HAPPY HALLOWEEN Y'ALL!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN Y'ALL!

From our little pumpkins to yours! 

It is official - Halloween is the craziest day/week of the year.  Costume parades, pumpkin patch visits, fall festivals and nonstop pictures to capture it all... what a busy week for all of us.  I was ready to go to bed at about 3 o'clock this afternoon, after  spending two hours with 20 kindergartens for a fall festival.  Wow!  Someone, please call the president.  We need to pay our kindergarten teachers more money or else get them more access to wine.

AJ was so excited all day.  He kept asking "is it Halloween yet?".  Just so no pumpkin patch issues occurred (refer to that blog post if you missed it, it's funny) I made sure he understand that for Mommy, Halloween doesn't start until we get some fun pictures of our family and our costumes in our yard.  And if pictures don't happen, then candy doesn't.  Wow!  I think the pictures speak for themselves to see if my point was driven home.  I love our family shot!  Even Baby K woke up for it!

Speaking of baby K, here she was in her "Baby's 1st Halloween" outfit for the day.  Such a cutie!

Our little trick o' treaters!  A sleepy baby pumpkin, Taylor Swift and Batman!

Haha - Batman giving us some "flare"

Sweet baby K - being a pumpkin is hard work, especially when you are so cute.  With a full tummy and a warm outfit, she fell asleep after we put her on the pumpkins for this picture. 

She fits right in the pumpkin patch - so tiny, even at 3 months old

I love this picture of my three sweeties :-)

Baby K just kept on sleeping....

Fear not neighbors, Batman is here to save the day!  I was proud of this costume.  We had the cape, so I went out and got some black sweats and a black shirt.  I ironed on the batman patch to his shirt and bought a piece of yellow felt to make a belt.  A costume for under $10!  And he looks so handsome too!

Introducing: Taylor Swift!  Oh yeah, this year our big girl decided she was going as her favorite singer.  She already knows the words to several songs on TS's new album (that we of course bought on the first day it was released as we are her BIGGEST fan).  She already had the dress up dress, she just added a little rock star attitude :-)

Oh and we know how to work a camera - we are used to paparazzi.  Funny story - this morning as I dropped her off at school and opened her car door for her, she leaped out of the car, adjusted her sunglasses and said to me "It's okay that we are late, Taylor is probably always a little late to stuff".  Whew - glad we cleared that up Ms. Diva.  I did have to carry her bag to the door for her so her dress wouldn't get ruined.  Oh dear - she was loving this role.

After our family photo session, we headed down the street to take a few pictures with our friends before Trick o' Treating.  I love this shot of Batman and Mr. Incredible.  Saving the world or fighting one another, you decide.

 

Ahh Batman and Mr. Incredible, still besties!

The girls

Our friends took the above shots - so sweet! Thank you dear friends for sharing all these with us!  We are so blessed to be surrounded by some amazing families and get to share special times like this together.

Before we knew it, the kids were off in a candy finding frenzy of rushing door to door in search of anyone who was home to give them treats.   This was the first year that KK and AJ were literally running door to door with their older friends.  We only let them go a few houses before we slowed them down and got them out of the "mob" they were in.  We spent the evening treating with our neighbors who are the same age.  It was a nice pace and fun to watch the kids be brave enough this year to go up to houses without us (we watched from the driveway, no worries).

My baby pumpkin woke up a few times during the night to smile and coo before deciding we were strange and going back to snooze.

Daddy being silly with AJ's bat mask.

AJ and his glow bat mask

Our troop walking around the 'hood

KK reminding everyone they have to say "trick or treat".  Her in best teacher voice she would say "It's like saying thank you, so we have to say it".  As the oldest, she decided she was the voice of reason.

We did meet up with our AWESOME cousins for a nighttime shot and hit a few houses together - loved it!

Something sweet did happen that I don't want to forget.  When our cousins went to their car to go home for the evening, they found that someone had opened all their car doors and trunk and turned on all the lights to the car before taking off.  I guess they thought it was funny.  But sadly, aside from causing fear and concern, they also drained the car battery.  We walked the kids to our house while the car was getting jumped.  Sweet G was so shaken and I overhead the following talk that melted my heart:

G (super sad):  "KK why would someone do that to my mommy's car?   Why did they have to do that?"

