I've got several things to share.

Our week, starting with Wednesday had some exciting things planned. A birthday get together for a 10 year old on Wednesday, Hope's very first field trip on Thursday, and me heading out of town for some BFF time on Friday. Shaping up to sounds like a fun week, right?

Let's start on Wednesday. After Jazzercise, Liz and I took Hope and Lily Grace to Jackson's Orchard. Really cute place!

Reminded me a lot of Huber's, minus a restaurant.

After a rough start (Hope punching Lily) these two have become really good buddies.

The whole reason for this get together was to celebrate Liz's 10th 27th birthday.

Of course the girls benefited from this child's party.

And so did I!! Tried my first ever apple cider slushy!
And ate my first caramel apple of the season. Can anyone say, 10 pound holiday weight gain? I particularly like Liz's horrified face. Is she impressed at my big mouth or disgusted?
Liz is a blogger too, only she does it for a news station and actually gets paid for it! Thanks Liz for showing me Jackson's Orchard, and a fun day!!

Wednesday night I tucked the kids in bed, and Hope and I were pretty darn excited about the field trip on Thursday!

Insert 2 a.m.

I hear a cough in my dream, and then I hear "mom, my stomach hurts" dream quickly turns to reality, and I'm yelling, "run to the bathroom!!" I followed the shadow in the bathroom and turned on the light, and there was puke every.where. Pierce had thrown up on the floor, the walls, the sink, his self, BLECH. Poor little guy. This began an all night experience of getting sick off and on. Of course I felt awful for him, but I also kept thinking about how upset Hope was going to be when I had to tell her she wouldn't be able to go on her field trip.

Insert super Paul.

He originally said he wouldn't be able to take Hope, it was an office day, and he had a doctor's appointment, it just wouldn't work out. :( Phone rings at 7:30 a.m., Paul says "have Hope ready by 9, I'm going to take her." SUPER DADDY TO THE RESCUE!!!

Me and sickie have hung out all morning long, and thankfully he hasn't been sick since about 6 this morning.
In the meantime, Paul was filling my role. I was bummed I couldn't go, but not near as bummed if I would have had to tell Hope she didn't get to go!

I get a text from Paul, "there are 20 women here and 3 dudes." HA!!! I know he just loved that.
I asked Hope when she got home, what did they do with the cow? "They milked their thingies."
Uh, cute.
She also said, her favorite thing was spending time with Mya.
Paul said they saw each other from across the field and ran to each other like a movie.

So thankful that Paul took Hope today!! :)))
And now we wait. Will Paul, Hope or I get the pukes? Will I get to go spend time with my BFF this weekend? Stay tuned.....

It's finally here!!!!

The bestest time of year is FINALLY here. Fall is my favorite season hands down, and in my opinion months September through December are the BEST.

Friday was the first official day of Fall, and Pierce's school had a big ol' fall festival. Maybe not my idea of a fun fall festival, but it was for the kids.

As soon as Hope laid eyes on this, she knew this was the best.festival.ever.

A new interesting thing happened that night. Pierce spent most of his time, looking for his friends. Mom, Dad and Hope weren't quite enough, he wanted to walk around "and see my friends." It was quite weird. Funny thing though, he would see someone he knew, run up to them, tap them on the shoulder and then they would just look at each other and say hi. I guess first graders aren't quite sure what to do after that. However, as I looked around I saw groups of fourth graders huddled together, and thought, it wont be too many more years, and instead of just wanting to find his friends, he'll want to hang with his friends. That's just ludicrous.

Between saying "hi" to his peeps, he managed to have some fun with his old mom and dad.

How many toss games can a festival have?
Lots apparently.


What else made this festival great? Pony rides!! Technically Hope landed a mule, but I wasn't going to dash her dreams, and say it's a mule. She loved the idea of riding a pony!!
And without a doubt, nail painting made this festival RAWK.
Before the night was over, the kids consumed 89762 pounds of sugar, and then we had to have popcorn to top it off. Seriously, this picture makes me laugh.
After we got home from the festival and put the kids to bed, Paul decided we would have a 'date.' Look at our ghetto spread here. Wheat Thins, shrimp cocktail, beef jerky, and diet coke.
We watched some yawntastic show, so I was busy annoying Paul by taking an insane amount of pictures. He even made me put down my phone. He's a meanie. Good thing I wuvs him.
Saturday I had the idea of taking the kids to the park for a cookout. Have I told you all that we are camping in October? This was sorta like a warm up for me.
Kids loved to run free...

And I was a real pioneer woman. I sliced a tomato and put lettuce on a plate. It was brutal.
Paul grilled up some yummy burgers and dogs for us. :)
Oh, and then he thought it would be a good idea to show Pierce how to use a knife on a stick.
Sounds like a recipe for a disaster to me, but he did great.
I asked Paul to take a picture of us before we ate. I thought it turned out good, but he said, he had to take it from the other direction. What for?
So you could see the Barren River Fire Dept patch on my jacket. Silly man!
After we ate lunch we took the kids to play some more.

Have I mentioned how cute I think she is? Oh, I have? Gretchen, majoring in obnoxious since 2004.
Even cute when she pouts because the boys are playing football.
Fall and football just go together!

Like Paul and the Patriots, or me and hoop earrings. And that's what we are doing today, playing more football outside and trying to catch most of the games.

Happy Fall Ya'll!!!

School Updates.

First up is Pierce.

He is doing GREAT in school, and lately he has taken off. For instance when he gets home from school, literally the minute he walks through the door, he asks to do his math homework, "mom, I love math!!" Considering how much I hate math, and no joke have been stumped a couple times on his math (yes I am that bad at math) this makes me very happy. :) His reading is improving by leaps and bounds as well.

He comes home weekly with prizes for his good behavior. Those pens around his neck are all things he's picked out, this doesn't include the pencils, and candy. Can anyone see my chest puffed up?

Hope.

Today, she had show and tell at school. This is the book that went along with the one item she wanted to bring.
She's obsessed with this little monkey here, and just HAD to show the class. :)
Hope is doing well with her letters and numbers, and always remains in the "green zone" at school for her good behavior. She LOVES school, and I pray that she always feels so passionate about it!

Here's a little thing I struggle with though. You know I am proud as a peacock over my children, and I want them to know that, but sometimes I worry that they will think I love them based on their performance. I don't want them to feel that way. I always want them to know I love them just for being them. What's the balance?

Muffins for Moms.

Muffins for Moms.

Donuts for Dads.

Cute little ideas that the school does in accordance with book fair. They get us in there, get us drunk on sugar, and make sure our cute kids are there asking us to buy them 234 books. It's genius!!

This time it was a spaced themed book fair. Pretty cute.

I asked Pierce, "who is this?" and he had no clue. He also doesn't know what a cassette tape is, or a VCR, or who Bon Jovi is. It's time he has some very important 80's lessons from his mother.
BUT, Star Wars was way before his time, and he already knows more about it than I do!
Star Wars is a very big topic at our house, and even more right now, since Halloween is right around the corner. Big debates between mom/dad/and Pierce, almost nightly.
Cuteness I say!!!

And this my friends is what momma bought. Like I said, drunk on sugary muffins, why else would I buy my son a Navy Seal book? I tried to talk him into a book on origami or something, but tough dudes always win out. And thankfully I still win out too.