the costumes

Their picks this year...

A dalmation

 and a fireman.

They got to wear their costumes a few days before Halloween to library time. 

The next time we put them on, Taylor didn't want the collar or the nose.

Mason got his fireman outfit for his birthday last year - so he was covered.

And thanks to Aunt Rebekah, we got ANOTHER hand-made costume in the mail this year.

This is the 2nd year in a row - we are definitely getting spoiled!

 We started the night with stops at Nana and Papa's, Aunt Barb and Uncle Jim's, and the Laniers - the usual places that these 2 are completely spoiled and loved on.

Then we headed to hang out with friends to go trick-or-treating!

It was such a fun group - and most of them could all walk on their own this year.

It got COLD!  We were glad to have only gone down a few blocks.

Then it was back for hot cocoa and pumpkin cake!

I survived

I've been under the weather a bit.  Or I guess I should say A LOT.  Allergies and sinus crud that turned into a sinus infection - just in time for one of my busiest weekends of the month.  I'm pretty sure I should have been in bed all weekend - that's what my brain and body kept telling me. And my husband too.  I guess sometimes I'm not so good at listening. 

Instead I took the kids to the pumpkin patch with our friends on Friday...

Stayed up really late making these costumes that night...

for us, not the kids.

Our kids thought our costumes were great!  Their little faces were priceless to see us dressed as characters from one of their favorite movies (Woody and Jessy from Toy Story)  We're not so into dressing up.  In the past when we've had to, we've hated it and just come up with something dumb at the last minute.  But somehow we got this idea.  Maybe it was the cow fabric that a friend had just given me in case I ever needed it, that was sitting on my counter.  That definitely sparked my creativity. 

But I'm pretty sure I should have been in bed, instead of sewing. And I'm pretty sure I was sick enough to not even attend the Halloween party we had been invited to.  But there was no way we weren't going after spending so much time on the costumes. So we went - and I was miserable. 

At this point of the weekend, I was DONE. Could barely function.

Oh, but wait.

We had a birthday party to host.
And you can't cancel a 4 year old's birthday party.
Here's a little peak at Taylor's RAINBOW party...

And when the final guest walked out the door, I finally got myself to bed. 

I survived.  Probably made myself a lot sicker than I would have been. But I made it.
And I owe a HUMONGOUS thanks to my wonderful husband who helped me SOOO much. And also family who helped prepare for the party and clean up, and friends who offered to help too!  I really would not have survived trying to take it all on myself.

Today I can feel that my antibiotic has kicked in.  So I'm on my way back to normal.

I will hopefully catch up on pictures and posts soon.

For now, why don't you check out these ridiculously awesome pictures of my sister and her husband. I'll give you 3 descriptions to sum up this photo shoot - handmade dress, IN the water, and GORGEOUS!  I made you want to click the link, huh?

turning 4 {you are growing up}

Can't believe today you are 4.

4 years I've had with you at home.

Not too much longer left.

You are growing up.

(photos by Megan)

You have such a sweet and compassionate heart.

You are so good at openly showing your love for your brother and your dad and I.

You are growing up.

 You are eager to learn and excited to experience new things.

You have opened up more to other people and become more social.

You walk into Cubbies without even looking back at us now.

You are growing up.

You have started to talk to us like you are years older than you are.

You are so helpful (except cleaning your room - you despise that) with things around the house, cooking and even taking care of your brother.

You are very much into clothes and accessories - if only I can teach you to put clothes away that you only wore for 5 minutes.

Today you asked if your legs were longer, if your hair was longer,
and if you can drive a car now.
You mentioned that all your clothes are now too small and that you didn't want "white" anymore (your blanket that you've been attached to since birth).

Yes indeed, you are growing up.

Happy 4th Birthday Sweet Girl!

Can you slow down just a bit?

I don't think I can do age 5 for you and age 30 for me in the same year.

L is for Leaf

Taylor could have gone to preschool this year but we came up with a better idea for her,

which involved still being home with mom!

We joined with 4 other moms - with a total of 10 kids in the group.  We each plan one week of activities (3 days worth) based around a theme.  Our themes for this past month have been apples, leaves, harvest, scarecrows and pumpkins. I did the apple theme.  So I put together crafts, letter activities, a bible verse and a few other things for all the kids in the group.

Then we swap all our stuff!

So we plan for one week of stuff and we go home with 5 weeks of stuff to do with our little preschoolers.

So now when it's time to do "preschool", I just go to my big file folder and grab an activity and everything I need is right there.

