Friday's Foto Finish Fiesta

I can't believe it's Friday! For once this week has flown by.

Of course with today being Halloween I had to choose another Halloween picture, so here it is!



I think I have shared this before but Trick or treat isn't until tonight so I don't have any new ones to share. This is the kids from last years Trick or Treat. Emma decided a few months before this that she wanted to be an OSU cheerleader and when I asked her what she thought Ian should be she immediately responded with Brutus the Buckeye. I was thinking something like and OSU football player but her idea was so much better. There was a problem though, I couldn't find a kid sized Brutus costume. So I ended up making his costume and I must say it turned out better than I imagined it would.

Now I have a bonus picture just for you Carrie. Actually it's two bonus pictures.



See this box? This box contains 6 Buckeye's. These aren't your average Buckeye's either, these are made of a wonderful combination of milk chocolate and peanut butter.



On the left side of the box is actually one of the wonderfully tasty delights.

Now head over to Candid Carries and share a picture with all of us.

Snow, Colds, & Flat Tires

A bunch of different random things happen yesterday but I couldn't tell you about them because I had to get my pumpkin carving post in. So tonight I will fill you in on the crazy past two days.

Yesterday morning we woke up to very cold wet weather. The highs the past two days have been in the 40's. At work we had an All Hands meeting at the Ohio Theater. From my office it's about an 8 or so block walk which we had to make in the cold snowy weather. Yes that's right I said snow, it's not even November and we have had our first snow.

The meeting was nice, the Governor came and spoke to us and thanked us for handling the Marc Dann scandal so well (former AG who resigned). They also had a panel discussion with former Attorneys' General about what the soon to be elected AG needs to do to fix all the problems Dann created. Of course we had an awards ceremony and one of the chiefs of my section received a PRIDE award and that was a total crock of shit but whatever.

At the meeting there was this women sitting in front of me who had on the worst smelling perfume ever and I swear she swam in it before getting dressed yesterday morning. I thought that was the cause of my nasal congestion but I woke up this morning feeling 10 times worse than yesterday so I'm pretty sure I have a cold and I feel like crap!

Last night was gymnastics class for Emma which I always enjoy because it's something different to do. They have this awesome area for kids to play in while their siblings are in class and Ian loves it. As we were leaving class I noticed my back passenger side tire looked a little low. I only live about a minute from the gym so I just drove home. When Dave got home from work I made him go out and look at it. He came back in and asked how I could question whether or not it was flat. This confused me so I went out and looked and it was completely flat by this point which was only about 1 1/2 hours later. Apparently I had a nail in my tire which Dave was able to fix and patch but he needed me to stand outside and hold the flashlight. I don't think that helped the cold thing.

Ok so I think you are all caught up now on the start of my week, I hope yours has been a little better than mine has.

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, Pumpkins

A few weeks ago Dave and I took the kids to the pumpkin patch and we each got to pick a pumpkin out of the field. Then last weekend Sharon took the kids to another pumpkin patch while she had him and they each got to pick out another pumpkin.

Dave and I decided that we would carve the 4 largest pumpkins and leave the smallest two for decoration. So last night after I cleaned up dinner, I covered the table with newspaper and got all the carving tools out and we began.

The first thing we did was decided what kind of faces our pumpkins should have.

Ian showing me the sad face he wanted his pumpkin to have

Emma making a drawing of the face for her pumpkin

Then we had to open them up and clean them out. I HATE this part with a passion so I was very glad to have the kids help this year.

Once the pumpkins were cleaned out we drew the faces on them and then Dave used his router to carve them our. This process goes so much faster when we do it this way which is important when your trying to keep a 5 and 3 year old attention.



Once they were all carved and cleaned up we took them outside for our annual pumpkin pictures.

Big Pumpkin is mine and the Little Pumpkin is Emma's

Big pumpkin is Dave's and the Little pumpkin is Ian's

Annoying Little Sisters & Evil Big Sisters

Last night after my sister and I went shopping we came back to my house. Dave had already put the kids to bed so Steph, Dave, and I were able to talk. Somehow Steph started telling us about the Penile Enlargement surgery that one of her classmates did this week. One thing led to another and we ended up talking about Boners.

Dave told us how up until a few years ago his mom, bless her heart, thought that a human penis had a bone in it like animals do. Of course we all thought this was hysterical. Then Steph brought up a story that I hadn't heard or thought about in years.

