The excitement builds

It was a fun day today...the anticipation of Halloween is building. Jack has declared Halloween the best holiday, second only to Christmas. He did say that Christmas was like Halloween except instead of getting lots of candy, you get toys. Hummm, somewhere I have failed in his spiritual growth...we'll need to concentrate more on the story of Jesus's birth this advent season!

When I picked Will up from school this morning, he was so excited to show me his kunkin. His class went to the pumpkin patch at the church and each child got their own mini pumpkin. He was so proud of that little pumpkin; he carried it around all afternoon, kissed it, and would talk to it, "Nice kunkin! Ohhh, kunkin!" Will really is such an affectionate, nurturing little guy. He loves his favorite stuffed animal, Monkey, and takes such good care of him. And several times a day, sometimes out of the blue and sometimes after some frustrating tantrums, he will turn to me and say, "Uh wuz you, Mommy!" As we are entering the terrible twos, these moments are special on so many levels.

We've been practicing how to trick or treat with Will. Of course, he has no idea what is in store for him, but he does understand the word "treat". And Jack told him the treats are candy, which he knows very well! So the werewolf and monkey are ready for tomorrow, check back then for pictures.

Candy Corn Cookies

Only 3 more days till Halloween! I am, oh I mean, the boys are starting to get excited =)! We've had the costumes ready for weeks now, and I've picked out a little Halloween surprise for each of them. All I have left to do is pick up some candy for our cute trick-or-treaters.

This year I'm not hosting or helping to host any Halloween parties. For the past 2 years, I was in charge of the neighborhood Halloween party and it was great fun. This year, I am helping to host the Valentine party for Jack's class and the Fall/Thanksgiving party for Will's class. However, if you are helping to host a Halloween party, this would be such a cute (and easy) cookie to add to the party menu...Candy Corn Cookies.

Check out the recipe here:
http://therecipegirl.blogspot.com/2008/10/candy-corn-cookies.html

Aren't they just too cute?!?! And they look so easy to make. Of course, me being me, I would want them to look truly authentic and would go with the yellow, orange, white look. I thought the pumpkin cake pops looked cute too, although a bit too ambitious for me when she was gluing ribbon around the lollipop stick. But those scary spiderweb eggs...yuck!

Weekend Wrap-up

Our weekend was filled with football, the fall festival, and the pumpkin patch. To get us fortified for the weekend activities, we started Saturday morning off with donuts and Starbucks. Once the boys' bellies were filled with donuts and Brent and I were in our caffeine-induced euphoria, we did a little clothes shopping. Our first stop was REI because Brent needed to replace his fleece pullover that he has been wearing since graduate school. Just a side note....we don't normally shop in REI, in fact we rarely visit the store, and now I know why. Can you say EXPENSIVE! I was floored at the prices. I was browsing through the women's workout clothes thinking I might find something cute to wear in the upcoming race, and nearly stroked out when I checked the price tag. And I thought Sports Authority was pricey...whoo hoo, REI makes Sports Authority look like yard sale prices. I don't know who can afford to shop there, but Brent did find a really nice pullover that was on SALE. So we bought it and got out of there fast before any more money jumped from our wallet. Then we headed to Kohl's so that I could get the boys some roll-around-in-the-mud play clothes. Brent and Jack went to watch the Miami game with other UM alums, and Will was very upset that he was left behind. He knew that they left him to go have some fun. Just so sad.

When Brent and Jack got back from the game, we went to our church's Fall Festival. It was so much fun. Lots of inflatables, putt-putt golf, rock wall climbing, face painting, hair painting, carnival games, music, and a cake walk. And the most brillant idea of all...a tent set up like a mini sports bars. Several TVs showing the different football games with bleachers for your viewing pleasure and a beer tent just 2 steps away. I can only imagine how much money was raised here =). Jack loved the giant inflatable slide and Will wanted his turn on the slide. Will thinks that anything Jack does, he should be able to do too. So Will and I went to the preschool zone of the festival and he climbed through the dragon inflatable and thought that he was so big!

