HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

the small group girls minus melissa my baby girl and i!

ben squishing ronan with his fly swatter!

the kids in the small group minus the rileys. it's our fourth year going together!

my little lady bug!

the whole family. fly swatter ben!

gee gee and papaw

the kiddies! black widow, bee, and lady bug

Busiest day ever

i just have to record this day cause i'm kind of amazed i survived and my kids managed to not go crazy. so this morning ben took zander to preschool. well yesterday it was 90 so i put z in shorts and a tshirt. i then spent the morning shaving my legs and getting ready in shorts and tshirt, and jade in a tank top. then while jade was sleeping i walked outside and realized it was freezing. maybe 65...back in side for jeans. what a frustration for spending time shaving my legs. so i had to wake jade up early from her nap to change her clothes and to take zander a sweatshirt up to preschool. because if I had taken one step outside and felt how cold it was with zander i would have walked back in and got him a sweatshirt. but well, it's ben. apparently he didn't hear the chattering teeth. so off to preschool, then to my doctor's appointment. here's something you may not know about me, i LOATHE parking garages. they scare me. low ceilings, tightly parked cars, and old people driving big cars in them. grossmont is a scary dr. office parking garge. ok so after 20 minutes i got to park and realized jade had pooped. change her quick cause now i'm late. even though i left the house 45 minutes earlier! grr.... the dr. pissed me off completely. thats another story....but ordered blood work. so i quickly ran up a floor with the kids and got jade and ro their flu shot. then back to the car, feed jade, 20 minutes out, nearly hit by an old woman who can't park. off to target to get diapers cause well, i'm out of ro's and jade's. but jade falls alseep. so have to recline the stroller which means i have NO room to put the boxed diapers. grr....ronan also drops his popcorn three times in the store. stress....finally get to the car and realize its 12:50. i'm supposed to pick zander up at 1. so speeding down the high way i make it at 1:10. it takes five minutes to unload the kids and walk to the office to get zander. poor kid, sitting in the office with the other little boy who's parents are late getting him. you get that look from the teacher. blah..i wanted to stick my tongue out. so i grabbed zander and headed back to grossmont to get my bloodwork and zander's flu shot. i had to go then because they told me they only had 2 viles left of zander's age group shot and they weren't even telling people they had it. but if i brought z back up today i could get one for him. so i had to...really. ok so back up with another 20 minutes to park. i go to get jade and yes, she's pooped again. GRRRRR!!!!! by this time it's 1:30... getting close to nap time...i'm really pushing it. so i quickly load up the stroller and back in we go. first get z's shot then down for my blood drawing. finally back home and kids in bed by 3!!!!! did i mention we had small group and awana tonight? oh yea....and i had snack...i was supposed to go to woodstock pizza for dinner at five for a breast cancer fundraiser...but well, ronan and jade didn't wake up till 5:15. so i quickly fed them at home, loaded up all the snacks, then the kids, then off to woodstock to pick up a pizza to bring to small group. oh my word...i'm pooped. thank you nelson for walking the boys to their classes. i'm not sure i could have walked another step.
calgon take me away

bad husband no no!

so tonight i say to ben my darling husband...."so i hope i can still fit into my butterfly costume" (which was a little snug a month ago, and well, i haven't been eating very well). to which he replies with a full on laugh attack. WHAT?! umm...excuse me why are you laughing husband?! and he says "you can be heimleich from a bug's life, 'i'm a cute little butterfly' (<--insert german accent)".
WHAT THE HECK?! so i'm a fat, all consuming catepillar that gets wings of a butterfly but is too fat to fly?!
honey, the couch is calling your name tonight.....

swollen knees

today when i picked up jade from the nursery the workers asked me with major concern in their voices if jade's knees were swollen! oh . my. word. i almost peed my pants. i was like...umm...no, she just has fat knees. its always been that way! if you've ever seen her, well, she has quite remarkable little fatty knee deposits. its cute but well, it's not swollen! oh man, that's going to make me smile for a while.

ok first off i would just like to express that bisquits, etc. that come out of the can STRESS me out! you know the ones you have to basically pop open? i don't know why but that freakish anticipation of it popping open scares the poop out of me. ok just a side not cause i made pillsbury french bread tonight and it's everything in my power to pop it.
so jade has started army crawling and rocking up on her knees. she is just a fat chub of fun-ness right now. i'm truly enjoying her open mouth silent giggles and her snorting when she gets really tickled. she's also learned to give kisses and it is downright adorable! she gets real still and opens her mouth and leans in trying to find your cheek. it's so cute. also....here's a fun one. her antibiotic has been giving her a lot of gas. well today while she was eating she was passing a lot of gas. but the funny thing is after everyone she's pause look at me and start cracking up! she's totally in a family of boys! she thought she was stinkin' hilarious.
and my darling ronan decided to drink over a cup of children's mouthwash tonight. had to call poison control and feed him bananas. other than being a little hyper he was fine. thank goodness it was adult mouthwash. i swear i'm going to have to invest in a lot of lockboxes for my house. that child can get into EVERYTHING! food especially...he spends most of his morning taking my chairs and sliding them around the kitchen and pantry to find the food he wants. little punk!
zander is growing up so fast and it kills me! he's stuck in that transitional time between not being a toddler and not quite a school age child. he's doing good with swimming and we picked up his pottery from our date and he absolutely loved how it turned out. he absolutely loves preschool and his "playball" class that introduces them to sports. and he has master nickjr.com! that boy is incredibly gifted on the computer. it's fascinating to watch him do it. he's spelling, exploring, and learning about different animals. he's growing up on me...:(
ok let's keep our fingers crossed that they all stay healthy! somehow z has stayed healthy while ro is still on antibiotics and jade is on antibiotics for her second ear infection.

