Deal of the Century

We were at Goodwill yesterday looking for a few desk organizer type things for Shawn's desk here at the house. We browsed through the furniture section to see if they had a desk that might work better than Shawn's current home office desk, which happens to be our kitchen table we got when we got married. Anyway, we stumbled upon an old dirty looking denim over sized chair that looks EXACTLY like our couches....we could not find any differences at all...like exactly! Okay, there were a few discrepancies, but only Shawn and I could tell, and no one else would be able to. Anyway my eyes immediately got huge and I started hyperventilating because I checked the tag and it was TWENTY BUCKS!!! Yes, really! Now Shawn wasn't totally sold on it. Although it was in great and I mean GREAT condition, it was dirty and had lots of pet hair on it....Shawn really really really can't stand pet hair. But, I told him I was sure it would look great once we got it home and washed the covers....so I convinced him!!! He was taking a big leap of faith because as I said, he has a thing about Goodwill (I personally LOVE IT!) As long as it can be washed with soap and hot water, I'm fine with it! So, we brought it home and crossed our fingers as we took off the slip covers, hoping not to find crazy scary stains underneath...and we were lucky! It looks perfect under the slipcover. Somehow we just really really really lucked out in stumbling upon it. I washed the slipcovers and it looks AS GOOD IF NOT BETTER than our couches!!! I can not even begin to tell you how thrilled I am that we got this piece for $20!!! I am in love with it and imagine many years of snuggling in this chair for years to come :)

Boo Bash and Thirty Five!

Last night, a group of us got together to celebrate Shawn's birthday as well as go trick or treating on the square here in town. We ate at Dos Salsas, Shawn's favorite restaurant here in town. Then we walked the whole square with 26 people--14 of those were kiddos! Afterwards, we headed back to the house for cupcakes, an icecream bar, and lots of laughing. What a great night!

So here's the lineup..and I hope to have a better picture on Halloween night. Levi is a Frenchman, Ava is Jesse, the cowgirl from Toy Story, and Elle is a pirate....I'll take picture with no coats on and fully done up on Monday. :)
All the kiddos that went with us from church!
The best part: A few of the guys and a girl dressed up like Shawn, and most of them wore one of his ties that he didn't know I'd snuck from his closet to let them wear :) It was great and he was totally surprised!! (oh and he's still homeless lol)
We got back to the house and Levi made a beeline for those cupcakes.
Frankenberries
Make a wish....never knew 35 could look so good ;)

Wielding a Knife

Today, just in the nick of time, we carved our pumpkin. I think I like this new way of doing it. Usually we carve it really early and then it's gross by Halloween. Now, we've been able to enjoy it for a while and fill our last Saturday morning before Halloween with an activity. Anyway, we decided to let Elle draw up the plans for what the face should look like. Shawn wasn't too sure about heart eyes, but I kept reminding him that it was important for her to feel like it was all her idea :) (that's hard for me too by the way....I like to "martha stewart" things and that's just not very kid friendly!) Anyway, I thought it turned out great and so did everyone else! Way to design Elle! Oh and lest I not give Ava praise...she was the only one that was okay with digging out all the seeds, all by herself. :)

This was as close as Levi wanted to get to the whole pumpkin carving process.

Here's what Levi did the whole time...played with a neighbor cat.

Top 5

Top 5 ways you know it's getting close to Halloween at my house: (really in no particular order other than how I uploaded them!)

#1 This has become my go to jewelry lately.

#2 All kinds of makeup has come out and I think I've offically figured out how to put on eyeshadow without looking like a drag queen. (btw, I actually watched a video on youtube on how to apply it and that's the only way I figured out!)

#3 It's common to see roaches crawling all around the candy dish...no one bats an eye.
#4 This is our candy jar....it's a 2 gallon jar and it's almost filled up....we're going to make sure it's overflowing by Monday nite!

and #5 Decor for the stove top consists of baby parts in a glass pitcher.

Happy Halloween!!!

MASH Halloween Party

I look forward to the MASH Halloween Party all year long. I never know what the activity will be, but I know it will most likely involve dressing up so that's all I need to know. This year was wonderful! We did a photo scavenger hunt with boys against girls. I'm proud to say that as usual, we whipped the guys booties! It's a great feeling...especially when they think they crushed us only to find out it was the other way around. Here are a few pictures from the night.

So, in typical fashion, Shawn and I went as opposites (and it wasn't on purpose). He went as a homeless person and I went as a Hollywood Starlet (and I use that description loosely). Bonus...I got to use my once worn bridesmaid dress from 6 years ago! (and it was loose :)
The whole gang included us and Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf, and the Crocodile Hunter and a crocodile. Loved everyones costume. Big shout out to my mom for making the outfit awesome by buying me the mostly blingtastic jewelry to go with my outfit!

