Magic Whooloween 2011

It wouldn't be Halloween without a trip to the Magic Whooloween Event at Penitentiary Glenn Park.  Penitentiary Glenn is part of our amazing Metroparks and it offers so many different activities through the year.  Magic Whooloween just happens to be a family favorite and we wouldn't miss!  This year Daddy and I packed up the boys while Penny stayed home with Nana in her nice warm cribbey.

This year the craft was making spooky trees out of toilet paper rolls, tissue paper and stamps.  Simple and fun!

Waiting for our train ride

The BEST part of the night is the TRAIN ride through the not so spooky forest that is decorated with Jack-O-Lanterns.  It is sooooo fun, even for us grown ups!!

Tommy holding our train sign, we are next in line!! 

Tommy was old enough to ride by himself...He was SO excited.  I was sitting in front of him and heard his little voice "Hey Dada, you doin ok back there?".....SO CUTE!!!   He did great!

Charlie and I had fun getting spooked by all the pumpkins and hanging ghosts. 

After our train ride it was time to grab some hot chocolate and donuts and sit by the campfire for a bit.

After we ate and drank our fill we decided to call it a night.  Within minutes we had little people sleeping in the back of the van.  Something that NEVER happens, so you know they had fun and were worn out.

We can't wait to take Penny with us next year!  I know the boys will enjoy showing her all the fun stuff.

Just one of those days

We all have head colds.  Trent and Charlie seem to be on the mend, but Tommy, Penny and myself are dragging.  Not exactly what we need right now. 

Maybe it was the let down that Penny's party and Halloween are over, the fun is done.  Or maybe it is just because I am not feeling good.  But today was just one of those days.

I got Penny ready for bed tonight and thought out loud "Mama, what in the world did you get done today?" (I hope I am not the only mom that talks to herself, perhaps my problems are bigger then we think...just kidding!)  I thought of ALL the things I wanted to get done:

*wash the floors because someone walked through the house with dog poop on their shoe
*clean out from under the kitchen sink because the pipe broke and nasty coffee grind water sprayed everywhere
*take down Halloween decorations inside the house
*go to playdate (I canceled because we are sick)
*do 2 loads of laundry
*cook dinner
*start Thanksgiving book with Tom
*go to grocery store
*make a meal plan

None of that got done, what did get done:
*didn't make dinner but served leftovers, for some reason they LOVED it tonight when last night they couldn't stand it...go figure!
*got all dirty clothes picked up from everyone's rooms and got it ready to go to the basement
*cleaned the mud from the boys' church shoes that they wore at yesterdays family photo shoot
*scrubbed the kitchen floor on my hands and knees, I could not take things sticking to my feet for ONE.MORE.SECOND
*dropped Trent off at work and had all three kids in the grocery store by 8am to pick up milk and spaghetti sauce for dinner....forgot the spaghetti sauce
*played with Penny for a long time on the floor
*did homework with Charlie
*snuggled with Tommy on the couch and let him graze all morning/afternoon instead of eating "lunch" since he wasn't feeling well
*took an hour nap
*suctioned Penny's poor little nose about 10,000 times, probably more like 8 times, but her screaming and carrying on and all the junk I keep getting out of her makes it feel like 10,000 times!
*made Charlie's lunch for tomorrow


Ok, so my day was certainly not a total wash.  In fact if anything at all I already did three out of the five most important things I should do everyday.  I spent quality time with each my kids.  The night isn't over so I am going to go do my God time and then once the boys are in bed, I am going to snuggle with Honey Trent and probably watch some of his really bad tv.  But that is ok because I love him.

It is all good, it was just one of those days!

Penny's First Birthday Party

Our little cupcake

We had a lot of fun at Penny's first birthday party!  We combined it with our annual Halloween party and it was a smashing hit.

We really tried to keep is simple this year, or at least tamed down then what I had originally planned.  I took my time and decorated the house over the month leading up to the big day.  I had fun making a Trick or Treat banner and making the back porch extra spooky with Trent.

I knew I needed to plan a few activities for the older kids to keep them out of trouble occupied.
 
Daddy made his famous graveyard that they had to walk through,

Tommy wanted to play skeleton limbo and they decorated Halloween picture frames.
After all that fun was had we paraded over to the playground down the street and did an eye ball hunt.  The kids went crazy filling their bags with chocolate eye balls.  It was a lot of fun!

 The kids also had fun just playing in the backyard and I think that Penny got passed around more then I actually got to hold her!  But I was happy to share her with everyone that loves her, especially on her big day!

