Coon Hollo with Jeje and Papa

My parents came in town this Halloween weekend and we had so much fun. One main event was Coon Hollo close to Micanopy, FL. It was SO great. There was a corn maze, kid train ride, corn bins, hay stacks to play on, tractors to play on, hayride, petting zoo area, paintball game, tire swing, yummy food and so on. My kids loved it! :) We spent Friday evening enjoying Coon Hollo. I look forward to next year already! :)

Daisy was LOVIN' this riding thing...until she accidently hit her MOUTH...and Daniel happened to catch the actual injury in the pic below! She is still smiling even...but that didn't last.

This face I am making (above) says it all. It was a last minute decision by Daisy that she wanted me to ride with her. Lets just say there was not enough room for one of us, much less 2 1/2 of us. There was a tiny piece of wood for ONE to sit on. I knew it was a mistake the second we took off at 90 MILES AN HOUR with Daisy half perched on my legs. I believe her words about 10 FEET into the ride were, "Mom, I think next time I will ride alone." AMEN SISTER. My back was already feelin' it in general...but this jostling-Mr. Toads-Wild-Ride of a train ride did me in! And it was a LONG ride. I kept trying to catch my moms eye (who was riding with Isaac closer to the front) and mouth "HELP ME" to her. :)

I want one of these HUGE bins of corn. Forget the sandbox...get a corn box. Clean and fun!
Dan wanted a turn on the tire swing. Dad helped him out...even with a few "under dogs." It was HILARIOUS.


We happened to catch the last hayride before it was dark. We stopped in a pasture and fed the cows some kind of brown nuggets of smelliness. The cows knew we were coming and JOGGED toward us. I cracked up! They were aggressive boogers too! At one point I felt some hot sniffing on my ear...and it was a cow! YIKES. Pretty funny.

The lurking cow behind Dan...

below, Daisy NOT wanting to smile for the pic.

Moments after her rebellion...she was laughing at herself. So Daisy. Sweet Daisy.

The final pic of the night. We finally have one of all of us together. Daisy was pooped out and Isaac was running fever (which always seems to happen when my parents come...WHAT GIVES?). So it was time to go. But a good time was had by all. :)

Dr. Daniel Jones: 80's/90's Orthodontic Patient

HILARIOUS. This is my "hunk of burnin' love" as my Coker family would say. :) It was also funny to see Daniel discipline Isaac dressed like this. Isaac was lookin' at him like "say what??!"

braces are on a clear retainer (like Invisalign)....Sal at the office did a stellar job! Goodwill did the rest for us. :)

Daisy and Isaac wanted their turn with the mullet. Well Isaac did at first....

Debbie Miller Photography

My friend Debbie took some GREAT pics of my sweet kids. Here are some of my favs.












Daisy had NO problem posing. :) Isaac was in a good mood as well...but just as CRAZY as ever. She did a great job. Maybe I am already done with my Christmas card pic! :)

carnival with our house church

Last weekend our house church met at the local Catholic Church for their annual carnival. It was actually pretty impressive as far as "church carnivals" go! There were TONS of rides and yummy food. I realized the day before that I would not be able to ride those rides...BUMMER. But soon consoled myself with the fact that I COULD eat the yummy food. :) Yessssssss. I did get to man the kids while others rode...and I didn't mind at all...as I ate my FRIED REESES! Yes, I said Fried Reeses and it was DE-LISH. I also sampled some Cotton Candy, fried dough and french fries from others. Mmmmm. Nothing but the best for this baby girl in my belly. :) I will also be trying to remember the flavors I savored this fun evening when 9 months from now I am trying to get the FAT off my body again. HA.

Daisy, Isaac and Dan rode the Dizzy Dino before we met up with everyone. It was $9 (if you calculate the price of tickets and so on...hence the genius idea of tickets...or we would never ride.) total for the 3 to ride. WOW. Can't think about it. Just gotta do it and enjoy it. It's for a good cause, right Catholic Church?