When she was in third grade and I was in sixth grade I would come home from school and go straight to my room to call my best friend Amber. We would talk for a couple of hours while we did our homework together. It annoyed the crap out of Steph that I would be on the phone for so long so she usually would pick up one of the other phones in the house and listen to us.

On afternoon when Steph was listening to our conversation Amber and I were talking about this one boy in our last class for the day. See everyday for a week he would get a boner in class. This class was in the auditorium of the school and he sat down in front while Amber and I sat in the back and we could see him and the boner perfectly from our seats. Later that evening Steph came up to me and asked me what a boner was? I knew immediately that she had been listening to my conversation earlier and I was really mad at her for it. So instead of being the cool, awesome, older sister I was the mean, evil older sister and I told her that a boner was when a guy put a bone in his pants and made it stick out.

Steph and I didn't talk about this anymore until three years later when Steph was in sixth grade. One day at school some of her friends were talking about boners and one of them asked what that was. Steph, thinking she was SOOOOO cool for knowing what it was, said;

"oh my sister told me that it's when a guy takes a bone and puts it in his pants making it stick up."

Unfortunately for Steph there was a guy sitting near by and when he heard what Steph's definition he started cracking up. Once he was able to stop laughing he told all the girls what it really was. This left Steph feeling very embarrassed and MAAAAD at me!!!

That afternoon Steph came flying through the door screaming at me, which at the time wasn't that uncommon. I eventually was able to understand what she was saying and I couldn't control myself. I laughed so hard I couldn't breath and tears were rolling down my face. I had of course forgot all about the lie I told her but she never did.

So the moral of this story is;

Never ease drop on your older sister's phone conversation.

OR

Never trust your older sister to explain the birds and the bees.

I'm not really sure which one is better but if Steph had followed either one of those she never would have gone through that embarrassing moment in school.

Friday's Foto Finish Fiesta ***UPDATED***

It's been another very long week but I am so glad it's Friday for many reasons.

One of those reasons is because Friday means Candid Carries Friday Foto Finish Fiesta! For this week's picture I have decided to share two pictures and I am sticking with the Halloween theme.



This cute little pumpkin is Emma on her first Halloween. She was only three weeks old so we dressed her up and she sat with Dave and I as we handed out candy.



My little Cowboy is Ian on his first Halloween. Since he was a 10 months old he got to go door to door with us while we took Emma. It actually rained that year so I carried him and an umbrella and I thought my arms were going to break off by the end of the evening.

***** I realized a few minutes ago when I re-read my post that maybe I should have said why each my kids were what they were for their first Halloweens because there is a reason. First Up Emma; Shortly after we found out my due date for sure and we were told it was in October we started calling the baby our lil pumpkin. Then one day about a month before I my c-section Dave and I were in Babies-R-Us picking up the last few things we needed and we saw the Halloween costumes, one of which was the pumpkin one and we could not resist it seemed perfect! We still call her our lil pumpkin too and I think it's a nickname she will be stuck with for life.

Ian's reason is a little more selfish on my part but it worked and it was super cute. I wanted something different than the sports or car themed nursery for Ian and one day while I was pregnant it hit me that a cowboy themed room would be too perfect. So Ian's nursery and room now has a cowboy theme to it. Shortly after I had Ian my mom and I were in Babies-R-Us (I'm starting to see a theme here) and I found a picture frame that had a boy riding a horse and it said My Little Cowboy. Of course I bought it but I couldn't find a picture that looked right in it so it sat for months with nothing in it then one day it hit me. Ian would be a cowboy for his first Halloween which would be so cute and I could take a picture of him to put in the frame. The picture in the frame is the one above after the couch pillow was cropped out.

So now you know the stories behind the costumes. The End****

Do you have any ghost or goblin pictures to share with us? Well then head on over to Candid Carrie's right now and join the fun!

The Jokester

Last night Emma decided to take on the roll of a comedian telling us jokes. In the past she has tried to tell the Knock knock joke with the banana and orange but never gets it right. So when she said she had a joke to tell me I was expecting something that wasn't really funny and didn't make much sense.

I was pleasantly surprised when she told me a real joke. While it wasn't really funny it was cute. I ended up getting three jokes from her and here they are.

#1. What do you call a bear without shoes on?


Bearfoot

#2. What do you call a box full of ducks?


A quacker (cracker) box

# 3. How does a monster count to ten?


With his fingers.

Now aren't those just too cute!!

First for the Season

I received one of those phone calls (well emails) that every parent dreads from the babysitter this morning. It was a little after 10am when I called the sitter after getting an email that Ian was sick. Apparently Ian had thrown up 3 times in less than an hour.

