Trick or Treating

Our township had trick or treating tonight from 6-8pm. I know, I know it's a day early. That's just how they roll back here.

Ella has been preparing for it a few days now. Yesterday she walked up to me with her bucket and said, "trick or treat". I gave her some fruit snacks and then a few minutes later she came back to do some more trick or treating. Today was the real deal and she was ecstatic to go out and get candy.

Ryan was able to take the kids out while I stayed home to pass out candy. Leia received a lot of compliments for her costume. I ended up making it on a whim because I kept debating if she should dress up or not. She was just going to stay home with me. In the end I'm glad she had a costume. Ella loved being Tinkerbell and kept twirling around looking at herself in the mirror waving her wand. Jonathan likes his costume even though only two people knew who he was. You have to be a hard core Bakugan fan to recognize he was Dan. He wants to wear the costume again... on a regular school day. I said no and he can't understand why.




So Halloween is over for us. We might make some cookies on the real day. Jonathan has requested a pumpkin pie so we'll see what happens.

It sure is different to see three kids in the picture.

roll over, roll over

Leia did it again! Just about every time I put her down on the ground she would lift up her legs and roll over to her side BUT then she was inspired to keep going and try to roll unto her tummy. She ended up rolling three times today unto her tummy. It was a bit hard for her because her arm kept getting in the way. When on her tummy she would start to talk more, sounded like grumbling, and try to figure out what to do next... so cute. One time she was able to drag her body a few inches. Please baby girl don't figure out how to crawl. You are way too young for that! Plus I'm not ready.


I grabbed the camera to take some pictures. Hopefully I can get it on video as well. Of course when the camera came out Ella wanted to be in the pictures.

carving pumpkins

We are a little last minute considering our township does trick or treating on Friday but hey, we got it done.

This year Jonathan did everything for his pumpkin. It was rather interesting because I just found out to preserve your jack o lantern you can put a layer of petroleum jelly over it. So Jonathan is putting it on while I was cutting Ella's pumpkin. I look over and his pumpkin has a thick layer of petroleum. He used about half the container. Needless to say it was entertaining watching him clean off the jelly and then trying to wash it off his hands.

For Ella we cut out Dora's face. She was so excited. Jonathan and Ella kept singing the Dora song while I cut out the face. It was very cute.

I was surprised that clean up was not bad. Every time Ella scooped out some seeds she would try flicking them off her hand so we ended up with pumpkin bits here and there. Man you need to clean those up fast because it's a pain when dry. Other than that, not bad. Of course the minute Jonathan's hands became dirty he wiped them off on his jeans. I watched him do it. The paper towels were right in front of him! Ahhh! At least he said sorry. Boys! I shouldn't say that because later Ella wiped her dirty hands on the carpet! Kids!!! Honestly, I do tell them to use a napkin. It was a fun night.

Before shot
I asked Jonathan to take a picture of me helping Ella carve her pumpkin. This is what I got.

They wanted to clean out the pumpkins... fine by me.

Fall 2009

We have taken a few drives to get out of the house. We didn't want to go anywhere too public because Ryan has been recovering from the flu. Here are just a few pics of what Fall looks like out here. This year we've noticed a lot more golden colored leaves. It is just so calming and beautiful to get out and enjoy the spectacular views around here.

driving around...



around our neighborhood...

dreams do come true

Jonathan and I had an ongoing debate on when the new Wii Bakugan game came out. I said it was October 20th while he thought it was the 30th. He insisted he was right even though I did some research on the web to find out. So the 20th rolled around yesterday and he announced we should go to Toys R Us and check out if they have the game. We did. They had it. But alas, no you were right mom. I think he was too busy looking at and then playing the game.

"cheeks"

When Ella was little, Nana's friend saw a picture of Ella and started calling her cheeks because she was full of rolls and had very chubby cheeks... Ella, not Nana's friend. Ella still has not lost the cheeks status....

...but...
... Leia is getting there. I finally have a picture where she is lifting her head up enough to see her neck. You can also see she is developing a decent pair of cheeks herself.

Leia's 2 month checkup

Last Thursday Leia had her 2 month checkup. She was great and easy to calm down after receiving 2 shots.

weight: 13lbs. 1.5 oz.

length: 24.5 in.

Since her 1 month checkup she gained almost 2 pounds and grew 2.5 inches. It's simply amazing how quickly kids grow the first few years of life.

