The Great Pumpkin

With Halloween right around the corner, literally, we decided that it was time to do something with all the pumpkins the kids have brought home from ALL the pumpkin patches they have visited.

I was torn between letting the boys paint the pumpkins again this year or carving them. Were we really ready for carving? I could just see it now, seeds and pumpkin guts EVERYWHERE! Waiting another year sounded better by the minute. So painting it was-kind of. The other day I was reading the very popular Young House Love blog and ran across the idea of using Mod Podge and tissue paper--half of which we had on hand here at the house & the other half Justin grabbed on his grocery shopping trip.

So after lunch the boys and I sat down at the table and we got ready to decorate our pumpkins. Both boys decided they needed to try out their pumpkins with a quick taste test first...

Once the taste test was over--don't ask me why they wanted to lick it--I covered the pumpkins in glue and the boys went to town covering their pumpkins in tissue paper. For dealing in glue, they did great. No big messes and when it comes to these two boys, that in itself is a success.

While the kids napped, the pumpkins dried and then it was out to the front porch for all 4 of our neighbors to see! It will be busy couple of days full of Trick-or-Treating, Superheroes, Candy and Laughter. Let the Halloween festivities begin.

Once An Ugly DUCK...

but no more. She is a beauty and will turn heads as people walk by her. But she wasn't always like this. Maybe in her prime but age was not on her side--until I got my hands on her. Found her on Craiglist. For a whopping 30 bucks. All I had to do now was convince my husband that I knew what I was doing. And when he saw this, he just shook his head…

I admit, I was a little worried too but what did I have to lose, $30--I could handle that. Lets get back to the chair shall we, the ugly duckling of a chair. There were some positives but way more negatives. The shape was perfect. The condition was pretty good. But thats about it when it came to the positives. As for the negatives-the fabric was hideous, the two cushions--head and back--were even worse, what was the designer of this chair thinking. It was just down right wrong but with a little love, some new fabric, a little re-working and some piping, it would become a beauty. And it/she would find a permanent home in Logan's room, where we would spend every night before bedtime, reading his favorite books and snuggling. 

After 2 and a half weeks of being at the upholsters and receiving a little love from them, I got to pick her up this evening. She was more than I even imagined and the best news, my husband even liked her. And if you need the name of a good upholsterer, I have one for you!

Amazing right! I was able to get the exact chair that I wanted for probably half the retailers price. Not to mention, I would have never found this fabric with this piping, I would have had to settle for something similar that would have been just "okay"…

And a big thank you to Ms. Sarah J, she gave me the courage to go ahead and see the project through. When I was having trouble, she was able to get me to see it. 

A Few Finishing Touches...

One room in the house, the playroom, is finally almost done. It's completely functional and has been for awhile. The boys love spending time in there-together, by themselves, and with us. And although, they only care about the toys that are in the room and could care less about the walls, I wanted something a little more than just a playroom. A room where the kids will spend hours, days and even years PLAYING, SHARING, LAUGHING & CREATING. 

 

I wanted something that would remind us what being a kid is all about but also have little phrases that might just inspire them to do something BIG when they get older. I wanted something that I could customize in color and to choose the perfect words to fit our little boys and what we hope their future brings. I hope they laugh big belly laughs as they share and play & create amazing masterpieces with their amazing little minds for so many years to come. 

If you want some prints of your own, I got mine off of the one and only…Etsy. 

And the playroom isn't the only thing getting a few new things, come back on Friday or Saturday and I should have another big reveal. Remember that amazingly awesome fabric, well you will get to see it again real soon. 

Weekend Recap

Life has been busy. Really busy. But not busy enough where we could forget to celebrate our beloved Stoli's birthday. Stoli turned 8 about a week ago and Daddy picked up a cookie cake and Kaden sang her Happy Birthday. It was pretty darn cute. And you better believe that every human and DOG got a birthday hat...

but a few weren't as thrilled with the hats as the others.

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Have I mention that Logan LOVES the word no? He uses it ALL the time. On top of that, he hasn't been wanting to lay down for naps or if he does, he isn't napping for long. Saturday afternoon he decided to only take an hour nap and after having my fingers crossed for twenty minutes hoping he would go back to sleep, I decided to rescue him. I peeked in, picked him up and held him in my arms. By the time we hit the bottom of the stairs he was down and on the move. There was no snuggling, it was all play and I decided that it was the perfect opportunity to take out my camera and capture his sweetness. 

Damn this kid is cute!