Great right!!!

Thankfully for me Dave was off today so I called him and he went and picked the kids up. When he got to the babysitters Ian was wearing Emma's PJ's because he had gotten sick on all his clothes and she didn't have anything else to put him in. If I would have been the one to be at home with him I totally would have taken a picture of him. I know that's so mean but come on it is a little funny!

From what I have been told Ian did get sick a few more times this morning the last time being around noon, he also slept for a little while. I did have to leave about an hour early from work because Dave had an appointment tonight. When I got home Ian was up running around playing with Emma which I take as a good sign. He did feel a little warm so I gave him some medicine. Right now he is curled up beside me sound asleep. I so hate when my kids are sick but it is nice to get this cuddle time with him.

Now that Ian seems to be on the mend (I hope) I am praying that Emma and I don't get the same bug he has.

My First Date

The year was 1995 and I was a Freshman in High School. I hadn't joined Color Guard yet so I played the flute in Marching Band.

One morning during class we were standing around waiting for the director to figure something out with the drill when a senior tuba player turned around and asked my friends and I who we thought was cuter him or his friend. It was an easy question to answer but being freshman girls we all just giggled. Of course this wasn't good enough for him so he kept asking us until I finally answered him and said that he was the cuter one. It was the truth, he was good looking and his friend was exactly what you would think a band geek would look like.

The rest of that week I kept catching this guy looking at me but he never said anything and neither did I. That Friday morning another friend of mine came up to me to tell me that this guy was asking around about me trying to find out if I was dating anyone, which I wasn't. Later that day after school but before our band practice he came up to me and just started talking to me. before he walked away to get ready for practice he asked if I would come and sit by him that night after our half time performance and I said yes. Remember good looking senior asking silly old freshman me!

Now these things sound so silly repeating as an adult but it's how it was done back them so no laughing about this next part.

After half time and our allotted quarter to get refreshments I found him and sat with him in the stands. All my single friends were wimps and wouldn't come with me so there I was with him and his friends all of which were upperclassmen. We talked for a while about god knows what and then he told me he thought I was cute and that he liked me. Then he asked if I wanted to be his girlfriend. I said yes because he was cute, a senior, had his license and a car what more could a girl ask for. After the game we exchanged phone numbers and he said he would call me the next day.

To my surprise he did call me and asked if I wanted to go to a movie that night. Being 14 I had to ask my mom and she agreed only if she got to meet him first. That of course was horribly embarrassing for me because it was my mom but he was fine with it and my mom really seemed to like him.

So off we went to the movies. We saw Thanks for Everything Julia Newmar. I have n o clue why we picked this but we did and it wasn't too bad. After the movie we went over to a local Ice Cream parlor and shared a sundae. Then he brought me home. He had a couple of hours before he had to be home so I asked if he wanted to come in and watch some TV. When we got to my front door their was a note taped to it that said;

Jo,

Come over to Kelly's (our neighbors) Mom fell down the stairs and Beth took her to the hospital so Nick and I are with Kelly and Jeff.

Steph

I instantly started crying and my boyfriend was asking me what was wrong but I could speak so I handed him the note. At the time my mom was 3 to 4 months pregnant with my baby brother and he knew this so once he read the note he understood the tears. Once he calmed me down we walked over to my neighbors house and I got my brother and sister. As I was getting ready to leave their house the father Jeff pulled me aside and asked that I not take my boyfriend in the house because he didn't know if my mom would be comfortable with it. I was still a good girl back then so I took Steph and Nick home and I sat on the front porch with him for a while and we talked some more. To this day I am very surprised that he didn't run for the hills after that kind of an evening but he was very nice, at some point sitting on the porch he did kiss me but that's all that happen. When he got home he called to see if my mom was back and he stayed on the phone with me until she did get home.

So there you have my first date story, I think for the most part it was pretty normal, it was just the end of it that was strange. Just in case someone is wondering my first real date was not with Dave, and clearly this guy and i did not make it. I came to my sense about a month later and realized this guy was not the one for me.

Alone Time

Last night I met my MIL,Sharon, and she took the kids for her moonthly weekend with them. I know some people judge me for this and think it's wrong that I am without my kids one weekend a month, but I don't.

Up untill Emma was 6 months old she had never been away from me for more than the 8 hours I was at work and one night she spent just the hours she was sleeping with my mom. One day Sharon asked me if she would be able to keep Emma for a whole weekend. My first thought was no way can I be without her for that long, but after talking with Dave we decided to give it a try.

