fun friday

Shhhhh....don't tell the little kids, but we wait until they go to bed. And then we begin having FUN!! Friday was Pumpkin Carving!

Don't let that look fool you. She really loved this part of pumpkin carving!

See? I told you she liked it!

While some of us carved pumpkins, others played with electronics. (It's actually a video camera, so she was involved in what we were doing.)

Things got very serious, as you can see by our facial expressions. Carving pumpkins is serious business!

Ta-da!! The masterpieces revealed!

And you know all that yucky pulp stuff that the girls dug out of the pumpkins? Well I did something that I've never done before. Toasted the seeds, per the girls' request.

Didn't really hit the spot for me, but the girls liked them.

a few fall favorites

I'm not a huge fan of Halloween. I hate trying to be creative year after year, finding the perfect costume for each family member. I dislike passing out candy to trick or treaters. I loathe walking around the neighborhood in freezing cold temperatures, watch my shivering children knock on door after door collecting candy. And I really dread the classroom party, where I feel like I'm responsible for keeping 20 ping pong balls underwater (teachers, you know what I'm talking about!!).

Now don't I sound like quite the scrooge?

I do however, enjoy lots of things about fall. Like...

candy corn and peanuts,

pumpkins,

mums,

Chex Party Mix,

the time change, the leaves changing, fuzzy slippers, hot chocolate and getting closer to Christmas!

Happy Fall!!!

halloween sneak peek...harvest party

We decided to get our money's worth out of Delaney's Halloween costume (they are such a rip-off!!) and take her to our church Harvest Party. I hadn't been since Bri and Alli were trick or treating age, and boy have I been missing a happenin' party the past few years!!

So since Little Missy was all dressed up in her costume, I took a few pictures. Like I said, I want to get my money's worth!

When we got to the church, Delaney had a major meltdown! It was way too crowded for her taste. And too noisy. So she was only happy if we held her.
We finally resorted to candy bribes in order to get her off my hip. Hence the dum dum stick in each of the following pictures.
Such good parents are we!!

The cutest little bugs in town!

We didn't win any cakes. Or door prizes. But Delaney got her fill of dum dums and has now learned the true reward of Halloween!

keep on wagging

Last week, Jeremy's cousin was in town from South Carolina. He was just stopping in on his way to Oklahoma for a trade show. But he was here long enough for me to meet him for the first time. And we had a great time, eating and laughing and quoting Seinfeld and The Office. Just a few of our favorite past times!!

Aubrey (the aforementioned cousin) is a fellow blogger. He's the author of Max the Golden Retriever. Which eventually led to his line of clothing, Keep on Wagging.

Before he left town, Aubrey left these souveniers for our kids.

Thanks, Aubrey!! It was great to meet you! Love the shirts!

conversation between two middle-schoolers

Last week Allison was sent home from school with a cough and fever. With all the hype of swine flu, the school has kids wear a mask if they have symptoms.

While waiting in an isolation room, wearing her mask, Allison had a funny conversation with a [presumed] sixth grade boy.



boy: Soooo, you have a fever, huh?

A: Yes. [Duh]

boy: Do you have any hobbies?

A: Well I'm a cheerleader.

boy: I like video games and reading.

A: Oh.

boy: Where do you live?

A: [worried that he might be a stalker] I live by Ewalt.

boy: Oh. I live by Robinson.

boy: Who's coming to get you?

A: My grandma.

boy: Where does your grandma live?

A: In Country Hills.

boy: My grandma lives in El Dorado. So does my dad.



And on and on with more small talk. Which I think is kind of nice because kids these days don't know how to make small talk. They barely know how to have a live conversation. Sure they can text. And email. And message. And facebook. But talk? Not so much.

Oh, and Allison is all better now. She still has a cough, but her fever never came back.
Thank goodness, we've dodged the pigs, at least for now!

photobooth fun

My cousin Ashley got married this weekend at her fairy tale wedding. The bride was beautiful. The ceremony was fabulous. And at the reception, they had this clever little photobooth. One copy for the guests, and one copy to paste in a book for Brock and Ashley.

(Click on the photo strip to get a closer look!)

As you can see, we spent most of the day in the photobooth!! Documenting our presence.

Scott and Erika were practicing their parenting skills.

Papa was struggling to get Delaney to cooperate.

But what a fun way to spend our time while waiting for food to be served!

You can check out more fun photobooth pictures at The Wichita PhotoBooth Company.

**Disclaimer: no children were harmed during this event!

was it really a day off?

After putting in two VERY long days for parent-teacher conferences, I was compensated by having the day off on Friday. Sounds fair enough, right? Well by the end of the day, I just wasn't convinced it was really a day off.

The day started with Jeremy forgetting to set his alarm clock. By some miracle, I woke up at 7:48 (the time he should've been leaving the house) and realized someone was still snoring beside me.

So after I got him shoved out the door, I got up and gave Nate his breathing treatment, suctioned him, gave him medicines and fed him. Oh and changed a really yucky diaper. Then I noticed some cat vomit on the living room floor. So I cleaned that up. Put the carpet cleaner away. And then noticed some more cat vomit.

Oh, what a fabulous start to my day!!

The rest of my day consisted of changing 3 more poopy diapers, being a jungle gym for a toddler, playing a board game with Allison, making sure my kids had something to eat and watching a few prerecorded shows on the DVR (now that was enjoyable!!).

So by the end of the day, I was feeling like I had gotten the short end of the stick! My house was a disaster. I was tired. And I decided that a day at home alone with my kids is really not a day off. I love my kids and I wouldn't trade them, but they are exhausting!

I'm thinking the next day off might be better spent at work with the kids at grandma's!!!

Wordful Wednesday

Last week was a BUSY week!! I had a meeting every night. I took two kids to the doctor (for wellness visits). Jeremy had parent-teacher conferences. I had to make arrangements for grandmas to babysit. And by Wednesday I was wiped out!!

Looks like I'm not the only one who was wiped out.

Right before I took this picture, grandma (aka Gaga...not to be confused with Lady Gaga!!) was sitting next to her.

Yes, it was a busy week!

a day at the beauty shop

Ashley gave Allison a body wave perm.
And cut about 2 inches off her hair.
The rolling was quite a process. Took about 2 hours just for that step.
But we didn't mind hanging out. It's great to catch up with Ashley.

Ta-da!! I think it's a great look for Allison!

pumpkin patch 2009

We took the girls to the pumpkin patch.
Trying to make memories.
We'll definitely remember the wind!
And the mud.
And hopefully we'll remember some of the fun things we saw!

Like all the pumpkins.

And the gourds.

And corn.

And more gourds. They were Delaney's favorite thing!! Perfect for little hands!

And there were lots of fun things to do.

Like ride the horse swing.

And the teeter totter.

And walk through the corn maze.

And see the ducks swimming and bathing in the pond.

And head off with daddy to go down the gigantic slide.

And check out all the pumpkins.

And wheelbarrows full of gourds.

And see the wagons full of gourds. Did I mention that gourds were her favorite?

And ride on a hay rack pulled by a tractor.

And scour the pumpkin patch looking for that perfect pumpkin!

Yes, we had a nice time. Despite the wind. And the mud.

And despite the grumpy moods. (Just toward the end.)

Delaney was worn out by the end.

All that running around.

And seeing new things.

And making memories!!