Happy Halloween!!!

Happy Halloween everyone! How was everyone's day? Are you already all "Halloween'd out?" We're not. And we've been at it since Thursday! Yes, Thursday. Logan had his Preschool, Halloween Day. Since he only goes to school Tuesday-Thursday, Thursday was our day to celebrate. Logan, Daniella, and I dressed up. We packed up our Halloween cookies, that we made and decorated. And all those bags for the class. It was such a fun day. Daniella got to be in the parade too. She was loving it! Getting to hangout with all the big kids.

Friday was also a crazy day! We all headed to the hospital, right after Ethan and Madelyn were out of school. Dressed up. To hangout with some of the kiddos and their families. There were lots of crafts, cookie and cupcake decorating, and some fun movies. We had a blast! It didn't hurt that Patrick came out, dressed up like Dracula. The kids loved it!

Friday night, we all "vegged out." Ordered pizza, and watched 3 Halloween movies. Patrick worked. Secretly, I can bet, that he's been looking forward to this week. You'd be surprised by the people you will see in the hospital. Crazy!

Saturday night, Patrick and I headed to the Halloween Ball. It's a fundraiser for the hospital. That I've been slaving at for months! It turned out great. And Patrick and I had an incredible time! Lots of good food, fun friends, raising money, and dancing the night away.

By Sunday, I didn't want to get out of bed. But the 2nd of the hospital fundraisers was Sunday. A Family Event. A Halloween Carnival and Trunk-or-Treating. So much fun! All the hospital staff came, dressed up, and with their families. A lot of money was raised. The hospital is trying to add another "Playground" for the kids. And they're so expensive!

And today hasn't disappointed either! Ethan and Madelyn had their Halloween parties at school. Oh ya! More Halloween treats. The 5 of us dressed up. The entire school was so fun! It was a like a Halloween Carnival. The different booths had fun Halloween games, that were educated. So fun! Patrick came by, during his lunch break. Dressed up! So that we could all enjoy a "Goblin Lunch" together. :)

After school, we came home. The kids were so excited! We made a yummy, Halloween inspired dinner. It was a special dinner too. Patrick was able to join us. Honestly, from Monday-Friday, we rarely have dinner as a family. My hubby usually doesn't come home until the kids' bedtime. Sad. But true. Tonight, was definitely a treat!

Our regular babysitter came by. She handed out candy for us. I didn't want to miss the trick-or-treating. But I also didn't want to be the only neighbor, not handing out candy. And our family went trick-or-treating. I've never seen so much candy in my life! Tomorrow, our kids are going to pick out their favorites. Then, we're going to donate the rest. To the troops. I'd rather that they have our candy. And it not go to waste. Yes, our family had a great time! I can't wait until next year. Now I'm  going to go enjoy some chocolate...

Dressing Up

Halloween costumes. Usually, they're an easy subject around here. We order Halloween costumes in early September. That way we get, what we want. Oh, and with my first 2 kiddos, I got to pick out their costumes, until they were 5. Yes, when they started school, they wanted to pick out their costumes.

But this year was a whole other issue! Life got busy, and before I knew it, it was mid September. OK, it was only 2 weeks off schedule. Not too bad. I sat each one of our kids down, and we searched for their perfect costumes. Logan and Daniella knew exactly what they wanted to be. Months ago!

Logan wanted to be Mr. Potato Head. It had been talked about, since the summer. My son is only 3! But he knew exactly what he wanted. And we were OK with that. Until, we couldn't find the costume anywhere! He hid under his bed for 2 hours, before finally agreeing to find something else. Too bad I'm not crafty. It doesn't look like a hard costume to make. Maybe I should really invest in a sewing machine...

We compromised on a Train Conductor. "Just like Thomas' friend." I don't know. Logan said it. I just went with it. And he was happy. When the costume came in the mail, he was over the moon! But the Mr. Potato Head, he's still asking about it. We'll get to that in another post...

Daniella was easy as pie! Since we went to Disney World, and honestly, before that, she's been all about Minnie Mouse. This costume happened to be on the front page. Although, there were cuter ones, she was hooked on this one. I also picked up some tights and cute shoes. Let's just say this, our baby knows exactly what she wants. Exactly! I'm starting to believe, our 2 youngest are going to be more opinionated, than our oldest 2. :)

Costume picking took a little more time than I thought. Especially when it came to Madelyn. She couldn't decide what she wanted to be. There were some pondering and searching going on. Lots of talking involved. Asking of friends, what are they dressing up as. Changing our minds. And finally settling on a Gypsy. I don't think Madelyn was 100% sure, when we ordered it. But now that she has it, I'm positive, that she's so happy with her choice. And all the gold jewelry that we bought too! Pretty fancy for my 1st grader...

