Pumpkin fun

I wish I could show you the cute pumpkin picking pictures from this year.

Corrine crawling on all the huge pumkpins, her little face pudging out from her hood; Ava with slime up to her elbow and tears rolling down her face after falling and putting her arm in a goopy pumpkin; Michaela and Payden finding just the right one, and all of them in the tires of a huge tractor.

I wish I could show them to you, because that would mean that there was actually a photo card in my camera recording all those cute shots that I took.

But alas, that card was at home in my printer and not a one of them got saved. Oh, well. Life goes on.

I can show you, however, our carving circus. I say circus, because that is what it sounds and looks like when you carve pumpkins with four kids.

Grandma carved Corrine's pumpkin for her.

Ava loves to scoop the goop; she is not afraid to get dirty, except when it is a yucky, cold pumpkin rotting in the field!

The older girls do their own from start to finish now; we only help with little things. It is messy, but lots of fun.

And of course, we had dinner in a pumpkin, which only one of my kids liked this year. Go figure.

Crazy Hair Day and Super Sleeper

This week is Red Ribbon week in our School District, a week that celebrates beign drug free. For each day, they have something new for the kids to dress up as. For Payden, that meant crazy hair day today. She wanted little pony tails all over, and I accentuated it by sticking candy corns in them.

Michaela's school was having Super Hero day. We made up Super Sleeper. I made a cape, and she wore an eye cover and carried around a stuffed animal. She also had a Z on her shirt, for snores!

Stay tuned for the rest of the weeks festivities!

Mommy Ava Afternoon and Green Goblins

Ava doesn't get much Mommy time lately. So to counter that, I created Mommy Ava afternoons. Every Friday, after lunch, I put the baby down for her nap and it is time to spend time just with Ava. She gets so excited for these afternoons, I know it was desperately needed to have some individual time with her! I also haven't had as much time to teach her like I did Michaela and Payden, so I incorporate that as well. We always start out by reading stories to practice Ava's reading skills, then do a few pages from a learning activity book. Then we do some kind of activity. Ava loves to paint, so we do that often. We have made jewelry, and played games. Today we made Green Goblins in honor of the upcoming holiday.


I made this "vampire" for Jason in honor of his Twilight addiction. Oh, did I really say that?

These little guys are so cute; they are basically rice crispy treats made with Kix and green food coloring. I got the idea and recipe from "Gourmet Mom on the Go" blog. It is listed in my blogs I read; if you haven't checked it out you should!

We had so much fun with these. I mixed them up and formed them into balls, and Ava put them on the feet. Then we decorated the afternoon away!


Ava loved the creative freedom, and it didn't hurt that she got to sample along the way! Of course, we ate one when we were done.

We are going to do this as a family because it was so fun. I love my afternoons with my little "Tiny Kay"! (Ava's middle name is Kay.)

Puppy Update

Ok. So. The puppy.

I have been reading this book that will help, I think, in training him, but is also freaking me out.

The authors of this book are very strong in their opinion that you should find the right dog for your situation.

Our situation is, of course, 4 noisy children, 2 indoor cats and one outdoor cat.

What dog would be good given our situation?

Well, aparently NOT Kylo. Kylo is dominant, engergetic, shows some aggression, and does not appear to enjoy training.

You should, according to the book, find a dog without dominant characteristics that enjoys being around people.

All the signs that a dog could display that would make him wrong for family life Kylo happily displays.

I keep telling myself that the authors don't know everything, Kylo is only 10 weeks old, he will be ok.

What I want is for Kylo to be happy, not aggressive, and train well. I want him to be a family dog. I hope this is possible, because even though he won't stop biting, he nips at the baby, he won't submit to me when I try to train him and I worry that he will be bad with the kids, I still am loving this dog. I know, who knew.

So please, someone tell me that he is just being a puppy. Calm me with stories of how your wonderful, well adjusted dogs were this bad as pups. Tell me to not worry, this is just a phase.

Please.

And don't worry, mom, this doesn't mean I am going to get rid of him. I am in it for the long haul. Even when he pees on my floor.

Just. Adorable.

Happy Birthday Jason!

Jason celebrated his 34th birthday on the 2nd. I had the girls tease him all day that he is getting "old"! We had friends and family over for dinner and cake and ice cream. We had a barbeque of steak and chicken, potato salad, jello salad and green salad. I made a German chocolate cake per Jasons request.

Not really sure what Michaela is doing in this picture! Jason got two cards that made obnoxious sounds; the kids had fun driving us all nuts all night long opening them up!

Our friends got Jason this neat hat; it has lights built into it. We all had fun trying it on and shining it in everyones eyes. Jason also got a blood pressure monitor (he really is old!) and we all tried that as well.

It was a nice birthday, and we were all reminded how glad we are to have Jason as a husband, father, and friend. Happy Birthday, honey!

Look who's walking!

Corrine took her first steps at fourteen months, and now at fifteen months she is near cruising. She still falls often, but can walk many steps before she does. And the smile of accomplishment on her face is priceless to behold.

I love newly walking babies. I love the way they move their legs from their hips, not their knees, and how they look up at you to make sure you are watching. We are watching Corrine; keep going!