Happy Halloween

Peter Pan aka Boston

Captain Hook aka Dallas

The Crocodille aka Asher

This year the boys wanted to be Peter Pan and Captain Hook and they decided Asher should be the crocodille, Mommy Tinkerbell and daddy a pirate. So the boys all got costumes and mommy and daddy got shirts with pictures of their characters. We went to our church's Fall Festival like we have every year since Boston was born. This was the best year yet! The boys had soooo much fun. Uncle "Hes" also met us there and they jumped in bounce houses, road slides and rides, trick or treated, played games and won prizes and candy galore! They each had a bag full!! They got to see a lot of their friends there as well.

Uncle Hes and the boys

When we got home we also Trick or Treated to a few neighbors houses. They love ringing the door bell and saying "trick or treat" (in my mind I'm always saying "Smell my feet, give me something good to eat." I just hope I don't accidently say it outloud one year!) They were especially excited to see Gabi next door, Dallas just walked right into the house. "Um, Dallas, you aren't suppossed to actually go INTO the house."

Sean and I were reminising about our childhood and trick or treating and how the streets of the neighborhood would be filled with children all dressed up. It was pretty empty in our neighborhood and quite. Oh well, I guess that's why we have Fall Festivals now.

Boston's School Halloween Party

Boston has been looking forward to his school's Halloween party for weeks. Counting down the days. He was so excited it was finally the day he gets to wear his costume to school to show all his friends he was fully dressed in costume with shoes by 9am! When we got there he was stutting his stuff showing everyone. And his friend Lizzie, that he talks about all the time, was dressed as Cinderella. So he was showing her his dagger while she took her wand out. Difference between boys and girls. When I picked him up he couldn't wait to show me what all he got in his bag. And he even brought home a bag full of treats for Dallas, what a great big brother! He said they had a parade around to all the other classes, got to watch a movie and played games. He had a great day!

Pumpkins

Boston's Silly Face Pumpkin

Dallas' Pirate Skull Pumpkin

Here's some photos of the boys pumpkins I carved for them this year. I finished up by carving Boston's silly face pumpkin this morning. A great way to start the Halloween day, pumpkin pulp and seeds OH MY! We did cook the pumpkin seeds, something I've never done. The boys didn't really like them. Well Boston didn't, Dallas never actually tried them. I think they were okay, I had never had them before. But Sean did like them. Too bad all that carving will rot in a few days.

Pumpkins Oh My!

Today was Boston's turn to bring snack to school so of course I had to come up with something Halloweenish to bring. I found this idea on the Familyfun.com website...MONSTER HANDS! They were a big hit Boston says. Of course my kids just want to take all the popcorn out to get to the candy corn since they don't get candy very often. You basically put a candy corn in each finger opening and then fill with popcorn. You have to buy restaurant style gloves, I found them at Sams (paid $5 for 1000....so I'll have to find something else creative to use the 980 that are left!!!) But its a very cheap and creative thing, and healthy....except for the 5 candy corn they get.

Tonight I thought we better carve our pumpkins because tomorrow is Halloween. So I got Dallas' pumpkin carved and we'll have to do Boston's tomorrow. Dallas wanted a pirate....humm...how the heck do I carve a pirate...google search...yes!...a pirate sencil. Well I carved just like the printed pirate but I'm not quite sure you can tell what it is. The problem is that I couldn't carve the teeth because my knife wasn't delicate enough, so our pirate has 3 teeth. Oh well...at least to them mommy carved a pirate....Mommy can do anything! (I'll post a photo of it tomorrow, forgot to take one today.)

Asher with his baby pumpkin
Boston decorating his with stickers
Dallas saying "OHHHHH AHHHH" about his creativity

Dillard House....last meal...this trip!

I realized I didn't actually have a photo with all of us that were at the mountain house. So here is the only one I have. Us eating at the Dillard House the last night. It's Sean and I with our 3 boys and my parents. Today was 80 degrees in O-town, it was 32 degrees when we left Dillard.

Who's reading my blog???

My counter on this page shows I had over 700 hits in September and October, which is mind blowing to me considering the fact that I didn't even think anyone read this....LOL. I'm just curious as to who is reading my blog. So if you are post a comment or shoot me and email. Love to know who's out there!

