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.

Reid is 6!

Reid turned 6 years old last month! (I'm a little behind on posts.) We started his birthday with a breakfast waffle.

Then for dinner, he requested pizza and ice cream, so we went to his favorite pizza place where they have a huge pizza buffet and a gigantic activity area, which includes arcade games as well as Reid's favorite--an indoor race track! Here he is with his birthday cinnamon roll (instead of ice cream-so many choices, so few stomachs!).





It's just crazy that we have a 6 year old. Six is definitely no longer a toddler or even a preschooler--it's like, a real "kid". A gross, smelly, bug-collecting, frog-catching kid. :) He has a bigger attitude and is that much closer to "mom and dad don't know anything". But on the other--and much heavier--hand, he has a bigger intellect and better understanding of concepts, a stonger sense of humor and understanding of jokes, a bigger imagination, and a bigger and more caring heart. He loves to play with his sisters (at times), especially rough-housing with Sloane. He is kind enough to humor Blair's many reqeusts in dressing her up as a princess although I know he would rather be playing Transformers, wrestling, or tooting on someone (I told you he was gross and smelly!). He likes riding his bike and scooter and playing t-ball. He loves dirt and all things that dig, lift, or push dirt. The only thing he doesn't like is sitting still. Someone told me, and I decided to take it as a compliment, "Reid's got a personality like no other." That he does.

Holding a dead frog, no kidding! And a handful of cicada skins (that was his Show and Share at school that week).













Posing with Blair after a dress-up session










Wrestling with Sloane--you can't tell which arms and legs belong to who!








A trip down memory lane...
Just born

1st birthday

2nd birthday

3rd birthday

4th birthday

5th birthday

6th birthday

Games, cake, and swine flu: All the makings of a great party!

The Saturday after Reid's birthday was the day he had been waiting for--his "Wipeout" party (based on the hit show on ABC). If you're not familiar with it, it's a competition where 24 contestants race through an obstacle course in a battle for $50,000. As you can tell by the name, many people find themselves wiping out in the water or mud pits as they dash though the challenges. If you haven't seen it, you should really check it out (Wednesday nights during the summer season--I think it's over now though). It's a great family show and we all get a lot of laughs. Reid had this theme picked out for at least 3 months before his birthday!

We had the party at our church gym so all the kids could run free and run wild. We set up an obstacle course with lots of fun challenges. First they had to zigzag bounce through the cones (soda bottles).

Then crawl under a table and come out the other side, and then straight into and through the tunnel and cube.

Next was hopping or monster-feet walking in each of the hula hoops.

Then belly dive over the Big Ball (no Wipeout course is complete without Big Balls).

Jump up and ring a bell, and then put on a hat (a pirate hat, a Jamaican hat with dreads-pictured below, or a sombrero), shoot a basket, and run back down to the start line.

I think the kids really had a good time with the obstacle course, and the Big Ball gave us the wipeouts we were looking for!

After playing hard, everyone was awarded a gold medal for spectacular achievement in the obstacle course and then it was time for cake and ice cream. The cake was designed to look like a course from the show: Slip down the slide, tip toe over the stepping stones, hop over the mud pit, guard your face from the sucker punches, bounce across the Big Balls, and finally balance the spinning logs before making it to the winner's circle!

The party ended with gift opening and he received a lot of fun toys. The hot item this year was Bakugan, little balls that pop open into animal shapes. Jer and I don't really know much about them, just that it's THE toy to have right now, according to all the kids. Shortly after gifts, while some friends were still there partying, we noticed Reid wasn't feeling very well. I wonder what gave us that impression?


We got home, and Reid slept most of the evening. He ran a high fever for 2 days, threw up 3 times, complained about a headache and stomach ache for most of that time, and even remarked, very distressed, "Great, I got the swine flu." I assured him he didn't, and he eventually bounced back and returned to normal behavior. He went back to school for 2 days, but came back home from school on the second day with another fever. We took him to the doctor the next day, and he was diagnosed with Influenza A. The health dept is no longer testing each individual flu patient for swine flu, and since it's not "flu season" yet, we are told that anyone with influenza A is assumed to have swine flu. So, turns out, oops, he did have swine flu. And we just exposed 24 kids to it! Lovely! Luckily, I don't think any of those kids ended up with it. After a week of feeling crummy, Reid was back to normal, tearing through the house and pestering everyone around him. It was good to have the old Reid back.