Surprises, Surprises

Yesterday was supposed to be my day off. I remembered half way through the day that motherhood doesn't have "days off". I had worked Mon, Tue, and Wed afternoons. I also worked this morning (Fri). So, we were relaxing yesterday afternoon when there was a knock at the door. I foolishly thought, "Oooh good, maybe it's UPS with my Gymboree order". Guess who it was...our entire Brownie troop arriving at our house for an unscheduled meeting. An email went out the day before telling everyone to meet at my house for a meeting, but I didn't get the email. And, no one had called to ask about it. It was one of those moments when I am glad that my house is generally clean.

So, I ran around with L on my hip baking break and bake cookies (courtesy of stocking up at that Target sale last month), and making lemonade. By the time the Brownies all left at 6pm, I was beat. I forgot to mention there were 2 extra kids here who weren't even Brownies on top of my extra 2. Those 4 managed to tear up the upstairs which J and I had finally gotten cleaned up on Wednesday. I managed to get the playroom picked back up, but the 3 bedrooms are still trashed. I started cooking dinner, even though it was late. Just then, B reminded me that she and Daniel were supposed to be going to "Math and Science Night" at school at 6:45. So, Daniel rolled in the door around 6:15 with a Migraine. He took some meds, we fed everyone, and he and B took off for the school. Then, I had to get the little peas bathed, jammied, get them in bed, and do the dinner dishes.

Today I got caught up on dishes, vacuumed the downstairs which was covered in cookie crumbs and shoe dirt from the troop. I worked from 10-2pm and took the kids to the park. Then picked up B at school. I am attempting to take a break, then we are meeting Daniel for a dinner out at a new pizza place at 5:45pm. I can still hear L babbling in her crib though...this break is looking to be shorter than I had hoped.

*Today had a good surprise...B found her coat that has been missing for 2 weeks. It was in the lost and found at school where she had already checked. I'm kind of surprised with our last name written on the tag, and no one else with our last name in the school, that it didn't find its way back to her sooner.

CVS Next Week

*List Addition-
My total will be a smidge high this week. But, if I was paying the regular price I couldn't even get the 4 bags of diapers for what I'm paying. Unless I come across extra coupons, or a better $/$$ code, these will be my totals...
Erika's Card:
Pampers Swaddlers Newborn size Jumbo pack - $8.99 x 2
Charmin 4pk big rolls - $2.49
Mountain Dew 12 pk - $3.33 x 3
Doritos - $3 x 2
Total: $36.47
-$4 off $20 purchase
-$1.75 in Pampers & Charmin Coupons
-$13 in ECBs
$17.72...$12.50 new ECB's earned
_________________________
Daniel's Card:
Pampers Swaddlers Newborn size Jumbo pack - $8.99 x 2
Charmin 4pk big rolls - $2.49
Pepsi 12 pk - $3.33 x 3
Doritos - $3 x 2
Total: $36.47
-$4 off $20 purchase
-$6.25 in Pampers & Charmin Coupons
-$10 in ECBs
$16.22...$12.50 new ECB's earned

CVS is going to be hot next week for me. I guess the quality of the deals depend on your personal household needs. I'm going to have 2 in diapers again come spring. The only kind of Pampers I don't hate are the swaddlers. So, I'm going to finish out getting the newborn sizes I will need in those. 4 more packs should do it. Then, I'll move on to size 1. Hopefully, I'll get some Huggies deals soon (crosses fingers). L is napping and B&J are at school. So, I'm putting together my list now.

Here is a link to next week's ad. I'll post my list here later.

*Also, Kroger has my beloved Huggies Supremes on sale for $7.99 this week. A good deal if you have decent coupons. I'll probably grab 2-4 bags (depending on how many coupons I've got) with my groceries tomorrow.

Solitude

J likes to sit quietly by herself. She's our only child who enjoys her own company enough to just sit alone, and be happy. She woke up super late a few days ago. I asked her if she just woke up and she said, "No, I was just awake in my room". I said, "Were you playing?". She said, "No, I just wanted to stay in my room". Here is a picture that I took of her yesterday (through the glass door so that she wouldn't see me). She decided it was a lovely day so she took her lunch outside and sat by herself enjoying nature.
Now that summer is finally over, my favorite rose bush is perking back up and starting to bloom a bit. It needs some attention, but looks to be recovering well.

