Happy Halloween 2011

This was probably our most fun Halloween yet!  We  made it to a few harvest fests, and then had a five family trick-or-treating extravaganza.  It was a blast, I'm tired, and we have WAY too much candy left.

The many faces of Harry Potter.  He had a blast this year!

The cutest ninja I've ever seen.  His moves are awesome!

A very sweet and spunky Cinderella.  She made a last minute costume change for trick-or-treating and went as Tinker Bell. 

A super snuggly dinosaur!  Can you believe that this costume was first worn by my nephew 9 years ago?  It's still one of my favorites!

I secretly hate carving pumpkins.  It might just be the kids' ages.  I mean what's fun about 4 little ones, a gooey mess and a whole lot of knives?  Seems like the perfect recipe to land us in the Mary Bridge ER.  (We haven't been for a while...they probably miss us.)  BUT, this year was kind of fun.  The boys both chose the same ghost pattern, so Aaron and I each agreed to carve one.  Aaron started talking smack.   So I did, what I do best...I rise to the challenge and I WIN!   Seeing as I am docile and non-competitive, it was completely out of my nature to laugh hysterically when he cut the arm off of Luke's ghost and had to repair it with toothpicks.

Of course, just when I thought I'd crushed the competition, he comes out of nowhere and creates a ninja pumpkin. I can't compete with that. The boys were cheering him on, and I must admit that it was one of the best pumpkins I've seen. 

Here is Mema (Aaron's mom) at Harvest Fest with the kiddos.  Don't you love her wig? 

Here are most of the 13 kids that we trick-or-treated with!  Love these kids and these families!  Bubby and Papa (my folks) drove up from Portland to join in on the fun too! We had a blast!

Pumpkin Patch 2011

This year I went to the pumpkin patch THREE times!  Once as a family, and then I tagged along on field trips for Peter and Natalie's classes.  As a photographer, I love the patch.  The colors are inspiring and there seems to be a glow in the air....and all that would be absolutely more evident in my pictures if I wasn't keeping four kiddos headed in the same direction!  So, just use your imagination to make everything a little "glowier."  Yes, I know "glowier" isn't a real word!

Pumpkin Patch 2011

Yes, I know there isn't a picture of Luke with his pumpkin.  I have no idea what happened.  But rest assured.  He ended up with the biggest pumpkin!

Gettin' Crafty

I've been gettin' crafty lately!  I know, I'm scared too!  But don't worry, if you know me, then you know that it's nothing too crazy!

Here's what I've been up to:

I needed a Fall wreath for my new door.  So, I made this one.  It's awesome, huh? 

linking up with Beneath My Heart

I think that the best part of this wreath, is that I finished it in about 35 minutes. I made it while I was chatting on the phone with my sister....which should also tell you that it's very easy to make.

I found the directions for how to make it here.  The only thing that I did differently, was that I had to cover my whole wreath (front and back) because it's hanging on a window.

But wait, there's more!  My craftiness didn't end there.  I've been having so much fun decorating Natalie's room.  It's just so girly and fun!  There's still a lot to do...curtains, storage, pictures....but here are few projects I have completed.

I was at Ikea and bought 4 spice racks to hang in my pantry.  Unfortunately, my estimates were way off, and guess what...they didn't fit.  There was no way I was driving all the way back to Ikea to return $4 spice racks, so, I just spray painted 2 of them white and hung them next to Natalie's bed to hold her books.  I thought this was pretty smart...then about a week later I saw the same idea on Pinterest.  Guess I'm not as original as I thought. Ha!   I think I'll paint the other two blue, and put them next to the boys' beds. 
 

 

Speaking of Pinterest...have you seen it?  It's amazing.  You can click here, or click the "P" logo on the side of my page to see what I'm talking about.   I used to bookmark every great idea, design idea, recipe, etc that I wanted to remember.  That got confusing.  Then I found Pinterest and now I can just "pin" my ideas from any website I see them on. 

Anyway, moving on. Here's my next project.  

I recently added Natalie's name above her mirror.

I got the bird house-string/clip-thing from Target on clearance for $5.   So, then I got the idea to use die-cut letters and circles to put Natalie's name over her mirror.    I went to the scrap book store (which terrified me) and I convinced the gal to cut some circles and letters for me.  She thought the project would be even cuter if I added a little fan flower behind each letter.  Now listen carefully...let this be a lesson to us all...if the lady that owns a scrap book store tells you something is easy...she's LYING.  I watched about a million different youtube videos, showing all sorts of ways to make these things.  In the end, there was a lot of folding, a lot of glue, a few bad words, and they look pretty cute.  But still, don't trust the scrap book lady....ever. 

The pictures aren't very good, but you get the idea!

Look at those "simple" little fan flowers.

Here's my final project. 
I took 2 old picture frames, spray painted them white (I like the high gloss white), removed the glass, and added cute paper as the background.  I had 2 extra bird clips (you could use any type of clip), so I attached them.  So now I have an easy way to change out pictures in Natty's room, or show off some of her art work.  I want to do some more (gender neutral) of these for the playroom. 

