Fall Fun Fest!

This morning we went to church again and picked up Dave, Lewis and Amelia on the way. I ♥ our church. I just know that when we leave there, I have such an optimistic feeling and love it! We are still loving our Sunday School class too. It just feels comfortable. It is like a puzzle piece in our crazy life puzzle. After church we ran to Wal Mart and grabbed a few items and then home for lunch and naps! I love my Sunday afternoon naps, as a matter of fact, I love any day naps:) Destiny came over after nap time and hung out until the Fall fun fest at Church. We played outside on the new patio. It is so nice! Ace loves just walking back and forth on it, so cute. I love his tooshie in his preppy jeans. He is just one cute little package! At the fest they had jump-jumps, a bouncy course, face painting, a clown making balloon animals, snacks, live music and lots of happy people! It was surprisngly alot of fun. Ace loved just walking around and looking at everything. G loved the jump-jump and went on the bouncy course with Destiny. She had some trouble climbing the wall so like any good mommy, I jumped in to help her. She got to the top and went down the slide and ran over to me in tears and said something that sounded like "I wanna do it again!"...yes through tears she was ready to go again. So she did and Amelia joined them this time. It is all fun and games until someone gets hurt...in this case, a "couple someone's get hurt". All three girls were on the slide holding hands and Amelia was ready to go before the other two were ready and so since they were holding hands they all came down in a line (hilarious picture to follow) and landed on top of one another! G and D were both crying....what a mess! But regardless, ready to go AGAIN?! We left that area after much thought and persusion and went over to the face painting. The line was long. There was a skunk by the pond that drew more attention than the popcorn stands. Two boys nearly got sprayed. Would have served them right as they were chasing the poor stinker. (Pun intended) Finally got to the front of the line and G went through nearly 13 different options for her face paint,(Pumpkin on the cheek, a monkey on the whole face, Hello Kitty on the cheek, a cupcake on her forehead..) and ended up with a butterfly, which wasnt one of the original 13, on her wrist, none the less. After that we were ready to blow that popsicle stand! It was getting really chilly and I was tired! We went home had a quick dinner and did baths, wrist paint and panda face still on, and went to bed!

Our new twinsie aprons!
(Excuse the pj's, we decided to be comfy after church)

The new patio...now a fireplace, pool and fully stocked outdoor
kitchen, in my dreams Luke would say:)

Acer! And G in the background in her jammies!

G got the camera and took some really good shots!

Shot # 2....love the focus on Sesame Street

Shot # 3, future photographer I think!

Love her expression! She is always this happy with D

Cousin fun!

Ace and his puppy balloon that popped from the darn grass

♥ this cutie

Future obstacle course winner!

Daddy and Ace on the slide

The shot that is 100% priceless! Love their faces!

Her 14th choice.on the wrist.

Panda D

Puppy Millie

Cuteness X 3

Super cuteness X 3!

Wonky week in the home...

             Be sure your volume is on 100%!
This week has flown by, like normal. We are chasing Ace around, trying to teach G to do right and not wrong, and still maintain my sanity...highly unlikely:) Sunday we went to church and started a new Sunday School class, Parenting the Early Years. I think there is still hope for us! So far we really like the class and Pastor George is teaching and he is so "normal". I feel like he is just like us, been given some awesome children on loan from God and just trying our best to raise them the way God intended. Seems so easy when you write it out but man the saying "Easier said than done" fits this to a T!
Monday G went to school and they walked to Lakeside and we met there to pick them up. We picked her up and enjoyed the afternoon by having a picnic and walking around the park. This weather lately has been awesome! I love Fall and so does G! She constantly talks about pumpkins and always wants to sit outside in the evening and tell "Ghost stories". They are rated like -G, not like I am wanting to have her start with night horrors or anything.
This week we have been having people work on replacing the concrete on our patio in the backyard, so needless to say both beans have been standing by the window watching. Ace likes to hide behind the curtain and giggles when the men laugh at him! What a ham already!
My highlight of the week was on Wednesday. We got home from dropping G off at school and turned on QVC and made some coffee. They were talking abour Tassi's. http://www.qvc.com/qic/qvcapp.aspx/view.2/app.detail/params.item.A80462.desc.Tassi-Set-of-2-Keep-Your-Hair-Outta-There-Hair-Wraps  They asked if you had them to call in on the testimonial line so I didnt just jump, I high jumped at the chance! (cheesy I know but just trying to give you a mental shot of what I was going through!) The operator asked a few questions about me and the product and then said to turn off the volume on the TV, as it is delayed by some many seconds. So I hit the DVR button on my remote, naturally because I plan to show it to anyone who comes to my house. I went on-air with Mary Beth and talked about the product. I giggled and over used the word "Yeah" but I dont care because in my eyes I am one step closer to being a QVC host, my ultimate dream:) Oh and BTW, G asks to watch the snippet at least 3x a day! Proud of her TV mommy!

