S. vs. the Fireplace

Tuesday, October 28th-- S. had a run in with the fireplace....and the fireplace won.

Don't Mess with the Baby!

Don't Mess with S.!!! Last Halloween, the kids each got to choose three things from the Halloween store as decorations for the house. J. chose, of all things, a severed arm. S. has taken a liking to it and it is very funny to see him munching on a severed arm. Tee hee!!

Carving Pumpkins

Monday, October 27th--The kids got to carve their pumpkins this evening. This is one of their favorite holiday activities. They make great 'Bleck' faces for the camera when they are cleaning out their pumpkins each year! This year, J. had a very odd pumpkin. It was nearly impossible to cut! The shell was rock hard and K. had to get a hacksaw to cut it. M. was able to use the small carving saw to cut out is jack-o-lantern face but J. just had to draw her's on with marker and K. had to cut it out. Yikes! But, as usual, the kids had a great time and turned out some fabulous faces.

A Day at the Park

Saturday, October 25th--We were supposed to meet a friend of M.'s at the park today. One of the boys in M.'s kindergarten class from last year is homeschooling this year. His mother said that he is missing all of his friends and so arranged a playdate at the park. Unfortunately, I had the wrong park!! We missed playing with M.'s friend but had a good time anyway. S. enjoyed climbing the stairs on the equipment along with attempting to climb the slide. We had the opportunity to get some great pictures too. The weather was very nice and finally not too hot!

M. Plays the Piano

Sunday, October 19th--M. had his first piano recital. M. has only been in piano for a few weeks but every year, his teacher has a Halloween piano recital just for the kids. M. even got to play a duet with his teacher for the recital after only two weeks! He was very pleased.

Costume Party at the Park

Sunday, October 19th-- Today we went to a birthday party for one of M. friends from his soccer team. It was a costume party at the park. This was the first opportunity of the Halloween season the kids got to wear their costumes so they were very excited. S. enjoyed the swings while J. and M. played games, had pizza, and played on the playground.

The Pumpkin Patch

Friday, October 17th-- We went to the pumpkin patch today. J. had a play date with our favorite little guy, J.L., so he joined us in the fun. Every year, we hit at least one pumpkin patch for photos and so we can choose the best carving pumpkins. The kids love to run around and play amongst the pumpkins. This was the first year for S. and he had a field day playing with...and eating, the hay. This year we went to two different pumpkin patches. The first one we went to had a great set up for photos along with rows and rows of large pumpkins to chose our carving pumpkins. Our second pumpkin patch is really a farmers market that always has fabulous and interesting gourds, 3 for a $1.00. We all try to find the most interesting gourds and add them to our Thanksgiving cornucopia centerpiece.

Grandma's Birthday

Monday, October 13th--It is Grandma's birthday. We took her to one of her favorite restaurants, Olive Garden, for dinner. Grandpa was out of town so he did not get to join us. Happy Birthday, Grandma!! We love you!!

Camping Trip

Saturday and Sunday, October 11th and 12th---We took our second family camping trip this past weekend. Our first camping trip back in May was such a success that we decided this will become a biannual event. So, we, with our camping buddies, the Hamiltons, packed up the cars and drove all the way to......Lake Grapevine. Yes, I know, not far away, but we wanted to be close by just in case we had any little people issues or meltdowns. :) By the way, you can see our first camping trip on Dana's blog at http://thehamiltonsdfw.blogspot.com/ She gave me permission to link to her blog.

