Fall days and art nights!

Caleb has "Hat Day" coming up at school. He said he wants to wear a Spartan hat. So... his father made him one. That's right. My husband who is an amazing hands on father figured out how to make a paper-mache Spartan hat.

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It's not 100% completed but how cool is that!?!?

Of course, he can't leave Faith out. So he is making her a Tiara.

I'll put a new picture on when that is all done. It's on the back porch drying now.

Since Dad was getting messy, I thought we all should. So we had art night!

Faith was very excited to make more pictures for her Mimi. Every chance she gets, she wants to make something for Mimi.  (you'll be getting more mail soon, Bonnie!)

Before our art night got underway, Caleb and Faith were playing. Not sure what they were playing but they were using their imaginations so I'm happy. Faith got dressed up like Cleopatra.

And Caleb dressed up as... well, we don't know what he was dressed up as. A really odd 10 year old, I think.

Faith wouldn't even stand in the same picture as him. I think Buster was a little bothered too. Yes, he is wearing a foot brace and an arm brace. No, there is nothing wrong with him.
Well, he has not broken or sprained appendages.

Aside from letting our creative sides show through, we also played outside on this amazing gorgeous fall day. Ashley loves to be outside. I almost wish she would hurry up and learn to walk so that she would stop ruining all of her clothes crawling everywhere. Did I just wish my baby to grow up quicker? Ugh.

  

It was a good weekend. These nice weathered weekends are going to be far and few between. We enjoy them so much right now but will be excited for our first snowfall. Can't wait to take all the kids sledding! But right now, I have a really big mess to clean up.

I sat here for five minutes trying to think of a title. I've got nothing. My brain is complete mush after the day I've had.
I'll start with the beginning. I'm in the middle of doing a diaper study with Ashley. All this means is that a company provides me with diapers, bags and forms. I use their diapers, put them in the said bags and complete the forms. I return the used diapers 4 different times during this study. The study lasts a total of 16 days. At the end of the study, I make $145. Awesome.
I normally cloth diaper, but sure, you can pay me to use your diapers. I'm okay with that.

Anyway... I had to return some diapers today. In typical Murphy's Law fashion, after I had dropped the diapers, Ashley had a complete blow out. This blow out left me gasping for air and considering throwing everything touching her in the garbage. However, I needed that diaper. I sat in this parking lot for about 10 minutes trying to decide what to do. All the while, Faith had her head hanging out the back window gagging.

It finally came to me. I had two airline barf bags in my glove box. (LOVE having a sister in law who works for Delta!) So I passed Faith one of the bags and told her that if she was going to throw up, get it into that bag. And I set to work with the diaper.
I don't know how much money the people who have to deal with the diapers make, but it isn't enough. I however, earned my $145 with this one diaper change.
Once all was cleaned up, the dirty diaper went into the barf bag and into my glove box. That's right. We drove home with this horrendous diaper that really should have earned its own spot at the county landfill, in the glove box. My insurance papers will never be the same.

With this experience behind us, I moved on with the day. On the agenda for this afternoon was a trip to the doctors for Caleb. He's been having some pain in an area that I know absolutely nothing about, his testicles. Now this is an entire post in itself but I will say that all is fine and he's okay. We'll leave it at that for now. But before we reached this conclusion, we had to see the pediatrician who ordered an ultrasound on his goods. Off to the hospital we went. Luckily, Faith was with a friend. This was an experience that I do believe would have started her much needed therapy years earlier than planned.

Back tracking just a bit....
When Faith has her echocardiograms on her heart, they do all sorts of things to keep her attention focused on the task of being still. One of the "tricks" is they always promise her that she can fingerpaint in the gel on her chest when they are done with the test.

Back to today. Caleb was laying on this table, pants off and towel laying over what is supposed to be a sacred area. This incredibly sweet, older woman was doing everything in her power to make him comfortable and not scared. She was amazing. She lathered him up really good with the gel and then he says.....
 "When you're all done, can I finger paint?"
I was all out of energy to explain about my middle child with heart disease, echos and all the above. I just kind of stood there and she looked utterly confused and horrified. She simply answered with "Probably not." and then moved on to other issues at hand.
Lovely.

The best news from today came after hours and hours of smelling this awful smell, making the kids check their shoes, checking the van and even looking at the van tires only to realize that the smell was me. I had poop on my knee. Most likely elsewhere too. 

Best. Day. Ever.

Wine time.

Halloween

This is a picture of our Halloween 2007.

Caleb was 6, Faith was 6 months.

This is Halloween 2011.

Caleb is 10 1/2, Faith 4 1/2 and Ashley 9 months.

Things sure have changed!