This really isn't that abnormal for me--I'm sure I've ridden a broom around Target while wearing a witches hat before, but NEVER in a formal.
All the girls wearing "scary" masks...I really want to buy that old man mask...super creepy!

One of the things on the list was to take a picture of a team member with a black tongue...we weren't quite smart enough to go buy oreos...no I just painted my tongue with black lipstick...gross.

Here we are just hanging out in a coffin.

A great spooky looking house on the street that we go trick-or-treating down, every year. It's pretty awesome!

For Nana and Gramme

I'll give you one guess as to why I put both of your names in the title of this post...

18 months old

I believe this could also be called personality disorder stage. The third time around with a toddler is a whole different ballgame...and I mean that in a wonderful way. Things that drove me crazy with the 1st and even somewhat with the 2nd, just don't bother me much now. If anything, it's comic relief to watch the foibles of an 18 month old. If this makes any sense, they're so predictably unpredictable. One event can cause a tantrum and belly giggles all within the same minute! Anyway, we took him for his 18 month check up the other day. He's still a little thing, but totally healthy and no one seemed too concerned. They just said what they've been saying all along. Feed him lots of icecream, butter, whole milk and the like. What a life! Anyway, he's a whopping 21 lbs and 30 1/2 inches long. Thanks to Shawn, Biggies head is in the 50th% so at least that's average. lol Great stocking stuffer for Levi...banana flavored Pedisure or at least coupons for them! They are EXPENSIVE but they help him! He is saying lots of words now on his own. He repeats just about anything you say, even though you can't always understand it. He regularly wakes from his nap and the first word out of his mouth is either "Milk," "Car," or "Eat." He has started getting molars in...lots of them at once...didn't even realize it till we were at the dr. appt and he was crying and I happened to notice all these white things sticking out of his gums. All three of mine have been easy teethers :) As of yesterday, he has officially dropped down to one long afternoon nap. This is good and bad, but I'm choosing to look at the positives because, well...can't change it either way so might as well come up with the positives! He also can now voluntarily make himself toot and is always VERY proud of himself for this. It's hard to teach him not to do that, when we all laugh every time. He has a favorite pair of shoes...his blue crocs and he wants to wear them all the time. He doesn't like getting water poured on him at all during bath time, but loves being in the tub. Along those lines, here's where the personality disorder comes in. He is in that stage of toddlerhood, where they don't know exactly what they want or don't want until it's already happened. Example: we went to story time today at the library and after the story time, the kids do a craft and the librarian comes around and stamps everyones hand if they want one. Of course he did, but the minute he got one and saw it on his hand, he spazed. I had to wipe it off quickly before he completely lost it. These kinds of things make me laugh--maybe because I can relate. Sometimes, you just can't quite make up your mind! He's gotten a little better about getting his diaper changed without throwing a fit, because I immediately start talking about how he can help me by throwing the diaper away. He forgets what's going on because he's excited to throw it away. Speaking of, we are just in the very beginning stages of potty training. He tells me sometimes when he needs to poop or pee, but has no desire to sit on the potty most of the time. I'm in no hurry. He loves and I mean L O V E S anything that flies in the sky, big trucks, and dogs. He does a little freak out every time just about that he sees any one of those things. He has given us unimaginable joy and truly been a gift that far exceeded all of our wildest dreams...he is all of our baby and we are so so blessed by him....personality disorder and all.

So glad I captured this pose...this is what I see on a regular basis and it's SO cute!

The only markers allowed in our house are the washable kind. That is the only reason he was allowed to play with them... and thankgoodness they were washable.

He already had it on his face, so I went ahead and gave him a little pencil thin mustache to go with all the other stuff.

Benefit of being a toddler....not wearing pants actually makes you even cuter.

Yes, it has taken me until he turned 18 months to get serious about brushing his teeth. I'm pretty sure he's just going to need dentures....remembering to brush his teeth is impossible for me. I think I need to make myself a chart. Either way, I love this picture. I love that you can see Elle on the edge, showing him how it's done. She wasn't really brushing her teeth, but meerly being the example. Both girls have such a desire to mother him and teach him and help him (most of the time). It's precious to watch.

Now it was his turn to try it out....interesting.

Everyone show your clean teeth!

I came home from Ladies Day on Saturday and this is what greeted me at the door. He melts my heart. And to top it off, Shawn had taken all three kids to the barber shop to get Levi's hair cut and that is like taking all three to the grocery store for a huge grocery trip, expect that Levi totally FREAKS OUT at the barber shop. Shawn said it was the worst one yet. Poor barber.

So proud to put mommy's shoes on.

One Rotten Pumpkin

Well, we went to the pumpkin patch on the first possible semi-not-burning-up-day that we had so that the kids weren't wearing their swimsuits while posing with pumpkins. There was only one rotten pumpkin....can you figure out which one???

You wouldn't believe me if I told you how many shots I had to take, just to get one non-freaking out face. Such is life with toddlers.

