Halloween 2012

I really, I mean really, procrastinated with Halloween this year.  The kids mentioned months prior that they wanted to be superheros, which is what they were originally going to be last year, so I thought, "Great!  No biggie, costumes will come together easily. I can use my ideas from last year."

Then, I didn't think of it again....until I realized, "Oh crap, it's October!"  By this time, the older two were voicing their opinions about what kind of superhero they wanted to be, which was fine, except my plans included capes and props that we already had, not Batman and Catwoman!

But, as long as they were matching, that's all I cared about...they will match for as long as possible!  Hence, Evee being Robin!



Reese was out of school that day, so we started our morning with a visit to Daddy's office....

Quietly ripping open candy wrappers began here....


Next, we paid a visit to Grandpa, where a character had been waiting for us all morning....oh my!



































Sam was pretty upset we didn't bring him any Halloween goodies....oops!


Since they were already all dressed up, I thought it would be a good idea to take pictures of the kids then rather than later that evening when they were only thinking about trick-or-treating....



















Batman was pissed....what's new?



































As usual, Robin and Catwoman did as they were told....



































Side note - if you're ever looking for green tights, good luck!  We ended up dying some white ones the night before, which was super easy and free!



































Reese had been begging to carve pumpkins, so once Evee went down for her nap, we did just that.


Luckily, it was a beautiful afternoon because I was out on the drive way for three hours with no help and lots of whining!  Never, ever will I do it again!  Carving pumpkins is a Daddy job!!!!


























































It was finally time to head out trick-or-treating!


Our crew with Alyssa (cat) and Lynzee (cheerleader)


Our crew with Carter (Iron Man) and Asher (scary spider) and Hayden not pictured was an adorable monkey



































Scary Spider and Batman....what a pair!

After making the rounds in our neighborhood and stopping by Reese's teacher's house, we headed to Grandma Linda's and Grandpa Dell's.


Grandma Linda had lots of goodies waiting for them!

Next visit was to see Grandma Cheryl.


Grandma Cheryl always has lots of trick-or-treaters, so Reese loves ending our evening there!

And this year, I loved ending our evening knowing we didn't have school the next day!

Happy Friday!

It was a good mail day today....

I'm going to be completely honest when I say I kinda screamed when Reese pulled this out of the mailbox!

Here is what followed....

Reese:  What???
Me:  He is gooood lookin'....doing my best to keep it rated G for six year old ears.
Reese:  I like silly ones....big grin :)
Me:  Silly what?
Reese:  I like the silly boys....not hot ones!
Me:  Ohhhh....
Turn the page....
Reese:  Well, I like one hot one....Justin Bieber!
Turn the page....
Reese:  Whaaaat!!!! (screeeeeam)
Me:  What is it?
Reese:  EDWARD!!!!

Ok, so I guess the whole appropriate for a six year old is probably out since she knows who "Edward" is.


My she is growing up.....

And making us so proud every step of the way!

And quickly becoming rich....

And I quote, "Good thing I have strong muscles to pull out all these teeth!"

Tooth fairy did not forget this time!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! 

Chit Chat

Can you believe Thanksgiving is next week?  Love Thanksgiving!  And love that the kids are out of school all week!

I may have to do a little Black Friday shopping this year since I haven't bought one single Christmas present yet!  I'm usually done the first weekend of November!

What's your take on Target opening Thanksgiving evening?  I think it's ridiculous.  Can't people just be thankful for one day?  Plus, it takes away from the whole Black Friday hype.  But I still love them.

Have you seen all the Facebook posts about people already decorating for Christmas?  As much as I LOVE Christmas, Chet loves Thanksgiving even more and kind of made it a rule around our house that we don't decorate for Christmas until after Thanksgiving.  For once, I oblige.

We have had several house showings lately (I think a new house is in our future!) that have kicked my booty....cleaning a house and keeping it clean with three small children is virtually impossible.  And incredibly frustrating.  I'm very thankful for Chet's help!

I took my bows to a couple of open houses/crafts shows a couple weekends ago.  It was really hard work getting all my inventory ready and working the shows all by myself. 

I guess I shouldn't say all by myself....

Love her so incredibly much!

But I had a lot of fun, met some wonderful people, and made great connections.

And only made one purchase from someone else's booth....probably my biggest accomplishment of the weekend!

I'm running my first 5k this weekend with some wonderful friends!  At the last minute, I decided to give up my daily Mountain Dew.  I'm struggling.  Big time!  Who cares about water at the finish line, just have a pop ready for me!

This is the refill cup I take to the gas station...don't you love it?

Can't wait till this weekend!  Are you going?

Random chit chat.  Thanks for listening!  As a reward, take a look at these precious pictures of the kids with cousin, Charlee!



We had so much fun with her a couple weekends ago!



And with Uncle Ty and Aunt Audrey too!

As good as Charlee is, Chet and I were reminded yet again that three kids is plenty!



