Memorable November Moments

I've taken over 400 pictures this month.  I don't know if it's actually a big number or not, but for having three kids and literally zero time to get anything done, 400 seems like an awful lot to me.  Of course the great majority of those photos are of, you guessed it, my kids.

TOP TEN FAVORITE NOVEMBER MOMENTS:

Night runs to the park.

Lily feeding her baby sister for the first time.

Richard teaching Lily how to play baseball.

Richie and Lily meet a new puppy
at Grandma's in Citra, FL.

Bubble baths for the cutest kids in the world.

Visits with relatives we don't get to see so often.

Watching Grandma and the kids explore iPads. 

Catching Grandma's excitement when the kids show
her their skills.

Climbing rock walls!

Crying babies making Thanksgiving complete.
No one can do it like Mommy can!

Grace

Last night, Richard took the kids to pick up some pizza for dinner while I was at school.  I was not aware of this. I come into the house- the TV is on, a few lights are on, but there is no one in sight.  I walking around the house saying, "Hello?" like an idiot over and over until I think to go look and see if Richard's car is in the easement.  It's not, so now I feel like an idiot, but that's okay.  My phone was dead, so I couldn't call and see where they were.  So, I made myself some dinner and watched the first half of General Hospital (I know, I'm a geek).

Little knocks on the door interrupted my show, and I knew everybody was home. So, even though I already ate, I sat down to watch everyone else eat their dinner. Richard started chowing down before there were even plates on the table, and I said, "Are you seriously going to eat before saying grace?"  He set the pizza down, said, "You're right," and went to get plates.  I hear a little voice saying, "Bless us, oh Lord, for these thy gifts, which we are about to receive from thy bounty, through Christ our Lord. Amen."  Richie must have been hungry, too.  He has such a great memory, that one.  When we first started saying grace at the dinner table, Richie would get frustrated because he didn't know the words and we were saying it too fast, and lots of other things.  It was just so cute when he said it all by himself.  I asked him if he could say grace for everyone while we held hands and it was just the cutest thing ever.

I like saying grace at dinner, it's a chance to connect the entire family and break the ice into starting conversation about our days.
How do you start meal time?

Starting a Business

Contributed by Alec Bates

I work as a freelance writer and live in Gastonia. I used to have an office job, but I got sick of it and realized I could make just as much money working for myself. When I worked in an office I didn’t have internet service at home because it wasn’t a priority. I used the internet all the time at work, and my boss was pretty lenient, so I knew doing a few personal things wasn’t a big deal. When I decided to work for myself I knew the first thing I had to do was sign up for internet at home since my primary method of sending completed work to clients would be email. I didn’t know too much about local internet providers so I searched wireless internet Gastonia and found it would be really easy to get myself connected. I was so happy that it was easy and affordable to get internet at home because I didn’t have a lot of time to get myself up and running. I had to start working immediately because I couldn’t be without income for too long.

Culture of Caring

"And we can give them to other little kids that need them, right?" 

-Richie

It's quotes like these that remind me how all of our little lessons and conversations and activities really pay off.  My kids never cease to amaze me with their kind hearts.

This morning, while getting ready for school, Richie's head had a little bit of a tough time fitting into the shirt we picked out.  We got it on, but Richie commented that it's getting a bit too small.  I told him we'd wear it this one last time and then we'll retire it (yes, those were my words).
"What does retire mean?"
It means that we won't use it anymore (see how simple conversation can build a kid's vocabulary).  After I explained to him what retire meant, Richie made the above comment about giving his clothes that don't fit to other little kids who need them. That right there is a proud Mommy moment.  I'm going to go ahead and take a lot of credit for this attitude that my son has about giving what he doesn't need or use to the less fortunate.  My mother instilled those same values in me as a child (and now gawks at how liberal I am- it's your fault Mom!), so I planned to do the same for my children.

