a church event

Wednesday night our church had a carnival for the kids. The girls had fun playing games, jumping in the bouncies and eating tons of candy. Dorothy was sure to make another appearance at this event.

things you might hear during a grocery trip...

"I want to ride in the race car buggy. I'm not going to the grocery store if I can't ride in the race car buggy." (Then, child proceeds to spend the whole grocery trip trying to get out of the buggy.)

"EEWW, gross mommy. I don't like strawberries." (after she ate them all last week)

"Mommy, balloons! Go get us a balloon. No, Mommy, we don't have to pay for that. I'm sure the grocery man wants us to have it as a present."

"Look at you!", as Ava points to the grocery clerk who is slightly overweight and cannot keep his pants up. "What are you wearing?"

"Mommy, books! We want those books. Those books are there just for us. We're so bored, Mommy. Please let us read books. I don't like grocery shopping. I want to go home. I want to read books. We never get to do anything we want to do!"

"OHHH, cinnamon rolls. Please, can we get cinnamon rolls? Mommy, you never let us eat good food."

"Mommy, can I have some money for Disney World? Mommy, don't give that money to that man. We need the money for Disney World. Now we have no money for Disney World!" (We have no plans to go to Disney World in the near future.)

and the final quote as we are leaving...

"Mommy, I am sorry. Do you forgive me? Mommy, you have to forgive me. After all, we're family!"

it was just one of those days...

It was just one of those days.

If you're a mom, you know exactly what "one of those days" looks like. I started the day with zero energy, and the girls started the day with all the energy and sass two girls could muster.

Me: "Girls, if you do not pick up your playroom , we will not go to gymnastics today. I have given you plenty of chances."

Emma: "Well, Mommy. I guess we just won't go to gymnastics today since I am not going to pick up my room."

Nice.

This is the also the kid that if I try to implement the "choices" discipline, she picks the punishment every time over the good behavior. That whole "Love and Logic" parenting philosophy is for the birds. Just like we as a country do not negotiate with terrorists, I do not negotiate with preschoolers.

So needless to say our morning did not start off well. Then, at lunch time I went to take Harley, our dog, outside to go to the bathroom. The girls were not obeying me when I told them repeatedly to get back in the house and to not come outside.

Well, Ava finally decided to obey me. In fact, she went inside and locked Emma and I out of the house.

As if this wasn't bad enough, she couldn't unlock the door. I tried to calmly try to explain to her how to unlock the door (which is so easy trying to explain it to a 2 year old). However, after 20 minutes of getting nowhere I upped my demeanor to hysterical. My neighbors were not home, so I could not even call Jason to tell him to come home and let me in. To make matters worse, Ava kept walking away from the door so I couldn't even see her and she is my mischievous one.

I just sat on the patio and bawled my eyes out. It just didn't help that I have become immensely hormonal now that I have hit the 3rd trimester.

Finally, after 35 minutes of being locked out Ava unlocked the door. Good times.

So, it was just one of those days that I wished I never got out of the bed. I should have just pulled the covers back over my head.

Oh, and right before I typed this I made pumpkin bars. As I was putting them in the oven, I dropped the pan and the batter went everywhere all over the oven.

I think I'll go to bed now.

fall pictures

* WARNING* This post contains an overload of pictures.

I am in shock.

I actually got some fall photos of the girls taken by my busy husband! I thought I was going to have to book a session with him before long.

We actually still had some daylight left after dinner one night (that could be because pregnant mommy is so hungry by 5:00 that we eat way too early), so we decided to head out and take some pictures of the girls. If you know our girls, then you know they are not a fan of the camera. It could be because their paparazzi father follows them around with a camera documenting their every move. So usually for more formal pictures, they do not comply.

We headed out to a field and got in about 30 minutes of shooting. Beggars can not be choosers with the girls.

We had to leave anyway since we all of a sudden were attacked by a swarm of mosquitos. Good times.

portraits

This afternoon the girls and I had some "preschool" time. We did worksheets on counting, same and different, letters and fall. After we finished that, the girls started drawing everyone in the family.

When it came time for Emma to draw my portrait, this is what I saw...

Love it! That's a keeper for the scrapbook. I love that Emma includes baby Lila. We talk about her everyday. The girls are so excited to meet their baby sister.

Ava decided that she was going to draw Lila.
This is one of the first pictures that she has drawn that you can begin to see what it actually is. I am so proud of her! Now, I am a little concerned that she envisions Lila looking a little like Miss Piggy...

a halloween birthday party

Last night we got to attend the 5th birthday of Miss Nan Pittman. It was a Halloween birthday party so all the kiddos were in costume. The Pittman's went all out for the party. They had fall foods, pumpkin decorating and a pinata. The girls had such a good time!