Also note worthy, I watched Leia turn from her back to her side. Then she kept going to turn unto her tummy. She then decided to go back on her side for a few seconds and finally went back on her tummy where she stayed. It was exciting to watch her but so far that is the only time she has moved to her belly.

Even though Leia is our third child, this is the first time I am not working and get to stay home. It's an honor to see all her firsts.

2009 Pumpkin Patch

After Jonathan's party we left for the pumpkin patch. Hey, you have to squeeze as much together as possible when Ryan is home and can actually spend time with us.

It was a beautiful Fall day. We arrived close to closing time but were able to get in everything we wanted to do. We went to the same place as last year but this year the place was crowded. Last year we went on a day where it rained, really sprinkled, off and on. Plus we went earlier and it was so nice that it was rather empty. This year tons of people were they so it had a different feel but we still had fun.

We did the normal pumpkin patch stuff. Took our hay ride out to the patch and the kids picked out a pumpkin. Then we took the bumpy hay ride back where we paid for the pumpkins. After that the kids went on a few rides while Ryan ate his fried Oreo cookies. Ryan spotted a pony ride which we were able to scrape together enough money for Ella to pick out a pony and take a ride. She had a blast and wanted to go again.
Then we tried to take some photos of the family. The sun was in our eyes so most of the photos were unsuccessful.


Finally we went around to look at the animals


and the kids, which included Ryan, went though a maze. Lots of fun and by the end of the day I was exhausted. But is was a great day.

Jonathan's Birthday Party

This year Jonathan sort-of had a spy theme to his party. He called it a spy, Bakugan, Hot Wheels party. We didn't have time for any Bakugan brawls or a Hot Wheel car race but the day was still fun.

I have to mention the invitations because it is a cool idea I found in a magazine. You write the party details with a white crayon on white paper. When the invited guests get the invite, they dip it in colored water to decode the message. Jonathan mentioned using water colors which was a better idea. Anyway, the kids had fun decoding the papers.

His party was a bunch of crazy... probably because everyone invited came so we had 14 kids. I think that is the limit our place can handle. The party consisted of the following activities. The kids put together and designed their marshmallow gun. Then they ate pizza while the guns got their custom paint jobs. Next they went through a spy training course where they used their gun to hit various targets and received a diploma when the course was completed. Then we had cupcakes and ice cream. I heard of an idea where you put a candy in the cupcake, then bake it. So I tried it. Half the cupcakes had a Reese's peanut butter cup at the bottom and they were yummy. Anyway, back on track... Lastly was the present opening.

It was a lot of work before and during the party but the kids seemed to have fun so it was well worth it. Hardly any pictures were taken because of the craziness but out neighbor grabbed the camera and took a few while Ryan and I were tending to the guests. We have the best neighbors. Anyway, in the picture you can see some of the guns the kids made.

Jonathan's 7th Birthday

I can't believe Jonathan is 7. Ahh!!! He is growing up way too fast. I must say it's been fun watching him grow and experience "through the eyes of a parent" the different stages of childhood. OK... some of the stages... not-so-great but we survived them. Jonathan truly is a wonderful son and I am amazed at how creative, smart and loving he is.

With his birthday we stuck to our normal birthday activities. It is a tradition that I decorate Jonathan's room and leave a note so he wakes up to a birthday surprise. After that he had a birthday treat of cinnamon rolls for breakfast. The boy was so excited his birthday was finally here.

After school we were all there to greet him at the bus stop and then took off for McDonalds, after homework was completed of course. He has wanted to go to McDonalds since he found out the kid's meal toy was a Bakugan. After eating we spent about 2 hours playing games at Chuck E. Cheese. Gotta get our C.E. Cheese fix.We met some friends there and Jonathan had a blast. On the way home he kept saying how great it was to play with his friends and this was his best birthday ever... and yet we still had cake and presents.

The cake requested was an ice cream cake... banana cake, vanilla ice cream in the middle with chocolate frosting. A little different but hey, I'm willing to try something new. It was hard to frost the cake on the ice cream part but it was tasty. You know my kids like something when they stop talking and just eat.

Jonathan loved his presents as well and kept saying everything was perfect. He's saving for a Bakugan Wii game that comes out at the end of the month so getting money was a big deal. He loved all the presents but was also just filled with joy to know so many people love him.


Now about this spy party on Saturday...