Ahead Of The Game

We had a pretty awesome fall this year.  Lots and lots of nice warm days.  The boys had been begging for a leaf pile and this was on one of the first days that it was warm and not wet out - so we took advantage of it.  I raked and raked and got them a pretty good size pile to play in.  Happy babes!
(unfortunately I screwed up everything with my shoulder that I went to physical therapy to fix and it still isn't the same.  I guess raking is off limits for me...)

I started working on getting my flower beds the rest of the way winterized while the boys played.  Felt good for all of us to be outside getting some fresh air.

All the while we were doing that - Josh was on the roof putting up Christmas lights.  Chase begged to go up on top of the house, so Josh said he could for a second when he was done.  Well, this was as far as they got before Chasey changed his mind.  : )  I bet by next year he'll make it all the way up!

First time we've ever had our lights up this early - but it was so nice out we couldn't NOT take advantage of it.  And we promise not to turn them on til after Thanksgiving.  ; )

Me

I found this quote on Pinterest and it really hit home for me.  I like it.

Milo Moments

Milo doesn't like his nose to be drippy at all.  He likes it wiped right away if it gets that way.  So, he is forever telling me "Mom, I have a nose runnin'".  Haha.  He says it the exact way every time.  Josh always asks him where it's going.  ; )

Caught him playing with his McDonalds snoopy toys and all on his own he had the boy and girl dog smooching.  Awwww!!!!!!

Milo latched on to Chase's Batman hat for a couple of days when he discovered it.  My boys look AWESOME in hats.  I wish they wore them more.  Or maybe I just like guys in hats in general...because I like Josh in a hat too.  I don't know.  Anyway - does this boy not look EXACTLY like his Daddy in a hat?!  He looks like him a lot anyway but with a hat I thought it was spot on.  Such a cutie!

Bottoms up!  See?  He is still my baby boy!

Because everyone wheres a stocking cap ON TOP of their ears right??  Haha.  My Milo keeps me laughing, that's for sure!  I wouldn't mind if he ends up with his Daddy's sense of humor.  : )

Chase Moments

Chase all of a sudden is saying words correctly that he has said in his own way for a long time.  He used to make an f sound in place of the th sound, for example.  So, a simple word like "thing" is really standing out to me these days!  I have had him slow down and pronounce things properly occasionally for a long time.  And he could always do it - but never stuck with it when he was just quickly talking.  All of a sudden though - something has clicked!  He is doing it all on his own and he sounds sooo grown up now!

Chase's Christmas tree.  The web is the star.

It turned out a little blurry so you can't see it too well - but this Batman car has a fan on the back of it.  He said it was there to keep away the bad guys.  : )  Awesome sauce!  This kid rules!

Thoughtful

We had plans to drop the boys off for an evening at Grandma's house.  The cousins were going to be there too.  Chase being the thoughtful little boy that he is - had to draw a picture to take and give to Cullen.  He had Daddy put it in an envelope and put Cullen's name on it.  I am not exaggerating when I tell you he carried it around for a good 2 or more hours waiting for it to be time to go.  : )

Finally when we got there  - he gave it to Cullen.  Cullen smiled and said thank you.  I was hoping it would go well because I don't want to crush Chase's confidence and sweetheartness (because that's a word).  Cullen put it on Grandma's fridge so he wouldn't lose it.

So this is the picture he made for him.  See the guys shirt??..

Now look at Chase's shirt!  How awesome is that?!  He's so creative, and I love it!  I hope his creativity and thoughtfulness stick with him.  Being thoughtful is a good characteristic to have. He definitely makes me and his Daddy proud!

Boxes Are Fun

Our monthly Amazon shipment came.  A long time ago I emptied one of the bigger boxes and let them get inside of it with markers and go crazy.  For some reason - Chase remembered that this time and wanted to draw on one of the boxes.  This box wasn't near as big - but we still went for it.  He wanted Mommy to draw with them.  : )  We made Christmas trees and houses and people.  These are the moments I live for.  I love being Mommy!