Also, take 2 minutes and click on the map at the bottom of the page and put in your location and it will add a little dot for you. :-)

Last day on the mountain

Our last day here was a nice relaxing one. We spent the day playing outside, jumping in leaves, rolling down the hill, outside hide and seek, feeding the fish and the horses. The boys always love jumping in piles of leaves at our house at home but the piles aren't quite as big because our leaves are from oak trees. They could actually run and dive into them. Dallas enjoyed raking them more than anything. Boston then discovered a huge pile of them on a hill and must have rolled down it for hours. Papa even let Boston push the lawn mower around, oh the thrill! We also played hide and seek (Sean, Boston, Dallas and I) and it was a lot more fun then playing in our house. We even had a chance to decorate Halloween cookies. Dinner was at the Dillard House. You can't make a trip to the mountain house without visiting the Dillard House, which just happens to be about 1 mile away. We usually go for breakfast but changed it up this time and had dinner.

A great day to end a great vacation....tomorrow we hit the road for our 10 hour drive back.

Small town fun

Today we went to Franklin's Pumpkin Fest. We really wanted to see the Pumpkin Roll where they roll pumpkins down the hill, but missed it. We surely don't have anything like that O-town. We did however have some good corn dogs!

Afterward we went to a local creamery that makes their own fresh milk, butter, cheese and ice cream. We all got ice cream and boy was it good!


We also went to see the boys favorite train right down the street from the mountain house, FoxFire. It's their favorite thing to do when we are here. Then we explored the outside, collecting leaves, feeding the fish and sliding down the hill covered with leaves. The boys had some muddy shoes alright! The horses have also grown accustom to knowing when we come out it means they will get an apple. So they come running when we come out. It's so cute. Of course the night was ended with watching our Red Sox win yet another game in the World Series.

A day in Gatlinburg

We took the 2 and half hour trip over the mountain to Gatlinburg today. We watched the colors of the leaves become even more bright and colorful the farther up we got. And as we drove up the mountain, with the trees like a canopy to our cars, the leavesfell like snow. It was just like we were in a movie. Boston just loved looking at all the different colored leaves and he especially loved it when we got to the top of the mountain. (Dallas and Asher slept for most of the drive.) The tunnels were a huge hit as well. We went straight to Gatlinburg and walked the strip, which always brings back so many memories of coming up here since my childhood. We of course had to get the "tradional" goodies like we always do. And since this is Sean's 3rd trip these are also his "traditional" goodies. Carmel Corn, chocolate teddy bears, dark chocolate almond bark and Sean's favorite chocolate covered cherries. The boys loved watching them make taffy with their 100 year old machines. It is funny to see my own kids eating chocolate bears when it seems like just yesterday I was watching my parents buy me one. Afterwards we headed to our favorite restaurant, The Apple Barn. This is a HUGE favorite of our families and if you are ever in Pigeon Forge you have to go there. Their apple juliep and apple fritters are to die for!

We then thought we might try to see some old friends of ours , the Smith family, that own Hidden Mountain Resorts(a great group to rent cabins from if you are ever in the area). My parents bought their first mountain house with them back in 1982. Read The Smith's story on their website http://www.hiddenmountain.com/about.html, it's a true testiment to the power of tithing. My parents were the first people who came calling right after they had tithed. And that started a great friendship. We were lucky that Butch, Brenda and all three of their kids were there. What a great reunion!

We made our way on the mountain to see our old mountain house, my Uncle Knute's mountain house that he still owns, and my grandma's old house. Then we headed home,with one stop to get some "hot and now" Krispie Kreme doughnuts. It was a great day!

Vacation!!

We left yesterday and drove to my parents mountain house. After a little bit longer trip this time we decided to stay at a hotel for the night and had so much fun. We finally made it here at lunch and have been enjoying this wonderful weather and beautiful leaves. It was a nice relaxing day of feeding the horses across the street and getting to see Emily and all her kids. Boy do I love it up here!
HI Horsey!

Horses across the street come running when we come out because they know they will get apples.

Vacation time....nap time.....quality time with daddy

Asher and Everett hanging out....1 month apart

(Dallas and Evan-not pictured- are 2 months apart)

Ellie and Boston, born on the same day (can you tell they were excited to see each other?)