Sharon lives about and hour north of us and she works full time which means we don't see her very often. My mom has always lived within 15 minutes of us meaning we see her at least once a week if not more. Growing up we saw my moms family so much more than my dads and I always felt weird around them because of this. I didn't want that for my kids, I wanted them to be close with both sides of their family and Sharon was willing to help make that possible so how could I say no.

That first weekend was so hard, I wanted to cry when we left Emma and really most of that weekend, but I didn't and before I knew it Sunday had arrived and Emma was back home. Sharon had really enjoyed spending the weekend with her. A month later she asked for her again and this time I said yes right away but I knew it would be tough for me. After a few of these weekends Sharon came to us asking this time if we would be comfortable with Emma staying every other weekend. This brought back those inital feelings of how could I be away from her so much but after alot of thought Dave and I agreed to it. Both Emma and Sharon really enjoyed their time together and Dave and I enjoyed having some time for just us.

For the next year every two weeks we would met Sharon every other weekend. When Ian was born Sharon continued to take Emma for a while. I would say Ian was around 3 months old when Sharon took him for the first time leaving Emma with us. It went well so a few weeks later she took both the kids for the weekend. Since then Sharon has taken both the kids one weekend a month.

The kids love their weekends with Sharon who they call Mam maw, Sharon loves the weekends with her grandkids, and Dave and I love our weekends with each other. This however does not mean I don't miss my kids when they are gone but I know they will be back and I know it's important for them to have this time with Sharon. Without it they would only see her on holiday's or family gatherings.

This past year these weekends have become important to me for another reason. When Dave started selling cars he started working weekends and evenings. He has one day during the week off, one other day where he opens so he is at home in the evening, and then he is off every other Sunday. Dave also decided to go back to school to pursue a degree in Computer Forensics so his days off are mainly dedicated to homework and classes. That leaves me at home with the kids by myself most evenings and weekends. The wekends the kids are at Sharons I have the house all to myself from 8am to 6pm every Saturday and if Dave is working that Sunday I have from 12 to 5alone as well. I have found that this alone time is so important to me for many reasons but mainly it keeps me sane and gives me some quit time to get things done or unwind from all the crazyiness of the previous month.

This morning I decided that I would use some of my alone time to go shopping by myself. I was able to look and try on whatever I wanted without screaming or fighting children. I bought myself a couple of new outfits and a pair of shoes for work. Then I came home and had some lunch. Now I am sitting her writting this post without any interuptions from one of the kids and I am watching my Buckeyes play Michigan State and so far they are winning but I learned a long time ago not to count Michigan State out of the game until the clock say 0:00 in the fourth quarter, but thats a story for another day.

I know that Dave and I are very lucky to have Sharon and without her I would not get the alone time I do. I am also very grateful to her for this and I have told her many times how much it means to me that she does this. I also like to think that she gets something out of the time she has with Emma and Ian.

Friday's Foto Finish Fiesta

It's time again for Friday's Foto Finish Fiesta. I thought I would stick to the theme of my last two post and choose something with a Halloween theme.



I bet you all thought it would be one of my kids or both dressed up, but it's not. This is Dave and I as Vampires. In 2004 our great friends David and Tiffany over at McCallen Mussings had an aweome cotume party that year. This was the first costume party Dave and I had ever been too and we had a blast.

Now it's your turn to share a picture. Just head over to Candid Carries to sign up.

Im It, you had better run.

I've been tagged by Lindsay at The Adams Family so it appears it's my turn.

Below are the rules;



So here are my 7 random facts.

1. I still love to color in coloring books and not with my kids. I will wait till they go to bed and then get them out.

2. My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. I love all the food that goes with this holiday but what I love most is spending time with my family and not having to worry about anything else as well as how it begins the holiday season which I do love.

3. I love politics! The few people that know me in real life already know this but I don't think most people do. As we speak I am watching the Alfred E. Smith Dinner on Fox news. I have watched all the Presidential debates, I watch the O'Riley show and Hannity & Colmes almost every night. I even watched the Attorney General of Ohio debate on TV earlier this week!

4. One of my favorite new TV shows this year is the new 90210. It's my guilty pleasure so sue me!

5. I do not diet well at all. I am unable to keep myself from eating something that sounds good.

6. I played the Oboe in symphonic band through High School.

7. I desperately want to take a trip to the south and tour some Southern Plantations.

Ok that was way harder than I expected it to be so I am not tagging anyone specific. If you want to do this just let me know and I will come and check you out!