October 31, 2015

Such a great Saturday!  Its the day after trick or treat.  Josh was only laid off till midnight and we woke up and he was still home and not due to go out til late.  Yay!  So, I had a hair cut at 8:45 and then I ran a couple things up to Colista and chatted with her for a minute.  Came home to Josh and the boys and said I was antsy.  So, Josh threw on some clothes and I straightened my hair and off we went.  We didn't have anything we NEEDED to do but we were going anyway.  (not something we ever do)  We went to Burlington.  Milo fell asleep on the way so we went to the mall and I went inside by myself and took back a pair of jeggings and found me another pair of jeans on clearance for $20!  Wahoo!  After that we went to Target to wander around.  We got the boys icees went through the toy section and let the kids pick out stuff they wanted to put on their Christmas list.  So fun!  And they didn't even have any meltdowns about it.  We let them each get a lego minifigure for being so good.  They had Halloween themed ones and I thought that was perfect since today was the day of Halloween.  We put those together for them and headed to Pancheros for lunch.  The boys scarfed!  They were done and had their food completely gone before Josh and I.  (which NEVER happens!)  They ate so good we decided they deserved ice cream.  So, next we walked down to Sassy Strawberry.  We have taken them there a few times but this time was extra fun because they got really excited about it.  So freaking cute!  We headed on home and decided to end our outing on a good note.  It was one of our best outings as a family ever!  We are technically broke and should have been saving money - not spending it.  But we decided to block that out today and just enjoy ourselves...and we sooo did!  Once in a while you just have to let go from being responsible on every level and have fun.  I spent the afternoon organizing my brain and paperwork and mail and all that. Oh, and I made supper too. Felt like a huge weight lifted and cleared the fogginess from my mind.  That feels SOOO good sometimes!  Lately my mind has felt very foggy for some reason so it felt extra nice this time.  Josh was a great help if I asked him to help me with anything.  He laid on the floor and played legos with the boys for a while...and then the boys played AND got along allll afternoon and evening.  It was glorious!  Josh and I both complimented them and praised them so much today! They were seriously the best!  All of us are ending the day on a cloud.  Well, the boys and I are ending our day - Daddy has to go to work while we sleep.  Oooonly damper on the day.  But, we aren't going to let it ruin it for us!  Days like today are what I live for! I wish I could live on this high all the time.  I won't worry about that right now though.  I'll live in the present and be thankful for it.  Ahhh, life is GOOOD!!!

Trick or Treat Smell My Feet

Trick or treat was finally here!  The boys have only been looking forward to it since trick or treat LAST year.  Haha.  My Captain America and Black Ninja were ready to go!  Milo can't say Captain America.  He says "batta kedicah".  It's cute as heck!

First stop - Grandma's house!  I took taco soup to leave on her stove for us to have after we were done.  She made a pot too so we would have 2 choices.

We were sure to save a day so Josh could be home for trick or treat again.  We screwed up one year and I don't think we'll let that happen again.

See that spider on the wall?  It's automatic and climbs up and down.  Milo wasn't so sure about it.  Haha.

We walked a couple blocks around Moms house and then we did things a little different this year and we hopped in the car and went to different parts of town.  We'd get out and walk a block or 2 and then get back in and do it again.  Chase asked why his cousins weren't with us this year and lost interest pretty early on...which made me sad.  No 2 years of trick or treat have been exactly the same (we just go with the flow and whoever is at Moms leaving at the same time goes together..or not) and last year we were only with the cousins for half of the time...so I was surprised he was bummed about it.  But, we tried to make it as fun for him as we could. I am so glad he and Milo at least have each other to do everything with.

We had always heard that the spooky house was cool to go trick or treating at - so we went there this year.  She greeted us in costume and she said in a scary voice "Hello there, we have been waiting for you.  Come on in - we have someone who has been dying to meet you".  And then you go in and there is a skeleton holding a bowl of candy.  Milo was scared.  Haha.  But, it was pretty cool!!

Chase didn't want to go to any more houses but Milo did - so I got out of the car and took him to a few more houses - just the 2 of us.  He held my hand so sweetly.  : )  Those one on one moments are special for sure!

We went back to Grandma's house for soup.  Vivi was a cute little pink monster.  Love it!

Well, we were SUPPOSED to be eating soup.  Haha!  How onery is that face?!  Ohhh, Milo!  I do love you!

