Where's Mr. Smee?

Well I'm jumping on the bandwagon and posting our adventures of the trick or treating season.  Let's face it, I saw candy in the store for Halloween in August and heard rumors that Costco had Christmas stuff in their stores in August.  I just won't even GO there on my soap box on that issue! 

Finally to the happiness of 4 children it is finally time to dress up!  Thank goodness! I was tired of being asked when Halloween was.

This first picture is of the boys going to our church's Harvest Party...we didn't want them to wear their costumes and wreck them so we found some past costumes and improvised and it worked out well.  Lee is Batman, Dru is a Seahawk fan, Eli is a dinosaur and Ian is mustard.  Pretty good I think. 

So here we are on the actually Halloween night...

We have Mario, Capt. Hook, Capt. Jack Sparrow , and Optimus Prime

Eli had a much better time this year than last...WAY more into it...more than the other boys were at this age. That was fun to watch.

We are still looking for Luigi and keeping an eye out for Warrio and Waluigi...the arch enemies!  It was funny just how perfect this costume really was for Lee...he really pulled it off

Captain Hook

He had such a blast this year, he was running everywhere, saying thank you...really just all around cute.  I asked where Mr. Smee was and he pointed at his dad and said he was going to be Mr. Smee!  Poor Frank...when his kids need side-kicks he gets picked.  One year he was the Joker for Dru's Batman...and the whole time we were out trick or treating you could hear this small voice going "Joooookkkkkkkkeeeeerrrrr".  Pretty funny and I'm sure if you aren't laughing you had to be there, but probably like you had to be there for the 'doofusses'...aka two fish. 

Captain Jack Sparrow

Ian was SO excited and that doesn't even do justice to the level Ian was at this year.  He finally had a cool costume in his eyes and he loved every minute of it wearing it.  To be fair it was a pretty neat costume and he wears it well.  This is a good picture of him.

Last but not least, Optimus Prime!

(I know you have the sound of when they transform going on in your head...cause I do every time)

Dru was so excited to be this guy...he just that he was so cool this year!

Every year for awhile we have gone to see the Greats on Halloween so the kids can trick or treat and the Greats can see the costumes.  We all have so much fun and goodness sakes the Greats give them 2 BIG candy bars!! It's really fun for everyone

All in all it was a good year.  I have to say this year was one of the best years I can remember for Halloween.  I don't really like this holiday but I'm not big on any holidays to be honest.  Well, that's not true...if they did birthdays like they do Halloween or Christmas I'd be on board.  Anyway, I never got to celebrate Halloween so I find this particular one stressful, especially in some of the developments where there's a pack of 50 kids running around and running over kids and such and just the sheer lack of parents vs the ratio of kids...it literally stresses me out.  This year however, my debate of going or not, well I went and I'm glad I did.  We went much earlier this year than the last time I went and Eli is a bit bigger (last time big kids kept running Eli over and it was making me mad) and we left about the time it started getting hairy and the kids were out in swarms!

Eli really  made it fun this year and for that I'm thankful

Happy Halloween everyone!!

*We can now move on to the next stressful holiday, Thanksgiving...BUT not before we celebrate Eli's 3rd birthday...that's a whole post in of itself and be prepared...Eli will be getting his hair cut and you all are going to have to bear with me on this traumatizing event and the posts leading up to it

Update

So...I know it's been 10 days since I last posted...but I have been busy.  Excuses I know!

But...here's an update on some things I've been doing, the family has been doing and just some general did you know information.

Today, the 29th is Mother-in-Law day...did anyone else get the memo cause I called my MIL and teasingly said I'm sorry I dropped the ball.  How come Hallmark hasn't jumped on this?  Inquiring minds would like to know.

We are potty training Eli.  So YEAH for potty training and then UGH for potty training.  Now don't get me wrong, we are glad to be potty training...but I quickly remembered ALL the things I hate about potty training.  They touch the toilet (GAG!), for whatever reason TP is really fun to play with and unroll but to actually use it is foreign? Can some explain to me why it's OK to piddle on your clothes instead of using it?? We also visit EVERY bathroom where ever we are...it's getting old and it's only been 4 days.  However, 4 days and only 2 accidents is NOT bad...so way to go Eli!

I'd love to type more but my husband is making my neck hurt trying to stay away and watch the Husky game through his eyelids.  So I'm going to give up the computer so he can do his fantasy teams and go to bed...Poor Cinderella!

I'll update again soon as I can!