After church today, we went to the Pumpkin Patch. I don't know why we don't go more often; the last time we went, Jack was 3 and we had a great time then as well. The first stop was the ropes course. Two years ago, Brent had to help Jack through the course, and I mean really help, like hold onto him the entire way. This year Jack ripped through that course all by himself. It was exciting to see how much his strength and balance have improved. Jack even did the rope zip line all by himself...it was quite impressive! And of course, Will had to have his turn on the ropes course as well, so Brent "carried" him through. Then we went to the craft area where both boys painted mini pumpkins as well as themselves. Next stop was the sky buckets that took us to the top of the mountain, where Jack and Will made a beeline to the first puddle and proceeded to get soaking wet. All I could do was just shake my head. After a quick bite to eat, we ended our afternoon at the Ball Barn. I don't quite get the attraction of the Ball Barn but kids just seem to love it. The kids go in and get a wristband and a bag. Then they proceed to pick up stray balls off the floor and put them in their bag. When the bag is full, the child swipes his wristband at one of the many ball bins, then dumps his balls in the bin, and get points for the number of balls that were collected. Then the kids race off to pick up more balls. Every single time, I stand there astounded. I can't get my kids to pick up a single plastic animal or matchbox car off our playroom floor because cleaning up is "sooooo BORING!" Yet here at the Ball Barn, they happily spent a whole HOUR picking up balls off the floor. HUH?!?! You can bet tomorrow I am going to wrap some tape around their wrists, give them plastic Kroger bags, and tell them to have at it in that wreck of a playroom; and I better not hear the first complaint after what I witnessed at the Ball Barn!

The Dining Room Makeover Part 2

PROGRESS! It has been a busy two weeks for the dining room makeover. After the wallpaper was removed, we had the dining room painted. The color is Guilford Green (HC116) from Benjamin Moore, our favorite paint. Our downstairs is painted in Benjamin Moore's Quincy Tan (HC 25) which is also in their historical collection, so I knew that we would like the color and we do! Then John, the wallpaper man, hung the new wallpaper. I really like the paper...there is so much depth of color and texture to it. I've included a close up picture of the wallpaper so that you can see what I mean. As John was hanging the wallpaper, I said, "The wallpaper really brings out the richness of the furniture's color!" And John said,"Yeah, this is country club green! I've done many clubs in this type of green. You have a country club dining room!" I laughed...if only the meals I cooked tasted like a country club dinner =). Brent hung the chandelier while the boys and I were gone last weekend. It is beautiful! Just enough sparkle =). Then today the rug was delivered. It really brings the room together. To me, the rug was hard to select because the samples that we had to choose from were 2 ft by 3 ft, so it was hard to visualize how the pattern was going to repeat. But I just love it! I love the colors and I love the fact that it is muted. It feels like we have had the rug forever or that it was a family heirloom and not like we just purchased it.

The next steps: The window treatment will be hung on Nov 5. Very simple drapes. Straight light beige panels with a pretty fringe trim down the sides. They will be hung on a simple iron rod. We are also adding two new host/hostess chairs so that we will have seating for 8, instead of the current 6. As a side note, the whole dining room was designed around the current dining room chairs. My grandmother and her best friend did all of the needlepoint seat cushions. I knew I would always keep them for sentimental value (the time and love that went into all of those stitches) and the family history. The new host/hostess chairs are the same Queen Anne style but will be covered in a beautiful dark green velvet and the cording for the chairs has celadon green, dark green, and a touch of red in it. Then we will center Jack's oil portrait over the buffet. In a few years when we have Will's portrait done, we will hang both of the portraits side-by-side over the buffet. And I am not sure what we will do for accessories. The decorator mentioned lamps for the buffet, but we haven't talked in detail about those.

An Afternoon at the Park

Isn't October great?!?! We are having the most beautiful weather! On Monday, the boys and I were playing outside and Jack proclaimed, "The sun is shining, the air is cool, I can breathe out here!" I had to stifle a giggle so that he wouldn't think I was laughing at him, but where does he come up with this stuff? Just too cute.

