HaLlOwEeNiE events part 2...

I know I am SO late in posting these pictures! Sorry! Life overtook me & postponed my plans! I hope everyone had a WONDERFUL October & most especially a SAFE Halloween! I really cannot believe how October has come & gone already! YIKES! I have SO many pictures to post!! Well here goes our...

The gang decorating pumpkins!

Uncle Andy & Mr B

Grandma, can you believe she is 80?!

Two of my men...

I think this pic says it all! Love them!

Avery flashing us that smile!

The boys...

Brendan, Anthony & Linz became FAST friends!

The girls...

The fab four!

Halloweenie events Part 2...

"HALLOwEeNiE" events Part 1...

I have to say that this is the FIRST year that I've even felt like doing "Halloweenie" type things with the tribe. I am NOT a pumpkin picker nor am I a pumpkin carver yet we will be doing some of that this weekend. It's weird how kids can change you for the better. Just yesterday we did the hayride thing. There is this farm, Bedner's, located somewhat near us that sells their produce as well as that from LOCAL farmers. {If we are going to buy produce then why not support our local farmers?} Another added benefit is that at this time of the year they have a pumpkin patch & hayride too! I thought "why not?". We planned this event for a few weeks, telling anyone interested to meet up with us there we even brought along some reinforcements, Grandma, D & our cousin Raine! I was not feeling up to par but Daddy said we had to go! I do not know what I expected to find when we got there but I have to say I was overwhelmed! The place was PACKED! People were parking up & down all along the road as you arrived at their main entrance. Apparently EVERYONE & their mother decided Bedner's was the place to be yesterday! LOL! They had booths with people selling ANYTHING & EVERYTHING! They had a wildlife exhibit with itty bitty baby monkeys & Kinkachou's, Boy Scout's selling popcorn, women with the cutest handmade hair bow's & even an old Cracker story teller. They had good music & yummy food! The Rolling Stove & Porky and Beth's BBQ! YUM! We waited for what seemed forever to ride their hayride. They had these HUGE tractors pulling us through their farm. The Pumpkin Patch was picked over many times over so there was no pumpkin picking for us! Oh well! I have to say taking the tribe there really brightened up our weekend. As always I took PLENTY of pictures capturing the events of the day! Here goes...

"HALLOwEeNiE" events Part 1...

Writing yet another post!...

Today has been one of "those" days. It was suppose to start out SO wonderful by me getting a well needed EXTRA hour of sleep. You know, Daylight saving time, Spring forward, Fall back. I don't like when we lose an hour but I certainly like when we gain one! (= What a great night to get it too, HALLOWEEN! I had every intention of getting some extra rest since I would be working a double today. Halloween was SUPER busy & the tribe was EXHAUSTED! You'd think that their mommy would be too but no... I wanted to take full advantage of that hour by doing our Halloween post! That must be the multi tasker in me! LOL! Most of the chatter on FB or Twitter last night was if the time change was going to effect their kids sleep patterns. I wondered do they have that internal clock that people talk about having? Time changes can wreak havoc on your life when you have children. Having your child wake up earlier than necessary is a BIG deal for a momma when you are on a schedule! I LOVE that the tribe wakes up at 8am, no way do I want to now start waking up at 7! YIKES! SO there I was worrying if the tribe would keep to our schedule or sleep in. But even with me worrying about it their Dad would be the one dealing with it since I'd be at work! That's what I do most weekends, WORK! Well needless to say that Halloween post was never finished & I was up WAY later than expected. Then all I did was toss & turn ALL night long. I kept worrying that I did not set the alarm clock correctly or I would sleep through it. That has happened on a few occasions. Basically I could NOT fall asleep if my life depended on it. When that alarm clock finally sounded this morning I was NOT a happy camper. I dragged the ENTIRE day! Could not wait for my shift to end so I could go to bed. But where do I sit?...

Writing yet another post!...

rid the neighborhood of their candy addictions...