Field Trip

October seems to be a slow month for pictures, so I'm sharing some pictures of when Dru's preschool went to the pumpkin patch. We had so much fun and we got to go on a hayride!  I don't know why I like hayrides but I do.  This pumpkin farm though is always enticing me with food and it drives me nuts!!  Here's why...they only serve these things on the weekends!  I'm NEVER there on the weekends!  They have a donut machine and this year they had blooming apples.  Makes you want to go right?  Well I asked and it's an apple sliced open and drizzled with Carmel and whatever else...

Sigh...just sounds SO good right now!

Eli was so excited to be back again...he knew what to do and ran towards everything all at once.

Except THIS time they had the bubble table out.  If I were a kid (outside of the saw horses to ride) this was the coolest thing there!  Look at the concentration Eli has in blowing this bubble!! The wands are the coolest...I want a bubble table for at home!! If I didn't have to beat a kid down from a bubble wand I would have been there for awhile...love bubbles!  What is so fun about watching bubbles float in the air?

Let's hope we don't see this a few years down the road!!!  No Paulsons' in jail!  It totally sounds like a total political campaign chant!

Not a great picture but my nephew's smile is precious!

Love my boy Dru...they go pumpkin picking he picks the biggest one that makes a hole in his bag.  He kept asking me to carry it for him...I refused!  He picked he can drag it around...ha!  I'd like to say that'll show him...but every year it's the same!

  At least Eli and my nephew had the decency to pick small ones! I was thankful for that when I carried all 3 while walking in the parking lot.

We had fun and I do love those field trips! 

Awareness

So, as with any month, October is a busy month.  Many things happen in this month...one thing that takes place is awareness.  This month I have several to show.

This is Domestic Violence-It's taken a personal context for me (not me...)

This is for Infant Loss.  I don't like dealing with this.  Johnathan you were a cutie and your momma misses you and we won't forget you!  To all the other Loss Mommas out there...I'm sorry, we won't forget!

Apparently it's like a needle in a haystack looking for Pink ribbon pictures...so this is my take on it for Breast Cancer Awareness.  It runs in my family...my grandmother and an Aunt who are survivors and of course I know friends/acquaintances who are survivors.  Cancer is such and UGLY thing in any form!

This is also Down Syndrome awareness....I don't personally know someone with a child with Downs but I have a friend who does.  And really just because I don't know anyone doesn't make it any less important.

LOOK!! I found a picture of pink ribbons!!! Sorry it's small...it won't let me make it bigger...and I found it under a google search of Army Awareness ribbons???? Really?? Again no one asked me!

So there's my little 2 bits worth for today...

Just be aware people!

Seeing It Through

An opportunity presented itself this week and I jumped on it because I thought it was a great idea and something for my boys to learn and appreciate it.  The Sunday School my children participate in were collecting offering money to make Care Kits.  These kits include a towel, toothbrush, comb, clippers, and soap (later on they include toothpaste as we understand it).  The children collected $67! What an achievement!  They collected enough to make 20 kits, so 20 people adults or children will benefit from these kits made with love!

What I liked was that after collecting their offering money they were able to put together and make it, to see the project through as far as they could! What a way to get a hands on approach and make it real for them!

OK so Ian is in blue, Dru and Eli are in orange, and of course Lee is in green (cameo that is).  Here they are laying the towels out because we will pack the kits together in the towel like a present.

Eli putting a little more extra love and care into his package...laying the love in!  He really was thrilled to be there and doing something that the big kids were doing.

The kids going to get the next item (which was the comb) to put in their pile. And it was a race to see who could get there first AND who could get the said item in their favorite color if applicable.

I was helping Eli, his hands are clasped because we are blessing the comb that it might bless and help the person receiving it.

I believe we are blessing the clippers to bless the recipient in this picture.

Dru working on his care kit (the orange towels were gone before he could get to them...)!

Yes I do like supervising....bwahahahaha!

Eli and I getting our kit just right, done with lots of love and care! May it bless the person who gets it!

The children who helped put them together and the women who helped put it all together!  Great group of kids!

**Funny story.  When we came out for this picture we told the kids that the tall ones are in the back.  So Eli stomped his little self to the back and planted his little feet and gave the air and look of "I dare you to tell me I'm not tall!!" It was a pretty funny site to see. As you can tell he's been put up front...someone called his bluff or his dare and he lost.  Poor guy!

Praying over all the Care Kits...AMEN!

I'm proud of all those kids for the work and effort that went into it.  They started something and then finished it, totally hands on!

Kumbaya

Last Sunday Ian had a recital with hand bells.  Ian and several kids from church practice every Tuesday for an hour and last year they played Jesus Loves Me and it was beautiful!  This year they are practicing hard and this was their first recital of the year.  In a few Sundays they will be playing the hand bells with the church choir...I think they are a bit more nervous on that one.  I heard tonight though they practiced a Christmas song...I bet that will sound BEAUTIFUL! Ian is wearing the gray, button shirt.  He did great and I'm proud of him!