Miss Nan, the birthday girl, a.k.a. Raggedy Ann

Emma's pumpkin she decorated.

This lovely pumpkin was decorated by Ava.

Emma swinging at the pinata.

Jason's mom, Grammy, made the girl's costume this year. Emma decided she wanted to be Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. She watches that movie at least 3 to 4 times a week. Well, Ava was determined that she was going to be Dorothy also. So they had matching costumes. Grammy did such a good job on the costumes! The girls loved it! I hate we didn't get a good pic of the girls as Dorothy, but we do have 3 more Halloween events this month so surely we can get good one!

pumpkin chocolate chip muffins

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 2 cups sugar

• 1 (16 ounce) can pumpkin
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil (yes, 1 1/4 cups)
• 3 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (Regular or mini, I like mini best)

Directions

1. 1

   In large mixing bowl beat eggs, sugar, pumpkin, vanilla and oil until smooth.

2. 2

   Mix dry ingredients together and mix into pumpkin mixture. Fold in chocolate chips.

3. 3

   Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups 3/4 full.

4. 4

   Bake at 400 F for 16-20 minutes.

I made these muffins and they were a family favorite. I found this recipe through Money Savings Mom. It's one of the recipes that she makes ahead of time and freezes. For me, this recipe made around 24 muffins and then about 12 mini muffins. If I had to do it again, I might have put in about 1/4 less of the chocolate chips in, and I might have included a bit more of the spices such as more cinnamon, ginger, cloves or allspice. Although, there was no complaints from the family for the original recipe!

another random dozen

1. I've always wondered why we were taught both printing and cursive. Do you prefer to print or write cursive? (Keyboard is not a choice.)

Print. I do not have pretty cursive handwriting. In fact, I can not even remember how some of the letters are supposed to be done in cursive.

2. Are you a dreamer or a realist?
A realist much to my hubby's dismay considering he is a dreamer. He says he always comes to me with this huge vision, and then I bust the bubble by saying, "Well, have you thought about this, and what are you going to do about this?" I guess that's why we work so well together!

3. Billy Joel or Elton John?
Neither, really. Although I do have a fond memory of being on a road trip with my roommate when Elton John's "Tiny Dancer" came on. She thought the words to the song were, "Hold me closer, Tony Danza."

4. What is the scariest movie you've ever seen? Not just horror flicks but also ones where the tension or suspense is killer, for example, Flightplan (2005): A bereaved woman and her daughter are flying home from Berlin to America. At 30,000 feet the child vanishes and nobody admits she was ever on that plan.
The Last House on the Left. Jason and I both agree that the scariest movies are movies were people just do random acts of violence to others when they don't know you and they just pick you. I don't like movies that could possibly happen in real life.

5. Now what is the scariest real-life moment you've had?
not sure

6. What word do you misspell without fail?
I can't think of one, but I did misspell the word "fourth" on my daughter's birthday invitations. I put forth, and of course spellcheck didn't pick it up and my pregnancy brain did not notice.

7. Name something you like to do but are not really talented or good at?
Sing. I have a feeling everyone in my family is going to possess this gift and I will be the odd man out. Maybe I can be the manager...

8. Do you get your emotional/mental batteries recharged by being around people or by having alone time?
Depends on my mood. Most of the time I need alone time to sort through my feelings through prayer and meditation.

9. Have you ever been on TV?
nope

10. Apple or pumpkin pie? (Don't be greedy.)
Definitely, apple. The best part of my day yesterday was when the hubby text me and said he just had some homemade apple pie and nothing could compare to mine. That just melted my butter...

11. How many magazine subscriptions do you have?
3... Parents, Parenting and Better Homes and Gardens

12. What lesson do you have to keep re-learning?

Trusting God with it ALL. I'm such a control freak. I feel like maybe if I just hold onto this one little thing...

God is really good about not letting that slide:)

the carnival

This past weekend we got to celebrate with the Dean family in all 3 of their children's birthdays.  All 3 kids are born in the month of October.  Emmy turned 4, Macy turned 3 and Nora turned 1.

The great thing about having all your kids' birthdays in the same month?  You get to combine birthday parties and have one big blow out!  

This year Emmy and Macy had their birthday parties together while Nora had a separate one since it was her first birthday.  The theme for Emmy and Macy's party was a carnival.  

Courtney went all out.  She should be a party planner.  There was a dunking booth, cotton candy machine, popcorn machine and a snow cone machine.  The backyard was set up just like a carnival with tents that had games in them.  As the kids arrived they were given tickets to go play games.  They had great prizes just like a carnival!  Some of the games were ring toss, go fish, a pie eating contest and a cake walk.  Too cute!

