Pottery Barn Playtime

We took the kids Christmas shopping the other day. By Christmas shopping, I don't mean that we actually bought them things...just window shopping so we can figure out what they want for Christmas. I think this particular trip brought more questions then answers, but as we were leaving the mall, we made a quick stop by Pottery Barn Kids. I stayed there with Ava for a few minutes while Brian and Chance made a quick stop. I had so much fun watching her play there. She loved it. We were in there at least thirty minutes. The first half she played with the kitchen stuff, the second half, she played with the dolls. To be honest, it made me want to buy her everything in the store (which I always want to do anyway, that's why I can't enter!) She was so cute! I took a couple little videos that I wanted to put on here. I may have ended up buying her the little doll she was playing with for Christmas...I've never seen her go on about a doll like that before. However, I did show restraint, I did not buy the entire kitchen!!

A (Scary) Christmas Carol

We took the kids to see A Christmas Carol the other day. I was so excited about this movie (possibly even more excited than the kids). This was one of my favorites growing up and Polar Express was so good, I figured it was impossible to go wrong! Well, let me just tell you that I was disappointed. I had been warned that the movie was scary, but I just thought people were over exaggerating. Nope. They were right. It was kinda terrifying! I kept leaning over to ask the kids if they needed to leave. They said they were okay, but I felt like a horrible parent the whole time for having them in there. There were a couple good parts... I loved the traveling scenes, you really felt like you were flying. I loved the snow. It was very 3-D and Ava sat on the edge of her chair and tried to catch the snow with her hands...that was cute. That is where the cuteness ended, though. Perhaps I would have liked it better if the kids hadn't been with me and I wouldn't have felt so guilty...I don't know. I generally don't see animated movies without the kids, there are so many other options! This is just how I felt and you can take it with a grain of salt if you like. I, too, am one of those people who don't believe what others say, I have to see for myself. Just be warned, if you take your kids, you may be up with them in the middle of the night...we were!

Proud Mommy

The other day, when I was picking Ava up from school, her teacher stopped me and asked if Ava had told me what she got to do the day before. Nope...no story from Ava. She proceeded to tell me that she was so proud of Ava's great coloring of the gumball machine (it was letter "G" week) that she took her to a first grade class AND the Principal's office to show it off! I couldn't believe she didn't tell me about this...Ava really loves recognition (don't we all?!?) She's so funny about what she deems news worthy for the day. :) I'm glad I found out (even if it WAS from her teacher)...so proud of her good coloring!

Fun Fall Pics

The other day, I decided it was time to get the kids in the backyard and take some fall pictures. Too bad I didn't make myself do this when the tree in our yard was full of the most brilliant, beautiful yellow leaves you've ever seen. I saw these leaves the other day and said to myself, "Get some pictures fast before they all fall off!" Clearly I didn't listen because now they are all on the ground...DEAD and brown...so sad. It's okay...it's still fallish, right?? If any of you know my affinity for picture taking, this probably won't be the last of the leaf pictures, but it's all you get for now. I thought they were kinda cute. ;)

In other news, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! I've been walking in the neighborhood and Christmas lights are popping up all over the place (yes, some even already have their lights ON!) Looks like I'm not the only one who likes to get a jump on the Christmas season...I don't even have my tree up yet...guess I'm behind. Either that, or I can't handle those babies pulling my tree down on their heads on the half hour. It may be a long season. Rest assured though...I will still have my tree up by Thanksgiving. I can't bear working that hard on something that only stays up a couple weeks. I'm just going to have to find a way to keep the babies out of the tree. Any suggestions?? No, I'm not going to put a baby gate around it...try again! One more FYI...I just discovered tonight that Delilah has already started playing Christmas music. Fun!

UGH! Will I Ever Be Done Blogging About Halloween?!?

Halloween Day, Brian and I took the kids to the Red Ribbon Parade. Can you believe that I've lived in Moore most of my life and have never attended a parade?? Funny. Brian took the kids last year but I didn't go for some reason. Well, I went this year...first time ever. It was actually kinda fun and the weather was GREAT! We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day. We all started out with our coats, but by the time the first float made it our way, they were off. The kids loved the parade, but were probably ready to go after the first hour. I didn't even understand that this parade went more than an hour. I kept telling them that I was sure it was about over and Brian informed me that we were barely half way through. REALLY?!? Crazy. I had no idea. We talked the kids into staying until we saw their school and our church and then they were definitely ready to go (and Mommy got her fair share of tootsie rolls...YAY!) Here are some of my favorite pics of the parade. I personally thought it was lots of fun and will not be so BLAH about going next year.
Halloween evening we went to the fall carnival at the church. We made sure to get there early because the kids wanted to go trick-or-treating. There is no candy at this carnival...at least that's not the prizes for winning the games. They give away tickets and the kids can "buy" toys with the money they "earn". It's fun and they always come out with a pretty good toy. This year, Ava bought a fur real friend and Chance got a voice changer...lots of fun for them (not sure how Mommy feels about the voice changer...it's annoying. Chance likes it though, and I suppose that's all that matters.) They also got to see some friends and they like that part, too.

