Our November

Here is the November calendar as I have it right now. I'm sure more things will come up.

Wed. Nov. 7- Cards for the Troops
Fri. Nov. 9- Homeschool Skating
Mon. Nov 12- Bunko
Tue. Nov. 13- Lego Club
Wed. Nov. 14- Flower Mound library Rockin' Readers "In a Circle Long Ago"
Thurs. Nov. 15- Gaylord Texan Tree Lighting Ceremony
Fri. Nov. 17- Candle & soapmaking at Log Cabin Village
Tue. Nov. 20- Flower Mound library storytime
Thurs. Nov. 22- Happy Thanksgiving!
Fri. Nov. 23- Ft. Worth Sundance Square Parade of Lights Parade
Sun. Nov 25- Dickens of a Christmas in downtown McKinney
Thurs. Nov. 29- Grapevine Parade of Lights

just bored

I am just bored so here is my ramblings. Today was Aaron's day off (even though he had to go in for a couple of hours). Me and the kids did school and when Aaron got home we took the kids (and the dog) to the park. Anthony wasn't quite done with his schoolwork so we took it to the park with us. It was a perfect day, so nice and sunny...not hot at all!

We got this Chuck It Ball Launcher for Caleb. You can check it out here....it's pretty cool. http://www.caninehardware.com/products/chuckit/chuckit.html

He is such a good dog when it comes to going after the ball. He kind of limps on his back leg so I need to take him to the vet to make sure it's okay. I don't think he's gonna be a pro agility dog like we wanted.

Aaron went out with his friends Steve and Jeff to play poker. I don't understand what the fascination with poker is...it's soooo boring!! I've played it with friends before but once you are out it's just sitting there waiting for it to be over. oh yay

I am glad that Halloween is almost here and gone! I'm looking forward to November and all of the stuff I have planned for the kids. It should be fun. I have my November calendar done already...I guess I'll post it in a minute.

my burn update

Well here is the latest picture of my burn. It's getting better but it itches like crazy!!! It's starting to peel like a sunburn...hopefully it won't leave a scar!

making Halloween cupcakes

I forgot to post this before the skate party pics...

Friday is our cooking day in homeschool and since today was also the Harvest Skate Party we decided that we would make cupcakes to bring to the skating rink. The girls had so much fun decorating and as you can see, we had lots of sprinkles!! The kids ate them up quick!

The girl's had so much fun making them I went and bought another box at the store to make on Halloween!


The pics are our of order! They batter when we added the candy sprinkles~mmmmm!

Harvest Skate Party

Today was the Harvest Skate Party for the HOME Texas homeschool group. I passed it on to the Horizon homeschooler's but only one family came from that group. Luckily it was someone I knew! I really enjoyed being able to sit and talk with Suzie. She is awesome!



The kids had a good time but Emma was not feeling very good so she laid down a lot. Poor little thing. She was a good sport about being patient for Anthony and Sara to enjoy themselves.



Anthony made a new friend. She lives all the way in Plano but hopefully they can meet up again to hang out!



Sara tried to skate but she kept falling down. It's cool that they have little racers for the little ones to use on the small rink.

2 more pictures of the Pumpkin Patch

One more of Sara and her cheeser grin!

Here is one more picture of Anthony at the Pumpkin Patch.

The weather

It finally got cold here in Texas. And boy did it come quick! Aaron opened the door to take Caleb for a walk the other day and he made me go outside to feel how cold it was. lol I love cold weather, it sure beats the Texas heat!

I love chilly evenings. I just bought some pumpkin pie candles and they make the house smell sooo good. Anthony loves hot chocolate and I have a huge container of it from Sam's Club so I think I will surprise him tonight and make some up for us.

Pumpkin Patch 2007

Yesterday we took the kids to the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch. We go there every year and alwyas have a good time. This is just a few of the pictures I took. There are way too many to put them all on!

Central Park

Me and my friend Ashley took the kids to the park today. We brought Caleb along with us to play catch. He was such a good dog at the park. I want to get one of those ball throwers to really fling it and see how fast he can go to get it.

Aaron's day off

Yesterday was Aaron's day off so we went to storage to dig out our winter clothes. Our stuff has been all packed up in there since April so it was kind of nice to see it all again...I miss my stuff. I had totally forgotten that I had a 12 place Christmas setting that my mom gave me for Christmas last year. And a punch bowl! lol

We also grabbed the kids tv out to put in the bedroom and let them watch movies. I cannot believe how many dvd's we have! It seemed like every box I looked in had another movie or 2 in addition to the one's labeled with dvd's. Now my place is a wreck and I need to get it all straightened out and organized. I am qickly becoming the queen of organization living in such a small space with so many of us for so long!

