10 on 10

10 pictures on the 10th day of the month!

(Document a snapshot of your life & find beauty amoung the ordinary things in your day)

I love Thursdays!  The kids all go to school and I have 5 hours of kid free time.  A quiet, clean house makes me so happy.  When we forgot Lauren's lunch at home today, I had to run it back up to her at school.  It was fun to spy on her and see her working happily on an art project.

- Insert cheesy self portrait -

I had the best time at Target buying Lauren Christmas presents.  I'm so happy I have a little girl and get to relive my love of Strawberry Shortcake and Hello Kitty.

I dropped off two packages for the Patchwork Lollipop to the post office.  I'm still selling fabric and soon will have a couple purses for sale in my store.

After running errands, I headed back home to tackle a mountain of laundry and watch Quints by Surprise.

After making a couple of my purses with my new 241 Tote pattern by Noodlehead, I got a little crazy creative and made up a scallop purse.  I'm still on the fence if I love it or think it's a little too out there.

The boys had fun playing in the tree after school.  Austin thought his pose for the camera was hilarious.  Today was pajama day at school, so the boys enjoyed wearing their comfy pajamas all day.

Homework! 
Ethan still has a little bit of redness on his face and body from getting over 5th Disease.  It hasn't bothered him one bit.  Lauren had it too, but somehow Austin escaped the rash.

The boys are loving their Lego tray.

After nachos for dinner, we colored, looked at Pokemon cards and played a mean game of 9 Card.

My day started and ended with laundry.  

It was a gorgeous day and taking photos really helped me to focus on my family and soak it all in.

"for the boys"

After seeing an old printer's tray on one of my favorite blogs, I knew I had to get my hands on one.  I justified that my purchase was "for the boys", but I'm pretty sure I was more excited about it than they were.  Since Ethan and Austin have so many Lego minifigures, this old printer's tray is the perfect way to display them in their room.

 

Eric's vintage Lego men like to stick together.  Aren't they cute with their missing hands and simple faces?

The new ones are pretty cute too. 

We still have some spots to fill, so hopefully Santa will bring us more Legos this year!

9 years

Happy Anniversary Eric! I love you!

Halloween 2011

This year for Halloween we had Ash Ketchum, a peacock and Luke Skywalker! 

Ethan loved being Ash.  Some people thought he was Handy Manny though. 

Austin was the perfect Luke Skywalker. 

 

 

 

Lauren was the sweetest little peacock!

We got to go on a hayride again this year!  It was a blast!

Thanks to Sarah and Kevin for setting up and pulling the hay ride for us!  We loved it and had the best time!

Happy Halloween!

Saturday soccer, sleepover and spooky soiree

Saturday the boys had a soccer game at 11. Since both games were at the same time, my mom, Lauren and I spent half the game watching Austin while Eric and my dad watched Ethan. We switched at halftime so we got to enjoy both games. 



Austin scored 5 goals!  He is so aggresive on the soccer field and so determined!  It's adorable.

He does get a little cocky after he scores a goal and has a little swagger in his step.

Ethan had a great game too.  He stayed right in the mix and anticipated where the ball was going to go next really well.

 

He had a goal and one assist!  Look at that shot with the competition right on his heals.

He was so happy!  It was a great day on the soccer fields!

After the game, my parents took Lauren home with them to spend the night.  She was so excited to get to go with them all by herself. 

Bye! 

While Lauren was having fun with my parents, we went to a Halloween costume party.  It was really fun to dress up and we had a great time!

Happy Halloween!

Last year Ethan was very disappointed with our Halloween decorations, so this year we decided to step it up a little.  We added a witch for the front door, spiders, webs, spooky orange lights and a ghost.  Ethan is now very satisfied with our house.  Yesterday Eric carved up their pumpkins for them.  Lauren's is Mickey Mouse, Austin's is a scary vampire and Ethan's is Snivy from Pokemon.  Pretty spooky, huh?

We are all ready for some fun Trick or Treating tonight!

Halloween fun at school

Friday the kids got to dress up at school!  The kindergartners had a big parade around the school.  Aren't they cute?

 

Lauren waived to all the big kids.

Luke Skywalker

After the parade, I volunteered in Austin's class while they had some spooky centers to learn about the five senses.  They made some yummy witches brew to taste and loved it.

They also had to smell some mystery items and guess what was in the cup.  Of course, our stinker Austin is peeking in this picture.

Then I had to say goodbye to Austin and head over to Ethan's classroom to volunteer for their Halloween centers.  I was in charge of Bingo and it was great to get to know all the kids.  Isn't our Ash Ketchum so cute?

It was a great morning and we are looking forward to more Halloween fun!

Enchanted Rock

 

Saturday we loaded up the truck and headed to Enchanted Rock for some tent camping.  Yep, you read that right!  Tent camping is a big change for us camper people, so we were excited to give it a try. 

The campground was gorgeous!  There was a fun playground for the kids.  Unfortunately, the bathroom facilities were under construction, so we were forced to use porta potties.  Thanks to my dear friend Erica's efforts, we at least had one semi clean porta potty to use. 

When we heard that the restrooms were out of order, my prankster husband decided to bring his own.

I took this picture from our campsite.  Isn't the view amazing?!  The boys are watching a couple deer running behind the bush.

Lauren loved feeding this fat squirell potato chips and peanuts.

Erica also had a fun craft for the kids.  They painted the cutest Angry Birds out of acorns and had so much fun.

The kids and Dads went on a hike in search for a Geocache.  Even though they aren't smiling in this picture, they were so excited when they found it! 

Lauren was voted MVP of the hike. 

While everyone else climbed Enchanted Rock later that afternoon, Lauren and I took a nap in our tent.

Crazy girl woke up halfway through her nap and moved to the hard tent floor.  

Woo hoo!  The top of Enchanted Rock!

Scenes from our campground

The wildlife were amazing!  The deer almost ate out of the kids' hands!

Camping mommas

The kids had fun running around in the dark with flashlights, glow sticks and headlamps. 

Ray popped up some Jiffy Pop and everyone got a big kick out of it.

Who knew glow sticks could be so much fun?

 

The kids did great in the tent. 

After the kids went to bed, we sat outside to enjoy the stars and conversation. That's when all the critters started coming out...

This grey fox, a raccoon, a deer, a squirrel and an armadillo all came up within 10 feet of us. It was crazy!

Despite a migraine, questionable porta potties and cactus spikes stuck in little hands, it was a wonderful weekend spent with dear friends.  I love making special memories for our kids and will always remember our family's first tent camping experience!