A few months ago, a friend of mine asked if I had any baby boy clothes saved because her friend was expecting a baby, but not expecting a lot of baby shower gifts.  I'll admit my excitement wasn't purely altruistic.  I've had boxes upon boxes of baby boy clothes, baby toys, and this huge baby swing that hadn't been used in months.  I was glad to get the stuff out of the house and glad that a little boy who needed these things would directly receive it- no money out of pocket.

I decided that would be a great opportunity to show my kids all about caring for others and sharing what you have extra with those who don't have as much.  At first, Richie and Lily were excited at all these toys they hadn't seen in at least a year or two.  That excitement faded when I informed them that they couldn't keep the toys because they were for a different baby.  Then come the "whys."  My explanation:  Well, we have so many toys and clothes.  These ones are for babies, and  the clothes don't fit you anymore.  There's a little baby boy who doesn't have lots of toys like you do and needs some extra clothes, too.  Wouldn't it be nice for us to give him what we don't really need or use- what we have extra?

The excitement returned!  My big kids were super excited to be able to help a little boy who didn't have many toys- all kids need toys!  They helped me pick out only the good ones- nothing went that was broken or stained, only things in good condition.  They helped me wrap them up in tissue paper and put them in nice gift bags (I'd saved every gift bag Richie got for his baby shower, too).

The swing was a little more of a loss for the kids.  Although they hadn't touched in in years, it was like a brand new toy (even though it's designed for babies, not toddlers and preschoolers).  I let them play with it for a little bit, but reminded them that a baby really needed it, and we didn't- we hadn't even used it in a very long time.  They were a-okay with it.

Our friend, "the key monster" (basically any male who is  taller than my husband is deemed "key monster" for the day) came and picked up all of the goodies to bring for the baby, and the kids didn't cry or whine or get upset that all of these things were leaving our house.

It's really important to get young children involved in giving back- paying it forward.  There are very simple ways to do this.  We like to donate our old toys, especially around Christmas and Birthdays (when we expect a great influx of new things into our home).  Explain to your kids why you are donating the toys, and have them help you pick which ones they don't need anymore that some other little child might enjoy.  Invite older kids on community projects or to volunteer with you at a soup kitchen or nursing home.  Have your kids help you clean out the pantry for a food drive.  Seriously, kids, especially the younger ones, love doing just about ANYTHING with Mom and Dad- so why not make it a memorable experience that will better them as a person.  Create an atmosphere of giving and a culture of caring for others.  A little effort goes a really long way.  And, hey, guess what?  You'll feel good too for having done a good deed.

Christmas is Coming!

Now that Thanksgiving is officially over, everyone and everything is certainly focused on the Christmas season (or Hanukkah).  Seriously, Walmart had Christmas set up before Halloween was even over.  It seems to be coming sooner and sooner every year.  Our house is partially decked out for the holidays.  We've managed to get all of last years lights up in our front yard plus a new addition of lights on the 2-by-2s that adorn these weird brick pillars by our sidewalk (yes, it is as awkward as it sounds).  This year we're also planning on adding lights to the higher part of our roof, since basically only half of the front roof has lights on it.

Inside, so far the only decorating we've done is to hang up our new "Christmas Countdown" calendar, which I got for $1.00 at Target.  I've got to get our box out and put our like 30-year old Santa Claus (which by the way looks nothing like Santa is depicted these days) that was left in our house when we moved in.  I've got various other little Christmas trinkets, but mostly the tree is our main indoor Christmas decoration besides our advent wreath that adorns our dining room table.

This year, I've got big plans, big plans, I say (totally just stole that from this book, which is one of my new favorites)!  I've got lots of crafts lined up to do with the kids, and hopefully it will all pan out.  Tomorrow, we'll be making paper Christmas trees to string up and hang as a garland across the entrance into our main living room.

