Dressing up

Cam and Em dressed up one night, cracked me up. Cam was superman (not pictured), Emmy donned Cam's HUGE Bear Costume and had a bit of trouble staying up on her feet. Still CUTE!

Cam's 5!!!

We didn't get any photos of the party...we video'd a little, but mainly we were running around having fun. The party was craziness! We had kids meet up at home depot to do the project there and then head over to church. At church the kids RAN in the gym, had pizza, cake (diego cake, decorated by STUART!!! Wish I had a photo...thought I did, oh well) and then presents. Cam invited some boys from church and school and it ended up being a lot of boys!! I think 11 or so.

Needless to say it was a bit overwhelming for Cam, but still fun. And the parents have sworn off the party for next year!

Here's a picture of Cam opening a present from Granny...the jaguar from Diego, this has proven more fun to Emmy :)

Trick-or-treat

We trick-or-treated on our street this year. Just us, our family...kinda nice and laid back. We met all the neighbors we'd met before on our trip around collecting canned goods. But we added a few houses and met some more lovely folks. We love our street, everyone is SO nice. There's even another set of Joneses! How fun! We got tons of candy, chatted and laughed and chased some kittens Emmy really wanted to pet. A lovely evening all in all and the weather...ahhhhhh, you Rockford folks, sorry!

Oh, and the kids...Cam was Diego of GO DIEGO GO fame. And Emmy...she was a princess, but it took some serious convincing to put ANY of the princess costumes she owns on...this was the one we landed on...Belle.

The local Pumpkin Patch

Leann and I hit the pumpkin patch and got some pictures, but really nothing much to do but see pumpkins.

Late Happy Thanksgiving

As our thanksgiving treat...a blog UPDATE! With pictures to follow. First, a relaxing Thanksgiving at G-mom and G-dads that included no cooking on momma's part (because really, we know better) and shopping on daddy's part on friday. Perfect. We laid around, played, ate, relaxed and laughed at and with the kids.

While there, Emmy made up a joke. We're deep into Knock, knock jokes right now. Here's how it went down.

From the back carseat comes Emmy, "Knock, Knock"
me, without turning around, "who's there?"
Emmy, "Buggie"
I turn around and her finger's completely up her nose and Cam is dying laughing...we all lose it and she then repeats the joke with "finger" for us many times...never got old!

Today Stuart got the outside of the house Christmas-y, and as we were pulling out in the van together I commented that it was beautiful. Cam replied, "Its pleasant". Again we all cracked up laughing. He said it so grown up, then grinned big and giggled. VERY FUNNY!!! Great timing on it, funny as can be.

Coming up October/Nov. Pictures...

Emery, she's a laugh a minute

Last night Emmy played the babysitter. Yup, she was still up at 10:30, perky and cute.

The run down, she was put to bed at 8:30.
She got up, went in Cam's room off and on for an hour and said, "HI" to him numerous times.
Then she got up and came downstairs where she told the babysitter, when asked why she was up,
"I forgot sum-um."

What did you forget?

Wheels visibly turning in her head, "ummmm, 'night?"

Goodnight Emmy

"'Night"

And up the stairs she popped to her bed.

Ohhhhhh, she is trouble. Cute as a button, but trouble.

PICTURES

PICTURES

PICTURES

Pictures of the kiddos...

Tomorrow he's 5

Its hard to believe that little boy is getting so big, and yet.... Tomorrow is the official day, he's 5. No question either.

What are we doing tonight?
Well, he decided to practice being nocturnal. Yup, threw a hissy fit at bed. Soooo, the solution: thanks to the Creative Correction book Cam is decidedly UP.

He is STANDING in the hall. That's it. He said he wanted to be up, so up he is.

I feel really mean, but at the same time I was so glad to have read that book and have an idea of what to do without killing him. I'm calm, he's calm...no spanking (which really, he's 5 and right before bed...just gonna be awful).

So, now the waiting game. So far he's gone 15 mins...standing there. My bet is on about 30 mins, then he'll want to at least play in bed, with all those stuffed animals? Who wouldn't?