Then it was time to sing to our birthday girl! I decided to not make a cake (gasp! I know) but instead made
mini ghost cupcakes for the kids and large candy corn cupcakes for the adults.

We also served

friendly ghost chocolate pretzels,

and Halloween sprinkled marshmallow pops.  Even though I made several different things, it was really much easier and only took about an hour to make it all.  A cut themed cake usually takes me 8 hours from start to finish.

And for the favor we wrapped up friendly witches hats cookies.

I did make a small smash cake just for Penny, a little pumpkin.  It was so funny to watch her daintily pick at it and gently lick her fingers.  The boys were literally covered in their cakes, but not our sweet little girl.  She certainly brings the tender side of things to our house!

The day went by so fast.  I was good to see our family and friends come and celebrate our sweet girl with us!  The day was really perfect, except for the fact that we were all starting to come down with a cold.  Penny was in good spirits and even surprised us at how willing she was to go to everyone (she sometimes gets overwhelmed with crowds), but she was off just a bit.  I think she had fun though and really enjoyed seeing all the kids.

Happy Birthday Penny!!  We love you so very much!!

Perfect Bliss

This morning I woke up to a small boy standing next to our bed. He was bending down as close as he could to my face, binki in mouth, he tried to whisper (the boy did NOT come with a volume control button!!), but try he did.  "Mama, is it twime to go to Wicoles (Nicole's). I wanna put on my costume.  Can I wear the mask AND the cape?"  It was 5:30am.

By 6:30am both boys were up and I strategically placed them on opposite ends of the couch with cups full of milk and a fruit bar.  I figured it would buy us another thirty minutes of sleep, as long as little sister kept on snoozing.

8:15am came with the hustle and bustle of book bags, coats and school shoes.  One last check to make sure the costume was in the bag where I said it would be and that the treats were ready to go.  Three carseats buckled, Daddy at the wheel, coffee in hand and we were off.

The air was cold, frost on the car windshield.  The sun was peeking out from behind a handful of clouds and the trees sparkled in jewel tones.  It was beautiful and I wished out loud that everyday could be like this.

Trent and Tommy spent most of the day on search of a last minute STAR WARS costume for Daddy.  After a few attempts they came home empty handed. But with a little imagination and a few yards of fabric we had a cape that would make any Emperor proud!

After a quick trip to Wicoles :) for Tommy to show off is Darth Vader costume, we were off to the Halloween parade at Charlie's school.  I don't know who was more excited, me or the kids!  Penny was a good sport and let us squeeze her into the cupcake costume that I had picked out for her a few weeks back.  Seems our little cupcake has had a growth spurt since :)

How fun it was to watch all the little kids come parading out of the school and around the park.  Charlie looked so proud when he saw us.  He immediately started posing and acting like the real Luke Sky Walker.  Light sabers weren't allowed at school, but that didn't keep Charlie from acting as if.  He was adorable!  We were so happy for him.

After our Halloween fun for the day it was time for party planning. While Penny napped I set to work making tasty treats for Penny's birthday party and putting on the last minute touches for our not so scary Halloween party.   When she awoke from her slumber she joined me in the kitchen while we finished up.  Daddy helped put the eyes on our ghosts and whipped up that last batch of cupcakes.  There is something about being in the kitchen with my family, especially with Trent.  I love it.

After a long day I started to feel my energy drop so I headed upstairs for a quick rest.  I laid there snuggled in between our flannel sheets, my head resting on Trent's pillow.  Downstairs I could hear Trent preparing dinner for the boys.   Tommy fussed that he had mustard on his hand, Trent got a wipe to clean him up and spoke sweetly to Penny from across the room.  Charlie's laughter filled the house, some show had him going.  My heart was full.

I gave Penny her bottle and snuggled her close.  Her hair is so soft and fuzzy against my check.  She reached up and patted my face then grasped my hand with her fingers.  When she was done she buried her face in my neck and gave me a hug, something new for her.  She then proceeded to "zerbert" my neck and blow raspberries.  A new trick and we both laughed.  She is the sweetest girl.

The boys needed second and third warnings.  Tommy held my hand and tried to keep sleep from his eyes.  I rubbed noses with him and he smiled underneath the bink.  I know he is too old, but I don't care.  He has one left and then these sweet last bits of baby will be gone.  I am going to hold onto them for as long as I can.  He quickly drifted off to sleep.