We decided this year we would dress the tribe up as our own "medical team". Brendan was a Doctor {We told him he could be a neonatologist since he is a NICU brat!}, Camryn was a surgeon {scrubs & all} & the "twins" were patients. St Mary's was kind enough to lend us some hospital gowns so we had the full effect. They looked ADORABLE! We made it to THREE Halloween parties in these costumes & each time they looked even cuter! I must say after the first party they did not need a tutorial on what to do come Halloween night! Candy has become their new favorite five letter word. They talk about it ALL the time! With all this talk you would think that we give them candy all the time. Well that is partly true, it's not us, but their GRANDMA! Yes I have one of those mothers that keeps candy dishes ALL over her house! I think the tribe stumbled upon her stash one day & the rest was history!She has jelly beans, butterscotch & most of all various forms of C-H-O-C-O-L-A-T-E everywhere! Their sweet tooth has to come from their Dad because my only vice is DARK chocolate & he loves ALL sweets! Give me DARK chocolate & I'm happy! (= Now that the tribe has found out Grandma keeps a HUGE stash they ask her for it ALL the time! We constantly hear "Candy?", "Candy?". Remember they like repeating things! arghh! Sad thing is that she gives it to them! And before anyone says a word, Yes we brush their teeth, floss too! This is one of those instances where Grandma's can get away with about anything! She says she cannot deny them a piece when she herself is having one. What a line! Oh am I in trouble! (= Tonight of all nights, Halloween, candy played a HUGE role with us. The tribe now knows ALL about "trick or treating"!They know if they carry their pumpkins around & say those three words they will get the motherload! Little do they know they will NOT be eating it anytime soon! {Daddy & Grandma will! LOL!} In order to get the kids dressed & out the door all we had to do was ask them if they wanted to get "CANDY". There they were lined up at the door with their shoes on waiting for us! CRAZY! Then when we were sitting down for dinner & they about refused to eat another bite so all we had to say was if they wanted to get more candy they needed to eat their food & their mouths opened & food was consumed. It truly was amazing! It was the BEST bribe! There we were "Trick or Treating" at my cousin Lori's house. It has become sort of a tradition that we hope to continue. She lives in a safe neighborhood where we do not have to worry about people or cars. I have to add that the tribe did NOT get a nap today.They were champs! Remember they had "CANDY" in their minds so as long as they kept their eyes on the prize {candy} they were good! haha! It truly was the BEST time had by all! This was the first year that we actually went to a ton of houses! It was a LOT of walking but the tribe persevered! One funny moment was when Brendan plopped himself down in the middle of the sidewalk to consume some of his treasures! TOO funny! Candy, it does a body good! haha! I must say hearing "Trick or Treat" out of their mouths made me almost want to cry! I cannot believe how grown up they are getting! Time sure does fly by! Everyone loved their costumes & I felt like we did our part in trying to...

rid the neighborhood of their candy addictions...

Trick or Treat, Smell my feet, Give me something good to eat!!

Well we decided that we would try to do the "trick or treating" thing with the babies this year. We went to my cousin Lori's neighborhood which is gated & has sidewalks!! YAY! It was an adventure!! The girls were mice & Brendan was suppose to be a "hunk" of cheese. That did not turn out very well. We decided to face the inclimate weather & do some trick or treating. My cousin Lori's daughter Raine did their faces up to look like they had whiskers & a nose. They sat still enough for her to paint it on, AMAZING! It ended up rubbing off but looked cute while it lasted! Over all it was a WILD night! First "Auntie Karen" taught them how to do it. She had them say "trick or treat" to people all over my cousin Lori's house & they then gave them candy in their pumpkin buckets. They caught on VERY quick in fact TOO quick.




Lindsey ruined her mouse costume with chocolate drool. It was terrible! I had not even taken their pictures yet! BAD mommy! (= She ended up wearing a ballerina costume of Raine's. SO we now had 2 mice, 1 Angelina ballerina mouse & a half "hunk" of cheddar cheese. Well, Mother Nature was not very nice to us & rained practically the entire evening. The babies did not care but the BIG kids did not want to weather it. We all got DRENCHED!! At our very first house Lindsey toppled down the front steps. She did not miss a beat, just got up and proceeded to get her candy. I have to admit that I laughed after I knew she was ok. That was terrible of me BUT it was funny! She was like the energizer bunny, takes a licken but keeps on ticking! Avery was a pro! She walked up to the house with Raine, put her bucket out, got her candy & walked back down the driveway.



She got to one house that had these BIG glass windows on both sides of their front door. They were floor to ceiling & just tinted slightly, well she walked right into it. Again she was not hurt. Our twins are SO resilent! It was just a sight! This is when I wish I would have brought my video camera! (= As we continued to make the rounds they walked through EVERY puddle, in their brand NEW shoes! ugh! Oh to be a kid! I must say that they cleaned up in the candy dept. Just wait till they REALLY understand what this is all about. We are gonna be in for it!! They be YELLING...



Trick or Treat, Smell my feet, Give me something good to eat!!