I've said it at least a hundred times before, Ethan is so easy going! He's just like Patrick. When we visited NASA this summer, he was over the moon. My son, is totally a science and math kid. OK, he likes sports too. But you know what I mean. On the ride from NASA to our hotel, he turned and told me, "Mom, I want to be an astronaut for Halloween. Because I want to work for NASA when I grow up." Really? Easy as that. It took us all of 2 seconds, to decide on which costume he wanted.

And that left Patrick and I. We need to dress up for this "Halloween Ball" that we're going to attend. We don't usually dress up as a couple. But we thought it would be fun. And we don't have to worry about warmth. We're going to be wearing these costumes to the ball. And our costumes from last year when we take the kids trick-or-treating. Dracula and a witch. After lots of talking, dying with the prices, and negotiating, we settled on Cleopatra and Mark Anthony. Isn't that fun? I can't wait until Halloween! It's going to be fun. The makeup and jewelry are going to be so fun too!

And honestly, I can't wait to see my hubs dressed up! I'm telling you, this is going to be a fun Halloween. It's going to be so busy. But I'm positive that we're going to enjoy ourselves. And for next year, I need to remember, to get our order in earlier. It was a little stressful this year. I'm sure Logan would appreciate that. Did I mention? He's still talking about Mr. Potato Head...

The Big 8

Eight years ago yesterday, I became a Mommy. For the very first time, I had a teeny tiny baby, that depended on me. Yesterday, that baby, our son Ethan, turned 8 years old! Where in the heck, did the time go?

It's crazy, I knew almost nothing about babies. Or mothering. What I knew, I had learned in medical school. I knew how to medically take care of a baby, but not really know how to take care of a baby. Patrick and I had been married just over 2 years. We'd been together for a few years. But married just 2 years. I had known that I was ready for a baby.

My last day of being a resident was both a relief, and a complete anxiety attack. I knew that I wouldn't be a full time MD. I was going to be a mommy. 100% of the time. We were in a different state than our families. In a completely different city. Patrick was easily working 120 hours a week. And we had just had our son.

In so many ways, October 7, 2003 forever changed our lives. We could never turn back. We can never quit this job. We're parents. From that day forward, we were parents. It was everything we dreamt of, and so much more!

In the last 8 years, I feel like we've all grown so much. Our family has gotten bigger. Patrick and I know value more important things. You know, chats with our kids, family dinners, and family vacations. I'm so grateful for Ethan, he changed our lives, and our family. Forever. 8 years ago, I had no clue what life had in store for me. Today, I'm so happy to have become a mommy to this amazing little soul. And for the 3 amazing souls that came later.

Welcome Back!

I didn't realize how crazy, "Back to School" would be. Patrick works 100+ hours a week. And I respect that. He's providing for us. And this job, it's something that the 2 of us talked, at length, about. I especially love, that Patrick works so hard Monday-Friday, so that he has Saturday and Sunday off. Just so he can spend time with our kids and me.

With that, comes a lot of responsibility for me. Yes, we're lucky. I get to call on some help. From time to time, I call a friend/babysitter. Who helps with my kids. If I'm busy with work, or have a lot of things, I can call for some help. It doesn't happen much. But when I need the help, I can get it.

The last few weeks have been crazy! I've been so busy. We now have 3 kids in school. That's 3 teachers to meet. 3 Parent-Teacher Conferences. 3 groups of parents. Thankfully, only 1 PTA. Which now, I'm a big part of! I didn't see that coming. But I was elected. And I'm going to look at that, as being a blessing. Oh, and I'm the "Class Parent" for all 3 of these classes.

Count to 10. I need to breathe. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. I'm feeling like a bad parent. A bad mommy. I know that I shouldn't. But it's just the way life is. I question these things, when life gets tough. We've had so much going on. I know that Patrick feels bad. He wants to be around for all these events. But he has to work.

Earlier, when I was putting Daniella down for a nap, she hugged me. So tight. And kissed me. Whispered in my ear, "Mommy, I wuv you." In that second, I knew all of this. was well worth it! I'm going to get through this. I know, once the kids start to settle into school, and we get a schedule going, it's going to be OK. Thank goodness, that we did most of our "Back to School" shopping, weeks ago. That, plus all of this, might just push me over the edge. Until then, I'm going to curl up, and watch some TV. And eat a little chocolate. Yes, life isn't that bad.

Kid's Mud Bar

Unfortunately, in our family, we don't have many "lazy days." I wish we had more. The kind of days, when you stay in your pjs all day. Just hanging out. Enjoying family. Usually, we have a full day of things planned. Everything that we didn't get done during the week. Ethan usually has a soccer game. Many times Madelyn has some sort of dance thing. Saturdays are usually days filled with lots of family time. And running around town.