Above: Story of my life. Can't just stand or walk along...has to climb (waller, jump, kick...). :)

The only shot of the entire group. :)

Isaac decided to try his hand at a Carnival Game.

above: my personal fav stand at the Carnival.

Beth, Daisy and Scott playing on the playground. :)

Holly and Cora. (sorry holly for deer in the headlights...but you look great!)

LOVE the LIGHTS.

4 of the adults going on a super fun ride!

My sweet Daisy and I....probably why I am having sciatic pains this week. (not smart, mel)

waiting in line for the ferris wheel.

blurry...but still cute of Brendan and Beth on the ferris wheel.

Scott and Holly's sweet baby girl, Cora. She is 16 months. :)

Daisy played this game and could choose a prize. We circled the tent 15 times and she would not choose. She finally got a little plastic baton.

Scott and Brendan enjoying the "Monster Bag" of Cotton Candy.

Holly, Beth, Brendan, and Scott.

The "Co-Co" playing the game...he put this prize back and somehow scored a "big prize" for himself later...a large yellow SQUEAKING duck. Awesome. :)

This is Beth and I eating the fried Reeses....soooooo goood.

So Daniel took Isaac to this ride...and strapped in the duck too. HA! I turned around and saw this (above). Below is the ride guy asking Isaac about his riding partner. :)





below: Daisy and Brendan went on the Super Slide together with the small amt of tickets he had left. So sweet of him to take Daisy! She loved it!

Fall Fun Day at Loving Care (and the Pumpkin for the contest)

Here they are! Angelina Ballerina (cartoon mouse who is a ballerina...now has a show on Sat mornings) and the Pumpkin (that Daisy was at this age). We started with Hello Kitty (or as Daisy calls her "HalloKitty"), the she wanted Hello Kitty as a ballerina, then on to Angelina Ballerina. Isaac never had on opinion or choice. We had this costume and it fit. I would love to have made him McQueen but I was envisioning me working for weeks on a costume OR spending too much and then being SO MAD when he was yanking it off 2 seconds later. If he takes off this costume...no loss to me. :) He looks pretty cute too. HA.

This was Fall Fun Day last Friday the 23rd. The kids (public schools) are all outta school on Oct 30th this year. So all the kids wore costumes, went on a hayride, ate party food and so on a little early this year. I went to Isaacs class first to help out. Then over to Daisys. It was a fun day!

Junk in his pumpkin trunk!

THIS! THIS is what happens not long after it goes on. Just wanted to share proof of WHY I didn't go all out for him this Halloween.

Above: a little girl in Isaacs class (Madison)...a girl riding a chicken! HA!

Isaac checking out his party food!
below...I am still amazed that 13 2 year olds all sit and eat at once. How come I can't get him to do that at home unless he is strapped in?

below: the fun hayride!

below: Thomas was in Isaacs class too....someone did a FAB job with markers and a poster for this cute costume.

ON to Daisy's Class!

Daisy's buddy (can't remember her name right now)...Daisy is the tallest in her class...and her friend is the smallest!

Does this pic above look like a Spring Break 2023 pic?

All the girls in Daisy's class.


SO I entered a pumpkin decorating contest (no carving allowed) for FAFO (Fine Arts for Ocala) this year. Dan did the braces (GREAT JOB!) and I did the rest. See below!

Ping-Pong at the Mall

Daniel was not with us on Saturday of Homecoming cause he was playing ping-pong in the local Ocala mall, Paddock Mall! He was offering money off orthodontic treatment if they played him in ping-pong and more if they beat him. It went really well! He was only beat by 2...young girls...yes, there is a story. :)

But it was also a time for students and teachers to turn in their essays to be entered in a drawing for FREE braces. Yes free. The essay had to be about a time they were wrong and how they handled it. MANY essays were turned in. Should be some good reading. :)

More exciting to me was that the practice and Daniel got some great exposure in a busy mall. They saw him, his logo, his staff and that he was willing to play ping-pong for 8 hours against potential patients. He was playing THE WHOLE TIME. Cool.

Here was his set up.

the above hand out freaked ME out...look at the last pic. If you know my children...you know we are in trouble. Good thing we know a guy to fix it!