Have I mentioned....

...how much I love this time of year! I love the sights, sounds, and smells. I love evergreen smells, pumpkin spice, homemade bread baking, soups cooking, turkey's roasting, and all the things of a home filled with love. I even love the chaos that this time of year holds. It is so much fun to plan and prepare for the holidays with our families and friends. I love the time when we can begin to decorate for Christmas. I love to send and GET Christmas letters and cards.It is the time of year when I can catch up with those friends that I haven't been in contact with much.I love to shop for my kids and family and friends... I love pondering over just the perfect gift to give. I love to host parties and gatherings.

... how much I love my husband! He is such a great daddy. He loves his kiddos and loves to be involved with every aspect of their little lives. He is my "taxi" driver, "doctor" taker and the "principal" of our homeschool. I love to watch the kids as they get their special time with dad. Mia and her daddy have a special date planned once every two weeks. She attends speech class, but more importantly(to her at least) is the breakfast she gets to share with her daddy. She has started making the special request that daddy take her to Panera Bread for breakfast. She is definitely "MY" girl. She and daddy brought mommy a surprise yesterday. I got the special treat of gingerbread bagels.(Thanks Ms Tami for introducing mommy to these delicious treats). Those bagels are so wonderful, and just another reason to love this time of year. Now all I need is a pumpkin spice latte from a favorite coffee shop and I am in mommy paradise!

Adding to the Craziness

Well we have added to our madness. We now are the proud owners of not one but two new pets. Nate,"the dog whisperer", decided that he would like to try his had at rabbit raising. When we went out to friends a couple of weeks ago, they were giving away a dwarf rabbit. Nate spent most of the morning charming that rabbit. He begged to take it home, so I (being the good wife that I am,haha) defered that request to his dad. He called his daddy and got permission to bring it home. The rabbit came with a large cage, so he lives outside in the barn(warm weather) and in our closed in porch(cold weather). Nate is very responsible with his pet care, and he feeds,waters,changes the cage, and loves that rabbit. He is just so great with animals.

My wonderful hubby came home the other day after visiting the "vets" office(sometimes we buy pet food there). He was as excited as a little boy telling me about this kitten he almost brought home. I reminded him that we had a cat, and that we weren't going to add more,right?!I could tell by the sparkle in his eyes that he liked this kitten. I had never seen him react to a cat in this fashion(he claims he doesn't like cats). We had to make a trip to a pet store to pick up food for our cat, a leash for the puppy, and everyone of course had to check out the kittens up for adoption. None of them were of interest. I had wanted a kitten(for me), an orange tabby(my old cat had died several years back). Today while going on an errand, we just had to stop by the "vet's" office. Brad wanted to check and see if the kitten were still there. The kitten(4 mths) was still there; it was spayed; it was free to a good home, and I just had to come see it. ...and so, we have a new kitten. She is a cutey pie(not so much in look as in personality). Her name (at least as of now) is Princess Aurora, and we call her Rorie(or "Woorie" to Mia and Levi). She and Princess Jasmine,Jazzy Cat, met this afternoon, and for now they are tolerating one another. I really think we must be insane...

Halloween Fun

Piling on the LOVE... Big Brother is such a good sport, most of the time... Tissue Paper Pumpkins
A Budding Artist...

The crew... Minnie Mouse(Mia), Snow White(Mandy), a beat up kid(Nolan...this is as gory as mom would let him get), Spiderman(Nate), Batman(Levi), and Chef (Garrett,aka. G-Baby Live)Trick or Treating on the town square(there was a huge turnout)

Drawing out Jack's design...(Can you see how tired Brad is in the background, poor guy?)

Ooehy,Gooey ...this feels funny...

Doctor at work...

Can you guess how many seeds were inside of Jack?... we have a contest every year...can you guess who won?

We had a fun time on Halloween. The kids had fun making art projects,carving pumpkins, and making pumpkin muffins. We did all these fun things as we waited for Dad and Mandy to return from her surgery. The kids were wanting to carve the pumpkin,which they named Jack(isn't that original?). They made the decision to wait so that Mandy could participate if she felt like it. Dad and Mandy arrived home in the early afternoon. Mandy rested a bit, Dad had to catch up on work,the littles took a nap, and the boys went with Mom to the store. We had to pick up a few snacks for our family fun "halloween" night. After naps, we took the kids to our town square for a trick or treat adventure. It was the first time they had done this in our town. The kids seemed to enjoy it, and there were lots of families out; however, only a few of the stores participated...maybe it was successful enough that others will catch on next year. The boys wanted to go to a fall festival at a local church, and Brad took them while mom and the littles(and a drooping Mandy) fixed the snacks. Have I mentioned what a terrific man my husband is? He was so tired from the trip that he was dragging and a bit spacy, but he stayed with us and helped make this a fun filled evening for our kids. We had snacks and treats for dinner, carved Jack, and then played a rousing game of Life until around midnight. The nice thing.... the kids slept until 9am Saturday( a very special gift for Mom). Saturday was spent cleaning up, doing the piled up laundry and switching out the summer clothes for fall/winter(not one of mom's favorite tasks). Today included church, lunch with friends, and resting...mom still has to prepare for school tomorrow... some day it will slow down won't it? It sure makes life fun, and I know that I am going to miss this someday in the not to distant future.