Wait, back up…

Did I SERIOUSLY forget to post about finding pumpkin???  I know I caused quite a stir on facebook with my pumpkin triumph, but I can’t believe I forgot to share on here.  Yes, I am dedicating a post entirely to Libby’s canned pumpkin because I am THAT much of a nerd.  It’s this kind of behavior that elicits the “Oh Kristy…” sighs from my fashionista NYC-girl-at-heart sister, as she fears that the next step in my life will be donning mom jeans and going for the minivan after all.  Hey, I’ve still got it together in SOME areas.  But I do love me some pumpkin.  😉

So, I found pumpkin at Wal-Mart a few weeks ago and it seriously. made. my. night.  Heck, it made my whole holiday season and probably my year.  I bought out their entire shelf and picked the most bored , “I-don’t-care-about-my-job” looking cashier to check out with, in fear that she was going to halt my purchase as a violation of pumpkin purchasing restriction laws.  (Hey, they had them last year, lol!)  I was later disappointed to hear that EVERYONE can find pumpkin now…I really thought I had scored.  Anyway, those suckers don’t expire until 2013, so I’m good.  Yay for canned vegetables!!  lol

To prove that I will include something about my children in this post, I’ll share some pics of the hot item in our house right now and the source of many fights.  The other day as we went outside for the umpteenth time to play before Mark got home, I checked the mail and plopped on my lounge chair, only to find the SWEETEST piece of mail a child can receive (well, besides presents or money of course)…yep, the Toys ‘R Us catalog.  Oh yeah, baby…

Poor Kallie.  Naked again.  Sigh…I just…it’s so much easier with your messy child to just leave them naked, isn’t it?  And it’s cheaper than buying new clothes.  Why fight it?  Because then you have years of topless pictures to look back on, that’s why.  Ugh.  I love how Makenna is practicing her mom’s famous beaver teeth too!!

Ok, when she smiles I don’t even notice she’s naked.  🙂

The buzz around our house is…

I’m late getting this up….it’s actually 14 days now.  Lord, help me.  Our annual push-it-to-the-max, do-it-all-or-die-trying Disney trip is just 2 short weeks away and I am so not prepared it isn’t even funny.  Normally I live in a fuzzy bubble for probably about 2 months prior to these trips and have my 14 gazillion lists tacked out in a neat row on my kitchen counter, but this year it has been the furthest thing from our minds with everything that has happened over the past several months.  This year we will be gone over Kallie’s 2nd birthday and we come home the day before halloween, so I need to figure out 2 costumes (for halloween and for trick or treating at Magic Kingdom (eeek, fun!!), a small birthday party for Kallie immediately following our return home, and some other fun household and taxes issues that need to be addressed before we leave.  Not to mention that packing OUR family for 8 days in Disney World is like moving a regular family’s entire household to South Africa for a year or so.  😉  I’ve begun pondering that maybe this will be the year I let it all go and we fly by the seat of our pants….but then I remember that “winging it” in Disney World translates to easily spending 3 months’ salary just to eat every day.  And then I’m back to my lists again….haha.

With all of that being said, we have to make this year a good one, because I have conceded that next year will be a different kind of vacation (per Mark’s request)…something along the lines of a relaxing week in a cabin somewhere.  When Mark visualizes that scene, he pictures fishing, boating, laying on a hammock, and bonfires at night.  I picture preparing three meals a day (and 14 snacks for my high-maintenance children) and still having to clean a house.  But I’ll go with it.  😉

We Heart You, Fall

Ahhhhh.  Fall has arrived for us, and not a moment too soon.  Everyone knows this is the time of year when Mommy gets really happy.  🙂  So in celebration of its arrival, I fall-ified our house, dug out the winter clothes and bundled the girls up…

Ok, so it’s not that cold.  The high yesterday was 86.  But earlier in the week it got down in the 50’s!  Woohoo!!!!