KK (after a small pause, grabs G's hand and says with conviction): "Some people just don't have Jesus in their heart.  Or God.  And they just do mean things to people 'cause they don't care."

G takes a minute to soak that in, then puts her arm around KK and says with a little less sadness in her voice:  "Well, it's a good thing we have Jesus in our hearts.  We won't do mean stuff like that to hurt people."

KK smiling: "Yeah G, we got Jesus so we will be good."

My heart just filled with Joy Joy Joy!  These little girls were able to comfort one another with the knowledge that they got Jesus in their hearts.  I can't find the words - just JOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After all was resolved and our cousins were home safe, we decided to see what the evening had brought (minus the best conversation I have ever overhead from two kindergartners which was my treat of the night).   Here is our stash after a two hour walk around our neighborhood.  I would venture to say we did great all around.

Baby K and Daddy, snuggling after our busy little night.

Well Taylor, Batman and Baby pumpkin all went to bed rather quickly - two hours of treating will do that to you.  

So we bid you SWEET DREAMS friends! 

May the candy coma and exhaustion not affect tomorrow too badly  :-)

Mommy of Three Confessions

I have a confession to make.  Several in fact. 

I've been told I have it very together for a new mommy of three. Alone later, I laughed so hard I almost cried.  I am guilty!  Guilty of focusing on the happy moments and blessings and not sharing all my mistakes and lessons learned or fears.  I typically think of the glass as half full.  I like my rosy glasses.  But girl, please listen as I confess to you the whole picture:

(1) I am a mommy to one, two, three amazing kiddos... and yes, I have to stop and count them sometimes to make sure I didn't lose one when we are out playing. 

The one thing in my favor, one of them can't crawl, walk or run yet.  I have even found myself consoling myself in case I lose one by stating odds like if I lose one I still have a 66% success rate.  Nice!

(2) Easily distracted doesn't even begin to cover it. 

My thoughts get derailed so easily these days I question how much brain power I really have left after three kids.  I was on my way to the bathroom, only to find myself making a snack for one, then reading a book for another, then making a bottle.  Wait, did I remember to pee yet?  If I can't remember that, should I be left alone with little children?

(3) I don't like to cook. 

I hate it.  Yet I am a part-time stay at home mom.  That means I should be domesticated... or something.  At least that's what my brain tells me every time I manage to avoid cooking dinner for our family.   Sometimes I get a whim to get on pinterest and go crazy.  Those dinners usually end in my kids having a sandwich and my husband politely eating as little as much without hurting feelings and then snacking on a frozen pizza later.  Reason #5 of why I sometimes hate pinterest (and Martha Stewart).

(4) I use bribery in daily conflicts with my children. 

Oh yes - I hear your gasps!  It really started after Baby K's arrival.  I could chalk it up to exhaustion or blame laziness, you decide.  I have a grand example to share with you:

The first notable time was during maternity leave. I would take Baby K and AJ and go pick up KK from kindergarten.  It is summer, it is Texas.  Thus it is hot.  So we get into the car line to wait for the bell that releases the children into a mass exodus of crazy at 3 p.m. each day.  It never fails.. despite my best planning efforts we would arrive super early on the days AJ had preschool.  I would waste part of our hour wait at his school talking to teachers, getting him a snack and asking the all important potty question.  If you aren't sure what that is, let me share "Do you have to go potty AJ?  Are you sure?  Close your eyes, feel anything?".  Why do you ask would I hammer the poor kid about this?  Keep reading.  On this fine day we managed to waste a whooping ten minutes.  So in the car line we went, no point in waking baby K up and going home only to return to school 20 minutes later.  It had been a long day that day, I was kind of enjoying the quiet time staring into space and maybe just maybe napping with my eyes open when I heard a little voice demand suddenly

AJ: "Mommy!  I  H A V E  T O  P O O P!" 
Me: What?  Now?  This moment?  What happened to "I don't feel it" back at school buddy?
AJ (frantic):  NOW MOMMY!