After the carnival, we took the kids trick-or-treating. We had promised Chance that he could trick-or-treat with one of his friends in the neighborhood for a bit, so we did that first. Then Brian took them to his favorite neighborhood. They have really good candy and some friends of ours do a haunted cave that the kids like to go through. I guess I use the term "like" somewhat loosely because they have a love/hate relationship with the cave. The "monsters" always try to stay in the corners when the kids go through so they won't be scared, but Chance is always a little hesitant to go through. We give him the option to sit out, but he chooses to go. My favorite part of the cave is the room with a black light and bubbles. The bubbles look so cool in there...I could stay there the whole time and watch them. :) My favorite part of the evening was the weather! It was the perfect night to be outdoors. Ava had a sleeveless dress and she didn't even need a coat...it was perfect!

Weekend of Fun

I had a really busy weekend! I had a fun Friday/Saturday with the girls. We had originally planned to go to Texas to go shopping....then the plan turned into Tulsa....and eventually we decided that we were going to stay here instead. We did, however, all spend the night at our friend Carrie's. I must say, I haven't had any kind of slumber since I was about 16....but we shouldn't stop those just because we're old and married. We had so much fun. It was pretty low key...dinner, watch movies...the next day we went Christmas shopping. I had so much fun with my girls and I'm really glad we did this! Saturday night, I got to spend some quality time with Brian (who had been missing me...lol) and we went to a birthday party at an Italian restaurant. (Happy Birthday, Amanda!) In our quest to find the restaurant, we also found a Baskin Robbins that we had no idea was there...pretty awesome discovery! :)
Okay, enough about my weekend...I'm just warning you guys...the time has come. All the weekend Christmas shopping has definitely put me in the Christmas mood...not to mention the cold weather today. Christmas music is coming to my blog today. If you think about it, it's really not that early...Thanksgiving is NEXT Thursday!! So enjoy!!! If you are one of those ba humbug people (just kidding) that thinks it's too early, just turn the sound down and don't listen. Something for everyone...I'm a people pleaser! These are some of my favorites...hope you love them as much as I do.

Northmoor Fall Carnival

First of all, what do you think of the giant picture? I've never set the picture to be downloaded in the "large" format before. Is it too much? It takes longer to do and we all know that I hate the time it takes to download pictures...just thought I'd try it with one and see how it went. Well, as some of you know, I have already tried to post Halloween pics in one convenient slide show, but I'm having technical difficulties...so now we will do it the hard way. These pics are of the kid's fall carnival at their school. This is the first year (since Chance has been there, anyway) that they have done one of these at the school. I was so happy about it! I used to have fall carnivals at my school growing up and it was one of my favorite things. The kids were excited about it, too. There was a cake walk, trick-or-treating in the halls with the lower grade teachers, and all the games were set up in the gym. Here is Ava participating in the cupcake walk...Chance was out on this one...(in case you were wondering, she did not win :( Sorry, Ava!)


They loved the games in the gym...Chance was awesome at bowling...he got a strike. Go Chance! He did not get that talent from his Mommy and Daddy. ;)

Showing off their "treasures"...this is code for things that will quickly find their way to the trash!

I really liked this one...it looks like they really like each other... Please note Little Bo Peep and her "lost" sheep in the background. It was my favorite costume of the evening. So cute!

Chance even found a couple of his friends. Ava found some friends, too, but refused to take pictures for me.It was a fun evening, even though I was sad that Brian couldn't be with us because Thursday is his class night. There were a couple things this carnival was missing to rival the ones of my childhood. How about a list?!?

#1~ There was no jail...all my carnivals always had a jail and someone had to bail you out...

#2~ No old beat up car that you could pay to swing at with a sledge hammer...that's safe, right?? haha

....and the thing I miss most of all...

#3~ CONFETTI EGGS!!