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And he got cuter. Throw on a little Spiderman costume and the kid will just melt your heart! He and Superman got to head out to Deanna Rose for some pre-Halloween fun. They came home with lots of candy and one said GHOST necklace that hasn't left his side!

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And since Logan and Mommy got to spend some quality time together this past weekend, I had to make sure and do the same with Kaden. Sunday was his day. But, before we could take off for a fun little outing Mommy had to work. I had my first set of mini-sessions and they were just perfect. The families were all so sweet and wonderful to work with. Everyone showed up on time and with tons of smiles to go around. I had a happy mix of family fall sessions with a sprinkle of Halloween fun. 

The best part of the morning-catching up with my dear Korie without any kiddos around. Korie gave up her morning with the kids to come and help me out. She was there to great the families as they arrived and to help make the kiddos smile. In our down time we got to sit and just chat. Like I said, pretty perfect. And while Korie and I took pictures, the hubbies and the kiddos hung out in the house. Daddy made breakfast and lunch and then Korie and I took off with our two oldest and headed to Weston. We chose Weston for two reasons, we hadn't been there before and it would give the kiddos a chance to take a short quick nap. 

Once we arrived, they were off exploring. They checked out the HUGE pumpkins, the sheeps, the piglets, the turkeys and some weird looking goats. The kids got to climb on haystacks and they even rode a pony. After we were done with the pony ride we headed straight for the apples, popcorn and they just had to get an apple slushy. 

Have you ever seen a goat that has no ears or horns!! Pretty creepy!

When we returned from Weston, dinner was being served. We successfully spent breakfast, lunch and dinner with the Johnson's and I was still sad to see them leave. It was such a great day and such a great weekend. Can't wait to see what this coming weekend has in store for us!

What Happens In VEGAS

Stays in Vegas.

Unless you're me and BLOG about it
-----or-----
nothing CRAZY happened that needs to be forgotten.

In this case both are true. It all kind of goes back to my birthday. Justin turned 31 in April. I turned 30 this past February. He attended the NCAA Basketball Championship for his 30th birthday. I went to a MU-Baylor game. Not really in the same ballpark--if you ask me. Part of the reason my birthday was so low key, MOST of my girlfriends were PREGGO. The only thing worse than your best friends being pregnant on your 30th birthday is if YOU are pregnant yourself!

So it was time to make up for a low-key thirtieth and to celebrate a few other birthdays. Jake just had a birthday at the end of September and Jennifer is celebrating a birthday on the 18th. Who better to take us to Vegas than them. Justin and I haven't gone, at least not for fun and they have been a number of times--knew where to go and where not to go. And lets face it, we were all due for some very well deserved time away with just our spouses. It has been a year since Justin and I have taken a trip where it was just us. And I am a big, HUGE believer in taking time away for YOUR marriage. Not only is it healthy for us but its healthy for our kiddos too and I am so happy that Jake and Jennifer joined us & had their first trip away too.

When packing I tried to pack as light as possible. My co-worker allowed me to borrow the most fabulous across the body purse ever. I left my camera at home. Yes, I said that, I LEFT my camera at home, on purpose. As a "photographer" and someone who always has their camera with them, I felt naked. But it was the right thing to do…

We left in style, unbeknownst to us. Here we are fully prepared to drive to the airport and up rolls a limo with two screaming heads out the window…with drinks in hand! We said good-bye to the MIL, wished her luck and loaded up and away we went. It was a long flight but nothing a little redbull and vodka couldn't help with!

We arrived and we were instantly greeted with a torrential downpour. There was so much rain and mind you, we were in the desert. They don't see rain. They don't have the drain system to deal with rain, let alone the massive amounts that they were getting. The streets were flooding but the cabs kept going. We finally arrived at the MGM and quickly hurried to our rooms, changed and headed out for a quick bite to eat and then off to the casino floor.

It was about this time that Jennifer happily announced that she was LUCKY in LIFE. She didn't need to be LUCKY when it came to gambling because she was LUCKY in LIFE! She set our fate for the REST of our trip. Justin might have broken even, Jake might have won a little but poor Jennifer and I were just giving our money away! Things actually started looking up at the CRAPS table on the last day until some bozo came in and screwed up the chi--her word, not mine!

One of my highlights for the trip was Slots-A-Fun. I had no idea how to play BlackJack. Take that back, I know how but I don't know the etiquette that goes along with it. This place had a super low minimum and we sat down, just the four of us, for a couple of hours and had a blast. I learned a few important rules when it came to playing at a table and Jake, Jennifer and Justin had the coldest beer found in Vegas in their hands. I may have had a foot long Red Bull and Vodka in hand too, maybe. At this point, I didn't care if I was losing, we were having too much fun.

