halloween

Happy Halloween!  My mom let me borrow her pumpkin costume.  And come to think of it I have never seen a picture of my mom in it before... might need to dig one up!  I have to say that my pumpkin costume kept me warm all day. Maybe I need to figure out how to make a snowman one for this cold winter we are supposed to have. 

We didn't end up going to the wiener roast.  It was cancelled due to the rain and the field being really muddy.  So at the last minute Laura and I planned our own wiener roast/party.  Colin was super excited about it so that made me glad that he wasn't feeling like he was missing out on anything. we had gone to his school's trunk or treat last Friday and I don't think he was too impressed other than seeing his friends in their costumes. Joel was a huge help and it was fun getting things ready, decorating, and planning some games.

 Adah was the only one to play this game. The wind kept blowing out the candles.  (It was my favorite games at the fall fest my church would have each year. I mightve been more excited about it than the kids

Sack races were a hit.  Old pillow cases made for some tired kids.  Or really just worked off some of the candy overload they had. 

 Sweet baby girls had fun playing together. 

 And then when Brent came home we roasted some hot dogs.  (See family I'm not against bonfires. Just dont like the ones that explode on us. Although I did make sure they stayed a safe distance away)

When they were leaving Noah asked me if we could do this next year and then later that night Colin told me he wanted to do it every year.  Made me glad that it went so well.  And now to go eat some of the candy while the boys are sleeping.  we've got enough to last until christmas. 

Pumpkin Carving

 We carved our pumpkins during the storm.  The pumpkin carving kits are amazing. Not sure why we ever did it with just knives before.

Colin's has bats on the sides.  Joel did all of his carving except the eyes.  And those extra holes are the ears on his. 

Hurricane

 Thankfully the storm wasn't too bad where we live.  Heavy rains/winds but no damage. The boys got a little cabin fever monday and went outside in the cold rain. 

 We developed a lake that kept getting bigger and bigger but so glad the rain stopped when it did.  Another few days and we'd be really regreting our slab foundation. 

The kids loved our lake.  The only reason they came in was because they were freezing.  Pretty sure my mud men would've been out there all afternoon if it was a warm rain instead of very cold. 

sleep

Its almost comical now that when Brent is away the kids dont sleep.  At all.  But when I go away for a night they sleep for daddy.  I need to figure out his secret but here's what happened last night.  I thought it would be fun to document so maybe when my kids get older and I'm sad how they are growing up so fast that at least I will like that they will be sleeping since I wont miss nights like these :) 

I had taken the kids over to yorktown for the afternoon.  Worked out perfectly since it was raining at my house when we left but didnt start raining in yorktown until we came home. The boys got into Uncle Jeff's watermelons he grew this summer.  There were two of them on the deck.  Lets just say some butter knives, a few excited boys, some exclaiming "we're fruit ninja's!" and you get this:

We stayed for dinner.  Kids didnt need any dinner after that!

Drove home around 8ish. Sweet Colin told me softly in the car driving out of the driveway - "Mommy, I miss How-How being there."  Me too kiddo. Me too. 

All the kids fell asleep in the car.  It was a little eerie driving over the bridge tunnel with the waves so high. Almost to the top of the pilings.  Drove into the driveway and ran over a huge stick I didnt see.  Hoping its not too bad.  haven't gone back out to see.  It just scratched the car so good thing Brent is good friends with a great paint guy.

But get the kids in bed.  Norah had woken up but got her back down. Sat down at the computer to look up the latest info on the hurricane, research some christmas present ideas.  Talk to Sarah. 

Joel wakes up. Complains about his stomach - says he's going to throw up. (eating two watermelons and tons of choclate candy will do that to you)  I dont do well with throw up - even after I got so sick for months pregnant with Norah.  Still not what I like.  Put towels on his bed and mentally think of how I can get away with waiting until Brent gets home to clean it up if he does get sick.  Get Joel back down.  Go to bed.  Its around 10:30 by now.

