Boo to you!

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone has plans for some fun this weekend!

For the first time ever with our kids, we will not be at our church's Fall Festival----we aren't having one this year since Halloween is on Friday night and most of our helpers will be involved in the high school football game in one way or another.

So, we will be trick-or-treating in our neighborhood and then we plan to hang out in our driveway. We will pass out candy (of course!) but we will also be doing temporary tattoos! Any B/CS people are invited to come by and get a tat!

I will (hopefully!) post pics on Monday of the kids in their costumes. N's robot turned out really well...he and Lance had fun putting that together. L had a last minute change of heart on her costume and since I hadn't yet put together the very difficult ghost costume yet, I let her change! She is now going as a kitty cat and I must say, I'm much happier with this selection!

Happy treating everyone!

Ode to Bubba

Happy Birthday N!

Today is your 7th birthday and your daddy and I are so proud of you.

You are a smart boy with a wonderful imagination. God created you with such a great desire to know more about the world. You have made our lives so much better by being a part of our family.

7 years ago, you fulfilled our dream to be parents. I'll never forget meeting you for the first time and being so grateful for you. Your birthparents were so loving and unselfish to allow daddy and I to raise you. You have a rich heritage of birth family and adoptive family who love you soooo much!

You have learned so many things since you turned 6 last year:

How to swim underwater!
How to read everything in sight!
How to write very well!
How to create the best lego/lincoln log houses ever!

And so much more!

And even though you weigh 50 pounds now and are so tall, I still love that you like to cuddle with me.

You are a great big brother and are very patient with your sister....this makes me so proud and I'm so glad you have each other. I love watching the two of you play and be silly together.

I love you bubba! Happy 7th Birthday

Love,
Momma

When the music stops....

So, last night, we played a little game at our house!

It's a game I don't like to play, and thankfully, don't have to play often. It's called musical beds. You know like the game musical chairs only with beds and IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. Somehow, we believed once our kids were no longer newborns, we would have our 8 hours of sleep every night. This is a myth, people!!

So, it all started when sweet N tapped me and said, "I can't sleep Momma." So, he climbed in our bed and I went upstairs and got in his. Then I hear screaming from little L. She had wet her bed, so I put her in N's bed and changed her sheets and got in her bed. Then, she starts crying again, so I go get in N's bed with her. Then she starts talking about what she wants to be for Halloween and it's clearly obvious she is not going back to sleep!!!! So, I then alternate between her bed and N's and the couch for the next 2 hours until I realize, THERE WILL BE NO MORE SLEEP HAPPENING and so I got up.

L is a bit of a bear today and truthfully, I might be too.

Earlier in the week, our family slept at the church while we hosted 3 families who are homeless. This is an organization called Family Promise and is designed to help families who are struggling. Amongst the group we hosted, there were 3 parents and 10 children. They were a delight and energetic. They have faced some hard times, but are committed to turning things around. We were glad to have a small part in this. Things really are put into perspective when you realize our family of 4 brought more things to the church to spend one night than their families have at all. Makes my stupid whining just that---stupid.

Changing Times

So, in the midst of all this talk about the economy and how much it stinks, what have you done in your family to save money?

If you watch Oprah, then you know that it really should be called The Oprah and Suze Orman show this season because Suze has been on about every.other.day.

The thing is we've all had it so good for so long, we've forgotten how things used to be. Oh, I sound old now, don't I?

My kids have waaaay more than I had as a child. Part of this is because my mom was a stay at home mom and I work, but part is because society is so different now than it used to be. People were more content, I think.

Lance and I found ourselves on the cutting-edge on the economic downturn earlier this year as my employer stopped paying for my health-care coverage and Lance took a pay cut. Between these two things, our monthly income was cut by about $500. For us, we're still able to afford the things our family needs and many of our wants, but still $500 is alot especially when you then add in the cost increases in gas, food, and everything else. I honestly don't know how those who are paid minimum wage make it.

So, all that to say, Lance and I have never been crazy spenders on anything, but...we are cutting back where we can.