We went to the park this afternoon and had a great time playing. Will's favorites are the swings and the slides. He can slide all by himself now and joins us in clapping and cheering "Yay!" when he reaches the bottom. Then he crawls right back up to slide again. Jack's favorite was the merry-go-round....I haven't seen one of these since my childhood days at the playground. When Will wasn't on the merry-go-round, I would spin Jack fast and he loved it! He definitely gets that from his Momma.

We left the park and went to Bruster's for dirt sundaes. It was a fun day =).

Weekend Wrap-up

Another weekend just blew right past us! As they say, time flies....

Friday afternoon, Will and I picked Jack up from school and headed to my parent's house. It was 2:30pm, raining, rush hour traffic, and the baby hadn't napped. In hindsight, not the best planning, but I was so excited to go to the Alabama football game that my judgement was clouded. It took us an HOUR just to get out of the city. A whole hour and we haven't gotten anywhere...well, except for Will screaming bloody murder in the back seat, Jack playing his favorite car game of "Stump the Mommy with a Thousand Questions", and me trying to drive through the rain while reminding myself that they put people in jail for leaving their children on the side of the road. Nearly 4 hours later we arrive in my parent's driveway; Mom takes one look at me and opens up 2 bottles of wine. After the second bottle, suddenly all was right with the world.

Saturday morning we head to Tuscaloosa for the Ole Miss game. Will did okay traveling except for the last 1/2 hour of yelling "Mimi's house"; it sounds so adorable to all of you not in the car. But it was all worth it to see both boys run down the driveway into my grandmother's outstretched arms. Lots of hugs and kisses and a memory I'll have forever.

In what can only be described as a moment of insanity, my mother and grandmother had volunteered to babysit Jack, Will, C and B (my nephews) while Dad, me, Matt and Karen (my brother and sister-in-law) went to the game. Yes, that would be 4 boys ages 5, 4, 1 & 1. I suggested they start drinking on Friday in preparation. They assured us they were up for it, so without looking back Karen and I bolted for the door for our 3 hours of rest and relaxation. Dad had an invite to a tailgating party on the Quad, so we had fun at the festivities before heading to the stadium. Had a great time at the game...but, a little too close and too exciting there at the end, and heartbreaking to see our Big Man being helped off the field. We got back to Grandmother's house and everything was well under control, with a full spread dinner waiting for us (for those of you that know my grandmother, are you surprised?). I was impressed!

We came home late Sunday morning and enjoyed playing outside the rest of the afternoon with Daddy!

Last night was a bit chilly. So tonight after baths I pulled out the brand new sleeper or "footie" pajamas. I thought Jack might be too old for them, but he assured me that he wanted some footie pajamas because they are great for ice skating down the hall. I've got to agree with him there! So I snapped a few pics of them before bed. Don't you just love your babies (both big and small) fresh out of the bath in warm snuggly pajamas?!?!?

Maybe I'm an athlete afterall!

This past year (Sept to Sept) I made it my mission to lose some weight. I was carrying around 2 babies worth of leftover baby weight, and was just tired of feeling "fluffy". I am proud to report that I lost 25 pounds in 5 months and have kept it off. How did I lose it? The Biggest Loser way....healthy eating, counting calories, and exercise. I am now realizing that the real work is trying to maintain where I am.

I love the Power class at the gym. It is an hour long group class lifting weights to good music. It really is fun. And since the weight machines out on the gym floor bore me to tears, this is my strength training of choice. My problem now is cardio. I just cannot motivate myself to do anything remotely aerobic lately. I will head to the gym having psyched myself up to do my power class and then get on the treadmill for 1/2 hour. 30 minutes! That isn't asking alot of myself...I am not setting out to run a marathon, just burn a few calories for goodness sakes. And then during the cooldown in Power, I start talking myself out of cardio. I have all these errands to run, it would be better for Will to get to play outside before we go get Jack from school, I mean it doesn't take much to let myself off the hook.

