Creative Pumpkins!

Last night we had a pumpkin filled night. I made dinner in a pumpkin (which was really yummy), we carved our pumpkins and then had pumpkin pie for dessert. Overkill? I think not; everyone enjoyed it! Michaela and Payden always want to carve very detailed designs that take them forever, they need lots of help with, end up dissapointing them because they cut something out that wasn't supposed to be, and in the end held up in various places with toothpicks. This year was no different, but the outcomes still look great. Last year, Ava's pumpkin was soft and needed a toothpick in the teeth to hold it together. She remembered it and said she wanted a "jackolantern with a toothpick in it" this year. Funny! Mom and dad would love to do more with their pumpkins, but spend so much time cleaning, helping, holding a screaming baby, making sure we won't be racing to the emergency room for stitches, and containing the chaos that we end up doing very simple designs. Somehow, the event is still fun and we look forward to it every year!

Dinner in a pumpkin; a new tradition!

Corrine liked her pumpkin, daddy carved a binky in it!

Here I am spending a few brief moments on my own pumpkin!

Ava loves cleaning out the guts!

The end results; worth all the mess, chaos and noise. In exchange, great memories are made for our family.

A little more sensitivity please?

I hate grotesque halloween decorations. You know the ones where the man repeatedly pulls his own head off and the like. Why do people feel the need to decorate their homes and businesses with these things? I personally would not like to wake daily to blood and guts in my family room. Sure, we decorate for halloween, but lean more towards the spooky and cutsy stuff. Spider webs, jackolanterns, cute witches and gravestones are our decs of choice. My littel Ava gets scared by the things she sees around town and for sale in stores, and I am disturbed by it. Who decided it was ok to put basically R rated, violent, gorey images and figures where everyone is subjected to them? Why do we even like these things? Think about what our society is doing; using cut up, bloody, mutilated images of people to celebrate halloween and calling it acceptable! I can't quite understand it. What is the draw? At the top of my gripe list about this is the veterens home. My mother works there, and we visited one day. They went over the top to decorate for the holiday. Many animated, noisy, disturbing statues dot the common area. On the windows and mirrors are bloody hand prints and blood drips. Come on, didn't any one consider the fact that these people are VETERENS? Meaning they fought in wars; they are confused any way and perhaps these so called decorations might be disturbing to these men and women who have very real memories of harmed human bodies. Not to mention that this place is their home; they don't get to go home at the end of the day and get away from this stuff. My mom says all of the decorations are loud and go off whenever someone walks by them, which as you can imagine in a home like that is quite often. At the end of her shift, she is very irritated by them. As my mom pointed out, in their generation they didn't do this sort of thing for halloween. I couldn't believe the insensitivity of whomever was given permission to decorate in this manner. So I ask, why? Why is it "fun" and "festive" to splash violent images around? On the same door you can see a garish halloween decoration in October, only to be relpaced with a manger scene in December. There is something wrong with this picture.

Ava's preschool trip

Today Ava's preschool went on a field trip. Ava has joined a joy school 5 moms do in our neighborhood, and she absolutely loves it. One of the moms wanted to take the kids on a field trip, and to lessen car seat confusion we each took our own children. We went to McKee's pet store and then to McDonalds for lunch and playing. I told Ava about it the morning of, and she was so excited! One of the other moms mistakenly told her son the night before, and found him up and getting dressed at 5:30 am! The mom teaching preschool today said they were all really hyper at her house. Ava loves to play with her friends and couldn't wait for preschool. All the kids loved the animals, and I loved Ava's enthusiasm. She enjoyed all the animals, except for the tarantula; she shivered and and wanted away from that quickly. She was also worried she would see snakes there; luckily we didn' t notice any. She really liked the fish, and found a Nemo one.

The kids are so cute together. They all get along really well.

Ava liked the goat. I told her it looked like the little billy goat gruff; after that she called it that over and over!

They had huge turtles, whatever the big ones are called. Isn't Ava such a cutie? I actually got a compliment on her hair. I had done something I learned off a blog I read, and was so proud!

