Maui Wowee

I am just coming down off of the vacation high from our trip to Maui a few weeks ago!  It was such an incredible, relaxing trip that I feel sleepy even thinking of it, but I'll throw out a few pictures for you to make you jealous...

Jon's brother Dan and his wife Heather went with us and she did a spectacular job blogging about what we did and saw on the trip.

Here are some fun pictures of Jon and I during our trip.

Upon our arrival at Mama's Fish House

Sunrise at the crater

The beautiful view at our hotel

Before dinner at the hotel

Amazing view

Adventure seeking on the road to Hana

Last night before the luau

We really enjoyed the trip and are ready to go back if anyone is looking to sponsor our trip...any takers?? 

Getting Her First "Hairdid"

One of the things I love and hate about having a girl is doing her hair!  I think Meg looks so cute with a bow or a clip up in her hair and it was so fun to put it up in a pony/bun for Halloween.  However, it is so thin and scraggly that I am getting tired of her ends looking stringy!

So we brought Meg in to get her first haircut this week! 

She was NOT a fan of sitting in the little car (she thought it was going to start moving).  Looking a little worried about the whole thing.

She still was unsure when the hairdresser started cutting.



But then she relaxed and enjoyed it!  (Just like a girl!)



And the finished result!



And I am loving the bed head look this morning!!  So cute!!

This hairdo reminds me of the ones I used to have when I was little!  Thankfully Meg's hair has a little more curl and body than mine did!  Love her!

Hook and 'Bell

We had quite the Trick or Treat extravaganza this weekend! 

First up was Trunk or Treat on Sunday night at our church.  Our theme this year was Peter Pan.  My sister did her trunk up like the Indian Camp and the girls dressed up like Peter Pan and Wendy.  (We convinced Emma that many famous actresses have played Peter Pan on the stage)

Our trunk was Pirate Cove and JD was Captain Hook and Meg was Tinkerbell. 

My mom's trunk was the "Darling Nursery" where the kids fly out of at the beginning of the movie.  All very well done and pulled together by the artwork of my Uncle Daron and Aunt Robin who came into town to help us celebrate Halloween!

Here are the kiddos in character.

And here they are just being cute!

This morning, our playgroup had a Halloween party with lots of great food, games and a pinata!!

After all the kids had a turn, JD finished it off to bring the candy down. 

Tonight was trick or treating in the neighborhood.  We had to wait for daddy to finish school, so the kids were pretty antsy! 

Meg had perfected her "Trick or Treat" and "Thanks for the canny!"

Neither kid was ready to pull of the costumes tonight, but I'm sure they will enjoy a candy treat tomorrow!

Time for Pumpkins

Yes, I took a little hiatus from blogging. The picture posting is really irritating me on Blogger, but I'm going to stick it out a little longer.

The kids and I had some Halloween fun this week with lots more to come this weekend!

After school on Wednesday, I took the kids to a local "Pumpkin Patch" and I use that term very loosely since it was pretty much just some overpriced pumpkins on scattered hay. But JD was thrilled to be at a "real" pumpkin patch, so we made the most of it.

Meg loved the painted signs and pointed out "Kitty" and Mickey right away.

JD found the perfect pumpkin and was very happy to pick it up to show me.

Meg thought the pumpkins made great chairs.

Both kids helped decorate the pumpkin once we got it home. We are all about potato heads in this family, so carving wasn't even in the discussion!

Today was JD's preschool nursery rhyme dress up day. They pretty much laid down the law about wearing a regular costume. It had to be from a nursery rhyme.

Sooo here is what I came up with. See if you can figure out what nursery rhyme inspired us.

Okay, didn't get it right away? Try this picture.

Still haven't figured it out?? Maybe this will give you a hint. JD is pointing to the nursery rhyme character that they made in class that he is dressed up like.


Sheesh! Is it not obvious?? JD is Humpty Dumpty! Didn't the crack in his beanie cap give it away? Okay, so I'm not the most creative costume maker in the world... On the plus side, JD thought it was the best costume ever. And I thought he looked really cute in his bow tie!

Here's a cute picture of his class at their party.




JD spent most of the afternoon today practicing his "trick or treat" skills with a decorative Halloween basket. Watch out Trunk or Treat - JD knows his business!!

Mother of the Year

Looks like I was DQ'd today for this award.

The day started off innocently enough. It was raining and actually a little cooler outside, and I had planned to take the kids to the grocery store to do some "back to school" lunchbox shopping for JD.

We loaded into one of the germ-mobiles that they have attached to the front of the grocery carts that all kids love and all mothers loathe. And we were off to the races.

Things went well as my helpers picked out yummy fruits and snacks for JD's lunchbox. About halfway through, Meg started yelping. I looked down, and it appeared that Meg's fingers were in JD's mouth with teeth marks on two of her fingers.