So I thought, I'll sign up to "run" in a 5K and that will give me something to train for. Now if you have ever seen me "run" before, after you pull yourself up off the floor from laughing, you can attest to the fact that I use that term very loosely in regards to what I do. It ain't pretty and it surely ain't fast. But whatever works, no? So I do an internet search for upcoming races in our area because knowing that I will be going to the race alone (I am sure the boys won't give up a Starbucks run for this) I don't want to be driving all over our little town at o'dark hundred on a Saturday morning. I found that the lung cancer awareness race that I "ran"3 years ago is scheduled for Nov 8, so that is the one for me! I "ran" in the inaugural race in 2005 in memory of my grandfather, so it is special to me. So I click on the website to find out all of the details and who do I see? I'll wait while you go look for yourself (and then come back)....

http://www.stjosephsatlanta.org/cancer_center/events/lungcancerwalk/home.html

Yes, that is me on the left in the very front!! Are you laughing as hard as I am?!?! If you didn't know any better you would think I am leading the race!! Why, I feel so athletic! Sadly, it is just being at the right place at the right time. If memory serves me, I think I started off in the middle of the pack and finished right about the middle of the pack. Which is a win for me.

And just in case you couldn't see me clearly due to all of that inconsiderate writing over me, I am also on the cover of their sponsorship materials, see...

http://www.stjosephsatlanta.org/cancer_center/events/lungcancerwalk/LungCancerSponsorshipPacket.pdf

Well, you can bet I'll be "running" in the race again in November, and maybe this time I'll wear some of my cute workout clothes!

Weekend Wrap-up

It was a fun weekend! The weather has been beautiful....cool, breezy and very fallish, so we spent the whole weekend outside and the baby was in heaven =). Headed to Starbucks first thing Saturday morning; I had a pumpkin spice frappuccino AND a pumpkin cream cheese muffin.. WOO HOO! There is just something about a toxic rush of sugar and caffeine that hits your senses all at once. While I still get excited about roses and romance, trips to Starbucks are quickly racing to the top of my favorites list. I don't know if that is a celebration of the manna Starbucks has managed to capture in a cup, or an indictment of all of the changed diapers and trips up the stairs during the middle of the night to comfort a crying child that roses and romance have wrought. Something to ponder.

Of course a weekend would not be a weekend without a trip to the nursery. Brent decided that the evil forces of all things bad for plants had finally stolen the soul of two of our own: an azalea done in by too much sun and not enough water; and, a hydrangea done in by the local scourge of cuteness (aka deer). In an effort to convert our landscape into the deer equivalent of a buffet of steamed veggies for kids, he planted the deer-proof knockout rose and rhododendron (don't hold your breath...Bambi is ruthless). And he uttered words that I thought I would never hear pass over his lips..."I think I have run out of room to plant anything else." Show of hands of those that believe him-- Anyone? Anyone? Yeah, me neither!

Cute Will story: Will has a beloved stuffed monkey named "Monkies." He loves, loves, loves Monkies, carries him everywhere we go, and will knock you to the ground if you try to take Monkies away. Saturday afternoon, Will takes Monkies on a walk around the cul-de-sac in the boy version of the doll stroller. It was absolutely adorable. He made sure Monkies was settled in nicely and then off they went. Then like any good mommy, or in this case daddy, he got out his digital camera and started snapping away.

On Sunday, we decorated the yard for Halloween. We laugh because after surveying the neighborhood, we definitely have the preschool version of Halloween decor. No skeletons, tombstones, or grim reapers for us. We have an adorable witch, a cute vampire, and lots of friendly ghosts. This year we added an 8 ft inflatable to the decorations...three ghosts flying out of a jack-o-lantern. It is so cute and Jack is going to be so excited when he gets home!

Little Moments of Joy

It was a fun day today...nothing major happened, but there was joy to be found in the little moments. On Tuesday and Thursday, both boys go to school. We all leave the house on Tue/Thurs mornings cheering "School day!" Our usual routine is that Jack and I will walk Will to his classroom and then Jack likes for me to walk him to his classroom. Today was picture day for Jack, so he was dressed in his "handsome clothes". One of his teachers was monitoring the hall and as we walked passed she said, "Jack, you look so nice this morning!" Without missing a beat, Jack replied, "Thank you! And you look beautiful!" Made both her and my day!