Just a few shots of Ian playing bells..these were the best ones

Dr. Dolittle and Friends

OK at the pumpkin patch they have baby animals...there are a few videos of ones that were cracking me up!

These goats were fun to watch...I've never seen goats do this so close to me and with such loud children (like Eli) in the background! Pretty cool!

These pigs had me laughing so hard!  Talking while they were eating...too funny!  Then Dru jumps in and every once in awhile you can hear him making his own piggy noises.

This goat kinda creeps me out a bit...definitely stared ya down!  Like you had something he wanted (what that was I have no idea...but it was something!)

The bunnies were so cute, as always!  Looked like Oreo's to me!  Poor things would shake every time Eli came to them (the loud part....and if you noticed in the video of the goats he kept trying to force feed them hay)  Poor baby bunnies!

This little guy would be SO cute with those horrid orange earrings...they just didn't go with the ensemble!  He/she sure did look awfully soft and cute though!

I should have a picture of the other human animals but I didn't. 

Whose gearing up for the start of the crazed holiday season...you know Halloween, Turkey day, Black Friday, and then you have the month of December for Christmas...it all starts with in the next week or 2...

I'M DREADING IT!

You know people always ask me what my favorite holiday is....they always look at me like I have a 3rd eyeball when I say none...for LOTS of reason I don't have a fave...really just going through the motions (I will be honest and say it's gotten better but I don't have a fave)

So, with that said.....

Ready...Set................................................................................................ready.....set...................................................

Ready.........................................................................................................................................

Ready....Set..............................

GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Carlos and Company

Meet Carlos a.k.a. Dru

I'm sorry Jamie if you are reading this but the situation really is just too funny to not share/tell.  My friend Jamie has 2 boys and each of them are about a year younger than Dru and Eli.  They have played with each other before so they knew one another at the pumpkin patch.  The young man younger than Dru is working on using people's names.  Today when he was playing with Dru and trying to get his attention he kept saying "hey you", so his momma said the little boys name was Dru.  He promptly told his mom that no his friend's name was Carlos.  I literally (OK not literally) died laughing! I haven't laughed this hard since talking to Dru about 'doofusses' which we all know now to be 'two fishes'.  So this young man has named Dru Carlos and we are going with it!  He looks like he could be a Carlos right? 

We thought so too.

This is Eli on a horse and cowboys go Yeehaw! His Grandma Lea would be proud of him...with a little help from Carlo's mom he got on the saddled horse correctly...he remembered!

Together Carlos and his friend Eli take a moment of much needed rest.

Together Carlos and Eli ride again into the sunset to herd the cattle.

Carlos made a stop at the corn pit...there are many things to do in this pit (besides bring it home in the nooks and crannies of your clothing!)

You can swim in the corn pit...just ask Eli, he did! I asked what he was doing and he said (while looking at me seriously) swimming to get to the other side...watching him walk in it was worth the giggle...pretty much took him out at the knees and he had a hard time walking...so we swam it...much like someone would the English Channel.

You can also jump in it...like a trampoline says Carlos (SO sad it's not a jumpoline anymore...sniff-picture is blurry but man doesn't he look like he's having fun?)

Eli also gave it a try.  Pretty funny watching him get himself up and on top of the hay bale...worth every giggle at his expense!

Carlos going down the slide...I like this picture

Eli going around the maze...I crawled in after him...I need a new set of knees after that!  I was so thankful to finally make it back onto the hay!

Carlos and Eli ended their day at the pumpkin patch...they had so much fun and enjoyed every bit of it...even the animals...which will come in a later posts...the goats and pigs were cracking me up!

I hope you enjoyed the adventure of Carlos and company...
Until we meet again in another adventure!

The EYE!!!

Well the swelling has gone down, now we get to look at all the pretty colors.  Today Lee also lost a tooth (I got done playing tooth fairy a few minutes back...that went off with out a hitch thank goodness) but the poor kid is falling apart at the seams it would seem.  Man he really did a doozy on himself!

Genetics

Yes...yes...genetics got the best of Lee last night.  Sadly, Lee did this to himself last night.

How you ask?  Well...he was getting into bed and on his way there he was getting his blanket.  While getting his blanket he lost his balance at managed to hit himself on an inch of the bed frame showing...truly not much was there but he managed to do it JUST right!  Poor kid...those genetics are gonna get the best of  one of them...my bets on Ian but Lee pulls some good ones now and again.