To make you'll need:
Green construction paper (cut into the shape of a Christmas/pine tree)
Red, yellow, white, pink, etc. construction paper (cut into small circle, stars, and whatever other christmas ornament shape you'd like)
Elmer's glue
Wax paper

I've come to love using wax paper as our work space when doing arts and crafts.  You can pull virtually anything off of it (like, I don't know, half-dried glue) and it keeps your table looking as if no craft has ever taken place.  So, cut a piece of wax paper large enough for your kid to work on and tape it to your table.  Provide pre-cut construction paper tree and ornaments.  Sometimes, it helps to provide an example, so you may want to construct one yourself first.  Simple, right?  If you're really adventurous (which I am), you can let your kids have some fun with glitter too.  I know, super messy, right?  SO WHAT!  Get off your glitter high horse and let your kid have fun.  Seriously, glitter won't be fun forever, so don't take that simple pleasure away before it even gets started.  If you're that worried about having a sparkly floor (which I kind of like), just go outside and do your art project.  My little guys never have as much fun as  they do with glitter unless they're at Disney World.  Hop on the glitter train, it's fun- stop being such a neat freak!

Curly-Haired Children

I have been searching and searching for information on how to care for my daughter's beautiful curly locks.  I was born with straight hair and always wanted curls, but never had a need to learn how to care for them.  As luck would have it, my first daughter (and likely my infant daughter) was born with super curly hair.  It's beautiful, I love it, and would kill for the curls she was blessed with.  Caring for them?  I've got absolutely no clue.

Seriously- I ask everyone.  Even complete strangers I see walking down the street with curly hair.  No one could really give me any good tips that I wasn't doing already, until I read this blog post.

If you've got a curly haired child- or are curly-haired yourself, it's got some really helpful tips.

Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is, by far, one of my most favorite holidays.  I love the entire process of organizing the dinner and dessert menus, shopping for the food, and most of all eating the food.  Every year we go to my Aunt and Uncle's house for Thanksgiving dinner, and often we head over to my in-laws after as well.  That's what we did this year.

Single serve tiramisu.

Last night, the big kids spent the night at my Aunt's house, which has become a relatively new yearly tradition.  It gives me time to bake and get some last minute things done.  I usually make a tiramisu every year- a dish to go to my Aunt and Uncle's and one to go to my in-laws.  I will be the first to say that last year, my tiramisu was AWFUL.  I didn't give myself enough time to prepare, I ruined the egg white portion of the recipe- it was watery and looked gross.  Richard insists it was fantastic (isn't he just such a wonderful husband, I mean really).  I dropped off cranberry sauce at my in-laws this morning, since we wouldn't be there when they sat down to eat dinner.  I mean, what would be the point of cranberry sauce once everyone is done eating turkey?  I talked to my mother-in-law (with my father-in-law present) about how awful the tiramisu was last year and how this year it's much better.  I altered my recipe and made individual servings for their house.  At the end of the night, my father-in-law says (and was definitely meant as a compliment), "Last year's tiramisu was not good.  When Mom told me you were bringing tiramisu, I said 'oh, no, not tiramisu', but this year's was really good!"  I took absolutely no offense, because as I've already admitted, last year's was in fact a disaster and by all observations indeed awful.

Richard, my husband, chimes in, "Dad!  It was really good. How can you say that?" (my wonderful husband would probably proclaim a cooked piece of dog excrement was delicious if I served it to him)  His dad, "No it wasn't, it was awful."  He went on to explain why he feels you should not tell someone something is good every time, a story I've hear before, about how he pretended to like something Mom made twice, and finally the third time told her he didn't like it.  He believed the reason she got upset was because he lied the first two times.  I suggested maybe he should have just said he liked it the third time, or the tenth time, or even the hundredth time.  That's one of the things I really appreciate (and am thankful for) that my husband does. He refuses to criticize my cooking, even when I persistently prod him. Which at some point he learned from his father- the importance of respecting the effort his mother made each time she made him a meal.