Another surprise was seeing Jack's Halloween artwork displayed in the hallway. Click on the photo above to enlarge it and you will see that his is the blue picture in the very center of the bulletin board (Jack is trying to point too it, but he is just a hair too short). I had never seen any of his artwork displayed outside of the classroom and was so excited that I brought my camera at pick up to snap the photo.

It rained all day yesterday! We were so thankful for the rain; it hadn't rained in over a month. Everyone was happy except Will. He loves to play outside...push his little red car around, ride the tricycle and the Big Wheel. We got to play outside again today, and the bonus picture is to show how happy Will was to be outside.

Then this evening Jack and I got to BOO two of our neighbors. For the past several years, our neighborhood has played the Halloween phantom game...you hear a knock on the door, answer the door to find a goody bag or halloween cup filled with surprises and instructions from the Phantom. You have 48 hours to Boo two of your neighbors and it must be done in secret. We decided to Boo our next door neighbors and some friends down the street. So we pretended that we were secret spies as we crept through the bushes, left the goodies on the doorstep, rang the doorbell, and ran around to the side of the house to listen. I think we pulled it off without being detected.

Tomorrow afternoon, Jack goes to spend the weekend with my parents. He is so excited! It is tradition that he and Gramma go to the Zoo, and he is already talking about which animals they will take pictures of. He plans to do a magic show for Gramma and Granddaddy and is taking a recipe he found on the Nick Jr. website to make homemade corn muffins. So fire up the oven, Gramma, ya'll have some baking to do! He went to sleep with the biggest smile on his face. Just warms a mother's heart.

Wordless Wednesday

Roses from our garden

Goodbye 80s...The Dining Room Makeover

Yesterday, we officially started redecorating the dining room. It has been a much needed project, one we knew the first time we saw this house over 5 1/2 years ago would have to be done. The wallpaper is original to the house (1985) and while some think that it is nice, it just isn't our taste. And I could never get over the big brass chandelier. But we've had other projects that needed to be done first...the nursery, the playroom, Jack's big boy bedroom, the boys' Jack & Jill bath, the new deck, the landscaping, the new windows....the list goes on and on. And I was thinking that the dining room could wait a little longer, I mean after 5 years, it wasn't that pressing. Until the Thursday morning in August, when I walked in to find the chandelier sitting in the middle of the dining room table; it had been hanging appropriately from the ceiling that morning when I left. The story is that while the boys and I were out (to get out of the way of the maids), one of the maids was cleaning/dusting the chandelier. Supposedly, the cleaning was very gentle and didn't involve any pulling or swinging whatsoever (however, I have some plantation shutters that would beg to differ), and the chandelier just fell from the ceiling. Well, since the chandelier can't speak for itself, what is one to do? In the maid's defense, however, I had noticed the weekend prior to the incident that one of the links of the chandelier's chain wasn't completely closed. So I am thinking that probably all of the turning, rotating and pulling that occurred during this "gentle" cleaning allowed this link to separate from its partner and london bridge came falling down. Instead of getting angry, I took this as a divine sign that it was time to get moving on the makeover and called the decorator the next day.

The decorator and I have been meeting since September and I really love the design we have come up with. I think it is going to be elegant, sophisticated, and lovely. I say think because I don't have the gift to be able to see the completed picture before it is actually completed! So basically I am trusting the fact that I love each of the individual components and those that do have "the eye" for this (the decorator and Brent) are telling me that it is all going to come together beautifully.

The above pictures were taken Monday morning before & after the wallpaper *removal guy* arrived (I had written stripper but somehow that conjured up the wrong picture) . When he got here, he determined that the wallpaper was adhered directly to the dry wall. Not surprising, as we discovered this same problem in the Jack & Jill bath upstairs (thank you, dear contractor). So the floral wallpaper is on there until the end of time. He ended up just priming over the wallpaper, saving himself a whole lotta work, and hopefully, us a little bit of money. I think the dining room is much improved already! So continue to check back in to see the step by step transformation of the ugly duckling into the beautiful swan.

