Running Away With My Thoughts!

Ok, so does anyone know if it is possible to switch the order of entries on your blog? I know it probably is, but I haven't figured it out yet...among other things. Anyway, I started an entry about Halloween, but didn't get all the pictures put on until after I had published the pumpkin patch one, and moving, which have now been up for a few days. I go to try and finally publish Halloween, and it appears before the other two and I don't know how to fix it, and most people will miss it now. So anyway, any helpful hints on this would be great, but for those of you that have been asking, scroll down a few posts to see the kids in their Halloween costumes.

Also, the above was probably one of my favorite moments that day! Can you say Casa Bonita?!

Family Fun

A few weeks ago, we decided to take a trip to the pumpkin patch for family night. It was a first for all of us I believe, and we had a GREAT time! We went to this perfect little farm, with a BIG red barn where they served delicious ice cream and apple cider donuts.


First we went on the hayride to "the patch" though, (which A. especially enjoyed) and selected two very cute kid sized pumpkins...maybe even considered gourds...

....but anyway, they were all the kids could hold by themselves and thus they were "perfect"!

The weather was perfectly crisp, the view was beautiful, and the company unbeatable. I was reminded once more why I love the Fall. We will definitely be back and have most likely started a tradition!

We're Moving, AGAIN!

Yes, that's right, we are moving the beginning of December. I swore last year that I would never move at Christmas time again, and yet here we are! We surprised even ourselves a couple of weeks ago when we decided to buy another home! We haven't even been here a year, and find ourselves making the jump again, I don't know what got into us. Well...that's not true, I do know,... it's called 1000 more square feet! It is actually another town home, but much bigger, nicer, and we will finally have a GARAGE!!!! (I don't know if I'm more excited or Ryan, but both of us for the same reason-finally a place to put all his tools!) Although I detest moving, I am actually hopeful that this time will be better than the last, considering I don't have a newborn, we aren't having to sell this house at the same time, and partly because I still have a couple of boxes all ready to go still from the last time! ( I did get most everything unpacked, but I never did get everything hung on the walls...now I don't feel so bad!)

Halloween Happenings

We spent Halloween at my parents house this year and also got to enjoy the festivities with my sister and her kids. I didn't dress up this year, (since Ryan wasn't with us, I didn't feel the need to go with a big theme), but the kids looked great and had a great time.

First my little sister Katie threw a Halloween party for the kids and then we went "Trunk or Treating". It was a lot of fun and I decided at least while the kids are little, it is the way to go for me...a small scale, manageable experience for all.

And while I am talking about the Halloween party Katie threw, I wanted to make a note so I always remember what a great aunt Katie is. She is always willing to do anything for her nieces and nephews and she DOES! (Well, unless they need her to kill a bug:) But really, she is always playing with and planning things for them to do and she loves to babysit them and just be with them. We are all really lucky to have her and want her to know that we love her.

Anyway, here are the kids in all their glory!

Grant and Aubrye

Well, a month and a half later I am finally posting a brief recap of Grant's wedding! It was a great day and we all had a lot of fun. Both the reception in CA and in UT turned out beautiful. I did the flowers for the UT reception and was happy with how they all came together, but disappointed that I didn't think to get more shots of them (or anything else that night), except for the cake topper shown above. As is also evident from the shots above, the Bride and Groom were both radiant and our little Jake was quite a charmer as well. Alli looked so cute in her "princess dress" and would have loved to have worn it for a week straight! She is such a girly girl, I love it! She and her little cousins all matched and all looked adorable! Anyway, the fact that she was wearing a nice dress didn't seem to hinder her exuberance for playing in all things water though. We had to watch her closely at both the luncheon and reception to keep her from going swimming fully clad! (It was pretty hot though, I admit!) Anyway, as I do have to make this brief, I will share just one more highlight. And THAT was watching the kids all dance out on the dance floor. My nephew Derrick was especially fun to watch as he displayed his many break dancing moves. He was then reported to have told his other Grandma not in attendance, (and pretty matter of factly I might add), "I was the life of the party!" And then, even though there was not a dance or dance floor at the second reception, he still "got down" out on the lawn to just the "mood music" that was playing. It was so cute! We hope that Grant and Aubrye enjoyed their day as much as we did and we are so excited to have Aubrye in the family! We can't wait to get to know her better and are so happy for them! Congrats once again you guys! We love you!

Super Star Mom

Or anything but. Today was one of those days I just should have stayed in bed, not that everything has gone wrong, but just ONE TERRIFYINGLY AWFUL thing. Chalk one MORE up for me on the "not so super mom" tally. Alli fell out of the shopping cart today, and yes, she is fine, but she sure doesn't look like it. I am refusing to take pictures because I don't constantly want to be reminded in the future. But I am recording it, just as my mom did for me when I fell out myself when I was a baby. (I broke my collar bone, so I guess I shouldn't be complaining.)

I was walking into Kmart from the parking lot and was just about to remind Alli to sit down (as she was standing up in the back side of the cart) and we hit a lip where the asphalt meets the cement. The next thing I know I am watching her FLIP in slow motion over the edge and land on her face...THEN she flipped again! I was SURE she had broken her neck and I was actually witnessing her death. I was terrified! She of course started crying and actually got up, as she was holding her mouth that was filling with blood. Well, I was relieved that she wasn't paralyzed, but now quite certain that she had knocked every one of her teeth out. It didn't take long to determine that her teeth were still in place and that the source of the blood was just a gash in the underside of the upper lip, but at this point the gigantic bruise on her forehead emerged and her eye started to swell. I of course checked her eyes for sign of a concussion, but all seemed well. I comforted her and she calmed a little while a few nice onlookers came to help. One nice mom told me her daughter did this just last week and was fine, but it didn't seem to help much at the moment.

I called the doctor for instructions and several minutes later, with a box of Backyardigans Band-Aids and a cow stuffed animal in hand, we are home. I know everything will be fine now, but I can't help but think how much more of this I can handle. I guess I have always know that things just happen when you raise kids, but maybe I was hoping that somehow all of mine would grow up unscathed? Fat chance. So far Alli has severely burned her hand once, and pretty badly another time. I have gotten locked out of the car with her still inside, ultimately necessitating the breaking of a window to get her out. And now this, not to mention the many less memorable bumps and bruises along the way. And she is only 2 1/2!

I just really don't do well with these "I can't believe this is happening" moments. I do really watch my children pretty well, or so I thought, but I guess I really WOULD have to be Supermom to save them from ever getting hurt.

So.Darn.Cute.

These make me happy. Maybe I have just been jealous of Alli's PURE JOY over the rain, each and every time it happens, or it could be the fact that they are So. Darn. Cute. But my heart is all aflutter over the thought of JOY-ning Alli in PURE fun playing in the rain together. Ooooohhhh.....problem....It also makes me happy to make my husband happy, and nothing makes him happy like keeping money in the bank! What to do, what to do....

If any of you are thinking, "I know exactly what to do!", then you might be interested to know I found these on Target.com and they have probably at least 30 different designs! Maybe they will make you happy as well!