11:00 Joel wakes up.  He is not an easy person to deal with in the middle of the night. He's been having night terrors.  I will be glad when Halloween is over so we can drive out of the neighborhood without seeing fake bodies in the trees.  Seems thats now a common thing in our neighborhood. 

Joel wakes up Norah.  Joel doesnt understand that to get Norah back down I have to put him down and pick up her to rock her back down since he's crying and waking her up.

12ish... finally get Norah and Joel back down.  Go to bed. Took me a while to fall asleep this time.

Sometime around 1:00 Joel ended up back in bed with me.  But at least he went right to sleep so I left him there. Power had gone out but thankfully was back on.

2:00 Norah wakes up.  Thinks its time to play.  Change her diaper, feed her, rock her, sing to her. 

3:00 Norah still up.  Started to regret the caffeine I got to drink on the way home so I could be alert for the drive.

4:00 Norah finally goes back to sleep.  So do I.

5:30ish Joel wakes up ready to go. And he's loud. GET ME SOME MILK! I NEED TV! so I'm blurry eyed but trying to calm him down and not wake everyone else up is hard. I also dont want to give in when he's so demanding. At least he never threw up and feels fine.

Colin woke up. 

Get the boys to the couch and covered up with blankets.  Go to the kitchen and start making tea.  Realize I only have decaf.  Brent can always fall back asleep on the couch with the kids watching tv in the mornings.  I can't.

And Norah slept until 8.  She is usually up at 5 but her late night partying made her sleep in.

Usually the kids do better the second night.  And so do I - I think we're all so exhausted from the night before that we all just crash.  It also probalby doesnt help me sleeping when I leave the bathroom light on.  Since you know the killers wont come and get me when Brent is gone if the bathroom light is on....It was also so stormy and windy that it kept waking me up.

At least Brent is home now. 

I am always amazed at my military friends and their wives who do this all the time.  It takes a very strong woman to be a military wife. 

Pumpkin patch

 Yesterday I took the kids to the pumpkin patch.  With a huge "storm of the century" coming in they didnt have the kids games or hayride but my kids didnt seem to mind. We had to get our pumpkins and this mommy had to get her pictures.  I told Brent we haven't missed a year yet since Colin has been born.  So even with the rain coming I took the kids.  Brent went camping - hopefully he stayed dry. It wasn't suppossed to rain where he went. It was cloudy and windy when we were at the pumpkin patch but didnt start raining until we got in the car and drove off

Norah really liked the wind blowing on her

Colin wanted to buy all the pumpkins he could find. I told him if we did he wasn't getting any legos for christmas.  So he wisely just picked one.

My sweet honey badger.  Ant Ant gave him this nickname this summer and its so true.  This week has been rough because he is trying to live up to that nickname and even possibly exceed it. Instead of the strong willed child book they should write one for parents of honey badgers since I have no clue what to do.  One one hand I love the fact that he doesnt care about what others think and does his own thing.  On the other trying to discpline him and teach him when and where to be a honeybadger is exhausting.  Lots of praying going on from this exhausted mommy.  But he sure is cute.

Colin picked his winner.  It doesnt have a stem but it is perfectly shapped. 

Joel's has a huge stem.  He wants to carry it all the time.  I'm surprised the stem is still on.

Beautiful baby girl.  She looks more little girl and less babyish to me in this picture.  Wish they didnt have to grow so fast. 

She thinks her momma is pretty funny.  It is amazing how much a smile from a baby can boost your self esteem. 

So now we wait out the storm and wait for Daddy to come home and carve the pumpkins.  Brent enjoys it. I'd rather leave the pumpkins on our front porch until thanksgiving but the boys get into it and can't wait to carve tonight.  I guess even if we lost power we'll have our jackolanterns to light our way! 

costumes

I know - picture overload today but they were all so great.  I figured I would get some pictures before the costumes were too worn out.  we've had a ninja and spiderman here all week. 

Spiderman

 I love my crazy spiderman