HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Halloween was a blast this year. Thursday night prior to Halloween we decided to play hookey from Gymnastics and instead took the kids out to eat and then to the pumpkin patch. This is my ultimate favorite photo op and wouldn't you know it I pull my camera out of my case and the battery is DEAD! I was so upset! The kids had a blast anyway, they rode the train, went down the slide and took advantage of some games.

The next day was Halloween. It is also Nevada Day so Charlie got the day off of work. The kids stayed home with him and they carved their pumpkins. This is Charlie's favorite thing to do at Halloween. He buys one of the pumpkin carving books and goes to town every year. He usually does one and I will do one, however, since I had to work he let Kadee do one and she did a great job!

After carving pumpkins they decked out in their costumes and headed over to our babysitter's house for a Halloween party. Kadence was a Hollywood starlett. I have to make mention that this was the first year I let her pick out her very own costume. Naturally my daughter picked out the PINKEST, most girly girl costume in the store! But she loved it and that was all that mattered! We decided Cole would be a boxer, which made me a little nervous only because I was afraid he would play the role a little to well! And sure enough at the babysitter's he nailed one of the bigger boys who sometimes likes to pick on him right on the nose!

When I got home from work we went over to some friends of ours so all of the kids could have pizza and little bit of playtime together before hitting the streets trick or treating. After pizza we went back to our neighborhood to do some trick or treating. I go all out on Halloween and have lights everywhere! It almost looks like Christmas however in orange and purple instead of red and green. My mom was gracious enough to hang back at the house to pass out candy which I think was a workout for her because our neighborhood got hit hard! We went around the block and the kids got lots of goodies. I took Cole in his little push car because I thought he might get tired by the time we were done. He was hilarious, I wasn't sure if he was going to get the trick or treat thing or not but after a couple of houses he caught on real quick. If we got to a house with a light on he immediately turned to me, pointed at the house and said Mama Mama Mama in his frantic voice. I wouldn't be able to stop quick enough before he was climbing out of his car and running up to the front door with his sister! They had a blast and we now we are stuck everyday looking at our candy bowl, full of goodies fighting the temptation! That's what we love about Halloween!

Cole's Birthday

We didn't have a big party for Cole. Instead we chose to take him somewhere really fun that we knew he would enjoy. The night of his birthday, October 3, we did take him to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate. Then this weekend we decided to take the kids to Bonnie Springs Ranch for is official birthday party. So us along with my sister, her hubby and my niece and nephew all loaded into the Excursion and away we went. It turned out to be such a cute place and the kids loved it. There was a pretty large petting zoo that had pot belly pigs, billy goats, chickens and sheep walking around that you get right up to and feed. Then they had a ton of animals in cages that you could get a great look at. Some of our favorites were the Lynx, the deer, the wolves, the llamas and the wallaby. The turkey's kept us entertained for a while as well. I swear one turkey had a full blown five minute conversation with Kadence and Cole. They kept going back and forth gobbling to one another, it was hilarious! After the petting zoo we wandered over to the duck pond where we had our first casualty. One of the swans actually bit my nephew, broke the skin and all! There were a ton of turtles that Cole got a kick out of and the kids loved feeding the ducks. From there we wandered over to the Ghost Town where the kids got to participate in one of the shows and earned their deputy badges. Cole thought his was pretty cool and felt the need to point it out to everyone! We hit the candy store where Cole picked one of those long colorful suckers. Needless to say in no time he had multi-colored stickiness from top to bottom! We ended our visit with a train ride that the kids really enjoyed.

After our trip we met my parents back at the house and had cake and opened presents! Cole LOVED his cake. We had it up on the counter so it was out of his reach until of course he scooted the chair over to the counter and got a few fingers full of icing prior to us cutting it. Little stinker. He got lots of great "boy" toys - I say that because we really haven't gotten him too many toys lately so he had been playing with Kadence's toy a lot lately. I was starting to get nervous because my son was constantly carrying around a pink Barbie guitar! He loves all of his gifts and got to stay up a little late to play with them!

Pizza and a Pajama Party

Charlie returned from training in Albuquerque on Friday night and the kids were totally excited! They had really been missing him so during the week I told them that on Friday we would have a Pizza & Pajama Party after we picked Daddy up from the airport. We got home, immediately got in our PJs and ordered Pizza and movies. It was so much fun, I made a bed for the kids on the floor which the kids loved! They were jumping and doing somersaults all over the place. We just hung out all night watching movies and eating Pizza! What cheap entertainment!

Who Needs a Pillow?