After seeing how much the kids liked their field trip, I think I want to try one with them. I love the innocence of this age, everything is new and exciting. It's impossible not to get caught up in their learning experiences. Thanks to Shaleen for the great idea and fun day!

Everybody loves a parade.....

On Saturday, the girls were in the ISU Homecoming parade with their dance team, Ultimate Dance Force. I am a team mom of Ava's tots class, so I wore my shirt to show support! Michaela has been on a float before for primary, but this was Payden's first time. They were both excited, and loved the experience. They got to sit on the float and hold trophies the team has won. The parade was very long this year, and about halfway through stopped because two kids got hurt, and they had to wait for the paramedics. ( the kids were ok.) We were supposed to pick the girls up after the parade. We stayed and watched the whole parade so Ava could see it, thinking that most other parents would do the same. We were the last ones to pick up our kids, though, and Michaela and Payden were getting worried. (What did they think, we would just leave them there?) They were with people we trusted and were ok though. We love this dance team and the instructer, LaChere Vawdrey. The parade was fun, the weather was perfect and we have lots of candy!



Ava had fun getting candy, and said she would share it with her sisters! Micheala is sitting toward the back of the float, waving.

Baby love

I love having babies. Let me rephrase that: I don't love the act of having babies(although it is an incredibly powerful feeling), I love having a baby in our family. Looking at Corrine and knowing that it is my body alone that sustains her is amazing. She has a smile she reserves just for her momma, usually given first thing in the morning when I am changing her diaper. She grins ear to ear, wrinkles her little nose, wiggles her tiny bottom, and just generally makes it known that she loves me! I feel so blessed to be able to hold her solid, squishy body next to mine, her warm sweet baby breath on my neck. What an awe inspiring gift is is to be able to have a baby; I thank God daily for her existence in my life. When I am up with her at night, I love to hold her just a little longer than I need to, and look at her face while she sleeps. Nothing can be more precious, and when the house is dark and silent I can fully appreciate her beauty. When she is fussy I am the one she wants, and while this can get frustrating, I try to remember that this time in her life is fleeting and I should enjoy it while it lasts. After being gone from her for a few hours, my arms ache to hold her, and I can't count the number of kisses she recieves daily on those cherubic cheeks. Watching her discover her hands and what they can do is a miracle to me. I have felt this way about all my children, but I think babies are easier to enjoy the more you have; you are more experienced and realize how fast they grow up. I am thankful she is growing just the way she should be, but wish this baby stage could last a bit longer. Can it be she has only been a part of our family for four months? I can't imagine life without her. I love having a baby!

Pumpkin Picking

Tonight we did our annual pumpkin picking adventure. We went to a new place this year, Swore farms. They had a corn maze that was really fun, and then we each picked the perfect pumpkin. I was a little worried about Corrine being warm, but she was ok. Ava was whinny for a little, she made Jason carry her some of the way through the maze. Other than that, it was a very nice night enjoyed by all. There was a full moon with a setting sun, which I think you can see in one of the pictures. I was thankful I remembered to have everyone wear their boots, because it was muddy, and we were messy! They had some animals there that they let us go look at. The pigs were the noisiest pigs I have ever heard, they made me laugh. The girls got to pet a duck, and were counting all the cats running around. I think Ava is going to be a dog person; she always attaches to dogs quickly. There was a black lab there that she was loving. Again with the sideways pictures, someday I will remember to edit before I upload! I love doing this with my family. I get excited for it every year, and it never fails to be a good time. We then went home and had hot cocoa and doughnuts. What fun!

First snow!

It snowed on Friday and Saturday, and our girls couldn't wait to get outside and play. Michaela and Payden made snowmen, and Ava made snow angel after snow angel. It was nice and quiet in the house! I just loved watching them play out there. There is something nostalgic about watching your kids play in the snow.....it just screams childhood to me. Next time I will join them!

Maybe there is a self help book for this type of thing...

