...in Bed

I love Chinese food. Specifically, fried Chinese food drenched in any kind of sauce. I also love fortune cookies. For the longest time, Allison and I have always added the phrase "in bed" to the end of our fortune. I'm sure others do this too (because I know we're not the only crazies in the world!). This is my latest fortune...apparently, I'm still VERY immature.

Irony Defined

A guy just ran his Mercedes into my co-worker's car.

Into a parked car in a parking lot.

Minor damage to my co-worker's car.

Front end of the 'Cedes is crumpled.

The guy is a Personal Injury lawyer, specializing in car accidents.

Irony defined.

Fall Leaves

The girls have really enjoyed making piles of leaves and playing in them. Emma likes to pile them at the end of the slide and land in them. I love the fall!

Sweet, Sick B

Brooklyn woke up with a fever on Friday afternoon and had it until sometime last night. It got up to 103.5 at its highest point. She was pretty fussy unless she was being held, but I took full advantage of the cuddle time. Emma was never a cuddly baby and I prayed for Brooklyn to be, but she really isn't. More so than Emma, but still not a cuddler. I made John take some pictures of our cuddle time so I could remember it down the road! She literally laid on me for a solid hour after dinner last night. It was the highlight of my weekend.

Sisters

I made a discovery the other day. Emma can help me out by feeding Brooklyn! Never even crossed my mind as an option. Emma asked if she could feed B her apple sauce one day at lunch. I thought for a second about the mess it could be, but then I said, "Sure!" Emma did great! So great that I had to take a picture.

I thought I would also add in a cute picture of them playing on the floor the other day. I love sweet sister moments!

Birthday Present

I didn't know what to tell our families to get B for her birthday, so they gave us some money to spend on her later on. She loves sitting in chairs and climbing on them, so we decided to get her a little chair of her own. I bought it on eBay and she LOVES it. So does Emma. We might have to get her one later on. Doesn't she look so proud?

Finally Halloween pictures....

We spent this Halloween with the Hannon's eating Papa Murphy's pumpkin shaped pizza and trick or treating. Emma dressed like "Flower the Skunk" from Bambi and Brooklyn was a butterfly. Emma had so much fun trick or treating this year and B loved hanging out in the wagon. It was a fun night. I know I am partial, but they sure were cute!

Halloween Decorations

Our neighbors are super big into holiday decorations. We are currently in the throws of Halloween decorating in my neighborhood. That translates into: "We are now surrounded by a large number of skeletons, gravestones, spiders, and strobe lights." While I enjoy this, my small princesses don't enjoy it so much. It's a bit scary for a 4 year old and 30 year old mother (who happens to look 23, by the way).

Since we can't decorate as scarily as our neighbors, we have done a few Halloween crafts / projects with Emma and Brooklyn to help decorate our house for Halloween (or for you "Jesus condemns all things Halloween" folks, you can call it "fall happiness decorations"). They're both pretty easy, and they make fun little mementos. Or at least, fun blog posts.










Ghosts: paint the kids' feet with white paint. Turn the page upside down and paint eyes. You now have ghosts.











Mr. Potato Head Pumpkin: Get a pumpkin and put Mr. Potato Head accessories on it.

First Field Trip

Emma had her first field trip with her preschool today. I helped drive the kids out to the Vanzandt Pumpkin Patch. It was a good time, but I was reminded on the way out there that I, for sure, don't want 4 kids. It was so loud in my car. Luckily, Allyn rode with me!

Violence in Media Isn't to Blame

According to a new study in Scientific American, violence cannot be blamed solely on media (games, movies, tv, etc). They blame the parents for not instructing their kids in appropriate social behavior. Brilliant! It's amazingly sensible. Perhaps even common sense. It's about time the scholars learned to think inside reality. Article is here.

Now, I'm going to play Halo 3 with my 4 year old daughter. Or perhaps Gears of War.