Haunted Houses and High Speed Chases: Part Two

Part One

It only took us a few seconds to realize that the car that had just jumped in behind us was the same one we had given a 10 minute head start. They had decided to wait for us which could only mean they were seriously mad.

We were sitting at a light to get on Interstate 71 which goes straight through downtown Columbus. As soon as we entered the freeway the guys in the other car immediately speed up and it seemed like they were trying to hit us from behind. Thankfully we had drove my Celica that night and it had a good amount of get up and go. Dave of course speed up but they kept coming at us. Very quickly things had turned into a high speed chase. Dave grabbed his cell phone and called 911 again letting them know that we had just called and now these guys were chasing us down 71.

The next 5 to 10 minutes seemed like hours to me. Lindsay and I were in my very small back seat holding onto each other while Dave was driving and Rob was in the passenger seat. Somehow Dave was able to talk to the dispatcher giving them points of reference as to where we were all while driving speeds from 25 to over 100 miles per hour depending on what these nut jobs were doing. At one point Dave was even able to pull off one of those moves where you are side by side and then you hit the brakes while the others go flying by. Shortly after that while we were behind them some of them climbed out of the windows and started throwing things at our car and we think one of them had pulled a gun. It was at this point that Lindsay and I had crouched down as much as possible so that we could not be seen from outside the car.

The only truly clear thing I remember about this time period was that I really thought I was going to die. It seemed like it was taking way to long for the police to find us and I couldn't figure out why. Then finally we see a police car blacked out sitting on the side of the highway. As we fly by him we flashed are lights and also told the dispatcher we had just passed them. Within seconds the police car was on the road with lights blaring. This caused the nut jobs to immediately get off at the next exit which happened to be one of the most dangerous streets in the city. There was also a white small pick up truck following the police car which we thought was strange and then we followed them.

As soon as we got to the bottom of the off ramp we were all surprised and unbelievably relieved to see about six police cars all with the police outside of them guns drawn on the car. It was at that moment that we also realized we had had the ghetto bird (police helicopter) above us. the police were doing a felony stop on these guys and we watched as they called each person out of the car one by one making them lay on the ground as another officer cuffed them. The thing that seemed to shock me the most about this was when they pulled the girls out of the car. I know I had said in the first post that there were some girls but it was still shocking to me to see them being pulled out and cuffed, yelling and screaming at the police. The other shocking part was how many people there were in this car. There ended up being 7 people total, 2 girls and 5 guys.

At some point during all of this a couple of officer started walking towards out car so Dave got out. The next thing I know they have their guns drawn on Dave yelling at him to get on his knees with his hands above his head. This was my finally breaking point of the night and I started crying. I couldn't understand why they were arresting Dave. Rob was very calm at this point because that is just him but he kept telling me it was going to be ok and they were probably just taking precautions which ended up being the case. Once the police finally were able to determine who Dave and the rest of us were they took the cuffs off and let him come back to the car.

Quit a while later a police officer came over to get all of our information and our statements. He also found it necessary to tell us that the we were all extremely lucky that night because the people in that car were all members of a local gang. Two of them had warrants one for a murder and they were being arrested and actually sitting in the back of the patty wagon staring at us. They were also going to arrest the driver of the car and we were going to have to go to court for his hearing. Non of this made me feel any better what so ever. In fact I was very happy that the next day I was going back to Dayton where I wouldn't have a chance of running into these guys or any of their friends!

To this day when I see an older white car that looks like that one my heart races a little and I am reminded of that night. It was without doubt one of the craziest and scariest nights of my life.

Haunted Houses and High Speed Chases

It's time again to take a trip down memory lane. This time we are going back to October of 1999.

It was a normal Friday night in October, the weather was cool and crisp, the skies were clear and the moon was out. Dave, myself, Rob & Lindsay (The Adams Family) had decided that when Rob was done with his bowling league that night the four of us would go to a Haunted House. We had heard one of the best ones in the area that year was at a local amphitheater. They actually had four separate haunted houses there so off we went.

When we arrived we paid our admissions fee and started with the first, second, and third haunted houses. While we were waiting in line for the fourth and final house we were suddenly pushed out of the way by a couple of rude guys coming back through the line. It appeared that they were being kicked out of the line because they were yelling something at one of the employees. Once they were past us we didn't think anything of them and we went about the rest of our evening.

