Uh oh! Our first Tess casualty.

This Thanksgiving, give thanks that you still have your eyes. Both of them.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Fall is in the air and on the ground!

Our trees don't provide many leaves, so after my neighbor raked up hers, I went over and asked if I could have them. An unusal request, I'm sure! :) So I hauled them over to my yard and put them in a big pile.

Reid especially was super excited to see the big pile of leaves in our yard when he got home from school.



What happened to Blair? The leaf pile ate her!
Blair is not normally one to jump around outside (she's more of a calm and composed player), so I was surprised to see her diving in and rolling around the leaves.



Sloane was not at all interested in the leaves so this is all I got of her.

















Then we went to the backyard to play and I decided to get a few fall pictures of the kids. As usual, my "few pictures" ended up turning into a complete autumnal portfolio. My poor kids...me and my camera... Oh well, they'll thank me one day.

Trick or Treat: Halloween Night!

The kids had a great time trick or treating Saturday night. We went around with friends, as we always do. And even the adults got in on the costume fun. I was the Jolly Green Giant this year. You can't quite see all the details in the picture--there are leaves on the top toga part--but I'd like to think it looked better in person than it does here. And Jeremy once again channeled his inner Thor.

We also celebrated with Mike Tyson (including his famous facial tattoo!), Kai-Lan, Kai-Lan's mom, and a 1970's Ben Wallace.

I made Reid and Blair "practice" trick or treating a few days ahead of time. I know it sounds stupid, but I was determined that they were going to be the polite kids going up to everyone's door. I know that can sometimes get forgotten in the excitement of running from door to door, and I got really tired of reminding them at every house last year. So I told Reid and Blair that they MUST say "Trick or Treat!" (it irks me when kids come to the door and just hold their bag out waiting for candy--unless they're small and can't quite say it yet, of course), and they HAD to say "Thank you!" And if they didn't say thank you, I was going to take the candy back out of their bucket and put it in my own. And I am very proud to say that the practice worked! They remembered to say both phrases at every house, and they didn't beg and choose which candy they wanted out of the candy-giver's bowl, which seemed to be another problem last year. I told them to take what they were given and be thankful for it. So after one house, Reid told me with a big smile, "Mom, I just got one piece at that house but I don't even care, because I'm thankful for it!" Yea, he actually listened to something I said! (And at the houses where he got to choose his own candy, man, you'd think it was Christmas morning!) And Blair announced after every house, "Mama, I THINK I said thank you!"

Sloane walked most of the night and had so much fun. Her little ostrich legs couldn't quite keep up with the big kids, so every once in a while, I'd have to pick her up and run one house ahead of the big kids so she would be there to go to the door with them. It didn't take her long to figure out, though, that if she went up to a door, they'd give her candy, so when I would try to pass up a house, she'd point and pull towards the driveway! She walked the whole night with one hand holding her bucket and one hand holding a piece of candy. And I am proud to say that she even said Thank You when prompted...well most of the time.

After trick or treating, we all went to another friend's house for a Halloween party. It was geared equally towards kids and adults, with all kinds of themed food and drinks. The house was decorated from floor to ceiling, complete with a smoke machine and strobe light in the garage. They had games in the garage for the kids, then went outside for spooky story time followed by smores, then back inside for a movie (Beetlejuice!) and popcorn. Kids and adults alike had a great Halloween and were worn out at the end of the night!

One more set of pictures...
The kids got to wear costumes to school, but we decided to wear old costumes for ease of wear (and to keep them hole-free--Spiderman ended up with 2 big rips after a day to school last year). :(

How to make an ostrich jockey

Since several people have asked, I thought I would explain how the ostrick jockey was made...it was really pretty simple. I wasn't confident that Sloane would actually wear it (becuase, you know, 1 year olds kinda do what THEY want to do), but I wanted to make it anyway, so I kept telling myself I would start making it but then quit when it got too difficult or when it was taking too much time. Afterall, I didn't want to spend all my time making a costume that she would never wear. But it never got very hard so I just kept on going! She fought me everytime I tried to get her IN the costume, to which I replied by sticking candy in her face to keep her happy--yep, great parenting skills here--but once it was on, she didn't fight it at all.

Anyway, it's made by taking a round donut-shaped pillow and wrapping it with feather boas (3 of them). (Actually, I used one of those neck pillows that people use when they travel...you know the ones that are shaped like a small boppy. And then filled in the open part of the "mini boppy" with a another small rectangular pillow. Just pinned it all together.)

Then take a pair of shorts overalls and pin the donut pillow to the outside of the overalls, about butt high. The idea is that she won't have to have any shoulder straps holding up the pillow because it'll be pinned directly to what she's wearing.

To make the fake legs, cut the legs off a pair of old jeans and pin those to the overalls, and drape them over the pillow/ostrich body. (I shortened the fake legs and pinned a pair of shoes to the bottom of the fake legs for Halloween night. I'll post those pictures later.)

