Grrrreat!

We had a great weekend!!!

I really don't care for Halloween, but I love Fall and that was what Friday night was all about!

Friday evening we celebrated Callie's birthday...again. She wanted a hayride/marshmallow and hot dog roast for her early October birthday. They decided to do her party with friends at the end of the month so that the weather would be cooler and it was perfect!

My brother-in-law fixed a huge leaf pile for the kids to play in and I think they would have stayed in the leaves all night if there hadn't been other plans!
My dad (Pawpaw) helped Maggie roast a hot dog. I love this picture of them!

After we ate, the kids went back to the leaves to look for a prize. I love this picture of Maggie. Love it.

Callie had a few friends from school there and then some of our cousins and their parents...also our cousins!! Ellie loved all of the attention from her cousins, Heather and Emma. Big Daddy & I were thankful for two baby-loving pre-teens!! Big Daddy left early to do homework and my mom took Ellie inside while I went on a looonnng hayride with Maggie and the big kids.

I managed to complete nearly all of my Christmas shopping on Saturday! I also enjoyed a quick 30 minute lunch with Big Daddy without having to wrestle with Ellie and a high chair! I have one more gift to chase down for Maggie and then a couple of things for Big Daddy's side of the family and I'll be finished. I was a busy shopper for about 6 hours on Saturday. Ellie and Maggie had lots of fun at my sister's house.

After Church on Sunday, we took the girls (all three) to a local castle for a special Wizard of Oz event. It was a production by the same group that performed the play when Big Daddy took Maggie last December.

Callie (a witch) and Maggie (still Sleeping Beauty/Princess Aurora) had lots of fun.

Ellie didn't wear her butterfly costume since it was in the 70's today but she played the part of the sweet, quiet,interested baby in the stroller. I'm sure she remembered all of the musical numbers from listening to the Wizard of Oz soundtrack repeatedly while in the womb.

After the castle, we ordered pizzas and then Big Daddy and my sister and brother-in-law took the big girls trick or treating. The little girl wanted to stay at home with her mommy. :-)

And later this week (or maybe early next week) I have a big announcement to make.

Sharing

As I mentioned yesterday, we have a few plans for the weekend.

I didn't mention that I'm (hopefully) trying a new recipe for Pumpkin Cranberry Granola. I love pumpkin pie spices, so I'm a little excited. The recipe calls for maple syrup, so I made an after nap time run to the grocery store for real maple syrup. (The girls eat chocolate chip or fruit pancakes with no syrup, so I only had the yucky high fructose corn syrup kind) I already had the pumpkin that it calls for because I'm making Brownie Bites for Big Daddy's birthday (at his request) next week and Ellie & Maggie both love dried cranberries, so they were in stock in my pantry.

Anyway...here's a little "recipe" that we have grown to love! When I first saw the recipe they called them "Brownie Bites", but they are not really brownies, but just extremely moist and airy cake-y goodness!

Brownie Bites
1 box of Devil's Food Cake Mix
1 can of plain pumpkin (or 3 1/2 cups of pureed pumpkin)

That's it!

I bake them in a well-greased mini muffin pan as the recipe said too. Pumpkin is a super food and this was listed as one of the surprising ways to add it to your diet. I usually get two mini muffin pans full of yumminess.
I have decided to keep Devil's Food cake mix and pumpkin in the pantry just in case from now on!

Of course, real maple syrup wasn't the only thing that I needed from the store even though I went and got "full blown" groceries on Tuesday. We seem to always need grapes, bananas and milk! The kids eat only fresh fruit with the exception of dried cranberries, so we eat a lot of apples, grapes and bananas. Am I the only one who feels like they are constantly buying milk and fresh fruit?

We have some other BIG things going on this weekend and I'll try to share some about that next week!
You'll want to stay tuned!

The Busy Butterfly and Sleeping Beauty

We had a party at the Library today after our regular Storytime, so we had to dress up! Yesterday morning Maggie realized that she needed a crown if she was going to be the "real" Sleeping Beauty/Princess Aurora.

Ellie loved wearing her costume and really seemed to get into character going from one place to another before I could catch her.

She wouldn't stay in one place long enough for me to get a good picture because she is a busy butterfly!

Maggie's dress is a little scratchy, but she wore it for about two hours this morning. Hopefully, she'll be able to wear it okay for her preschool party tomorrow...

Trick or Treating on Saturday or Sunday (???)...

And then when we take her and Callie somewhere very special on Sunday afternoon.


Friday night we are going to Cousin Callie's belated birthday party. we're roasting hot dogs, making S'mores and going on a hayride. Maggie is sleeping over after the party and my sister is going to keep Ellie Saturday morning so that I can do Santa-shopping for both girls. Big Daddy will be working most of the weekend and he's not that into shopping anyway. Needless to say, I could use a little alone time.

