Fall Leaves

Our new place has some pretty landscaping around the grounds.  The kids love it.  They call the rock formations behind our place their secret hideout.  If they're not climbing around on the rocks, they're picking flowers, or (as of late) playing in the leaves.  I love the leaves.  I love the fall.  I love my kids.  All this love had to be captured in some photos.

Hunter ALWAYS  (always!!!) has a wicked hairdo happening in the back.  Even if I brush it, and slather some goop in it, by the end of the day the back hairs on his head are standing at a messy attention.  I call it his Russel Brand hair-do.  Not the newer more polished Russel Brand, the Russel Brand from a few years ago whose rat-nest hair in the back looked like a good hiding place for whatnots and whatchamacallits.  Hunter's hair-do likes to hide bits of fall leaves.  Crazy hair!   

 See what I mean?

Moving on. . . the lass below is my little artist/photographer.  Every time I whip out my camera, she wants to take over and snap some pics of her own.  I put one of her masterpieces in this blog post below.

These are MY masterpieces below:

 Corky is there too!!

The picture below is Tralee's.  Not too shabby!

The pictures below of Hunter just scream:  BOY!!!  He looks like such a little boy in them.  As I was snapping away, Hunter decided to throw leaves at me.  One landed on my shoulder and he thought it was the most hilarious thing in the world.

Tralee wanted to take pictures using my camera.  I wouldn't let her.  She was mad. . . .

 . . .But she got over it and threw more leaves in the air.

The weather has become a little more crisp lately.  I kinda love it, but the kids haven't been to their secret hideout as much lately.  When they do venture over, I make them bundle up with sweaters, jackets, hats, and mittens.  They like it, not-so-much.  If it were up to Tralee she would be playing barefoot in the rain wearing a sleeveless dress in near-freezing weather -- something she's done within the last week.  Once I discovered her crazy rain-dance antics, I made her come in and put on some weather appropriate clothes, much to her dismay.  A few days later, I'M the one that caught a cold!  Stinks is still as healthy as can be.  She's such a winter baby.  So much so, that she told me I can call her Snowflake if I want.

Snow for short.

It's Gonna Be a Good Year!

My birthday was on a fun day this year -- 10/11/12.  I turned 31.  I'm almost positive this will be an amazing year.  Not only did I have a cool birthday, but I think all numbers that end in one are lucky.  Always have.  I read a few years ago that another culture -- I think it was Indian, but I could be wrong -- also believe numbers that end in one are lucky.  I'm pretty sure I must be part Indian (or whatever culture that was that I read about).

On 10/11/12 I woke up to Tralee handing me her gift.  She made me a necklace out of fall leaves, and tried her darnedest the night before to keep it a secret.  Sweet girl.  She asked me to help her tie the string she used for the necklace, but I had to tie it with my eyes closed so I couldn't see what it was.  I heard the leaves crinkling next to each other as my fingers made the knot.  I also helped her find some paper to wrap my gift in, but the rest was all Stinks.  She even drew pictures on the wrapping paper.  I loved it!  When I saw the perfect red leaves she chose, carefully placed on the string, my heart melted.  I told Tralee a few days before how much I love fall.  I love it!  I love the smells, colors, weather, tastes, sounds, everything about it!  We had a conversation about how pretty the fall leaves are, especially the bright red ones, and wouldn't you know it, I got a handmade necklace with the prettiest red leaves!  Thoughtful girl!  I wore it most of the day, and by the end all the leaves had fallen off.  Tralee told me each leaf that fell meant another one of my birthday wishes came true.

The second awesome part of my birthday included a bath.  I got out the bath salts and essential oils for this one.  My moment of solitude lasted a good five minutes or so before Hunty sniffed out the oils.  It took about 1.4 second flat for him to strip down and hop in the tub with me.  It wasn't quite as relaxing as having the tub to myself, but I didn't mind.  As far as bath company goes, he's a favorite.  Another few minutes after Hunty joined me, Tralee discovered us.  She wanted in too.  At this point, I decided to forfeit and let the kiddies take over the tub.

  

After bath time my friend and neighbor came over.  We packed some lunch, and took the kids to a nearby park.  Tralee didn't have school, so we got to spend the whole day together.  Both of my babies had a great time running around the park with their friends.

After picnicking and parking it up for a bit, we came home, baked a cake, and Tralee decorated it for me all by herself.  She picked out decorations earlier from the store, and I decided to let her have full control over the proceedings.  I, once again, wasn't aloud to look at her creation until I got the say-so.

My friend/neighbor took the follow pics of Tralee decorating and surprising me  with her cake creation.