This morning we went on a short walk with Nana and then headed down to The Well for some coffee and breakfast goodies for the beans. We got a cinnamon roll and banana to share and Nana got a bagel and latte. We were pleasantly surprised when we got there because we saw Dave and Liz, my friend who is pregnant with twin girlies and she is so adorable! I cant wait to meet her little miracles:) Dave got a muffin and sat down to catch up with us as well. We ate and then went over to the childrens area and looked at books and the Sock Monkey collection. I ♥ sock monkeys:) They had a racoon made with sock monkey material and it was so adorable! Luke has the New Hope golf tournament today so he has been gone since 7am. This evening we are going on a date!!! It includes dinner and kid free grocery shopping! I am stoked.



Funny things G has said: We were watching Nick Jr (our TV never leaves this channel except at nap time and it goes straight over to QVC and then back to Nick Jr around 3:30) and I guess today is Worldwide Play outside Day and so they just keep repeating "Go outside and enjoy the weather. We will be off air from 12-3"...or something of that nature. G, in her ever sassy voice, says " I am so sick and tired of them saying that. Please dont repeat yourself AGAIN!" Hmmm wonder where she has heard that? (Guilty!)

Tree hugger

My Fall toes! Dont look too closely at the smudge on my baby toe...

Splits!

Nothing runs like a deer! She says that and it is beyond cuteness!

Mischievious X 10

♥ them

Picnic time!

Hugs!

♥♥

Touching the fountain water!

Next milk moustache model!

His new puppy hat from the Well

♥ him!

Ace is officially a walker!

I am so glad to say that Ace is officially a walking baby! He only crawls like 4% of the time, awesome. I think he is happier too because he can keep up with G, a little better. She still insists on trying to pick him up and drag him like a doll, then he screams his head off...a never ending game in her pretty little head.
Tuesday we started our 1st day of MOPS for the 2011-2012 year. It went wonderfully and both kiddos stayed in their class. When I went to get Ace, he was literally passed out, with his arms spread apart laying on some highschool boys lap. He was also a sweaty little monster, either from playing so hard or throwing a massive fit, I am guessing the 1st one is true. (Lie, probably the 2nd) We went to Salina afterwards with Whitney and Chloe. We raided the Dollar Tree for some fun Fall finds as well as some household items that we couldnt believe were there and at only a dollar as well! Sometimes when you walk through there you catch yourself saying, "Is this really only a dollar?". It really is:) We also hit up Peels and Target. As we were walking into Target, G was holding my hand and looked up at me and said "Mommy I love Target. It is my favorite." Gosh I love that little girl.
  Wednesday we did our normal activity, which now includes taking Destiny to school by 8, the Y till 8:45 and then over to the preschool by 8:55. We pretty much have it down, which makes this mama very happy. I love my schedules, a little too much. (Thats what Luke tells me) Ace and I went to Luke's shop after we dropped off G for a clean up. That little man's hair grows so fast. We put a cape on him this time and he did awesome!
  Thursday morning, Maci came over after we got done at the Y for some homade Pumpkin Lattes. I found an awesome recipe and it tastes soo good! http://peasandthankyou.com/recipage/?recipe_id=6000237&prev_term=Pumpkin  When Gentry got up from her nap that afternoon, she said "I want a latte mom." Ha she is so funny. I secretly love it though that she already likes coffee. I plan these scenarios in my head that when she is older, we will go get pedicures together and end up at Starbucks and be sipping lattes having girl talk. Awww I cant wait! After Luke got off work we went and grocery shopped and I think it is the 1st time, that I can remember, that Ace didnt completely lose it in the store! Thank goodness because I was starting to dread shopping and before it was kinda relaxing for me.
