Throwback Thursday: Halloweens

I thought it would be fun to take a walk down memory lane. 

Here's Halloween 2009, Conrad and I weren't agreeing on how to celebrate Halloween so we didn't dress up, but headed to our church for the Family Fun Night. Aubrey had fallen and bit her bottom lip that morning. She was all smiles that night though. I'm pretty sure it had to do with the amount of candy she had. 

 


2010 
We headed back to the church for another night of games and candy. I was one pregnant momma who was ready to have her baby. Just 4 days later we met our precious Allyson. 
 

2011 
We made our way back to the church for another year of fun. 
 

And another little bun in the oven
 



And last year, I took my 3 little monsters for some Halloween fun. Some Trick or Treating in the community and then off to the church. They had a bounce house last year and that was Allyson's favorite thing. 
 

This is like one of the only pictures I got of Austin on his first Halloween, Mom of the year over here! 


and I  couldn't find a picture of the three of them together. That's on the list this year. A picture of Austin, and a picture of the three. We will have two Doc McStuffins and a little cowboy. Now hopefully they cooperate.

Have a happy and safe Halloween! 

Trendy Tot {Spirit Days Edition}

One of my favorite things to do in school was participate in the Spirit days. Crazy hair day, twin day, any excuse to not dress "normal". Aubrey came home on Monday and said that tomorrow was crazy sock day. I was so excited for her to get in on the fun! We just picked out some mismatched socks with sandals. It killed me to send her to school with socks and sandals. Killed me. 

We didn't get a picture that morning because I'm pretty sure someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. 

Wednesday was Sunglasses Day. 

She has these adorable pink Hello Kitty sunglass, that we had to tear the house apart to find, but it made her day to have them. 

and um why does my precious baby look so old here?!?! 
 


Thursday was wear All One Color Day

She's pulling away her pink jacket, it was 46* that morning and she did not want to wear a jacket or a white long sleeve shirt underneath her shirt because then it's not all one color Mom. Sheesh! and those toothpaste marks on her shirt, please ignore them, this killed me too. 
 

Friday was a fun one, Sport Day. This girl doesn't have anything sporty...nothing! Luckily Daddy had some of his Suns shirts from when he was little guy. So here she is sporting Daddy's Phoenix Suns shirt circa 1993. 

Linking up with Kelly, Lindsay and Megan for Trendy Tot Tuesday 

Sleepless Nights

I'm so tired. This adorable little guy is going through some kind of sleep regression, and it's wiping me out. 

He's fighting nap time. We are still rocking him to sleep for naps and bedtime. So he will scream and scream and scream, even though he's tired. But he doesn't really try to get away, just more like screaming, hey, I don't want to do this. Then he gives in and sleeps. He'll be dead asleep in my arms. I'l carry him to his bed and the second I lay him down, he wakes up and is screaming and doesn't go back to sleep, unless it's in my arms. 

Bed time is a little different. Conrad rocks him to sleep and Austin doesn't fuss very much with Conrad. Conrad will lay him down and a few nights he's done the same thing that he does at nap time, wake up as soon as his head hits the bed. 

He's also waking in the middle of the night. Screaming. It takes him hours to fall back asleep and I'm not able to again lay him down. So he's ended up in bed with us. This kid likes to move in his sleep, oh my goodness! He ends up horizontal in bed. He likes to steal my pillow and kick off covers. 

So you would think that somethings wrong with his bed right? We've checked about a million times. We've even added some cushion to his bed to see if that helps. I started slathering him with a lavender night time lotion after his bath hoping that will help. It seems to be hit and miss. Maybe it's a growth spurt or teething, or both. 

So if you see me this week and I look like a zombie, you know why. I'm dead tired. 

Send coffee. 

All I want for Christmas is ...

... my two front teeth. In first grade that was the song I was singing. Now, my big girl finally joined missing tooth club. 

Last Thursday was a big night in our house. Miss Aubrey FINALLY pulled out her tooth. Her tooth has been loose for what seriously feels like forever. 

This picture sums up the whole night. She had the biggest smile on her face the rest of the night. 
 

