Activities from Halloween

On Thursday afternoon we carved all 3 pumpkins. The weather was a little crisp but we got them finished. The girls were more into scooping out the guts than Sam was which was surprising to me.
Evidently there was an issue with splattering of the pumpkin guts... Madison's face is priceless.

All 3 of the little Halloween lovers... Sam, Catherine and Madison.
Caroline carved her own pumpkin this year... she was a bit scary with the knife.

Caroline's pumpkin's grin is a bit crooked... but it just gives him more character.

HALLOWEEN NIGHT

Our 3 little trick or treaters... Sam is Spiderman (of course since it's all he wears), Catherine is Glenda the Good Witch from Wizard of Oz, and Madison is the cutest little Bumblebee ever.

Gizzy was the Grinch... which she was not at all happy about. I don't know why not... she was adorable and received more comments on her costume than the 3 little ones.

We trick or treated around Tyler and Alisha's new neighborhood, only to fine one house with lights on... evidently there are not a lot of little children who live there... so we went on to Mom's church for their fall festival which attracts about 1000 people from the community. The little kids have gone every year since Catherine was 1. She has never trick or treated at people's doors until this year... and then we only hit one house.

At the church there is always a petting zoo with ferrets, goats, bunnies, guinea pigs and this year a turtle that Sam was so happy to hold. He held it like it was a newborn kitten...
The kids all played games for candy, the volunteers were so patient and nice. No matter what candy was in the prize bucket... Sam always went for the lollipops.


Alisha and Gizzy

By the end of the night Gizzy was cold and exhausted so she hitched a ride in Tyler's jacket.

What I do all day

I know what you may be thinking... b-o-r-i-n-g! But that could not be farther from the truth! This is a wonderful place to be... everything from the boss to the desk space is fun and exciting. I still feel like I'll be helping people, just in a different way. So, now you know... oh, and excuse the stuff on the floor... we just got new carpet this weekend and were busy unpacking our boxes from our desks. My desk is usually neat. Of course I also say that about my house too...

Home Improvements....
OK, so this is the mess I came home to... dirty new door and caulking on the new lockset...

I think my 3 year old can hammer better than this! Can you see all the little dents in the exterior frame?I think he must have had to hit this one nail like 10 times... and yes, that is the first thing people will see before I open the door...

If you look closely and know what a NORMAL door looks like... you'll realize that THIS is not it. The deadbolt hole is not finished... and the plate is not put on. Also the hole where the doorknob latches is unfinished too.

So, I may not know who to hire for the rest of the work I need done on my house... but I definitely know who NOT to hire! I am thankful that at least I have a new door. I'll see if my son Tyler can do anything with the molding inside... the door isn't set plumb with the interior wall so the molding isn't going to be an easy job. There is a gap between where the molding will stop and where the door will begin. I have NO idea how he did this!

so, that's why I like being at work... no headaches over expensive doors that are put in incorrectly....

The difference between little girls and little boys

I haven't blogged in quite a while so I thought I'd just blog about our days. Most days are fantastic, the kids do very well going to daycare everyday and I (still) LOVE my job. When we get home we just play: with bugs, flowers, in the sand box, riding bikes, making crafts or just playing "guys" or little pet shops. I love capturing on film exactly what my little kids are doing at this stage so I thought I'd share. If you have a weak stomach, don't read any further. You've been forewarned!
So... Catherine will do ANYTHING to have on makeup. She improvised because her "real" makeup was put up away from her little brother... I won't go into exactly WHY but you can probably figure that one out on your own... let's just say it involved newly painted walls and pretty sparkly pinks and purples with a cool brush-type applicator and one 3 year old mischievous little boy.
Ok, so this is the 3 year old mischievous little boy! He was sitting on Mom's bed which was covered with clothes and hangers. Who knew that this is what the hangers are REALLY for??? Me neither... but I guess we can all learn from Sam. When I said, "SAM! WHAT are you DOING?!!?" He replied... "I'm just being a little boy Mom". So true.

So, now you know what we do for fun... after this weekend I'll be happy to post pictures of our trip to Castle McCulloch for the Wizard of Oz Trail... should be lots of fun ... in the rain.

take care all!

New Job

So, this is where I spend my days. My boss is awesome, the 9 girls on my team are awesome and the work I'll be doing is awesome! So excited to have this opportunity.

The kids have done wonderful this week starting a new daycare and having to go full time. They're making lots of new friends too and say they have had a good day when I pick them up. Just have to work on getting food in the house so I can have dinner ready within a few minutes from walking in the door at 5. I'm also going to pack my lunch for work everyday... just as soon as I get a paycheck LOL.

I can't believe how good I feel about this opportunity. Independence! Thank you God.

Accomplished

I took the family to get portraits taken today. I think they look awesome. I'm not sure exactly what Catherine is doing with her pretty face... but at least she isn't crying like 3 years ago! I already have a 5x7 in a frame and ready for my desk at work.