After we finished going through the last haunted house we started for the exit. As soon as we were outside the gates I had noticed off to the right side of me a few guys standing there and they were yelling, I thought at each other. We continued walking toward our car and we were having our own conversation ignoring the yelling from these guys. Very quickly though we realized that one of them was coming toward us yelling something that we could not understand and another guy was shouting at him saying that we were not them. It was all very confusing to us because we only recognized these guys as the ones that had been kicked out of the line earlier but we were still confused as to why one of these was coming towards us.

The four of us quickly came to realize that this guy was mistaking us with someone else he had a problem with, most likely someone that got them kicked out and he wasn't going to leave us alone. We continued to walk and tried to ignore this jerk but that only seemed to upset him more and he started getting up in Dave and Rob's faces. At first Dave and Rob were just telling him to back off but he wouldn't listen. Of course things started to escalate mainly because Dave and Rob were sick of this guy running his mouth and they started yelling back. I don't remember much of what was said at that time. I do remember that about half way to our car a bunch of this guys friends appeared, some men, some women and the men that appeared were much worse than the original guy. The final straw for Dave was when one of the guys came up behind Dave and I and stuck his head between us and said to me but loud enough for Dave to hear that he was going to have his way with me and make Dave watch.

In that moment I was what I thought was the most scared I would ever be. I knew I was going to have to do something and very quickly so I refused to let go of Dave's hand and I just kept saying to Dave they're not worth it, they're not worth it, just keep walking.

I'm not sure why this happened but somehow we had managed to park two rows from where these people had parked. I thought finally we are at our car and this will all be over. As Lindsay and I were climbing into the backseat of my Toyota Celica I saw two guys open the trunk of their car and pull something out and then they started yelling at us that we had better run or they were going to "Fuck us up"! At that point Dave told us to get in the car which we did except for him.

A little side note. If you remember back to 1999 cell phones were not nearly as popular among teenagers and young 20 somethings. If you had a cell phone that meant you were a business person or you had money neither of which any of us were so it was very odd that Dave had one.

Dave had decided to stay outside of the car but he had pulled his cell out and was talking to someone but we didn't know who. I remember sticking my head out the door and yelling at Dave to get in the car. The crazy assholes were also yelling at Dave saying things like "oh he's calling his boys" to which Dave responded with "you bet your ass I am". What none of us realized was that Dave had dialed 911. Dave finally got in the car and after sitting there for a few minutes waiting for the police to show up the crazy guys drove off.

I had never felt so relieved in my life. The dispatcher said that since they left we should wait five minutes and then we could leave. So we waited ten minutes and decided that was more than enough time for them to be gone and we left the parking lot. As we drove out of the parking lot we suddenly saw a car pull out behind us and flick their lights on.

To be continued...

Family Fun Day

Today I was off due to one of those great government holidays. It also happens that Dave is off all this week on vacation. so we decided to take advantage of this situation and we had a Family Day.

Every year the kids babysitter takes a field trip to a Pumpkin Patch, that was until this year. For some reason the majority of parents this year could not take time off work so the babysitter was unable to get enough chaperone's to go. The kids always love going to the Pumpkin Patch so we decide our Family Fun would be going to Circle S Farms.

Usually when we go it's cold out and we have to dress the kids in multiple layers of clothes and sometimes even coats. This was not the case this year, it was sunny and 82 degrees outside. I actually struggled to find the kids something to wear. See every year they also get Halloween shirts and this year was no different but they are long sleeved and that was not going to work. I ended up taking Emma's shirt from last year that was an orange tee shirt that had the fake long sleeved layer looked. I cut the long sleeved part out leaving her with a short sleeved jack-o-lantern shirt. Ian had an identical one from last year too but I couldn't find it so he ended up in a plain orange tee.

We left the house around 10 this morning and took the back roads to the farm. It was so nice to drive through the country with all the trees and their beautiful shades of reds, oranges, yellows, and greens. 20 minutes later we arrived at the farm, paid our admission fee and got started.

First up was some pictures with the big pumpkins, How Tall am I pumpkin, the real tractor, and the farm animal signs.







After that we stopped and looked at the goat, bunnies, and chickens in their pens, then it was off to the hay barn where the kids got to play in the huge piles of hay. I've given them baths all ready but they still have hay in their hair.






Once they were done in the Hay Barn we went through the kids maze, Sunflower maze, and Corn maze.




By the time we finished these the sun was starting to beat down on us and it was getting a little hot so we went to the restaurant and got our Apple Cider and Doughnut that came with admission but we had to fight the bees off to eat them. Then it was time for the hayride to the pumpkin patch. Of course this was the best part of the entire day. The ride is a short 5 minute ride out to the patch and then you get to pick your pumpkin. Once everyone is back on the wagon they take you to the parking lot so you don't have to lug your pumpkins very far.