I pulled the cart over for a stern, but quiet lecture of "Don't Bite Your Sister Ever Again." I issued the threat of "we will leave the store if you do it again and you won't like what happens when we do."

Shopping resumes and we approach the checkout. And yes, my son decides to test out exactly how much pressure is required from his bite in order for Meg to scream. Ugh. I actually raise my voice at this point and start telling my son that he is in very big trouble and that I am very unhappy with him and a few other things that came out in the heat of the moment.

Yes - I became "The Yell-y Mother in the Store" that we all cringe when we shop around because she is yelling at her kids and it looks like the kids couldn't possibly be doing anything THAT bad to require yelling in a public place.

Well, I'm here to tell you that biting is THAT bad, especially when your son is starting preschool the next day and will get kicked out for such offenses. (Okay, enough of my guilty justification)

So I finish checking out and much to my frustration and chagrin, JD bites her AGAIN!!! Oh my goodness! My temper is totally flipped to the "red" mode now. And of course this is the time that the attendant chooses to reward my child's bad behavior by giving him stickers. Nice.

I take him out to the car and basically yank him into his car seat with a lot of yelling, but manage to gain my sanity and patience enough to not spank him then and there in the parking lot. I don't want to be THAT mother.

After loading the groceries, we spend the short trip home discussing WHY we don't bite and what happens when we bite and why it isn't nice to ever hurt someone and when we do, there is a punishment involved because it isn't GOOD behavior.

By the time we pull into the driveway, JD is begging to take a nap (in his mind that is a pretty terrible punishment, but not as bad as a spanking).

I had calmed down considerably by this time, so I was able to talk to JD rationally and explain why he was getting a punishment (but Mommy, I'm not a bad guy. No, you aren't a bad guy, but biting isn't good behavior. Let's be a GOOD guy instead).

And yes, JD took his medicine like a champ, promised not to bite again and gave out some hugs and sorry's to all offended parties.

So if you see me on You Tube this week, please cut me a little slack after hearing my side of things. And remember the next time you see a mom yelling in public, well, I don't know how to finish that statement because it might be me!

Colorado Part 2

Around July 3, we packed it up and headed into Colorado Springs to stay at the Broadmoor. Yes, we LOVE it there and this year was no exception.

The first thing we did was to have a family photo taken. Our last professional one was also at the Broadmoor when JD was 1, so it has been awhile.

Here is an out-take with the kiddos... That night, we all went out to eat at the Golden Bee, an old English Pub style restaurant. Meg and I dressed up for the occasion.

On July 4th, we spent some time at the pool, where JD got to ride the big superslide (albeit illegally since he was an inch too short) a couple of times. Meg and JD both enjoyed the baby pool for most of the morning.
Jon and JD went out for snowcones at the Broadmoor's Fourth of July carnival and jumped in bouncehouses and played while Meg and I rested.

We did the annual picnic and fireworks at Jon's grandparent's house in Manitou Springs. The kids stayed there so Jon and I could enjoy our anniversary the next day at the hotel.
Jon and I had a GREAT day relaxing and reading and eating on our anniversary! We had dinner reservations at the Penrose Room and had a fantastic dinner (if anyone asks, 4 courses is 1 too many). We danced to our song (Just the Way You Look Tonight). Eight awesome years together!!

The next day, it was back to the cabin. We loaded up for fishing with the Boyd group.

As you can tell by the "clouds of doom" behind JD, we were massively rained out pretty quickly. We were even hailed on as we hiked back the 1+ mile back to the car. (Meg was impressively quiet the whole way on my back!)

The next day, the Boyd's came out to fry up the fish and eat dinner. The guys had a tremendous pool table tournament that I think Papaw "Pool Shark" Boyd swept.

We couldn't get a good photo at this outing. :( Meg was just too tired.

Nathan and Dan hung out with us too, but don't worry, we put them to work...

So another great summer trip to Colorado!! Can't wait to go back!!

Cool in Colorado Part 1

Since I haven't posted in FOREVER, I felt like it was still appropriate to go back about a month and reminisce about our vacation in Colorado, where the temperatures were a cool 45 degrees at night and 85 during the day. Ahhh...

We enjoyed our annual visit to Colorado, just like every year. The only hiccup we had was that Meg just really doesn't sleep well up there for some reason. It took most of the trip to get her to sleep through the night there. My family all met up there again, so the cousins had a great time playing together!

We drove to Georgetown along a beautiful pass...

Then we got to Georgetown to ride the train!



Everybody panned for gold one day down in the creek by the cabin. Not sure they were very successful (it all looked like sand to me), but they had fun!

Stay tuned for Part 2 - Broadmoor, Fishing and Fun!