So I look around.  We are surrounded by cars, other mothers and fathers who got here early...  I look in the backseat, baby K is sleeping finally.  There is no way to leave and no way I am going to unbuckle all three of us and make a dash to the bathrooms inside the school.  I am #3 in line and there is no way we would get back before the bell rings.  I considered panicking... then my McGyver genes kicked in.  (If you don't know who that is, please stop reading this blog.  You are too young to understand any of my mommy confessions anyway. - Teasing, keep reading.  You just might not laugh as much as I would).

I look in the center console.  CDs, old gum, pencil with no lead, pen, coupons that expired two years ago.  Another idea strikes.  I look in the glove compartment. SCORE!  I found a pullup.  Now the tricky part.  How do I get said pullup on my little guy.  AJ has been potty trained for months now and is very proud of it.  "Diapers are for babies" is something we hear all the time when changing baby K. So how do I work some Mommy magic and make this happen?  I spy a dollar bill in my purse.  I never have cash... It is like it all fell into place.... and without even thinking about how wrong it was I find myself cheerily saying "AJ, will you poop in this pullup for a dollar?".  Oh yeah... I bribed him.  AND IT WORKED!  Not a shining mommy moment, but I was pretty proud of pulling that out of my hat on the spot.

(5) I also use bribery is less panicky moments. 

Just last week I gave my kids 50 cents to brush their teeth so we could get out the door to school on time.  I admit it.  And I felt no shame.. until we walked into AJ's classroom and he announced to the teacher he got 50 bucks for brushing his teeth.  I mean really, at this point I shouldn't have been surprised!  This is where I kind of hope the teachers still think the kids are making up stories or confused because they are so young... here's hoping!

(6) Another confession, I have moments in which I question if I should be allowed to operate heavy machinery.

I have locked myself in the backseat of my car with my children next to me.  I blame this kindergarten car pickup line.  Here goes that story:

I again found myself there early with AJ and Baby K.  Except this time baby K wanted her bottle.  We had time, so I thought it would be easier to get out and go sit in the backseat and feed her while we wait for the bell.  I leave the car running, its still hot out.  AJ is sitting next to us playing quietly and maybe (just maybe) I start to tell myself how I have got this 3 kids thing figured out.  I burp the baby and put her sweet sleepy self back into her seat and buckle her.  The bell is going to ring in a few minutes and we are golden.... that is... until I reach for the door and remember something.  We have child locks on the back doors.  I.am.stuck.  I picture the teachers coming out and everyone seeing me stuck in the backseat and the shame of it all.  Not today!  I need another McGyver idea.

I can't go out the door... I look around, everyone around me has their heads down and are playing on their phones.  Technology you rock.  I will crawl to the front.  But how, our backseat has three carseats across and the baby's huge carrier is blocking the center opening to the front seats.  I can do this I tell myself.  I got a Masters degree... I am smart (I ignore the little person in my head pointing out a smarter person would remember the back doors have child locks, this isn't the time for that).  I get AJ to lay on the floor, I move the babies seat over onto his carseat and then I say a quick prayer.  As I am about to launch myself into the front seat with my "just had baby number 3" body and I fear I won't fit.  One deep breath and I go for it.....

It wasn't as graceful as it was in my head.  I apologize to anyone behind me who looked up to watch what happened.  I managed to get most of me into the front.  One of my legs decided to go AWOL on me and stayed behind just enough before giving in that my derriere was sticking out in midair for the longest moments of my life before I was launched into the dashboard and steering wheel.  I quickly assume the standard driving position.  I grab the wheel and I look out my door and rear mirror.  I think I made it through that without anyone noticing.  I start to feel all smart again.  Then I look out my passenger door and see my neighbor wiping tears from her eyes in laughter.  Darn it. 

(7) I give horrible advice.

I have given my children horrible advice in my efforts to relate to them and show them how I went to school too while driving home a lesson I was trying to teach. 

