Officially Converted

I've always dreaded Halloween. Everyone makes a huge deal out of dressing up and if you don't join in...well, let's just say you're considered a party pooper. That's me, a pooper of the party - I "pop out at parties." Especially the Halloween kind. However, now that I'm a mom and Jude basically came out of the womb in costume, I've kind of been converted. Because he loves it so much, it's hard not to get in the spirit (pardon the pun.) So, we've been decorating here for about 3-4 weeks for this festive event.Grandma Pat sends us great cards every year and this year they came with these little ghost treats to hang outside. I did most of the stuffing and hanging while the boys played, but it was such a beautiful day I didn't mind at all.
Jude got into this one. He loves all the spider's webs and is learning all about spiders at school right now. The wind has already taken out most of the webs! Guess that will be my next project once the weather clears up a bit.
Jude and I had so much fun doing our entryway. We had these spider baskets that we used for the webs and then took egg cartons, painted them black and glued on some pipe-cleaners for legs and googly-eyes. Jude cut black construction paper with his scissors (also something he's learning at school) and made scary paper for the mirror.
The tabletop is a mish-mash of stuff around the house and candy as well as stuff for tricker-treaters on the official night! Frankly I'd like to give out tooth-brushes to all of the kids, but I know that would put a real damper on the night and then no one would come to our house next year. Hmmm...maybe that IS a good idea!
Last but not least is my favorite - the chandelier. We had all these spider rings and construction paper so I created this while the boys were napping. Jude was so excited when he woke up.

Ok, yeah, yeah, I know. I'm officially converted for the sake of my sweet boys and the smiles on their faces. They bring me so much joy!

Cheese or Cookie?

Oooh, i kinda like this image since it's so close to Halloween. Anyway, as I lay in bed this morning with Jude (after being woken up at 6:45) we talked about breakfast. He asked me if I wanted to go into space and eat cheese. Hmmm...thought provoking question - I pondered. Then I asked the exact same question you are asking yourself right about now..."why are we going to space to eat cheese?" His response, "because it's in the middle of the moon." My reply, "where did you learn that? Tom and Jerry?" Jude, "yeah, Jerry goes to space and eats the cheese in the moon." Trying to hold back the laughter, I say, "Jude, it's not really made of cheese. It's a rock." Out of the mouths of babes, "yeah, it is cheese. Jerry eats it." I am loving this conversation so much that I almost forget that I was woken up at 6:45 am. It instantly puts me in a good mood. "Jude," I say, "it's not cheese. you know how Cookie Monster thinks the moon is one big cookie? Well, Jerry thinks it's cheese because he loves cheese." Then I see the light bulb come on. Jude begins to laugh and says, "silly Jerry." I love learning something new everyday through the eyes of my beautiful children.

Vacation is SO clearly over!

I gave Jude and Liam "room time" the other day so that I could actually take a shower without being interrupted. They did so great. I was a very proud Mommy. Above are the "cars" that Jude made with his cousin Alex's old lincoln logs. He was very proud of his creation. In this photo they kind of look like train tracks. Oh well, either will do nicely. I was just glad to have a nice long shower.
Look at Liam's ear. It's all red and puffy! Well, we have discovered that Liam has "skeeter syndrome." Sounds fake doesn't it? It is unfortunately very real and whenever Liam gets bitten in the face by one of those little jerks he gets extremely red and swollen wherever he's been bitten. In the last week he has been bitten twice, once on each ear. It looks like he's a wrestler and has cauliflower ear. Yuck! The remedy for this? "Give child zyrtec before they are bitten." What? So now I'm suppose to have ESP too? Ugh, this Mom thing is really hard work.

This is what I caught Liam doing during his room time. I have to admit, I had a lump in my throat when I stumbled upon this sweet moment. He has his books and his blankie, not much else is needed. Mmmm, I love my boys. Jude did this all the time when he was little. Liam never has time, he's too busy trying to keep up with his big brother. Busy, busy, busy.
Oooh, that's right - give me what you've got Spidey. Bring on the bad guys. jude walked out of his room the other day wearing everything related to Spidey all at once. If it wasn't something that could be worn, it went in the Spidey backpack he was carrying, where else, on his back! I was laughing so hard I almost forgot to get pictures. Luckily I regained composure and got my wits about me. It became and unofficial Spidey photoshoot. Jude did such a great job posing and stuff that I asked him if he would like to do that for real and get paid for it. He said no! I don't blame him one bit.
Liam on the go. I posted this simply because I love his face here. xoxo

Oh Iowa!

