Claire's 1st Fish

Claire caught her first fish this weekend at Bob's ranch. And Dan caught a pretty nice sized Bass. Claire was so excited but a little scared and not wanting anything to do with actually taking the fish off the hook. It was super cute and we all had a good time. Daddy and Charlotte ran around catching grasshoppers to use as bait. Those suckers are hard to catch. I couldn't catch any! Megan really wanted to throw the fish back in the water but every time she went to grab it she got grossed out and couldn't do it. We had so much fun.

Eliza's Party & our yearly trip to the Pumpkin Patch

This last Saturday we had so much fun at our dear friend Eliza's Halloween party. My friend Lisa (Eliza's mom) is so creative and her house was decorated like nothing I had ever seen. The girls got such a kick out of all the spooky Halloween stuff - everywhere. I'm so utterly impressed with my friends who can decorate their homes for each season. I'm the type who tries really hard, but never quite get it right. I certainly make it to the stores for the after season clearance, but the stuff never makes it to my walls. Arrrrgggghhhh... My kids had their first slushies ever and boy did they like them. I think they each had about 3 before the night was over. There was face painting and they even played the movie "Nightmare before Christmas" outside. The kids loved it!

On Sunday, we went to the Pumpkin Patch. A little too crowded for my taste but it is a yearly tradition and the kids are always excited about it. We were only there for about 30 minutes and squeezed in a Hay ride with Nana.

My smallest kitten Emma



My middle kitten Megan who is actually allergic to kittens



Queen kitten Claire - her costume was a big hit


Halloween is such a fun time for us so this month you will be seeing lots of pictures from us! We love all the photo opps!

Quick Update...

Goodness, we've been so busy. I started my contract position and now any free time I have is spent working! Big bummer. My days of dropping the kids off at school and running the roads to all my favorite stores are GONE! G-O-N-E! It's going pretty well and I have a lady that I've known for a very long time come to my home on Mondays to watch the kids. I'm so impressed that the girls don't bother me at all. They don't even try to come into the office. Occasionally they pass by and wave, but they turn around quickly and run away. For a 2, 3 and barely 5 year old I think that is pretty darn good!

We had Claire's party at Oogles N Googles last weekend and it went really good. She had a great time and I did absolutely squat so that's my kind of party. They did the invites, cake, goody bags, papergoods, etc. I ordered pizza and that was about it. I can't believe she is 5. While I'm on the subject of Claire, we had an incident at school that made me so sad. It was Tuesday of this week and I was packing Claire's lunch the morning of school. Just a little history... I still feed them baby food for 2 reasons. One, they never stopped eating it and have always liked it. Secondly, it is the most convenient thing in the world for me. Not to mention they are getting nutrious food... Anyway - I was packing Claire's lunch and I told her I was giving her some squash with her sandwich which she usually loves but this morning I looked at her and saw tears rolling down her face. I went to her and asked what was wrong and she got all choked up and didn't want to tell me. When she finally did she said "mamma, all the kids at school were making fun of my baby food last week. They were all laughing at me." I can't believe 5 year olds are making fun of each other already! She was so upset and I started crying and I told her I would never send food that wasn't cool anymore. What in the world was I supposed to say? I get so protective and I was so upset. We both cried and hugged. I guess this is just a little taste of what I will be getting down the road. Hmmmm....

So, this year for Halloween I am going to be an 80's Rock Star (Claire picked out the Rock Star and I picked out the 80's part of it). The girls love, love, love to tell everyone that daddy is going to be mommy's "White Trash Loser Boyfriend." I bought Dan a Mullet and he is going to look so fine. Seriously, I have never seen him go shopping for himself, but he called me a couple days ago on his lunch break and he was headed shopping at Salvation Army and Buffalo Exchange for his 80's attire. I couldn't believe my ears. We have a dress up party this weekend and I am just so proud of him. Dan is what I call "Not a Planner." We use that phrase in our house a lot. I couldn't believe he took the initiative to go out and get an outfit. His jeans are hilarious!