Our Life...

Big B*Day.

I was one lucky Mamma yesterday. I woke up to three of the best people in the world bringing me gifts and singing Happy Birthday. Elsie wrapped up a little piggy in her blankie and drew me the best family portrait ever; complete with a rainbow, sun, and birdies flying in the sky. The Hubs surprised me with some fancy twine (for scrapbooking)... yes, he actually listens to me. I was completely impressed. We had a special McDonald's lunch, Elsie's choice. We played outside in the sunshine before it rained. Then, my special man made me my mom's spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. Yum! AND he made enough to freeze two other meals out of it... it's the gift that will keep on giving. Perfect. He and Elsie also picked out an apple pie at the grocery store for dessert, but we didn't get to enjoy it because we had to go and pick this up...

 

Yep. We traded in my 9-year-old Trail Blazin' baby for this fancy new 2011 Chevy Traverse. This bad boy will fit me and 7 other of my pose. So, yes, Gram DiDi. You no longer have to try and squeeze between two car seats... well, if you don't want to anyway. Elsie didn't take the transition very well. She was so excited to go and pick it up. I had never seen her get her shoes on so fast. BUT when we were pulling away from the TrailBlazer, it was a different story. The tears started to flow. She wanted Mamma's old car. She was very sad, and that made me even sadder. I had to tell her how fun it will be to surprise the ladies at school when they open the door to the car and see her. That pepped her up a little bit, and I got a smile with a giggle. She liked that idea. This morning she continued to say she missed Mamma's old car. I told her it was ok to miss it. I missed it too, but now we have a nice new car that will fit all our friends and family in. She liked that idea too. Sam on the other hand. Well, he loves it. When he sees it, he says, "New caar! New caar!"

Oh and since we didn't have time to bake the pie, Elsie said she would share her cake with me...

 

I am a pretty lucky Mamma.

Just a little carving...

Elsie was very anxious to get started on carving out her perfect pumpkin. Yesterday was the perfect day; beautiful and sunny so we chose to do just that, but outside.

 

Elsie loved pulling out the guts and sorting the pumpkins seeds. She had some from school, and really wanted to make some of her own to eat. Sam was all about playing. It did however catch his attention for a little bit and wanted to check out what was going on inside that thing. Then, he was back to playing.

 

... Until, Dad showed him how to use the little pumpkin knife. He took his turn sawing out the nose, but then went right back to playing again. 

 

Elsie drew her princess face on her pumpkin, complete with eyelashes. Then, I helped her carve it out.

 

I must say that they turned out pretty darn good ;)

 

I mean, look at those faces... pure awesome-ness, I say.

And that is all she wrote...

Elsie played her final soccer game on Saturday for the fall. We are so proud of her. She did lots of improving the past couple of months. She is still flakey out there, but getting better ;) She even got a couple of goals this past season.

 

But she is most proud of her trophy, which now sits on her shelf in her bedroom. She can't wait to show it off to her friends it when they come to play.

And this little one...

 

Was pretty excited to find the penny in his pocket from the night before. AND I am pretty sure that we have another soccer player on our hands. He tried a couple of times to get in on the action of this game. When the ball would go out in front of us, and the kids had to kick it back in... well, he made a few attempts to up-stage them ;)

Half Birthday...

Someone celebrated her half birthday yesterday...

 

Hard to believe my little bug is now 4 1/2 years old. WOW. And we would have had a half cake, if Mom and Dad wouldn't have gotten caught up in chopping wood. At least we had one... nice and fresh too! It was the perfect bedtime snack.

Surprise!

Two little people got a special surprise in the mail ...

 

There were stickers, bats that glowed in the dark, and slimy spiders. Sam was all about those spiders and Elsie was all about those bats. Thank you Auntie Alison and Uncle Luke!

Pumpkins...

Sunday, we ventured to the pumpkin patch to find ourselves some pumpkins...

 

It was a perfect fall day... we weren't wearing our shorts like a two years ago, but oh well. The kiddies had a blast.