This mostly affects KK as she started real school this year.  She had a cold last week at school and kept coming home with a yucky nose.  I had been explaining to her how she needs to blow her nose and get tissues throughout the day when she is sick.  But every day she came out and told me she forgot.  I had a brilliant idea one evening while cleaning up dinner - I will share with her a kindergarten memory to drive home my point about her wiping her nose with tissues during school.  It went like this:

Me: "KK, I remember when I went to school, there was this boy named Robert. 
KK: In complete attention and absorbing my every word.  How can I lose?...
Me: "He never ever wiped his nose and he looked so yucky.  All us kids thought it was really gross.  So gross in fact, we called him Robert Snobert"...

Oh crap - did I just teach her how to make fun on someone else?  I hear my husband start laughing really loudly in the living room and then yell out "this is great advice hon".  Darn, now I have a witness to this mess.  What will I do?  I search my brain for a way out and then KK pipes up:

KK: "Was that his last name?"
Me: please God don't strike me down "Why YES it was KK!"

This taught me to never ever try to prove my point with memories from my childhood...  at least not until this baby brain fog wears off (if it ever will).


(8) Sometimes I look the other way.

There are days in which I pretend not to see when my middle child sneaks an oreo.  He is horrible at hiding the evidence.  But sometimes I don't feel like getting up in the middle of feeding the baby to reprimand him or move the oreos to higher ground.  In fact, last week I asked him to bring me one too.  If you can't beat them, join them!


(9) There are days where I have to ask myself "When was the last time the baby had a bath?". 

Yup.  I said that out loud.  It is easy enough to remember to bathe the older kids.  They stink.  I mean that in a "I-love-how-they-smell-like-dirt-and-outdoors-because-they-are-my-kids-way".  But what about baby K?  She gets a lot of wipe downs daily due to spitting up, but full on baths in the tub... yeah sometimes I have to ask what day it is and sometimes I even have to ask my hubby.  (Thanks ABL for your awesome post about mommy-hood... I didn't even realize I do this until then)! 

(10) I have a maid to keep the house clean, and still we have days in which you cannot find the floor or a clean plate. 

Let me preface: I totally believe that my house should be cleaned by myself despite having three kids and little-to-no-sleep thanks to baby K.  Why do I believe this?  Because every friend's house I visit is super clean.  I ignore that voice that points out that their kids are much older, that they don't have a newborn, that they don't have a part time job... I am a part time stay at home mommy.  I should be domesticated, right?  My house should be clean, right?  But who has the time and energy?  I sure don't.  And I even though I have someone who does the scrubbing twice a month, still the dust returns, the laundry piles up very high.  Luckily, I am surrounded by sweet friends who struggle with this too (so take that Martha Stewart)! 

(11) I still have no pictures of sweet baby K in the house. 

Oh I took them.  I take them daily.  They are safe on our laptop.  Print them you say?  That would require an ounce of effort that I cannot seem to remember to do.  I have great intentions.  "I will order some prints tonight after the kids go to bed".  Go back to #2 about being easily distracted.  My hope is that by the time she is old enough to comprehend the pictures around the house, she will be in there.  I think I got a year... maybe two if I am lucky.

(12) There are days where I just want to drive and listen to the radio.

Yes I care about their day at school.  Yes I want to hear every last detail about what was learned, who we played with, what we thought about the books we read or the toys we played with... I even want to hear if poor Taylor got put in time out again at school.  But somedays I am just so very tired.  And somedays I just want to drive home in silence or to some tunes on the radio.  I know - worst.mommy.ever right?  I will miss these days one day, I tell myself.  I will regret not wanting to spend every moment of the way home asking them questions about their day or doing non-stop knock-knock jokes that don't make sense.  But there are days where I do it and wonder if I can force the laugh that is required from me when the knock knock joke line comes.  And then I hate myself for feeling like that.

(13) Sometimes we come home from school and just WATCH TV.

GASP!  How dare I! I am ruining their brains, their imaginations.  Don't get me wrong, we do lots of fun crafts.  We have playdates with friends, go to the park, play in the backyard.  But there is usually one day each week in which all I can manage to do is turn on the TV before collasping into the rocking chair with baby K and taking a power nap. 