We were all hungry by the time we got back to the car so on the way home we stopped at Bob Evans for a nice lunch and then we came home. So now we have four pumpkins to carve and I think the kids have asked me about 4 times today when we can carve them. It's going to be a long couple of weeks.

Rubber Duckie

This afternoon my friend Jenn and I through a baby shower for our friend Shanna. Shanna and Scott will be having their first child in December. A little boy Colin Scott Bruce III.

Jenn, Shanna, & Me

The theme of this shower was Rubber Duckies because Shanna likes them and that's what she wanted. we had a 3-D Duck cake that sat on top of a sheet cake air brushed to look like water.

The tables were covers in light blue and pastel yellow table clothes. The centerpieces were clear chips and salsa bowl with shredded blue paper in the chip part and little mini ducks (a couple years ago we bought the ducks and the bowls for a camping themed shower and we put water in the chip part but the ducks didn't float very well), we put chex mix and m&m's in the dip part of the bowl. Then every table got some baby boy, and rubber duckie confetti.



We played three games. The first was a memory game, Jenn and I purchased an Ohio State diaper bag form the same lady that made my purse. We used that as part of the memory game and we bought a bunch of things that would go in the diaper bag, like diapers, wipes, bottles, pacifier, things like that. We put everything on a tray and carried it around and then they had a few minutes to write as many things as they could remember down. The person who got the most right won.



The second game was Baby Bingo where everyone fills out a bingo square with items they think Shanna would receive as guest and then as Shanna opened her presents they marked things off to get bingo's. The last game was an easy door prize. See we put numbers on the bottoms of the rubber ducks in the center pieces and Shanna picked two number, the people who drew those ducks won.



Of course we had some good food too. Since the shower was at 2 Shanna wanted to do an appetizer menu so we had Pigs in a Blanket, Party Potatoes (red potatoes with sour cream and dill), Veggie Pizza, Apples & Peanut Butter Dip, Grape Salad, and Porcupines. Everyone seemed to really enjoy the food which I was glad to hear because I made it all.

I really think everyone had a great time today. I know Shanna did and I am so glad I was able to do this for her. She has wanted a baby for so long and I know she will make a great mother to this wonderful little boy.

All Because.....

..... Two people fell in Love!

Isn't this just so cute?!

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I was messing around just now and I saw a little link to The Cutest Blog on the Block so I thought I would check it out. If you've never been there go check it out sometime, they have some really cute things. I clicked on the accessories link and was scrolling through what they had when I came across this one and I new instantly I had to take it with me.

You see a few months ago I bought this really cute wooden painted sign that has this saying on it and it is hanging above the collage of family pictures we had taken this spring. Now do you see why it's so perfect and so true. There would be no Wilson's House if two people didn't fall in love.

Friday's Foto Finish Fiesta

It's that time again! Yep you guessed it, time for Candid Carries Friday Foto Finish Fiesta. Lately things have been all about Emma so this week's picture is all about Ian.



This was taken Sunday morning while I was getting some of pictures of Emma. For one Ian wanted me to take his picture and he actually smiled. I hope this means there will be more of these to come instead of the usual pouting or looking away ones.

Do you have a cute picture to share. Well then head on over to Candid Carries and join us.

The Horse Whisperer

I'm sure most of you have at least heard of this movie with Robert Redford if you haven't actually seen it. Did you know it was based on a book? Did you know that book is a true story about a real man named John Rarey? Well it was and in case you don't know this story I will share it with you now.

John Rarey was a famous horse trainer. He trained his first horse at the age of 12. By the year 1858 word had spread about Rarey and his great ability to train horse s and he was asked to come to Windsor Castle in England to train a horse for Queen Victoria. After he succeeded in training that horse a call was sent out to find the worst and meanest horse there was.

That horse was found. His name was Cruiser and he once was a great race horse but had become very mean and wild. His owners wanted to breed him but they couldn't do that until the horse could be controlled. Crusier was so mean his owners had an eight pound iron mussel to make it more difficult for him to kill stable boys.

One day Rarey entered Cruisers stable and three hours later came out leading Crusier who no longer had his mussel on. Cruisers owners were so impressed with how Rarey was able to train him that they gave Crusier to Rarey.

Rarey returned back to the states with Cruiser and they lived together until the day he died. Cruiser lived and additional nine years before he died.

