to go ahead and take the day off so that we could have a Family Day! We woke up to thunderstorms on Friday morning; the girls came running downstairs and crawled into bed with us because they were scared of the thunder. I turned on a Halloween cartoon for them to watch so that Stuart and I could catch a little more sleep.

We went to chick-fil-a for lunch which is such a treat for the girls…they love them some chick-fil-a!!! We joked about how we were going to go to the McDonalds instead, and they actually started to get pretty upset. After lunch we took them home for a nap. Around 3 we took them up to my office to trick-or-treat, which was crazy. They got so much candy that we really could have wrapped it up for the day after we left, but we still had plans to hit our neighborhood later that night.

When I was growing up my mom always made sure that we had a nice warm “healthy” dinner before we headed out to trick-or-treat. I guess she did this to help control the candy binge that was to come later that night. This makes sense to me so we decided to make spaghetti, actually Stuart was nice enough to make it, and it was delicious! After dinner, we headed out for a night of trick or treating in our neighborhood. The girls really got into it this year. They had to be reminded a few times to actually say trick-or-treat when someone answered the door, and they did a good job taking turns ringing door bells. It was a fun day, and I’m glad that we got to celebrate it as a Family.

Now, I’m ready to get these Halloween decorations down, and start to bring out the Christmas Decorations! I guess I will hold off for a few weeks!

Molly on the way home from my office...

Taylor on the way home from my office...

Molly and Taylor before we head out for a night of trick-or-treating!!!

We had a visit from our friends Mike and Rebecca Harms when we got home, Austin and Abby looked so cute. Abby was sporting a southside cheerleader uniform...GO REBS!!! And Austin was a little Alligator!

Little Old Ladies

My Cousin Amanda brought some hats and wigs from my grandparent’s house this past weekend and the girls had a great time playing dress up. They were just cracking each other up and enjoyed checking themselves out in the mirror. I have to admit that during my cousins visit we had our little dress up session….I don’t have those pictures to share, but the girl’s pictures are so funny. If I didn’t already have Halloween costumes for them they would so be little old women…maybe next year!

The Tyndall Halloween Party!!!

Saturday night we had our 6th (I think) Halloween party. We always look forward getting together with our friends and some family during the Halloween season to see what everybody can come up with for costumes. Stuart and I just kind of threw ours together at last minute this year and decided that we were Sally O’Malley and The Lunch Lady. I didn’t want to post pictures of ourselves, but if I am putting everyone else up I guess it’s only fair.




Stuart's brother Trey was Richard Simmons (this was one of my favorite costumes) and his wife Angie was a work out girl...she had the leg warmers on and everything...so cute!



My cousin Amanda was a paperdoll...this was another one of my favorites! She made this cute costume...and the hair was great!

Our friends Kim and Casey came as Dracula and his bride!

My brother Patrick came as a scary old man.

Our friends Andy and Melissa were raggedy Ann and Andy.

Our friend Tara was a Saint Paulies Girl.

Our friends Wayne and Lindsey came straight from the Razorback game as themselves...they usually go all out, but we were just glad that they were able to make it over.

And the winners of our costume contest were our friends Randy and Candace as The Jolly Green Giant and a pea pod posing with their major award (A golden pumpkin and broomstick). This was another homemade costume…I really need to learn how to sew before next years party:o).

I can't believe that I didn't get pictures of everyone that was in costume. I hope that some of our guest would be so kind to send us your pictures from the evening. Thanks to everyone for coming...We had a great time!

Pumpkins!!!

Stuart was on a company float trip this past weekend, so I decided to take the girls to get some pumpkins. They had so much fun picking out the pumpkins that they were going to paint.

I think they even had a better time pulling each other around in the wagons that they provide to help load up pumpkins.

After a nap I pulled out the paints and let them paint away. We ended up with some very colorful pumpkins.

They did a much better job keeping themselves clean this year.

Here are a couple of pictures from last year…

This was a bad idea...we still have paint stains on our driveway!

Taylor and Molly's Birthday Party!!!

Sunday we celebrated the girls’ birthday party at our local Gymboree Play and Music. I think all of the kids had a great time. I would recommend having a birthday party at the Gymboree to anyone with kids under the age of five. They have an instructor that leads the kids in games and songs for about 45 minutes.

At one point during the craziness, the instructor nudged me and asks while cracking up, “Isn’t that your husband?”

They cut and serve the cake for you (I loved this because I hate cutting cake). We had one cake, but we sang happy birthday to Taylor first so that she could blow out the candles, and then to Molly so that she could have a turn. We practiced blowing out candles all week to avoid little kid spit all over the cake (I believe we were successful)!

After the kids had their cake, they took them into another room and sat them in a circle while the birthday girls opened presents. The instructor wrote down everything that they got and who gave it to them (so nice).


These pictures were sent to me from my mom and my friend Lori…wouldn’t you know it, the batteries on my camera died as soon as I turned it on! Thank you for sending me the pictures!

Two Posts in One Day!!!

Today is also Stuart and my 6th year anniversary!!!

I don't have any wedding pictures saved to my computer of our wedding day to post, maybe I will scan one in later. I love my husband and I am happy to share our anniversary with our little girls!

Happy anniversary Stuart...I love you!!!