Over Scheduled

Somehow I always manage to over schedule myself. I'm working this week and the more children I have, the more difficult that becomes. I will probably only work a couple of shifts during each scoring session once April rolls around. I was tempted by the $$$ to schedule quite a few shifts this week. Who isn't tempted by cash during the Christmas season? But I digress, I need to learn some self control. Just because I work at home, doesn't mean I should try to max out every waking minute of my day with kids and work.

Well, this session will be done in a week, and then next Thursday we have yet another ultrasound. Maybe this baby will be less modest next time.

Just a cute picture

Eating PB&J sandwiches on the couch on a blustery Saturday watching Beauty and the Beast, in their jammies. Generally peas eating on the couch is against the rules, but who cares! Leather wipes right off.

Most Impressive CVS Total Yet

Ok, all I really wanted to do was get those 2 Crest Spin brushes for free to put in B&J's stockings. B has been asking for an electric toothbrush. But, I had to get my total up to $20, so that I could use a $4 off $20 CVS coupon. Luckily there is a "stomach remedy" sale this week where you get $10 ECB's for spending $10 on Benefiber, etc. I had a ton of benefiber coupons. So, they paid me to buy those. Now, I need to find somewhere to donate them to. The spinbrushes are on sale for $4.88 and I had a $1 coupon for each of them. I also had a ton of $1 off Johnson Baby coupons that I needed to use, which made all the Buddy Bars free. This pile was 2 transactions, 1 on Daniel's card and one on mine. I told the manager and cashier who were ringing me up that they were welcome to have all my extra Benefiber coupons so they could actually make a profit buying Benefiber too. They were very happy with me and took all my extras. Somehow, my total due on the Benefiber, 2 spinbrushes, and one buddy bar was ZERO, negative 45 cents to be exact. My total on the other 7 Buddy Bars and large Benefiber was $1.98. So, total spent: $1.98, ECB's Earned $20

I went to Walgreens because I wanted to see if I could score 4 free Purell foams. They were out. But, I also needed toilet paper and gift wrap. So, just using 3 walgreens coupons from this week's ad, I got 12 rolls of angel soft, 2 boxes of Andes Candies, and 4 rolls of Hallmark wrapping paper for a total of $12. Not too bad.

Funny Story

So B was sitting at the table writing her umpteen millionth book. It was supposedly called, "The Dog and the Cocky Box". Don't ask us what the heck that means. Sometimes she just makes up words that are actually real words. Anyway, she got up and went to use the bathroom or something and J came up to the table. She then proceeded to cross out B's name on the front of the book and write in her own name. B came back and saw that her name had been scratched out. She was a little angry. Then J started crying hysterically like she tends to do. She said that she was going to change it back to B's name, but forgot. Ummm...yeah. My daughters are weirdos.

According to the News...

all the "bargain hunters" are out shopping today. Does that mean I'm not a REAL bargain hunter? I'm at home snuggling with my family. I've gone shopping a few times on black friday. It hardly seems worth it. Online shopping...that's a whole other story. I don't mind online shopping on black friday. Since Gymbo extended the big sale to Thanksgiving day though, I don't have any shopping to do today at all. Just a lot of leftovers to eat.

These are giant sized 9"x 13" containers.
This doesn't even include the cucumber salad and the desserts.

Out of our guest list of 13, we lost 5 guests due to illness at the last minute. There was not really any way to cut back significantly on dinner, since everything was already partially prepared. I sent as much home with Grammy and Grampy as I could convince them to take. Still, we are drowning in food.

I started my day with the breakfast of champions...
mini Thanksgiving sandwiches

Happy Thanksgiving

Daniel and B helping with yesterday's prep work

L under my feet yesterday while I was cooking.
She won't leave her crib without that old quilt.Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We hope you have a great day. Time to start the turkey!

P.S. For Gymboree lovers out there, the 30% off Black Friday sale starts today online. I placed my items in my shopping cart yesterday, then just went in and checked out this morning. That is an additional 30% off of all sale prices. Plus, I got a card in the mail with an additional 20% of my purchase. So, I was able to get that in addition to the other discounts. Spent too much, but got a TON of clothes for these peas who keep growing out of everything! You can't argue with the quality for $5 shirts and $10 pants. It's also Gymbuck earning time.

Impromptu Dress Shopping

I had one of those moments this afternoon when a voice starts screaming in your head, "Do this right now!".