 

Okay, I'm kind of tired from all this craftiness!  What projects have you been working on?

Nine months old...

Dear Benjamin,

You are NINE months old!  This month you continued to be on the move.  You are a busy boy!  We are baby-proofing the house, but everyday you seem to show me one more thing that needs to be secured.  You might be busy, but you are happy and content, which makes you very fun to be with!

After a whole lot of drooling, you finally got your first teeth.  But, in true Benjamin-style, you didn't get the typical little adorable bottom teeth.  Nope, you cut your 2 big 'ole front teeth.  They are adorably huge and I LOVE when you flash your sweet smile at me! 

You continue to like baby food, and I'm starting to fear that you'll never eat anything else.  You'll eat  little rice puffs, but really aren't interested in other "big people" food.  I gave you a teeny tiny piece of pasta the other day and you gagged and hacked and acted like I was trying to hurt you.  So, we continue on with a steady diet of pureed fruits and veggies. Yum.

You had your 9-month check up, and as we expected, you are perfectly healthy.  You are 28 3/8 inches tall, and you weigh 19lbs 5oz. You're in the 70th percentile for height, and 35th percentile for weight.    Which raises the question, how fat are the 90th percentile babies...cause you're no small thing?  (no offense to the big fat babies...I've had a few big babies myself.)

When you aren't on the move, you are also a big time snuggle bug!  You get shy when new people talk to you, and I love the way you lay your head on my shoulder and snuggle in.  You've also recently started saying mama and dada.  Not necessarily talking to us, but you'll get there soon.

One of your favorite things is bath time.  You are a bath fanatic!  Whenever you see the bathtub, you crawl as fast as you can to it, and try to climb in.  Once we put you in, you spend the entire time slapping the water, splashing it all over, and laughing about it. 

It continues to be our joy to watch you grow.  We love you sweet boy and are blessed by you everyday!

love,
mommy


Here are a few of my favorite pictures from this past month...

Didn't you get the memo? NO CLIMBING!

This picture just cracks me up!

Waiting for daddy.

Bucky Comes To Town...

In my family, when you have a tree that needs to come down, there's only one person to call...Uncle Scott!  Uncle Scott is a recently retired paramedic firefighter, and one of our all time favorite people.  He has an excellent reputation for tree falling...unless you count the one that he fell across the back of his truck (completely smashing it), or the few unfortunate accidents with the chainsaw, but who remembers those???

When we moved in, there were a few trees that needed to come down...so we called Uncle Scott, who generously agreed to drive up from Portland and tackle the project.  When he arrived, he told me that he and my dad used to have a "side business" Bucky and Swampy's Woodcutters.  Their motto was "When you want something busted, call someone who can be trusted, Bucky and Swampy Woodcutters"  That's pretty hilarious!  Unfortunately Swampy (my Dad) couldn't make the trip, so Bucky came with longtime friend Gary (my dad, uncle Scott, and Gary all went to college together).  And my cousin, Ginny (Scott's daughter) came along to supervise.  


It was a great day, trees came down, and we are incredibly grateful!

Meet Uncle Scott a.k.a Bucky

Don't worry, he's a professional...and if anything goes wrong...he's also a paramedic.   :-)

Luke had a half day of school, so he joined in and worked hard.

Luke was intrigued by the helmet...every time Uncle Scott took it off, Luke put it on.

The whole crew...Aaron, Luke, Ginny (and Junior the dog), Scott, Gary, and Peter

The "after" shot! 

a new HOME....

So, in my last post, I told the story of how we bought our new house.  This post is a little bit about how we've made it our HOME!

Just after we took possession of the house, we brought the kids over and had some family time.  We wanted to make sure that they understood that this house was a blessing (never to be taken for granted), and that as a family, our plan is to use this home to bring Glory to God.  This was a pretty funny concept.  Peter suggested we put a big picture of Jesus on our house so "people would know that we like him."  I'm not sure the HOA would approve, so we decided on some other ways.  {smile}

Part of our family time involved "marking" our new home!  You should have seen the kids' faces when we told them that they could write/draw on the walls.  Sheer JOY I tell you!  Of course, we also had to be absolutely clear that this was the ONLY time they could write on the walls!

We had compiled several Bible verses that reflected our hopes for our new home.  And so the marking began....

Excuse the handwriting...ball point pen on a textured wall is difficult.  Here was our inspiration and this was written in the entry hall.

"Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and strength.  These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.  Impress them on your children.  Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down, and when you get up.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  WRITE THEM ON THE DOOR FRAMES OF YOUR HOUSE AND ON YOUR GATES."  

Deuteronomy 6:5-9

Luke:  As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

I love how Natalie is nestled right under her daddy!

Peter just turned 5 and is learning to write.  So he had some statements, rather than verses to write.   
Here he is writing, "I love God."

Natalie just turned 3.  She was drawing pictures.  She showed me this picture and said, "Look mama, I made God."
Yep, looks just like him!

I loved this one too.  Peter made a cross and wrote his name so that God would know who did it!

This was a priceless activity for our family.  I look around at the new paint, and I know what's under there!