Great weekend

We had a great weekend. Friday began with a birthday party at one of our favorite parks. The kids had a blast as always. Sadly, I didn't get a picture with the birthday boy.










That night we decided to ignore Halloween/Fall festival activities and just hang out as a family. We went to another one of our favorite parks (the weather has been too amazing to stay indoors). The kids really enjoyed having Daddy along to help them play. The girl doesn't quite know she isn't as big as her brother. They played a lot together - and Daddy even joined in the slide races!
After playing outside for over an hour, we headed to one of our favorite eating establishments for dinner and more play time.

Fortunately I left the camera in the car so there is no proof that I ended up in the climbing apparatus with the kids.

We headed home for bath time, and then surprised the kids with a new movie (thanks, Abby, for letting us borrow from your stash!).



We enjoyed popcorn and the "move it, move it" movie (per the boy) in the dark to help avoid interruptions from trick or treaters. The boy had a grand time practicing his roar along with the lion in the movie, and both enjoyed dancing along with the songs.

Saturday provided me with a day off. My sister, my mom, a friend of my sister's, her mom, and I headed to First Monday Trade Days.


We enjoyed shopping and visiting for HOURS. It was so nice to leave during breakfast and return after the kids were in bed. It was a wonderful gift in the midst of long weeks while Clay works overtime. He earned a lot of brownie points for this one!

What a wonderful family-filled weekend!

Costume parade

The boy's preschool had a costume parade this morning. I decided to dress the girl up too in case this was the only time they are in costume. She wouldn't let me take a good picture, but you can see she has on pink tennis shoes with her MSU outfit. She was in quite a mood today let me tell you. I had to work hard to get this smirk out of her - see me squeezing her leg?

I wondered how the boy would do. He isn't much for dress up which is why I decided just to pull something out of the closet. Last Christmas, my mom did a fireman theme and made him this great vest/jacket and gave him a hat. He wouldn't wear the nice hat she gave him, but only the plastic one we got when we visited the local fire house! We practiced yesterday even reading books about firemen. He surprised me this morning by actually putting on his costume and walking in the parade. All was well until he saw me then he'd had enough. Off came the outfit and out came the tears. I got out of there as quickly as I could knowing that would help calm him down. A friend called later to say he was just fine by the time she left. Memories, right?
Not sure if we'll venture out tomorrow night now or not. Our church isn't doing a fall festival, and I'm not sure I want to battle the crowds at the other places. Maybe we'll just enjoy our spring like weather at a park!

My sister's special day

Today is my sister's birthday. I'll be kind and leave out her age, but for the next 6 months she is 4 years older than me! Grannylou, the kids and I surprised her with lunch at school today. Kadyn was also able to join us for the festivities. Everyone had a great time. Kristi's students were excited as well. The girl played shy, but the boy jumped right in. He played hard during recess and ran many laps around the classroom. He got a special treat when one of the students shared her candy. Kristi seemed to be having a good day with lots of attention - even finding a chocolate Zinger and a Coke every so often left on her desk.

Kristi, it's been an interesting road over these 31 years of being your little sister. I am thankful to have you as my sister. I am more thankful that we live close enough to do a lot of life together, and extremely blessed because I call you friend. I hope it is a fabulous day/weekend of celebrating you and remembering all God has done for you. I love you!

He's gonna kill me

I will probably get in trouble for sharing this, but I had to capture my man asleep with his "lovies"! Last Sunday the girl kindly brought her two bedtime friends and one of the boy's to Clay when he laid down on the sofa. It apparently helped as he slept for a couple of hours even through the madness of the afternoon. Maybe Santa will bring him his own "lovie" for Christmas...

Pumpkin Patch

Like so many others, we visited a pumpkin patch Saturday. Thanks to illness, the girl and Clay stayed behind while the boy and I joined Pop, Grannylou, Aunt Kristi, Kadyn and Dylan for all the fun. (Uncle Eric was also at home thanks to an infection.) The kids had a blast despite the unseasonably warm temps (although it started off cool, thus our long sleeves). There are many characters to pose beside, mazes, bounce houses, wooden climbing things, a hayride, live animals, and LOTS of pumpkins. We had many photo ops, but getting a 3 year old to stand still is almost impossible in that environment. So you can imagine what group shots were like! The boy was quite impressed to see Tigger and Pooh - current faves - and kept making sure I knew that the pumpkins were pumpkins. After lunch, Pop and the boy enjoyed a good nap on the long drive home.

I think you can see the boy's excitement in these pictures. There are many pictures for family far away - and this is only a sampling of the ones I took!

Movie night, illness, and a queen wannabe

Here are a few cute random pictures...we had our first family movie night a week or two ago. The kids loved having popcorn and watching the lion movie (aka The Lion King). They really did well and have even requested it again. We repeated the fun this weekend with The Jungle Book. Just one small way I realize they are growing up...



The girl battled illness last week. Nothing other than a pretty high fever, but it wiped her out on Wednesday. She fell asleep in her chair having only eaten a few bites of her lunch. Take a close look at the second picture and you can see she's still holding on to her fork.






And here's our little queen wannabe. She assumed her "throne" one morning with all the attitude she could muster and then proceeded to look on us all with great disdain.

Tagged

I've been tagged...and I'm just now getting around to it. Fortunately for you all, the picture is from vacation (I don't have many pictures on this computer as it is our new one). I don't think I took it, and it isn't even of my kids!

Then I'm supposed to share 7 random things about myself. I'll try to make this new stuff since I think the only people that read this are friends and family!

1. I come across as opinionated and picky; but when asked those silly questionnaires I often struggle to choose my favorite. I am quite driven by my mood. (Even more reason to love my husband for loving me!)

2. I go to the bathroom about 10 times before going to sleep. It must be the last thing I do before falling asleep so if I watch TV I have to go again - even if it's only been 10 minutes.

3. I once forged my father's signature solely so I wouldn't get a demerit. No demerits = candy at the end of the grading period. I got caught.

4. I hitch-hiked a ride in college - but it was only a mile or so! It was late, and my car died. I had a new roomie, and I had just come from a break-up talk. It was not a good night.

5. I am not a good driver.

6. I bruise easily - so having poor depth perception is not a good thing.

7. I had such a bad attitude growing up that my mom gave it its own name - Agnes. I do not believe in reincarnation, but I have a feeling she has risen from the dead and is slowly inhabiting my daughter.

As a bonus you will now learn that I am often a party-pooper (unintentionally)...which is why I am not tagging anyone else.

Kad

Apparently that is my new name! I've had my name misspelled and mispronounced a million times in my short 31 years (the most frequent misspelling is Kau because I don't put a full curve on my "c" and I fail to dot my "i" ), but today was a first. I got some reports from a recent doctor's visit (no worries, all is fine), and it was made out to: Kad Skipper. This is funny to me because this isn't some telemarketing company, but a place that took my name from paperwork I filled out. I know my handwriting isn't the best, but I am definitely on the legible side - especially when it counts (like medical paperwork).

So now I guess I will not only answer to Kaci, Cassie, Khaki and Kau; you may also call me Kad.