We ate great food. We ventured out to a number of remarkable hotels and casinos. We sang our hearts out at a piano bar. We shopped and bought shoes--super cute ones at that. We saw the Bellegio Fountains.

We did Vegas. The best part, by far, was who I was with. It was just so easy and so incredibly enjoyable. So yes, we might not have come back as millionaires or even winners for that matter but we are certainly LUCKY in LIFE. And Jennifer, that quote will never get old!!

NOOOOOOOOO.

Is this guy's favorite word.

He has a number of words that he says and a few more that we at least know what he is trying to say but none pack a punch like NO.

I don't really remember Kaden enjoying saying the word "no" as much as Logan does. Its a "No" to putting his toothbrush up. Its a NO to sharing his food with his mommy. Its a NO to wanting to change his clothes. No. No. No. But he is so darn cute when he says it that you can't help but just smile at the kid and grab him and give him a great big hug!

Oh and Mr. Logan turned 17 months old just a few days ago. When Kaden was Logan's age he was moving into a big boy bed and I can't even begin to think about moving my baby into a big boy bed so refuse to do it. Next topic please.

Speaking of birthdays. Did you know Kaden turned 3 at the end of August in St. Maarten? Well he did and a few weeks ago I realized that I had not heard from our pediatricians office about his 3 year check up. I could have sworn that I set up his appointment and low and behold I did. We just missed it-pulled a no show. I guess the appointment was on the 4th of September and they called while we were in St. Maarten because the 3rd was a holiday--message not received. I apologized and they got me in the next day. Although he didn't have to get any shots, he stilled rocked the appointment. He stepped up on the scale like the big boy he is and weighed in at 34 big boy pounds and topped the growth chart at 40 inches! Still right on track to hit the 6 ft mark. When the doctor came in he jumped up on my lap and he answered all her questions & she answered mine. We had a very healthy 3 year old boy on our hands. And the one thing that amazes me more than how big he is, how smart he is becoming.

Such sweet boys we have. I will miss their hugs and their kisses over the next few days.

Pinterest Project-- Just Hangin' Around

UPDATE 12/24/2015:

So this is crazy but it looks like this little post is getting a lot of attention right now & that is nice and all but I should warn that I am not great at responding to comments--Sorry. This post is really about documenting my boys and their life, it's their scrapbook. With that being said, this idea and project is still in use today. The only issue, the cars sometimes still get misplaced so it isn't as full as it once was. We solved that issue by replacing cars with Sticky9 magnet photos. The cars that we do have, the magnets are still in place, unless some little kiddo has ripped it off the car, and they will roll fine on the floor or on Matchbox set. Enjoy. Oh and Ikea would be a great option for the magnet bars, we didn't have one in our city until recently.

Again, awesome that this post is getting so much attention but I'm sorry if I don't respond to your comments, I haven't or probably won't realize they are there.

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We have been working on the playroom for awhile now. Its been a process and a long one at that. But we are finally finding ideas and pieces that we want to incorporate into the room. In the coming days a few pieces of wall art should be arriving and I'll have one more thing to share but until then, I thought I would share our project from today.

I saw a really cute idea on Pinterest on how we could display the boys' Matchbox/Hot Wheels. And since the idea is pretty simple and straight forward there really wasn't a way that I could add my own twist to it--I just went for it.

But before I get to unveiling the project let me tell you how we went about it. We purchased 4 21-inch stainless steal magnetic knife bars from Amazon. As soon as they arrived I pulled out Kaden and Logan's cars and went to show my idea to the hubs. I took the first car out and as I showed him how it would work, the car, it fell immediately to the ground. Wasn't this suppose to stick, it was magnetic and all & thats how the picture showed it! I went through our entire stock of cars and not a single one would stick, the cars weren't metal, they ALL had plastic bottoms.

(I believe if you have the older Matchbox or Hot Wheels cars you should be fine since they were made with metal bottoms).

To the drawing board I went. I needed to find a magnet to adhere to the underside of the car. It couldn't be too thick because then the cars wouldn't roll. It had to be just right and I needed to be able to cut them to size so I headed to JoAnn's to see what they had. I ended up with magnetic tape that you could adhere to the back of business cards and such.