I love it!  And Taylor and Mason both love it too.

We just finished a project for leaf week that we had a great time with.

First we had to collect pretty leaves.

And since not all the pretty leaves have fallen yet - we had to steal them off a few trees.

 They each got a rectangle piece of posterboard and got to glue their leaves all over it.

 Then we covered the back and front with contact paper and cut the edges off.

And now we have placemats!

 Yuck, my table is dirty and from the picture I realize how worn the top of it is too,

but thank goodness these placemats make it look much more beautiful!

Our preschool swap idea came from another blogger - someone that shared the idea with me awhile back, so I passed the idea onto some friends and we decided to give it a try.

And I'm pretty sure we are all loving it - thanks Jennifer!

Now onto PUMPKINS - so we are adequately prepared for our pumpkin patch "field trip" next week!

a Sydney update, our baby boy's a STAR and a few other things

First, and most importantly...

Check out Sydney's Caringbridge site today - GREAT NEWS of remission ALREADY!!!

Nothing to say with this one...just a cute picture of my 3 loves.

 This week Taylor really started getting more detailed with her drawing - I was so impressed!

It's so fun to watch their development and the new things they learn all the time.

This is Sydney and our dog Anni.

It's the first time I've seen real bodies and arms and legs.

Plus the details in the faces - so fun!

And check out who made the front page of our local newspaper...

We don't get the paper - but we got a few phone calls Friday afternoon to see if we had seen it yet.

So we headed straight to Papa and Nana's to check it out!

We knew his picture was taken at Taste of Newton on Thursday night, because she asked for his name and age.  I just figured that she would take hundreds of pictures and his probably wouldn't make it.

I guess he must just be too darn cute to get cut!

Enjoy this beautiful fall weekend!

mason - {31 months, potty trained and other stuff}

Well, he's actually been potty trained for a few months.
I never took any pictures - not that you'd need to see pictures of him in action - but I was thinking more along the lines of his cute little body running around in his big boy underwear!, or how funny it is when he puts them on backwards and walks out of the bathroom like it's completely normal to have little boy thong underwear.
I kept thinking about posting about his progress and telling a few stories,
but he was just too darn quick and good at it.

He's pretty much fully trained.

We went about a month with no pullups at bed - but we were changing sheets about 50% of the time (maybe more) I was determined to keep trying.

But Dave was getting frustrated - so we started pullups again for bed.

One of Mason's new things...

Mommy....

what?

I lush you

Last night he said

momma, you lay with me?

pause, as I'm thinking what my answer will be since I just laid with him in my bed and now he wanted me to lay with him in his bed too.

Before I could answer...

becuz you lush me

oh my, how could I say no.

He definitely challenges us - on a daily basis, sometimes hourly.

He's much more fussy than Taylor ever was, and his moods are more extreme.

We are working so hard to get him to stop whining and crying and insisting his way all the time.

Over simple things like apple juice, chocolate milk, wanting the snack that HE wants, not wanting to wear pants, only wanting to wear flip flops.

He wants me to hold him A LOT.

But there's definitely a part of me that likes that.

Just not when I'm trying to get dressed or put on makeup or cook dinner.

And really, when he's upset - there is NO stopping him.

But he's funny!  So very silly!

We always say he has more personality than Taylor ever did or has.

He loves to run through the house with no clothes on yelling "nakey boy in the house!"

He laughs and announces every time he "toots".

This morning I walked in the kitchen while he was eating his oatmeal and he pointed out the exact spot on the chair in which he tooted.  I just don't get it.

And he's so lovable, and cuddly.

He LOVES to cuddle - any time, all the time.

I, of course wish for this to never change, but I realize I'm pushing my luck.

He grabs my cheeks and pulls my face nose-to-nose with his and kisses me.

He asks for Anni (our chocolate lab) to sleep with him every night - she sleeps up on the foot of his bed.

He gets frustrated easily.

His dad says he has my personality.

But I don't think that's fair.

We're doing lots of preschool activities around here this fall (mostly for Taylor, but he gets to do them too)- and he isn't so patient at learning things.

He LOVES his sister and does EVERYTHING she does.

He copies things she says.

If I ask a question to both of them, sometimes he'll wait for her to answer so he can say the same thing.

If he really wants his answer to be different, he'll realize that a few seconds later and then change his answer.

He still really loves his monkey and blanket.

And Lightning McQueen.

Although Toy Story is starting to compete heavily.

He doesn't like to eat much.

Unless you give him pickles, fruit loops or m&m's.