Next weekend will be Big Daddy's birthday weekend and we will have a little date and then be shopping for...mini vans. Ugghhh. I never thought I would say that! Neither of us want one, but it would be nice to have the extra room so that we can take people with us once in a while. We decided that it was either a larger SUV or a mini van. We love our small SUV and are just exploring the idea of getting something bigger. Big Daddy needs a replacement for my old car which is getting old and has a lot of miles. We decided that it may be best to get a new van and let him take my SUV. Oh how I will miss it if that's what we decide to do!

Boo at the Zoo

We met some of my old friends (Matt, Jenny & Rachel-we've been friends since middle & high school) and their kids at our state zoo on Saturday for the annual Halloween celebration "Boo at the Zoo". I was much more excited about the people that I was meeting than I was about the actual zoo. I did not leave disappointed.

Big Daddy had planned to stay home and work on a paper, but thirty minutes before I was about to pick Cousin Callie up he decided to go with us. I was thrilled! I wanted a little family time, wanted him to spend time with my friends and I wanted the help. The zoo was really crowded, so I was thankful to have another adult to help look after the three kids that I was taking.

I spent a lot of time saying "stay with our group" just to keep Maggie in check. All of the kids were great and I think we were all worn out!

The cast of characters:
Matt & Jenny, Abe & Abbie- Abe is 9 and Abbie is 7. Matt is a college professor and Jenny is a SAH homeschooling mom.
Dale & Rachel, Alex and Nick- Alex is 5 and Nick is almost 3. Alex had a soccer game, so they met us to tour half of the zoo. Rachel is an OR nurse.
Cousin Callie- of course, she's 9. We took her along because I promised to take her when it was cooler and the animals were a little more active.

The kids played like they had been forever friends! We've been together here and there over the years, but we haven't seen each other on a regular basis since high school. I have so many great memories with them. School trips, prom, senior breakfast, graduation and then our bridal showers, wedding, baby showers and our ten year high school reunion.

We made great memories!

A Day At The Farm

So...we spent Friday morning at a local farm. The farm is only a few miles from our house, so we were there in a flash! We started by going on a hayride through all of the fruit (strawberries) and vegetable (pretty peppers) fields. Your eyes are not playing tricks on you! Maggie wore pig tails!

The hayride carried us over the fields and through the woods to a barn where all of the children fed the horses.
After the horses were finished eating, rode to the pumpkin field to pick out pumpkins.

Ellie wasn't so sure about the horses, but she loved the "hay house" and running through the hay.
There was also a train!
Ellie loved sitting with Maggie, but I didn't think it was safe to let her ride the train without an adult.
This was one of the highlights of my day!!!!

And this.

And this.And this!

I know that some doctors recommend that babies get rid of their pacis by 6 months, but we just don't do that. (Although we may wish we had once we are weaning her from it!) Our former and current pediatrician both say it's okay as long as it's gone by three. I promise it will be gone well before then! Ellie is teething and she really loves her paci when she goes to sleep. I had put her in bed with one and I think she had found her other one from the night before.

And in other news, the upcoming week is already looking very busy and stressful and I'll share more on that then, but in the meantime we would appreciate your prayers.

The next post should share some of our zoo adventures!

While Big Daddy's away...

we eat dinner at my parents' house. Not every single evening, but my mom invited us over last Wednesday because she knows that I have a hard time making dinner and then feeding the kids and getting us all to Church by 6:15. Since Big Daddy was out of town again yesterday, Maggie assumed we would be eating at Nana's. After I had explained that it wasn't something we did every time Daddy was away, Nana called and invited us to dinner. She also needed something from the grocery store and I had already asked if she could keep Maggie & Ellie sometime after nap so that I could have a few minutes of alone time pretty please. The alone time was nice even though it was an hour sent getting groceries.

Maggie had the best time playing with Cousin Callie! (After a breakdown because Callie was reading a library book and Maggie did not have a nap!) My dad was outside mowing the field on the tractor and Maggie & Callie were outside running around. They played in the leaves at my grandparents' house next door and rolled own the same big hill that I used to roll down with my sister when I was little. Maggie was so tired last night between no nap and all of the outside fun.

We are going on a field trip today to a pumpkin patch. The farm is just a few miles from our house and we'll be picking pumpkins and going on a hay ride. Big Daddy will be back home tonight and tomorrow I'm taking Maggie, Ellie & Callie to the zoo with some of my forever friends.

Have A Great Weekend!

Here There & Everywhere

With Big Daddy being out of town all of last week I feel a little like I'm playing catch-up around the house. We really did have a delightful week and I can totally handle things on my own, but it was lonely. Big Daddy is going through some changes at work that may require even more time spent there and school id keeping his "free" time occupied.

Big Daddy took Monday off from work to study, take a mid-term and eat lunch out with his best girls. Both kids lost it when he left before dinner to go to the local university library to meet his proctor for the exam.

I'll be taking Maggie, Ellie and maybe Callie to the zoo on Saturday. We'll be meeting some of my very best forever friends and their children there. I'm excited to spend a little time with these special people and Maggie is ecstatic.

