Sunday, October 31, 2010

New Traditions

This year we started what we hope to be a new family tradition...
we hosted a family Halloween party at our house!!
Costumes were required and we had SO! much! FUN!
I will let the pictures speak for themselves 
and I will let you imagine all of the laughter that was ringing throughout my house.  
Nothing better than laughter and family!

Without further ado...
Halloween 2010


My cute clown



One of my faves of the night...

My sweet butterfly



I was a clown too!

Grammy a pumpkin and GG a nice witch :)

Papa as a uhauler (inside family joke)

Nana as a pirate
Uncle dude as a hillbilly and Aunt Andi as a hippie
awesome, don't ya think?
And look at the Anderson/McPhail clan
as the Wizard of Oz

Kara as Dorothy...can you hear her laughing?
Kelly as the Tin Man
Gabby as the Scarecrow
Gordy as the lion
Uncle Dick as the Wizard
There was soo much of this...
that I will be posting Halloween pix for days!
More to come tomorrow because for now,
Mommy is tired!


P.S. special thanks to awesome friend Selina who came over and made Collin's clown pants last night after I ran out of time and to our Nana who helped me with the trick or treating/passing out candy since daddy had to work!  You both are life savers, couldn't have done it without you!!















Thursday, October 28, 2010

Have you missed me?

I have been terrible at posting this week!  We have been busy but just haven't taken any pictures and I have been so stinkin tired at night!  We picked up our mommy van today...oh yes we did...more on that tomorrow!
Until then here is a little something, or should I say someone, to hold you over...
He may kill me for posting these someday,
but in the meantime, they are good for a chuckle...





Lookin good kiddo, lookin good!

Monday, October 25, 2010

Monday, Monday

Whew.  Let me warn you that below you will find a wordy post without pictures.  I could add a few but truth be told I am feeling much to lazy to download them and then upload them to the blog.  It's the end of the day, we are all in one piece and I am glad the sun has set and the babes are asleep.  It's been a long Monday.  An overwhelming Monday.  Not for any one reason in particular...but overwhelming non the less.  I worked all day (filling in for my partner who just had a baby) which is exhausting in and of itself.  26 first graders...need I say more?  I was tired all day, just dragging along.  I came home to my energized lovies, made some dinner and then sent daddy off to shop for a "mommy van"...oh yes I did...and when we buy it I will write a post titled "eating my words" because I vowed never to drive one and now I am soooo ready to break up with the SUV that was my first love!

Daddy left and it seemed as though the house started falling down quick.  Spills left and right, crying, tantrums (from my oh so sweet Madelyn who has recently found her sassy side), more spills, time outs, fights over toys, vacuuming, spills, toys everywhere, and throw in a few more spills for good measure.  Don't you wish you would have stopped by?

Oh muh gosh people bedtime did not come quick enough!

The night ended in tears...not kid tears...mommy tears.  I try to convince myself that everyone feels this way from time to time right?  Overwhelmed by all the responsibility of raising two tiny humans.  Two tiny humans who you love more than life itself.  Two tiny humans who you feel deserve so much more than you feel able to give.  Because we all want to give our kids the world...

 Mmmhmmm and that fierce love that I feel for them is what makes this momma feel real guilty on days like today.  I have to talk myself out of the guilt because I know that most (if not all) moms have days like these, but I also have to readjust my thoughts a little.  Raising kids can be overwhelming at times...the laundry is endless, you feel like a short order cook, the house is never tidy, and then there is the discipline....iyiyi!  Trying to shape the hearts of two willful littles, well that's enough to leave a momma speechless!  Staying on top of discipline is demanding and can be frustrating, keeping up with daily household "chores" is exhausting but ultimately I am BLESSED to be able to do all of these things for my children.  If suddenly I was unable to do any one of these things I would surely no longer see them as mommy chores, but rather mommy privileges.  Because ultimately that is what they are...they are privileges.  Privileges that I prayed so earnestly for.  I wanted nothing more in this life than to be a mommy.  Out of all the children in this world, God blessed me with the exact two that I wanted!

When my two sweet loves wrap their little arms around my neck and plant wet kisses on my cheek I feel valued.  When they giggle and their laughter rings throughout my house, I feel a heart thumping joy.  When they fall and come to me crying needing me to make it better, I feel a bit like a hero.  When they just "want" their mommy, I feel a little like an angel.   When I look at them and really think about how blessed we are to have happy, healthy children I suddenly no longer feel so overwhelmed but rather overwhelming blessed...



Look to the LORD and His strength; seek His face always.

Psalm 105:4

Sunday, October 24, 2010

A day with daddy

Ryan and Collin spent most of Saturday at Uncle Todd's house.  They had a fun time together.  Papa Don was there too.  The first thing Collin talked about was how they "fired up the leaves"...



Collin and Daisy
Good ole Mocha

I stayed home with this little stinker...

Grammy and Papa came by after dinner so we decided to take Collin out by himself to the Halloween store to pick out a costume.  He had SO much fun in there!  He has still been talking about it today.  Mommy bought a costume this year.  We are having a costume party at our house on Halloween, can't wait!  Collin also finally decided on something as well.  It is not something I would have ever thought he would choose but it is what he wanted.  He is going to be so stinkin cute!  
I will leave you in suspense until next Sunday...




Friday, October 22, 2010

Kid's rooms

I am participating in Kelly's Korner Show us your Life Kid's Rooms.
I LOVED decorating the kid's rooms!!  Let's face it, they are hard to keep clean because little people like to make messes, but when we need to we can make them look picture perfect...kind of!  ;)
Shall we start with Miss...






And Mr...




My all time FAVORITE thing about my kid's rooms...
the sweet loves who sleep in them!



Tuesday, October 19, 2010

This and That

I took the kids to GG's tonight for a short visit before she leaves tomorrow for NH to visit Jannie.  We love our GG!
So much for the bow...


She is pretty sure she shouldn't do this...




In other news...
I wore my hair like this today...

It got mixed reviews from my children.
Collin's response was
"Whoa mommy your hair looks STYLED"
Thanks buddy...I think!
His follow up response...
"It looks crazy and nice"

Madelyn on the other hand just stared at it as if she was wondering when the bird was going to land in it's nest.

Whatever Mads...