Hallelujah!!!

The skies have parted and the angels are singing!
It is that time of year again...

I know I shouldn't even admit this, but I seriously get giddy when I know these sweet babies are hitting the store shelves.
Then you throw in one of these...

and life is good!
Some people might know that I have a "slight" (ahem) addiction to M&M's.  But what these same people might not know is that I have a "slightly" bigger addiction to Mint M&M's.  I haven't even opened the bag yet because I don't trust myself.  Once it is open all bets are off!   (but I did plan ahead, I bought two bags.  I would have bought more but I was too embarrassed.)

I love the holidays!



PURE HEAVEN

  I might have to put the kids to bed early!
Enjoy your holidays!    

All that Halloween Jazz

Well we did it.  I feel like Halloween was a month long event.  Once you factor in pumpkin patch trips, trips to the store to get pumpkins for the kid who didn't get to go to the pumpkin patch, shopping for costumes, planning for parties, going to parties and finally trick or treating.  All I'm saying is I'm glad it's November 1st.
Here are a few pics of the last couple of weeks.
First up the pumpkin patch.

I know lame, I only got one picture of my girls in front of a blow up pumpkin and none of them with the real pumpkins.  Next up...carving! 

my picky eater

eewww! pumpkin guts!

Marien digging in!



Their DAD, showing them how to play with pumpkin guts.
So mature!



Trying to get pictures outside as a single bolt of lightening and crack of thunder hit.
Explains the look on Marien's face.  Very spooky!



my lil' pumpkins with their pumpkins!

 Costumes and Parties.  We have a great group of friends and we have all had kids at the same time.  So we try to get together as much as possible.  We have pretty much always done some sort of harvest party.  And the big hit is the donut game.

We also did face painting

Now the costumes...


jedi




fairy princess




ladybug.  really, is there anything cuter than her tights?

 Alright, now that Halloween is done it's time to get ready for, I can't even say the word, but you know what I mean.

It's beginning to feel like fall!

The leaves are finally starting to change colors...

We took a trip to the pumpkin patch...

took a hayride...

picked out pumpkins...

put out some decorations...

and now, I am off to bake some pumpkin bread while it pours outside!
Happy Fall!

Guess who found the chocolate blueberries?

Let me preface this little story with the the fact that this all happened in a matter of minutes.  I was in the family room and Ruby was in there babbling away.  Then she toddled off, like she always does (she is VERY busy).  I heard from the other room the rustling of plastic and things hitting the floor and rolling.  At first I didn't give it much thought until I realized it was in the kitchen and it was Ruby.  So I went strolling in there and this is what I found....


uh oh, busted!

And of course, like any good mother I ran and grabbed my camera first.  But trust me, it gets worse.


Maybe if I look sad I won't get in trouble.



I'm gonna make a run for it!

At this point I had to put the camera down and grab her, she was on the move. I could hear this slurping sound and discovered she was sucking the chocolate off of the gummy centers and letting them fall out of her mouth.  There was chocolate and sticky gummy things everywhere.  Chocolate was smeared all over the floor, the bottom of her feet were covered in chocolate.  This picture she at least looks somewhat clean, right after chocolate was pouring down her front, then she starting spitting out huge chunks of chocolate gummies.  I have no idea how many she had stuffed in her mouth.  Of course this all happened right after I had given her a bath and it was only 8:30 in the morning.

I knew there was a reason we had put a lock on the pantry door, now I just need to use it!  Hope you are having a chocolate filled morning as well.
 


Two birds, one stone!

This year Isaac and Marien were willing to have a joint birthday party.  Since they still have the majority of same friends it made for a very fun and easy party.  The shindig was held at Jump-n-Bounce.  What a great spot!  They had the whole place to themselves and those kids did not stop running for 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Which made it very hard to get many pictures so there are many of Ruby since she was not moving around much.  I think it was a tad overwhelming.
The kids scored on presents, the cupcakes were edible though not pretty to look at and the company was great.  I hope they remember this birthday and I am so thankful they still like each other and wanted to share this party together. 

Of course we had to incorporate both of their favorite themes, Star Wars and Tangled.  So this was my attempt at being creative.


the big slide is always a hit



uh oh, someone likes speed!





Uncle Marc was in town for hunting and came out of the woods to join in the fun!





<>

The Whole Gang!



Peanut turns 5!!!!

Marien, aka Peanut, turned five at the end of this month.  It is hard to believe!  She is so funny and started her countdown about two weeks before the big day.  She also had her outfit planned out several days in advance.  Now that she is five she was able to wear the "I am five and I am a big kid now!" shirt.

Marien is about as sweet as they come except if you don't feed her.  This kid is so affected by blood sugar levels.  If we don't feed her within 15 mins of her getting up she melts.  Then it is a fight to get food in her.  She is loving and things roll right off her back.  She does not hold a grudge, I definitely could take a lesson from her.  Marien is shy to begin with but once she is comfortable that girl can talk.  She LOVES music and her favorite thing to do is retreat to her room and listen to her cd's.  Marien has always been petite, weighing in at only 6 lbs at birth.  She may be tiny but she can hold her own and will give her older brother a run for his money.



Marien at birth



age 1

age 2



3 years old



4 years old and has discovered she loves dance



5 years old!
{Rapunzel could use a deep conditioning treatment on that nasty mane}

This was a big birthday this year, as the kids got a joint party (more to come) and pretty much the whole month of September they were receiving gifts.  She was at school on her actual birthday so she got to be not only "the kid of the day" but was also the birthday kid.  Which meant holding the flag, using the pointer, being line leader and getting two stickers plus blowing out the candles while her class sang happy birthday.  Needless to say she felt pretty special.

Happy Birthday Marien...we love you!