Ellie absolutely refuses to ride in a shopping cart or at least ride while sitting on her bottom. Thank God for my ring sling. I can put it on super-quick and she's pretty happy in it. Not as happy as she would be running through the aisles of the store, but she's happy. I took both girls to the grocery store last week and we tried out the race car shopping cart. Ellie sat in it until the check out, so it was sort of a success.

Ellie is starting to say more words and I'm so thankful. Maggie talks all.day.long. Seriously. I'm so thankful when she takes a nap just because my ears need a break.
On Saturday, I took Maggie & Ellie shopping...alone. They were so well-behaved! Maggie picked out a couple of new outfits and everything we bought at the Carter's store was priced at $5 each! I wish they had my size!! I HAD to have new Big Sister/Little Sister shirts and of course, Maggie had to have the same Big Sister shirts as her best twin friends, H & A. H & A have a new set of 8 week old boy-girl twin siblings. (Moment of silence for their sweet mom...)

I'm thankful for my Awana class and I think we're finally getting into a nice routine. I am in charge of our records and I realized last Thursday that there was a paper I was forgetting to fill out. I'm hoping to get o Church a little earlier tonight and get caught-up. The problem is, it's hard to get caught-up with Maggie & Ellie going wild in my classroom!

Big Daddy hasn't been attending Church with us for several weeks. He was able to go (along with my Mom) to hear the Children of the World Choir. Our Church took up a love offering in each of the three morning services and raised over $15,000 to drill wells in poor countries.

Tonight we kick off our Awana Harvest Box Mission Project. Maggie & I enjoyed filling a shoe box with fun and useful items for needy children in the community. Next Wednesday the boxes will be delivered to those children and hopefully, they will be blessed and feel the love of Christ.

From Last Week

Here are a few pictures I took last Monday before Maggie went to school. She picked out this shirt at T@rget and wanted to wear it for picture day at school. We thought picture day was on Monday, but it was on Wednesday. Of course, she totally wore the same outfit both days!!

Silly face!!

Our beloved scarecrow...and Maggie.

We have nine foot ceilings inside and an extra tall front door. I try to take pictures once in a while where you can see the ceiling so that I can remember how small they really were.

Ellie will not open mouth if I try to feed her, but she loves for her big sister to feed her anything.

It's Wednesday!

I have had an amazing day today!!

It all started when I slept late (6:35 is later than usual) and managed to be up and almost ready before either of the girls were awake. For some reason, my hair looks really good and all I did was part it and spray it. Needless to say, that would never happen if we were running late. Ellie and I had a delightful time while Maggie was at preschool and there hasn't been a single meltdown all.day.long.

On the other hand, I have only had three real conversations that didn't start with "Mom, can I tell you something" or "Mom, can I tell you something else" since Monday. I am thankful for my mommy-friend A who called and thankful that our children gave us nearly 20 minutes to chit-chat. I have talked to Big Daddy on the phone at least twice each day (including Sunday) but our conversations are short and interrupted by little voices and hands that want o talk to Daddy on the phone.

I can totally handle being the only parent at home, but the day seems especially long and lonely when I know that Big Daddy will not be coming home. I'm not used to having help or getting any alone time until after both girls are in bed, so that much has stayed the same.

I haven't set the alarm off anymore and I made a batch of granola today. I also ate a pretzel goldfish without realizing that Ellie had sucked all of the salt off of it and cried when they showed the Chilean miners being rescued.

Happy Wednesday!

Day One

We had a busy, fun-filled weekend and sadly sent Big Daddy out of town for his business trip yesterday. He took our laptop along for the trip, so I'm attempting to do my daily reading on our ancient (for computers anyway) desktop that's in Big Daddy's room. It takes forever to get going and then it's slow after that...and I can't comment on blogs??? Just as the computer was about to finish it's first cup of coffee this morning, Ellie turned it off. I turned it back on and Ellie turned it off again. I am constantly amazed at the mischief she can get into! I was putting away old baby stuff in the attic for 30 seconds this morning and she managed to clear off two shelves of Big Daddy's books. I walked back into the room to find her reading "The Bias Against Guns" and "Freakonomics".

One of my goals for this week is to restore order to the bonus room or else we'll have to start calling it a Man Cave. For some reason I can get a little more cleaning and organizing done when I'm "single". Last night I stayed up until midnight watching CSI:Miami, but tonight I'm going to try and clean the master bedroom closet...maybe.

Maggie wailed when her Daddy left. She seems to think that we can't survive a few days without him. Of course, I may have contributed to that feeling when I accidentally set the alarm for "away" last night and then tripped the motion detector right after I tucked her into bed. She didn't have a lot to say about it, but the look on her face said "you are incompetent and we'll never make it until Friday without our Daddy". She has been repeating the days of the week all day long today and telling me that this really is sort of a short week and daddy will be home really soon.

Ellie is at the age where she's blissful as long as I'm holding her or she's getting into trouble. (Maggie was Ellie's age when Big Daddy was in Italy for thirteen days.) She thought that she heard her Daddy once today and called his name, but was quickly distracted by the neighbor's barking dog.

Anyway...we have survived nearly 24 hours without Big Daddy, but boy do we miss him!!