The cake turned out beautifully, and not only that, but my friend Janessa, also brought me over a cake.  Two cakes on one birthday!  It can't get any better than that!  Also, did you know that calories don't count on your birthday?  I had no problem eating a slice (or two) of each cake.  They were both yummy!

Later on that night Tralee and I made some veggie soup and rolls.  Both were delish. 

So, to sum it up, my day was exactly wonderful!  The only thing that could have made it perfect-o would be Jim's presence.  He was away on business, but I still spent my day with my favorite littles, I talked to family and friends, I blew out candles on--not one, but two--cakes, and it all ended snuggling on the couch with my favorite peeps.  The only thing missing was my hubster.  I know we'll catch up on celebrating when he makes it home.

So. . . . 31 

It's going to be an amazing year!!

School Night at The Farmstead

A few weeks ago Tralee's school sponsored a Family Fun Night at The Farmstead.  We got a screamin' deal to get in, and had a great night together (minus Jim who was in Alaska).  Tralee saw some of her friends and classmates, and even got to watch some teachers kiss a pig.  

Actually, Tralee missed the pig-kissing even though she was sitting in the FRONT  ROW!  The crowd even counted down from 10.  She was screaming the numbers right down with the crowd.  Then, after the pig-kissing event was over (something Tralee had been talking about for weeks), I walked over to her and said, "okay, lets go do something else."  Her response was, "That's it?  But nobody kissed the pig!"  I was like, "Uh, yeah they did.  Three teachers kissed the pig.  You were sitting RIGHT in the front row.  It happened right in front of you."

Blank confused stare.

She missed it.

I don't know how, but she missed it.  I was like, "What were you looking at?"

"I don't know."

"Why did you think everyone was counting down from 10?"

"I don't know."

I explained that next time people are doing a countdown, it means something exciting is about to happen, so start looking around until you see something that looks exciting.  Silly girl.

Anyways, she wasn't too disappointed about missing the pig kisses.  I lured her away from tears with promises of hot mini donuts sprinkled with powdered sugar from the donut vendor.  They were freshly cooked and oh-so-yummy.  Tralee actually ate so many from the first batch, that Hunter was sad he didn't get as many, so I bought a second batch with sprinkles just for him.  We all shared, although I made sure the mini-donut consumption was even between my kids to avoid a meltdown.

We did pretty much everything The Farmstead had to offer.  I even coughed up the dough for Tralee to ride a pony, and walk through a giant lizard maze.  The only thing we missed, was taking a hayride to the pumpkin patch to pick out some pumpkins.  It got too late and too cold to go on the hayride, so I told the kids we might go back some sunny fall day to check that off our list.

All and all, our night at The Farmstead was great.  

The only thing it was missing was Jim's company.  We sure miss him around here.  October will be a long month without him!

Keeping busy helps us not miss him as much.

Which is why we'll probably take another trip to The Farmstead before the month is over!  It's kinda fun!

School Picture Day

Tralee's VERY first school picture day was last week.  Before she left for school, we did our own little photo shoot.  Here are some of my faves:

I took a few pics of this little guy, just for good measure!

I can't wait to see how Tralee's school picture actually turned out!

A Bit About Hunty

Hunter is my sensitive, silly, cute boy.  He is SO good most of the time, and such a stinker about 25% of the time (could be more depending on the day).

Hunty waiting for Tralee to be done with school

For the most part, he listens really well.  If I ask him to do something, he's willing to jump up and help. However, if something doesn't go to his liking, the screams and whines that erupt from his mouth could send a chill down a fat-man-dressed-in-three-sweaters-in-the-middle-of-summer's spine.  I've become the mother that says, "Unless you're bleeding, dying, or someone is trying to steal you, DON'T SCREAM LIKE THAT!!!"  Luckily, it doesn't happen all that often; as long as I keep him well fed (if he'll eat -picky thing!), rested, and busy.  It still happens more frequently than I would like, and when it does it depletes my mommy battery somethin' fierce!  We're working on "using our words" instead of whining/screaming to get our way.  We're also working on sharing and waiting our turn.  These two things are definitely a skill my three-year-old has yet to acquire.  One day and one teaching opportunity at a time -- heaven help me!

Super Hunter

In more pleasant news about my boy, Hunter and I take walks/bike rides together everyday while Big Sis is in school.  There is only happiness on our outings.  Corky joins us for her daily exercise, and I quite enjoy the conversations Hunty and I share on our walks.  Sometimes we stop walking/biking so that Hunter can go pick a leaf, search for a rock, or pick up "the biggest pine cone in the world!"  We don't rush, we just enjoy our time outside together. 

