Halloween Festivities

I love Halloween. It's my favorite Holiday next only to Christmas. We did a LOT of things this year. Seriously it was action packed...

We...

-Went to the local pumpkin patch/ festival put on by our local garden club
-Went to a semi-local farm with hayrides, games, rides, a corn maze and wonderfully large pumpkins
-Went to a local costume party
-Held our own Halloween craft-date
-Went to a large festival at a nearby church
-Traveled to N.C.
- Went to another Halloween party
-Saw the Shriner's circus
-Went trick or treating until 9pm

If you put aside all the back and forth about the origins and whether or not Halloween is pagan and against GOD ... Halloween is FUN! And... well... if the almighty is really worried about kids dressing up and accepting candy from people... then I suppose I'll deal with it in the afterlife.

DUHHH!

So I finally decided to pick up one of the 25 piece puzzles to see if Aidan could put it together.

Aidan's 3rd Birthday!

Things didn't turn out as planned. We all are battling the flu this week so I had to cancel the Hello Kitty Party. I held off for a while... wondering if I could get away with it... but I knew better. So, we combined the birthday party with the Family party. It went well. Family showed up. Aidan had fun. She received a lot of Hello Kitty things. McMama made a great cake.

There was no crying from Aidan this year. She quite happily was sung to. My funny girl took me very serious when I said to "close (her) eyes, make a wish, and blow out the candles."

An amusing note: The day ended with the smaller kids taking a bath in the kitchen sink

(we've had a lot of rain and our septic tends to back up)

Saturday, the guys finished building the wall between our bedroom and bathroom. I am SO VERY PLEASED to have that done... it makes a HUGE difference. Ainsley, because she was the sickest hung out with them while the rest of us went with the other kids for their "educational excursion" (they have to do something educational to have excused absences.)

The Wall

FROM THIS:

TO THIS:

Now I can ...
A: stop using our bedroom as a storage unit
and
B: start renovating the bathroom
Hooray!

Break

Right now is the calm before the storm... family is coming in at 10 tomorrow morning. The day will be spent building a wall between our bathroom and bedroom (which is for some odd reason completely open to each other). Somewhere in there I'll take a trip to Sams. Friday there will be an educational excursion somewhere for the visiting kids as well as a family cookout to celebrate Aidan's birthday. Oh yeah, and Friday we'll be finishing the wall. Saturday is Aidan's HELLO KITTY PARTY! She is extremely excited.

I?

I cannot claim to be excited. On one hand, I mean, of course I am because I'm excited over Aidan being excited but the closer its gotten... the more I wish I hadn't planned so much. I think reality has hit me and I realize now that Aidan would be happy with far less than what I'm orchestrating. Though, to be fair, some of my spirit has perhaps been dampened because I've had a few cancellations from people with very shaky excuses.

My daughter is turning three. I think the standard line is "I can't believe it!" Uh... well... part of me can't believe it but the majority of me cannot believe she's older. Honestly... I FEEL like she should be turning 4. I even caught myself checking her birth date to make sure I hadn't made some gross miscalculation... or somehow forgot an entire year.

Okay... not really... but you get the point.

It's almost midnight.

I gotta go...

clean the kitchen top to bottom

Family Day 09

Every year John's work has a Family Day. There are rides, concessions, games, bounce houses, etc. All of it is free as long as you're an employee or a dependent. John was unable to go this year because he was at school (working on a MBA). So, McMama and I took the girls. It had been a long week and Aidan had a concussion so they weren't in the best of moods. Perhaps next year it will be more fun.

They both rode the ponies...

Aidan rode without me holding on

Ainsley for the first time

The Petting Zoo

Snapshot

Sometimes

Sometimes FEAR overtakes me and I drown in it

Sometimes the universe seems too big and I too small

Sometimes in every corner I see a monster,
in every action I see a tragedy

Sometimes I lie awake bawling with my heart breaking... living out an imagined scenario

Sometimes the lanes in the road seem too narrow and
I drive with my heart in my mouth... waiting for the crash

Sometimes I see so much evil and malice in people
I want to hide inside forever

Sometimes I just sit and wait for that ax to fall

BUT

Sometimes a monster is real

and

Sometimes a tragedy does occur

Life can change in just a blink

KISS your babies

LOVE them

KNOW they are precious

Tonight my girls sleep safe and sound
(I hope)

But oh how different things might have been!

Leaps and Bounds

I took Aidan back to gymnastics today and learned another lesson: don't underestimate you kids.

In my mind I was thinking that probably until January I'd have to take Aidan to the Mommy and Me class (18m-2yrs) because I thought she'd never be able to go to the 3 year old class... alone... without me. HA! Today, my shy and socially immature child followed the teacher Ms. Christy's directions and spoke to her with not a hint of shyness. She did so well that Ms. Christy invited her to try out the 3 year old class (that started right after). I asked if Aidan wanted to. She said "yes". So, knowing Aidan as I do, I told Ms. Christy that I'd sit on the sidelines and be close by 'cause I wasn't sure how Aidan would do. HA AGAIN! When class started Aidan was the first kid to go over and get her little mat and sit in the circle like she was supposed to. From then on, it was as if I wasn't there and quickly I realized I might as well join the other mothers in the balcony because I was completely unneeded.

Aidan did wonderful! Not only was she the most well behaved kid (never got up and wondered around or played but sat on her mat) but she intently watched everything the other girls did so that when her time came she'd try her hardest... AND she did a really good job with the routines.

She, my serious and hesitant baby girl, even did a few flips.

And so I sat there.... shaking my head... I couldn't believe it... I thought I KNEW her... I thought I had her pegged JUST SO.

Aidan showed me something today... that she's stronger than I expected.

On a funny note, I also learned that I've been deluding myself lately. Because she's so small she looked like a baby sitting next to all the other 3 year olds. I've been happily thinking that Aidan might be catching up to her age since she's grown a few inches this summer. One girl, who is within a week of Aidan's age, is 5 or so inches taller than her... and this kid is average height...

Oh, and the Mommy and Me class?..... with the just turned 2 years?..... yeah, Aidan was the same size as them.....

LMAO.... what was I smoking?

Disappointment

I was pregnant...now I'm not...today I miscarried...I know it happens to many women and that it is common...
but I was so excited...

Thinking of readying the nursery alcove in my room...
Wondering if boy or girl...
Looking at my girls and seeing three
Imagining the girls giving kisses
Knowing Aidan would try to take care of it
Knowing that Ainsley would be jealous
Dreaming of baby sweetness...

No little one now to expect in June...

******

So, we'll try again...soon

******

But I still sit here

cramping

hurting


it's OK

but still