Happy Halloween

Last week was one of those crazy weeks I can remember. To say the word crazy is an understatement. Let me explain. I have always wanted to read the book, "I was a really cool mom before I had kids". It rings so true to me. I had a vision of myself being so organized and put together and that is just not the case for me a lot of days. Halloween, for example... Even just a few days ago I had a vision of what I wanted to get done. The perfect Halloween. Carved pumpkins sitting on the front porch, all of the Halloween decorations up, the kids' costumes picked out and the basket of candy ready to pass out. None of these happened until the day of Halloween! I was out of commission with a broken computer (now back in business with a new one). And I was in the middle of painting the family room. We went to the pumpkin patch earlier in the day where the kids picked their pumpkins. We pulled over at the grocery store on the way home from church to pick up the bags of candy. After lunch Summer and Forrest carved the jack-o-laterns with David while I painted. David and I were so tired that evening and it sounds silly but I really had to "rally" to get the energy to dress everyone up and head on out. however the minute we saw their little faces light up when we hit the streets it was all worth it. David and I looked at each other and smiled. Totally worth it. Before heading out, we went around to the backyard to take some pictures before it got too dark, I made the kids stand still in their costumes... because any "good" mom would have a picture of her kids' Halloween every year. I took the kids up and down our neighborhood streets while David passed out candy. They each filled their plastic pumpkins to the brim with candy. David and I woke up the next morning to both of them sitting on the floor with their pumpkin buckets in their laps chomping away. If you are not having candy for breakfast on November 1st then I just don't know if we can be friends. It's a must. The end to a very fun Halloween. I know the kids are already looking forward to next year... We will carve the pumpkins earlier next year and I think it is time for me to surrender to the myth of "perfection" in this art of motherhood.

Forrest the Firefighter

Summer the Witch

For Hope

Happy Birthday, Sis.

Forrest the Pumpkin

This is Forrest sitting in the stroller Halloween 2007. It is just too darn cute. This is still how I picture Forrest in my mind. They really do grow up too fast.

Secret Spoon

Forrest and I baked a cake today. I had no intention of taking any pictures but he looked so darn cute sitting up on the kitchen counter with his apron on... I couldn't resist. Whenever I bake something the kids love to have some of the mix. They always try to secretly sneak spoonfuls so we just started calling it "secret spoon". Now they just ask for a "secret spoon" and I know just what they want. Forrest comes across so serious in pictures but he is quite the opposite in real life. He is so hilarious. To say he is animated is an understatement. Living with him truly is like living with a cartoon character. He is beyond excited about everything. If I say, "Forrest, we are going to the grocery store..." He squeals with excitement and jumps up and down. If I buy him a new toothbrush or tell him he can choose a movie to watch... Yep, he is just as excited. And when I say excited you need to picture someone winning the publishers clearing house sweepstakes. That is the kind of jump up and down excited he gets... About everything. I love that I get to be this boy's mama. I am so excited to see where his life will take him and to watch as he grows up. I just don't want him to grow up too fast because this is too much fun.

Halloween Tree

We love Halloween. I try and make them fun for our kids. To make things a little more festive around here, I decided to use our Easter tree and found some cute Halloween ornaments. It was the one that was exactly what I envisioned. The kids picked their favorite ornaments. They were pretty excited to hang them up on the tree. They love having the "Halloween Tree" (as Summer calls it) on our kitchen table. They decorate and re-decorate it daily.

Pink Ruffles

For months (literally) Summer has been begging me to get her these pink ruffles shoes that she had saw at the store. I had no idea what she was talking about. I would just smile and say, "Sure honey". Well, she didn't give up. The darn words, "pink ruffles" kept coming up. She told me they were a really fancy pair of shoes and that she REALLY needed them. The next time I went to the store I saw them and then I officially started ignoring the idea. Summer was persistent and I still didn't purchase them for her. It wasn't until I realized she REALLY needed a new pair of shoes after her other shoes got too small. I promptly went back to the store and put them in my shopping cart. I had them on her bed for her when she came home from school. Her smile was priceless. Summer's big grin outshines all of those ruffles on her feet. You can see how they are already worn out, she REALLY does loves these pink ruffles.

And, I love this little Kindergartner.

Marbles Museum

David and I loaded up the kids and took them to Marbles Museum in Raleigh yesterday.

They were in heaven.
Trains + stationary bicycle + pirate ship + arts & crafts + hockey + climbing wall + woodworking =
F U N

My Forrest

Forrest has been getting up a lot lately in the middle of the night. I wake up to a little one snuggling next to my bed and little finger pokes on my face. He wants to get in bed with David and me. I don't want to start that habit so I take him back to his bed where he says, "Lay down with me". I snuggle him for a few minutes and tip toe back to bed. That usually does the trick. Two nights ago however that routine was not working. I put him in his bed on three separate occasions. 20 minutes later the whole scene would repeat itself. On the third time I looked at him and said, "Forrest, this is sooo frustrating". He looked at me, started to cry and said, "I not fwusawating, I your Forrest". With that i just smiled, pulled back the covers to our bed and he hopped right in between David and me. How could I resist?

I took these pictures of my Forrest with his little makeshift umbrella yesterday. I asked him what he was doing. He said, "I am making an umbrella with a wood stick on a pizza cardboard box" (he had found from the recycling bin). He was on a hunt in our backyard pretending it was still raining and inspecting the grass. I love this boy.