In the bathtub, all of a sudden, she asked if she could hop out and look in the mirror. I guess she was wiggling her tooth and it became a lot more loose all of a sudden. She hopped out and was looking at her tooth then yanks it out. We've been trying to get her to do this for about week now. She would cry real tears because she was afraid. Didn't want it to hurt or bleed. She was so scared.  

She pulled it out and ran out to show Daddy. Looked in the mirror. It was so hard to get her to calm down and get back in the tub to finish bath time! 

 



 



Look at that big ole grown up tooth coming in.

So how much does a first tooth go for now a days? Aubrey said how about a dollar bill that has a ten on it?? 
 

We settled on asking the tooth fairy for $2 
 

 

In the morning she found 3 sparkly, one dollar bills and a little note from the tooth fairy. 

I love her new toothless smile! 

Trendy Tot {Rockstar edition}

It's time for another Trendy Tot Tuesday. I really love this link up and look forward to it each week!!  

Today Austin is also 19 months old. He's getting so big and so much more independent. In the mornings when we head out to the van to take Aubrey to school, he wants to go out the door himself. He doesn't want me to carry him. No! he screams. He even climbs into the van. 

Look how cute this guy looks with his hair spiked. 
 

He feeds himself now. Cereal, yogurt and bananas are his favorite, hello Allyson's twinsie! He's becoming more and more picky. No! and pushing food away and off the highchair...yay! 

Loves bath time, hates being washed or rinsed. 

Love love loves being outside. 

Some words he says: Outside, ball, up, No, yes, Mama, Nanny, Dada, Sissy, Sis, Dog, Burr (bird), sorry, love, bye-bye, nigh-nigh, help, shoes, nice, kind, eyes, nose, hair, poop, diaper, tummy    

I feel like he says more but I can't think of them. He's been a pro at just screaming and pointing lately. 

He likes to have things orderly. He will clean up the shoe mess, he is always first to the play room when I say it's time to clean up. 

Allyson and him have a special bond and I love watching them grow closer.

He was doing everything he could to NOT look at me. 
 

 

Then we headed outside and he was ready to cheese it up. 

 
I bought Austin's shirt last year at Target for $1.80 on clearance. It's a 2T, at the rate he was growing I wasn't sure if it'd fit by fall. Now look, it's a bit big. His pants are rocker jeans from Crazy8's, guys these are my favorite jeans on him!!! And I totally scored at Once Upon a Child on his cute little DC shoes. 

Linking up with Lindsay, Kelly & Megan. Come check out some other cutie pies! 

Liebster Award

So, while I was taking my funk break from blogging, Courtney from A+ Life nominated me for a Liebster Award. Talk about feeling special. She's only one of my favorite bloggers and here she was nominating little ol' me for something. It made my day! 

So, what is the Liebster award?

It's simply a fun little award given to up and coming bloggers with fewer than 200 followers and is a great way to find new blogs and connect with other bloggers!

If nominated you need to do a blog post containing the following:

1. Accepting the award

2. Answer the questions set by the blogger who nominated you. (comment on your nominators blog with your blog link)

3. Nominate 11 other bloggers for the award and comment on their blog letting them know that they've been nominated!

4. Set 11 questions of your own for the nominees to answer.

5. Place the Liebster Award Badge on your post

1. How did you name your blog?

I'm super creative and used my kids name and my last name. I really wish I could think of something else though. Any thoughts?  Seriously, help me. 

2. How long have you been blogging?

I had to go back and look and my first post was January 14,2009. Holy smokes, coming up on five years. 

3.Who is your favorite author?

Nicholas Sparks. I am so behind on the books, I swear I haven't read the last 2 or 3. 

4. What is your favorite movie?

This is 40 is my current favorite. My all time favorite would have to be the Notebook. 

5.If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?

I really would just like to go back to Hawaii. I'm afraid of leaving the country, silly I know. 

6. Football or basketball?

Neither. I really don't care. If I had to pick, I guess it would be football. 

7. Would you rather compete on The Amazing Race or Survivor?

The Amazing Race

8. Favorite season?

Fall 

9. Beach or Mountains?

Definitely the beach. 

10. What was your favorite song this summer?
It seems to change with my mood. I don't think I have a real favorite.

11. Favorite place to shop?

I just love Target it's my happy place!