  Friday we went to the Y and then G had to get another shot, as she wasnt quite up to date for her school requirements. It wouldnt have been a big deal except that the last time we were at the health dept for Ace, she asked if she had to get any more and I told her "No not until you are 4." Then her teacher told us she had to have another Hep A :/  So we had the appt and I didnt tell her about it until that morning. She didnt seem to let it bother her much, phew! I also had bought a Hello Kitty drink bottle the night before as a peace offering. She did fine until the shot was before her eyes. She said "Oh no I dont want this anymore..." Well sorry little one, not your choice. She did great and just repeated "Ouchie" probably 17 times and the proceeded to tell me "I cant walk mommy. This arm hurts so bad!" Well we made it out and 10 or so minutes later she announced "I forgot about like you told me and it doesnt hurt anymore!" What a sport! We went to our first home football game as a family. We went early to tailgate (whatever that means when you go to a highschool game) with some friends. There was all kinds of snack foods and G was in heaven because there were brownies. (Look for "funny things G say"s at the end of this blog) We got to our seats and only 23 minutes into the game, I tried to pick up G and situate her on my lap and my wedding ring fell OFF! I was in panic mode immediatly! I started frantically unpacking the bag and looking everywhere. Before I knew it the whole stand that we were seated in was on the ground looking for this "White gold, sqaure diamond with a diamond band ring"...I went through my bag at least 3 times and I started to think I had really lost it. Luke told me to look one more time through the bag and still nothing, then I checked a pocket that is rather deep. Lo and behold, there was my ring, phew! I stood up holding it and felt like an idiot because it was in the bag, but at least they were all happy I found it. I thanked them and repeatedly apologized and was probably crimson faced the whole time. What a way to start the game, they won though! Go PUPS!
  Today we went to breakfast at Neighbor's Cafe. I ran there to meet Luke and the beans. I was a sweaty mess when I got there, despite the 50 degree weather. Ace more than made up for the mess I was, by being 12X worse! He screamed and kicked and head butted me. Sometimes I wonder why this child is so tough! We took turns going outside to walk with him. Finally he got his pancake and fruit and was satisfied for a bit. When it was gone, all went to pot again! So we bee-lined for that door! We brought him home to nap and then headed to the fair. It was very chilly but we had fun. Lewis, Amelia and Dave tagged along. Dave, Ace and I watched while they went down the slide and on the Ferris Wheel. Luke won G a plastic blowup Dora doll. Ace ate a pretzel and G and Amelia had Pronto Pups. Lewis, Luke and I all ate Gyros. They are the best! I wish we had somewhere around here that had those year round, love them! We walked around for a few hours and of course got the best Rootbeer ever! We get the same things every year, Gyros and Rootbeers. Funny mine had "floaties" in it, maybe because I was sharing with Ace. Luke said it was because it was Diet, but whatever. We went to Target after we left and also hit up Starbucks for me and Cherry Berry, a self serve fro yo place, for the boys and kiddos. Tonight I think will include alot of relaxing, as I am one tired mama!

