Nelson sneak peak!

Nelson family, here is your sneak peak! I just love the picture of Charlotte sitting on the railroad track with you guys in the background because I remember how PROUD she looked when she realized she could sit there by herself! :) Thanks for letting me take your pics!

Moore family sneak peak!

Just a quick sneak peak! Your little guy is so funny--I still laugh thinking about his cute faces he was giving during our mini shoot! :)

Steve and Holly - Sneak peak!

A sneak peak for Steve and Holly!! Thanks for letting me take your pics!

BLAHGING. (BLOGGING)

I have felt like a bump on a log lately. It seems I have only posted when I have had something exciting or pictures to post with it.

Sigh.

I've kind of missed writing down my feelings and our day to day stuff...but at the same time it all feels so blah.

Blah would be the feeling that I never feel caught up on laundry or dishes or keeping the kids rooms clean. I would say this is a part of life that comes with having kids...except that today I took the boys to a friend's house so she could watch them while I went to help at Jenna's school party...and her house was immaculate. Like, magazine clean. All of it. And she has 2 kids...and HER husband is in school too...

HOW, HOW, HOW does her house stay so clean?

I am jealous and in AWE. I wish I had it all together like that.

I think I feel that way especially now...when I don't feel like I have much in order!

Blah is also the feeling I have when I think about food. I wrote this whole post about how proud I was with myself for 5 1/2 weeks of eating well--limiting portions, watching my calorie intake some, limiting sweets...not for it to be a DIET, but just as a lifestyle change I was longing for.

And then the boys went trick or treating at speech therapy. And I couldn't bring myself to post my great big pat on the back.

It was a darn Butterfinger candy bar that did me in... (weakness for those things!) and that lead me to one more piece of candy...and later I munched on another piece...

and I felt like it was all blown for my day...like the past 5 1/2 weeks that I felt I had truly changed had come back to stare me in the face and laugh.

How could I be so GOOD and disciplined for 5 weeks and then fall so fast?

Still kicking myself.

Torn between a world of it feeling like a broken diet and a world of forgiveness for a couple bummer days because this was a goal to be a lifestyle change...and a couple days here and there that aren't great are PART of LIFE.

sigh.

We had our Halloween party at church tonight. Kaden and Jenna wore their costumes...and they looked so cute. Kaden just makes me smile every time I see him in that Super Why costume...

Happy Friday...and happy Halloween.

Our Super Why guy!

I finally finished sewing Kaden's Super Why costume. The bummer about this costume is that unless you have kids or have been briefed on the cool PBS kids shows, you probably don't know who Wyatt from Super Why is. So, a lot of explaining... :)

Kaden's favorite line while wearing this costume...

"SUPER WHY. With the power to READ!"

This was a really fun costume to create--I loved coming up with the different pieces. And my FAVORITE thing about this costume, is that I used 2 store bought long sleeve shirts ($3.00) to make it.

1 of them he is wearing as a shirt. The other, we took and cut the arms off (so we could get the exact green to match the top). We cut out blue fabric in the shape of underwear and sewed the arms (legs) to that--creating his pants!

I got the logo template from here and cut everything out and stitched it down on the shirt.

I just made up the belt...pretty basic...

I say he's a pretty cute super-reader... :)

(and we've got a fun new pair of pj's once Halloween is over)

Annual Caramel Apple party!

Every year we load up on toppings, hot caramel, and beautiful apples and have our annual caramel apple party! We were especially lucky THIS year because we had such beautiful weather on the day we had planned it...so we got to do it outside on the picnic table.

crushed oreos, m&m's, reeces pieces, toffee pieces, candy corn, and red hots...oh red hots...they were Kaden's favorite. So much so, that he pulled himself right up to the jar and started eating them with a spoon! :)
For the kids we took apple slices and stuck a popsicle stick in them so they would be easier to eat with smaller mouths...and let the kids go to town with toppings!

Danny and Crystal decided to be different (and cheat) and just drizzle caramel over their apples. :) Lame, huh? jk!!

Jenny and Travis didn't hold back. Check out those loaded treats (and check out Grace checking them out!)

ONE OF OUR FAVORITE PARTS OF FALL...

Aside from our delicious apple treats, we have been busy! I have been sewing like crazy to finish up Kaden's halloween costume for tomorrow, since they can wear them to speech therapy (they get to go trick or treating there). I finally got it done and I am excited to get him in it and take some pictures! :)

It's hard to believe that Halloween is this weekend...mainly because that means that it will be November. And after November is December...and I just am in denial that time could pass so quickly... :)

Happy Tuesday!