My nominees, so here's where I'm going to be the rule breaker and just tag you if you're reading.

Here are your questions:

1. What's your favorite holiday?
2. Are you a PSL fan?
3. Why did you start blogging?
4. Favorite Disney movie?
5. What's your biggest fear?
6.Someone gave you $100, what do you do with it?
7.Favorite food?
8. Have you traveled out of the country? Where to?
9.Do you/did you play Candy Crush? What level did you get to?
10.What are you doing when you are the happiest?
11.Have you met anyone famous? Who?

Strengths and Weakness in Marriage {Blogging with a Purpose}

I'm linking up with Becky today for another blogging with a purpose. 

I don't think that there is any perfect marriage out there. I think that there are areas that other couples are better in than others, but not perfect. I think we have the chance to learn from others, but to remember not to compare your marriage to theirs. Which can be tough. 

In the last year, Conrad has had some really bad pain in his back. He's went through a time of just waiting it out and waiting for it to get better. It didn't. Went to the DR and things looked fine, they should just heal up soon. Months later, still no relief. Physical therapy, pain management doctors, neurosurgeon visit and one epidural later, he's still in pain. He has one more epidural scheduled at the end of this month and then if that doesn't help, it's back surgery. It's been a rough year for us. Different medicines and side effects have been tough on him, and also tough on me. It's hard seeing him go through the things. 

It's been a roller coaster of a year for us. 

Any who, in this last year, I feel like I've learned a lot about myself in my role as a wife and mother. Different strengths and weakness have been brought to my attention and I've actually been able to work on some of these things. 





























Strengths

I am the keeper of the home. I am the one that cleans, does laundry, grocery shops and schedules everything. I am the one that takes care of the kids, makes sure Aubrey is off to school, helps with homework, teaches and nurtures children. Conrad does these things too, but this is my main focus. He isn't the one that's home all day, I am, and we like it this way. I try to keep the house running as smoothly as possible. By keeping these things in order, it helps Conrad be able to relax and enjoy our time together. 

I am his biggest cheerleader. I support him 110% on whatever he does. 

We encourage each other to do our own things. Whether it's hang out with a friend, time alone for a hobby, or starting a new one. We both understand how important "me time" is. 

Weakness
I am selfish.

I'm more messy than he would like, it's like an organized mess. I know what's in which pile {most of the time}

I can be patient with our children, but not as patient with Conrad. I can get angry quickly and then I let that ruin the rest of the day. 

I want to "fix" things. Which you would think is a strength right? I forgot to just let him vent and complain to me.

Fall Play doh Recipe & Trendy Tot

Yesterday after Aubrey came home from school, we made some play doh. Last week someone suggested making a pumpkin spice play doh and well, it sounded good to me. I actually had everything in my pantry! Score! 

This is the recipe we used:
2 Cups flour
1 Cup salt
4 tsp cream of tarter
6 tsp pumpkin pie spice
3 tsp cinnamon
2 Cups water
2 Tbsp oil
red and yellow food coloring (optional)

I had my adorable little helper. Measure and mix all the dry ingredients in the saucepan. Added water and oil. We mixed it.  Then I took over the stirring when we heated our mixture over  medium heat. Stirring frequently until the dough form. You'll be able to tell . I took it out and kneaded it. I broke it apart into pieces to cool down. It was still  warm when they played with it, which they thought was great.



This stuff smells amazing! The girls made me lots of pies yesterday. They sat in the kitchen at the table for a whole hour just playing with the playdoh and 2 cookie cutters. No fighting. This stuff must be magical too!

I'm totally looking forward to making a peppermint scented play doh at Christmas time! 


Allyson showing off her pumpkin pie she made.

After our play doh fun, we headed outside to play in the grass.

This precious girl of mine is getting too big too fast. I picked her up from school  yesterday and she was in the grass area where I meet her, practicing cartwheels. I remember being in elementary school and doing cartwheels and handstands in the field. Here my little girl was doing the same thing.


She's not doing too bad either.


Aubrey was pretty impressed when I did a cartwheel or 3. Oh boy, I was dizzy for a bit after that, which she thought was hilarious.



