fairy photo shoot

Lil Miss is going to be a fairy for Halloween. At the last minuted she has decided green is her favorite color and we did some scrambling to add her 'new' favorite color into the costume. I'm sure things will be back to normal in the next few days and pink will be back on top.

hi ho hi ho...it's off to work I go

Maybe Dale should have been one of the seven dwarfs for Halloween because... he is off to work today!!! He got the all clear from the surgeon yesterday. After three (long) months he is back to the daily grind.

sunny day at sunnyland

Last week we enjoyed a beautiful family day at the park.Amelia brought her plastic pooch and the kids had  a blast checking out the new playground. I love a sunny fall afternoon but I think we have moved onto the blustery rainy fall weather now.

first field trip

Amelia had her first preschool field trip this morning! We went to a family farm in Custer. The weather was gorgeous, the setting picturesque and the kids got to pick apples and make cider! The perfect ending to the trip was some fun playtime in a beautiful playhouse.

crazy hair night

Last night was crazy hair night at Awana. I work Tuesday nights so Dale was the hairdresser. I think he did a pretty good job! My only worry is now Aiden will want to wear a mohawk everyday and I am quite opposed to that. Next he's going to want to grow a rat tail. Lovely.

show up tell

Amelia has show and tell every week at preschool. She has named it 'show up tell' and I think it's cute so now everyone in the house is calling it show up tell.  I'm sure it will stay that way until she figures out we've been going along with her all these years.  Yesterday she brought her sugar pie pumpkin and it matched her outfit so I had to take some pictures...

how to get a natural smile

I am forever trying to get a natural smile out of Aiden. He is really uncomfortable in front of a camera. I'm always hopeful that he will out grow this but yesterday I found another solution. Let him be goofy and hit himself in the face with a football. The mantra of motherhood...do what you have to!

the difference between boys and girls...

We bought the kids workbooks on Tuesday. Amelia has already done 25 pages and we have to pry the pencil out of her hand and hide the book. Aiden on the other hand, pages completed = zero.

field trip to the firehouse

Today Aiden and all the other lucky second graders got to tour the neighborhood firehouse and training center. Any visions of cute firefighter were dashed when I realized most of them are approximately ten years older than my own son and today I officially became a cougar (not really).The real highlight of my day was when one of the kids told the EMT they were a 'supernurse' and she said 'No, nurses are much smarter..." Let that be a lesson to Aiden that I am really smart. The kiddos were able to tour the sleeping quarters, kitchen, ambulance and firetrucks. Aiden's highlight was donning real firefighter gear and shooting the firehose.

the best chocolate bikini (zucchini) cake

This is one of my all time favorite cakes my Grandma used to make.

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup oil
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sour milk
2 cups grated zucchini

combine wet ingredients

combine dry ingredients

2 1/2 cups flour
4 tbsp cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 cup chocolate chips
add dry ingredients to wet combine until moistened. Pour into 9x13 or 2 8x8 greased cake pans. Bake 325 degrees 30-45 minutes until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

i'm so making this...

Can't wait to try this out! A handmade resusable swiffer cloth.

dinner time drama

Amelia and Aiden were playing Star Wars all afternoon. Aiden was Yoda and Amelia was Princess Leia (surprise). At dinnertime Yoda hobbled up to the table with his cardboard and duct tape cane as Princess Leia walked patiently beside him. When Princess Leia (Amelia) realized we were having lasagna for dinner she became quite upset...Princess Leia doesn't like 'basagna', Princess Leia will get sick if she eats 'basagna', Princess Leia is allergic to 'basagna', Princess Leia will die if she eats 'basagna'...she will die and she will have 'basagna' in her stomach because she ate 'basagna.' I don't know if I would have taken her a bit more seriously if she wasn't referring to herself in the third person as a fictional character or she could pronounce lasagna correctly. Either way dinner (life) is always more interesting with Amelia around.

pumpkin patch 2010

Saturday was beautiful weather and we headed to the pumpkin patch after soccer. It is completely impossible to take pictures of my kids looking at the camera, smiling and eyes open. I'm just letting it ride and I'm hopeful in the next 2-3 years I could actually get some family pictures! Dale did great crutching it through the farm and we are counting down the days left on crutches.

preschool orientation

Today was the day we could finally answer yes to 'is it my preschool day?'She's been asking that question every morning for the past 6 weeks. Amelia had her preschool orientation. It was far too short (45 minutes) in Amelia's opinion and no snack but we assured her next week is the real deal. She wore jeans for the first time in a very long time and I thought she looked completely adorable. Once we got to school I realized low rise jeans are not a good idea for a preschooler sitting on the carpet and playing 'touch your toes'. She mooned everyone a few times. Live and learn.