me vs. nicholas....

On Monday after school, Nicholas was having a grand ol' time picking on his big sister. I finally had enough of the screaching and squeeling that was going on and went to go pick Nicholas off of Caroline... Well, at some point when I went to grab him, he hit me right on my eyebrow bone and sent my head spinning! Not sure whether he hit me with his head, his elbow, or his little halloween flashlight that he had. I got the brunt of it, he felt nothing... At first my eye brow swelled up fast! I had a really nice moutain on my face!!! When I went to bed that night it didn't look to bad, just like i had some blue eyeshadow on... but when I woke up the next morning, it was not pretty.....

Morning #1


Fortunately yesterday i didn't have to go anywhere too important. We ventured out to target at one point but my eye was pretty easy to cover up... however, when I woke up this morning it was even worse... Purple/Black is not the best shade for me! Can't wait to see what it's going to look like when it turns brown and green...!

Day #2!

Today Nicholas had his first visit to the Dentist too... i got some funny looks at the gym and from the dentist. A brave few were willing to ask what happened... anyway, you can tell by the first pic that Nicholas wasn't too scarred by his experience. He was a total trooper and the dentist was great with him. You always hope for the best, but just never know how your kid is going to react...

Cheese....

SeaWorld...

And yes, we have too many posts named "seaworld.." but again, that's what happens when you get suckered into a season pass. May as well make good use of it! The park is only open on weekends through the end of the year, but for halloween they have opened it on a few fridays too. We decided last night would be a great night to try to go and the kids really wanted to wear their costumes. They had a blast running around and playing. Molly got a little bit of a second wind and when we got there. During the day she had only had a 30 minute nap and then fell asleep about 10 minutes before we drove into the parking lot. She woke up when we put her in the stroller and when we were leaving at 10 pm she was still awake in the car talking up a storm. I think all the kids enjoyed the night and so did Joe and I.....

{ps... sorry if the pictures aren't that great, we have noticed that our camera really sucks!!! and it seems too that we could never get everyone to look at the camera at the same time!}






There is a big play area for the kids, and the big kids too (joe). It's a whole bunch of cargo nets and tunnels and slides. It was a great spot to wear the kids out; mom and dad too. Joe got suckered in and the Nicholas suckered me in to follow him. I should have learned my lesson a long time ago when we were playing at some other tunnels, but he loves to take me through the whole thing by telling me that it's just a little farther each time... maybe it's payback? ha! Anyway, it was fun to goof around with them!


Molly enjoyed watching everyone climbing around, but it was really hard to get her to stand still so I could get a decent picture of her in her costume. It's pretty obvious to tell what she it, but it would have been nice to get a good picture :)


The last time we went and saw the Shamu show, Caroline left really upset because we didn't get wet. There is a "splash zone" where the whales will splash the crowd... so last night she and i tried to sit up close so we could get wet. Nicholas, Molly and Daddy were sitting up a little higher. For a while there was no one in front of us and then a couple kids jumped in.. BUT... we didn't get wet!!!!!!!! The whales came and splashed but totally missed us!! (thank goodness!) but Caroline was again, very upset that she didn't get wet... darn whales! The show was really neat.. much more exciting then the normal "believe" show... lots up jumps and tricks. All in all we had a really great night and the kids had fun..

the zoo...

this is probably #15 of posts named "the zoo" but that's what happens when you have a zoo pass and the weather is finally nice to go and enjoy the zoo. We met a few friends at the zoo on Thursday for lunch and the kids had fun running around with a couple boys their age. Alex and Luke's dad is in the same program that Joe is in....


The group.... alex, caroline, nicholas, kelly, kaitlyn, luke & adriana..


molly and luke looking for the alligator




Caroline and Alex... there was an anteater way in the back.. I couldn't get a good picture of it, but we had fun watching it pace back and forth behind all the bushes. I'm not sure i've seen one before at a zoo.... maybe i have, I just don't remember. But it was really neat to watch him.

busy week....

this was just the beginning of the last few crazy days we had... although I think they have all blended together at this point. I might need more coffee before I can actually type clearly...

The preschool the kids go to has a small pumpkin patch in front of the church. Actually, it's just a bunch of pumpkins brought in by an 18-wheeler and dumped in the dirt in front of the church and arranged to try to look appealing... I don't think they grow pumpkins anywhere around here. Anyway, the kids got baby pumpkins the other day when they were with their classes and they wanted to come home and paint them.... It's a good thing that the paint washes off of stuff easily...




Random pic of molly. She has found my heels at an early age and loves to try to walk around in them. I don't think it helps that she sees Caroline in them all the time.


Sooooooo big!




A fun little package showed up on our doorstep yesterday! {we LOVE it when surprises show up at our door!} The kids had fun playing with all their spooky stuff! Molly loved the glasses and the kids were very excited about the candy and the stretchy spiders and skeletons. There was also a couple flashlights which were perfect for the kids at seaworld last night.

THANKS AUNT KATIE & UNCLE RYAN!!!!!!

cute...

the other night after caroline's bath she asked if she could have her hair blow dried. We tried to brush it and dry it kind of straight. With it being so curly i was hoping that it would seem a little longer when it was straight. I think we still have a ways to go to get it long......




