Happy Fall, Y'all!

My pictures are a funny color and fuzzy because I took them on my camera, but you get the gist of it! Happy Fall, Y'all!



This video is of Noah working on his pumpkin - watch his mouth, it's priceless!

May the Force Be With You!

Alright, so it took a while, but here are some pictures of Noah's birthday party. We had Wookie Cookies, Yoda Soda, Princess Leia Cinnamon Rolls, Padawan Pizza, Han Solo Hot Dogs, etc......






The kids went through an obstacle course that required them to carry someone on their backs (like Yoda), fight Clone Troopers with light sabers made out of pool noodles, and then finally they fought with Darth Vader. Sadly, the only cape we could find was lined in red - but the kids didn't care when they defeated Vader (Carl).





The gangs all here! By the time we invite all of the cousins, and a handful of friends (along with their siblings) it's quite the group of people!


I'm so proud of R2D2! We bought a Mummy piñata, and fixed it up to look like R2. Sadly, the only picture is after he'd been knocked around for a while.


Overall, it was a great time. We had so much fun! I think the kids favorite part was having light saber duels in the dark with their glow bracelets and necklaces.

This is my 4th Star Wars party, and I'm pretty sure that I good for a while. May the Force Be With You.

For a long, long time........

Miracles

I'm so sorry that I didn't blog yesterday. Thank you so much for praying for Z. He made it through the surgery and is doing amazing. Keep praying!

My hubby came home today. He's been bow hunting mule deer in New Mexico for the last 8 days. I'm so glad he's home!

Tomorrow I will have Pumpkin Parade pictures!

Many prayers

One of Nathanael's best friends, Zackary, is having surgery tomorrow. He has 3 brain aneurysms, and it is a very, very serious procedure that will last the majority of the day. Quite frankly, we are all a little more scared this time around than we ever have been. Every day with him is a miracle. He wasn't supposed to live to his 8th birthday, and he just turned 11. Please, please keep him, his family and the surgeons in your prayers. And pray for a miracle. We are.

Certain Things

There are certain things that I don't understand.

I don't understand why, after an in-depth conversation explaining WHY my kids should be nice to each other, that they then start screaming, "But they MADE me mad on purpose!"

I don't understand what happens between my room and their dresser that makes the clean clothes/towels fall onto the floor and then stay there.

I don't understand why Noah - when told to take a bath - would lean into the bathtub and wash his hair without washing his body. Or even stepping into the actual bathtub.

I don't understand how "Get your clothes out for tomorrow" can be interpreted "Please go upstairs and watch TV until I've called you 5 times to come down for dinner."

I don't understand why all three of my children run for their lives when I ask them to clear the table after dinner.

And I really, really don't understand why my children - when told that they can watch the end of Transformers only if they go to bed quickly when it is over - will then fight to the death because their door isn't opened to the 'right' place.

For those of you wondering, Carlye has torn muscles in her back, and her ribs are fine. We are so thankful!

I'm going to bed.

Oh, and 1 more thing. I don't understand why Noah will sleep until I go and close their door and THEN he gets up and walks around in his sleep. It doesn't matter if I close his door at 8 o'clock or 10 o'clock or 1 o'clock. It also doesn't seem to matter if he's in a deep sleep or a shallow sleep - he just always, ALWAYS, get's up.

Once Upon A Time

There was a season premiere of a great TV show tonight. I LOVED it! It's called Once Upon A Time, and it has a fairy tale basis. Love it! You really should check it out. Seriously, so great!

My birthday weekend is almost over, and it has been such a wonderful time. My munchkins gave me a pair of Tinker Bell Socks (from Carlye), a Tweety Bird necklace (from Nathanael) and a super cute Tumbler (from Noah). I also got some other really amazing gifts from family and friends.

On a Pinterest note, I totally tried the sock bun curls, and it really, really works! I had great curls in the morning and they stayed all day long. Such a great, easy way to curl your hair.

Carlye is still hurting, Nathanael's head is aching and he's having chest pains, and Noah can't figure out what's wrong with everyone! Such a crazy, crazy weekend.

Hide and Seek in the Dark

Okay, I tried to blog about several different parties, but none of the pictures will upload and I don't want to tell you about them without the pictures, sooooo.........

It's been a fun birthday weekend. Yesterday I went to lunch with my friends, and then today there was a birthday party at my friend Kristen's house. We carved pumpkins and had so much fun. I have great pictures, but again - not working. Carlye made the puking pumpkin - and it was really gross, I have to say. Sadly, during the party the kids were playing "ghost in the dark" (hide and seek in the dark) and Carlye fell and got hurt. She's been complaining about her back hurting her for the last few days, and after this she was really in a lot of pain. Right now I gave her some Motrin and I've got her asleep with a heating pad and pillows surrounding her, hopefully she'll feel better in the morning.

