Christmas Tree Festival

Someday I will be able to simply purchase one of these pre-decorated trees for my home, how nice would that be?! I'd better start saving my pennies. Ethan liked the "How to Train Your Dragon" tree, and the Dr. Seuss tree was pretty creative. This is a fun, free activity to go to each year at the Eccles center.

Skipping

It would seem I skipped right over Thanksgiving...well, as they say, better late than never. Well, it was certainly different for me this year, a little bit sad, but so grateful to have my two wonderful kids with me. I made sweet potatoes with pecans & brown sugar, Shanda brought an awesome cranberry sauce. The kids had a good time playing with all the cousins, and my Dad turned on the Christmas lights for the first time, I will need to include photo of his display sometime soon.

Spooky-Ooky Halloween Fun!

The kids & I did a lot of fun Halloween activites this month.

*Picking out pumpkins at Hansen's-check!
*The Pumpkin Walk in Syracuse-check!
*Boys & Girls Club party with sack races & games-check!
*WSU Bowling party & scavenger hunt-check!
*And of course Halloween Trick-or-Treating-check & check!

When I asked Ethan if he had enough candy, he gave the appropriate answer:
"Yes! No! Enough candy is never enough!"

I'm including here some of my favorite photos of my favorite little goblins:


Plethora of Pumpkins @ Hansen's



Potato sack races @ Boys & Girls Club Paty, Ethan didn't quite get the hang of it.

Making masks at the WSU party.



Best. Pic. Ever.



Trick-or-Treat!
Smell my feet!
Give me something good to eat!



Syracuse Pumpkin Walk



Crafty Project

Some friends & I got the idea for these jars from another blog page. I think they turned out really cute. We bought all of the raw wood pieces, letters & jars, black paint & ribbon. All of the wood pieces were glued together then we painted everything black. The next step was to attach the jars to the stands, then sand the wood for the rustic look.

When I brought them home, the kids really liked them. Ethan wanted to have a jar full of candy in his room...but I told him they were just for decoration, plus, then it wouldn't spell BOO!

The other picture is just of my table decorations that I collected at Tai Pan & Gardner Village. I love the Fall season & Halloween!

Here are a few fun sites with lots of spooky, crafty, creative ideas!

http://shanty2chic.blogspot.com/2009/10/ashleys-fall-apothecary.html

http://uncommondesigns.blogspot.com/2010/09/boo-apothecary-jars.html

http://poppiesatplay.blogspot.com/2010/09/super-easy-halloween-centerpieces.html
 
http://www.flamingotoes.com/2010/09/bowl-of-eye-balls/
http://www.somewhatsimple.com/search?updated-max=2010-10-06T08%3A00%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=3
http://www.somewhatsimple.com/

Turning 9 Feels Just Fine!

Today is Abbie's 9th birthday!
There is a lot to celebrate about this daughter of mine.
She is beautiful & intelligent & a joy to be around.
People always tell me how she always has a smile on her face & a kind word.
She has a tender heart and cares for animals & people & is the best big sister a brother could ask for!
She loves to read & enjoys everything about school.
Abbie even loves to go to the dentist! (I haven't figured that one out yet...)
But that just shows how open her heart & mind are to her surroundings.
She always makes the best of every situation & is quick to make friends.
I admire her outgoing personality & the way she makes everyone feel loved & accepted.
I can't wait to see who she is going to become.
Although I wish she could stay little forever, my baby girl is growing up!
I love you Abbie!
XOXO
Mom

The Beginning of the End

Well.
I just found out yesterday that my divorce is final.
A divorce that I never wanted. From a husband that I still love.
I'm finding it hard to reconcile all of my feelings of sadness, anger, hurt, regret, even hate. I so much wanted for my family to stay together.

It's hard to breathe right now. My heart feels ready to burst from my chest.
My kids are my sanity right now. They are so beautiful, so amazing, and remind me daily that life is worth living...even while my life is in shambles around me.

I am so lucky to have an awesome, supportive family and group of friends.
Nothing is more important to me than family. I only wish I had found someone to share my life with that felt the same way.

Wishing time would fast forward until I felt better, but hopefully I learn something out of this whole mess. It's good to know I can still give & receive love while going through this. Love for & from my kids. Love for those who support me & lift my spirits. Some day I hope to fall in love again because it is a beautiful emotion that can make life truly amazing.

Until then, I'm grateful for what I do have. For the little things that bring me joy.

Shazam!

This is pre-haircut Ethan. :-)
It looks like he stuck his finger in a light socket!
It was too funny, I had to take 3-dimensional pictures of his head.
No doubt he will be winning the vote on class clown this year!

The kiddos wanted to sit outside until the stars came out.
So they dragged their pillows & blankets onto the lawn & I grabbed my camera.
It was too dark to get decent pics, but we had a lot of fun making faces
and seeing which ones turned out (or for more hilarity, did NOT turn out so great). The kids laughed their little hearts out & I had a really great feel-good moment...the kind of moment I need to find time to create & cherish. As you know, they grow up too fast, and I don't want to miss a second of it!

It's the Little Things

Thank you kind neighbor, whoever you are, who put my garbage out to the curb this morning when I forgot! I will try to follow your example & help out when I see a need to be filled.

I'm trying to (more often, ast least) open my eyes to the little things in life that make life worth living. When I forget to count the little things, I get lost among all the seemingly big roadblocks in life.

My kids are "little" things, in the literal sense of the word, and they are my world. Love you guys!

Brownies are another little thing. Love you, brownies!

Sleeping in! A lovely little thing that I treasure.

Novels! Sweet escape from the day-to-day grind.

A new scented lotion-just for me. It makes me smile.

The plural of "Diary" is....?

Abbie spotted some "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" books in the store the other day.

She wants ALL of them. More than one! The whole set!

Ethan : "Mom, they're 'diarrheas'!"

(apparently because there are more than one)

Now you know the plural word for diary.

And you have my apologies ;-)

Zoorific Mother's Day

This year I took it upon myself to have a great Mother's Day. I purchased the year pass to the Hogle Zoo and treated the kids & myself to a day at the zoo. Thankfully the day was sunny & warm(ish)...we had a great time.

I have the best kids ever & I can't think of any better way to spend my day than with these two silly, wonderful kids! Ethan made me the cutest flower pin & Abbie made a very creative calendar that she had worked on all year at school. Being a mom to these two has made me complete!

Easter 2010

Something Smells Fishy

So the kids talked us into getting some fish. Or rather, the kids begged, I said I would think about it, and Dad said "Ok, let's do it!"

So we ended up with 2 'fruit tetras" named Ashley & Karlie,
and one 'tiger-something, named Lucas, and one fiddler crab, aptly named Mr. Krabs.

Sadly, we lost Lucas & Karlie after 2 weeks. There were lots of tears, followed by fish heaven jokes, but thankfully the sadness was short-lived (no pun intended).

I can't imagine having a dog!

Easter Timeline in Pictures

Paint with my what?!?

My lovely sister watched my kids on Friday night. And for fun-they did craft projects and Face Painting.

Shanda: "Who wants to do face painting?"

Kids: "Me! ME! me! mE!"

Ethan: "Wait. How do I paint with my face?"

How To

Dirk was reading out loud, a movie review of "How to Train Your Dragon".
Apparently, Ethan was not enjoying his oration:

"Don't read it all!
Cause then I'll have a headache...
then it'll give me a nightmare...
And then...DISASTER!"

Ethanism for Today

My 6 year old jumps up to give me a hug last night when I get home from work. He is is getting too heavy to lift & I tell him so, to which he responds...shaking his head...

"They grow up so fast."

The kid puts a smile on my face :-)