By the way, the tiramisu was all around a hit!  My brother-in-law's girlfriend said it was really good (p.s. Thanks, Ashely!  I don't know where my head was, but Richard informs me that my response was, "That's good."  I am absent-minded most days, since I feel like I'm constantly multi-tasking). My father-in-law said it was great. My sister texted me saying it was perfect (they ate their dessert after we left). I gave my cousin a sample serving yesterday (I told him because I can't trust that Richard's opinion is necessarily valid among all consumers) and he really liked it.  I never eat it, but this year it looked much better, so I took that as a positive sign.

Probably the most memorable moment of the night was at my Aunt and Uncle's house.  It is a family tradition, that before we eat, each person at the table says what they are thankful for this year. When it got to my turn around the table someone kept interrupting me from a distance.  It was Richie.  I started, "I'm thankful for the food--"
"I need to do that, too!"
"Okay honey, when you're done in the bathroom.  I'm thankful for my fam--"
"Uh, Mommy.  I need to say what I am thankful for."
"Okay. Richie, in a minute."
"I'm thankful for my family who keeps interrupting me.."  Everyone got a chuckle out of that, especially me.
"Mommy."
"Yes, honey?"
"I need to say what I'm thankful for."
"Okay, go ahead and say what you're thankful for."
"I'm thankful for my Mommy and Daddy."
OH MY GOODNESS.  I mean, seriously, my heart melted a little bit.  It was just the most sincere, lovely thing that anyone has ever said to anyone.  I said thank you and how sweet that he was to say such a thing.

Sophia and Richie

I definitely know what I am thankful for this Thanksgiving.  I'm thankful for my wonderful children, who show the most sincere love every day.  I'm thankful for my loving husband, who tells me my tiramisu is delicious even when I know it's rotten. I'm thankful for my family and friends, who love me even when I am irrational, cranky, or upset.  I'm thankful for each new day and each new opportunity.  I'm a really fortunate person, and I'm so thankful to be able to share this life with my amazing family.

Happy Thanksgiving!  What are you thankful for?

Pumpkin Pie Play Dough

This afternoon before my class, I decided I'd set aside time to make tiramisu for Thanksgiving (I make this every year so our families have a little touch of Italian on the holiday). In case you've never made it, it's kind of a process. Think lasagna but with dessert (after you make the custard and coffee, and oh it's just a process).  Now, try making ANYTHING with three small children vying for your attention.  As you can imagine, it's quite difficult.  So, before even attempting to tackle the tiramisu, we made some pumpkin pie play dough together.

It's actually quite a process to make the play dough, as well, but the kids can totally help!  Basically, you need flour, salt, pumpkin pie spice, cream of tartar, water, and oil.  I assign each child certain responsibilities for making the play dough, and we take turns.  Lily was tasked with pouring the flour into the big pot (it's advisable to just start with the pot, because eventually you'll actually have to cook the stuff).  Mommy does the pouring into the measuring cup, and we use this as a great opportunity for a mini-math lesson.  We needed a total of five and a half cups of flour, but we were using a 2-cup measuring cup.  Cooking with your kids (even if making something inedible) is a great way to introduce measurements and addition.  Richie's task was to add the entire container of pumpkin pie spice.  I got to add the salt and cream of tartar.  Then we got to reinforce a recurring lesson of mixing colors, since we needed to make our pumpkin play dough orange. Ask questions like "Do you remember what color we can mix with yellow to make orange?"

After we poured all the contents into the pot, it was my turn to do the rest, as it involves stirring and stirring and stirring over medium heat until all the lumps are gone and the mixture resembles play dough.  If you've got no other way to occupy your kids, a simple step-stool at the counter beside the stove, opposite the burner you're using will do.  Kids love  to watch Mommy and Daddy cook!  It probably took us about 20-30 minutes to complete the play dough making process.