It suddenly occurred to me that if I had any intention of finding coordinating outfits for the girls to take a holiday picture in, I would probably not find them after Thanksgiving. Finding dresses that "go together" for 3 different sized girls is always a challenge. I didn't really want to spend a fortune either. Of course I scoured all my online options first...Gymboree was already out of all the sizes I needed to coordinate outfits from there. I couldn't find anything I liked anywhere else. So, on a prior tip from Shauna the girls and I decided to run to Target.

Part of my dress shopping woes revolve around the fact that I don't like "big, fluffy, loud" dresses. Christmas and Easter mean the racks are full of these. So, I managed to find 2 simple, plain, short sleeved black velvet dresses for B&J (same dress as the picture but with short sleeves). I had to go to 2 Targets to get both the sizes I needed. I also got the dress pictured above for L. It is black and gold. It doesn't look gold in the picture for some reason. It's a little fluffy/fancy for my taste, but not over the top. We also picked up 3 pair of black dress shoes. Little strappy low heels for the big girls, and a sparkled ballet flat for the baby.

I am SO GLAD to be done with that. Now, back to my regularly scheduled Thanksgiving preparations.

T-Minus 2 Days

Well, now that I've got some antibiotics in my system, it's time to finish getting ready for Thanksgiving. My time is short. I think I'm going to take the kids to get the remaining items for the big dinner this morning. Then, we'll do some general cleaning around the house. Being that I'm asking them to help me work on cleaning during their week off of school, there will probably be a prize involved. I'm thinking one of those board games that I got for super cheap awhile back. We'll also probably walk over to the park for a little while, so the day won't totally stink. Well, if I "let" B mop, she'll be happy no matter what.

Speaking of which, in this past Sunday's paper, there was an all in one rebate form on a bunch of games. As it turned out 2 of the games I had gotten in that game sale were included. So, I spent around $6 for 6 games, if you remember. Now, with the form that I got in this Sunday's coupon inserts (which had purchase dates that spanned all the way back to September, so my purchase qualified) I will be getting $5 more back. So, I guess that means 6 games for $1.

Ode to Antibiotics

We have had a rash of infections around here lately. They have mostly been ear infections. Then we had the smashed hand incident. Now, I've got my 8 millionth (just kidding) UTI. When I was pregnant with J, they actually wanted to put me on suppressive therapy. I declined.

So, I'm normally one of those people who tries to avoid the overuse of antibiotics. But this month I've had to embrace them. You just can't let a small child suffer with a raging double ear infection and not treat it with antibiotics. I would like to wait out this UTI like I've done many times before, but during pregnancy, I don't think it's safe to just let an infection rage like that. So, after sleeping in the recliner all night suffering, I need to call my Dr this morning, and drive all the way downtown, to get this taken care of. I don't have time to be "down" right now. I have to host Thanksgiving in 4 days.

So, today I am thankful for antibiotics. I don't know what people did without them. Died, I guess. I will continue to try to limit antibiotic use. I would hate to contribute to the issue of antibiotic resistance. But, for this month, with the luck we are having, bring them on!

More Shopping. Leslie is Right...

I really should have a separate blog for posting the bargains. That way, people who just want to read our journal won't have to weed through the bargain posts. And, people who just want to read the bargain posts, won't have to weed through our journal. I'll get on that.

But for now...

I let some ECB's and Walgreens Register Rewards Expire! I know, shame on me. But it has been a crazy week. I decided to see if I could still use them. I figured that even if I just used them to buy a bunch of free diapers, it was better than wasting them on nothing. Turned out that it worked. I also get a coupon for a free Turkey from Kroger every year. I think they send it to everyone who spends a certain amount of money there over the course of the year. So, I made sure to pick up a 20 pounder before all the big ones were gone. I didn't take a picture of the main groceries from Kroger, but the total went from $105 down to $64 final cost. Not too shabby.

Target: I've been having a lot of luck with Target sales/coupons lately. They finally seem to be training the cashiers on proper coupon usage. It's not really all that complicated. Original Total: $36. Paid $15. I used a lot of Target coupons, Johnson & Johnson, Butter, and Daisy Sour Cream Manufacturer Coupons. That's all. 4 16 oz Daisy Sour Creams are not in the picture.

