Happy Halloween!!

From our house to yours...have a fun and safe halloween!! Try not to eat all your kiddos' candy, though I cannot say the same for my hubby and myself.

My Halloween Birthday Boy!

Yup, you heard me correctly. My son was born on Halloween. (although my due date wasn't until Nov. 16th) I remember that day very clearly. Went into the hospital at 5 am with some hard contractions. Those buggers are awful! Had the glorious epidural a little after that and was relaxin' and waiting. I remember I started pushing at 10am and an hour later he was born. The feeling you get once you see your baby is unforgettable and such a wonderful moment. The rest of the day was a bit of a blur. Funny how you remember everything up to right after having your baby, but afterwards, nada. (at least for me anyways)

And here we are, 7 years later. I swear, it feels like this all happened yesterday...I wonder if I will always feel like that. I hope so! I'm the luckiest mom on earth to have such a wonderful son. He's made me so proud and I'm so excited to see what the future holds for him.

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Wordless Wednesday ~ Her Audience

Madison and her brother's pumpkins. She couldn't get enough of them!

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It's For The Kids

We almost didn't get the chance to have pumpkins this year. Even though you can find them at almost any grochery store, we made the choice to wait until the week before to get them so they'd be in good shape when the time came to show them off. Last year we bought them about 2 weeks before and they were gross by halloween. Our usual place of purchase was all out. Even inside the store! So we headed to good ole' Walmart and found a big supply of them and picked out the best two of the bunch.

Even at my age, though I'm not saying I'm old, I still get pretty excited doing fun things like finding costumes for halloween or picking out the pumpkins and helping to carve them. (ok ok, so my husband does the carving) But I help get the seeds and slimy stuff out. Not so much fun, but as I said, I'm involved.

Next came the task of finding characters or faces to put on them. Usually we'll buy a book that has ready made stencils and use those. But the majority of the pictures are kinda creepy, so we try to stick with the funny faces. This year we couldn't find anything we liked, so we turned to old faithful, the world wide web. I found two really cute/funny pictures and used those. My hubby is really good at looking at a picture once and drawing it perfectly on paper. Or in this case a pumpkin.




I've tried carving a pumpkin once and, to me anyways, it's harder than it looks. So I just left it to the professional. And voila!



My daughter was pretty excited about seeing hers, as was my son. It makes it all worth it.

No Zoo Goes Boo

Our zoo has an annual event called Zoo Goes Boo. The kids can wear their halloween costumes and get candy throughout the place. Plus they get to see the animals, too. We had gone lastyear not even knowing that such a thing was going on. We had just planned on going to the zoo to check out the animals and saw all the kids with their costumes and realized it was something they did! So we planned on going this year, had the date picked out and everything. The weather told us different. It decided to rain, therefore we did not go. Fortunately my kids were none the wiser, so there were no hearts broken. Although I was excited to go, there's always next year!

Here are a few pictures from last year...




Shh, don't tell the kids there's a big spider behind them.






Is this for me?





Cheeeese...
(Hmm, I wonder how much candy he's got in there)

Wordless Wednesday ~ I Missed You!

This is what she does almost everytime her brother comes home from school. I'm just glad I was able to capture it!

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Wordless Wednesday ~ Blue Moon Ice Cream

When my daughter and ice cream collide!

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My Birthday Girl

3 years old already! That's what my baby girl is. This day has come faster than I was ready for. And yet, we are having so much fun with her. She is a joy. We're still in the midst of potty training, but all we're trying to accomplish is when she sleeps. That's a big thing! She loves books and coloring. Riding on her bike and swings. Spending time with her Papa and Nana and loving on her cousin.

Thinking back 3 years from today, it would've already been a long day. I had started contracting the night before and was scheduled to have a c-section at 9. She was born at 6 instead. Seeing her for the first time, words cannot describe what I felt. Sometimes 9 months can go screaming by, and sometimes they are slower than a jack rabbit. But when you first see your baby's face, you forget the time. I remember by the time we had gotten to our room, I was so incredibly tired, but on such a high I couldn't rest. Even though my doctor had told me the previous night to take a sleeping pill (just a 1/4 size of one) to help me sleep through the off and on contractions, I still couldn't sleep. I guess I didn't want to miss a moment with her.