Frank Broyles / Sports Illustrated Signing

Sports Illustrated is currently selling a tribute to the SEC to celebrate the SEC's 75th anniversary. Frank Broyles has agreed to an in-store signing of these issues. If you're a fan of the on-the-way-out Athletic Director and Arkansas god, drop by and get a copy of the magazine and get it signed by the man himself.

When: Friday, November 2nd.
Time: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Where: Wal-Mart on 6th street. Get directions.

Also, there will be a limited number of signed poster-sized covers (pictured) that can be purchased for $10. All sales from the posters will go to help build a new gym for a local elementary school.

Pumpkin Spice Continued....

I made a new discovery today that I needed to share with all the pumpkin spice latte lovers out there that are on a budget and can't afford Starbucks on a regular basis. (Peter, I'm sorry to sway a few customers away, but I don't think Starbucks will hurt from this post) I stopped at the Kum and Go in Springdale (across from Hastings) to get gas today. I looked at the front door and saw a sign that said, "New-Pumpkin Spice Cappuccino". I figured that I would splurge $1 and try it out. I am so glad I did!!! It was actually better than the Starbucks version that I had on Saturday morning. Kudos to the Kum and Go for a splendid fall treat!

Allison & Brooklyn

Weighing in....

We took Brooklyn for her one year appointment today. She got 3 immunizations and her flu shot. Emma also got her flu shot. Luckily, John was able to meet me up there for back up. Emma was much more aware of what was coming compared to last year, so it was drama at its finest!

Here are B's stats at 1 year:
Weight: 19 lbs. 8 oz.
Height: 28 in.
Right around the 25% which is a little less than her previous check ups. I guess crawling and walking is helping her slim down a bit. Luckily, she still has her cheeks and her rolls! I always like to compare Emma and B's stats at each point. B has always been just slightly bigger. This time was the same. She was 8 oz. bigger and 1/4" taller.

Brooklyn's Birthday Party

We had Brooklyn's birthday party at Johnson Park on Saturday. Her party inspiration came from a cupcake that I saw a few months ago. Thus, the decor centered around cupcakes and B turning 1.
B is our only way to ever have an outside party because the rest of us were born in the dead of winter. I was hoping for a nice fall day with no rain. God answered my prayers with no rain, but it was HOT!
Brooklyn did not waste time eating her cupcake. She dug right in! It was a fun day!

Happy 1st Birthday Brooklyn!!!

Brooklyn,

It is hard to believe that a whole year has passed between these 2 pictures. It seems like yesterday. Happy Birthday Brooklyn!! Our family was made complete when you were born.
We love you,
Mom, Dad, and Emma

Pushing Daisies & Chuck

So far, this season's new TV shows have kind of sucked. I deleted Cavemen from the DVR after about 3 minutes of watching it. Absolutely painful. Life is pretty good, but not gripping. Private Practice might turn out decently, but isn't super so far. Journeyman is intriguing, but probably won't last a full season.

The only new show I've been impressed with so far are Pushing Daisies and Chuck. Chuck is really funny and the characters are quite enjoyable. The plot is also really good (chuck is now an inter-agency super-computer that the government must now protect from spies while he continues to work at a Best-Buy knockoff).

Pushing Daisies is just plain unique. I'm not sure I can explain it well enough to do it justice. The concept is extraordinary and the characters are easy to like. I recommend watching it. It's sure to come off as weird aPublish Postnd dumb to many, but to you weirdos out there, it's your cup of tea.

Loving the Curls!

A Child's Mind

Emma: Can I eat my popsicle outside?
Me: Sure. Where are you going to eat it outside?
Emma: On the chair.
Me: Okay.

A few moments later, John looked out the window and just laughed. I got the camera. We are not sure how she came up with this seating arrangement, but it seemed to work for her.

I am addicted now....

I love things with pumpkin in them and I live for the start of fall so that I can make pumpkin crisp. So, when I saw the Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks I was intrigued, but since I'm not a very big coffee drinker I didn't know. After reading Shelli's blog and in honor of October 1st, I decided I needed to spend the $3.48 and give it a try. I'm hooked! It was so good. Everyone must try.