halloween dinner

Tonight I made a halloween dinner for the family. A few years ago I did this on Oct. 31st and it didn't turn out so well because the kids were too excited to go trick-or-treating. They hardly ate or just shoved food in their mouths to go trick-or-treaitng sooner. I enjoy doing these kinds of things for them. I know they don't know what I put into it and can't appreciate it yet. I don't do it for that; I do it so they feel my love for them. I try to let my actions speak louder than words. I try to make these "love deposits" cuz I know sometimes I make "crazy mom withdrawals." I hope in the end I make more deposits than withdrawals. I love these kids! I love my family! I love being their mom and I love making their lives a little sweeter. Back to this post....I made a halloween dinner. I decorated the table and made the menu they could look at all day. We ate mini pumpkins (oranges), friendly ghosts (bananas), mummy dogs (hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls), jello bats, scarecrow teeth (corn), dessert was mummies on a stick, and drinks were spider juice. The pictures should explain things. After dinner we "booed" someone. It was a fun night. Oh yeah, after dinner we had an activity. The kids were blind-folded and they felt human ears, human eye balls, human teeth, a heart, and intestines. Of course they weren't real. Levi thought it was though until I had them guess what it REALLY was. The ears were dried apricots, the eyes were grapes, the teeth were candy corn, the heart was a chunk of jello, and the intestines was spaghetti.

 My new bat salt-n-pepper shakers. Everyone was happy we got new ones. Levi picked them out.

 Mummies on a stick

 MUMMY DOGS!

 This was actually my first time making jello. I know crazy!

After dinner, Sydney secretly told everyone to yell "thank you" to me on her count to 3 (on her own. no prompting from Jeff). So cute.

 Jordyn and Levi showing me their dessert

I put some plastic spiders in an ice tray and froze them to put in their water.

had to

Had to write this down before I forgot. Jordyn and Levi were in another room and this is what I over heard.
Jordyn: "Levi did you ask mom??? You have to ask mom!"
Levi: "No. I asked Dad. He said yes."
Jordyn: "You have to ask mom; she's the real parent. She's the boss of everything."

punch out my time card

Let's face it, being a parent is a full-time job and when the kids go to sleep, I punch my time card and Jeff and I indulge in our favorite show. Fortunately I only have one full-time job, Jeff has two: Pfizer and being a great dad. Well last night him and I were more than ready to punch our time cards when this happened right before bedtime. The kids were eating dessert right before they needed to go upstairs and take showers. Levi dropped and broke one of the pumpkin salt-n-pepper shakers. They were cute, but they were salt-n-pepper shakers I wasn't at the least bit upset about it. Levi on the other hand immediately started crying asking, "am I in trouble." Of course he wasn't in trouble and I wasn't mad. I tried to prove that by doing something I've never done before. I gave him permission to throw the other one on the ground to break it. I thought it would be fun and make light of the situation and what's the purpose of only one shaker without it's pair? He broke it, him and Sydney kinda laughed and was surprised I told him to break the other. Then out of nowhere Jordyn starts crying in hysterics.
Me: "Really? What's wrong with you?"
Jordyn: "those were my favorite. I loved playing with those after school. They were like my kids."
Me: thoughts in my head, "OH MY GOSH! Where's a talent agent when I need one. This girl needs to star in a child soap opera.
Jeff is washing dishes and I look at him kinda laughing while levi and jordyn are still crying. I could only smile because talking to him was pointless, we couldn't hear one another if we wanted to say anything. Sydney then heads to the sink where Jeff is at to put her dirty ice cream bowl in. She misgauges the drop and lets go of the bowl too soon causing the bowl to break in the sink. She then precedes to cry (the other two are still crying). Macie on the other hand is happy lying on the floor, rolling around. Jeff turns off the water and says to the kids, "time to get ready for bed." He then says to me, "time to punch out our time cards" under his breath. I totally agreed. The end. Kids asleep early. Watched survivor when he returned from scouts.

pumpkin patch fun

Saturday evening we went to a pumpkin patch, a different one that last year. We loved it so much more too. So many fun things: animals, corn maze, a huge slide, a bouncy pillow, a train ride, and more. We brought our own sandwiches and enjoyed a picnic. 

 The kids liked these fun bouncy horse things

 Oh yeah, they had these cool bikes and a track to ride them

 A spider-web thing to climb on.

 sydney the gymnast

 The corn maze was a ton of fun and exhausting. After walking 3 miles in circles and in the dark with tired kids, we were ready to just get out! Jeff ended up cheating and using the GPS on his phone so we could get out. It was fun though and we will definitely be going back next year.

 Yippee!

no training wheels

Jeff has been wanting to teach Levi how to ride a bike without training wheels for awhile now. Between campouts, soccer, and the heat, Jeff didn't get around to it. That was up until Saturday, October 12th.

 This is how it went down: attempt #1 Levi and the bike just tipped over. Jeff lowered the bike seat. Levi barely touches the ground if he's on his tip-toes. attempt #2 Jeff gives him a push and he's off....like one minute of riding before him and the bike tip over sideways. Jeff and I stared in amazement. I guess we thought it would take an hour. attempt #3 longer ride and he turns in the street and goes up the driveway without falling. He's too short to put both feet on the ground and get off. So what he does is he slows down and when it's about come to a complete stop, he tips the bike to the side until his foot touches the ground and gets off.

 Seriously we have a stud. I'm hoping to get him to ski this winter!

festive stuff

This week the kids have school off for Fall Break. It's been refreshing to wake up and eat breakfast on our own time. It's also been a week to get in the Halloween spirit. Yesterday we went to our friends house and decorated halloween cookies, made caramel apples and halloween masks.

 Jordyn and Levi helping to make frosting.

 ah ha! Gotcha....eating the chocolate off the wrapper. Her job was smashing up the butterfingers bars to dip our caramel apples in.

It's always makes me a little sick when I see how much frosting and sprinkles the kids use to decorate their cookies with. Don't you love the dirt on Levi's nose?

 Levi's fake smile is sooo obvious. Jordyn's real smile couldn't be any cuter.

 I love capturing these moments because in what seems like a few seconds, this girl won't want to be doing "kid" things anymore.

Today we went to Barnes and Noble. They read "Vampire Baby" to us and we made our own vampire babies.

An attempt to get the 5 of us together. It was worth a try.

 Came home and knew I had to take some pictures of this sweet lil' thing before she pooped on it or spit up on it, which she did both, about an hour later.

 Baby girls and leg warmers are the cutest!

september pictures

Jordyn's "selfies" I found on Jeff's phone. So many faces.

 A typical morning in our house before school starts. 

 Macie tries a lemon (without her consent)

 SO SOUR

 Levi put his hat on Macie's head and I couldn't resist a picture of her wearing it, sitting in her Bumbo.

 and then I had to take more pictures of her just sitting there looking all cute.

 An afternoon yawn. Staring at a camera lens is pretty boring I guess.

 I love the raised, hairless eyebrows and round face.

 "Finally, mom gives me something to look at instead of a black camera."

 "I love flipping the pages."

 

 "and looking at the pictures isn't bad either."

 "M.U.S.T. put in mouth."

 After the photo op I took her outside to check on the rest of the family. Macie loves looking at the palm trees  swaying back and forth.

 Cute sisters.

 Part of our backyard. Just loved the green against the blue sky.