Some things we've given up or changed:

1)No more solar nails (this actually went away when we adopted L)
2)Different hairstylist - about 1/3 less
3) Store brands. I used to be a name brand snob at the grocery store, but really, truly, on most things you can't tell the difference. On the few things that do make a difference, I will buy name brand, but only when it's on sale.
4) Clearance and sale shopping only. I've always been a bargain hunter, but now I absolutely refuse to pay full price for anything!
5) Eat out much less
6) Try to buy only necessities
7) Use coupons

We have scaled back our Christmas the last few years and we will cut back a little more this year along with birthdays.

Suze Orman actually had a great thought on her show the other day...Money is not what really matters, people are and instead of telling your kids they can't have things they used to, why not introduce them to the great things your family can do together and start new traditions? Camp in the backyard, go to the thrift store together, play games as a family. Some of the best memories are of the simple things and they are the least stressful as well.

Have you made changes in your home this year? If so, what have you done to cut back?

Any great ideas for easy ways to save money?

Costumes

Have you got your Halloween Costume picked out yet? Costumes for your hubby and/or kiddos?

We are in a bit of a pickle with costumes this year.

You see....we've had the year of the train/train engineer every year for N except the one renegade year that he was Handy Manny. So, it was always a no-brainer with him. And easy, and simply boy cute. But this year, the boy, he has different ideas. His first was to be a motorized car. You know, so he could actually drive L around with him. (Cool idea, but I had visions of him running over trick or treaters plus with the price of gas, could we really afford for him to drive while trick or treating) So...we asked him to think of another idea. And what does he come up with? Vampire. So, no that is not happening. Perhaps I'm overprotective, but I'm just not really into my 1st grader as a vampire. Then genius strikes in the form of a library book. The book has several children dressed in cute costumes and one of these is a...robot. A few boxes spray painted silver, a couple of dryer vents spray painted silver, and a cute blondie who loves to speak "robot" and we've got our costume.

L, on the other hand, has only had 3 previous Halloweens and I've been in complete control of her costume. This year, however, my gal has an opinion of her own. And let's just say it's not a costume that I would have selected. However, my gal did choose something that even this momma can pull off. She wants to be a ghost. Oh, we do set our sights high, don't we? So, a ghost it is...although I do keep telling her that I'd like her to be like Casper, the friendly ghost. Not a mean one. She wants to be a scary ghost.

So, now on to Lance and I...any suggestions for cute, cheap, and easy costumes for grown-ups? 'Cause if not, we'll be forced to be soccer coach and soccer mom. Not a big stretch.

So, how about you guys... what are you dressing as?

Pajama day

Today is Pajama Day at N's school This is an eagerly anticipated day all year-long. He loves Pajama Day! And really, so do I. I think Pajama Day should be a National Day and we could do it on a day when we all really need comfort. Like, the first day back after New Years. You know, you've been eating all the delicious holiday foods, you've been relaxed and lazy at home. What better day to ease back into school and work than to wear your pajamas and fuzzy slippers? I think job efficiency would increase and we'd all be happier.

I think if one of our Presidential Candidates would have it on his platform it might just increase his chances of being elected. I mean, really, what are the important issues? Economy, health care, education? Or Pajamas?

Can you tell I'm short on writing material today?

I'm a bit lacking, although I must share L's experience with a cow yesterday. She had a boy cow come to her preschool yesterday and the farmer milked him. And out shot tee-tee. So, I'm thinkin' there is a weebit o'information that didn't make it into her sweet little 3 y.o. head.

The End.

This just in....

Evidently, we, in our house, are trying to set a world record for continous # of weekends in a row with illness or injury. I'm so grateful that these are not serious illnesses or injuries - nothing life threatening - just annoying!

Today, I got a call from the nurse at 1pm letting me know N had a fever of almost 102 - it has since spiked to over 102. The boy: he is still.and.quiet. Yes, he is a sick one alright, no doubt about it.

So, for weekend #5 out of the last 6, you will find me at the casa. Watching cartoons. Foldin' laundry. Bloggin'.