And so, there you have it, he broke (20 mins):

"Mom, I need a place to sit"
"Oh, no - its either you're up - standing there, or you're in bed. You are more than welcome to sit in your bed."
"But its dark"
"You have a nightlight"
"okay. Can you tuck me in"
"Sure can!" - little bit of love and a prayer time...he's off to sleepy land.

And we're off...welcome 5. Lord give me strength and wisdom for the year to come, I know its still easier than the teens.

Around the Table

I need to post a funny that Emmy has. It happens, generally, around the dinner table (breakfast, lunch too). Its a game of, "You Tun". That's right, Your Turn. Here's how it goes:

Emmy will come up with a cute saying, such as "WHOOOOOO" or "Heave, Ho!" she will say the saying in a loud, enthusiastic voice and then say, "You Tun" to everyone in sucession at the table. This game also applies at large gatherings where she will turn a somersalt and then demand that the next person do "you tun".

Its a fun, funny game. And its really hard to turn her down when she looks at you so expectantly for your turn. Therefore, our dinner times right now are lots of "HEAVE, HO!" and "WHOOOOO" with a bunch of giggles inbetween.

She is a funny, funny girl.

Can we practice being nocturnal at home?

This was the question Cam came up with today. Pretty much loved it.

It's been craziness...trick-or-treat, birthday party, sick, potty-training-ish...

I have more pictures to post in the days to come, but this question had to be shared immediately.

Can we practice being nocturnal at home???? Ha!

Edward's Pics

MORE PICTURES...

Closing Time...and EDWARDS APPLE ORCHARD!!!!

The kiddos and I busted it up to Rockford the first weekend of October to close on the old house and VISIT! (I'm STILL recovering from all the fun!)

We got in to town on the 4th, spent the night at the Hannas and then hit it Friday. We went up to the old house to walk thru one last time. We all did great. Cam actually said he likes his new home better, and so did I (miracle). Then Gail watched the kids and Patty and I closed. YEA! I felt as if the world rolled off my shoulders! I called Stuart right after and told him to buy a new TV before I got home and changed my mind!

Then Cam and I visited Aleah (and Amanda), Cam went on a date night with Emmett and Eli (Miss Gail too), visited neighbors, visited Colton, Corrine (oh, and Kari!!!), went to church at Northeast, did our Sunday night Harps, then hit EDWARDS, visited Miss Bonnie!!!!! It was AWESOME to see almost everyone (we still missed folks...that is the way it goes I suppose). Anyhow, we have a marvelous time with friends. We miss everyone so much.

Then we left, I hit IKEA on the way out (because I'm insane...me and the two kids without a lot of sleep under our belts...) it was a time. We survived. Then we got to visit Julia (Lindsay too). Cam had a fabulous time, as did Emmy with all the girly stuff around. This is where Em's hair was first put into "BOW HAIRS" ...this is what she calls anything put into her hair.

Anyhow here are some pics

OH...the horse ride at edwards...priceless. Emmy kept saying HI to everyone we passed that she knew and she chanted, "Leah ride-a da hosey, Cam ride-a da hosey, I RIDE-A DA HOSEY!!!" And not to be soon forgotten, Cam got hand sanitizer blown into his eye by the wind, we poured a bottle of water all over him and he then got his most expensive piece of clothing I've ever bought him...a t-shirt. He was SOAKED!

I hosted BUNCO

For those of you who know me, and my inability to keep a house clean, and my firm grasp on being anti-social...this was a big deal for me.

So there's my post...I did it...well...okay. I had it here, but Celeste cooked all the goodies. Credit where credit is due, and by the way SUPER yummy food!

So, there's my non-family, just Stacia post for the year.

THE ZOO!

I caved...I got the family pass for the year to the zoo around here. Its AWESOME, it has a spray park for in the summertime, a climbing playground, and a TON of animals...including a baby elephant.

So we packed up one day and called Mark and Nicole (the suckers they are) and off we went to the zoo. The tiger was really cool! But I think the family favorite was the baby elephant.

When we walked in they were doing "backyard heros", this basically meant you could dig thru dirt and touch worms, or pet the millipede. Emmy went for both, Cam did the worms - with gusto. GROSS.