a magical moment

today has been a nightmare. when ronan is sick and on meds he's just a royal terro. it's a LONG LONG day with him. and to make things worse, jade has puss in her ear so more antibiotics for her. good times. anyways, this afternoon jade was SCREAMING and SCREAMING! i was absolutely lost and unable to soothe her. i was trying to put her to sleep but she just went balistic. i was in her room rocking her and just bawling...i knew she was uncomfortable but i did not know what else to do for her. i was just done....and in walks my holy terror ronan. ok first off, he knows not to come into jade's room when i put her to bed...so already he was doing bad...BUT, he walked up to me and laid his little head on my knee and took my hand. i started singing to jade and he sang with me. it was the most percious moment in my book of moments....he calmed me down, was sweet as could be...and little jade felll asleep to our singing. absolutely magic moment. i needed that...thank you jesus.

Two funnies

so yesterday i was driving the boys home after lunch. i looked in my review mirror and saw ronan taking his straw and sticking it into the bottom of his shoe. then....he put the straw in his mouth....and then, wait for it, wait for it...he started chewing! OH MY GOODNESS! i swear that kid is going to die of a communicable disease. ewww....
then tonight, zander yells after he's gone to bed, that he has to pee. so after he's done peeing he asks for a drink which i gave him in the bathroom. he then decided to sit down to drink...on the toliet...except he fell in. i guess he was a little dazed. poor boy.

Groupon

Groupon.com. BEST WEBSITE EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! if you live in a big city like san diego, chicago, boston, etc. this website is flippin' amazing! every single day they change the coupon for the site. and every coupon is 50-75% off of things! food, attractions, theater, everything! i've used it already for 1/2 off the aquarium, 60% off(paid $5 for $15 worth of food, bought two coupons and took another couple out to eat for $10!!) of Devine Pastabilities (fabulous pasta filled sandwhiches in s.d.), and then tonight i took zander to paint pottery and i paid $20 for $50 worth of product there! it was great! i never paint the big pieces cause they're so expensive but tonight zander got to paint a really big spider latern thingy. so anyways, i HIGHLY recommend checking out the website. i love that it changes every day. i've seen things like a purse boutique, kayaking, wine tasting, go carting...etc. love it love it love it. you know me and coupons! :) anyways, check it out!!!!
after painting pottery zander and i got ice cream and walked around together. it was a sweet little date. i love that kid.
also, ronan and jade have both come down with NEW colds. i hate this time of year. jade is still on antibiotics so i hope it doesn't get too bad. ronan has had a fever for two days and i'm taking him in tomorrow cause the fever has still not broken. yea...another week of solitude. someone shoot me. and pray z doesn't get sick...oh please don't let him get sick and have to stay home from preschooL!

Thoughts and Ramblings

i forgot to mention that my darling zander started swim lessons last saturday! he has them every saturday for the month of october. it was absolutely hilarious to watch. we have to hide in a room and watch through a tinted window....but it was funny! zander hates having his face wet and to watch the teacher pour a watering can of water on them was quite entertaining to me. the lengths i have gone through to wash his hair has been ridiculous...and here this lady thought she was going to pour water on him? zander tipped his head back and wrapped his arms around his eyes and let her know how unhappy he was. she said they were seeds that needed to be watered to grow. afterwards i asked zander what he thought about that and he said he was a seed and he died. he didn't like water on him. hahaha...my darling boy.
today after naps zander adn ronan were playing outside. i was inside feeding jade and listening to their interactions. usually there is a lot of fighting, but today was different. zander was in control and ronan was willingly submissive. i kept hearing "ronan go get me sand", "ronan bring those rocks", "ronan get me that toy", to which ronan replied everytime with "ok bubba". i think ronan loved being needed. ronan adores his brother and wants to do everything he does. but he can also be a pill when he wants zander's toy! :) thats when he pulls out his punches and slaps and makes zander submit. i know they will grow up being the best of friends...eventually.
now that the colds are done, things have gotten much better! the kids are more fun and less whiny. and we've had some great days together. jade is just adorable lately too. she's hilarious when she laughs and giggles. i just want to eat her up all the time. she loves swinging outside with her brothers and just laughs at their antics. she is balding in a weird way and i swear she's getting auburn hair. she has this mohawk strip down the middle that is really long hair and i kind of wrap around the front. i don't want to cut it cause i love giving her piggy tails and her top knot. it's just that she needs to wear them everyday or she looks like a little grumpy old man! :)
btw i love having my husband home on weekends this year. it's fabulous! all the fall festivities he's able to attend this time and the kids are loving that. next weekend we're doing the trick or treating at seaworld. zander absolutely loves that. his two favorite things, trick or treating and shamu.
well i guess thats it for now.

Omas Pumpkin Patch

For the fourth time our small group headed off to the pumpkin patch. its a tradition every year and we love doing it. although i swear next time we're going to do the parking lot one. :) here are just a few pictures of our time.