TRICK OR TREAT!!!!

Happy Halloween! halloween is always stressful. getting everyone in costumes and out the door is a pain in the butt! somehow we managed to do it though. this year we were characters from "finding nemo". Ben sewed our costumes of Bruce and Dory. Zander was crush and Ronan was nemo. they were so cute but i am so impressed by ben's sewing and the costumes he came up with. he didn't even use a pattern!
the boys loved trick or treating and ronan literally would bounce up and down after getting candy. he was so cute! he did have to grab the candy himself and then put it into the basket. if the person tried to put it in the basket for him, he'd stand there thinking he didn't get any. zander got scared a few times but loved getting candy too.
GeeGee went with us this year too and the boys loved having her there. And as usual we went with our small group which proved to be chaotic with so many kids, adults, and strollers! but fun was had by all!
so here's the pics!
Me at 20 weeks!

pumpkin carving fun or not.....

so today my mom came over to carve pumpkins with the boys since zander has been begging to do it for weeks. but because it's so hot here we had to wait so that it wouldn't rot. so we go out side and my mom and i start by taking the top off and tell zander to help us by pulling out the insides. he completely refuses. then he sits down and says "i'm relaxing". and a few minutes later he says, "this is too much work, it's taking too much time!" little punk. so my mom and i did all the carving while the boys played in the sprinkler. well sort of...ronan played in the sprinkler while zander screamed if he got too wet. ronan ended up in the mud and got it all over his face and his arms and just covered. cute, but yest another bath that day. but hey it was the experience of carving right?
now tonight ben is having a guy's night with the guys from our small group. so two of the other moms and their kids came over tonight and we just hung out so we didn't have to be alone with the kids again. so now they're gone and here i sit. i should be doing something, but i'm not.
tomorrow is the "boo parade" down the street so zander is excited about that. ok that's all for now.

trips and cuts

so on monday we decided to go to julian, ca to see the apple orchards and experience a little bit of fall. we've heard great things about it so off we went. ben googled directions and ended up taking us the LONGEST way possible there. 1 hr 45 minutes. we just kept laughing the whole time cause it was ridiculous! we finally got there and went to king leo's, a candy store. as we stepped out of the car, the wind sent us flying! it was so cold!!!! so we quickly ran in, bought some candy and ran bck out. still dumb....then we finally made it to the 'town'...umm...i swear it was hickory corners. ben's like we drove two hours for this?! it's famous for the apple pies (which actually are flown in from wa!) and we didn't even get apple pie. we ate at the 'deli' and filled ourselves with tostidos, burritos, and corndogs. yes, we're cheap. then the kids rode horses which they both loved. then finally we headed to the apple orchard to pick our own apples. ok, first off, it's $10 a bag to pick your own apples....and ronan fell asleep in the car so he was out and we're parading up and down the orchard. ok the other part, is that the apples are the size of peanuts. peanuts i tell you!!!! again ben and i have to laugh cause it's just a sad, weird trip. so we head home and i was trying to find all the pictures that i took on the camera. apparently i accidentally reformatted the card...deleting everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so what little redemption there was from this trip, my precious pictures, are GONE!!!!!!! i was really ready to cry. then i started getting sick...not pregnancy sick, but food poisoning sick...i was the only one who ate the burrito....so about 30 minutes into the trip home (which only took an hour after we figured it out) on the curvey road from hell, i made ben pull over and puke my brains out. yup, that was nice. all in a wind storm too so it was flying all over and my gum ended up in my hair!
oh what a good trip....ahh julian, you are a waste of my time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
then tuesday i had my 'irregular mole' cut out of my thigh. and oh that was joyous. big deep bullet hole looking cut. and it won't stop bleeding. well it sure is fun times over here in the annen household!!!!!!!!!!

Bates Nut Farm

Today our small group went to bates nut farm to experience the fall pumpkin fun. except none of our husbands could come except joe. (poor joe) but it was fun and pretty chilly. so it was nice to feel like it was fallish. the boys loved it and ronan loved the hay! he threw it everywhere. so here's some pictures. Check out facebook for the rest of the pictures.

a few pics.

the last two days my hubby and i had the priveledge of playing worship with some of our church worship team for the dallas willard seminars at bethel seminary. dallas willard is a college hero of mine. he is a major theologian of our time and amazingly brilliant. he is an amazing author (diving conspiracy, renovation of the heart, the spirit of the disciplines, etc) and even better speaker. i was truly in awe and felt that i was sitting in the presence of greatness. ben likes to make fun of me for this, but i think as a society we've lost the awe and appreciation of these higher minds. to have the opportunity to sit and listen is just amazing. i'm so blessed. i got his autograph on one of my books also. and his only granddaughter is named "larissa". :)

anyways, here's a pic of zander's little cast and my weird belly.

17 weeks.

100th post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO ME!

so today zander got his cast off and he's walking around like a wierdo. he holds his hand up and his wrist is bent backwards like he's afraid to move his wrist. poor kid. and boy did it SMELL when they took it off! DISGUSTING! i almost threw up on the tech! and his thumb nail was super long too! it was funny. i'll post pics soon of his little casted arm which i finally took today. also, we got jade's bedding for her room off of ebay! i saw it and fell in love!!! it's used and was custom made for a lady for her little girl, but it's SOOO me.....

Second Ultrasound

we had the second ultrasound today and it confirms that we indeed are having a little

GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seaworld Trick-or-treating

This last saturday we went trick or treating with the Rileys at Seaworld. Of course the kids loved dressing up! zander insisted on being his dino costume instead of his sea turtle, but i wasn't going to fight it. ronan was fascinated by people giving him candy while he held out his bag. he was nemo by the way. so here's some pics!

By the way tomorrow is my confirmation ultrasound! so fingers crossed it's still a girl! :)

heat wave

i'm over it. this is the third day of being over 95. oh and it's dry heat....so it's not that HOT right? WRONG! you people are full of it. it's hot. very hot.