I did it....and then got strep:/

So Luke left for Indiana on Thursday night and we had a really good weekend despite the fact my other parental half was MIA. We stayed busy by doing the pumpkin patch on Friday. We went with MOPS and Maci decided to join us along with Whit, Chloe and Destiny. It was very chilly that morning but fun. We went to Salina afterwards and had lunch and shopped at a few stores to get all my items for the projects I planned to finish. We got home and I was ready to get to work! I got the bench put together in 30 minutes flat! After dinner Maci came over to help me with the hooks for the makeshift mudroom and I swear it...30 minutes we tried getting the screws in the wall and they wouldn't budge! I even electric screwdrived (if that's a word) my finger! Yowza! So we stopped for the night. :)
  Saturday we walked with Dawn and Kadence and ran to Wal Mart. Then Whit and Chloe came over to help me with the house. Well technically they just came by for Chloe to play with G and I coaxed Whitney into helping with my home projects, because she is a do-it-yourself kinda gal:) She gracefully screwed those dang hooks into the wall and did all 4 within 2 minutes flat! Then helped me paint the bathroom and hang hooks. I am so thankful she came over, because I probably would have only had 3/4 of it done by the time Luke got home.
   Luke got home Monday evening around 6 and arrived home to a hot fresh homemade meal. I made him baked chicken topped with apples, cheesy potatoes and roasted brussel sprouts. It was delicious! Luke was very impressed with all the changes I did while he was gone!
  Wednesday morning I woke up feeling kinda achy and had a sore throat. I did the normal morning routine and felt a little better. So I figured oh I am just tired or something...I took a nap and woke up so achy and my throat was 10X worse! I went to decorate for the Halloween Carnival that was to take place the next evening. Our sorority, along with the surrounding sororities, put on the Carnival each year at the Community Building. We got done and I felt Terrible with a capital "T"! I went home and took a Tylenol PM and went to bed, or at least tried. I was up at least once and hour shivering or aching.  The next morning I got up to get Ace out of bed and nearly passed out. So I called Maci to see if she could come save me! Of course being the awesome sister, more importantly friend, she was there in less than 10. I got into the Dr in the morning and had strep RX by 1! I went the whole day praying that the meds would kick in sooner than later. Unfortunantly I had to rely on Tylenol to get me through the day. Thankfully both beans were extremely good and not whiny at all.
  This morning was a little better but still sore throat. I got out to do and few things with Maci in tow. She is a lifesaver, because a mother isn't allowed any sick days.

Ace loves pushing this stroller with his chick and sippy cup in tow.

Pretty proud of his Brobie pumpkin. (Notice his Yo Gabba shirt)

So sad all her pumpkins are gone.

Ready to get pumpkins. What a good looking bunch of beans:)

Straight up 3 foot tall!

Straight up 4 ft tall. One more and she will be as tall as me:/

Got a little 2 footer (plus 2 inches) on our hands. Cutest little 2 feet I have ever seen:)

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He loved the mini slide

Tried to get a good picture of them all but this is typical...

My Pintrest inspired design. I am in ♥ with that site!

My other design.

Ace laying on the floor watching Pooh the Movie.

     G practicing her hula moves for Halloween since she is Lilo.

      G screaming in pure bliss as she goes down the slide.

Last week I got the opportunity to participate in Gentry's class field trips. Wednesday we went to the Museum and the park. We got to the Museum and they werent there to unlock it so the CRAZY kids ate their snacks and we walked over to the park to let them run off their obscene amounts of energy. We got a call about 20 minutes into it saying they were at the Museum if we wanted to walk back and do a quick run through. So we headed back to the Museum. Needless to say, after this 2 hours with the kids, I came to the conclusion of 2 things: 1) We got our exercise by walking back and forth and chasing kids on the playground and 2) I give those 2 teachers MEGA props for what they got through each day! It was fun, just uber-exhausting!
  Cassie and Gavyn came home on Friday for a month or so long stay! We love having them around and G loves her little cousin Gayvn. She also thinks it is so cool that both their names start with a "G". We went to Wichita this past weekend to help Whitney find her wedding dress. Well I went without the beans, as they stayed home with Daddy. Whitney didnt find her dress but she did go ahead and order one online that she had been eyeing. So we are all double crossing our fingers that it fits and is exactly what she wants!
  We have been working on a new "money" treat as a behavior reward. She gets a quarter for bigger things like going to the bathroom without messing around (seems simple to us, but is a major task for the little lady), eating without messing around or getting up to dance to the new song of the moment or sing "Who Says". Then we do a dime for picking up after herself, putting things away or just simply playing nice with Ace or not hitting back when he pulls her hair or something like that. We have been doing it for about a month and she is up to 4ish dollars. Last week we had to take some away for some outlandish actions and sassy backtalk. (I cut her alittle slack on the sassy talk, b/c I know where she got it from, no names, I just know:)
   We are preparing for 5 days without Luke. I am starting to get a little anxious, because we have been apart alot lately and it just is rather stressful knowing that I dont have someone to show up at 6ish and can help take over.(Any takers? Feel free to show up!) I know it will be fine...I hope! I am trying to plan things to keep us busy this weekend. We have the MOPS pumpkin patch on Friday and then Saturday we have a walk planned with Dawn and Kadence and I plan to do a fun home project that we have talked about for a few weeks. I am not going to tell Luke and then surprise him with it when he gets back!!! Hope that it goes well, b/c I am not the best do-it-yourselfer!