Believe me when I say I'm not exaggerating- IT WAS SO WORTH THE EFFORT!  My kids have totally used store-bought Play Dough and are interested in it for a maximum of twenty minutes or so.  This stuff?  It's actually magic never-ending-fun play dough.  Seriously.  They played with this stuff (three medium sized Tupperware containers full) for like an hour!  I know, maybe an hour doesn't sound like that long to you non-parenting readers, but an hour for a two-year-old and four-year-old is like an eternity.  Think of all the things you can do in an hour without a child attached to each leg!  Of course I took some time to make  things with them here and there, but getting a kid to sit still at a table for that long is almost unheard of, especially in the two-year-old range.  Simply equip your kids with a fork, a tooth pick or small skewer, a plastic knife, and a Dixie cup, and watch the magic ensue!

So, I finished my tiramisu with just enough time to make it to class at exactly 4:00PM.  I actually have to make a second batch of single serving cups tonight to bring to my in-laws, since my recipe made only one "casserole" dish and four single serving cups.  What's funny is I never actually eat the tiramisu I make- like ever.  It's made with mascarpone cheese, and, if you don't know already, I'm not a big cheese fan.  It's very similar to cream cheese in it's consistency, but don't ask me about flavor because I couldn't tell you.  I'll say that my husband says it's delicious, and you can take it from there.

What are some of the neat DIY projects you have that keep your kids busy for what seems like infinite amounts of time?

Castle Beach Park

Tonight, the big kids and I went to this cool park on the beach, it looks like a castle.  We left around 6:00PM, with some sandwiches, popcorn, and juice boxes, so we could eat dinner on the beach.  After we got about five minutes away from the house, I realized I'd forgotten my cell phone.  If it were my husband, he would have immediately turned around to get it.  I decided against such action, as I didn't know what time the park closed and I can live without being in contact with society for an hour or so while I play with my kids at the beach.

When we got there, it was already dark outside, but luckily, the park is open until 2:00AM so we had time.  We paid the meter, adorned our hats and jackets (it's windy on the beach at night!), and headed to the sand.  We found a picnic table near the playground and sat down to eat our sandwiches and a little girl wandered about 30 feet away from her family and decided she wanted to sit with us.  I didn't really speak to her, and was just unsure what to do- it took her family a few minutes to realize she'd walked away from their table.  Then her mother, I assume, yelled at her to come back and scolded her for walking up to a stranger.  The little girl sat on her blanket and cried, and I felt really bad about it.  Of course, she shouldn't be walking away talking to strangers, but really- why scold the child so much?  I guess maybe I feel it's more the adults fault for not even noticing that this little two-year-old girl was wondering off in the dark on an open beach.  Who is going to scold them?  Probably no one.

So we went and played on the castle playground for a while in the dark, where we encountered some teenagers all the way at the top who I'm pretty sure were smoking something illegal.  They left without any confrontation, and that was that.  After we finished playing on the playground, where our rule was, "Don't run on the park in the dark," we headed over to the swings.  We played on the tire swings and then the regular swings for a while before it was time to leave.  We had a lot of fun and the kids were totally tuckered out at the end of the night.

At bedtime, my sister came over so Richard and I could go to see a movie.  Sweet deal!  We went and saw Immortal, which was a lot better than I expected, and totally a gore-fest.  The experience would have been better if this kid behind me wasn't kicking my seat THE ENTIRE TIME.  Richard eventually (about 15 minutes left in the movie) stood up and demanded he stop kicking my seat if he wanted to continue watching the movie.  After we left, I went to customer service and asked what they were going to do about my ruined movie.  I don't typically complain, but I also don't typically get to go out with my husband alone.  They suggested I should have left the movie to come get them, and there was nothing they could do for me.  I informed them I have three kids at home and get to go to the movies maybe once a month and I'm not going to leave the movie and not get to view it again because I don't have a babysitter. So, I asked for a complaint form and to speak with a manager.  Instead of having to deal with an angry mother, they gave me two guest passes to come back another time. Sweet deal, again!  Now, when we have a babysitter again we can go to another movie for free!