One of the birthday girls, Emmy.

Mommy and Daddy sharing a kiss after Daddy got dunked in the water.

Ava was so excited to have a cupcake painted on her face, but of course like every 2 year old she reached up to touch it and messed it up.  She was a little sad to say the least.  She needed some comfort from Mommy.

Emma's personal favorite, popcorn.

The other birthday girl, Macy.

Courtney surprised Macy with a pie to the face.  In all fairness, Macy got to return the favor to Courtney.

This lovely game sent us home with 2 beta fish.  We'll see how long they live in this house.

Our friend Melanie helping Ava throw the ball to knock down the cans.

Melanie's husband JJ as the clown.

At the end of the day, the family posed for some cute pics with their clown noses on.  Then, they realized these balloons in the air.  Such a precious family and a precious party!

a cooking day

I have been on an organizing terror.

I'm not sure if it was because I was literally hyperventilating the other night thinking about Lila coming.  Yes, major panic attack.

Realizing that I am one week away from the 3rd trimester has made me begin to reevaluate the way I do things around the home.  Quite honestly, things don't always run as smooth as I would like.  As I was thinking about why that is, I began to realize the common denominator in all of the areas was ME.  I'm not going to lie and tell you that my 2 precious, rambunctious children don't hinder us in having a smooth day, but my lack of planning is really where everything starts.

After following another blogger, Money Saving Mom, I have decided that one area I am going to work on is planning ahead meals and more importantly cooking ahead meals.  We just end up eating out way too much because our schedule gets crazy and it just seems easier to do.  I also end up throwing away so many groceries because I never got around to cooking with it.

So today I started around 2:00 and began cooking the following meals (oh, and I also cooked a full dinner for us tonight):

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Broccoli Cheese Soup 

2 batches of Chili

2 batches of Chicken Tetrazzini to bake 

Poppy seed Chicken Mix to bake 

Taco Meat

Plain Ground Beef

Loaf of Banana Bread

I finally finished at 10:30 tonight.  Tiring?  Yes.  Worth it?  Absolutely!  I am excited to know that I have 9 spur-of-the-moment meals I can throw together in no time!

Now, if I could work on cutting that grocery bill in half...

random dozen

1. On an average, how often do you splurge and buy something for yourself?

I'm not sure.  I'll go for several months not doing anything for myself and then I'll have a month where I have splurged too much on myself.

2. Are you more like Hall or Oates? Just kidding. Real question: What is the last creative project you began/finished? Feel free to post a pic of it.
The china cabinet, hence the previous post.

3. OK, Goldie Locks, do you consider your house too big, too little or juuuust right?
This house is just right.  We literally use every room in the house.  We don't waste any space and we don't wish for more space.

4. What is your favorite outdoor chore?

planting flowers... or watching my hubby plant them

5. If you knew that cigarette smoking was not bad for your health but would be a weight loss tool, would you use it? Why or why not?
No, just too stinky of a way to go.

6. On a road trip, would you rather drive or ride?
Mostly, I would rather drive.  Other drivers irritate me too much.  I'm too much of a control freak even though I am not the best driver.

7. What do you consider a trivial pursuit?
Money, although I am working on this one!

8. This weekend, we downloaded the movie "Duplicity" with Julia Roberts and Clive Owen. Within 5 minutes, I was bored and annoyed, but I kept watching 5-10 minutes at a time hoping it would get better between small chores. I finally gave up and Jorge watched it alone, and then regretted wasting that time because he disliked it intensely, too. So ... how long do you watch a movie or read a book before giving up on it?
I usually give it somewhere between 1/4 in to 1/2 in before I make a decision.  But, I do agree with the assessment of Duplicity.  I was mad at myself for wasting my time during that movie.

9. Is there a song that you really love but are embarrassed to admit because it's not cool or it's racy or because it's by Hall and Oates?
I can't remember who sings it, but it's called Shake Your Tail Feather.  It's probably 7 years  old.  It's a rap song. It's catchy!

On the Christian side of music, Jason says that I should be ashamed that I am a closet Avalon fan.

10. On a scale of 1-10 (10 = extremely) how spontaneous are you?
5

11. Are you a food and/or beverage snob?
I am becoming a food snob the more I get into cooking.  I am not a beverage snob... the hubby is a coffee snob!

12. Who/What are you trying to control in your life? (I hear people gulping and see them sweating in anticipation of how to answer this one.)

My children!  I'm not doing such a hot job on this one.  I'm pretty sure they are the ones running the show!

the big reveal

I am so excited about this piece of furniture.  I found this beauty at the Salvation Army for $85.  It was in great condition and made of real wood.  