Remember that yellow soccer ball I mentioned in my last post? Well, it hit poor little Liam square in the face not once, but twice! Poor little guy. I know Mom's aren't suppose to say this, but it was pretty funny too! Sorry Liam.
Awww, can you feel the love?
Anna took two family photos with my camera, the one above with us so clearly not in the center and another great one that was unfortunately blurry! Oh well, good try Anna. Good thing Dave had Adam's camera and was shooting too. Love you girl, tough subjects I know.
The "guys" at the end of our journey and art filled afternoon. Yeah, Jude is still in the water and it's probably low 60's. About 5-10 minutes later his pants were soaked and he was crying because he was so cold. We took off his wet pants, dried his legs and let him play in his underwear. You only live once right?
Look at the beautiful ladies getting some sun!

Blue Skies in Iowa

Although the first part of our trip was crazy busy, we had SO much fun hanging out with Grandma Pat and Gramma and then going to the Fishes and Jenni's wedding. When Adam and I returned from Vegas, Iowa gave us one of the most beautiful days ever! We headed down to the new sculpture park. Awesome! Except for the cameras, no touching of the sculptures and the rude dude that quickly reminded Adam he was on camera and to back away from the art. There is something not so art friendly about all of that! Adam and Dave were both a little ticked off! I agree! It's outdoor art, not precious paintings centuries old! Geez!

The boys had a blast. I love the picture above of Jude taking such good care of Liam. He loves his little brother so much!
Ok, look at those clouds! Sweet! What an amazing photo op. Adam took some really great images of everyone here. I did my best with my little camera. Take note of the yellow soccer ball in the photo above. You'll see why in my next post.
Liam was connected at the hip with Papa Dude. I don't think Dave could do a thing without his shadow!
Aunt Anna in a tender moment with her nephew as he tackles the big hill.
It was a nice day weather wise, but it was still cold! But that didn't stop Jude and Anna from taking off their shows and playing in the water. They had so much fun and I am super grateful that my Sister-in-law is young enough to do things like this so that I don't have to! Thanks Anna.

Hi Ho The Dairy-o A Traveling We Go

We're packing our bags and getting ready for a road trip. Iowa - here we come! Here's the plan: pack, shoot the DFW job, Liam flies with Gramma, finish last minute work on job, hit the road and RELAX! Sounds simple right? I have a feeling it will be more chaotic than I would like it to be, but I am praying that God gives me the strength to tap into the peace and joy He has given me through the Holy Spirit! Plus I'm bringing some muscle relaxers and a full flask! Kidding.

We are so excited to see all the Fishes and Gramma Pat! Then there's the Vegas trip with my hubby - just the two of us. Oh boy! Sleeping in 'til 9:00 and a cup of coffee with no interuptions - I can't wait. Thanks Doola and Dave, oh and Anna too!

Reality...

God is doing a work on me right now...I don't know what the end result will be, but reality has hit me today - pretty hard! I realized that this blog is done to capture life in the bowl and so far, everything I have posted is of happy times. That is so NOT life in this Fish bowl. Things, check that, LIFE is hard. I'm so blessed to now have Christ in my life and be able to share that Hope with my boys! The above image is Jude's life. Poor guy. Last night he had a pretty severe allergic reaction to something...not sure what just yet. It was so hard not to panic and cry as he was crying to me saying, "I don't want to itch anymore. Am I gong to itch forever?" After the second dose of Benadryl and a bath, both he and the hives began to calm. He was in a lot of pain and was very scared. However, I am grateful for the tears and love that we got to share in bed before he went to sleep and that Adam and I worked so well as a team.

Before I drone on, I thought I would make a short list of things that stink in this reality of life, along with some photos!

Getting a water wedgie in your Spiderman swim diaper and a Mom that doesn't do laundry often enough to allow for you to wear a real swim suit!
Getting mad on a nice Summer day when everyone else is laughing and having a good time.

Time Outs (only good in the long run - short term they are hard, hard, hard esp. when you're 4.
Crying babies in the middle of a very important photo shoot.
Wrinkles, age spots, old age, bad backs, bad pictures of yourself, etc. The list could go on here.

A bad economy

Messy rooms

Wiping three bottoms when you only have one

Realizing your spouse is your mirror and you're not looking so hot

Too much to do and not enough time to do it all

But the worst of these is not realizing that this crappy life is a true GIFT that should be enjoyed through the gift of Christ and not taking the time to do just that! He is growing me more than I could have imagined and in more ways than I knew were possible. I love my kids, my husband and my life - reality and all!