Huggies Giveaway Repost

With the holiday season fast approaching, there are tons of things I'm excited for, but on the top of that list is possibly winning a 6-month supply of diapers.  Seriously, any parent of young children knows what an expense diapers are- imagine 6 months of savings that you could maybe put toward a vacation fund or college fund.  Click the image above and it will take you to the "Highchair Critics" blog, where you can enter to win!  I'm entering as we speak, but don't be discouraged by that, I have a long history of NOT winning any type of giveaway ever.  :)

Kids, Work, and School

So, I know I've been majorly absent all week.  I probably don't have to repeat that I've been super swamped.  I just handed in a 23-page research paper Monday evening, and presented a twenty-minute PowerPoint presentation on African-Americans for my Multicultural Education course.  I have to finish up another PowerPoint tonight for my Educational Psychology course and boy am I exhausted!  Don't let me forget to mention that Richard was out of town all weekend, so I was trying to get all this work done over the weekend without Daddy home to help me out.  Plus, as soon as he left, I woke up at 3:00AM vomiting, and Sophia caught whatever bug I caught and oh, it was so overwhelming.

Thankfully, I have wonderful friends and family who rescued me over the weekend.  My best friend, Sara, came over Saturday and helped me out with the kids, since I wasn't feeling well.  She played outside with the big kids for a long time while I put Sophia for a nap, and it was so nice and sweet of her.  The kids love her!  Shout out: Thanks, Sara!  I may have just died without you.

Saturday night my sisters came over.  My older sister Jennifer took the big kids to sleep at her house so I wouldn't have to deal with bed time + being sick + the stress of the looming 23-page paper, of which I'd only completed three pages.  My younger sister, Elizabeth, spent the night with me and stayed up super late helping me organize all my research and outline the paper.  Thanks, guys!  Seriously, you helped me out big time.  Jennifer came back Sunday morning with the kids, and my sisters stayed and watched them and played while I worked on my paper.

I feel a little awful that I haven't been able to spend as much time doing fun things with the kids because I've been swamped with work (both school and otherwise). Lily's also been testing her limits A LOT since I've started up school again.  Giving me a hard time about anything and everything she can- the worst has got to have been bed and nap times.  Nap- forget it, no way, no how.  Bed time- a series of "My belly hurts," "I'm still hungry," "I'm thirsty!" "It's too dark!" and other cries and screams and repeated exits from her room.  I've made a conscious decision to really step up my game with disciplining her and spending specific alone time with her to make up for being away a little more than she's used to.  It's finally paying off. Last night she was a perfect angel for bed time.  This afternoon, she took a nap and didn't come out of her room once! Not once!  This probably sounds way more exciting to me than to anyone else, but with three kids, any nap is a success. We went to Ms. Grace's class together today and made "Indian hats" and macaroni necklaces and played with pumpkin spice play-dough. After class another Mommy wanted to take some pictures of her daughters and Lily, and it was so cute the two girls fighting over who got to stand next to Lily.  Sophia came with us, and after we went to the park and played with some girls from class.

Sophia has been awesome, except the fact she's been sick.  For two days she just couldn't be put down without crying- who could blame her?  She'd fall asleep on me at least once an hour, and oh, it was really just so cute.  She's feeling better now, except for a cough and runny nose.  Other than that, she's completely back to her normal cheerful, smiley self.

Richie just keeps getting more and more handsome every day.  He's so smart it's sometimes frustrating.  He knows how to manipulate things and tests everything you say to him, finding any loophole possible.  It's really awesome, though.  Over the weekend he was talking with me about Gigi, his Great-Grandmother who passed away almost two years ago.  He was asking why I wasn't at the "church" (it wasn't technically a church where he service was, but the set up of seats and alter fit into that schema) where Gigi was laying down when we said good-bye to her.  I explained that I had to watch Lily and their cousin in a different room because they were too little and I wanted to give his cousin's Mommy time to say good-bye, and that after the service was over I went and said good-bye to her myself.  He told me he misses her and loves her and wishes she could come back.  It's so hard to deal with, because I get sad when he talks about her.  I loved Gigi so much, she was such a light and a wonderful, loving person.  I really felt like she was my Grandma, too.  I wish he didn't have to deal with such a loss at such an early age, but we can't control everything about life.  He's just such a remarkable little boy, and I'm so lucky to have him and the girls in my life to tell me "I love you, Mommy," at random moments and really mean it, and to hug me and kiss me.

