Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from a Lion, a Strawberry, and Thomas the Train!

MUST SEE: Cally got eaten by a lion... ALMOST!!!

Read first and than look at the pictures!

I love animals and I love the zoo but I must confess, sometimes it gets a little old since we go every 4 months or so. Anyhow today was BOO at the Zoo and so I was excited to let the little ones go in their costumes and trick or treat at the zoo. It was ton of fun and right when it was time to leave I just had to see the lion exhibit and get a cool picture of Cally and the Lions b/c he was wearing his his costume.

So they are just lounging on the rocks and I was thinking this isn't going to be a great photo until a female lion spotted Cally from the back and the following happened as I was trying to get a shot (I didn't even realize until after).

The last picture before she completely pounced the glass was the second to last one. I was screaming b/c in all the years I've gone to the zoo this has never happened. Chris grabbed Callum, and thought this was the coolest thing ever! A whole crowd had gathered behind us. The last picture was the little female lion just searching for Callum a few minutes later. Needless to say this was the craziest zoo trip we have ever had!

The tenacious miracle of life...

I think it is interesting. It has been 2 full years since the cupcakes came home (they came home the 2nd weekend in October after a 6 wk NICU stay). I don't think much about these things anymore.

I haven't forgotten but as time keeps going on those memories are pushed further away and in their place are replaced with better memories. Memories like today with Cally in his little lion costume and long hair coming out of it with big chubby cheeks smiling.

Today a lady in our mom's community gave birth to a precious little girl much earlier than I did (she had her girl at 25 wks while my twins were born at 32 wks). It sort of humbled me and brought everything back. I know after what we all went through that God helps miracles happen. I should have miscarried at 23 wks but with modern miracles of medicine and a lot of prayer we were able to hold out 9 more weeks in that hospital.

Tonight I'm praying little baby Layla and reflecting on just how blessed I am to have 3 beautiful healthy kids!!!

New beginnings for true love!

Today is our 5th year wedding anniversary, (yes I love Halloween that much that I got married during the season). In five years we have lived in 5 homes, 2 cities, had 3 kids, both changed careers, help start a company, and acquired 2 lovely pets.

If you are wondering, yup, we are tired! Honestly if I were to say in this post any of this has been easy I would be lying. It has been a hard journey and at times I didn't know if we would make it this far. Chris and I are both very stubborn and quite each other's opposite. With that said we both of love each other so much. Recently we have been working on making this marriage better: changing bad habits, appreciating each other more, and putting one another first. If we are not strong together we won't be a strong family.

Tonight I type very much in love. I'm a little scared to see what will happen in the next five years, considering these past 5 years; but I know if we are united whatever happens we can make it through it!

A one of a kind princess!

Today Rachel brought me a princess book to read to her. I was sure, why not. So I'm reading it and the narrator is telling us what a princess should be. One page shows Snow White kissing a drawf and so Rachel proceeds to than give the drawfs kisses too. Next page shows Belle helping fix Beast's owie, and so Rachel kisses that page too b/c you always have to kiss an owie. A few pages later the narrator says "A princess stands up to what is right" and it shows Jasmine standing up to Jafar. Rachel starts yelling at the book: BE NICE JAFAR!!! BE NICE!!!

Rachel is very unique! She seems aloof when you meet her but once she warms up to you, she is a friend for life. I love how cute she is with her little dolls. She gives them kisses and wraps them in blankets. She is also very mischevious though. Every morning now she sneaks out of bed early before daddy leaves for work so she can have special time with Chris. Chris loves it, except for the part that he has been late for work every day for 2 wks. She has to be the center of attention and loves being the princess. If she doesn't get what she wants than world WATCH OUT!!!

This picture I love b/c she has something that reminds me of me when I was a child. In general though she looks like a spitting image of my mother-in-law who happens to be very beautiful. Chris find this troubling. Not only b/c she will always have guys chasing after her but b/c with her cuteness she will get whatever she wants in life!

The USDA's Child Cost Calculator :p

Today was like day 4 of me not doing my best so I was stuck at home. On a mom's board someone posted this website: USDA Child Cost Calculator.

Well this is our official estimate: Our Report.

It really is dependent on the cost of living and we live in a relatively low COLA. Still if my Rachel knew I was supposed to $842 she would be really mad at me. On the other hand we have craptacular medical so we spend a lot more on that. It didn't peg us on the money but it definetly was intersting though!

Halloween, Christmas, and Easter all at once!!!!

If you have wondered why I've not talked about Halloween too much this year, it isn't b/c I've been kidnapped by aliens! We have just been really busy!