The kids and I are making our way back through the entire Star Wars Saga. We are on the 6th one, and it really is one of my very favorites. It's Carlye's because she likes the Ewoks, Noah's because of the big battle, and Nathanael's favorite is #4. Can I say how thankful I am that they didn't choose 1-3? That would have truly been tragic. Seriously, a tragedy.

Quite the day

Today has been quite the day! It's been a nice, crazy birthday! I have a lot to say, but I'm so tired it will have to wait until tomorrow!

Today

Today was a sad day. Our little Noah made a mistake and the consequences were hard. Every Mon and Wed Nathanael, and on Tues and Thurs Noah, participate in the marathon club at their school. For every lap they run they get their card marked. 6 laps is a mile, and they receive awards when they reach a half marathon and a full marathon. At the end of the year there are trophies, and it's a pretty big deal. Well, when Noah was marking the cards for the big kids on Wed he gave them extra marks to be nice, even of they hadn't run the lap. Nathanael confronted Noah about it and Carl and I overheard.

After a severe talking to about the importance of honesty and the fact that what he did was a lie, Noah was in tears. This morning Carl and I brought a sobbing little 7 yr old to confess to his Coach. She was disappointed, but seeing how repentant he was made her cry, too. He can't mark cards anymore and has to regain everyone's trust, which he said he will try hard to do. The horrible part is that all of the other boys are in trouble for cheating, too. The consequences of this lie are hard and far reaching. Lots of the big boys are upset with Noah, and they are mad that he 'got got them in trouble.'. On Monday Noah has to point out all of the boys that he marked to the Coach so they can be disciplined.

It's been a hard lesson, but a good one. Bad choices have consequences, and even when you say you are sorry the consequences don't go away. He was still crying when I picked him up from school.

So, today Noah learned a very important life lesson. One that will stay with him for the rest of his life. One that I have no doubt he will always remember.

And Mommy learned how very hard it is to watch while life lessons are learned.

He's 7!

Well, Noah is now 7 years old! I haven't blogged about his crazy awesome birthday yet because I'm waiting to get the pictures from Jodi, but then I promise you that I will fill you in on all of the wonderful Star Wars details. Meanwhile, here are some pics of the birthday boy passing out cupcakes at school for his birthday. He and I are both wearing Star Wars shirts - I know, we're awesome!






To make up for not blogging in a while I will now blog every day until the New Year. I may not have a lot to say, but I can tell you that (unless my computer breaks again) you will hear - or see - a little something from me every day.

May the Force Be With You.

Pinterest Proud

Okay, I actually wrote this blog BEFORE I read my sisters from yesterday, but it looks to me like great minds think alike. Apparently Heidi and I are inspired by the same things.

I LOVE Pinterest (as I've mentioned before), and this week I have been able to make several of my pins. I turned some old frames that I had in the closet into a dry-erase chore chart for the kids and a dinner menu for me in the kitchen. I've also cooked several of the meals that I've found (coconut shrimp, breakfast crockpot casserole, caprese salad...), and what a great place to get gluten free lunch ideas! Noah's birthday party has come straight off of my Star Wars inspiration boards, and I've scavenged together some of the supplies that I need for a few other projects I want to try. I feel as though I've actually been productive! What a great week!

I had to take an online defensive driving class today. I wasn't finished when the kiddos came home from school, and they all came in to talk to me. While I was taking the class Noah came in several times to check on me. Before he left the last time he said "Mom, you are just so good at that. I'm proud of you."

Good to know.

Jackets don't have to be washed every day!

I have my computer back - it's been in the 'hospital' for the last two weeks. It's much harder to blog off of my iPad or Carl's computer, so I'm glad that Lucy has returned!

After doing laundry this weekend I noticed several things. First of all, there are more clean clothes in the laundry than there ever should be. Of course, since there should NEVER be clean clothes in the laundry that may go without saying. Secondly, I am not of the opinion that coats or jackets should be washed every time they are worn. Seriously, I washed 4 (F-O-U-R) of Nathanael's jackets this week. And two of them he just wore around the house!

In other news, we have been gluten free in our house for 2 months now, and I think we're doing pretty good! You can make almost ANYTHING gluten free, and we are so blessed to have HEB because they even have a gluten free aisle. Only downside is that quite a few things that are gluten free have MSG, and MSG causes migraines, so we are still figuring things out. However, for the most part, we are doing GREAT! And, can I just say, Gluten Free Bisquick is breakfast magic. Seriously, I'm in love. Overall we've done really well, but there are the occasional tummy aches when I haven't checked a label thoroughly. I mean, who knew that soy sauce had gluten in it. Okay, maybe you did, but I sure didn't!

In Noah news - He found an iTunes card today (in my computer bag, so I don't know if that's considered 'finding') and asked if he could have it to buy some games for my iPad. I told him no, that it was mine so I could buy some new books. He held it next to his ear and shook it and said, "But there's still money in it!"

I never knew you could hear the money in iTunes cards. You learn something new every day.