Fruity Faces

Food that smiles back at you!

Want something your kids can't be anything but happy to eat?  Try my new creation, Fruity Faces!  It's really simple to make, and guaranteed to please even the pickiest (have you met Richie?) of kids.  All you need is some apples, peanut butter, a couple of raisins, and some grapes.

Peel an apple (unless your child is not so picky and will eat the skin).  Turn the apple on it's side and slice the stem and bottom portion off (If you have an apple corer this would be a great time to use it).  Cut into 4 equal parts, if you didn't already core the apple, use a sharp knife to carefully cut the inner circle of seeds out.  Make a "peanut butter sandwich" out of two slices of apples for each eye.  Place one raisin in the center of each eye.  Slice the bottom off of one grape for the nose (this way it will stand up straight).  For the mouth, slice about three grapes long-ways and arrange on the plate to make a smile.  That's it!  Present it to your children and watch them enjoy!  A great spin on healthy eating that everyone will love.

Citra, Florida

Richie, Lily, and little Puppy.

Just a quick post, mostly because I really don't want to work on this research paper that is due next Monday.  On the way to my best friend's wedding, we drove up to Citra, Florida, where my Mom lives to drop off the kids.  My mom found this adorable puppy that Lily loved, but the kids were generally fearful of, because a teething, jumping puppy is just not my kids thing.  Maybe this is because I act generally indifferent to most dogs.  I push their faces away from me to show them dominance and then I want not much more to do with them.  I may give them a brief pet, but even my Mom's dogs I just don't really care to interact with.  This is nothing bad about any dog anywhere, I just don't personally care for them (with the exception of my two late dogs, Minnie and Alex, which were both childhood pets).  Sometimes I think it would be nice for me to show them not to be fearful and to interact, but mostly I just don't really want to play with a dog. Now, puppies are a different story.  They are cute and cuddly and any poor behavior I can chalk up to being a "baby".  I mean, seriously, how does anyone not think puppies are cute and want to hold and cuddle them?  Lily kept saying it was her puppy and I kept reminding her it was "her puppy that lives at Grandma's house."

It was freezing in Citra!  And wouldn't you know all of Lily's warm clothing (which I picked out for all the kids after reading the weather report) were not in the luggage.  Anywhere.  So Friday morning I dressed her in the one long sleeve shirt and pair of long pants that made it up there with her, then my sister and I headed 20 minutes into town to the Dollar General.  I bought her a jacket and pants set and a few sets of long sleeve shirt-pants combinations.  I bought Richie a jacket too, since his inevitably disappeared in the luggage also.  At least the had enough clean underwear and socks!  Seriously, I feel like we packed half the house to travel five hours away for a weekend.  We had to bring clothes for three kids, toys, books, diapers, formula, and vitamins and medications.  It was like moving into a small apartment.

We arrived at my Mom's house in Citra at about 2:00AM.  Let me just tell you:  I have never seen a more beautiful sky in my life.  I have never seen so many stars in my life!  It was an amazing view, and I wish I had my camera on me and not packed somewhere in the middle of everything.  What a view!

Friday afternoon, after buying Lily a warmer wardrobe, Richard and I departed Citra and headed for Arcadia!

Oh, November

November has brought the cooler weather with it, and even at it's hottest it's comfortable enough to play outside for a bit without sweating.

Daddy showing Lily how to hit a ball.

So far this November we've played our sports, traveled to Citra to see my Mom, Richard and I went to a wedding (and he's going to another one this week), and we've just been enjoying the cool weather.
Trust me that I've got a lot to talk about, but that I am super swamped with work and school and will be effectively unavailable until at least next Monday night.  I've got to get a big paper done, work on two Powerpoint presentations, and take a few quizzes (among other things I'm sure I've forgotten).  Hopefully I won't lose my sanity before I'm finished.