Trent carried in dinner.  Our Friday night usual, Chipotle.  After a few bites a small voice came from upstairs "Mama, I can't sleep.  Dada?"  I snuggled with Charlie for a few minutes and listened to him as he spoke about what costumes his friend wore, a video they watched about needs and wants, and HOW excited he was the Ben H. was coming to the party tomorrow.  I rubbed his head and settled him down a bit.

And now I sit with my honey on the couch.  He is watching another horror Halloween flick, and I am taking the opportunity to jot down the memories of a perfectly blissful day.

Today I choose Joy, it was an easy choice.
*written on Friday, October 28th

Apples, Apples, Apples Everywhere

I knew that Tommy's preschool was taking a trip to the apple farm's fun fest a few weeks back. So, I wanted to do some apple activities with him to tie into his trip.

As a family we made our annual trek out to the apple orchard.  We picked about 18lbs of apples and made apple sauce...yum!

Tommy made the lower case letter "a" for apple.  The boy loves anything that has to do with cutting and gluing!  This was a great project to keep him busy while big brother was doing homework.

Both boys also made a fun apple poem book.  This was so fun to make with them.

The cover

Eat an apple, plant the seeds

Save the core, and grow some more.

 The poem is supose to go Eat an apple, save the core, plant the seeds and grow some more.  I just photographed the pictures in the wrong sequence...just keeping it real people :)

And Tommy made an accordion apple picture at school.  He not only colored all the apples, but also cut them out in accordion style.  I think he did a great job.

Top 10 Things You Need To Know About Charlie

One of Charlie's homework assignments.

10. I love school

9. I love my cat.

8. I love trains.

7. I love orange.

6. I love numbers.

5. I love my sistu.

4.I love LEGO.

3. I love STAR WARS.

2. I luve Mom.

1. I love my famley.

This is pretty much our boy to a tee.  There are a few things I know we could add, like his love for Jesus, his obsession with taking things apart, his curiosity with science and learning new things, his passion for all things silly, and the comradery with his brother.  He is such a sweet boy and I just love the things that he wrote down about himself.

Grateful

Tonight I am feeling overwhelmed with gratitude for the life that I live, bumps, mountains, valleys and all.  Life can be difficult, more then once I have been thrown a curve ball.  And each time I have fallen to my knees and reached out to my Lord and Savior for guidance, love and help.  I have often stumbled but I have never fallen so deep that God could not pick me up.

There have been times when I felt alone, scared, and uncertain of what the future would hold.  There is no promise of a tomorrow and that can be frightening at times.  However, I find great comfort is knowing that there is a promise of eternal life with Jesus, if I only believe.  And believe I do, with all my heart, with every fiber of my being.  There is nothing or no one that could make me believe otherwise.

To know a God that is all loving, full of mercy and grace.  To have that intimate relationship with Him and know that no matter how lonely I feel, how scared I get, that He is always with me.  He never leaves me, not for a second.  He is all powerful, mighty and majestic.  He is sweet and loving, comforting and caring. 

During my moments of weakness I often think of God our father.  What would my Dad here on Earth do if I was hurting, in pain? He would comfort me, probably give me a hug, bring me a milkshake :) and tell me that he loved me.  I know that our Heavenly Father would do the same and on an even great level.  I find so much comfort knowing this, it makes choosing happiness even in the valleys or climbing the mountains of life just a bit easier.

I feel so blessed to have a loving Heavenly Father.  I am grateful for the people that he has put in my life.  My husband, the man who has taken care of me, comforted me, gently rubbed my head and calmed my fears.  The man who has literally put everything on hold to help me get well.  He has shown his love for me and our family, time and time again through his actions.  Our family is stronger because of Trent.  Our family is happy and loving and kind and good, because of his example and love.

I often pray for Trent as the leader of our family.  What an incredible responsibility to hold.  And yet, he leads our family with such ease and confidence.  I know the experiences of the last few weeks have made him an even greater leader.  He has had to do things that he had never done before, make difficult decisions, and be brave and strong when I am sure he felt weak and alone.  But God has been right beside him, leading him. 

I feel as if our family has been protected, literally covered by God's grace these last few weeks.  My heart is full of gratitude tonight for my life, for my husband, our three sweet healthy children, our family and friends that have reached out to us in our time of need.  The daily phone calls checking in, emails, cards, flowers, dinners, babysitting, rides, and most importantly, prayers.  There have been so many people loving on our family, it has been amazing.

I thank God for all things. 

Life if good.