Any other confessions that I can think of? 

I never ever take out the trash - it's just gross and smells.

I hate pumping my own gas in my car and sometimes even forget how sweet my hubby is and get a little irritated when I have to pump it myself once in a blue moon (how dare he, right?).

I will sometimes kick my hubby and tell him it is his turn to repond to whichever child has yelled out in the night... when really sometimes it is my turn.  I know I take more of those requests in the long run, but I do have a bit of guilt of using his deep sleep to my advantage on nights where I don't want to get up one.more.time.

I have made yummy home-cooked three course meals for friends who have had babies or gone through a hard time, while making my family eat sandwiches or cereal for dinner that night.  Oh this one really gets me.  Why did I putter out?  Shouldn't I feed them with the same love and care?  Am I really showing them how to be there for others in the right way?  Don't get me started on this one - I am working on it.

I am sure there are a million more.  So please, don't ever use the words "perfect" or "together" on me.  I am a work in progress.  I am learning daily from my mistakes.  I would love to learn how to mother to my kids with less mistakes, but I am not there yet.  God gave me these three little blessings, I just need to keep relying on Him to get me through this calling of motherhood.  Through grace and mercy!  I need to ease up on myself a little ~ and I hope this post helps other mommies realize the same thing. 

Sorry Martha, it is time for you to go!

Sweet dreams everyone!

Our Imperfect Pumpkin Patch Adventure

The pumpkin patch... a land filled with large pumpkins, dust, hay bales and children....  We promised the kiddos we would go to the patch, an annual family tradition in our home.  Due to the crazy that has been our world lately, our first chance to take the kids was just last weekend.  Right before Halloween - we knew it was going to be insane.  But we still thought we can take the kids and find a patch of pumpkins, take a few shots to remember our trip, have some fun and leave. 

 

Little did we realize how awesome this trip was going to be.  I think AJ's opening comment as we were getting ready to leave set the tone for our trip: "Just so you know Mommy, I am not taking any pictures with my sissys or you or daddy.  I am just going to take a picture by myself."

 

Well we got one picture of the three of them sort of together (I think there was a bribe for this one)

 

 

 

This picture is a better representation of our picture taking session at the patch.  Please note that AJ isn't the only one who is not happy!

 

Our sweet KK decided to take advantage of her sibling's attitudes and just went all senior picture on us... she sure loves to pose for the camera (we did not pose her at all for any of the following pictures):

 

 

 

She is a beauty!  She did try to take a few shots with her baby sissy.  KK was a sport!

 

Now Baby K didn't hide what she thought about the pumpkin patch.  Let these pictures show you her feelings on the matter and see if you can guess: 

  

This one cracks me up - KK decided to jump in and make it a "senior pic" despite Baby K's obvious thoughts on the photo session.

 

 

 

 

So did you figure it out?  Our sweet baby K was having NONE of this picture taking.  First the sun was in her eyes, so she cried.  Then we moved her and the wind made her cold.  We added a blanket... she still wasn't happy.  The only thing sweet baby K wanted to do was sit in her stroller with her monkey doll and snooze like this visit never happened.  You would think we were frustrated, but honestly she made us laugh the whole way through.  Our little Diva!  We expect nothing less at this point.  She looked so adorable crying on those big pumpkins, I know I will be smiling every time I see these pictures in years to come.

Our attempted girl shot - note there was no boy shot as AJ was true to his word... see the next picture.

 

I think this picture also speaks a thousand words!  Look at that - true to his word, Mr. AJ smiled the biggest and bestest when we was alone, sitting on a pumpkin of his very own choosing.  Again, you would think this would make us frustrated.  But I smile every time I see this picture with the others.  My sweet but oh so stubborn little boy.  I can't hold it against you, where do you think you got that stubborn streak from? 

 

 Sweet KK wasn't about to give up on a picture with her Baby K - so we finally got one!  Again, my children's personalities were amplified this time around.  KK was smiling, running around in glee, happy and willing to do just about anything we asked.  Most of the time posing without being asked!