The biggest change (aside from the third kid!) is that my baby didn't want to go trick or treating with his momma. Our boy hit the roads with 6 buddies and pillowcases ready to fill with candy. I was pushing my sweet little bumble bee and walking beside my Princess Witch but I kept thinking about my baby boy out on the streets without me. And I kept thinking about his second Halloween. He was 2 1/2 years old and totally into Superheros. He wore a Superman costume for months. Months! We couldn't leave home without his cape.
Now my baby is big enough to be running door to door dressed in his exectioner costume with his buds.

Yes. I did feel a bit teary. Luckily, it was dark so noone seemed to notice. It felt like an end of an era. And while I will have the girls by my side for several more years, Caleb was my first Halloween trick or treater. He was the beginning of it all and its so hard to just step back and let him grow up. I really wish I could find that pause button on his life. Did I mention that this 10 year old is now 5'3? Geez. No chance of him fitting into that Superman costume today.



On another note....
When I was looking at the old Halloween picture, I found this.

And this...

These are some old pictures of Faith. I think its safe to say Ashley will look just like her sister when she is older!

So, now its November. We spent the first day of November at the zoo. Gorgeous and perfect day for our last zoo outing of the year. It was 77 today. We are supposed to get snow tomorrow night. Hello Winter.

Time to start taking down the Halloween decorations. Glad we made it through and happy my big boy has entered a new phase of his life. And I'm glad I survived as well. This parenting stuff is especially hard when you need to learn how and when to let go.

Quick update

Ashley is finally better. Just a bit snotty but that is totally expected this time of year regardless of having a double ear infection.
Caleb missed a day this week from a sore throat. At 8am, he was pretty convinced it was going to be the death of him but by 10am, he was claiming to be bored. When Jamie got home from work at 5 and caught him on his DS it was all over with. We do not allow any electronics when you stay home from school. If you're too sick to miss school, you're too sick to play. So you sleep, lay in bed and read. With the rule broken and a stern talk from dad, he decided to go back to school the next day.
So I woke up this morning pretty sure I would never be able to swallow again. So not fair for Moms to get sick. It should be a rule that makes that impossible.
Jamie graciously stayed home so I could go to the doctor and find out how much longer I had to live. Turns out its just a sinus infection and after 5 days of meds, I should be 100%. Thank God.

Jamie did so awesome with the girls today. The house was destroyed with toys but they are both happy. Neither of them were dressed today, but they both had fun. Faith decorated Halloween cookies and has eaten icing all day long. With a huge smile on her face.
Jamie did put child locks on the kitchen cabinet that holds the garbage can. After Ashley pulled out some eggs, toast and coffee grounds, he decided it was time. She too is happy though.

It wasn't until after I woke from a really long nap that the screams began. And that was only after I closed Ashley's poor little finger in the pantry door. Sigh.

They're a mess and everything else is a mess but the kids are not hurt and they are happy. Thanks to Dad. I'm going back to bed.

Sick baby... again

I feel like I just wrote this same post. Luckily, this time, there is no vomiting. I can handle almost all illnesses but the puking.
This time, Ashley has double ear infections. She is quite pathetic too. Bless her heart. Shes got snot oozing from all parts of her face and its so gross, but so so sad. We just gave her the 2nd dose of her antibiotic so she should be feeling better soon. I have a feeling there will be tubes in this baby's future.

I'm tired and covered in snot so the conversation we had with Caleb after dinner gave me the laugh I really needed.
It all started because our garbage disposal has decided its done working. Jamie was tinkering with it trying to figure out if he could get anymore life out of it. Once he decided it was a goner, he called it. And then he announces for no one to put food in the sink. Caleb turns around and says (rather panicked!) "But if the garbage disposal isn't working, how will we do the dishes!?"
So we cleared that up for him and all had a little laugh.

(except for him. I might need to explain that to him again later.)

Then he comes out and says "Did you know the microwave was invented in 1947? Dad, weren't you born in 1947?"
We cleared that up too.

Then Jamie and I went on talking about microwaves from when we were kids. I told him how I remembered getting our first microwave and how it was huge. And that we had a lot of neighbors who still didn't have one and they thought it was pretty neat to use ours. I also told him about some good friends of ours who just got their first microwave about 10 years ago.

He got a horrified look on his face.
Then he says "If they didn't have a microwave, how did they cook their food?"

We cleared that up too.

And for the record, I do not use our microwave to cook many foods. I have sat here tonight trying to think of all I use it for and while I do use it quite a bit, I could totally do with out it. Its more of a convenience factor than a necessity. I do not feed my family microwave meals. The only problem I would encounter by not having a microwave is the microwave popcorn I'm addicted to. Not sure I could do with out that.