Catherine is in a stage (at least I hope it's a stage) where she sees the camera come out and she poses. In most of her shots she has her shoulder up and her face turned... I swear I don't do this in photos... but maybe I should start???

I don't know what else to say about this adorable little fella except... he is oh so adorable! In a couple of his shots he had his Spidey-web out shooting the cameraman. The rest he was either pouting his cute little "chin-tilt" pout or jumping up and down uncontrollably. Seriously, I could just squeeze this one til he pops.

I start my new job tomorrow morning. I've been off work for 8 weeks now (boy has the time flown by) following scheduled surgery. I've learned a few things these past few weeks... certain people don't necessarily do what they promise ahead of time that they'll do; it's not fun to have 8 weeks off if you're broke; the people whom you least expect it from will be the ones who rescue you; preschoolers will eat every 23 minutes if you let them; having little children (and big ones named Zac) will make more messes than you can possibly clean up in 2 months time; and lastly,... if you have children in your home still, it is IMPOSSIBLE to rest and not overdo... even for 1 solid hour.
Lessons learned, at my bodies expense I suppose. I don't regret having the surgery, I just regret that I couldn't leave town for 2 months and not tell anyone where I was going. LOL

I am bringing a couple of nic nacs for my desk too, little pencil cup and paper organizer that both match the frame. I know it might sound silly, but I've been waiting for a time in my career when I could have a desk of my own and cute little personal items just for me. Catherine colored me a beautiful picture with flowers and butterflies so I won't miss her too much while I'm at work all day. I colored her one too. We haven't been able to do all of the things we talked about doing while we were home, but I didn't realize I'd be ordered to not do anything and take it easy. That part has been so hard. Impossible really.

So I have lots of new clothes, a new haircut complete with color and highlights, an organized handbag, kids backpacks ready and at the door and a full tank of gas. What else could I possibly need? Sleep might be nice... but I don't think it'll come any time soon...

Have a great week everybody! I sure hope to.

Exhausted

Caroline went outside to take photos of the full moon a couple of evenings ago. Among the pics on my memory card, I found this one she had her little sister Catherine take. She's growing up so fast. 16 already. It's hard to believe she'll be in college in 2 years. She still seems like my little girl in so many ways...

We finished about 100 errands today. It was about 90 degrees, air conditioning in the minivan doesn't work and we had so much to get done. It seems the paperwork following surgery is why they give you 8 weeks off... it takes that long to get it all filled out and turned in. I have been a little slow getting some of it done, which would explain my last paycheck LOL. Evidently I haven't been getting my short term disability so hopefully that will all be cleared up. Also had to give my notice at the hospital, which was very hard. I hope to be able to stay "PRN" which means "as needed" and work 1 day a month. I will dearly miss taking care of patients. I'm moving on to the new job at the insurance company. (YAY!) Brand new regular schedule... just like normal people. 8am to 4:30pm... no holidays, no evenings and no weekends! Plus the physical part of the job should fit in better following surgery. I cannot tell you how excited I am about the new job. I've been praying for God to show me the path I need to take to simplify my life for myself and for the children... I hope this is it.

So, yesterday the kids and I started on our project of distressing, painting, sanding and staining our entertainment center, all 3 pieces. Unfortunately, we only had 1/2 quart of paint, so could only get a start. I had 2 wonderful little helpers... but I think they mostly painted my patio. Guess I'll have to use the pressure washer again after this is finished...

Notice the cute polka dots Catherine is painting inside my bookshelf! Had to break her heart by painting over them. I did think about leaving them to remember her at this stage, but realized there will be a lot of "her at this stage" stuff.

Zac is doing well in college. He lives with us and attends classes M-F. He is still a very big kid (really) and the kids just adore that about him. Here's his latest...
I am glad Zac didn't get hurt, that would have been hard to explain to the ER Doc how my 21 year old son was riding a big wheel down the driveway and crashed... but I've had to explain stranger things than this to a doc when it comes to Zac. He's the reason I became a nurse... figured it'd be cheaper to treat most of his mishaps at home.

Tomorrow the children start their new daycare... so early to bed tonight... they've had a very full day and hopefully will fall asleep in their own beds easily. Catherine has informed me that I am to stay until they get settled... which was my plan to begin with of course. She's very excited... and that makes it easier on me.

Have a great day everyone!

We all need to do something...

Each and every day, I check in to read the updates on Stephanie and Christian Nielson. And each and every day, I wish I could do SOMETHING to help them both, their 4 young children and their families whom are taking care of their children. I don't have money to give but I do have prayer and can use word of mouth to get their story out there to others. I ask that if you're reading this, that you pray for God's will and peace for their family. Pray for anything else that you think of also. There are several auctions going on and I'm sure there are other ways to help, but Christian said last week during one of his brief conversations that he could physically feel the prayers of everyone. That is awesome. Awesome that we pray, awesome that he can feel them and awesome that he would take his energy to tell us. Prayer is an awesome tool God has given us... we need to use it.

There are a lot of links to their story and every one of them is awesome. I especially enjoy Stephanie's (Nie Nie) blog...