After a busy day of running errands the kids and I finally made it home. I brought them all inside and then ran back out to the truck to get all the groceries. When I came back in this is where i found molly....


having WAY too much fun on top of the kitchen table!


what? who? me?... I'm too cute to be in trouble!



a small little clip of her trying to dance... of course she was funnier before i grabbed my camera, but it's still kind of fun....

Tag... I'm it..

The "rules" of the game are as follows:
1. Post the rules on your blog
2. Write 6 random things about yourself
3. Tag 6 people at the end of your post
4. If you're tagged, DO IT and pass on the tag

Here we go...

1. This blog is usually about my kids and pictures of what we are up to. Rarely do I sit down and just put random thoughts on here. I've seen some other blogs of friends and their families or even just about them selves and some of them are just really cute and so cleverly written.... not in my dna!

2. I don't know why I just haven't sat down and kept up with my blog lately... i think it's because when I turn around from my computer there are so many things that need to be taken care of that I feel guilty sitting down and taking time to do this....

3. I have a new found love for chocolate chip pancakes... how could it have been so long since i have had them... YUM! I even had them for dinner the other night....

4. As much as I miss the fall colors and cool crisp air of the Northwest (not to mention all my friends too) it am LOViNG the weather down here right now! It's hardly humid and the sun is beautiful!

5. How in the world did I become a mom of 3? I mean, I know how it happened, but yet, how did I get to be this grown up... and I certainly don't feel grown up, and responsible for these 3 crazy kids..... yikes!

6. I have no clue what our future in the Army is going to bring... I'm excited and nervous at the same time. But, I am SO proud of my husband for doing what he is doing and serving his country and taking care of us..... good job, babe!!! xoxo

Now I have to tag 6 people.... hmm.. do I follow 6 blogs? and I think Kj already tagged a few of you, but since you haven't posted them, here goes.. and if you don't have a blog, put it on your facebook :)

Becky L, Sommer C., Courtney B., Michele V., Keli J., Kelly H...

To Grandma's House...

Last weekend we went to Grandma's for 2 days... Joe had a long weekend and we thought it would be fun to venture up North... Grandma and Grandpa live 4 hours from us... unfortunately on the day that we went up (Friday before the big Texas/Oklahoma game) it took us over 8 hours! The kids did so good considering how long they were in the car and how slowly the car was moving. It was insane! Traffic, accidents, more traffic, more accidents... one thing after another!

We stopped for dinner and the kids were happy to get out of the car and run around for a little while...


We made it to Grandma's just in time for bed. Molly was in love with Mudpie, the dog. She wanted to be by her all the time but yet just didn't know what to do with her. She would lay her head on her back and give her "loves". She always seemed like she wanted to touch the dogs nose, and would get close, but then pull away.


On Saturday we ventured off to the Botanical Gardens. The kids had fun running around and seeing all the different flowers and kid activities along the way. This was a big log that they got to run through and pop their heads up...




This little tree had mock animals inside of it. I think Caroline was looking at the woodpecker eggs or something like that. There were baby squirrels in one.. looked like naked rats..


We met one of the groundskeepers along the way. She was wonderful and showed us some things that we wouldn't have otherwise known was around. She took us to this bee hive and honey tree. The were little honey bees that didn't seem to mind us looking around. It was neat to see them coming and going..


Caroline, Molly and Daddy trying to find some itty bitty frogs in this little pond...




Grandma and her babes...




Caroline in Grandma's hat.... it matched perfectly and it was also a great place for Caroline to stash the treasures she found along the way....


One of her favorite flowers...


Nicholas checking out the pond and stream in the conservatory...




Little Molly enjoying some gummy life savers... we thought it was really cute that she figured out how to stick them on her fingers like olives.. she was happy as a clam for a while :)


We had a good time hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa. Caroline even tried to talk me and Joe into leaving her and Nicholas behind so we could come home and have some time without them. It didn't work.. but one of these days I think Grandma is going to kidnap them for a while :)

Joe is plugging along with school... Test after test after test and hours upon hours of studying. It is a real treat when we get to spend a little extra time with him and the kids just love it. We will find out in a few weeks where our next stop along this adventure will be......

Bubbles...

Molly LOVES bubbles...

pumpkin patch...

Today we went to the pumpkin patch with two other families from Joe's class. It was a fun little outing for the kids but there is just something strange about going to a pumpkin farm when it is 80 degrees outside.. Last year in WA we were FREEZING when we went and the kids had to wear their snow boots to keep them safe from the mud. Amazing what can change in a year. I have more pictures to post, but blogger is being too slow for my liking and so I am going to wait. I also have some pictures from last weekend and our visit with Grandma and Grandpa in Fort Worth....

Nana #5

I think Caroline is going to go through some baking withdrawls with Nana not here anymore. She really enjoyed being Nana's little helper in the kitchen and getting to lick the spoon whenever she got the chance. One of Nana's most famous dishes these days is her lasagna rolls.. YUM! Caroline jumped right in and began to help....





There was just enought cheese left over in the bowl for Caroline to make a small little roll for herself to eat.




Another baking project was peanut butter cookies. This time Nicholas tried to jump in. He ended up rolling snake with his dough instead of a little ball, but Nana came to his rescue :)




Seems like a lot of things with Caroline aren't always simple, there's always a process.. Even watching the sunset isn't simple. She grabbed her chair, and a plant stand and went down to the sidewalk and made herself very comfortable!