With a few cans of spray paint and my handy hubby, it soon turned to this...
I love it!  I have searched for over a year to find the perfect one to redo.  My hubby is sooooo uber-talented!

an award...

I got this award from my best friend Candice.

The rules are...

1.  List 5 current obsessions

2. Pass it along to 5 blogging friends (I will not be passing it along because I am pretty sure most of my blogging friends have already received it.  I know, I know.  I am a rebel.)

So here goes...

1.  I have become one of those people who have read all the Twilight books.  The long of the short of it is I watched the movie, I borrowed the first book and then I felt the need to read all of them.  I have to say that I actually really enjoyed all of them.  Well, all except the last book.  Because I am fast reader (or maybe because I have a slightly obsessive personality), I read all 4 books in a week.  That's just about 2500 pages in a week.

2.  On the opposite end of the spectrum, I am obsessed with the book of Galatians in the Bible.  Jason has been through Tim Keller's study of Galatians and is leading his discipleship group through it also.  I decided to follow suite and walk through it too.  It is fabulous.  It has really challenged me in the area of legalism and the things that I hold so tight a fist around that God didn't intend for me to.  It has broken down so many stereotypes that I may give to people, and it has made me realize the things that I feel the need to "add on" to the gospel in order for myself and others to be categorized as "good Christians".  It is just icing on the cake that now Pastor Sam is walking though Galatians on Sunday mornings.

3.  I am obsessed with all things fall.  I am loving decorating for fall this year.  I was so excited when we planted the mums and the pansies in the flower beds and when we got out bales of hay and pumpkins for the front porch.  I was just noticing at lunch that the leaves from the trees in the woods that back up to our house are beginning to change colors.  I love pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks and pumpkin scented candles.  I also can't forget about yummy pumpkin spice bars.  I love the smell of a fireplace and wrapping up in over sized sweatshirts and sweaters.  Of course now the sweatshirts and sweaters would have to be REALLY over sized to cover my massive belly:)

4.  I'm loving my girls as usual.  I love the way they are each growing and how you never know what to expect to hear from either of them.  This morning as Ava was sitting in my lap, she told me that Wiwa (Lila) needed to cook a little longer before she came.  Too cute!

5.  I'm loving refurbishing furniture, or should I say I love telling Jason how I want him to rehab some pieces?  He's got a talent for it.  I see the vision and he implements it.  Recently, we bought a china cabinet from the Salvation Army.  Since we got it Thursday, I have been obsessed with getting it finished and in the house.  This morning, it finally came in the house.  I just need to buy some new hardware for it to finish it.  The before and after pictures will be coming soon...

family friday

Since Friday was so beautiful, we decided to work in the flower beds and the yard.  

The "help" I got in the flower beds started out innocent enough.

Then, somewhere in the middle it turned into this.
I think this is one of Jason and I's favorite pictures.

Funnier than watching Emma hose down Ava was Jason with his camera telling her to keep doing it so he could capture it.  We're all about the discipline.

We finished off the day with a little lunch outside.

A day of fun, all for these beauties to find themselves a new home in my flower bed.  So excited.  Love me some mums!

On another happy note for me, I am so excited for the reveal of the china cabinet I just bought from the Salvation Army.  Jason has been working on it all weekend.  I have searched for a year to find the perfect one to redo!  Hopefully, by tomorrow the beauty will be finished!

the last few weeks in film...

So, things have been busy again to say the least.  The swine flu hit our house.  Thankfully, only Jason and Emma got sick.  Since it was so dangerous for me to my around them since I am pregnant, I was advised to "get out of Dodge" ASAP.  But, where do you go when everyone is scared that you may actually have the swine flu since you have been exposed?

You do what most normal people would.  You get to stay in a luxurious million dollar mansion on the lake.  A church member heard of our situation and it offered it to Ava and I for the week.  So lucky!

I would post pics of our fabulous time, but you see I am a worthless photographer and I have no good pics to show.  If Jason does not go with us somewhere or is not there to document it, then you can expect no pictures.

Here are some pics however of the last 3 weeks.  Jason has been shooting some pics with film lately, trying it out.

A mall outing...

At the mall, the girls call Barnes and Noble the library.  Probably, because we never actually go to the library.  Or maybe it is because we just go to look at play and we never buy books.

After getting back from the doctor with the diagnosis,  a special treat for the patient.

He's just wishing for an escape from all the torture.  If he hits me up on the right day, I might just open the door and help him.

While we were gone, Jason and Emma escaped from the confines of our home to infect the rest of the world with swine flu.  They decided to hit up Baskin Robbins.  In the words of Jason, "It's no big deal.  We were outside."  

Right, because you never come in contact with germs outside.


I'm not sure about this picture.  It is their mod creative look.