Kids Pics...2009

The weather was TOO NICE not to take some pictures of the kids this morning before church.

Of course, if you live in the real world like we do, your photoshoots may look something like this...

But 500 pictures later and I think we have some good ones!

Celebrating the Letter P and the number 0

I am finally getting this posted from Friday...It has been SUCH a busy week! With our daddy day, pumpkin picking, Dr's appointments, the circus, trying to squeeze in time to work on Halloween costumes, Jenna's field trip, taking pictures for people, and a variety of other crazy things that just consumed every second...at least it felt that way. So when Friday came and I saw that Jenna had no school, AND it was raining I was determined to have NO place to go. NOTHING pressing to do. And I think we were pretty successful.

I told the kids it was THEIR day and they could choose what we did. They PICKED rice crispies for breakfast, with PLUMP mini marshmallows on top. (never done that before, but hey, whatever works!) We PLAYED in PAJAMAS a good PART of the morning, with coloring books and PBS and toys. And PB & J sandwiches took the stage at lunchtime. During naptime, Spencer slept while Jenna and Kaden PRETENDED the time away in the toy room while I PLOPPED on the couch and took a rest.

I WAS PRODUCTIVE during the day, doing a load of laundry and getting the kitchen clean...but there was no PRESSURE. :) Just calm and relaxed and getting things done!

When naptime was over, I PUT the kids in PLASTIC bags (cheap garbage bags) and we PAINTED PUMPKINS (since I haven't had the time to make the actual art smocks I was hoping to make...maybe for Christmas).

Which after doing, the kids were sent directly to a nice warm bath to clean up.

Dinner, while celebrating the letter P, can only mean one thing around here. PIZZA. We had a coupon for a completely free one, so we took advantage of that and had a PIZZA PARTY for dinner.

Clean up after dinner = 0

Stress level during the day = 0

I say we should have days like this more often. :)

Kinghorns - Sneak peak!

Kinghorn family! Just a sneak peak of your pics!

Mechams--sneak peak

Just a sneak peak for ya Randee and Beegh! :)

My First Field Trip

Breaking News: On Thursday, Jenna (a kindergartner at a local elementary school) went on her first field trip! Let's hear what she has to say about this amazing event!

Me: So Jenna, where did you go on your field trip?

Jenna: To the play, Stellaluna

Me: What did you think of the bus you got to ride on?

Jenna: (speechless)

Me: What was your favorite part of the field trip?

Jenna: Seeing the owl fly.

Me: Who went on the field trip?

Jenna: My class went. Gertrude, Miss C, Laverne, and Charlie, and some other kids (names have been changed to protect the innocent. :)

Me: What was it like having your mom along for the ride?

Jenna: Good.

Me: What did the theater look like?

Jenna: superdark. But it got light at the end. :)

Me: Do you think you will participate in future field trips?

Jenna: Yes, because I think I want to see more people in the future.

Me: Anything else you want to tell us about this special day?

Jenna: I loved my class and we had a good time.

The Circus--the greatest show on earth!

On Wednesday we had the opportunity to go to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus, ZING ZANG ZOOM! This was our first time as a family, and it was SO MUCH FUN! We made sure the kids had later (and LONGER) naps since the show was actually at their bedtime, and it made all the difference. The kids were great and were in AWE of everything!

Some of the highlights were...

Meeting the clowns! Oh how the kids LOVED this! And the clowns were SO funny!!!

We have never gone to a preshow event, but we made sure to go to this one--and WOW, WOW, WOW! Wondering why I have waited so long to attend one! We got to stand front and center while the performers and animals did their acts RIGHT IN FRONT OF US! It was amazing!

MY favorite was when they brought out the painting elephants.



And after doing their famous works of art, the elephants were rewarded with one of their favorite treats...an ENTIRE loaf of bread...IN ONE SWALLOW! :)

After finding our seats the show began!

I think that for a lot of years I thought the circus was just some run of the mill tricks with animals and acrobats. But going to this show absolutely turned that around for me! There was music and dancing, INCREDIBLE talent, and Magicians galore that left you wondering HOW??

It truly IS the greatest show on earth!!!

HAVE YOU GONE TO THE CIRCUS YET??

If you are in Cleveland, NOW IS YOUR CHANCE! It's only here until the 26th.

Momcentral.com has a SPECIAL OFFER FOR YOU!
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And if you DON'T Live here, check your local listing for times and dates.
YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS THIS SHOW!!

Jenny and Travis - teaser...

Jenny and Travis...I will be working through your pictures soon!! Here's a little teaser for ya!! Thanks for letting me take your pictures...you KNOW I can't get enough of little Grace!! :)