Halloweenie Dinner

Tonight I made a fun Halloween dinner for the family.... ENJOY!!

Mini Jack-O-Lantern Pizzas

Banana Ghosts

Monster Fingers

The Complete Meal

One Satisfied Customer

Another Satisfied Customer

Tomorrow morning we're making Pumpkin Pancakes and then we'll follow that up with Candy Corn Popcorn Balls and Decorated Caramel Apples.... YUM!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Say WHAT???

Two nights ago we were upstairs getting ready to go to Target. I walked into my room to get something and noticed that B had an increasingly large pile of dirty laundry on his side of the bed. I made some sort of grunt followed by an, "Oh, Daddy!"

Little A was also in the room and said, "That's not a good Daddy."

Big A, who was in the hall, yelled out, "DADDY IS CRAP!"

I immediately stifled my smile and laughter and finally was able to get out, "Big A, is that a word we use?"

Big A responded with, "No, Mommy. It's not."

"That's right, it's not nice and it's especially not nice to say about Daddy."

While I was still trying to stifle my laughter (you know the point where little grunts and puffs of air are escaping???) Little A asked, "Mommy, why are you crying?"

While the whole thing was very wrong, it sure was funny!

"Look, Big A, I Have A Baby In My Tummy!"

Remember that trip I took to Fresno last week? The second night there, the kids were playing on their bed, I was balancing the checkbook on the other bed, and B had escaped for some much needed alone time as he'd spent the day cooped up with two kids in a hotel room.

I wasn't paying much attention to what was going on until I heard, "Look, Big A! I have a baby in my tummy!" I looked up just in time to see a small ball the size of a lemon roll out of Little A's shirt.

Without hesitation she scooped up the ball and put it back under her shirt. This time she turned to me and said, "Look, Mommy! I have a baby in my tummy!" With that I grabbed the camera...

And there's Little A sporting her little 'baby bump'. Crazy kid! I have NO idea where she got that. It's certainly nothing Big A ever did... Must be a female intuition thing... YIKES!

A Whole New Room

As you may or may not know, Little A has been in a toddler bed since she fell/climbed out of her crib a week before she was 18 months old (something Big A never learned how to do...). She did GREAT in the toddler bed, but three weeks ago she informed me that she wanted a 'BIG BED'. She talked about it all week, so we finally made it happen. I measured, moved furniture, washed sheets, switched beds, moved toys upstairs and downstairs, rearranged EVERYTHING... And HERE is the end result!

The kids LOVE their new room (especially because they now have freedom to go upstairs to play) and with the exception of one incident of falling out of bed (ironically Big A, who NEVER falls out of bed, fell out of bed the same night) Little A has done SUPER in her 'BIG BED'.

You Know You're Living In 2009 When...

* EDITOR'S NOTE* I apologize for this spacing on this post... No matter what I did I could not get the spaces to stay where they were supposed to... GRRR!

Last week I had to travel to Fresno for work. Because of my mom's recent surgery (What? You don't know about her surgery? That's a post for another time...) B and I decided that it would be easier for he and the kids to drive me to Fresno rather than me trying to make my schedule work with the other people from my office who were also attending the conference. This allowed me to spend a few hours with my mom before heading out of town.

Listening to your kids chatter in the backseat when they're not aware that you're listening, is the BEST! They sing at the top of their lungs (wrong words and all!), they play games, they use their imaginations, it's just fascinating!

We were JUST about to Fresno when A & A started playing Ice Road Trucker driving their rigs down the icy roads of Alaska. Big A was calling out orders on his camera CB Radio and Little A (who never QUITE gets the game) was using an old cell phone (and of course I grabbed my iPod and started making notes for the blog!).

The conversation went like this:

Big A: "Breaker breaker... I'm coming down the road."

Little A: "I'm going to text on my phone. I got a text for you."

Big A: "You got a text for me? Let me see if I got it. *PAUSE* Yeah, I got it."

Little A: "I got a text for you on my computer. If you need help just give me a call. I've got my computer with me."

My goodness! I don't know WHERE they get it! Next think you know they'll be talking about updating their Ice Road Trucker status on Facebook! :)

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Last night I was looking through the Bed Bath and Beyond mailer when Big A spotted something he wanted. "MOM! There's a Snuggie! WE NEED THOSE!" Of course I had NO idea what he was talking about but once again he was being a walking infomercial. He is convinced that we all need Snuggie blankets and even has the proper colors picked out for each of us.

Tonight we were in Target and we stumbled upon Disney 'Snuggies'. Okay, so they're actually called "Cuddly Blankets" at Target, but the idea is the same.

So of course A & A started in asking if they could get them and of course I told them no but I DID tell them that they could ask Santa for them if they wanted. They both agreed that they would do that. Then I whipped out my phone and texted my mom and my aunt to let them know of the idea in case anyone was looking for Christmas or birthday gift ideas.