Girls and Buffet's

...and the things they say!  Seriously the material these kids come up with is unreal sometimes. There are days I sit back and wonder to myself why no one told me certain things about kids.  Or how no one talks about the weird conversations you have with your kids...death...cemeteries...heaven...; you get the picture. Or what about the things you never thought you'd be doing, like picking a pebble out of your child's nose OR picking/blowing out googlie eye (you know those weird eye things they use in kid crafts...the black part of the eye moves) out of their nose!! (really gives a whole new meaning of keeping an 'eye' on things!!)  Anyway, there is a point to what I'm saying here.

    A few days ago we had to go to the Super Mall to return some clothing the boys got while shopping for school with their Grandma (and FYI...there is a reason they provide dressing rooms...I HATE wasting my time returning things cause nothing is tried on...and we do this EVERY year...it's OLD!).  So off we go to return things and the store happen to have a good sale going on and we were able to get more than we went in for.  Lee got more shirts and Ian got one more pair of jeans (YIPPEE!) Hey it was a red letter day because I even found a cute shirt and it was on sale along with another 30% off!  Man I felt special!
    On the way home we passed a casino and Lee piped up and asked if for his next birthday if we could all go to the casino.  Was he serious?  Yes, yes he was.  I could see the gears in that kids head working on overtime!  Who doesn't want to go there right? They make it look like Disneyland and we drive by it all the time.  I looked at Lee and said no, you can't go to the casino for your birthday.  You have to be 21 years old (should have seen the crushed look on his little 7year old face!).  It was brought to my attention by a wonderful friend (not where Lee could hear however) that we could take him to the buffet (which I had told Lee all he could go in there and do was eat...which wouldn't be so bad in his eyes!)  I chuckled to myself and pondered what exactly that might look like.  A $25 per person buffet and all my children there to eat until they have to roll themselves out.  All you can eat desserts and drinks, and food.  I would be there for a really, really long time.  Paints a pretty picture though doesn't it? 
      We keep on driving home and I'm laughing the whole time and just laughing at the stuff kids say and really it's the stuff Lee says.  One time as a toddler (we are talking 2) he kept getting out of bed and coming out of his room.  Finally he was told to go to bed and he said no, that he didn't have to. His dad said oh?  Lee said he didn't have to go to bed because his God told him he could get up and get a toy (you really have to imagine a 2 year old saying this and with that little bit of attitude and learning how to use it).  It was hysterical!  I thought Frank and I were gonna bust a gut.  Frank of course who thinks well on his feet said well His (Frank's) God told him that a certain little boy better get in bed before he got his butt spanked.  He went to bed but not with out a fight and a few words...so many more Lee'isms with so many more years to go....life continues to get interesting!
    Much to my humor we continued about our day at home.  While the boys are eating lunch after we got home that day, we had the TV on to watch the Huskies kick some butt! (in case you were curious...Huskies won the game...wasn't pretty but they got it done)  While they were eating (because for whatever reason my boys eat slow...or I eat too fast...hhhmmmm) I was moving laundry about.  While I was doing my thing the boys were talking and I wasn't listening.  Yes..yes you read that right...I tuned them out.  They don't stop talking and I have TWO that chatter non-stop...there are days I want to bang my head against the wall. 
     Not to get off track... They were talking and all the sudden mom instinct kicked in and I heard "is that girl hot Ian?" from Lee.  It took awhile to register just what was said.  Once it registered I asked "Lee??? Did I just hear you ask Ian if some girl was hot?  Very bashful and embarrassed I heard a small ....yes???" 
  I just kinda giggled and thought to myself that I thought I had more time before they got to this point.  Actually I'm really not ready for girls...well them liking girls in that way. So I continued with the laundry and stopped dead in my tracks and thought...Wait a minute!!! "Ian??? Yeah...what did you tell Lee about the girl? Was she hot?"  A small squeak of a voice and a bashful and embarrassed voice said "Yeah...she was hot, it was the girl in the Dr. Pepper commercial, she was hot"
       There are days that I just can't stop laughing about my life!  These are some of the things that help me make it through the day sometimes!  I think God knew what he was doing when he made kids and parents...he knew we would need things like this to just make it to the next minute!  I tend to forget it a lot but I do love being a parent and I love the blessings God gave me and the job of being a parent and all that I feel that job asks of me

***On a side note...we are thinking of taking Lee to the breakfast buffet to eat and see hot chicks****

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

*****For those of you who were wondering, I did tell my boys that perhaps we should use other words to describe girls/women.  Because using words like hot and chic are disrespectful and not nice.  I asked what words they could use were.  Ian piped up with beautiful and I said that was a good one.  Then Lee...my Lee-Lee...he piped up with skinny.  I didn't even know what to say to that....she was skinny...****

   One thing at a time I suppose....

I hope you all enjoyed a good laugh...this happened last weekend and I'm still laughing over it!

Let's ring in October in a wonderful way!