Our weekends, are also the only time that Patrick has off of work. Literally, Saturday and Sunday. And not all the time. Because of his position at the hospital, he has many conferences to attend. Weekends around here are insane! Rarely lazy and relaxing.

This past weekend, was very different. We had nothing planned. I had completely stocked our fridge and pantry. We had everything that we needed, in our home. And we took full advantage of it. Patrick was off of work. This was the last weekend of summer. Our kids are going back to school this week.

Saturday was such a lazy day. Everyone slept in. Way in! The first sounds of life, came around 10AM. When Daniella came looking for her Daddy. They have their own Saturday morning traditions. It lead to a casual family brunch. Eaten on the floor, on picnic blankets. All in our family room. It was such a relaxing time.

All the while, we were watching PBS. And we happened on a fun, and new show. At least it's new to us. B. Organic. Michelle is the most talented person. Has all these amazing ideas. I was hooked! Surprisingly, so was my hubs. And our kiddos. We watched 2 episodes. Got lots of ideas. I took notes. And when B. Organic was over, the kids asked for one of these.

What is this? A Kid's Mud Bar. Made from old wood, extra kitchen supplies, and just stuff you have around the house. Yes, we were all excited! Patrick promised, we'd get one of these goodies. Daniella is already planning out her mud pie recipes. Yes, she's got recipes! This is going to be such a fun family project!

Counting Down the Days...

Until we get to go to the Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze. Our family always enjoys that. It's a tradition around here. One that we count on, every year. Picking out a pumpkin for everyone. And having so much fun in the maze. Yes, it's exciting! And just one of the things, that I look forward to every Fall. In case you didn't know it, Fall is my favorite season! Is there anything special that you just love about Fall? Anything special that your family does? Something that we should try?

Emily of New Moon

Now that we're in the middle of summer, I'm caving. Little by little. In the middle of the day, at the peak point of the heat, we're watching TV. But I'm trying, to at least make our TV watching, somewhat educational. I don't want people to think that I'm mindlessly putting my kids in front of the TV.

No, as a family, we sit and watch. So maybe Ethan is not too keen on some of the shows. Like Sesame Street, Dinosaur Train, or Clifford the Big Red Dog. But I've let all of my kids, pick one show to watch. And that's what we watch.

I was a bit surprised by Madelyn's choice. It seemed a little more mature, than what I thought she'd go for. Just my thoughts there. But Madelyn is such a fan of Emily of New Moon. It reminds me so much of Anne of Green Gables.



This year, Lola sent the entire book series, of Anne of Green Gables, to Madelyn, for her birthday. That's after Daniella got her set. And Madelyn wanted to read all of her sisters' books. See Lola values reading just as much as we do. And we're super glad about that!

Madelyn watches this show like no other! In fact, all of my kids enjoy it. Don't tell Ethan that I said so. But we sit there for 60 minutes, every day, and watch. It really is a cute series. Completely reminds me of the PBS Anne of Green Gables.

What a darling show! Patrick and I are already getting some ideas. For Christmas presents. We're thinking of getting our girls the entire series of Emily of New Moon and Anne of Green Gables. 2 really sweet series. That I'm so glad my kids enjoy. They're learning about a much simpler time. And I LOVE it! 

Crafty Summer

I was just googling, some summertime crafts. Something fun for the kids. Inside fun. I'm all about spending, tons of time, outside. But at the peak of the day, when it's the hottest, I like to be inside. So my kids don't pass out from the heat. Know what I mean?

With 4 kids, ranging in age from 7 to 2, we have to find things that can entertain everyone. And I'm not "A OK" with them watching hours and hours of TV. That leaves this momma looking for some good ideas. I was so excited when I saw this picture...

I never found the original site. I have absolutely no clue, how to make this. I'm not a crafty person. But I did just hint to my hubs. Maybe, just maybe, we'll get one of these indoor tents soon. And maybe, I'll finally learn how to sew. Baby steps. Baby steps. I just feel like a few tents, could be good. For all those hot afternoons.

Learning Grace

Ethan and Madelyn just finished up their school year. I can't believe it, but in September we will have a 1st grader and a 2nd grader. Logan will also be starting Pre-school! It's hard to believe it. My babies are growing so quickly!

One of the things we value and appreciate most, at our kids' school is, the prayer. The level of education is amazing! These teachers are really on top of things. But all of our kids have come home, with this prayer, on their 1st day of school.

We've incorporated it into our daily use. Teaching the rest of the family. We've always said Grace before meals. But now, we have a specific prayer to say. I'm happy to say, all of our kids now know, this prayer. Yes, some days, I'm still trying to figure out what Daniella is saying. But it's a nice tradition to have in our family. I'm very grateful for this school. And all that they are teaching, all of us!