So bedtimes have become quite a challenge for us with Cole lately. He used to be great, we would put him in his crib, tell him goodnight, and he might whimper for a minute but he would be out in no time. Well Daddy has been out of town a lot this month so I have been letting the kids sleep with me. Which of course was a big mistake but oh well. I love having the time to snuggle with them and don't even mind the stray kicks in the middle of the night. Well, Charlie had just gotten back from one of his trips and it was time to put the kids to bed, in their own beds! I read them a story every night and this night we decided to read it in Kadence's bed. Well I was really tired and decided I didn't want to fight with Cole so I let him lay down with his sister to go to sleep. It worked great, they were actually quiet right away, which rarely happens. Because this is so unusual, Charlie went up to check on them. Next thing I know he's calling me upstairs and of course all I am thinking is uh oh, what now. I got up there and immediately had to go grab my camera for this shot. Cole basically decided, who needs a pillow when I can just use my sister!

Go Team Go!

Kadee decided she wanted to give cheerleading a try so we recently signed her up. She cheers for the Trojans and really seems to like it. She has had a few games already and has learned quite a few cheers. However, I think my social butterfly's favorite thing about cheerleading is just hanging out with the girls!

Halloween is in the Air...

Since we had an extra day off this weekend I decided to get my Halloween decorations out and set them up in the yard. I LOVE HALLOWEEN! It signifies the changing of the seasons, which is sometimes hard to recognize since we are in the middle of the desert! Although this year it was pretty chilly so I was easily put in the mood to get in the Halloween spirit.

Every year when I pull out by storage bins full of Halloween lights, Charlie tells me, you realize that it is only Halloween, and I quickly correct him and simply tell him, I love Halloween and I want my kids to love it as much as I do. So there I am dangling off the ladder with one leg, holding on to the big tree in our front yard trying to get the strings of purple and orange lights just right! We live right on the corner where you enter our subdivision and I always notice that once my Halloween lights go up, it seems to motivate our neighbors to get in the mood and within a couple of days you see orange lights scattered all the way down the street!

Once the decorations are up I have a little tradition where I give the kiddos a pair of halloween pajamas to help get them in the mood. I had bought these a while ago and couldn't wait to give them to the kids. So after their bath I surprised them with their bone PJ's. They loved them. Cole had to skim down the stairs as fast as he could to show Daddy and Kadee thought hers were extra special because her's had a heart. Here's some pics of them posing and showing their scary faces in their "Bones"

A Pancake Kind of Morning

This was a long weekend for Charlie and me, we had Columbus Day off. How much we treasure these three day weekends! We got a lot done, but at the same time were kind of slacking on other errands that needed to be ran, like grocery shopping. So when we all awoke, it was evident I had to make a quick run to the corner convenience store to pick up some milk. I argued with the kids, "Please just let mama go real quick, I will hurry and be back in like five minutes." However this plea fell on deaf ears. They are pretty set in their ways that wherever mama goes they go to. So I get them out of their PJs, load them in the car, drive to the store, unload them, fight with Cole in the store because he insists that he needs a lollipop at 8:30 am, get the milk, load the kids back in the car, drive back home, unload the kids and make my way into the kitchen to whip something together for breakfast. My morning run has almost exhausted me so I sit and ponder, "what should I make?"

Needless to say, the kids came up with their own idea. Cole got into the freezer and decided to start munching on the frozen pancakes, right out of the box. I hope the fact that I have frozen pancakes doesn't startle anybody, but anyone who has witnessed our mornings knows easy is the only way to go during the week! Before I knew it Kadence had one in her hands and was chowing down. After I explained to them that that was disgusting, I agreed with Kadence's recommendation for real pancakes. So Kadee helped me whip up some homeade pancakes (Okay so I use the mix where all you do is add water, however, as far as I am concerned...that's homeade!)

We enjoyed a nice family breakfast of yummy homeade pancakes!

Okay, so it's another one of those nights where I fell into bed exhausted at 8:30 pm after Charlie so graciously helped me get the kids bathed and to bed, which I was glad he did because he kind of had a free weekend (he went to the NY Giants game with his dad, nephew and a buddy...once I get the pics I will put a post up)...Anyways, back to my point, so I am in bed at 8:30 and sure enough, midnight rolls around and who is wide awake??? You guessed it! So I thought it would be a great opportunity to write a quick note about something I read a little over a week ago today on yet another sleepless night.