Lilo!

Ace colouring his 1st picture! And he is a south paw like Daddy!

His picture!

Testing their Halloween outfits

Lil punkin

Dallas or bust...er rather Plano or Bust!

This past week we went to Plano, TX to meet Gavyn and see Cassie. Mom and I drove with the 2 beans. We left Wednesday after she got out of school. It was a pretty good drive, both kiddos did a good job of keeping calm and only have a few minor meltdowns. We also invented (maybe not invented) a miracle...clipping Ace's beloved chick to his seatbelt with Luke's Ohio State balance necklace! He threw it down every 5 minutes from home to Wichita and Nana was tried of unbuckling herself and turning around and retrieving that little booger. Phew that saved us alot of frustrations! We did fine with directions, except once we reached Dallas, we went on the same loop probably 6 times!  We finally got there that evening around 10ish and stayed at Bill and Sue's MANSION! Goodness gracious it was beautiful! And it smelled so..clean! Why doesnt my house smell that nice and look that spotless? Oh right because I have 5 monsters to clean up after! (Luke, Ace, G, Max and Sugar, if you were wondering..) When we were about 30 minutes from the arrival, G had just woken up from a cat nap and was so funny! She kept asking where she would sleep, if she could brush her teeth there and told us that she would be so "Shy" in front of Bill and Sue. Ha! She ran into the house and jumped on Bills lap and talked their ears off! Come 11:30, this mama was sooo ready for bed!
   Thursday morning we ate breakfast at Bill and Sue's  and then headed over to Cassie's place. We were guaranteed to get lost at least once going between Cassie's and Bill and Sue's. We spent all morning eeewwwing and aaahhhing over Gavyn. G loved holding him! She acted like a pro. She would hold him with one arm, eat her snack with the other while watching Dora. Ace wanted to touch his head and then move on, I mean c'mon like he is going to like Mommy paying attention to someone else!?! We loaded up and went to Target, had lunch at Chick Fil A and headed back for nap time, for everyone! We had dinner that evening at Maggianos, an Italian restaurant. I am not a big fan of Italian, but it was pretty good and G has some amazing Mac and Cheese!
  Friday we went shopping a $1 Jewelry Galore (awesomeness), Target again,( you just cant get tired of that place!) ate lunch at Taco Cabana (had Derick meet us), shopped at Sam Moon (a must stop in Dallas), Starbucks(Caffine!!) and then headed over to Bill and Sue's for dinner. They grilled Shish Kabobs, and we had all kinds of amazing sides. To end it, we ate this amazing Black Forest Cake!
  Saturday we went to Barnes and Nobles to hang out and look at books and grab coffee from the Bux. We wanted to kill some time since we were heading home over lunch. (The beans only kill Cassies apartment. Ace touched everything and almost knocked a decorative gong over onto his head, and had to explore all over the place! He is truely the epitome of a monster, growls and all!) On our way out of Barnes and Nobles, there was a big pink Cinderella carriage in a cupcake shop, 2 of G's favorite things. So we went in to snap a picture and was hoping to skin out without a treat, but there was no way I could say no when she goes "Oh mommy those look so yummy. Can I please get one?" :) We went up and ordered a Apple Spice and a S'mores one for daddy. You can then take them over to the  carriage and put your own sprinkles on the cupcakes. Very fun little shop! We ate lunch at Jason's Deli and then said our goodbyes and headed home. We got home that evening around 8:30, perfect timing for bedtime! Happy belated birthday Maci!
   Sunday we went to church and Walmart. I fully intended on spending the afternoon on the couch and relaxing, but noooo, the dogs and their muddy paws had a different idea. Buttmunches! So I vaccumed, did laundry, mopped, and baked muffins for the breakfasts the next week. No relaxing done by me:( That evening we had Maci's birthday party at Nana and Papas. We had pizza, salad, homeade wings and delicious mini pumpkin pies that I made. Grandpa also came over for the party. Then home to bed!
  Today G had her "1st college visit" at preschool. I went along with the class and we walked over to the Mac College. We went around to different departments, (English, Anatomy, Auto Restoration, Theatre, Art and through the Cafeteria.) G's favorite, besides snack time, was the Theatre, where they put on hats and did funny faces:) I walked with her and Brodie and it was so fun to see how she interacted with the kids. She was actually rather quiet and listened very well, Thank you God! When we got back to the preschool, the kids played outside. I talked with her teacher and asked how she did in class and she said "She does really good. Rather quiet, but if we ask her a question she can really answer it. Just has a little problem staying tuned in"...pretty much what I was expecting. She has a very short attention span, but then again so do I:/ All in all she seemed very pleased with what she did know though, so thats a plus. I looked over to find her and she was on the tire swing with Brodie and Ava and they were all giggling and screaming in pure bliss, made me smile.