Without missing a beat Big A asked, "Mommy, are you texting Santa?"

"Yes, Honey... Yes I am!"

Then he asked, "How do you know his number?"

And of course I responded with the ever dreaded mom answer... "BECAUSE I'M A MOM!"

Sometimes You Feel Like A Prayer... Sometimes You Don't...

Wednesdays are chapel day's at Big A's school. The kids spend the first half hour of their day in chapel listening to either Intern John or Pastor Newt give a lesson. Big A really enjoys chapel. Last year when he was in the 3-day program he'd ask me every night if the next day was chapel. This year he loves coming home and telling me what they learned in chapel or who did the lesson or what they sang but today something must have been just a bit off.

When B picked Big A up from school today Big A's teacher said to Big A, "Tell your dad why you had to sit on the bench today." B knew this meant trouble...

Apparently at the end of Intern John's lesson this morning he told the group that it was time to pray to which Big A shouted....

"I DON'T WANT TO PRAY!"

I didn't mean to laugh when B told me, but I couldn't help it. Even though it was disrespectful to Intern John and disruptive to the group as a whole, there was just something about it that was so funny! YIKES!

Sometimes you feel like a prayer, sometimes you don't! I'm sure he'll do better next week!

I Love You Infinity Times Infinity

Yesterday I asked the kids, "Do you know how much I love you?" Of course they both agreed that they DO know how much i love them so I continued with, "How do you know?"

Big A said, "Because you tell us that EVERY day!"

I asked them if they wanted me to stop telling them (which I'd NEVER do, but just wanted to see what they'd say...) to which they both replied, "NO WAY!"

Big A said, "We'd be SO sad if you didn't tell us, Mommy!"

I agreed to keep telling them lots of times every day and then told them that I'd never get tired of hearing them tell me that they love me either. Of course they both said, "I love you, Mommy!"

But Big A went on to say, "I love you infinity times more than you love me! I love you infinity times infinity!"

"WOW! That's a LOT of love," I told him.

But really... What's not to love about this...

I love YOU infinity times infinity, Big A and Little A!

B... B... Bear Blankie

This week is 'B' week in Big A's class and Wednesdays are letter sharing day (meaning that you share something that starts with the letter of the week). While driving home tonight we were talking about what Big A should bring for sharing tomorrow. We talked about bulldozers, backhoes, backpacks, boogers, brains, bones, bodies, boys, bubble gum, binkies, and finally blankies. Those of you who know Big A well know that he has a favorite blankie called, 'Bear Blankie'.

The conversation went like this...

Me: "I know something that you could bring! It goes in your mouth."

Big A: "Bubble gum!"

Me: "OH! That's a good idea, but that's not what I was thinking of. It's something that goes in your mouth. Well actually, it doesn't go in YOUR mouth but it goes in Little A's mouth."

Little A: "MY BINKIE!"

Me: "THAT'S RIGHT! GOOD, Little A!"

Little A: "And my blankie!"

Big A: "Yeah, blankie starts with B."

Me: "That's right! Blankie starts with B. And if you brought Bear Blankie you'd have TWO Bs! B b BEAR and B b Blankie!"

Big A: "Yeah, but I don't want to bring Bear Blankie."

Little A (at the same time as Big A): "HEY! I HAVE TUBIES!"

Get it? Come on! Tell me you got it...

Okay... Read that last part again....

Got it now???

TWO Bs??? TUBIES???

I thought it was funny!

I Heart Fall Saturdays!

Ahhh.... Fall!!! The weather has changed (FINALLY!), the leaves are turning, and the pumpkins are bright orange. Does it get any better than that???

Yesterday we spent a fun filled day with Grandma and Grandpa and Cousin T. We started our day helping Grandpa deliver wood to a family in Sebastopol who is going to use it to make a picnic table. The family has a large property with some fruit trees, a small garden, tons of flowers, a pasture with 40+ chickens, 4 roosters, a dozen or so Guinea fowl, and a large turkey, etc. They have a neat little playhouse in the yard and what looks to be the foundation of an AWESOME tree house built WAY up (so high up that the wife has never been up there and the kids aren't allowed to try it) in an old redwood tree.


After delivering the wood we ate lunch and then headed over to Peter Pumpkin Patch. I had heard great things about this place so we thought we'd try it out.
It was GREAT! There was a ton to do there and it was all FREE (except ice cream and pumpkins of course)!

I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story...

Playing in the hay maze...

"I am the king of the world!"

Where's Grandma?

Taking a little rest....

Climbing the hay pyramid...

Going on a hay ride...

Milking a cow...

Climbing on tractors...

Eating freshly made ice cream...

Finding the perfect pumpkins...

Digging for potatoes is hard work!

One more wagon ride...

And a good time was had by all! Happy pumpkin hunting!