I raced home to try to it out. The first car fell. The second car fell. The magnet wasn't strong enough. I decided to double it up and what do you know the first car stuck, the second car stuck and so did the third for about 10 minutes before falling to the floor leaving the gosh darn magnet behind. I needed glue. Crazy glue---ended up using a type of Gorilla glue. A few dots later and we had ourselves a functional piece of art right by their train table. All we need now are a few more cars! Vroom, Vroom.

It's Like Houdini

I  believe we have a Houdini on our hands.

We have alway had a pretty regular bedtime routine. About 7 o'clock we start with baths, then pajamas, followed by teeth brushing. They grab their lovies and off we go back downstairs for a little more play time and book reading. Once 8 o'clock rolls around we tell Logan it's time for bed and off we go carrying him up to his crib. He doesn't cry. In fact, the moment that we lay him in his crib he rolls to his stomach, curls up in the corner and off to dreamland he goes. Easy Peasy--thus far.

With Kaden it tends to be a different story. It isn't difficult, just not as smooth.

As soon as Kaden hears it is Logan's bedtime he instantly looks at us and holds up his three little fingers and states "Three more minutes, Mom." ---I can only assume that he uses three minutes because he is three years old and thats how long he has to sit in time out when he gets in trouble.--- Every time when he declares his three more minutes, I just can't help but smile. Cute kid but poor kid too. He could get so much more time if he only knew what he was asking. So after those three minutes are up we start getting Kaden up to his room. He will usually fall limp wherever he is and act like he's already asleep to ensure you carry him up to bed. Once upstairs and in bed he gives you a great big roar to make sure you know he isn't really asleep and that he was only playing. It's pretty cute and if it is one of those nights where he is fighting and throwing a fit not wanting to go to bed, all you have to do is say "oh no, he's asleep Daddy." and he will stop kicking his feet, waving his arms and will instantly go limp and on  the way you go. I sure hope he never figures out what reverse psychology is.

At this point I turn his lights out, the hall light on and I shut the door leaving only a crack for the light to peer in. And for the next 20-30 minutes he talks to himself. Talks to Mickey. Talks to Big Baby. Jumps on the bed a few times. Who knows what he is doing and frankly I'm okay with all that cause he never comes out of his room and before we know it he is out, drifting off to dreamland himself.

As I head off to bed I always go in and straighten him up in bed, give him one last kiss goodnight, and pull the covers back over him. It's at this time that I have started realizing that we have a Houdini on our hands.

The boy will go to bed wearing one shirt and fall asleep wearing another. One night all he wanted to do was wear his Buzz Lightyear shirt but I told him that he couldn't and that we would hang it right on the door so he could wear it the next day to daycare. (He might be a little obsessed with the Buzz shirt.) When I went back in he had taken matters into his own hands and decided that he was wearing it to bed no matter what Mom had said…

And sometimes he doesn't even take off his original shirt, he just wants to wear two…

and sometimes it's just about wearing one of his favorite colors...

Life is never dull with Kaden and he can light up a room even when he's asleep. Love him.

Today, Tomorrow & the Next Day Too.

This morning I got a text and there isn't really anything unusual about that cause I get texts all the time but this particular text, well it made my wonder about what I had forgotten. It went a little something like this...

Jennifer: Thinking about Logan today!! I ahve a little gift for him. Would love to get together this week!

Me: Did I miss his birthday? Or are you just that great of a god mother?!? I'll go with the second of those two options.

Jennifer: It is his baptism birthday :)

Holy Heck. I did forget his birthday! And honestly, I would never have remembered that unless I were to look back at last year's post. Thankfully, we have Jennifer. And when I have those moments where I drop the ball (and trust me, there are VERY few moments when that happens) she or someone else is there to pick up the slack.

My heart gets so warm and fuzzy just thinking about how much our boys are loved not only by our family but by our friends too. That they love them as though they were their own and will be right there beside us, helping as we guide them through life. I hope they know we will do the same-in a heartbeat.

So thank you Jenn for remembering such a special day in our family's life and for being such a caring and loving God Mother to Logan. I am not sure what we did to deserve such a wonderful person in our lives but I am beyond grateful. And honestly, I can say the same thing about so many of you that will read this. You will never fully know how thankful I am to have you in our daily lives. Words just won't do it justice...

So not only does Logan celebrate his baptism today (1 year ago) but Kaden will celebrate his tomorrow (2 years ago) and Colton will celebrate his on Thursday (3 years ago). So it is a celebration all around.

I tried finding a picture of us with Colton but I couldn't. I know I have it some place and I know his mom does too! Maybe it is a good thing becasue I was rather chunky in the photo since I had just given birth to Kaden!