We are going to attempt to decorate this week for Halloween but it's pretty cold outside so we will have to see how that goes. I've gotta go clean now so I can do school and take the kids to the park with my friend Ashley. Maybe burn off some of their energy!!

making costumes

Today my mom and I drove all over the place shopping for costume stuff. I was desperately looking for orange tulle and JoAnn's in Lewisivlle had it. The one in Hurst didn't have it the last time I was there so I didn't ahve much hope of finding it. Walmart had the sparkly purple tulle I needed so EMma is getting an orange and purple tulle skirt for her witch's costume. I also got the white fur I needed for Sara's puppy costume. Hopefully I can get it all done tonight and be ready for halloween.

My mom and I also checked out what we wanted to get the kids for Christmas. My kid's are very spoiled when it comes to Christmas but they are great kids so they deserve it. I always had good Christmas' growing up and so I want them to have the same. My mom wants to get Sara the cutest baby doll. It's a Baby Alive doll ($50!) and she really eats and drinks and yes, it comes back out! lol I think it's cute and Sara will really like it. They even have pouches of food and juice mixes you get for her.

Well I've got to get busy making that tutu for Emma! I love my girl's....they are beautiful and I am so lucky to be their Mommy!!

soup

Tonight for dinner me and the girl's had grilled cheese sandwiches and soup. The soup was so darn good I had to post about it. It's one of those Tom Thumb Signature brand soups...we had Tuscan Tomato & Basil Bisque. Doesn't that sound fancy? lol

I love Tom Thumb's soups and this is the 3rd one I've tried. The other 2 were Fajita Chicken & Toasted Corn Chowder and Cravin' Crab & Sweet Corn Chowder....they were just as good as the tomato.

I still have yet to try: Fiesta Chicken Tortilla, Baked Potato Soup with Bacon and their Smoky Cheddar Ale (that one is only available for a limited time).

The tomato is just a little spicy but absolutely delicious. They run from $4-$5 but it's totally worth it. Me and Emma both had soup and we still have 1/2 a container left.

So there is my food blog for the day since we didn't do bentos!! lol

saturday saturday

So this is what my hand looks like today. It looks all purple and it sooo tender.
We were supposed to go do stuff today.....Log Cabin Village, trip to Frisco for kids dna kits, Butterfly Flutterby in Grapevine....I decided to do none of it today.

We are going to the park. It is such a nice day I can't stay inside. We have to swing by Aaron's dad's house to pick up the kid's coats and maybe try to find Rachel's apartment. I keep losing her phone number, but I know where she lives. Maybe see if they want to go to the park too. I don't know.

I just want to enjoy my Saturday...go to bed early and head to church in the morning. Soudns like a nice weekend to me!

a quote to iNsPiRe

"People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway."

~Mother Teresa

I have good kids

As I was cooking dinner tonight I had the front door propped open and the neighbor from upstairs knocked and asked if my kids could help him. His car had broken down and he had a bunch of tools that he needed to get up into his house. So Emma and Anthony volunteered and worked for 40 minutes going back and forth taking his tools upstairs. How sweet they are! I am really proud of them. The guy gave them $20 to split. I told him it wasn't necessary but he insisted that they really earned it. My sweet babies. Emma is excited because she has been keeping her eye on a little pink horse from Mardel and now she can buy it!

my friday

So this is what my hand looks like today. It hurts if you touch it. Sara was sitting with her feet on my lap and her little Converse scraped across it and it burned so bad!!

This morning Emma had an appointment at the public school to be tested for learning disorders. I did not realize that it would take 2 hours!! Me, Anthony and Sara just sat in the office bored for the entire time!

We aren't used to be up so early and Emma only co-operated for so long so the diagnostician decided that she wanted her to come back next week in the afternoon to try testing again. Next time I am bringing stuff to keep the kids busy.

We went to Walmart and I got Emma a super cute Ratatouille book. It's a 2nd level reader but I love the story so I went ahead and got it. I don't know why but I LOOOOOVE the movie Ratatouille. And for only $3, who can pass up buying the book?! I can't wait to sell Bare Foot Books!!!!

For dinner I am making beef stew. It was chilly out earlier and I'm sure it will be tonight too and that's beef stew weather! The girl's are going to help me make dinner and some cornbread with honey butter! For dessert we are having apple cobbler and peach cobbler. The cobbler is a generic one....just fruit on the bottom and a yellow cake mix mixed with some Sprite poured on top. But it's good and I want some peaches!!

I had planned on going to storage today to pull out our Halloween decorations and winter clothes but I am sooo tired!! Maybe Sunday. I want to relax on Sunday so today is our cleaning and laundry day. The kids have no choice but to help, especially since my hand is hurt. Plus I want to go to church this Sunday.

I can't wait until November, then Aaron will have a shift lead at his store and I might actually get to see him every now and then! lol He is doing so good and I'm so proud of him...just miss him :(

I burned my hand

I was cooking some chicken cordon bleu (mmmm) and I accidentally touched the back of my hand to the hot oven door. Ouch it hurt soooo bad!! I wrapped a washcloth with an ice cube in it for 2 1/2 hours. It would not quit burning!! It's still all swollen although the red area is smaller....just right across my knuckles...guess I can't do dishes for a couple of days, oh darn! lol

Yesterday's excitement

The laundry room here is in the next building over from us. There is a little sidewalk that goes in between the 2 buildings and our apt. is really close. So yesterday I am doing laundry and Emma and Sara decide that instead of staying inside and watching tv they are going to come find me. They knew where I was, they've done this a million times before...everytime I tell them that if they want to come with me, then come with me, don't come find me!