Charlee threw her first fit with Aunt Jami :( 

She went to a Mac College soccer game with us and did great! She kept saying, "Football game! Football game!"  I had to leave at half time to go pick up Catwoman from a birthday party....

So I thought that would be a good time to take Charlee back to my parents because it was getting pretty chilly. Oh boy! She was not happy!!!  She wasn't mad that we were leaving the game, she was pissed I didn't let her take the blanket she was wrapped up in. She even bucked herself out of the car seat!  Where did my sweet Charlee go?



Once I finally got her buckled, I tried giving her her paci. Fail. Then I tried singing. Big fail! Probably because her scream sounds better than my singing. Next, I tried blasting some music...lets bust a move and forget about it! Uhh, no!  I had pretty much given up at this point and said, "Don't you want to go get Reese?" Silence.  Should have known Reese was all she needed.

They get along so well.  Even look like sisters.

Love our time with her.

One last thing, did you hear who's People magazine's sexiest man alive this year???

Happy Wednesday!

Can I Get Some Duck Tape, Please?!

I'm sure you've all figured out by now that Cru is our most "challenging" child.  Sure, our girls throw fits and argue and sass, but they rarely give us something to complain about.

Evee recently, however, has decided to up her game in the challenge department....

Yes, we know she's adorable, but removing ALL of her clothes, diaper included, EVERY SINGLE DAY at nap time and peeing all over everything is becoming really annoying.

At first, Chet was speaking a bit sarcastically when he told her we were going to duck tape her diaper. 

Now, I think it's our only solution.

Unless you can think of something else!

Is she ready to potty train already???

Well, she has a front row seat every time her brother and sister go, which has lead to her asking 50 times a day to go potty.  This results in her sitting on the potty, playing with toilet paper, saying, "I done." (when she's done nothing), then flushing.  Until today....

She actually went!

So, is she ready???

I doubt it.  But seriously, we really can't take much more of this!  So, can somebody get us some duck tape, please!

Pride

I've struggled with making this post "come to life"....there's so much I want to share, it's been overwhelming.  Then, it finally hit me....everything I want to talk about shares a common ground.

Pride.

It's like a right you receive as soon as you become a parent.  You are now someone's biggest fan for life.  Therefore, you can be proud of them over the littlest things that may seem pointless to the rest of the world.

Lately, it seems as if we've had a lot of reasons to cheer....

I think I've been bragging pridefully sharing about my kids getting teeth for six years, and now, I get to share about them losing them.  Reese is now on tooth number five; the first one she actually pulled out all on her own instead of letting it just fall out.



It caused some tears, but man, was she proud!

Just like with everything else in life, we all have some not so proud moments, like when the tooth fairy forgets to come.  How dare she!



































She explained herself though.....and definitely made up for it.



































Reese is such an amazing kid!  We seriously hit the jackpot with her!

She recently participated in a first communion class at church.



Her and her friend, Cora, were the youngest, but still did very well, and most importantly, learned the reason behind holy communion.


Part of the class included baking bread to eat and share with the whole church to eat on communion Sunday.  The girls had a lot of fun with this!





They also had to recite a prayer that they wrote in front of the church.  Reese worries about things like this....scared she won't be able to do it before she even tries.  I think we had to only recite her prayer once, and she had it memorized.  She stepped up to the mic with no hesitation and nailed it.


































































Dear God,
I am thankful for holy communion because it brings me closer to you, and the closer I am to you, the better my life will be.  Amen.

Wow!  There's no way I could have done that!  And in that moment, as much as Chet and I wanted to start fist pumping, we settled for a whisper of, "I'm so proud of you!"  Something I believe every child so desperately needs to hear.



























































































































































































































































Cru would have loved speaking in front of everyone!  He could have recited his school prayers and The Pledge of Allegiance...something I never imagined he'd be able to do!

I have to wonder what kind of crazy "biggest fan" I'll be when the kids actually start playing competitive sports!  Yes, as much as she loves dancing/cheering and worries about if her curls are bouncing in her ponytail, I hope and pray predict she will be an athlete.



































It's already started....she may not be the most aggressive or make every basket, but the girl's got form.



































Even uses her left hand when told to do so.

She finished basketball camp a few weeks ago, and she still says every Saturday, "Tomorrow is basketball camp day!"


























































Love her spirit!



Even when she's wide open and the boys won't pass to her.



So proud of her for sticking it out and showing up with a positive attitude each week.  I'm sad to see it end.

Speaking of ending, I can't imagine how Chet's parents felt attending Cheyna's senior night at McPherson College.....



Where did the time go?

If there's one thing I've learned with being proud of your child, there's plenty to go around....





We love you both so very much and are so proud of all you have accomplished in your time there!



I may cheer a little too loud and brag just a little too much, but I am a mommy, dang it.  It's my right! 

And I'm proud of it!