He's definitely growing up.

I think the changes that occur between ages 2 and 3 are some of the biggest.

And before we know it - this little guy's going to be 3.

sniff, sniff

With all the joys and challenges this little guy brings to our family,

I know that I cannot do this job on my own.

I was reminded yesterday by a sweet sweet friend that being a mother means I need to be brought to my knees.

On a daily basis.

Sometimes many times a day. :-)

And my prayer is that as I learn to be a good momma to both of my children, that I will learn what God wants to teach me through it. Because ultimately, I know that learning to love and care for my own children will help me understand the love, patience, and grace that God has for me.

painting nails

Love the things these 2 come up with...

For example, watercolor paint....

Can become nail polish - for boys and girls both.

 I love how they even picked boy colors for Mason's nails.  Definitely no pink.

The funniest part...
they took turns painting each other's nails.
So cute.

wildcat football

Something I look forward to EVERY year - taking the fam back to our old stomping grounds,

and cheering on those Wildcats!

Getting dressed all in purple, seeing the pure excitement in our kids' faces, driving those beautiful hilly roads that lead us into Manhattan, checking up on our old houses, remembering different parts of campus and different parts of towns for different reasons.

I'm always way more excited than Dave.

In fact, he only agreed to go to the game if it was an early game and we could be back home for OU to play at 6. 

Did I really meet this guy on K-State campus?

I think he would have gone anyway, but he was trying to play tough.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the expression on Taylor's face.  We were headed to the stadium, they were both in awe of all the people and all the purple.

The minute she saw the stadium she screamed "OH!  Now I remember!"  And the smile on her face was priceless! She wasn't sure she remembered us taking her to a game before - but it all came back to her!

We dressed for 70 degree weather - we didn't think about jackets or long sleeves.

So we made a quick stop at Target for long sleeve t's for the family.

We tailgated for just a bit with some dear friends of ours from home.

The Mattingly's are like another family.  This is "Big" Taylor - she's in her 5th year at KSU.

We loved her name - and it was fun to tell her that we were stealing it for our first born!

Taylor was soooo excited to get to see "Big" Taylor - we of course were so excited to see her too!

We headed to our seats and ran into Aunt Stefanie, Uncle Steve and the boys on our way!

A few minutes in, it started sprinkling and the sky was looking BAD!

 See, I told you.

It was FREAKY.

 The lightning is what ultimately got the game delayed.

They announced that everyone needed to leave the stadium and seek shelter.

Really?  Where in the world do 50,000 people go?

 So after a 20 minute stand-still in our seats (I guess good flow isn't possible when thousands of people are trying to leave at one time), we headed back to the Mattingly's RV.

Until the rain started coming down hard enough that we were going to be soaked if we kept going.

So we ran to the nearest building - in which they would not let us inside.

The sports complex is where the locker rooms are, where are the players were and all the cheerleaders.

We were not important enough to be able to enter - although we were promised if it was a dire emergency, the security guy at the door would let us in.

So we just stayed up against the building, watching the storm.

 It POURED.

Freaky, swirling clouds.

 

 When the rain stopped we finally made it the rest of the way to the RV to join our friends.

 After an hour delay, they started back up.

The sun came out - we stripped our long sleeves and it was beautiful!

 Mason even got his nap in.

Thank goodness for these great seat-back seats - I would never have been able to hold him without that back to lean on.

 We knew what section Aunt Stef and her family were in - and I just so happened to notice her when she was walking on the stairs (with no binoculars!) - so we watched where she sat. It was fun to zoom in on this picture and actually see her!

 We asked the lady behind us to take a picure.  After she snapped it I heard someone say "HI AMANDA!"

My 4th grade teacher was 2 rows up and spotted us when we turned around - she was my FAVORITE teacher, she made me love math, and she made me want to be a teacher!  She came to our wedding and it's always so fun to run into her!

 No trip to Manhattan can end without a stop in Aggieville to fill our tummies with some of the food we miss so much!

My first choice would have been So Long Saloon - but the line was out the door. Welcome to Manhattan on game day.

So our next choice was Pat's!  Sweet Potato Fries and the best honey mustard!

And guess who just so happened to show up the same place - COUSINS!!!

It was a fun ending to our day.

Unless of course you count the hours that this little gal then played "cheerleader".

She must have been watching those girls like crazy - she was doing high kicks and throwing her pom poms in the air trying to catch them and even asked Daddy to hold her up.

Overall - SUCH a great day!

Any day that the Wildcats and Sooners come out on top is a great day in our house!