I have a confession to make....I don't know how this happened, but I am completely addicted to guitar hero. I'm not kidding. Jason got it for his birthday two weeks ago, and I have played it almost nightly since then. I keep waiting to lose interest in it, but I love it! What makes this so strange for me is that I am not really in to video games, usually I can take them or leave them. And when I do play them, I get tired and bored with them quickly. But every night after the kids go to bed, you can find me parked on the couch, jamming away to classic rock, for at least 20 minutes or so. Then when I go to bed, I can still see the notes coming at me! There are lots of things I could be doing instead of this, but there you have it. A guitar hero addict. A white, female, 31 year old mother of four guitar hero addict. There is something wrong with that picture.

Memories

Memories
I have seen this on others blogs, and thought I would try it. Although it may be a little premature, sine only two people routinely comment on my blog so far!
1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2.Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses.If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog then you are a party pooper...remember, every party needs one and that is why I invited you! Again...no pressure :)
This would require those of you who I hope are reading my blog but not leaving comments to actually comment. I won't name names Mandee, PJ, Jackie, Dad, Aunt Lauren, Nichelle, Lisa,ok so I will name names. Where are you guys?:)

The Things I Love About Fall

I love any changing season, but I think fall is my favorite. Here's why:

1. Buying school supplies with the kids, and needing to buy myself at least one crisp, new notebook.

2. Changing colors.

3. The smell in our house the first time the furnace comes on.

4. Hot chocolate for breakfast.

5. Jeans and favorite sweaters.

6. Having a daily routine again.

7. Crisp mornings.

8. Hot chocolate in the afternoon.

9. Baking apple pies.

10. Apple picking.

11. Picking the very best pumpkin in the field.

12. Hot chocolate while we watch tv after the kids go to bed.

13. Our annual famlily picture in the fall leaves.

14. Anticipating the upcoming holidays.

There are lots more, but this is what I can think of for now. I wanted to post a picture with this, but we haven't done our fall family picture yet. Maybe later!

The Great Outdoors

We went to Yellowstone this week, and did all the normal things, Old Faithfull, Painter pots, Lower Falls. The best part of the day, however, was when we stopped for a picnic lunch by the river. We took our time, didn't rush, and enjoyed the moment. The weather was beautiful, and the girls loved being outside and exploring. They were actually captivated by what they were sure was bear poop, but I am certain was dog poop. Either way, their imaginations were in action and we all had fun! There was a big crow or raven in the tree above us, talking to us while we ate lunch. Michaela and Payden took lots of pictures of it!
After we ate lunch, we explored some and the girls waded in the river. There were some tiny fish in there, and Payden and Michaela were trying to catch them.

The water was cold, but that didn't stop them. Even Ava put her feet in. What a nice day!

I am a little sad..........

My brother, Paul, who I call PJ, was just in town with us for a week. He has been living in Washington for the last few years, and is on his way to Tennessee. He and his wife, Jackie, are moving there so she can get her PhD. I was very sad to find out he was moving so far away, and will be there for 5 years! They will come home for holidays, and we hope to make a trip there at least once, but it is still so sad for me to have him so far away. He is my only sibling, and we are very close. Little Corrine won't really get to know him until she's 5! We will have to be very committed to correspondence; writing, pictures, web cam, and email, so we can keep in touch. During his visit, we went to Yellowstone, went on a couple of bike rides(my longest yet since the baby) and just hung out, enjoying each others company. The girls just adore their Uncle Paul and he was pulled in all directions; they all wanted to play with them at the same time! We all loved having him stay with us for a whole week. This morning when he left, there were a few tears. We will miss him and Jackie very much, and wish them well in their new adventure. Have fun guys!

Is it a Halloween decoration?

We were up at my mother's house, which is about 7 miles outside of town in the mountains, so to speak. She gets a lot of wildlife on her 3 acres, and this is no exception. Payden was playing in a room, and she came out HOLDING this, asking if it was real. Apparently, this tiny bat flew into my mom's house at some point and died there. Payden found it hanging upside down on the side of a desk! We determined the yes, the bat was very real, and very dead. Payden was immediatly instructed to wash her hands, and now Batman, as it is now named, will be making the rounds in two lucky classrooms next week. Then the girls want to bury it, next to where we buried the mole that died in our window well last year. We can't be the only family with a growing pet cemetery in their yard! It is tiny, only about 3 or 4 inches long. You can see its teeth through its lips!