We’ve actually had quite a bit going on lately, so for once I have lots to report!  First and most importantly, Mark’s sister Sarah is doing AMAZINGLY well while being treated at a specialized facility in Louisiana for her condition.  She was admitted two weeks ago and is building her strength back up for surgery, which will be scheduled soon.  Thank you SO much to everyone who has been sending us your thoughts and prayers during this very stressful time.  There is finally a light at the end of the tunnel, and as strong as the family was before all of this, I know it will be a million times stronger after.  It’s so hard to understand WHY when you’re in the midst of situations like these, but when you can clearly see how a trial is bringing everyone closer…well, it doesn’t make it much easier but it certainly helps.

Mark spent the last 2 weekends in LA with some of the family, so us girls have been doing our best to stay busy around here.  As I said, the weather has been BE.AU.TI.FUL, so we’ve been outside as much as possible.  Last week we had a fun playdate at the park with Lily, which we’re hoping to do a lot more before it gets cold.

Kallie is just…I don’t know what the word is, blossoming?  She’s the sweetest little KID now.  Her baby-ness is falling away more and more each day as she is forming short sentences and wearing clips in her hair and showing preferences for her wardrobe and shoes.  I’m officially not “Mama” anymore, I’m “Mommy”.  She finishes Makenna’s memory verses and the pledge of allegiance with a loud “AMEN!”.  I am in LOVE with this child!!

Keeping the hammock warm while Papa is gone:

The VERY biggest news we have at our house is that Makenna has taken a major leap toward big-kid-ness.  It came out of nowhere on a whim one day and before we knew it, we had…….

DRUMROLL PLEASE…..

A TWO-WHEELER RIDER!!!  🙂

Let me tell you, this girl is infinitely more coordinated than her mama.  Mark took off her training wheels one day and she was OFF.  She was yelling behind her, “Daddy, this is SO easy!!”  I love it.  🙂  The next day she was taking off without the tippy-toe start, and now….well, the rest is history.

She has even survived two wipe-outs with no tears!

AND, Makenna’s other big news is that she is officially a uniformed Sparky!  It only took 6 weeks for them to get the vests and books in, so after that loooong wait for a 5-year-old, she is stoked.  She wants to show everyone, and can be found throughout the day studying her book (I can hear her in the other room right now teaching Kallie what “SPARKS” stands for) and going over all the jewels she will earn as the year goes on.  She just thrives on being a part of something and having goals to achieve and so on.  It makes me so proud.  🙂

On my end, I’ve been keeping busy with my new hobby, making party decorations and packages to sell on Etsy.  You guys MAY have noticed a slight obsessiveness in years past when it comes to birthday parties and wedding showers I have thrown.  😉  Well, I needed a creative outlet and I certainly found it.  This is a classic example of my all-or-nothing personality, because in my world, “finding my outlet” means not sleeping and spending every waking moment working on the ideas bouncing around in my head like crazy.  I’m driving myself a little nuts, but once I get all my ideas out and created (or “birthed”, as I always say to Mark, haha), I think I’ll settle down a bit … anyway, I have a LOT more work to do on my shop, but I feel ready to share it with those who love me and will give me some slack where I still need to make improvements.  😉

http://www.etsy.com/shop/kristee65

And to round out the family, I would love to brag on and on about Mark and the great places their business is going, but he’s weird about that kind of stuff.  I can say that he and Matt are working hard, around the clock, and the long-awaited results are finally starting to show themselves.  I’ll even go so far as to say that agencies all over the state are busting their butts to figure out their secret.  I’m so proud of my revolutionary hubs.  😉  The nights and weekends of being a “laptop widow” are paying off, haha.  I say that with all humbleness and thankfulness for where we are today, because it has been a loooooong road getting here.  I just thought it was time to give a little blurb to the hard-working guy behind the scenes who makes it possible for the girls and I to enjoy the very blessed life that we do.

Happy Fall everyone!!