Weekend Wrap-up

It was really a low-key weekend for us, which is nice to have every once in awhile. We started Saturday morning off with the traditional Starbucks and donuts (or in Will speak "nonuts") run, swung by Home Depot just because a weekend is not a weekend unless we go to Home Depot, and ended the morning trolling for "snacks" up and down the aisles of Costco (yes, we are that pathetic, but it does keep the children quiet while Brent and I look around). Then Jack went with Brent to watch the Miami game (terribly disappointing), while Will stayed home with me to cheer on the Tide (Yeah Bama! I'll take an ugly win over a pretty loss any day.) Will was so cute...he climbed into my lap and said, "Um foobah on PB", which translates into "I'm watching football on TV." And he would cheer "Go Mamama!" Before I realized what he was saying (Go Alabama), I thought Will was cheering for me! I could just eat that kid up =)!!

This morning at church we were celebrating the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi and the children were asked to bring a stuffed animal or a picture of their pet to Sunday School for a special blessing. So Jack chose to bring in Dot, his new white-tail deer Webkinz. It really is kinda funny, in a wicked sort of way, if you know Brent's history with the neighborhood deer. We can only hope that the special blessing extends to all of Dot's brethren who visit our backyard, because if they continue to use Daddy's plants as the all-you-can-eat buffet, then may God have mercy on their souls!

Tonight was Girls Night Out and the girls went to Eclipse di Luna, a wonderful tapas bar. I love going to eat with these girls because they love food as much as I do, so we had a feast! And we all thought we were something because we were driving around in one of the girl's husband's new BMW convertible. Such a fun way to end the weekend!

Our Little Priest

So we think we are raising a priest. Will is into the blessing business big time. "Gah Bess Yoo!" And the blessing isn't just reserved for sneezing... whether you cough, burp, clear your throat, or busta grumpy (slang in our family for passing gas), you get blessed.

So it goes something like this:
Brent coughs.

Gah Bess Yoo, Daddy!

Thank you, buddy.

Gah Bess Yoo, Daddy!

Thank you, buddy.

Gah Bess Yoo, Daddy!

Thanks, man.

Gah Bess Yoo, Daddy!


And by all means, he expects the blessing to be reciprocated.
Will coughs.

Gah Bess Yoo!

Oh sorry, baby! God Bless You, Will!

Tank yoo!

Pause....Will (fake) coughs again.

God Bless You, Will!

big smile from Will (pleased that his training of us is working) Tank yoo!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I love fall...love, love, LOVE it! And October is probably my favorite month. I am thankful for the welcomed relief of the crisp, cool mornings; we turn off the a/c and sleep with the windows open. Even the air smells different in the fall! I love the colors of fall, the changing leaves, watching college football on Saturdays, going to the pumpkin patch, hayrides...you get the idea. And I love the foods of fall...pumpkin pie, pecan pie, honeycrisp apples, fried turkey, cornbread dressing, sweet potato casserole. Yummm!

I have already found some new fall favorites in the food and drink category, and the theme this year seems to be Pumpkin Spice. Starbucks (have I mentioned our entire family's addiction to Starbucks? No? I'll save that for another post!) does pumpkin spice the best! They have this new frappuccino called (what else?) Pumpkin Spice and it is divine!! The pumpkin frapp, the whip cream, and the cinnamon sprinkled on top...it is like pumpkin pie in a cup! If you have not had one, you must run, not walk, to Starbucks right now and get one. Yes, they are that good. And while you are there, pick up a pumpkin cream cheese muffin just for good measure (I mean you already burned off the calories running to Starbucks). They are wonderful, too!

I have also discovered a Pumpkin Spice Trail Mix by Archer Farms at Target. It has cinnamon glazed pecans, raisins, yogurt raisins, pumpkin spice almonds, and graham squares. It is good! And with all of the nuts and raisins in there, I think we can count this as health food and snack away guilt free. The only problem is that I "shared" some with the baby (really just trying to get him to stop begging) and he loves it too, so now there isn't as much for me. Guess I'll be stockpiling this mix for the winter. And while I was at the checkout lane, I saw that Hershey's has a new Pumpkin Spice kiss. I resisted this time, but you can bet that it is at the top of my Target list for the next trip!