What most people do not know about this story is that John Rarey was from Groveport Ohio, my town (well village, it's still to small to be a city). When Rarey returned to the states with Crusier he came back to live here in Groveport. Even after Rarey's death Crusier stayed here in Groveport until the day he died. Our current Elementary School was originally built as a courthouse and jail and it is rumored that Crusier was buried behind in under what is now the Freshman Schools football field, but no one really knows for sure where he was buried. There are records that show he did die here in Groveport though.

When it came time for our schools to choose a mascot they decided on The Groveport Madison Cruiser's after the famous race horse that lived and died in our town. My mom moved us to Groveport when I was in the 6th grade and when I heard this story for the first time I thought it was so cool. How ofter does a schools mascot have a real story behind it and how often is that mascot a real thing.

A few years ago one of my sisters close friends bought a house one street over from ours. Her house is the only house older than ours and the Log House Museum and it belonged to John Rarey. When she purchased the house she was given the original deed so we know this to be true. Shortly after moving into the house she was cleaning out the attic and came across a bunch of different pictures, some of which were of a horse and they were very very very old looking. My sister and I keep telling her that she should take them over to the Log Cabin Museum and have them look into whether or not they are pictures of the real Cruiser.

I hadn't thought much about this story in many years but a few weeks ago Dave and I took the kids to the homecoming football game. When we left the stadium that night we had to pass the large statue of Cruiser. Emma being the inquisitive one that she is asked why there was a horse there so I told her the story. She really seemed to enjoy the story and she thought it was pretty cool that this horse was real.

Now I have a question for you. What was your high school mascot and is it real? Do you have a movie about yours?

Gymnastics

For the past few years Emma and her best friend Mady had been taking a dance class together. Because of their age they were limited to one type of class called Creative Movements. The class was very good for them and taught them the basics of how dance class worked but I could tell that Emma was starting to get board with it. She had also started to express some interest in other areas, mainly Cheerleading. I looked into local cheerleading classed and groups but all of them required the child to either be in kindergarten or to be six years old. Since Emma didn't qualify under either I asked her if she would like to try gymnastics. I thought her having some gymnastic skills might help more next year when she gets to do cheerleading.

So six weeks ago her and Mady started gymnastics. Emma instantly fell in love with it. After each class she would come home and show me the new things she had learned (unless she needed a piece of equipment). One of my favorite things about this gym is that it's completely open so the parents can sit in the lobby/ play area and watch their kids during class and any siblings that come along can play or watch TV.

Yesterday was the last class of the first session. They did an obstacle course that had a little bit of everything they had learned over the past six weeks. It was kind of cool to see how much she had progressed. For instance the first time Emma had to walk across the big balance beam the teacher had to hold her the entire way but last night Emma walked it backwards, sideways, and forward without any help. I really wish I was able to take pictures in the gym but they only have 3 rules for us parents to follow and the first one is no flash photography.

At the end of class all the kids were allowed to go and get the Monkey Magnet that had their name on it which had been on the wall during the classes and they were each given a report card for us parents to see. they received ratings of Satisfactory, Outstanding, and Excellent for each thing they did. Emma received all O's and E's except for the one S in the springboard jump. She never seem to get those jumps quite right, usually jumping over the entire board instead of jumping on it.

Next week starts the second session for the fall and I can't wait to see all the new things she will learn.

Emma's Birthday Party

I am very lucky to have a great friend Jenn whose husband manages a local Roller Skating Rink and he was kind enough to let us use it yesterday morning from 11 to 1 for a private birthday party for Emma. This meant it was just the people that I invited so we didn't have to worry about where the kids were and whether or not some big kid was messing with them. It also meant that us adults were able to skate and not feel like complete fools in front of people.

I must say it was kind of fun to put skates on again, even Dave joined us for a while and skated. Shortly before time to eat Tim (Jenn's husband) got the limbo pole out and we all played limbo on skates. I am totally paying for this today with a huge bruise on my hip but it was so much fun. The whole party was fun and Emma got a ton of really cool presents. So any of you that were there thank you for making Emma's birthday so special this year!

Now on to the good stuff pictures! The first four pictures were taken before we left for the party and the rest were all at the party.

Emma and her present

Emma & Ian

Emma & Daddy

Emma & Mommy

Emma, Ian, & Daddy skating

Dave & Robbie

Dave, Me, Lindsay, & Robbie

Shanna, Me, Jenn, & babies

Cousin Dominic & Aunt Pat

Emma & Andrew

Mason

Emma & Mady

Me after falling during limbo

My brother Nick winning

Cake

Blowing out the candles