To Everything There Is A Season

Potty training has been a work in progress.

Some have taken to it more than others, and that continues to be the case.

Brenna was making her usual daily deposit, until last Saturday night. After the ward Trunk R' Treat, I took all of the candy that was bite sized and filled up the potty incentive bowl. After experiencing her first Milk Dud, Brenna was suddenly needing to visit the potty 7 times a day. I found her requesting more liquids than normal, and sometimes purposely depositing one nugget at a time. She devoured all the Milk Duds, Whoppers, and M&M's in a matter of days. She knew what she wanted and she knew how to get it. Who knew a little chocolate would do the trick?

Her sassy sister Brooke recently appointed herself to the the role of doodie dumper and flushing fairy. She takes great pride in her work, and will scream and fight Brenna to the death in order to maintain her pro bono practices. Her breath quickens every time the candy bowl is lowered from the bathroom cabinet and Brenna's fingers glide across each glossy treat. Immediately, she will begin to plead her case with a wrinkled nose and random grunts. Her time on the potty is spent reading the IKEA catalog or coaching Brenna, but nothing more.

I can't quite figure her out but as they say, everything has its season.

Baby It's Cold Outside

Today we got our first real taste of fall.

It had us busily searching for our jackets,

rewinding the AC dial in our car,

briskly rubbing our goose bumped arms,

and attempting to pat down the angry static in our hair.

It was delightful.

I just hope it's here to stay.

Trick or Treat, Witches Feet

Let's be honest.

I'm not a very craft-driven person. Unless it somehow saves me money, or free food is involved, I would rather just pass, and spend my pennies at the thrift store. So yes, I do like crafts, but it's just not in my blood to want to make them on a regular basis. My Martha potential continues to wane, and I'm ok with that.

I came across these cute paper witch shoes at Skip To My Lou, and I wanted one. They only require two pieces of card stock, glue, and whatever ribbons or decoration you choose. (click on the link for the directions)

These are perfect for gifts, a visiting teaching goodie,a table centerpiece, or Halloween decoration.

Just don't let your toddlers try them on.

24+2+2

Kevin turned 28 yesterday!

He was able to take the day off of work so we could have a full 24 hours to celebrate the special occasion. I was his Westley and he was my Princess Buttercup, and his wish was my command.

For breakfast (in bed), he requested strawberry crepes, which reminded me a lot of the cheese enchiladas I made the night before. If I had it my way, I would rename them strawberry enchiladas, as it sounds much more enticing than crepes.

I tried to help the girls understand that it was Daddy's Birthday, and not a reenactment of theirs from last month. They were excited, at the mention of cake, and did their best to shower their Dad with kisses and mini party hat stickers. After finishing his meal, he was off to get an hour massage while I got the girls and I ready for the day.

For lunch, we made our way over to Joe's BBQ to get his free Birthday meal. Their macaroni and cheese is stick to your ribs delicious, and every part of the meal holds it own when it comes to flavor.

The weather was nice enough to sit outside on their picnic tables, and let the girls chase the birds. They really seemed to enjoy it.

After we had sufficiently stuffed ourselves, we came home and put the girls down for their nap. Kevin opened his gifts, and then left to do some shopping with his gift cards.

While he was gone, I washed and vacuumed his car, which was another gift to him. It definitely needed a good cleaning, as a lot of the insides were still coated with pizza dust from working at Papa John's. I made it nice and sparkly, and doused the seats with Febreeze, because there's nothing like the feeling of driving in a clean car.

That night, my Mom came over to babysit so we could go see a movie. We went to Slices for dinner, and shared one of their mongo slices of pizza, which was very tasty by the way. Afterwards, we went to see the movie Surrogates. It had a very interesting plot, kind of a cross between The Matrix and I-Robot.

After the movie, we came home and made Kevin's favorite dessert. Angel Food Cake with strawberries and whip cream. I found it amusing when realizing that our family is now mathematically compatible. Meaning that my age plus each of the girl's ages, equals Kevin's age. It might not seem as exciting to some, but it did help a lot when it came to trying to find candles for Kevin's birthday cake last minute.

Happy Birthday

to my sweet husband and best friend:)

2009 Family Pictures

Back in July, we had some photos taken with Kevin's side of the family. It was still pretty warm out, and we had lots of little ones to try to work with. We were determined to make things work. Luckily, the photo shoot went very well, and the pictures turned out great. I put them in the order that they were taken, as the lighting changes pretty drastically from the first picture to the last because the sun was setting.

(In case these look a little familiar, we did use the same color coordinating as our last family pictures:)

I love being a part of this family:)

*Photos taken by Brian Powell with Adeo Images.