Neighborhood Chalk Fest

After seeing the ChalkFest in Round Rock, my girls were inspired! Yesterday Shawn tol me I needed to come outside and see what they were up to. When I walked across the street, I was truly amazed! They had done such a wonderful job drawing something!!! I was so proud of their abilities! Even Levi got in on the action, though mostly he just walked all over everyone's artwork, tried to draw in their "space" and managed to get chalk dust ALL over his body.

Elle's pretty lady!

Ava said she was drawing Rapunzel, which is fitting since we have watched Tangled no less than 3 times all.the.way.through this weekend.

Finally

I would just be wrong, if it didn't do a post on the wet stuff that fell from the sky yesterday. I woke around 6 am to the sound of something I was almost completely unfamiliar with...rain...hard rain. It was the most wonderful sound! We haven't had more than a 3 minute sprinkling of rain in well over 6 months. We are in the worst drought ever recorded, since recording began in Texas. Everything looks lifeless....the green of the leaves almost looks grey, or like someone slid the saturation bar to the left. It just all looked so bad. The roads are filthy and everything has layer upon layer of dust and grim on it. Many of the trees and bushes are deader than dead. It looks like New England Fall except it's death, not the changing of the season. Not a pretty picture....and then the rain. It fell hard and fast for well over an hour and then continued steadily for at least another hour. We probably got around 3 or more inches. It was wonderful! After everyone was ready for church, the girls grabbed there almost-never-used umbrellas and headed out the front door to experience the real thing.

Another reason I love where I live

Something I've always wanted in a city we live in, is free outdoor fun for the family. I've never lived in a city that provides that on a consistent basis...until now. We fall in love with our area more and more all the time! Today, we had quite a full day of fun things planned. First, today was "Market Days" on the square here in town. While Shawn stayed home with a napping Levi and worked on sermons and bible class, I met up with one of the dads from church and his daughter. There was suppose to be an interactive craft thing at our museum so I took the girls and he brought his daughter and they got to make Texas Ranger badges and learn a little Texas history, specifically about our county. Then we walked the square looking at all of the little crafty booths. Jeff, the dad of the little girl that we met up with, and I then passed a little "booth" where you could throw a baseball and it would clock your speed. We were so extremely curious to know how fast we could throw so we split the cost of the game and tested our ability. I was able to throw the ball 39 miles an hour and I won't tell what Jeff did, even though I thought it was great, but he was embarrassed (I will say it was faster than me ;) We also let my girls throw the ball and Elle threw it 21 miles an hour and Ava did 10. lol Just needs a little more practice! Next, we found one of those tractor-pulling-barrels-type-of-train things and all took a ride. It was hilarious because I could barely fit in the barrel with Ava so I have no earthly idea how Jeff fit his legs in there!
This picture was taken right as he was telling me I couldn't ride in this car so that's when I had to cram in with Ava!

After the train ride, we found the main reason we were there...to see the Biscuit Brothers preform! They are a local group that has a TV show that comes on on Saturday mornings and they really were very entertaining. The girls all loved it! After watching them for almost an hour, the girls were getting restless and hungry. As we were driving home, I remembered that Round Rock was having something called Chalk Walk today and I had really wanted to go to it. So, we picked up Shawn and Levi, grabbed some lunch at Mighty Fine Burgers, and then headed to downtown Round Rock. It was a really cool event and I only wish there had been even more chalk artists. The girls loved it too, but I'm pretty sure there favorite part was when we caved in (FINALLY) and bought them sno cones. I made the mistake of giving Levi a taste and it was all over after that...he wanted a taste every 4 seconds! Anyway, it was a very cool event and the girls got to do some painting at one booth and they loved that. (I loved that I didn't have to get paint out and then clean it all up!) After leaving there, we all headed home, and tonite watched Tangled together. Elle summed it up well by saying "This day just couldn't be any better!
This was my favorite one...go figure! He did a wonderful job on the colors!
I included this picture to show just how dirty the artists were getting. Her hands and legs and face were covered in colored chalk.

This was the most vibrant piece and I loved it. One thing that impressed me and I hope left an impression with Elle and Ava, was the age of some of the artists. There were two different pieces that were done by 9 and 11 year old girls and I made sure to make a big deal about it. Wonder what Elle was thinking when she heard their ages???

SNO CONES!!!!

For the record, the girls got "rainbow" sno cones and I got a watermelon/blue bubblegum flavored one. It was super yummy...just ask Levi.

I didn't include this in the story, but we actually got some rain this evening. It has been threatening all day and finally it really let loose right about dinner time. We all ran to the back door and just stood in amazement watching it. It didn't last for too long, but it was a decent amount for how little time it was happening. Hopefully tomorrow brings even more! It was a beautiful sight. We reminded the girls that God had heard our prayer and thanked God not only for the rain, but the patience to wait on His timing!