Lance's parents are scheduled to arrive tonight. Don't know if that will happen now or not. They (and everyone else) may want to stay away from the germ infestation that must be camped out here!

A few minutes ago, N said, "Do you know what I will wish for when I see my first shooting star?" "That germie germs would go away."

I would have to agree.

Here's hoping we don't make it into the world record books or at least not for this. We should get in for something cool, like the world's biggest lint ball or the world's biggest sidewalk chalk drawing. Ya' know something really important.

The end.

You know you're old when...

and no I'm actually not talking about me. After the week o'scatter I've had, you may be wondering, but actually, this involves Lance.

He received in the mail this very week....

An invitation to prepurchase cemetary plots and headstones....okay, not too unusual maybe, I'm sure we could get a better deal on them now than many years in the future. But, the funny thing about the invitation was that it said it was open to all senior citizens. Oh, I kid you not. This made me chuckle. Lance said, "It's a scam." Which it probably is, but why did he get an invite? He's 39 and won't be 40 until December. Is 40 now the qualifying age for Senior Citizen? If so, we're in big trouble!

Now, I was planning to take a picture of this invitation and post it here so you could see this was real, but the hubby....he had other plans, he tore it right up.

Red Light, Green Light

Did you ever play this game as a child? I did and I used to babysit kids who played this game and now I'm raising kids who play this game.

Tonight, in the car, L and I had our own version of this game. She's three and usually has fun telling me "Momma, it's green, go" But last night she decided to tell me what all the colors of the traffic light meant.

Red means stop
yellow means slow down
green means go

And....blue means go swimming!



If you're wondering why blue? Well, I think our city may get a discount on bulbs that aren't exactly "green". Like maybe these are the "seconds" bulbs. Almost green, more blue. Our "yellow" ones are sometimes more orange than yellow - you may have some of these in your town too. Do you think Big Lots sells these?

And in 3 year old logic, blue for swimming makes perfect sense.

Now when this happened last night, I laughed out loud at L's sweet statement, but as I sit here and type this, I feel like this has happened before. And to go along with my scattered week I mentioned yesterday, I'm not sure if this happened before like weeks or months before. Or if it happened before like last night! Scary!! So, if I've posted this before, I'm sorry. I sure hope I'm not turning into one of those people who tell the same stories/jokes over and over. Please tell me if I do. Please.

Scattered!

I'm scattered this week. Not totally sure why, but I don't seem to have things together. 'Cause ya know usually, I'm just one complete bundle of organization. :) Well, not really, but this week, for some reason, it's worse.

I have a couple of projects at work that aren't working out very well right now and that has me frazzled.

And then, yesterday afternoon, as I was talking to Jennifer on the phone, I told her I'd see her for Bunco. She was like, "Bunco's not tonight". Oh man...I had even hired a babysitter because Lance is out of town and I didn't want to miss. So glad, I didn't just show up at 7pm! And, I had to go thru major hoops to find a babysitter because the two main places I look for babysitters (church and school) were both having major events last night as well. The church event is one that Lance and I both missed, but we are making it up next Saturday. It is our mandatory training for Family Promise.

You can learn more about it here. As a youth ministry, we are providing the meal and fellowship time on Sunday night. As a family, we are going to spend one night at the church with our guests. We really want our kids to see how much they have and know that not everyone has what we do and that we are called to share our blessings with others. Should be a very interesting experience!

Early this morning when the rain started, I found myself with both kiddos in my bed. This doesn't happen very often and when it does, I always find myself a bit out of sorts the rest of the day!

See, even this post is scattered. I think I should call it a day.

Parent/Teacher Conference

There's really nothing to make you feel like a "real" grown-up than going to your child's parent teacher conference. You sit in the little first grade chairs and look at the work your child has done so far along with their behavior and know that you are the one responsible in a large part for their successes and failures. Wow, that's alot of pressure and somedays you do a better job than others.

N's conference was yesterday and it contained a wealth of information. For instance, their first spelling test last week? The teacher didn't actually expect them to spell all the words right. Didn't know this. We played games, used words in sentences, did word scrambles, etc so that N would spell his words correctly. Turns out, she really wanted them to get the first letter right. Wow! That really takes the pressure off, although, I'm proud to say that N did in fact spell all the words correctly. The ways they teach now are soo different from the way I learned, so I'm learning all over again! And in a new way!