Owen and Harley stopped by for just a minute.  Tyson ended up having to go to work this year and Vanessa didn't stick around with them.

I also made an orange jello cake for supper.  I had never made an orange one before but turns out it was one of the best ones I've ever had.

I asked Asher if I could have his picture in his costume and this was the face I got.  Haha.  He was ready to take it off and eat I think.

Liam willingly hopped up when I asked him if I could take a picture of him and Ced.  I realized when I saw that his costume covered his face WHY he was so willing.  Haha.

Chase ended the night being happy that his cousins were at Grandma's.  ..and aside from Tyson not being there - I enjoyed myself too.  I like ending the night of trick or treat at Mom and Dads so that we can have a little adult time too.  It's a good tradition.  Hopefully it won't end any time soon.

Costume Party

The lucky little brother that Milo is - got to come to big brothers Halloween party at school with me again this year.  I wore my bat scarf and he wore his Captain America costume.  Josh thinks this 2nd picture looks like Milo was the one taking the selfie - and it totally does!  Haha.  I was thinking ahead (like I always do) and thought how next year Milo will get to go to 2 parties more than likely.  He will have his in preschool on a Thursday and then won't have school on Friday when I go to Chases so will probably go with me then too.  Lucky ducky!  

For days Chase had been talking about his "costume party" at school.  He was sooo excited for it!  So, we got there and got him all decked out too.  

He was dead set on being a black ninja this year.  I told him to smile but I don't even know why since you couldn't see his face.  Bummer!  I guess you can still see it in his eyes though.  : )

Look at that - his best buddy was a black ninja too!  Gage didn't get to bring his swords to school and it made him sad when he saw Chase with his.  Chase was an awesome friend and put his away for a while so Gage wouldn't be sad.  Made me proud!

Parading through the school to show off their cuteness.

Witch magnets for their project.

Spider races!  Lots of giggles. : )  There was so much spit on the tables when they were done.  Haha

Snack time!  It is so strange how that cafeteria really does look like a classroom now.  And it's full!  There are a lot of those kiddos.

The time zoomed by so fast that I never got a chance to get a picture inside with my Chasey.  So, car selfie it was!  He had fun and I think he loved me being there as much as I loved getting to be there again.  : )  I was so much more relaxed this year knowing what to expect now and knowing more of the faces a little better.  And now, Chase is done with preschool Halloween parties!

Teacher Mom

Chase is learning all kinds of life lessons tonight.  Him and I are snuggling after Milo went to bed.  We just talked about baby teeth and the tooth fairy.  He was excited about that!  Then I yawned and it made him yawn and he thought it was funny so I told him how they are contagious and what that big word means.  He was very intrigued and interested.  Just a night of being teacher Mom.  I love it!

Walk It Off

After my birthday week Hubbys hoody and the pretty fall trees got me through a drizzly wet walk. Got to walk off the 2 pounds I gained celebrating my birthday! I obviously indulged a little too much. 😳 This time of year is just HARD.  You only turn 28 once I guess...

Family Pics 2015

I like to get our pictures done yearly.  So, it was that time again.  Finding coordinating shirts for us all this year fell together really easily.  Love it when that happens!  We decided to do somewhere new and different this year and met at the old railroad depot in Ft. Madison.  It was the perfect place!  The weather was great and the boys were freaking angels!  It could not have been a better shoot.  Period.  It was perfect!

Our bribe the whole time we were taking pictures was to go to Pizza Hut and have pizza and play arcade games if they were good.  It worked!  And they seemed very appreciative of their reward.  : )  They were great there too.  I was truly proud of them from start to finish!

Colista posted this one right before bed so we could have a little peak.  OH. MY. GOODNESS!  Seriously, how awesome is this picture?!  There are more...and I love them all.  Our outfits, our moods, the location, the photographer - it was all good!  I haven't even seen them all yet.  Gah!  So good!  I love that Colista is our photographer so my boys are their normal selves around her and we catch their real personalities on "film".  Mine and Josh's too, for that matter.  I will add all of my favorites when I get them. : )

Cookie Monster

This day my Cookie Monster woke up requesting we make cookies. So, we baked cookies at 8am! Why not?!