Snow? I Guess You Could Call It That.

It has snowed twice so far and neither one has been very much. The kids wanted to go play in it. Since there wasn't much I told them to just put on coats, gloves, and boots. But I guess they were a little excited to break out the full suits. They were a little over-dressed for the occasion if you ask me.

How fun is a green snow angle? Is it even really a snow angel?

They tried sledding and building a snowman. Neither worked of course.

After about 15 minutes or so Cruz said, "This snow isn't fun." They all came in shortly after that.

Hopefully we will get "fun" snow soon.

3 Days of Halloween

Our Halloween festivities began on Thursday. I took a fairy and baby spiderman to a party a a friend's house. We had such a great time. Thanks for being a great hostess, as usual, Mauri!

On Friday we took a fairy and a mouse to the school costume parade and saw a pirate and a vampire . Then I got to help with the vampire's class party. That pirate and vampire were so cute that I decided to bring them home with me.

But once they got home they started looking a lot more like 2 little boys than a vampire and pirate. We carved jack-o-lanterns, had dinner, and got ready for trunk-or-treat. Strange enough, that vamipre and pirate showed back up again just about the same time I couldn't find Cruz and Kenyon. Pretty soon the house was overrun. The fairy was back and I saw a little mouse scurrying around on the floor. I turned around to find a full-grown pirate. It scared me so bad that my hair turned black and stood up on end.

Since I couldn't find any of my family, I decided to take all the crazy things in my house along with me to the trunk-or-treat. I went to get in my van and found it covered in spiders and webs. Some one had taken our jack-o-lanterns out there, too.

We all had so much fun at the trunk-or-treat, and at the end we were told that we had the best costomes and they gave us a prize! Good thing I brought all these guys along with me and left my family at home.

When I woke up on Halloween morning my family was back. Good thing because I needed their help decorating the house for Halloween night, but as it stared to get dark all those crazy things started showing up again, and my family started disappearing again. But then the little fairy told me she didn't want to be a fairy anymore and before I knew what had happened, POOF, she turned into a witch! I didn't know fairies could do that. So this carzy group set off into the night to knock on doors and get candy. I left a bowl of candy at the door for any little ghouls that might come to our house. We had a very fun time. When we arrived home, we saw that some ghoul had taken our whole bowl of candy. Not just the candy, but the bowl, too! The pirate and vampire were pretty upset by the whole thing, and the little witch started to cry, "I don't want robbers on this earth!" she said.

We poured out the candy, and before long I looked around and all of my family was back again. What a crazy 3 days of Halloween this was!

Why I'm So Glad To Be A Mom

Tonight I was in the kitchen. Kenyon and Mara were at the table talking.

Kenyon - "Mara, remember at the old house when me and Cruz were being mean to you?"

Mara - "Yes." (Said with a very sad face.)

Kenyon - "Those were the very baddest days. But now you are my bestest buddy."

These are the moments that make motherhood worth it.

Fall Break Day 2

Our second day of Fall Break, Karl was off work. He had some big surprises for us. First he took us on our annual trip to Hee Haw Farms. We've been doing this for 8 years now.

The kids so much fun riding the tire horses...

And the big swing.

They went down the slides...

And jumped in the hay.

It was Koen's first time to measure himself at the pumpkin.




They got to go in the petting zoo to see and touch all kinds of animals, and as always they were excited to see Leroy the huge pig.



Kenyon and Cruz get to go on a pony ride, but the saddle came undone when Cruz was on it. Mara never got a turn. :(

They got to ride the animal train



And we all went on a hay ride.



They went in a haunted house, shot the corn cannon, and sooooo much more. We all had a great time!

That wasn't the end of the fun. After we had dinner, Karl took us to see "Where the Wild Things Are." We were all so excited to see it, and it was fun going to the movies because we hardly ever do that, but I don't recommend this movie. If you haven't taken your kids to see it yet, watch it before you take your kids. It was very depressing and dark. It was so depressing it made Kenyon and Mara cry. We definately should have seen something else.

But all in all, we had a very fun day, and a great Fall Break.

Fall Break Day 1

We had a super fun fall break. On the first day we did lots of fun Halloween stuff at home. We read Halloween books, played Halloween games, and we made shrunken heads out of apples. The kids carved their own faces with a melon baller, a can opener, and other similar tools. The kids had a blast with this. They got creative and decided to give them teeth (rice) and eyes (whole cloves) and bloody wounds (red food coloring).

We had so much fun, and here are the final relults:

Field Trip to the Zoo

Kenyon had a class field trip to the zoo last week. He came home with some fantastic stories.

When I asked him what his favorite part of the zoo was he said it was the "Ring-tailed Lemur." When I asked why, he said, "He broke out of his cage and climbed up on me and wanted to come home with me." I was cracking up, but he was sticking to his story. Finally he confessed that he was teasing me.

Then he told me that the wolf tried to eat him. I asked why he thought the wolf was trying to eat him and he said, "The wolf was chasing a bird and then he saw all of us and then he looked right at me." So I guess that constitutes trying to eat him.

He was cracking me up with his stories. I think he was having so much fun seeing all the animals that his imagination was getting carried away. Needless to say he had a blast at the zoo, and Karl and I had a good laugh from his stories.

What a funny kid with a great imagination!

6 Months Old

Koen is 6 months old now. I can't believe it! His stats after his check-up are 34th percentile on weight and 2nd percentile on his length, so we have another shorty on our hands. He is sitting, he scoots really well, and he is beginning to get the hang of crawling. He loves to eat, and especially enjoys the teething biscuits that he can eat by himself. He has 2 teeth, and in general is just growing up way too fast.

He is a super smiley little guy who pinches and head-butts way to much. He has every person in this family wrapped around his little finger and I think he knows it. He is such a joy. We are so very blessed to have him in our family. I love you, little man!

Mara's New Bling!

We took Mara to get her ears pierced yesterday. She was warned that it would hurt, and that she would probably cry. She was also told that even if she didn't want to, she would have to get the second ear pierced after the first one. She agreed and was VERY excited. Look how happy she is in the before picture.

Well, it hurt more than she thought it would, and she cried. She didn't wail or make a scene, she just hid her face and silently cried. We gave her a few minutes and then it was time for the second one. She was having no part of it. We encouraged, coaxed, bribed, and pleaded with her. Finally Karl and I just held her down. She was happy she had done it as soon as it was over. Here is the after. A great big smile with red, teary eyes.

She loves her new earrings!

Fall Baking

Yes, I am aware that it is not yet officially fall, but it's close enough. I love to bake, and I especially love to bake in the fall. Baking gets me in the fall mood. Especially quick breads. When your house starts smelling of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves, how can you not be excited that fall is almost here?

So, on Tuesday Mara and I did the first of the fall baking. I love that she enjoys doing this with me. I can remember baking in the fall with my own mom. Maybe that's why I love it so much - the nostalgia of the whole thing. So the cycle continues and I'm baking in the fall with my own daughter. I'm sure it is a cycle that goes back for many generations.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread... mmmmm.

Mara's 4!!!!

Mara's 4th birthday was on the 2nd. She wanted to have a fairy tea party.

So of course we had to get her a fairy dress-up for the party.

She loved her party.

That evening Jake came over and we all went to McDonald's for dinner. Hopefully as the kids get older they will get a little more creative than McDonald's for their birthday dinner. Then we came home, opened presents, and had cake. She had a very fun day, and she is already making plans for her next birthday.

Mara, you are such a fun, sweet girl! You add so much to our family. We are so blessed that you are part of our family. We love you!!!