Walgreens: Had $12 in expired RR's to use. Original total: $24. Paid: $8

CVS: Used up quite a few expired ECB's. Original total: $30. Paid $11 got $3 in new ECB's
Question: Why do they have to make the Caffeine free coke look so much like the regular? It's impossible to find on the shelf because it blends right in.

Happy Bargain Hunting! Today's lesson: Don't throw away expired RR's or ECB's, many stores will still accept them. I'm ready for a nice quiet weekend.

Totally Free Toys

Okay, I should have posted this when I found out about it a few days ago. But, I honestly didn't think there would be any time left to get in on it. I didn't even think I had gotten in on time. It turns out that I did, and now Playskool is sending me 3 free toys (TAG TAILS, ROMPER STOMPER, and HONEYBEE HOP). No shipping or anything. I just had to make 3 comments on any 3 different days on the Preschool section of the cafe mom message boards and Voila! Free toys. If you still want to try to get in here is the LINK.


*** I forgot to add, you have to have a child between ages 3-5. Thanks to J, I do. :)
***Mystery of the Universe Alert: Why do all of my socks always develop holes within a 2 week period? One day, all socks are fine. Suddenly one day, I have to throw out every single pair I put on because they all get holes.

Urgent Care

We had our first Urgent Care visit yesterday. In the late afternoon the following happened (I'm copying from an email I wrote, so I don't have to retype)...

Had to take L to the Urgent Care last night. B smashed her whole hand in the bedroom door, and also had accidentally locked the door with her hand trapped and everyone outside the room. It was completely mangled inside the door frame. I had to try to break it down. When it wouldn't break down, I ran downstairs and had to find the key thingy to get the lock undone. So, her hand was trapped for several minutes. When I got it out the fingers were crushed and one was sticking out at a crazy angle. Rushed her down to Urgent Care. They x-rayed it. Miraculously because she is still so young nothing was broken. Something about joints not being fused yet in babies. Anyway, her hand is swollen to twice it's normal size. As of today she figured out how to take off the bandage, so that's the end of that.

Headaches and Pregnancy

I contend that one of the most frustrating things about pregnancy is 1. the headaches and 2. the inability to take any good drugs to get rid of them.

I am supposed to be going to a Young Women event at church this evening. I have a throbbing headache though, which is growing worse every hour. Since I have no official responsibilities tonight and am mainly just going to watch and be supportive, I think I'm going to have to skip out. All of the girls parents will be there, so there will be no shortage of adults. The headache has reached the point where my vision blurs when I turn my head. Like my eyes are not in sync with the rest of my head. Probably not a good idea to drive 20 min each way to and from church.

In other news...all 3 girls were at the Dr this morning for flu shots. Also, L had her checkup and regular shots. I swear they get so many more shots now then even 6 years ago when B was a baby. Fortunately our Dr uses the preservative free vaccines in small children. It is still a lot of shots though. L is 22 lbs and 32 inches tall. I guess that means that she is tall and skinny. She seems so small to us, it's hard to believe. People are always commenting on her smallness.

I'm a rich, pretty mermaid!

I like to listen to the drama that goes on in the bathtub every night. Just now...

B: "I'm not a pioneer mermaid!"
J: "I'm sending in the guards!"
B:"I'm a rich, pretty mermaid! I live in a CASTLE...HELLO!"

Can you overdose on Clementines?

If you can...I'm in trouble. I've eaten at least a dozen in the past few days. Clementines are the only good thing about the produce department in the fall/winter. I think I'll pick up another bag at Kroger between picking up J and B. The girls like them too. Actually, it's the only kind of "orange" that B will eat. She even asked for one in her lunch today.

In other news after 18 weeks of not gaining any pregnancy weight I managed to put on 4 pounds in the past 5 days. My body is a mystery. Maybe it was a combination of the Arby's opening and the dozen Clementines. But, at least I've finally hit the 110 mark. I'm sure my mom and my Dr. will be happy to hear that.

Lords of the Gourd

I've been meaning to post about this for months, but keep forgetting. I watched an interesting documentary on PBS called Lords of the Gourd. It was fascinating. Of course I love documentaries and gardening, so I am biased. I highly recommend it.