Our first camping trip was all the way to....Lake Lewisville. Again, right around the corner but we certainly were not going far for our very first trip. Anyway, Dana had found a beautiful site for our first trip but unfortunately, we had to hike about, I think I was told, 800 yards to get to our site. This is not a huge deal unless you have 4 small children, lots of blankets and changes of clothes and outside toys for the kids, tents, coolers, food, lanterns, chairs, etc.... We were at a primative site so we had no light, tables, chairs, benches or anything. It was just a spot in the woods. We had to bring everything with us. Whew. That was a loooonnnnggg hike. So, for this camping trip, Ryan insisted that HE would chose the camp site. He found a fabulous site at Lake Grapevine where we could car camp. You know, back up the car right into the site and live out of the back of the car. Very nice. Very convenient. Very easy. And, he found a site that was right next to a playground. We could sit around the campfire and still see the kids over on the playground. It was PERFECT. Go, Ryan!!

We started our trip right after M's soccer game so left the house about 1:30 after G'ma and G'pa picked up the Squishy baby. We needed to make a stop for Ketel One and lucky thing we did. As K. was in the store, M. kept asking what that hissing sound was. I got out of the car to find a big bolt sticking out of my tire and watched while my tire deflated. When K. came out of the store, I asked if he was ready to change a flat. Fun. So, after a quick tire change, we were back on the road. We made it to the lake right around 3:00. We pulled up to the camp site to find the Hamiltons all set up and ready to go.

We were all 8 of us 'cramming' into the Hamiltons cavernous tent that sleeps 20 so I got all the sleeping stuff ready while K. got a fire started and food cooking. After a lunch of burgers and hotdogs, the men took the kids for a hike around the lake while Dana and I hung out around the campfire.

For dinner, we had brats (no, we did not eat the children), burgers, roasted corn on the cob, hot dogs, chips and cheese and crackers. After dinner, we broke out the ever popular S'mores and we roasted marshmallows on our custom made roasters. The kids made roasters out of clay last year. They are very cute.

After the kids went to bed, the adults got to relax, have a drink, and chit-chat around the fire. The weather was beautiful and only got down into the 60's so perfect for sitting round the campfire.

The next morning, I got up with J. and we went for a short hike to the lake while K. slept in. Dana and her daughter joined us. We then came back for a breakfast of egg/bacon/cheese breakfast burritos, pop tarts, and OJ.

It was a nice morning. It was cool but certainly not cold. Dana and I both agreed that we wish it had been just a little bit more 'crisp' for camping so we could curl up with hot chocolate around the morning fire. It was certainly cold when we went in May. It had been in the 40's over night. Maybe our next trip this coming May will bring slightly cooler weather. However, that being said, it was certainly a MUCH nicer night this time than last. Last time it was down right COLD!!

After breakfast, Dana went to lay down and the rest of us went to the lake with Ryan to watch him fish. The kids had a great time running around the dock, peering over the edge and through the spaces in the boards. We played around the lake for awhile then headed back to camp for lunch. After lunch we started packing up and headed home in the early afternoon. All in all, a great trip!


Dana and I are already planning our May trip. Whoo hoo! We are going for two nights next time.

Sick, sick, sick

What a week it has been. K. was sick last week on Monday and Tuesday. J. started throwing up Thursday night/Friday morning at 1:30AM. She was sick all Friday throwing up anything that hit her stomach. S. started with the diarrhea on Friday but no vomiting. J. was better on Saturday but then M. was complaining of being dizzy and a headache. I was fairly sure it was Strep AGAIN and off we went to the weekend clinic. Yup, strep. He got two penicillin shots and will start oral antibiotics on the 10th. Saturday night S. vomited so I was up watching him like a hawk all night long. On Sunday night, M. started throwing up. Great..... Four out of five sick family members. Guess I am next but I am hoping I have avoided it at this point.

My house is a disaster. I am doing loads and loads of laundry to rid the house of...well....the many varied results of a stomach virus and disinfecting every surface I can. Bleck, bleck, bleck!!!!

Look-a-likes

Man, this boy looks like his brother. I created a video for M. when he was 6 months old to keep him entertained and so he could learn to recognize friends and family. I play the video for S. all the time as he loves it. Here he is pulling up to see the TV better. I got a great shot of him looking at a picture of M. at about the same age. This is great! Boy, do they look alike.