Anyways, they are standing by the laundry room door and I have my back to them folding sheets. Emma says "I'm going home" I said OK and finidhed folding 1 sheet and 1 sdleeping bag..that quick! So I am walking home and Emma comes back to me and asked where Sara is. I said, didn't she go home with you? And Emma said No. So I go in the house and call for her, look around for her, nothing. our place is tiny, not a lot of places to look.

Now I knew right when Emma had said that to me it was serious because the girls are ALWAYS together. They never go anywhere or do anything without each other. So I walk back to the laundry room and ask the people there if she is in there...no. So I start walking back to my apt. and a lady walking asked me what was wrong and I told her I couldn't find my daughter. She had seen Sara when the girls had first come to the laundry room.

So she starts looking and I go back home, check again, call my friend Ashley who lives here and asked her to help me look, then called 911. I told Anthony to go to all of their friends and look for her. And Emma was with the lady who had asked me what was wrong.

So the 911 operator picks up and asks what my emergency was and I said "I can't find my daughter", she asked where I lived and I told her. I think she could hear it in my voice that i was about to loose it and she asked me to calm down. Then she asked me to describe Sara. My response? She's little, she's only 4. So descriptive right? She thought it would be best to ask me questions and have me answer them. So I answered her questions and was like, ok I have to go outside and look for her. But she wouldn't let me get off of the phone!! She said that she needed me to stay on until the police got there.

So in the meantime, the lady our looking for Sara came back once and said that they couldn't find her, call 911...I told her I was on the phone with them. Then she came back again and said that someone had seen her at the pool area so people were checking there. I told the operator that to get to the pool you have to cross the parking lot and there was no way she would have done that. No way. So I pretty much sat on the phone in silence. Everytime I tried to talk I would start crying again.

My front blinds were cracked just a little and I saw a little head run by. Now right outside our door are the stairs...then I saw her little teal shorts go running up there. I threw down the phone and ran outside and called her name and there she was! I yelled that I found her (apparently nobody heard me). So I took her inside and told the operator. She said to stay there because the police will want to talk to me.

So I step outside just as everyone came up and said they couldn't find her and I told them that I had her. That lady who helped me just started crying. Since I was inside I didn't know that 1/2 of this place were looking for her!! Our apt. faces another building and apparently the parking lot was full of people. The police told me that there were people everywhere. How cool is that? People here really are awesome and there are so many kids, everybody cares.

So I asked Sara where she had been and she said that she had been upstairs at her friends house. What?! I asked her if she heard people calling her name and she said yes. Well...why didn't you answer? I don't know, sorry. That was the response I got from her. Ring her neck that child! I talked with her about it last night and she promised that she would never do that again. What surprises me is that she did it in the first place. She never leaves Emma's side....just goes to show that even when you think you know your child, maybe not as much as you think...if that makes sense!

October bentos

I picked up some Halloween cookie cutters for the kids bento lunches. Here is Anthony's shaped like a ghost with some applesauce and cheese.
Sara got a little pumpkin, cheese and cheddar bunnies.
Emma got the last of the strawberries, cheese, applesauce and 2 little sandwiches.
Friday is our Cooking Day or school and we are making little pumpkin shaped sugar cookies. We have so much going on with school, art and crafts and activities....there doesn't seem to be enough time for anything!!

Another tooth!!

Sara lost her 2nd tooth today. I don't have the best pictures of her but you can still see where it came out. She thinks that she is such a big girl now. I promise that I won't wash this one down the sink! lol

Emma's Witch Hat

Emma wants to be a witch for Halloween again. For the 4th year in a row (she's only 7). I saw this pretty witch hat at Walmart that had black tulle and black flowers with black feathers. It was so pretty but it was also $10! So I decided to make her a hat myself!

What is actually kind f neat is that I asked all 3 kids if they wanted me to buy them a costume at Walmart or make them a costume and all 3 want me to make them a costume. Well isn't that flattering? I have been making their costumes for the most part since they were little.

My mom bought Emma a really cute witch hat from the 99 cent store. The cute part was this black spiderweb material that hangs down from it. So this is what the hat looked like before I started.

The spiderweb fabric.

I cut off the orange band that went around the hat. Then I added purple tulle, orange flowers, feathers and some spiders. This is the front view of the hat.
This is the side view. It looks so cool when the hat is on. And even though the blue feathers are indeed blue, they blend in with the purple tulle really well. I think it's the way the camera picks up the color that makes it look so bright.
Don't the colors just pop?!
Emma wearing it, with her head down. I cannot tell you enough how much I love this hat!!

Now I also made Sara some puppy ears for her costume but I want to make little puppy bows before I take a pic. She is going as a black and white puppy like Caleb. And Anthony is going as Zabuza from Naruto.