Bargain Blip

I ran through 2 gallons of milk over the weekend with all of our company, so I ran to Super Target this afternoon for a couple of things. I just realized that with all of my bargain pictures it looks like we eat a lot of junk food. We actually don't. My regular grocery trips consist almost entirely of fresh produce, cereal, dairy and meat. My bargain trips are where I get all of the less admirable things, which I prefer to buy when they are a steal. But, Target has recently put out coupons for bananas, celery, cauliflower, broccoli, tomatoes, etc. So, I was actually able to get a bargain on some produce today. The price of milk however, is astounding...$4.59Total: $13
-4 bags Cheetos (on sale 2/$3, Target coupon $1 off any Frito Lay Product x4)
-4 boxes Stovetop stuffing (on sale .79, Target coupon .50 off x 4)
-2 boxes Target fruit snacks ($1.52, Target coupon .50 off x 2)
-Celery...free after Target coupon
-Milk $4.59 Yikes!
-Bananas ($1 minus .50 Target coupon)
-Dole Very Veggie Bagged Salad $2.50, not great but I eat a lot of salad

To find the coupons for these deals go to Target or A Full Cup for easier printing

Recovery

I'm in recovery mode from the weekend. I really should make a bargain run today, but I don't know if I have the energy. I'm wading through a mountain of laundry, including all the guest sheets and towels, plus all 5 of us have a full basket of clothes that need washing. I did wash all the baby toys that had been played with this weekend in a sink full of hot water with a little bleach. So far, not much more progress has been made.

L got her first knee scrape this weekend. It was so sad.
Here is the obligatory photo...

Sunday

This Sunday I am grateful for:
1. Our friends the W's who are here visiting us this weekend. The kids have enjoyed being together again. And I had missed hanging out with their mama quite a lot in the year since we moved.
2. My girls did their speaking portions of the Primary Program beautifully today. J said, "I can be kind and share" in a very loud clear voice on the microphone. She is getting so much braver every day.
3. After having 17 different people at my house at one time or another this weekend, I am looking forward to a quiet week.
4. Babies. Look at them, aren't they adorable?...

Requested Chicken Pot Pie Recipe

Crust
1	box (15 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box
Filling
1/3	cup butter or margarine
1/3	cup chopped onion
1/3	cup all-purpose flour
1/2	teaspoon salt
1/4	teaspoon pepper
1	can (14 oz) chicken broth
1/2	cup milk
2 1/2	cups shredded cooked chicken or turkey
2	cups Green Giant® frozen mixed vegetables (from 1-lb bag), thawed

1 .	Heat oven to 425°F. Make pie crusts as directed on box for Two-Crust Pie using 9-inch glass pie pan.
2 .	In 2-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until tender. Stir in flour, salt and pepper until well blended. Gradually stir in broth and milk, cooking and stirring until bubbly and thickened.
3 .	Stir in chicken and mixed vegetables. Remove from heat. Spoon chicken mixture into crust-lined pan. Top with second crust; seal edge and flute. Cut slits in several places in top crust.
4 .	Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown. During last 15 to 20 minutes of baking, cover crust edge with strips of foil to prevent excessive browning. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. The only things I do differently from this recipe are: 1. I usually use the peas and carrots instead of the "mixed vegetables" and 2. I add a large handful of sharp cheddar cheese into the filling right before I put it in the pie.

Comp Time...Gotta Love It

Daniel works a very flexible schedule. He pretty much comes and goes as he pleases, shows up for meetings and teleconferences, and gets his work done. He'll act like he has a strict 9-5 schedule. But, if you lived with him and watched him, you would see that is not accurate at all. He's available whenever we need him, and we appreciate it.

So, a lot of the time he will be working on work stuff at night or on a weekend. And, a lot of the time he will be doing non-work stuff during regular business hours. Well, Daniel told his boss that he was taking off for 4 days this weekend. Every time he says he is taking time off, he is told to just "take comp time", ie not take official vacation time, just don't come in. So, basically his vacation bank never seems to diminish. I suppose that is a good thing. I keep wondering though when he will actually be using any of his real vacation days. As it stands he'll be getting a couple of weeks of paid paternity leave in the spring. I know you have something like 6 months-1 year to use that. So, it's unlikely that he'll be using any of next years vacation either between "comp time" and "paternity leave". So the question is...what is really the point of even having official vacation time? I guess eventually it will cash out after it gets too big to roll over. No complaints here. Just a bit strange.

Things That Made Me Smile Today

These slippers crack me up. You would think by the time they were passed down to the 3rd pea the cuteness would wear off. Nope. When L woke up from her nap she saw me trying to catch up with 3 weeks of not clipping. She yelled, "Cou-Cou's!" and sat down to help.