(What are confetti eggs, you ask?? When I was little, my mom was PTA president and she was in charge of the carnival which meant the entire year before, she would collect egg shells. They would take the bigger half and fill it with confetti and wrap the top with tissue paper. You could then buy these eggs to smash on people's heads...it was great fun, but a complete mess!) I'm not in anyway implying that this should be a tradition that continues, it was just a fun little trip down memory lane...at least for me!

Brian MAY Have Gotten Me a Snuggie...

I know. It's a little bizarre. Why did I want a Snuggie, you ask? Have you not seen those ridiculous commercials?? And THAT made you want a Sunggie?!? No, please don't be alarmed...I think the commercials are horrible, too. They made me spend the first year or so thinking that Sunggies were absolutely not something I ever wanted. However, the more I sat all covered up at night watching all our countless movies...it made me realize a blanket with arms may not be so bad after all. Once you decide to give in to its warm comfort...you may just realize that it can be your friend. There are several things you will never see from me, though.

#1~ You will not see me in a picture wearing the Snuggie...That's why Ava is my model.

#2~ I promise not to dance around in the kitchen while wearing my Snuggie.

#3~ I most definitely will never take it with me to a movie...no matter how cold I am.

#4~ ...or wear it to any kind of sporting event while participating in the "wave".

#5~ I solemnly swear to NEVER wear it anywhere in public.

I will, in fact, only wear it at my house when we are cuddled up in the living room watching movies. Crazy thing is that my kids like them, too, and are now asking for them for Christmas. Don't judge til you try them for yourself! For those of you who can't get passed the blanket arms...Ava still likes to use it solely for blanket purposes. In case you were wondering, my Snuggie seemed to be missing the book light..they may be trying to trick you with that one!

Help Me!

I am trying extremely hard not to break out my Christmas music. You guys have no idea how hard this is for me. I don't want everyone to think I am an obnoxious Christmas junkie (but I am). Here am I showing GREAT restraint and trying really hard to wait at least

one...

more....

week...

But I make NO promises!

Red Ribbon Week

I was a distracted mommy this year and forgot to take pictures of my kids during Red Ribbon week. This is the week they get to dress in a different theme every day with the focus of saying "no" to drugs. These are the only pictures that made the cut this year because I kept forgetting to take them. I did remember to take pictures on "crazy hair/hat day". I had a blue spray-painted wedding ring the entire day because I forgot to take it off before I "fixed" Chance's hair...but I did remember to take some pics of them before they went to school. One out of two isn't bad. ;) This was their favorite day anyway...Chance never misses an opportunity to color his hair! The only other day that they really loved was pajama day. Who doesn't love to wear their p.j.'s to school?!? Anyway, just thought I'd post the pics I did take. I'm sure we all want to remember Chance with his crazy blue hair and Ava with her fun green hat!

Cuteness

I don't know what else to say about this...she loves her Daddy.

Orr Family Farm

Mid-America (Brian's place of employment) hosted a family fun night at the Orr Family Farm this year complete with a hayride and a cook-out. What a great way to celebrate autumn! This was, in fact, a very autumny night...in fact, it was downright chilly. I was somewhat unprepared...I had no idea how cold it was because I hadn't been outside in what seemed like days due to all the painting. Poor Chance only had his little sweatshirt hoodie. Lucky for me, I had my coat in the car. The kids had lots of fun in spite of the cold. We started the evening off with a hayride. The kids were really excited to have quite a few of their friends there and we even had Grandma with us, too, so it was a double bonus! The hayride took us to a little pumpkin patch where the kids got to got to pick out a pumpkin. I guess I should really say "kid" because Chance wouldn't get off the tractor because he was FREEZING! ;) After the pumpkins, we were dropped off at the cook-out site where there were LOTS of fun activities. Chance was ready to get off for this part. haha The rest of the night was spent riding really fun bikes around a track and jumping on these giant pillowy things appropriately called "jumping pillows"...

My kids (all three of them...Brian included) jumped on these things for a LONG time. I spent most of my time by the fire. :) It was a really nice evening and we were appreciative that Mid-America gave us such a fun night with the family. After we jumped, ate hot dogs, and jumped some more, the evening came to a close. We stayed until long past dark. The moon was beautiful that night. I never tire in my quest to take a really good picture of the moon (which is NEVER going to happen with my not-set-up-for-that camera, but I had to try anyway. I know the picture doesn't do it justice, but it was a really beautiful night!