80's Halloween Party

We had a great time at an 80's Halloween Party for the whole family. They had 80's food (Moon pie's, Totino's pizza, Pac man Cookies, Rice Krispie treats, and chips and dips), 80's music, the kids Tye-Dyed shirts, and we had a great time with lots of friends. Cody even won the costume contest! How could he not with this cute outfit!

Daddy Daughter Fun

Cody spent the morning at Kindergarten on Thursday helping her class carve pumpkins. Carley was so excited Daddy was coming to school with her she could barely sleep. They had a great time and carved a really cute pumpkin! My husband is super talented. Here they are putting the pumpkin on our porch tonight.

Pumpkin Walk

I love the Pumpkin Walk. There are lots of cute little exhibits and fun pumpkins for the kids to look at. Carley loves it every year.

How cute is the Angry Birds display?

Love Captain Hook's ship! It even had smoke coming out of the cannons.

Corey the Firefighter

We went to the station tonight and Corey played on the firetruck. Both of my kids would go to the station with their dad and play all shift if he would let them. It is such a fun place to visit. Here are my two firefighters playing!

Cody would yell, "Corey drive to the fire!" Corey would start making the siren sound and turn the wheel.

Chatting with dad on the radio

Hi Mom!

Carley's Ocotoberfest at School

We had Carley's fall festival tonight and she loved it. She had a great time seeing her teachers and playing games. I didn't get enough pictures because we were hurrying around, but it was a great time. Carley's teacher had a color hair spray booth and I wish I would have taken a photo of the pink glitter hair! We arrived at the same time as Elise so we had a great time with their family too. It is always fun to raise kids with your friends. She also got to play Bingo with her friends Addyson and Brady which made her day. We are so thankful she loves school and the people she is around.

Kinder School Picture

Here is Carley's Kindergarten School Picture. It totally cracks me up. She had a super cute bow in that day, but she left it on her desk before the picture and forgot it for the photo! I wish I would have been there to make her wear it, but at the same time, this is my Carley-girl. It also may be her last picture with a mouth full of baby teeth. She is growing before my eyes. At the same time, when she is asleep, she still looks like the baby I brought home from the hospital. I just love her sweet profile.

Happy Halloween 2011

Happy Halloween from our Bride and our Elmo!

What My Little Lady is up to....

GROWING TOO FAST!

There are phases with Carley where we butted heads every hour of every day, it felt like. Right now is NOT that way. For the most part, she is SUPER sweet, very helpful, and my little shadow. She loves school to pieces. She wishes she had more spelling tests, more homework, and more hours in the day. She is a happy little clam there. It warms my heart and has been an answer to prayers. So far she has made lots of friends and is enjoying the challenges and creativity she gets to tackle each day!

She really wants her bangs to grow out. Carley is not patient with this process at all and loves to talk about the day all her hair goes back in a twistie. So do I, girl, so do I!
When Cody is at the station she likes to sleep in clothes that remind her of him. Usually this is a pink LFD t-shirt or a baseball t-shirt pictured below. One of the best parts of Kinder has been that Cody takes her to school most days. She loves this time with her dad.
Carley has her first loose tooth! She is very excited!

Today she asked me to teach her about Justin Beiber so she could sing more songs during recess. She also got asked to a birthday party for a classmate. The limo will pick them up and take them to Sweet and Sassy. I realize I am sheltered, but I have kept Carley from all of that. I just didn't want to open that can of worms. Well she is SO excited about this and cannot wait! This girl is getting too big!

She got a golden ticket at school for showing good character and kindness. She got to call home from the principal's office, sit at a special table under a tent in the cafeteria, she got magnets, stickers, a pencil, and she got to sign her name in the celebrity book. This made her so happy! We are super proud of our sweet girl!

What My Little Man is Up to....

...trouble! Just Kidding.

We finally got his 2 year old pictures made. He has had big bumps and black eyes on his sweet little face consistently from being a busy toddler and I really wanted a mostly clear face!

He is REALLY into Toy Story and his best buddies Woody and Buzz. Here he is in his Buzz pjs with his Woody bear watching the movie. He is so funny. We just talks and talks to them.

He is also WAY into his fire boots. He wears them as often as possible and will only wear them if he gets to do it himself. That is his other favorite thing which are these phases, "I do it self". "No help, Momma", "no touch Corey", "Corey So big!". That little guys is one cute, independent, booger!

The Case of the Missing Purse

So as previous blogged, my purse was taken from my basket at Toys R Us in an area not filmed. I cancelled all my cards, filed a police report, and Cody and I made several trips up there to check on the status. Monday, I get a call that my purse had been found at Toys R Us. When I went up there, all my contents were in it, but the purse had definitely been dug through. It had been found behind several boxes in an aisle and area I did not go in by the night crew. Oddly enough, the area did not have good film quality either. It seems like an employee took it and stashed it and never came back for it. My guess is they either got nervous knowing we had already filed a police report or they tried my cards and realized they were canceled. Either way, I am SO happy to have it back!

I am still holding fast that the Nelsons are going to slow down and do a better job of simple family time!

Keep It Simple, Stupid

How many times have I seen KISS - Keep It Simple, Stupid and thought, I should try to make some simplifying changes to make my world run a little more smoothly. Well, I have not posted all of October yet because nothing has seem simple. We have been running around like crazy. The kids have had random sicknesses. Cody and I have been swamped with work. We have had obligation, after obligation, after plan, after plan.

Saturday my purse was stolen from my basket at Toys R Us. All 4 of us were there and to make a long story short, my mind was in a million places and I wasn't paying attention. It was gone and when I realized it, it was too late. We had planned a big night last night of taking the kids out of town. At the last minute we changed our minds so we would stay here, but take the kids for a fun dinner and then to the drive in. Well after spending Saturday afternoon canceling all of my accounts, I realized I had no money (or cards, or accounts, or purse) and Cody had $8. This needs to last us till Wednesday when the new cards come. So we had a change of plans for our family. Since we had hyped up Carley with a big surprise family night, we had to come up with something. So instead we had a "Hot Dog Party" and ate hot dogs on left over party plates from parties we had years ago and had extra plates and napkins. Then we went to Legacy Playvillage. Why have the Nelsons never been to this huge, fun, free park? Finally we used a Groupon from Bahama Bucks. When I was drying Carley's hair before bed she talked about how much fun she had that night and that the Hot Dog party was the most fun surprise she can remember.

I HATE that my purse is gone along with all of my identification, keys, sunglasses, make up, camera, etc. But I also hate that it took that dramatic of an event to make us slow down. Family fun nights can be cheap (or free), easy, and take little to no planning. All you need is a family and parents that are not distracted by cell phones, IPADS, etc. Hopefully the Nelsons will be better at keeping it simple and slowing down a little for our family.

Anyone with me?