N's best subject at school? Math....no surprise to those of us who watch his "engineering" prowess at work each day. His teacher mentioned that he always finishes his math early and rarely makes a mistake. Unfortunately, this "boredom" is part of what gets him into trouble. N is high energy. Sitting around, not so good for him. So, her solution? If he finishes his work early, she lets him draw pictures on his paper rather than "entertain" his class. Now, I'm not sure this will still be acceptable when he's in 8th grade, but for now, it helps this little boy stay out of trouble.

Another great area for N is writing...he loves to write and his forte is creative writing----code for STORIES THAT AREN'T ACTUALLY TRUE. This would be great if that is what the teacher asked for. What she actually wants them to write is about a real event in their life. Something simple, like what they ate for breakfast or what their favorite book is. N's stories are way beyond that, so we are to work on "scaling" them back a bit at school. At home, we will still encourage him to write about his 78 story house that he is building.

So, if you haven't guessed it yet? N has great academics, he is above average in everything. I'm so proud of him. And those social skills? Well, we are working on those. Things like sitting still and keeping your hands to yourself. That's our main goal for the year---to channel his great positive energy into getting along well with others.

Parenting is all about encouraging your child in their strengths and helping them to develop those strengths even further. And.... it's about, recognizing their weaknesses and doing the best job you can to help them turn the negatives into positives. Sometimes, it's hard as a parent to admit the weaknesses, but it's part of the job. A hard part, a part you don't really look forward to. I'd rather focus on the good and ignore the hard, but that would be wrong and would hurt N in the long run.

And as an added bonus a couple more pics of the boy from the fall festival:

Pics up ahead!

We had a fun weekend. My parents were here for a visit and it was a great, relaxing time.

We played sidewalk chalk, paint, etc. We read books, went to a soccer game, and just enjoyed sometime of grandparent spoiling. Nana brought her famous pumpkin bread which has been almost completely eaten!

One of the highlights of the weekend was watching L loving on her grandpa. She is a grandpa's girl thru and thru---in the bath last night, she even said, "Grandpa is silly and Nana is nice." This was a good statement to hear since she yelled and screamed at Nana quite a bit over the weekend. Nana does still reign supreme with the boy though - N has been her boy since birth!

Now, for some pics from a couple of weekends ago at our community fall festival:

This one is one of my favorites. N LOVES to pull friends in our wagon and here he is pulling his sister. I love his willingness to help and love on his sister (at least every once in a while!) Also, take note of the lovely mum I won. This is the second plant I've won at our community parties (and only the 2nd one we've attended!)



In case you thought N had outgrown his train obsession:






And my gal, this is what she loved: Pure adventure!





We are so thankful to live in a community that does these fun events. We enjoy seeing our kids enjoy riding a pony and doing the petting zoo. But, the most fun part is seeing our friends and neighbors and having the opportunity to visit and have community with them.

Hope you and yours had a great weekend as well.

The timing was off, but it was fun nonetheless!

Wednesday afternoon after school, N and I were working on homework and he asked for a snack. He picked Jello - soft and yummy! While he got started on his snack, I went into my room. I hear a little voice, screaming, "Mommy, Mommy" I go running and this is what I see:














We knew it wasn't going to wait until his birthday, but never did I think it would happen while eating Jello!





N wrote a letter to the tooth fairy. Inside, it said, "Dear tooth fairy, Please bring me 2 toys. Love, N*******!!! (Exclamation points are his) I'm not sure where he got the idea that you can request things from the tooth fairy!




This is what was waiting for him Thursday morning: a gold dollar coin and a letter back from the Tooth Fairy reminding him to brush, floss, and rinse his teeth everyday and letting him know that his baby tooth would be well taken care of.




This was a VERY exciting moment in this house. Those of you who've already been thru this stage probably experienced something similiar. Those of you who still have this in your future, look forward to it! fun, fun, fun! It was like Christmas morning!