Check back with me next week!  I promise I'll be back soon.


Did I mention I can't wait for the school semester to be over?

October, We'll Miss You!

Above is a sampling of our adventures during the month of October.  The month was filled with picnics, pumpkins, and lots of outdoor "cool weather" fun for us South Floridians.  We played some soccer and got some medals.  We made lots of funny faces and had a blast trick-or-treating this year.  Now that you're over, October, we'll miss you.  Time to start making turkey things!

The Booiest!

Lily gutting a very small pumpkin.

We carved our pumpkin!  The kids had fun helping Daddy with this, although neither of them like to actually get their hands dirty.  After a while, say an hour or so, Richard still meticulously chisels away at the pumpkin; editing, making sure every detail is just right.  We had tons of October fun.  I'd say we went to the pumpkin patch at least five times.  The kids loved going each time.  We played in the cool weather outside.  We took rainy walks, and sunny strolls.  We painted, we imagined, we made a tent!  We had a super fort dance party, with a party light and balloons, and kid's tunes.  It was really a fun month for us and the weather was nice, when it wasn't raining.  We had one week with almost five straight days of rain!  There was some concern about Halloween and how the weather would hold- but my hour-by-hour forecast on Weather.com informed me that 6:00PM would be sunny skies.  So I just believed them and insisted we would be trick-or-treating at 6:00PM.  The clouds started breaking up and we didn't have a drop of rain all night!  Great news for parents, children, and grandparents wanting a night of fun and candy!

Provided by Grandma

Halloween was really a lot of fun for us.  After lots of debating, Lily wore a different costume- (since she had dress up clothes and last year's costume to choose from).  She wore the pretty blue one Rara got her to her class's Halloween party and around  the house quite a few times.  She decided it was for various reasons, not appropriate, and decided to go with the Cinderella costume.  May I say she was just stunning and adorable!  Richie wanted to be Spiderman again this year, so Spiderman he was.  Sophia was just a cute little Jack-o-Lantern.  She can't keep herself up and happy as long as Richie and Lily, so she and Daddy headed home a bit early on during the trick-or-treating process.

Lily by her carriage.

The kids walked so far this Halloween!  We started at 6:00PM and didn't get home until almost 9:00PM.  We tried to walk over to Jacob's house, but had just missed them leaving.  I think it was really a good idea that we began trick-or-treating while there was still daylight.  It gave Richie some time to see all the spooky decorations in the light when he can tell they're not really scary and they look neat.  He wasn't afraid at all.  He was so brave!  One house even had this awesome inflated haunted house with some spooky flashing eyes in it.  Richie wanted to walk through it!  He liked all the ghosts and everything was great!  We showed Grandma and Grandad the jungle house- which is this house that is vacant that has amazing flora all over it.  Seriously, it looks like a jungle.  The kids like to go there on a adventure with me or Daddy, or both, sometimes.  After walking quite a few blocks we got back to ours and said hi to Landon and Mason down the street.  Their Mommy gave me the most delicious candied apple ever.  Then we headed toward Julianna's house.  Daddy called Grandad to let us know she was looking for the kids.  Richie and Lily got so excited when they could see Julianna and her house.  Richie started running over really fast.  Lily got frustrated because she can't run as fast as Richie can.  But, she made it there and said hi.  The three of them walked next door to our neighbor David's house to show their costumes to Dave and Kathy and say "Happy Halloween" and "Trick-or-treat!"

Then we went across the road to our side and said hi to Lynn and Marisa and the kids showed their costumes and got EVEN MORE CANDY.  We had a little bit of a late night, but the kids and everyone had a blast.  Now to getting rid of all of that awful candy!  We'll save like 5 pieces.  The rest we'll donate somewhere, maybe here:

OPERATION SHOE BOX