Thursday, October 31, 2013

Happy Halloween!

This morning, we went to hang out with our friends, the Bass Family!




Today, Eric dressed up for work (not sure why Trick-or-Treating was yesterday and work dress up day was today...) and I dressed up to kiss him when he came home :)
Loving the homemade costumes!
I'm glad Precoa did Trick-or-Treating because poor Aaron got a fever... No going out tonight.
Audrey felt fine though!
 Maybe next year. 
Happy Halloween!

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Precoa Trick-or-Treating

For Halloween, Precoa had Trick-or-Treating at work today.
I snapped a few pictures of my cute kiddos before we left.


  Luke Skywalker and an Ewok
I snapped some pictures at Precoa that are grainy from not having natural light...
but grainy memories are still memories!


















All the Precoa Cousins! 

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Fall Festivities

This weekend was full of fall festivities! I absolutely love fall - it is Eric's and my favorite season. His because he gets to have hot chocolate and mine for the fashion of scarves and boots and gloves and sweaters and hats ... :) Plus, it is GORGEOUS!

Friday night, we carved pumpkins! We gave Aaron a permanent marker to color his instead of a knife... He kept saying he was coloring Hercules (for those who have seen the Disney movie, he was reenacting the part where the painter is painting Hercules on a vase... He kept saying "Aaaiiiyyyeee!" Haha!)
Eric and I both used the drill for ours


 What fun we had! 
Eric did the Zerg icon and I did the letter H.
Aaron keeps wanting to color his more so it has become an inside decoration :)

 Saturday night, we had a Halloween party! 
I went a little crazy with food ... pumpkin cookies, pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin seeds, broom sticks made from string cheese and pretzels, and butterbeer from Harry Potter! It tasted amazing!
Here we are in our costumes - can you guess who we are?
Han, Luke, Leia, and an Ewok!

I have never thrown a Halloween party before, but when I was 11, my Dad asked my Mom (for his birthday present) if he could throw me a Halloween party, so I pulled from that! We played the flour game just like we did at my party when I was little and it was a huge hit :)










To play this game, you pack flour tightly in a cup and then turn it upsidedown on the table. You place a kiss on top and take turns shaving down the flour. Whoever knocks the kiss off has to go in with their mouth to get it! Aaron and Lily had fun playing with their own pile of flour ... Aaron particularly enjoyed dunking his face in the flour like everyone who had to dig out a kiss. 












Some people also played Magic. It was only four player so a couple of us just watched and played with the kiddos. Here are all the bearded guests (all of the men that attended have beards)




We had a photo booth for those who came in costume and lots of props for those who didn't but the photo booth didn't really take off ... the kids had fun playing with the hats but that was about it... Until it got late and people got a bit tired ... then things like this happened :)
Aaron and Lily had fun together. They literally played footsies under the counter. 










We ended the night playing Monoco - such a fun game!
Today we turned on the fire. It is cozy!










Sometimes, Aaron is too much fun and Audrey is too much fun and we have a hard time finding the will to put them to sleep ... so tonight, we warmed up some butterbeer, grabbed some cookies, moved the couch close to the fire, and turned on The Chronicles of Narnia. Aaron loved seeing Aslan!

Happy Fall!

Friday, October 25, 2013

Tender Mercies

We have all had those days ... the day where everything we try seems to go wrong ... So much is on your to-do list and though you accomplish lots, a ton is left undone. Every trick you try to make your children smile seems wasted... And yet, if you look close, small moments will creep in that show you that your efforts are worth it and the Lord loves you...

Today was one of those days for me - but I got a moment with each member of my family that made it all worth it.


The moment with Aaron was quite tender. I was in the kitchen cleaning up when he races in from outside saying, "Mama! I got a flower for you!" I looked over and noticed he had brought me a leaf :) I told him that was so sweet, but it is, in fact, a leaf. His response was priceless, "Oh ... Mama! I got a leaf for you!" I love that cute little guy who is so caring!


My moment with Audrey was equally tender. We have struggled with breastfeeding lately. Ever since she started teething, Audrey would lay open mouthed screaming rather than sucking ... or, recently, she has started placing 2 hands on my chest and pushing me away or arching her back to get her head away from me... I don't know why she has done this (given that she started it after a week of no bottles, just me), but it has caused me to start drying up. I had come to terms with this but felt a bit guilty ...
Today, I was slightly engorged. She hasn't taken me for 2 days ... I thought about pumping, but didn't want to produce a demand when there isn't one (it simply isn't feasible to continue pumping for her to eat ... ) so I opted to take a shower. Aaron chose today to refuse to stay out of Audrey's crib and thus Audrey wasn't napping ... so I took her in the shower with me. She was so snuggly, cuddly, and sweet. And then, I had a thought. I laid her against me and she started eating. She ate a ton! As she ate, she looked up at me and finally ... finally I experienced that bond that mother's talk about ... the bond created through breastfeeding. I never had it with Aaron and up to now, I had never had it with Audrey. I felt a connection bottle feeding as I watch them, but never while breastfeeding. Tears flowed freely as I realized this might be one of the last times she feeds from me, but I am so grateful to have had this experience, even if that is the case. It has all been worth it!

And then in the evening, I had a moment with Eric. Audrey, teething, was distraught and refused to be calmed and Aaron, supposed to be eating dinner, was running around screaming because Audrey was screaming... I felt overwhelmed and useless. Then Eric came home. He saw me, he saw the children, and he walked right up to me, took me in his arms, and whispered, "You are an amazing mom and an amazing wife. You do so much for all of us and we are so grateful." How does he always know exactly what I need to hear?

I know each member of my family was touched and prompted to give me exactly what I needed - to give me the courage to keep going through my day.