I remember the first night with her. My mom dropped our son off around 7 and he was put to bed a couple hours later. And that was weird! Putting to bed my big boy and taking care of my baby. I had to adjust to two kids. Maddie did not sleep that night. On and off for minutes at a time. We couldn't figure her out because all she would do was cry. We tried EVERYTHING. And I kid you not, by 5 am, she had finally settled down enough to sleep for a couple hours. But by 2 weeks, she was sleeping through the night. And now it's a breeze to put her to bed.

She brings me such joy, she amazes me everyday. She's a wonderful little girl and I love being her mommy.

Another Year Older

What a night! We celebrated our daughter's 3rd birthday last night. (although her actual "birth" day isn't until tomorrow) After everyone had arrived, the kids ran around outside to get some energy out. The mosquitoes were out like a vengeance, so they didn't get to be out there too long. When it came time to opening her presents, to tell you the truth, that went by so fast I can't really describe the moment. Rushed would be good. She went from present to present I only saw the gift for a quick second before she was on to the next one. Ahh to be a kid again. She did get a lot of nice gifts. We had boughten her a toy whose character she's just been getting into, Wow Wow Wubbzy. She completely freaked out when she started playing with it, and I don't mean she was REALLY excited, how about REALLY scared. Not the kind of reaction a parent is hoping for when their child opens a gift from them. But I think it was because of the older boys having fun with it too. Another great present was a life-like cat. She just adores all things animal, so when this cat was purring and meowing and doing cat-like things, she was just in awe. It was hard to not want to pet it and see what it would do.

After the rush of opening gifts, it was cake time. I have been getting my kid's cakes from this place for a few years now, and I recommend it! It's called Connie's Cakes. She does a fabulous job and they taste so yummy! We sang the song and lit the candles, she blew them out, you know how it goes. But when you've got a (almost) 3 year old saying "Again, again", you simply relight the candles and sing the song again. Just watching the expressions on her face make it worthwhile. You don't mind having to sing Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you...more than once. After ingesting some delicious cake and ice cream, you let the kids run around again, in the basement this time, and then you mingle. Us girls sat at the island while the guys watched the football game. And usually once the clock reads something past 9 o'clock, then it's time to go home. It was a fun night. I love doing birthday parties and getting together with family. Thank goodness for video cameras, but I'm not sure if my daughter remembered much of it. Who does at (almost) 3 years old.

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Don't Forget The Tissues

I'm a sucker for soppy movies. Yeah, I'm one of those few (thousand) who went and saw Titanic more than once in the theater, cried when Macaulay Culkin passed away in My Girl, and was overjoyed when that little mouse in The American Tale finally found his family. What can I say? So the other night when I was flipping through the channels to find something to watch, I came across Charlotte's Web. Now, I've read the book and seen a cartoon version of the story, so I figured you seen them once, you've seen them all. Right? So not the same thing. Besides pulling at your heartstrings, this movie is funny! The animals have funny senses of humor and I think Dakota Fanning did a really good job as Fern. I tried to get my daughter to watch some of it because she loves all things animals, but I think this might be a little over her head right now. This is really a heart-warming, must see family movie. If you haven't seen it yet, go! You will not be disappointed.

Her Fashion Statement

I know I'm a couple days late for Wordless Wednesday, but I couldn't resist showing off this picture. I think someone is a little excited for trick-or-treating. Either that, or she thinks all her shoes are too small and is trying to tell me something. Well, whatever the case may be I think this is pretty darn cute!

One Of Those Days

You ever have a day when you want to curl up with a book or a favorite movie and not have to worry about anything? I'm that lucky lady today. I don't know if it's because of the upcoming weekend or just the cooler temps outside, I'm just in the mood for some relaxation. I've started a new book, Mystic River, and I'm ready to jump in and start reading it. That, of course, will have to start some other time. My son is at school all day, so it's just me and my daughter. I'm relishing in our time together. We read books, color some pictures, maybe watch a little TV, but I'm spending time with just her. She's growing up so fast, I don't want to miss a minute. So although I have a nice cup of peppermint tea in front of me, and as inviting as my couch, book and blanket seem, she comes first. Her nap time is coming up soon, then I'll dive in and have some relaxation.

Wordless Wednesday ~ The Beginning Of Autumn

I love it when the leaves start to change color.

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