For the head and neck, take a wrapping paper roll, a wadded up plastic sack, and a cardboard cone and tape them all together to form the shape of an ostrich's head and neck. Cover it with a pair of pantyhose (I used trouser socks), and glue on some eyes. Find a way to stick the neck inside the donut pillow. (I happened to have a little hole in mine where the mini boppy met the rectangular pillow where the neck could just slide right in.) The neck kept wanting to fall over so I put a ribbon around it and pinned it to the overalls so that it looked like reigns. After adding a couple white feather puffs around the neck and at the butt, the body of the ostrich is complete.

I dressed Sloane in another pair of trouser socks on her legs (they ended up being more like thigh-highs on her) so that it looked like ostrich legs. Tights would work well too, but I had trouser socks on hand. I cut out 2 claw shapes out of felt and taped them to the tops of her shoes, and put a safari style hat around her neck, and there you have it...an ostrich jockey straight from the outback, mate!

Actually, probably one of the easier and quicker (maybe 5 hours?) costumes I've made, no sewing involved really, just lots and lots of safety pins. And all I had to buy were the boas, the white feather puffs, and extra safety pinns--about $13 in all! (Oh, and to clarify something on my previous post, I did not make all of the other costumes--I updated that post with the details.)

The Halloween Costumes are Here!

Thank you to all who made suggestions for Sloane's costume! They were all very good suggestions, and I kept them in mind while trying to decide. In the end, I finally landed on something different--something that just came to me in my wild, winding path of thoughts that is my mind. (But all other suggestions were kept in mind as Plan B becuase she's a little picky about what she wears.) So anyway, we had our church Halloween festival last night, and I present to you:

Snow White!

(I felt I needed to come back in and clarify that not all these costumes are homemade...I wimped out on this one--total store-bought. And yes, it did make me a wee bit nauseas to think that we spent good money on something that I could have probably copied somewhat closely if I had just taken the time to do so. Although, in my defense, Snow White is pretty difficult, what with all her multi-colors. Can't she just have a solid blue or pink dress like the other princesses??)

Captain America!

(Another store bought, although I did paint his shield. I did not want to even think about attempting this costume, and plus, I was just happy I didn't have to figure out how to make a Bakugan costume!)

The Ostrich Jockey! (Yes, I know there are a lot of photos, but this one I DID make! And dang it, I put a lot of time into this costume and you're going to look at every angle of it, whether you like it or not!) :)




They say that when you ride an ostrich, you have no control over it or where it goes. It was like that with Sloane too--I kept trying to hold her hand and lead her places and she wanted nothing to do with it. She wanted to go where she wanted to go. Finally, I just decided to give up on trying to lead this little ostrich rider anywhere and let her walk her own walk--or I guess...ride her own ride--even if it was just going in circles!

And last but not least, Thor! (Jeremy told Reid that if Reid was a super hero, Jeremy would dress up as a super hero too, so that's how Thor came about. Captain America and Thor are super hero friends, in case you didn't know. I'll have to get a better picture Halloween night.)

(Thor is partially homemade, partially not. I made his cape and his, ahem, man-skirt. And we painted the boots yellow. Everything else is store bought.)

Halloween Costumes--HELP!

Hello everyone...all 3 of my faithful readers :)

Get your creative minds thinking because I need your help! I am looking for ideas for Sloane's Halloween costume! Blair has finally decided to be Belle, which we'll buy. Reid changes his mind about 10 times daily, so his costume hasn't been decided yet and therefore hasn't been decided if we'll make or buy it. His latest idea today is to be a Bakugan. I'm trying to figure out how in the world I would make that. But anyway, I need an idea for Sloane and that's where yall come in! Please give me any ideas you have!

The only criteria is:

-it has to be original (so there won't be 100 other kids in the same costume, or if not necessarily original, a way for me to make it different than everyone else's)

-it can't be something that she will want to choose for herself when she gets older (which crosses off princesses, butterflies, ballerinas, etc--while she's still young and opinion-less, I like to do something I choose; she can choose when she gets older)

So anyway, I know someone has seen or heard of something cute that I can make for her this year. Oh, and as extra incentive, the winner will receive a free autographed picture of Sloane in her costume! Yes, you know you want it. So start thinking and send them this way!

Our family is growing!

No, not like that. Hee hee. We got a new dog! Meet Tess, our 7-week-old beagle puppy. She's cute as can be--all 7 pounds of her--but man can she whine! My human babies have always been easy going and pretty quiet. If any of them whimpered and whined as much as Tess does, they'd have been shoved back in until they woke up on the right side of the womb. But since we can't do that with her, I guess we just have to wait till she grows out of it. It shouldn't be too long--puppies grow out of their puppiness pretty quickly. Like any new mom, here are some pictures of our new little one! :)

Blair's so cute with her--she talks to Tess in her highest pitch voice. When Tess had to get her vaccinations, our Little Mama consoled her the whole time, saying, "It's okay, Tessie. You'll be okay."