It was probably about 2:30 in the morning and I couldn't sleep so I thought I would check the blog scene. It almost sounds like I am addicted or something reading blogs at 2:30 in the morning :) So I check mine out and think, wow I am falling behind and really need to update this thing but it was 2:30 int the morning and I kind of just felt like what my friend at work who got me started calls "blog stalking". So I take a peek at hers, because hers is so fun and she is soooo good at keeping it updated and then I remember about one blog she mentioned that she had linked to her site. It is a blog by a mother of four who recently lost her 18 month old to a drowning in their backyard spa (which they had only had for five days). I started reading this blog and literally was sobbing within minutes. The strength of this woman to endure the loss of a child and share her moments out loud on a blog are incredible.

A couple of entry's stood out to me. One was the most recent I had read and it showed a family picture of them all prior to the drowning. I think the week before they were at a family reunion and were able to capture the family in a photo. In her blog she claims that it is not the best picture of everyone but she was so thankful to have it. This entry just made me realize how important every picture I take is. In the day to day grind of work and home and everything else I hate to admit it but I forget so many of the little moments and it really takes me looking through my pictures to get that heartfelt smile of those simple times when nobody thinks I am watching yet I snap a picture.

The next entry that stood out hit me really hard and I found myself bawling in front of the computer, but it put so many things in my life in perspective. It was an entry that discussed one of the last days in the hospital with her daughter, if I remember right she was in the hospital for about four days prior to be taken off life support. The mother states that she asked her sister-in-law who was a proffessional photographer to come and take pictures of every inch of her daughter because she didn't want to forget a single thing about her. She posted one of her favorite pictures and the second she described it I went numb. It was a picture of three hands, hers, her daughter's and her mother's and she described that she was laying in bed with her daughter holding her daughter's hand and her mother was holding her hand. I lost it at that point and so many things came into perspective for me right there and then.

Our children are simply blessings and we should feel so lucky for every breath they take! I know in talking with other moms there are so many trials and tribulations that come with motherhood. We officially have a terrible two'er in our family that challenges us every single day with temper tantrums, destructiveness, you name it. I can honestly tell you after reading this blog they all just kind of disappeared from my frustration. It is funny how well you can receive a temper tantrum when you think to yourself, at least when he's done I can hold him, play with him and give him a million hugs and kisses because he is here with me!

I am writing this for all my mom friends, so when you think you are wits end with your kiddos, maybe you too like me will take a moment to be thankful simply that they are there with you!

I am also linking this mother's blog to mine under the "Blogs Worth Reading" in case anyone wants to read more, her blog is called, "A Daily Scoop". God bless her and her family for their loss and just making it through one day after another.

Kadence's 5th Birthday Party

We celebrated Kadence's 5th Birthday Party on Saturday, September 6th at Pump It Up. We had a blast! Pump it Up is a huge wharehouse full of inflateable slides and bouncers. I think the parents had as much fun as the kids did. After almost an hour and a half of jumping we celebrated with pizza and birthday cake! All in all it was a great time and I think Kadee really enjoyed spending the day with her friends! Thanks to all that came and to those who couldn't we missed you!

The Big Day

Just wanted to share some tidbits of Kadee's Big Day...aka the first day of school. On Friday, August 22 we got to go meet her teacher and visit her classroom. Her teacher is Mrs. Thorton and knew the second we walked into the classroom that she was a perfect fit for Kadence. Her class was decorated to the hilt in cowboy decor. There were cowboys and cowgirls, horses and haystacks, I was almost ready to re-enroll in Kindegarten (oh if only life could be that simple again). Mrs. Thorton was great and it really meant a lot to see all of her old students, some now in middle school coming by to visit with her.

Well the weekend went by very quickly, we did some school clothes shopping and got all of her supplies labeled and ready to go. As I figured I would, I stood in her doorway staring at her the night before. I just couldn't believe that she was really starting school the very next day!

Naturally, mommy took the day off of work so I could send her on her way and I knew I wouldn't be able to go to work after because I would be a blubbering mess! Charlie came home at lunch so we could both take her to school for the first time. I remember walking behind them in the parking lot thinking, wow this is really it! Things went well as I knew they would, my daughter is a rock and keeps her chin up no matter how nervous she might be on the inside. We all anxiously waited in the kindegarden play ground for Mrs. Thorton to fling open the door. All of the kids lined up and off they went, one by one. Some cried, some ran to their parents and Kadee Bug just turned quietly to us, waved a little wave and went inside. And that was it, her school days had begun!

That afternoon I was literally counting the minutes till I needed to leave the house. My mom and Cole went with me to pick her up. We were there prompltly at 1:50, needless to say school didn't get out until 2:11. When the bell rang Mrs. Thorton opened the door and one by one she dismissed the children to their parents...naturally Kadence was one of the last ones out. She came out with a huge smile and ran to me and gave me a huge hug, at that point I was okay, I knew from here on out she would be just fine as she began to experience all that school has to offer.