 

(And yes, I did get most shots of their backsides... they were busy!)

 

I did come across a fuzzy little friend. They both got a kick out of it. This picture just cracks me up. Elsie was still off to the side. She wasn't too sure about it at first, but then she warmed up to it. She even let it crawl all over her. Then, we left our new little friend on a leaf, and began to pumpkin hunt again.

 

Sam was all about the wagon. He just wanted to pull/push it everywhere. Elsie was all about the pumpkins. Her's is in the wagon now, and the search was on for Sam's perfect pumpkin.

 

After much debate and searching, we found the perfect pumpkins to come home with us! (P.S. Sam is off to my side yelling "PA-Kinnn" as I type this. OK. So now he is on my lap yelling that. The boy knows what a pumpkin is now.)

 

And that was our adventure at the pumpkin patch this year.

Awe. Friday. Nice.

Today was a good day.

We lounged around the house in the morning. Elsie got herself dressed too. Yes, she insisted. There was no talking her out of it, and since it was the Friday of a very long week; I was going to pick my battles and that just didn't fit the bill.

 

She even wanted to pose for a picture. Isn't she just the cutest? And Sam, well, I think the picture explains that. HeeHee.

Then we decided ventured out for a little shopping and a special lunch.

 

A little Donald's was in order. Elsie even got to bring her own little guy, Eeyore. She was pretty happy about that. She made sure he even got in the picture with us.

Then, we headed back home to enjoy the nice weather and their special treats.

 

We found some more Toy Story Pez dispensers that had Jessie and Slinky ... So we splurged and got them. It makes them happy ... and me too.

 

They ate their treats up, and then played with their favorites (again.) They would go back and forth, and sometimes I fixed a flat tire, filled their gas, or even checked their teeth. Yes today, I became the dentist.

After a little rest, we headed back outside to play with the neighborhood crew. After much debate, we decided to order pizza and enjoy dinner together on our own turf. A little outside our normal. We usually go to Chipotle for neighborhood night, but today it was different. AND the kiddies all loved it. They were pretty excited to see a fire pit roaring and a TV outside to watch.

 

Yes, they huddled around that thing like it was something they had never seen before, but then again how many times do you see a TV outside? How funny. Guess it is the little things in life. Once it was nice and dark out... we had some roasted marshmallows and they ran around with flashlights playing some sort of Monster game that they made up. They had a blast.

It was a good Friday.

Thursday... one crazy busy day.

Elsie's school in the morning.

Birthday party in the afternoon.

Awwwe... (short) rest time.

Dinner.

Soccer practice in the evening.

A little playtime outside.

A little bit of Phineaus and Ferb.

Awwwe... bedtime.

 

(Snapped this one as they were playing outside tonight.)

 

Today was crazy busy. With that birthday party this afternoon (over 3 hours) and then soccer practice... I am whooped. But it was a lot of fun, and I am so glad that Ella really wanted to invite Elsie. Both the kiddies totally had fun. We came home after school, jumped in the wagon, and rode off. It was just too funny to watch Sam. I think he thought we were just going for a walk. We pulled up to the house, and he just stopped and stared. They invited us in. More staring from Sam. He just kept looking around like 'what am I doing and where am I?' ... too fun. After about 45+minutes, he warmed up to the idea of a party with all the kids. It was just so funny to watch him. Even eating pizza, he would take a bite, and then just move his eyes side to side trying to figure out what was going on. Heehee. Elsie, on the other hand, was just so so happy. She had been asking to have Ella over to play since day one of school. AND how lucky is it that she is just down the street from us? The funny thing is, is that I even "knew" three of the other moms there. HA! It was through other people... you know - all five other families that I know here. Small little town, I guess.