 

So my sweet babies.  One happy as a lark following our requests, one stubborn as can be and marching to his own drum and one little diva who I will do anything for.  I can't fault their little quirks - it makes them the kids I love so much!

 

Our one.and.only. family shot!  Again the personalities were a showing.  The diva crying, the glam girl in the middle smiling and the stubborn kid who would not move one inch off of "his" pumpkin to sit with his family for a picture (he did smile though). 

 

I.love.this.picture. simply as it tells such a story.  It is a crazy circus, but its our circus :-)

 

Ahh - sweet Baby K in her "sweet spot" with monkey, snoozing away after those retched pictures were taken lol

 

After pictures we went off to play.  Super duper large pumpkins were inspected as we made our way to the play area.  Then it was a pumpkin bounce house, followed by several rounds through a big hay maze!  Love these last shots of the bigger kiddos - we could barely catch them to take a picture they were running around so fast.  As they should!

 

So, some might say this pumpkin patch adventure was a bust.  There was no perfect picture in any sense of us all smiling and looking together.  But I think these IMPERFECT pictures are just perfect for our imperfect family!  They make me laugh and tear up - I will always be able to look at them and remember how much fun and how sweet our crazy little family was, quirks and all!  Who wants perfect when you have a glam gal, a stubborn toot and a diva that you can love instead :-)

 

Sweet dreams! 

Tomorrow we have major Halloween treating to a get to!

TCU Homecoming Parade

If you have read the name of this blog, then you know: we bleed purple!  If you read my last blog about our adventures over the last nine years, then you know: our babies don't miss many games.   And just in case you missed the last two references, let me show you my latest, greatest and favoritist picture:

 

My little horned frog babies!  I mean, this is being printed and posted everywhere I can think of!  They are precious and cute and perfect... I mean I might be slightly biased.... and maybe this was one of ten pictures in which Baby K wasn't crying, AJ wasn't looking around.  Thank goodness KK was on cue as always!  Anyway - we had to grab a shot of our sweet little horned frogs all purpled out before we hit the road to TCU to watch the homecoming parade.

 

One more picture hehe...

 

Okay I am focused now! So on the fly we decided to face rush hour traffic and go to TCU to watch the homecoming parade. I mean kids love parades. Especially my kids. I like to think it is the excitement with the music and floats/cars. (My kids will tell you its for the candy first.)  We got a crazy idea to check on some good friends to see if they were free to spend some time with us - our evening just fell into place as they were free and ready to have some fun.  We had to take picture right away of our friends meeting Baby K for the first time.

 

 

Here is our old friends - I mean old in that they knew us before we had jobs, mortgage, kids, wrinkles.. you know, back when we were 18. (Not old as in older than us).  In fact, these two are the reason I met dear hubby at TCU my first week at school freshman year.  My hubby and Mr. A (as we will call him for blog purposes) were roomies.  And I met Mrs. B my first hour on campus (ha-ha, our parents forced us to be nice and say hi to one another as we were the first two to move into the dorm due to frog camp.  Who knew 14 years later we would be married to these boys, raising kids and still friends?).  

 

I digress as usual.... back to the parade.  We were not disappointed: there was music, dancing, college students and even candy.  It was fun!

 

 

Got to love our TCU Marching Band!  The best part of the parade if you ask me!  Well, that and seeing Mary Ruth.  I yelled at her to see if she was still "on fire".  That earned me an odd look and I swear the car she was in picked up speed.  For all you horned frogs out there who did frog camp, you have to remember the chant "Mary Ruth. Mary Ruth.  Mary Ruth is on fire!" 

 

If we are going to discuss all strange looks and cars speeding away - I should probably mention at this point that I also might have taken my chance when the chancellor's car drove past to shake my AJ in the air and requested at the top of my lungs "free tuition for my cute horned frog".  My hubby was embarrassed (I sort of do that to him a lot), but the chancellor did smile and point at me as he drove by... I'm still waiting on the signed letter that he agreed to my terms...

It isn't a parade without SUPER FROG

or the horn that managed to scare the doody out of all of us (parents included)

Here we were holding down our piece of the sidewalk.  Mrs. B and Baby K were behind us soaking each other in more than the parade.  Baby K was loving her snuggles!