Don't fence me in. You put up a gate? Then I'll just climb the outside of the stairs.

Sisters are like horses.

Millionth Ultrasound

I had yet another ultrasound today because my Dr was out delivering a baby, so the nurses were just scanning everyone to check the babies. Apparently that is what they do there when the Dr. is not in. Anywho, the nurses were unable to make a definite determination of the gender. But, they do suspect a particular gender. Since they were not able to make a confident determination, I'll wait to reveal until the next ultrasound in 4 more weeks. In the meantime, vote in the poll to your right.

We're Grown Up

This little pea thinks that naps are for babies. I can only get her to take one nap now, and it's not even a terribly long nap. Luckily she has upped her cuteness factor significantly to compensate for the lack of napping. She gives lovely sloppy fishy mouth kisses too. She also takes every opportunity to climb the bunk bed ladder.

She's got personality that is for sure. And she is finally starting to like her baby sister more. She's been largely indifferent toward her until recently. J is starting to get a touch sassy along with all that maturity and had to be corrected last week when she ended a statement to me with the word "DUH!" Must have picked up that little gem at preschool, because no one in our house says "duh".B's reflective quote of the day in reference to her favorite dinner... "Mama, when I am responsible for cooking...like when I have daughters and a husband, I'm going to need you to teach me how to make this." She loves homemade chicken pot pie. She literally sings about it when she finds out that I'm making it for dinner.

Ode to Arby's

I REALLY love Arby's sauce. I REALLY love Arby's chocolate shakes. I REALLY love Arby's regular roast beef sandwiches with homestyle fries. I literally have to ask for 7-8 packets of sauce just for myself every time I go there.

My freshman year of college, my apartment was right next to an Arby's that had the old fashioned sign like the one pictured here. I suppose familiarity breeds apathy because I didn't eat there very often. When we lived in Georgia we lived fairly close to an Arby's and I probably ate there about twice a month. That's about the frequency of Arby's eating that I can justify.

Well, we don't have an Arby's anywhere near us currently. The closest one is about 20 minutes away. Pregnancy always awakens severe roast beef sandwich cravings for me. It has been this way for all 4 pregnancies. I have been DYING for Arby's for 4 months now, and have only justified one trip all the way out there so far.

Well, two weeks ago my pregnant lady dreams came true when I saw a sign "Arby's Coming Soon" on an empty restaurant 5 minutes from our neighborhood. I have been staring at the building longingly now while the workers scurried about feverishly refitting the empty building into a gloriously beautiful Arby's. Okay, only beautiful because I am literally foaming at the mouth for the place to open. Daniel has been raining on my parade insisting it probably wouldn't open for several more months. Then I saw it... "Opening in 7 days". WOOT! WOOT! You can bet I'll be the first one there this weekend when it opens, washing down my regular roast beef combo with 8 packets of Arby's sauce and a delicious chocolate shake. Daniel, get your debit card ready, this pregnancy isn't even half over yet!

Bargain Blip

Target. Stopped in last night after I had a dinner date with Daniel. Total: $6. The M&M's were way higher than they should have been. I wish I hadn't bought them. Then my total would have been $2. They are giant bags of M&M's, but still. I may stop in again for 4 more bags of free pretzels today if we drive past there while we are out.

Happy Birthday Jordan!

I'm a day early, but who cares! I only have one sibling. I know I'm deprived. Blame my parents and their obsession with doing a super intensive job of raising us (wink). A person could do worse things than want to be a really good parent I suppose. Anywho, I went 5 long years as an only child before Jordan was born. And, let's just say I wasn't too quick to adjust. I was a rotten little kid. Probably because he was a beautiful baby and everyone adored him. But, he grew on me (and grew a lot taller than me). Too much probably because now I miss him like crazy. I wish he was here for his birthday. But alas, he's busy working, and being young, single, and free like the wind. I'm only a little jealous of the freedom. So Happy Birthday to my little (big) brother! I hope it's a great year.

Halloween: Final Cut

Whew! Am I glad that Halloween is over. For our last Halloween activity, we stopped by Grammy and Grampy's house in our costumes to steal some candy and get a couple of photos. Then, we dropped L off at home with Daddy to hand out candy and go to bed. I took B & J up and down our street for about 30 minutes until they were tired of walking and brought them home.