Hunty and Corky on one of our rides.  Corky was getting tired of running next to the bike, so she hitched a ride with Hunty.

Speaking of the great outdoors, there are a lot of trees around here with small red berries.  Hunter has been fascinated with them from the very beginning.  He named the berries doonkles.  I have no idea where the word doonkle came from, but it's stuck.  These types of trees are affectionately referred to as Doonkle Trees in our home.  They will probably go by no other name for the foreseeable future.   

Hunty picking doonkles

Hunter also has some other words for things that we're not sure about their origins.  He'll call us doot every once in a while.  Maybe he heard someone saying, "dude" so doot is his version.

Objects have also become "mitts."  We'll ask Hunter a question about something and his answer is, "mitt."  We hear the word, "mitt" said a lot around here, and it has nothing to do with politics. . . as far as we know!

Another Hunter-ism has more to do with his crazy language.  He rhymes with almost everything.  When we say, "It's time to go put on your pants."  His reply is something like, "You mean, it's pime to go put on my rants!!!"  He thinks this is the most hilarious thing EVER.  I don't get it, but whatever.  I'm sure there will be a lot of things my boy does that I won't understand.

A very comfy bike ride

I already don't understand his desire to run around partially clothed.  I mean, I guess I kind of get it.  Running wild and free has its perks.  But, there's a time and place.  Keeping this kid 100% clothed 100% of the time has been a struggle.  I apologize in advance if you stop by and catch a glimpse of something that should be covered.  We're working on it.

Sometimes while Tralee is in school, Hunty and I sneak away to do some thrift store shopping, and treat-getting.  Our favorite haunt is Great Harvest Bread.  The last time we visited Hunty picked out a cookie, and as we were sitting down outside to enjoy our bread-and-honey, cookie, and waters right next to a doonkle tree I heard him say, "This is awesome." My heart swelled.

Overall, my boy is so very sweet.  He still loves to snuggle his mommy, and still requests, "da moe" - i.e. the mole on my arm he's rubbed for comfort since he was a baby.  It still sooths him.  I joke around with people who know of his affection for da moe, that I'll have to cut off my arm and send it with him to college.  I often wonder when he'll really stop using it for comfort.  I probably won't even notice, it'll probably sneak up on me one day when Hunter is in like, in fourth-grade.  I'll send him off to school, and marvel how fast he's growing up, then I'll remember the days we used to go for walks together while Tralee was in school.  I'll remember the treasures --leaves, doonkles, rocks, and pine cones he brought home to put in his "treasure basket" in the garage.  I'll remember snuggling with him on the couch, reading books while he sat on my lap and brushed his pointer finger over da moe over and over again.  I probably won't remember the day he stopped requesting da moe, but instead I'll remember all the days he DID. . . and I'll miss them. 

 I already do.

Projects -- YAY!

I finished a few projects lately.  All these pics are from my phone, if you follow me on Instagram or are a friend of mine on Facebook, some of these will be repeats.  Sorry about that.  I'm pretty excited about how some of my latest projects have turned out.

I finally printed up and put up the prints I made.  I also hung a butt-load of bats throughout my house for Halloween.  You'll see them through several more pictures.  The bat idea wasn't mine, I got it here.  I didn't use her template though, I made my own and had my Silhouette machine cut them out for me.  It was a major time saver!  

Red shelf is now hanging in the entryway.  This will be the new seasonal shelf.  My goal is to keep it updated and decorated with the seasons/holidays.  That way, at least that part of my house will decorated accordingly, and when people stop by they'll think I totally have my house together.  Wink.

Front door.  I still need to find a doormat.  Imagine this picture with a cute welcome mat of some sort.

I painted my green mirror black.  Can you see the print reflecting in the mirror?  I also made that and had it printed out.

I made a new frame for a piece of artwork I painted earlier this year.  Yes, I ACTUALLY made this frame!  Nail gun shootin' and everything!!

I saved the best project for last.  I saw a similar frame on Pinterest and wanted one for my very own, so I came up with these.  Jim helped cut them, I did the rest.  Actually, Jim helped with some of the chevron stripes, but I got fed up with how long it was taking to measure the grid lines, so I ended up just eyeballing them towards the end.  I actually like the imperfect stripes better than the measured ones.  Since all of these frames were distressed, I liked the funky imperfect look better.  I actually love them all!

Another frame view.  I had glass cut for the frames from a local place around here.   It was totally affordable!  Love it!


That about sums it up.

Sleepyheads

Oh how I love them!