It was only fair that after the candy was put away (maybe a few pieces tasted for quality assurance), that Mr. A also meet Baby K up close and personal.

Daddy and AJ waving the TCU flag the girls gave him from the parade (the college girls tend to love on this boy in a parade, and he so works it so they fawn on him as they walk past and give him candy and treats).

Sweet C-Bear!  She was also a favorite at the parade, and who wouldn't think this cutie deserves extra candy?  It's hard to get a shot of her, she is a girl on the move.

But KK loves her so and will grab her for a picture!

While our kids were frolicking in front of good old Jarvis Hall with our friends, we did what any two parents with three kids does when faced with a few minutes of freedom.  We pulled out the camera and played "how many pictures until we get a decent shot of just the two of us".  I know, we are party animals, right?  FYI this is picture #3.

 

Here is a shot of all of us - I love it! Baby K didn't like that we made the snuggling stop to take the picture.  She let us know about it.  C-Bear wasn't sure what to make about that baby getting so loud.  Makes me laugh :-)

 

After the parade and running around to burn off some energy, we walked over to McAlisters to eat and spend some time catching up with one another.  It was a beautiful night in Texas, so once our tummies were full, we headed to the homecoming festival to listen to some music, watch some fireworks and let the kids lose in the bounce houses. 

 

The fireworks started right after we arrived - like I said our evening just seemed to fall into place.  It was great!

 

After the fireworks the band came on to play us some tunes.  Sweet C-Bear immediately started to break it down for us all.  It was the cutest thing I have ever seen (and I have seen some cute kids people)!  I am not surprised at all - I remember watching her mommy and daddy kicking up their heals together in college :-)

Baby K and Mrs. B were quite the couple, snuggling and soaking it all in.  I think Baby K was spoiled as she was danced to sleep and she loved it.

 

I got to have an adventure with C-Bear as my kiddos were bouncing in houses with their daddy and her parents were watching Baby K. We decided to take off and find a balloon clown to make us a cool balloon pet or sword or something. This little girl is an angel, she just held on to me and off we went. Our first clown apparently had been sipping on some "sauce" as her personal space was a.lot.smaller.than.mine. She was enjoying those college boys in line a bit too much, so as the responsible adult I covered C-Bear's eyes and we went in search of a new clown. The next clown wasn't an improvement. He went to clown school long long long ago. I think he fell asleep working on the balloon monkey in his hands as he quit moving for awhile. Good thing we still had the band. C-Bear and I just danced around and enjoyed ourselves. We got quite a few compliments (I am pretty sure they were mostly for her, but I said thank you just in case they liked my moves too, you never know). 

 

I love this little face!  We did eventually get a balloon believe it or not!  We found a non-drunk, non-old clown and used this cute little face to convince her to make us a puppy before she went home.  Mission accomplished!  I did have fun with this little cutie - I want to keep her!

 

So we pretty much shut the party down.   Before we knew it, it was time to go home.  A funny story I heard later on the way home:  Apparently daddy had a talk on the walk to the car with AJ. 

 

Daddy: Did you have fun?

KK: Yeaaaa

AJ: No.

Daddy:  Why not?

AJ (as depressed as you can get when are three years old):  Mommy RUINED my WHOLE day.  

Daddy: How did she do that?

AJ:  She said I had to get out.

 

Ruined his night?  Where did he hear that phrase and how did he know how to use it just right?  The drama - it cracked us up!  And how did I ruin his day?  I told him and his sister to get out of the bounce house as we had to go home (they were about to deflate it for crying out loud, I saved his life sort of).  What can I say, mission II accomplished lol. Ruined kids life- check.

 

Well, just so you know and don't worry, AJ survived his "ruined" day.  Our family had a wonderful evening and we can't wait to do it again with Mr. A, Mrs. B and Baby C-Bear!  Love  you guys!

 

Goodnight from our little horned frogs - sweet dreams! 

 

P.S. Update from the game vs. Tech: you did us proud horned frogs!  Great playing, great game!  Next year Tech better watch out for us, we won't repeat a loss!