A couple weeks ago we had over 75 people over at our house for Halloween Kick Off party. It was great fun. We had neighbors, friends, church friends, etc. My favorite was seeing everyone have such a great time. This party was so busy that we forgot to take pictures until clean up time (but some friends gave us some busy shots)! Next year I'll share more. I actually cooked though! Pictured below is my Spinach Artichoke pie.

So we also have attended not one but 2 different corn mazes/pumpkin patches!

The first was with my friend Michelle and her son Tres. We had such a great time but the twins got so tired so quickly that we never did a lot. So Chris and I brought Harmon back later that night along with my brother. We got there at dusk and it was pitch black by the time we did the maze. Thank Heaven's for IPhones, b/c otherwise we might have had to spend the night down there.

Today was extra corn maze fun. Miriam our nanny went (but it was NOT considered a Halloween b/c she doesn't do Holidays so rather it is about the fall season) and so did our Family Services Coordinator. We went for a twin event and it was so much fun :)

So the fun isn't done. Assuming I'm back to feeling better (I've been pretty sick but I just keep pushing myself b/c Halloween only comes once a year and I'll always have health challenges), tomorrow we have Spooktacular. The next week we have Trunk or Treat, Boo at the Zoo, and 2 Halloween parties. On Halloween we have Tricks or Treats and a final Halloween party.

It is great wonderful month for us. Miriam says we celebrate Halloween like most people celebrate Christmas. Chris disagrees, he thinks we celebrate Halloween like most people celebrate Halloween, Christmas and Easter is all in one month :p I think he is right but it is the best time of the year! I think that is why my spouse loves Thanksgiving so much! He can just rest and eat :)

Clearing out the Clutter of Life!!

My mother has been and always will be a huge special part of my life. I love her to death but the women has a secret! She is an amateur hoarder. If you ask her she would deny it!!! But man if we try to throw out anything she gets mad at us. Everything has a purpose, including an old typewriter from 1989 which hasn't had a cartridge made for it since 2001. Some of the areas of the house make it hard to walk in.

This is why my siblings and I all have a varying need to rebel against clutter. Honestly I think I was the worse of us to not let anything go but than in college I sort of picked up a gypsy lifestyle. I moved every 6 - 12 mos for the next 9 years of my life. The longest I've been in one place since high school was my last house (which was only 21 mos) we will see if I last longer in this one.

Anyhow the constant moving has been liberating. It taught me YES YOU CAN THROW THINGS AWAY OR GIVE THEM AWAY without melting like the Wicked Witch of the West. When you move you hate stuff you don't need and while you are packing it is quick to identify the things that haven't been used in a while. It took a while to beat the hoarder out of me but when it happened it felt really good!

So these last few weeks I've been getting anxious. It is definitely that time again to throw and give away a lot of things. I've settled back into my pre-breeding figure and Heaven knows I don't need any of the maternity clothing that still lurks in my closet (oh, elastic jeans I will miss you). My office is just filled with so much stuff I can't find a thing, much less use the thing, and the kids are all changing sizes.

Clearing the clutter is really liberating... if only it wasn't too time consuming.

Insane Kitteh and Mommy Lolz!!!

Being a mom causes something called "mom brain" and than add in everything else I have going on... well I just don't know if it has a label but it is definitely the realm of insanity!

Today I kissed the kids goodbye to go and turned the radio on the car. I anxiously searched for my car keys. I go inside and ask our nanny if she saw them. Nope! Than I go back to the car and look in my purse again. Totally frustrated I get ready to chew Chris out b/c I'm sure he has accidentally taken my keys. Right as I was dialing I realized the car's music was too loud. As I turned down the volume it hit me, I must have put the key in the ignition b/c you have to have started the car b/c you need keys in the car to turn on the radio!

Later today I was walking around frantically looking for my phone. I got frustrated so I went to call Miriam. As I was dialing the phone I realized, oh I had my phone in my pocket the whole time.

So yes it true... I'm going down the path to insanity!

Cally's big milestone!

This weekend I was talking to another mom friend of a newly minted two year old. We were at the corn maze and she had to put her son in time out. We laughed. It is sort of the rite of passage for any good mother to do this. Rachel and Harmon have had quite a few in their day. Callum on the other hand is pretty mellow. If I tell him no he just stops but on Friday Callum earned his "2 yo" label and had to be given his first time out. I was getting dressed and he saw Rachel playing with something so he pushed her on the ground. I laughed when I realized on Saturday that this had been Callum's first time out (and he took it with grace and remorse). I'm sure it won't be the last but hopefully he won't feel he needs to catch up for lost time!!!!!