Anyway, Caleb had a bit of a history lesson. And I feel a bit older than I did just a few short hours ago. Pretty funny to think that one day all the appliances we use will be so out dated and he'll share with his family about the stone age way we did things.

The girls are sleeping. I hope the shortest one sleeps all night and wakes up with that beautiful smiling face! The boys are at Boy Scouts.....
time for some popcorn!

Pumpkin Patch trip

What a perfect weekend.
Lots of amazing weather, lots of great out door playtime, a really fabulous soccer game with some great blocks by my favorite defense player, a fun trip to the pumpkin patch and some over decorating for Halloween. Perfection.
This pumpkin patch was super cute! This was our first trip to this particular one. Thanks to our friends, The Keelers, we have found our new favorite.
Caleb found the most perfect pumpkin.

Okay. This wasn't the one we choose. But it sure was slim pickings. We haven't had much rain and I knew our grass was showing the effects but this poor pumpkin patch really suffered. Faith was on a mission to find Cinderella's pumpkin. Her, Jamie and Caleb scoured the entire patch until they finally found the perfect one. Then she decided it wasn't in fact Cinderella's pumpkin. After many tears and many decision changes, she finally settled on one. I'm still not sure she is convinced its the "right" one but I'm hoping after some glitter paint and some beautifying materials, it will be the most perfect pumpkin.
Caleb got an awesome golden pumpkin. I'm pretty sure it was purchased at the grocery store and then placed in this patch. But whatever. The kids are happy.
And it was fun!!

Of course, the pumpkin patch stayed true to most pumpkin patches and had lots of those wooden cut outs to stick your face through. Those always make us laugh. This one made us crack up. But not until we actually saw the picture later...

And, Jamie and I actually had a photo take together! A huge rarity! Thank you, Heather!!!

She even got TWO shots!!!


After the pumpkin patch, we stopped at a buffet and stuffed ourselves silly. I'm not a fan of buffets. I have issues with germs. Lately, even more so since I watched a quite revealing tv show that detailed exactly what could be found in fast food playlands, shopping carts and bathrooms. Oh. My. Gosh.
I've been extremely careful to only go to places that are germ free since this show. And I like living in the bubble I've created...
Anyway, we ate at this germ free buffet. And it was good.
So when dinner time rolled around, no one was really hungry. Faith had a bowl of cocoa puffs, Caleb had chips and salsa, I had left over Chinese and Jamie watched this disgusting dinner unfold. Faith would take a bite of her cereal and then have a chip with salsa. Then more cereal. So gross.
Just before she went to bed, she said her tummy hurt. We told her it was probably what she ate at dinner and told her it just wasn't really healthy. She got furious and corrected Jamie saying "I had milk in my cereal and milk is healthy!"

Wow. I see chocolate cake for breakfast in her kids future!

A little too much education for our 4 year old

So we are extremely honest with our children. We believe in telling them the truth, no matter how ugly it might be. We had "the talk" with Caleb last year. We started by giving little bits of information. And correcting his theory of his baby sister getting in my belly via my ear.
Then we slowly gave him more and more information. As much as we thought he could handle at a time. A year later, our 10 year old has all the information he needs to know. Until he marries and his wife fills him in on the rest.
Today, Jamie discovered and incredibly awesome video. It shows conception from the very beginning to birth. Very amazing. I suggested we show Caleb. So we all sat and watched this incredible video together. We used all the correct words. Sperm. Eggs. Ovaries. Womb. Uterus. I'm sure he was silently vomitting in his mouth, but he stuck with it and watched the video.

It wasn't until his soccer game, two hours later, that we realized something. Our 4 year old was peering over our shoulder watching this video.

Oops.

As our sweet little angelic 4 year old played in the grass on the soccer field, questions began spewing from her sweet little mouth.

She says "Mom, what is that stuff that goes inside the egg called?"

Since I'm half listening to her, I could only assume she was talking about Easter eggs. So I responded "Candy, Faith. You know that."
Then she says... "No, mommy. Its squirmy and has no head or legs."

Not a clue what she was talking about. So I ignored her. Isn't that what you're supposed to do. When in doubt, ignore??

About ten minutes later, she was snuggled up on Jamie's lap when I see him laughing and looking at my with a bit of a panicked look. I listen in and hear "What is that thing called, dad? It goes in the egg in the mommy's belly?"
Jamie quickly starts talking about Pumpkin Patches and rainbows. Anything but the thing that has no head or legs and goes inside the egg in mommy's belly.

Sigh.

Sorry, kid. You're a few years away from "that talk". So for now, we will distract and ignore you. And make sure you are never around for another educational talk or video again. And please stop talking about it. Please. And please please please do not bring it up on the soccer field ever again.