Exciting post up ahead!

Not today, but tomorrow, my friends, please come back!

I will have some exciting news and yes, (gasp!) pictures!

See ya tomorrow!

Have your people call my people

October. It's a glorious month in our family! October was the month in which Lance and I first became parents almost 7 years ago.

N loves October because it's his birthday month and he gets to celebrate all month because his birthday is not until the 30th. This is awesome. The poor people who have their b-day on the 1st of the month are missing out. They have their birthday and then the rest of the month, it's just a big let-down. But, not N. Everytime he writes the date or says the date he gets to remind us that it is his.birthday.month.

Well, not only that, but this year, we have learned he will be the SuperStar student of the week during his birthday week. In his first grade class, each student is assigned a week to be the super star. We will make a poster of all things N loves and he will share it with his classmates that week. Combine that with Halloween and well, there is sure to be some partying going on at our house that week!!! If that isn't enough, N is now convinced that he will lose his tooth on his birthday. How does he know? He is praying to God that he will lose his first tooth on his birthday. It's sooooo sweet. He whispers his sweet little prayer to God asking to please let him lose his tooth that day. I have to admit, it would be pretty cool and I think the tooth fairy would probably even throw in a little bonus for a birthday tooth. Of course, N thinks the tooth fairy would give him $1,000 for a birthday tooth. I'm thinking, move the decimal point over 3 spaces to the left.

But....I really don't think he's going to make it that long. Of course, it's already been loose about 2 months, but now, it's literally hanging by one little string. And the grown-up tooth has now pushed up behind it and is visible. So, the days of tooth #1 are numbered and there is a #2 that is close behind. I wonder if two missing teeth will hamper any of that candy eating on Halloween? Nah.

Love is in the air

Do you watch The Office? If you do, This is funny. I'm not sure who did this, but it's crazy.

Have you ever found yourself so caught up in a TV show or movie that you think the people are REAL. That you find yourself giving advice to them or yelling at them thru the screen. This is weird, but yet, I've found myself doing it. The two shows I really do this on are The Office and Desperate Housewives. Probably because they are the two of the silliest shows on TV.

So, what's next, a Bridal Registry at Target or Macy's? Purchase a gift for the "fake" TV couple!?!

It was a mighty big finger

I don't know if any of you were out last night and saw the moon, but if you were and if you did, you may have noticed what my kids did. The moon, it was in the shape of a fingernail trimming. On the way home from church last night, L looks up in the sky and says,"Look momma,it's a fingernail and a star in the sky." And sure enough, it did look just like that. I'm sure there is a technical term for the moon last night, maybe waxing or waning, or something very astronomy-related, but from now on in our house, it's a fingernail moon. Feel free to take our technical term and use it as your own. 'Cause I know you want to.

Also on the way home last night, N was practicing his books of the Bible. He can say all the way thru Song of Solomon already --I'm very impressed. So then L had to start saying them as well. She did really well, but then got a little confused. I think she may have invented several new books---like 1st and 2nd Jacob and 1st and
2nd God. But you know, at least she got names that were from the Bible and all. She didn't mention 1st and 2nd Madison or 1st and 2nd Barbie or anything crazy like that.

He knows her name!

My boy, he is in love again. He was in love this summer, but he couldn't remember her name or what color she had. (Details, details) You know he's got that boy DNA running thru him!!

So, this time he knows the name of his love interest. It's Alex. She's cute, blonde, and 5 years old. He's in love with a younger woman, him being 6 and all. After school yesterday, they were playing outside and got hot so they came in for a drink of water. They got their drink and as they left the kitchen, they were holding hands. Oh me, oh my...too much for this momma! It was sweeeet.

Oh, I know it's not serious...this is the 3rd girl he has told us he would marry. Well, actually, 5th if you include his sister and me. 'Cause nothing says southern like planning to marry your sister. :)

My boy and his friends. He loves them, and they love him. The doorbell rings alot at our house, it does. And somehow it's almost never for Lance or I. Next thing you know, it will be the phone.