Funny things by G: Since we drove around in one car while in Dallas, we put G in the back with Gavyn. We had dropped Cassie and Gavyn off for the evening and she was still in the back as we drove over the Bill and Sues. It was a little past bedtime so they were tired and quiet, until out of nowhere, she goes "Ummm I am feeling a little leftout back here!" Haha. Mom and I busted out laughing!
On Friday while shopping, it was close to 2:15ish and she had made a comment earlier about being a little tired, so she asked "Mom where am I going to take my nap today?" How many 3 year olds ask where they will take their nap? Most kids will happily skip theirs, but not her!
On the drive there, she kept telling Mom and I that she was going to teach Gavyn games on the computer and she really hoped his tummy was out, because it would be "so tute" (cute)

Eating his favorite thing ever!

At the Chick Fil A play area

Cam wow fun!

Baby G

G ♥ X 2

My pumpkin lover!

At Sugar Queen Cupcakes!

We are family....

This week has been super awesome because we gained another family member, Gavyn! He was a tiny little peanut that entered this beautiful world on September 28th. Mom, G, Ace and I are headed to Texas on Wednesday to meet the little fella and check in with his momma. We are also very excited because Whitney got engaged last night!! We cant wait for the wedding and she will make a gorgeous bride! G is already talking about being a flower girl with Chloe, talk about a dynamic duo;)
   This week the beans have been spending alot of time with Nana, Maci and Papa, as Luke and I have had some business to attend to out of town. (Nothing major I just like to sound important)
   Thursday morning, we walked to Kylie's house to see her 9 new puppies. They are Airedale breed (I believe) and so cute! G loved them and Ace was not so fond of them. Which of course, they flocked to him. (Check out the video. I know Maci and Nana will and die of laughter, Ha.Ha.Ha) This was also Whitney's 22nd birthday so we went to Hillsboro for some mexican grub and then to her house for some kick butt Pumpkin Spice cupcakes made with homeade Spiced Maple Buttercream. (BTW the cupcakes we so easy, a box of Spice cake and a can of pumkpin, nothing else!) I ♥ to make buttercream, plus I sound like a pro baker saying "Oh yeah I just whipped up some homeade buttercream...". Oh and p.s. btw, I did just whip some up for Luke the other day. Here is the scenario..he was eating cinnamon goldfish and said "I wish I had some frosting to dip these in.. Do we have any?" "No but I can make some for you is you want." "Really? You ca do that? Ok sure." 3 minutes later, "Wow this is awesome! Thanks." :) Yea pretty much felt like I found my calling:)
 Friday we went to the Football game, well kinda. We went to the "tailgate" party before hand and Ace was a little monster, whats new, so him and I went home before the game. G loves football games and watching the cheerleaders, trys to mimic their movements, so she stayed with Daddy. When they got home, G came running inside and said she gave the Bullpup a "high 5". She preceeded to say "He kept sticking his teeth out at me though. He was kinda scary." I said "Arent his teeth always out?" She just looked at me weird. I think thats what happens when you have a mask, it stays the same. Awww the simple things she will learn in life.
  Saturday morning, Ace, G and I went to Walmart for a quick trip and then to the Catholic Church for the pumpkin patch. We found the 2 perfect pumpkins. G loved it there and could have stayed there all day! Ace liked walking around too and kept going over to the knobby pumpkins. They remind me of big moles, not a fan. Later that morning I had a kid free trip to Hutch with Mom, Maci and Whit. (Well "Aichele kid free" b/c Chloe came too) We planned to go to Buhler for Adrians, but they had a parade going on so we scratched that. We went to Freddys and then to Target, Starbucks and Hobby Lobby. When we got back, G and I went over to Mom and Dads to paint the pumpkin white. (Picture to come)
G and Chloe had a slumberparty with Maci that evening. Ace hung out for a while with Nana while Luke and I went to a benefit concert for the Humane Society. It was at the Opera house and it was pretty good, even though we only knew like 2 of the songs. (Remakes of Three Dog Night) We went with our neighbors, The Courtney's and Brian and his fiancee. It was a fun night.
  Today we went to Target again, this time Salina. I got some jeggings yesterday in Hutch and I ♥ them so I had to go get another pair. We spent the day taking naps, playing outside in the beautiful weather and eating dinner with Nana and Maci. Great end to a great week!

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Holding one of the puppies

The Video that kills Mom and Maci everytime.....

Choosing pumpkins. Darn sun, making the poor girl squint!

Touching all the bumpy ones!

Argh!

Hello Kitty Pirate Pumpkin

Playing in the wagon!