A twist on pumpkins

My mom found these pumpkin decorations and sent them for the kids. They are really cute and funny and a lot easier to do than carving pumpkins. The little kids could even do this with minimal help from mom.

Carving Pumpkins

These pics aren't in order but you get the idea.

Our Camping Trip

I had this great idea to camp this weekend. In our backyard. How perfect is that? Bathrooms nearby, less packing of items, worse case scenario..back into the house we go!

We got started with a campfire. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Both Steve and I nearly had heart attacks each and every time Lynzy or Brock went by the fire. Still gives me the chills. Thankfully, no trip or falls or burns.

Wes is our Boy Scout and loves to make fires.

Here's our casa for Saturday evening. And we all fit!


Lynzy thought it was very cool. So did Brock.

Sunday morning..Lynzy and I went into the house at 5 am. I WAS FREEZING!!!

Wes is 13..tomorrow

Wesley turns 13 tomorrow. That is a huge shocker for us. He spent this weekend with us so we had him invite his best friend Joey over and we had dinner & cake.

Oma's Pumpkin Patch

We tried a different pumpkin patch this year. It was still blazing hot just like last year but the kids had fun.

Doesn't everyone have a wooden cow to milk in their yard?



On the tractor ride.



On the tractor ride too.


In the hay bale maze with friends, Donya, Caleb & Corban.

New Trick

Does every 4 year old know how to do this? This struck me as funny and amazing at the same time. (Even though his head is tilted back in this picture, he did actually have it hanging from his nose right before the pic was taken!)

Current Obsessions

Brock: Scotch tape
On anything and everything
Lynzy: Crayons
On anything and everything - I swear I say "We only draw on paper" about 30 times a day.
Wesley: Making shakes in the blender
Some are good, some are blah
Steve: Gardening/Landscaping
I cringe when he says he is going to Lowes
Abby: Baking
Mostly cakes, breakfast casseroles

Pirate Party

Saturday was our little party for Brock's 4th birthday. We had our close friends and their kids come to Mast Park which has a ship playground structure. Wes and I stayed up after the little kids went to bed on Friday night and constructed the pirate ship cake. Brock hadn't seen the cake until I finished it at the park with the flags and guys etc. All of a sudden, Brock was eyeing the cake and said, "Mom, that's a pirate ship!" Well, thank goodness he knew what it was supposed to be. Actually, even though it is a crude homemade cake, it tasted great and it really did look like a pirate ship.

We had a really good time and Brock was very happy to have a birthday party. Happy 4th b-day boy!

The SS Brock

Wes drew the skull and cross bones on the flag. 2 kitkat bars and a reese's cup for the wheel.


Gold rocks and a trail to follow.

Our own little "landing" at the park.

Random pictures of the kids

Brock & Lynz with Grandma


With my sister Alyssa at Santee Lakes

Notice her holding Lynzy's dress...she made us both nervous throwing the ducks bread.

Brock got a new wagon from Grandma & Grandpa for his birthday.

Lynzy didn't like the sand in her shoes at the playground.

At the beach...isn't this what you are supposed to do? She did that all by herself.

Brock loves to make sand castles.

She thinks it's really funny to wear anybody's shoes but her own.

On the wet slide at our friend, Marilyn's house.

Such is our life...with kids.

Steve was best man in a wedding last weekend. My mom came out to babysit the kids while we went to the wedding. We rarely get this dressed up and the kids thought it was very funny. I wanted a nice picture of Steve and me. This is what we got. Lynzy just couldn't be out of the picture.

Brock's b-day

My boy is 4.

I can't believe it. It finally hit me when I had to put him in timeout the other day and it was now a 4 minute timeout versus his usual 3 minute timeout. What a crazy perspective I have.

Brock is such a funny guy. He is very empathetic, acts sillier each day and wants to be hugged and snuggled all the time. I am going to miss that someday but as of today, I just love it!

Here are some pictures of his actual birthday. My mom came out for it and so she got to celebrate his 4th with him.

Steve got him a chocolate donut with 4 candles to blow out.





Then Grandma and Mommy took him to Fuddrucker's for dinner and this was the kids' sized shake. Can you believe that?


See my sneaky moves to get some of his shake?


We are having a small, kid party for him on October 11th. My budget is $100 for everything and my plan is to bake him a pirate cake. If it's a flop, you won't be seeing any pics. If it's ok, I'll post some.

I haven't forgetten to blog...just not enough time

Quick...Here's the skinny. Avon is going well. Might actually be profitable!! Just have to work on expanding my website customers since they can shop 24/7, have it delivered directly to them and they don't have to waste gas buying inexpensive holiday gifts (doesn't that sound like a sales pitch? But so true!!) Wesley is in 7th grade, playing guitar, driving us nuts as most 12 going on 13 year olds do. There are some major changes going on at his mom's house (she's getting married, Wes is inheriting two older step-sisters and moving to another house) so he's been testing the limits at that home as well as our own. Funny thing is, smart kid but still a kid with all the boundary testing a 12 year old can dish out. Brock started his 2nd full year in preschool. He loves it. And now I volunteer for lunch duty twice a week for two reasons. One, the director gives you a $10 credit on your tuition for each day you work and two, I get to cheat and have Lynzy eat lunch with the big kids, learn rules and find the orderly way to do things without enrolling her in preschool. It's a nice transition for her. She really likes going to Brock's school for lunch. I also have Lynzy in a music & movement class on Mondays. It is similar to a Gymboree or My Gym class except it is significantly cheaper ($1/class) but it is significantly louder as well. I thought I would die from the volume alone on the first day of class. It has thinned out since then. September has really exploded for us and I now know for a fact that there is no such thing as a "Stay at Home" mom. She simply does not exist since she is constantly taking her children somewhere :).