Miss Independent!

The other morning Callie asked me to get her some paper and the markers so she could make a sign for her bedroom door to keep the boys out. This is what is says.....

A little translation may be in order here. It says (just in case you don't read Callie) "Do not come in Callie's room! No brothers allowed! No Babies too! Love, Callie!" I wonder if she is trying to express her independence? She also rarely wants help with her hair, as I'm sure you can see!

She makes me laugh and smile everyday! I love you Sissy Lou!

Our Halloween

I am a total failure of a mother because I didn't get any pictures of my kids in their Halloween costumes this year! What is my deal! Chuck says that I can kiss the Mother of the Year award good-bye! (As if I was even in the running!) You'll have to imagine a picture of Dallin as a Skeleton, Grant as a Ninja, and Callie as a Princess (big surprise!). Chuck was sick on Halloween night, so I took Grant and Callie around the neighborhood, and Dallin went with his friend Joe. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful night to go trick or treating, it was in the 50's! That is almost unheard of in Minnesota! Chuck and I had a good laugh at how the kids sprint from house to house the first block, by the next block they are walking, and by the third it's...I'm tired, can we go home, can you carry me, my legs hurt, you mean we have to walk back home?!

Chuck and I went to a party that our good friend threw, and had such a blast! The costumes were great, and I can't believe I didn't get pictures of everyone. I had issues in October with pictures I guess! I made our costume last year, and Annette (the host) asked us to wear it again this year, so we did. It's boarder line appropriate, but hey we're married! Barbie, AKA Annette gets the prize in my opinion, I couldn't look at her all night with out cracking up!

The night before Halloween we carved our pumpkins. The kids love it, and I HATE the mess! I do however LOVE the roasted pumpkin seeds that I get to make with all the "guts"! This year the seed were my best ever-yum! I'm grateful now that the candy is gone, and I managed not to have a weight gain!

The Return of ER Grant!

About a year and a half ago, Grant got the nick name "ER Grant" due to his many, many injuries, stitches and the like. Talk about medical bills! He is unfortunately very fearless! About 2 weeks ago after dinner, he wanted to go jump on the tramp, no big deal, the kids are ALWAYS jumping! This happened to be after the time change, and it was pitch black out at 6pm. He was trying to get off the tramp, and come in the house when he tripped and fell head first onto the patio paver step in front of the trampoline. I was cleaning up dinner inside and I heard the impact (sick!) and then heard his immediate scream as he came tearing into the house. I have to admit, my stomach turned when I saw him because it was the biggest goose egg I had ever seen, and it appeared so quickly! We knew he wasn't knocked out (thankfully!) and we iced it and watched him very closely for 2 hours for any signs of nausea. We debated about taking him in to urgent care, but we knew he didn't have a concussion, and needed no stitches, and they would have probably just told us to watch him, ice it, and give him advil....all of which we did. Poor kid was in tough shape, but by the next morning was back to himself.

I did call the Doctor a few days later because as the bump was going down, his eyelids were swelling, and his eyes were turning black and blue! They said it was just he fluid draining from the injury, and just ice it , and treat him with advil for the swelling. He looked pretty rough for a week, but is now doing much better.....keep posted for the next ER Grant adventure!

Third Party for Her Fourth Birthday!

Callie was truly the queen of the parties this year....a little out of control I'd say! We promised her a friends party this year, and she talked about it weekly for over 6 months! She wanted a princess cake and a princess party, and that's what she got! We had 11 kids in all, and she had a fantastic time at yet another birthday party!

My favorite qoute from the day was something she said after her friends all left. She put on a dress up set, a pair of shoes, and a pair of princess gloves, all of which were gifts from her party, and she looked up at me with the biggest smile and said , "Wow Mom, I am sooooo sparkly and sooooo shiny!" She had the time of her life, and ended up with lots of little girl loot:)

So am I a total pushover?

This morning as I was getting the boys off to school, I was trying to hustle them along a bit more than usual. Grant dang near missed the bus yesterday (like had to chase it down late!). I was telling the boys they need to hurry so they didn't miss the bus, and Dallin commented that Grandpa Ron (the bus driver) was too nice. I asked him what he meant, and he proceeded to tell me the following....

"He's just to nice, he lets all the kids get away with anything, and he keeps giving them more chances....Just like you do Mom!"

"What the crap are you taking about kid!" Is what I wanted to say to him, but I refrained. I just listened, and sent them on their way with hug and kisses. So all day now I've been feeling like a total failure of a mother! Am I not properly disciplining my children? Are they really getting to many chances? Some days I wish I could have Super Nanny sitting on my shoulder telling me what to do, or not to do! I'm sure I'm not the only Mother to feel this way, am I?

Well, I guess it's time to dust off my parenting books in hopes I can find my backbone again! I'm sure I'll get this parenting thing figured out eventually.....When Ava graduates high school!

New Family Pictures

I felt like a little kid on Christmas a few days ago when I stopped at my friend Melessa Paynters house to pick up the CD of the family pictures she had recently taken of our family. I LOVE THEM!!!! I've added a few of them to the blog already, so here are a few more of our favorites. Thanks again Melessa, we love them!

Love my parents as I do, there is one thing that I have vowed to do differently. Take more pictures! I was #4 of 5 kids, and there are probably 40 pictures of me under the age of 5. Its so sad:( I take a lot of pictures, maybe too many, but I don't care. I don't ever want to forget the way my kids looked on this day, at these ages, at this exact moment. They will never be these ages again, and I don't want to forget. I love my family, I adore my kids, and I am so grateful for my life. I love that I have these beautiful pictures to remind me of all I have to be grateful for!

OUR FABULOUS FALL!

Our fall has been fabulous so far, and I am praying it doesn't disappear too quickly. We have had cool mornings and lots of bright sunny days that make all the bright leaves just seem to glow on the trees. We had a frost last night and our tree out front lost all its leaves by the time I sent the boys off to school. We were all sad, even Callie said on the verge of tears "Where did all the red leaves go?" I kept thinking I should get a picture of the tree all last week, but of course didn't, and now its too late:( For the last 5 years we have been going to a great pumpkin patch about 20 minutes from our place. They have great pumpkins, and always have lots for the kids to do. The boys love the hay bail pyramid they have in the middle of the patch, as well as the huge blow up pumpkin jump. This year they added a feed corn pit for the kids to slide into and jump around like a ball pit. They were in love!!! We had to practically drag the kids out of there not only to go out to the field to get our pumpkins (we ended up buying 86 pounds of pumpkin:), but also when it was time to leave! Ava was just bright eyed as she watched her siblings jump and laugh. It was a picture perfect fall day, and I took lots of pictures to prove it:)

Oh if only I could bottle days like this to open up in say... the middle of February when we've had 2 weeks straight of below zero temps! That would be the best.

No such luck, I'll just have to look back a this post and call it good.

Happy Fall Ya All!