Shirt Crazy 8s /  Crazy8 Jeans 

While we were outside playing in the grass and taking picture, the kids heard the ice cream man. He goes down our street 900 times a day. We are usually inside and my kids run to the window and scream and wave at him. Today we were outside so they were screaming and what not even louder than usual. Well he stopped and I tried to wave him on, saying that we weren't going to get anything, that the kids were just waving "hi".

Well he told the kids that they did such a great job not running into the street and staying by mom, he went into his truck and pulled out 4 Crunch bar ice creams and gave them to us and said keep up the good work. My kids were ice cream heaven!



Such a great way to end the day!

Linking up with Lindsay, Megan and Kelly for Trendy Tot Tuesday

My other half {Blogging with a Purpose}

In the almost 9 years that Conrad and I have been married I've learned a few things about him.



Conrad loves football, basketball and baseball. There's some kind of sport on our TV year round. I can't catch a break. He likes to yell at the TV during that time too! 

He hates left overs, but he will eat them. 

Christmas is his favorite holiday.

Family means so much to him. When we started dating that was something I absolutely loved. My family wasn't close and he was close to his and it was so sweet to see the way he cared about his brother and sister. The respect that he had for his parents. It meant so much to me. Now that we have our family, seeing him in the Dad role and just how important we are to him, it melts my heart. 

He likes going to the movie theater.

He is so patient, especially with me. No matter how much I push and push. He can also keep calm when little ones are throwing big fits. 

Conrad is organized. 

He does a great job fixing the girls hair. He also puts bows in their hair too! Bonus points for that one. 

He still plays his xbox, headphones and all.  

He cares about other people. He helps out others when ever he can, in which ever ways he can. 

Conrad loves shoes. I bought him a pair for his birthday, he still hasn't worn them. He picked them out so I know he likes them. He's just waiting for the perfect time to wear them. 

He presses the door lock button twice when we leave the car. Just to make sure they're locked. 

Conrad loves music. 

He loves the outdoors. Camping, hiking, all of that good stuff {that I could go without seeing} 

He's an amazing Dad to our 3 kids. He can be rough and tough, tickles and running around with them. He's soft, caring and sensitive at the right times. On Saturday night he was up with Austin from 11pm-2am, trying to get him back to sleep, while I was snoozing away in bed. Seeing him interact with each child is just amazing. Aubrey doesn't like the rough, tough play. He's kind and gentle with her. With Allyson, she likes to be tickled and flipped upside down, chased and anything else you can imagine. Austin's is the same way. Tickle him, chase him, and toss him into the air. He knows and respects that each one of them are different and treats them that way. 

When he commits to something, he's in it for the long haul. 

Some of these things just crack me up. Crazy husband. I love him and I love all of his crazy quirks that come with him! 

I'm linking up with Becky today! 

Five on Friday

Hooray for Friday! I'm joining in on the Five on Friday fun.

-One-
We visited the pumpkin patch again this week. Austin was in an awful mood at home and I was so thankful we had this outing planned. Little guys mood turned around quick!


Look at these little guys last year. Oh how much they've changed!! 



Happiness is making corn angel, at least to an almost 3 year old





-two-
I started working on Allyson's birthday dress {YAY!} but the little minion that I want to put on the dress is giving me trouble. I have it in my head that the minion needs to be on the dress. It'd be a lot easier if I left him off but what fun would that be? We'll see how it turns out.

-three-
This little girl is something else, she keeps me on my feet!
I can't believe she's going to be 3 in less than a month. Cue freak out! 

This morning she came in and asked to wear sissy's shoes. I put them on and she ran off into the playroom. I went to check on her a little bit later. It was too quiet and we know that's never a good thing. She was at the window. 

Whatcha doin' sis?

I looking for my sissy. 

She's at school, sis. We dropped her off, remember? 

Oh, I just want her to play with me. 

Oh, it just makes me smile to see her miss her and want to play with her. They really do love each other.

-Four-
Bible Study started up yesterday and I'm really looking forward to this. Change my way of thinking about interruptions. The little ones and those big yucky ones. 

-Five-
It's Friday so that means pizza for dinner tonight. No cooking for this mama! 


Happy Friday friends!