They ate pizza, had a scavenger hunt, played on the play set, decorated a pumpkin, had a huge cupcake, and just had fun. More on those cupcakes. It was actually a cupcake without a wrapper turned upside down with ALL frosting. No spoon. No fork. Only hands. Heehee. What a mess. Sam was all about that though. The funny thing is, is that he didn't like picking it up, so he just ate it like a puppy. Needless to say, he had face full. Elsie was just as cute as can be too. She cleaned the frosting off with her fingers... liking them clean. Who needs cake, when you can have frosting? I did get a phone picture of Sam's aftermath, but I haven't taken it off it yet. It is kind of a pain to do so.

Awe, then there was soccer practice. Yes, we had that tonight? I remembered it this morning, but it completely slipped my mind until we were sitting down to eat. I have no idea how it popped back into my head, but we pretty much had to drop it all, and head out the door. Silly me.

Needless to say, both my cameras had been sitting on my table from last night’s download so I didn't have them with me. BUT I did manage to remember to grab it once we got home to play outside for a bit... so at least we have one!

And there you have it, our Thursday. Ugh. I am beat.

Wednesday Wednesday.

 

Look similar to yesterday? Those kids LOVE to do that! Sitting back, chilling before Elsie has is off to school. This is our typical Wednesday morning because Elsie has school in the afternoon.

And this is typical once Elsie is dropped off...

 

Sam and his cars. It is truly a boy thing... Line them up, and then race them along. He likes our alone time together to play, but is always excited to get back into the car and get his "Ah-Stee." Of course he loves to get into her things too.

 

I could hear the jingling of beads on the ride, and couldn't figure out what he was getting into. Until I turned around of course and saw that. What a boy... with a big sister.

We dashed back home for a quick rest, dinner, and then back on the road we went. Elsie was invited to an impromptu birthday party for one of her classmates tomorrow. She has been talking about Ella since day one. She was pretty excited to hear the news. Her teachers are always laughing when I walk in. I guess she was trying to invite the entire class over for a playdate... yet again. My social butterfly.

After our shopping trip to Target, we discovered a new skill that Elsie finally figured out.

 

She buckled herself in! She could always get the top one, but not the bottom buckle. She was ecstatic.

By the time we got home, it was beginning to get late, but that didn't stop us from getting some much needed fresh air.

 

They rode their little mobiles.

 

And Elsie showed off yet another skill, the hola-hoop! I would try to help her out with it, but she just never got it. She told me yesterday that they were playing with them at school. I didn't think much of it until I saw her whirling that baby!

Then it was off to the tub...

 

Where today the choice was colors... green.

And there you have our Wednesday.

Tuesday Choices...

Elsie was off to school this morning, which just left Sam and I to enjoy the massive pile of pillows ont the floor and Seasame Street.

 

The kids just love tossing all of the couch cusions, pillows, and blankets on the floor. Sam was jumping around on them, when the TV caught his attention. He usually doesn't care too much for the TV, but today was a different story.

After picking the girlie up from school and hearing all about the letter "E," we went home to enjoy a corn dog lunch. Another 'Elsie choice' and a personal favorite of hers. They both gobbled it up quickly and asked for a treat.

 

Today it was Pez, which is both of their favorites. They get to pick out the character of choice, and I fill 'em up with candy. Sam choose Woody. Elsie choose Tinker Bell. Don't worry, Maggie got a doggy bone treat from each of the littles too. Couldn't leave her out either.

Then, the rest of the day was filled with playing, napping, and more playing...

 

They started off playing with cars. Elsie choose her Littlest Pet Shop car, and Sam choose Chuck the Dump Truck. They scooted all over the house, which eventually led to this very simular scene from yesterday...

 

Have I ever said how much Elsie L.O.V.E.S. her LPS? Well, she does. Sam joined in by mixing some of his cars with the pets. He doesn't look too happy here, probably because Elsie is telling him what he can't have. What a girl. They played this for quite some time, and then we moved on to a movie. This is not a normal weekday thing, but with the rainy weather outside, it was the perfect diversion because they really wanted to go outside and play. Sam had the quickest hands and choose Toy Story before Elsie could make a decision. Heehee... he is learning he has to be quick to the punch or he will loose out. Then we enjoyed some yogurt and off to bed they went!

And that was our Tuesday.