Lisa Welchel

Tuesday night I got the chance to see Lisa Whelchel speak at our church. She wrote one of my VERY FAVORITE books, "Taking care of the ME in Mommy." She also happens to be the former actress that played Blair on the Facts of Life tv show....one of my favorite as a kid. I can't say enough awesome things about her. I owned 3 books before I went and bought my 4th book by her, Dare to Discipline, which was what she was speaking on. She's funny, real and most of all a mom living and breathing out all the same things I'm going through. Her humor about it is just awesome. And her practical tips are to be cherished and used daily. I'll have to write more later about all the great tips she gave (when I actually have time to get out my notes and type them....humm....when will I have time for that LOL-but I promise to get to it at some point.) Anyhow...check her out...www.lisawhelchel.com The other book I really recommend is The ADVENTure of Christmas. Gives you a lot of great ideas to show you why "Jesus is the reason for the Season." I honestly have to say, I've seen a lot of speakers, and she is by far the best I've ever seen!

Daddy

The boys sure do love their daddy. It's funny how the more kids we have more he knows what he's doing. With the first baby he was learning how to change a diaper, and now I think he could change them in his sleep. Yesterday while at Sea World I went to get us something to eat while he sat in the stands with all three. Every morning they have "daddy time" while mommy is working out. I think if you would have asked him years ago if he could keep three children until the age of 4 and have things under control he would have laughed, but look at him now. He's such a great daddy! You can see that just by looking at Asher smiling at him above.

Baby Food

The photo is dedicated to my brother Wes who just can't stand the site of a baby eating!

This morning Asher tried prunes for the first time. This is his first food other than rice cereal and oatmeal. He loved it! Always ready with his mouth open when I had the spoon coming. So funny. He was so satified with eating it that he even feel asleep. I've never had any of my kids do that. Too funny! Not really the food I would have chosen to feed him first but he's been so constipated I neede to try something. Next is Avacado followed by Sweet Potatoe and Bananas!

I forgot how much time goes into feeding babies. He's now at 3 meals a day and this really does dip into my time for sure. I try to feed him while we are all eating. One bite for me, one bite for him. It's amazing how much variety in baby food Publix is carring now. I've always made my own baby food but I would buy jars to take with me when I was out. Now they are carring organic, and my favorite brand that I used to go to health food stores for, Earth's Best. I highly recommend their baby food if you need to buy jarred food. I especially recommend using their rice cereal and oatmeal. (It's not refined and processed). But of course I LOVE making my own. It fun, easy and the most tasty. Books I recommend on making your own with recipes as well: Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron, First Meals by Annabel Karmel. The first one is the most comprehensive and has the most research and the second has a look of pictures. If you're only going to get one I would get the first one.

Sea World....AGAIN

Yes, we are crazy. Sea World two days in a row. Especially crazy in the fact that it rained on us most of the time we were there. But we went back again to try and see some friends of ours from collage, old days in the UCF Theatre Department....good times! We were hoping to get pictures of the boys with them, but only Asher was up for that. Boston and Dallas were pretty scared of them...LOL But Boston was sure to tell some of the other character, as we were looking for them, that "mommy and daddy are looking for friends of theirs from school." We got caught in a down pour walking past the arcade and got stuck there. So Sean bought some frogs for one of the games and they boys and Sean played. Sean one them a big frog. They, as well as all the onlookers were REALLY excited that he won! We also got to see the Shamu show and they boys just loved it. So even though we were all wet we sure did have fun!!

Sean, Asher and Tony Messina (on the right)

Cricket, Asher and Tony

Cricket, Asher and Sam

Sean, Asher and Sam

Tony giving Dallas high five

JT's birthday

Today after we went to Sea World we went to our neighbor's son JT's b-day party. JT turned 4 today. They boys love going to birthday parties and they especialy thought it was cool to be able to WALK to the party! They had a blast running around and playing. They especially love their trampoline. Of course Dallas doesn't want to jump unless no one else is jumping. Later, when everyone was busy eating cake Dallas took the opportunity to jump alone. He did this little victory dance to celebrate. I wish I had had the video camera. His smile was so adorable! It was also his older sister Lauren's 7th birthday. And Teresa and John had a great dinner for us, all organic, vegetarian and yummy! Thanks again guys!!

All our backyards back up to each other around the pond. It really is the perfect place for the kids to play. I want to start making Friday afternoons a regular get together time where the kids play games and run around and such. The parents can bring out their chairs and circle around. Reminds me of my childhood where we always played with all the neighborhood kids running all around. My boys favorite kids show for a while has been Backyardagains. It's a cartoon where there's 5 kids (or animals in the show) and all their houses backup to each other. They always play make believe together. I hope our kids will remember fond memories of playing in our backyard with all the neighbor kids.

Boston and Dallas on the trampoline
Happy Birthday JT and Lauren

Backyard playtime

I love cupcakes!