I walked in on Wednesday night and this is how she was reading a book.."in her tent"

The monster emerged!

Makes me smile♥

Slide!

Feeling a little shaken. She was whining as she asked
 "Daddy can I do it again?"

Dora!

Cousins!

Happily eating a pretzel!

With the chick!

Haircut monster!

Slickster

My dollar store find, yes all that for 1 DOLLAR!

"Funny things that G says"
I asked her what she wanted for dinner this week and she told me "Oh I guess my favorite, chocolate brownies"
Oh that little chocolate lover, wonder where she gets it, muah haha:)

We layed Ace down for a nap and he was playing around before he went to sleep and she goes "Oh I think Ace is just having a party in there Mom!"

6 years of wedded bliss and Grannies and Grampies

This weekend Luke and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary. Wow what a whirlwind those 6 years have been....for better or for worse are definantly some words to live by! Out of those 6 lovely years we have 2 beautiful perfect little monsters. We are so blessed that we have healthy and happy(most of the time) babies. We spent the day as a family, grocery shopping and relaxing at home. We walked over to Nana and Papas that evening to grab something and ended up eating dinner there, well rather eating pick-up La Fiesta and Golden Dragon. (Not both, Luke and Dad ate chinese and the girls + Ace ate mexican.)
   Sunday was the 10 year anniversary of 9/11. Watching the videos of recaps on tv made it so surreal. It is still as gut wrenching as I remember it when it was actually happening. I was watching some little children make speeches about missing their fathers/mothers and say things like "I hope you are proud of me even though you arent here...", it was just so sad. Thankfully G went on playing and didnt pay too much attention to the tv or her bawling mother. I am not sure she would quite understand either.... We went to church that morning for "Homecoming". It was meant to try and get people back to church who may have wondered off or invite new people as well. It was also the kickoff of Sunday School classes. G's child area was very cool and we were able to sneak in to watch/listen to her sing to "Happy and you know it"....she really got into it! That evening we had Nana B, Gpa Arvin and all the family over for dinner to celebrate Grandparents Day. I made spaghetti and chocolate peanut butter pretzel sea salt cookies(long name but oh so delish) and Whit brought a salad and Austin brought bread. I am glad I consulted my mom before I started cooking. See I was planning it in my head, as I am a big planner and like to have it mentally saved, I would make 2 boxes of pasta, 2 cans of sauce and 2/3lb of hamburger for the meal. (We dont eat alot of meat in our sauce) So I called Mom and asked her about borrowing the big pot and when I told her what I had, she nearly had a conniption fit! So thankfully I have her to call when I am unsure of entertaining plans:) All in all, after much stressing (a trait Luke let me know I clearly got from my mother) the night turned out quite nice, minus the somewhat over al dente noodles. (Which Luke said only happened because I used Whole Wheat, whatever)
  Today we did our normal routine which included G's 3rd day of preschool. (I wonder if I will refer to every day of her school as the "3rd" "4th"...) Today they wore their swimsuits under their clothes because they were having a Water Day! They played in the little sprinklers, had a slide that went into a kiddie pool, water toys and some weird "confetti" stuff that stained her foot blue:/ I was excited to pick her up, (as I always am) because I figured she had all kinds of stories to tell me and  she said "I dont ever want to go back to preschool." She never really gave me a reason, just put on a real somber face on the way home...hmmm. She is an emotional little child. We have sinced then talked about school and she is cool with school now! Phew.

Woke up for a short while, played with the wipes and
then went back to sleep....All in a typical morning

Playing in the trash.with.the.brownie.batter...
Maci and I joke he will be a trash man when he is older,
 as he ALWAYS plays in the trash can!

Look at those lucious lips♥

G with the colourful lanterns at Sunday School!

♥♥♥♥

Fall is here!

These past few days have been beauitful outside! We have shut off the a/c and opened the windows and still wake up almost chilled! It is awesome. I love this cool crisp weather we are experiencing. G had her 2nd day of school on Wednesday. It was a Butterfly theme day. They talked all about the insect and how they grow. G of course told me about playing outside and eating Cheerios, thats all she really cares about these days:) That afternoon, Luke and I went to Wichita to celebrate our 6th anniversary early. We shopped, had dinner and went to Starbucks, of course! I was psyched that they had the Pumpkin Spice, one pump please! ♥ Pumpkin Spice lattes...We ate dinner at Genghis Grill, a mongolian BBQ. Luke loves that place. We came home to Lo and G being completely crazy! Destiny came over to spend the night and Luke pulled the girls around in the wagon in the dark. Listening to them giggle and scream was pretty sweet.
   Today we started out at the Y and then went to the park after Ace's nap. We had a picnic at the park. We sat on the big swing while we ate and G thought that was pretty cool.  She loved holding Ace and going down the slide! Ace loved walking around and examining all the rocks. We have D again tonight for a slumber party, so of course G is totally excited!
 One thing that has been an issue for around 3ish months is G's bathroom time. Sounds like this might be a little TMI but just wait...so she is fine to go to the bathroom, but she is obsessed with playing in the water. See I have been working on her going to the bathroom alone since she has to do this at school, but it never fails, she always ends up with water, or soap or today, Sunblock all over the place! A month ago we got Caramel Apple handsoap from Bath and Body and she constantly would "wash" her hands just to stick them in my face and say "Smell Mommy". We got past that b/c I learned you could "lock" the soap so she has to have my help to use it. Then she started trying to remake the "Who Says" video and get a cloth (toilet paper) wet and wipe off her "makeup" like Selena does in the video....Then we went through a phase where she would use the hose on the sink nozzle and soak the side of her hair and run out of the bathroom and tell me "I washed my hair Mommy!"... So today I thought ok lets try this again, so she went in the bathroom and I was getting Ace ready for his nap and I went to go check on her..."Oh oh sorry Mommy, sorry"...usually a dead giveaway she is up to no good....Sunblock was all over the counter and a huge dogpile in the sink! What gives??? Will she ever learn to just go potty, wipe, wash hands and get out of the restroom in a timely manner??

Making Chocolate cupcakes with Spiced Buttercream

♥ X 2!

She wanted to show her hand covered in chocolate batter!
Best thing about Vegan cupcakes, eating the batter w/o fear of raw eggs!

Spending some quality time with my little man while G was at preschool

♥ his face!

Picnic time!

She was watching some other little kids play...she is very attentive to other kids her age.

Holding baby HevynLei

Ace playing in the carseat. Imagine that, he loves it now and
 fought it something terrible when he had to be in one!