We also hit the carousel...perfect

Apple Orchard HERE

Went to a local orchard here...we got to see the apples being sorted and washed, plus we got to eat one! We also went thru a corn maze, petted a cow, climbed on a tractor and a pile of hay...all in all a great time!

We went with some other buddies: Addison and Jake; TJ and Elizabeth

Then the silly adults, we decided to take 7 kids to McD's for lunch...crazy, but it all went really well!

BACK to Walmart

Okay, I'm going to spare you the details, but seriously I'm NEVER going to Walmart again. NEVER.

CLOSING

The greatest realtor in the world just called and the CLOSING IS MOVED UP!!!!!

Oct 5th!!!

Please continue to pray that all goes well, but ohhhhhhhh what good news!!!!

Walmart

That's the title...Walmart.

First, if you know me at all there is a loathing of Walmart that you pick up on real quickly when around me. It started in Rockford. The parking lot at the local Walmart there, it was INSANE. I especially loathed it during the snowstorms and subzero weather. Now, as I've travelled a little bit and been to neighboring Walmarts, I've noticed the parking lots are primarly designed in the same manner: maximum spots with little to no regard to traffic or pedestrian flow.

That brings us to this weekend.

Remember, I HATE walmart. Really.

So, Thursday the kids head to my parents for some wonderful Grandparent time. They get thoroughly spoiled and I realize I don't quite know what to do with myself, but sleep is wonderful. Stuart comes home and announces that coke is on sale at Walmart and the price is pretty ridiculous. Now, with owning two homes we've cut back and coke was one of the items. But this sale...its good. So at 9 pm we head out together (max of 6 packs per person!) we get there and there are 5 packs of diet left. That's all. Stu scoops them up and then we cruise around a bit, because we have no kids, so why not. This was a good experience...parked close, got in, got out, made our purchase with minimal fuss.

Saturday, the tire on the van is low. I had a flat last weekend in Cinti, got if fixed, but its the same tire. Its under warranty at Walmart. Stu stays home with the kids and I head out. Only our Walmart has no car service area. Off to the neighboring town I go. I have a window of 3 hours. I get there and check in, the guy is SO nice, but warns me it will be a wait. It was. I got all my grocery shopping done, plus looked at all the items they carry. 2.5 hours later, I'm on my way. Oil changed, tire plugged. Really tired.

Sunday, up going, kids dressed, fed, ready to head out the door. Tire...flat as a pancake. SO grateful it didn't happen on the road. So being the extreme fix it chick that I am, I called AAA to fix the flat in my GARAGE. SOOOOO pathetic. But, with the kids running around, I figured it'd be quicker and seriously, that's why I have AAA. They came FAST, we had Sunday School in Cam's room and then off we headed for...WALMART. I know, crazy, but I NEED THIS FIXED. We get there, its the same guy checking us in, again SO nice. And honestly I'm not losing my cool, I'm okay, this stuff happens. He says, we'll replace the tire this time. THIS sounds good, THIS I will wait for, no problem. The kids and I enter into the toy aisles and puruse for 1.5 hours the offerings of fisher price and mattle. By the way, there are princess BABIES...princess baby dolls - this was a HUGE discovery. Cam also discovered all things Diego, and I do mean all things. His birthday wish list is DONE. ANYHOW, we survive without making any purchases and without losing a kid. Its time to leave and this is what the guy tells me, "I decided to plug it again, I checked it twice, it should be fine now" - WHAT!!!!!! SHOULD BE????? Still, I don't lose it, turns out the guy who fixed it didn't talk to the guy who checked us in, but still - I think I'd rather have a new tire. This one has been plugged twice and its failed both times. Thankfully I talked to the manager and he was SO kind. I asked him to write me a note (how elementary school?) that I could come back and have the tire replaced (it was nap time by now and there was NO way I was going back in...toy aisle or not).

SO, later this week I will be returning to Walmart, to get the new tire. I will be kind. I will have a good attitude. And I WILL GET THE NEW TIRE ON THAT VAN. After this I'm really hoping to not enter Walmart for a good month, but if they have a good sale... (isn't that what started it all???? My need for a bargain...ugg.)