Sloane is surprisingly very gentle with Tess. And she's always so excited to see her new puppy in the morning, bending down to her, waving and saying, "Hi! Hi!"

Reid loves to hold her. He's had a lot of fun running around with her too. Maybe we finally found someone to match his energy level?? (Look how tiny she is in Reid's arms!)

She found a cozy spot with Jeremy.
Tess loves settling down in someone's lap and taking a long nap. She doesn't care who it is; she just wants to be held.
I kneeled down at the tv cabinet for less than a minute and before I knew it, she had crawled up in my calves. She is determined to lie on someone one way or another! (Ignore my filthy socks. I walk outside in them all the time. My mom will be mortified when she sees this picture.)

Cuddling up with Rusty, our 10-year-old lab. Rusty wasn't real sure about having another dog in the house at first (and he's definitely not keen about this new dog getting all up in his personal space), but he's gradually getting used to her.


If you made it this far, thanks for sticking around! :) I'll be back to reporting on my human-kids again soon.

Blair and Sloane at school

Blair and Sloane have been in school for a month now, but I haven't had a chance to post about it. They both seem to like it and seem to have had fun every day when I go to pick them up, so we keep going back!

First Day of School

On the first day, we stopped at Sloane's room first. She was perfectly fine when we went in. But when she noticed the other kids crying, she looked at me with a confused teary-eyed face, as if she were wondering, "Why is everyone crying? Should I be crying?" So I picked her up and hugged her and assured her that she would have fun and that I would be back. She was fine with that, so I put her back down and she immediately went over to play with a toy. I left to take Blair to her room, and when I walked back by Sloane's room on my way out, I heard her bawling and carrying on. I guess she turned around and didn't see me there, and she didn't care for that. And with everyone else crying, she apparently felt the need to join in. Plus it didn't help that it was time for her morning nap, so she was tired on top of everything else. Jeremy went with me to pick them up when school was over. When Sloane turned around and saw Daddy standing at the door, she got so excited! She walked as fast as she could (she's still trying to figure out running), arms outstretched, shouting "Da! Da! Da!" (And no, she didn't even bother throwing a glance my way.) Each day since then, she has cried when I've dropped her off, but I'm told it doesn't last long. And she's always happily playing when I arrive to pick her up but very excited to see me there for her again. (Those are her fat little feet splish-splashin' in the rain water after school.)


Blair's first day went much better than I expected. She was very resistant to moving up to the next class. She loved her teachers from last year, and she kept saying she wanted to be in her (Blair's) old class because "she was 3 years old when school ended last year and she's still 3, so she was still supposed to be in that class". I kept telling her that her old friends would be in her new classroom, but she wasn't buying it. So I expected a major break-down when it was time to drop her off. Surprisingly though, when we walked into her class, she was all smiles. She was hanging on to my leg and pulling on my shirt, but it was all giggles and silliness, so it was easy for her new teacher to step in and distract her with an activity so I could break free. When we went to pick her up later, I was expecting her to run into my arms, thrilled to be rescued from the horror of having to be in a new class, but instead, I couldn't break her free from the wooden boat! She loved it, had a great day, and was having too much fun to leave. I was so relieved to see that she had a good day! Every day since then, she tells me she doesn't like school and she doesn't want to go, but when we get there, she's the same silly, giggly girl tugging on my shirt (just because that's become the drop-off routine now). And every time I pick her up, she ignores me and continues playing in the boat or drawing on the chalkboard, pretending I'm not there. [However, when I ask her how school was, she always says it wasn't good. When asked what she doesn't like, she pauses, forming a little "thinking wrinkle" on her forehead and then answers that she doesn't like playing outside because she "has a hard time" (I think that means she's tired), and she doesn't like playing in the gym because she's hungry. The only part she does like, I'm told, is watching "Pimmocchio" and other movies during nap time. But for not liking much about school, it sure is strange how much she wants to stay and continue playing at the end of the day! :)]

Today was Pirate and Princess Day at school. Blair is never one to miss an opportunity to wear a Barbie dress, so she was thrilled with the chance. Since they were supposed to wear something that was easy to play, move, and potty in, she couldn't wear one of her costume dresses, so her old stand-by was an acceptable choice. Sloane doesn't have any princess dresses yet, so she wore a regular dress with a tulle skirt I made for her last year over it.


I'm surprised I got a smile out of her. Her normal picture face is the one above...I think my paparazzi ways have ruined my poor children from ever wanting to pose for any pictures.






















Just a side note: Why is she able to touch door knobs already?? Thank goodness she can't turn them yet--I still like being able to shut doors to keep her out of things!

Afternoon at the lake

We had beautiful weather one Sunday afternoon, so we decided to get outside and enjoy some time at the lake. We picked up a couple sandwiches and let the kids play on the playground while Jeremy and I had a picnic dinner. Then we walked down by the water, threw rocks in and watched them splash, and discovered dead crabs.