Halloween Part 2

Halloween fell on a Saturday this year, which was fantastic. We spent the day at home getting things done around the house. It was so nice to not have plans for once. Before we went to my parents house we snapped a few pics of our "bee-utiful" children! While I was getting ready I remembered that we had gotten Milo a bee costume a few years ago and I thought it would be perfect to get a picture of him and the girls together. It is actually the first one we've taken with him. Poor guy is so neglected these days.At 5:00 we headed over to my parents house to eat dinner and pass out candy. We never stay at our house because we don't know the kids and we just prefer being in their neighborhood. My sister's family and my cousin Molly's family was all coming to my parents as well so that Will and Cora could trick-or-treat together. When Cora got there Will kept saying in a high-pitched voice "Hi Little Chicken". He also told everyone that a lion says "Roar" and they are the "king of the jungle". It was so fun being with everyone and it makes me excited for when Mya and Stella get a little older and enjoy Halloween.

Cora the Chicken...
Will the Lion and Sophie the Spider...\
I borrowed Sophie's costume...
Mommy and Mya...
Daddy and Stella...
Our family...
I told Will I would open a piece of candy for him if he would say cheese. This is what I got...
Sophie and her Aunt Kelly...
Sophie and her Mommy...
Mya snuggled up with her Nana and fell fast asleep...

Halloween Part 1

Our Halloween festivities began on Thursday, October 29th. Wes' school does not celebrate holidays during the school day because of all of the different belief systems that attend the school. So for the kids who do celebrate Halloween, they do something called "Trunk or Treat" in the school parking lot in the evening. Parents park their cars with the trunks all facing the same direction and the kids can wear their costumes and go trick-or-treating from car to car. I brought the girls out to his school at the end of his work day and we were going to do return some things before the events got started. While we were making our returns at Kohl's, Wes found the baby costumes and begged me to get them for the girls. We weren't going to get them costumes this year since they aren't going trick-or-treating or even have a clue what is going on. However, they were on sale and so cute we couldn't pass them up. *Sidenote: Wes and his some of his co-workers were Banana Gram letters as their costume. It's a game, similar to Scrabble, that they play every day. They used the letters "S", "T", "O" and "P" and if the kids could come up with words using those letters they got a piece of candy. Here are a few pics from the evening....The next day was a records day for the teachers so I brought the girls back out to Wes' school so that we could have lunch with him. We ordered Olive Garden and brought it back to his classroom. It was so delicious. We have been wanting to go there for dinner but every time we try there is like an hour wait and that just doesn't work for us anymore. Anyways, we ate lunch and snapped a few pics in our cute Halloween shirts from Nana and matching hats that we found at Target.

Hanging out in Daddy's classroom library...Mya helping Daddy with his grade cards...Stella posing with Mommy...

Hilarious!

This is what Mya looks like after every nap. She cracks me up because she buries her face in her fingers and always wakes up with finger prints on her face and an occasional pacifier ring!

Cutie Patooties

Both girls are rolling over both directions now and I am already getting a taste of what life is going to be like when they are mobile. If I lay them down on the blanket in the living room and walk out of the room for a minute, I always return to them on their bellies and about 4 feet from where I put them. It makes me sad that they are growing so fast, but they are so much fun at the same time! We have also found our feet and it is so cute to watch them discover new things. Here are a few pictures from today that I thought were cute.

"Stella, look at these toes I found!"
"Look you have some too!"


Watching TV. I know it's pathetic but they really like it!


Laughing at Mommy who will make all kinds of funny noises to make them smile.


Loves of my life!


Checking my sister out!


We love to hold hands.

Ahh the Holidays

It is nearing the end of October and the holiday season is just around the corner. I used to love the holidays. I love being with family and I love the feelings that come with that time of year. Now I don't feel that way anymore. For Wes and I the holidays are sooooo stressful. We are expected to be in so many different places at once and we always feel so torn. We don't want to miss family get togethers, but it is inevitable. Our families also live 2 hours apart and so getting everywhere is impossible.

This year is even going to be more stressful because we have children. I should be so excited for their first Christmas but instead I am dreading it. I know that everyone is going to want to see them and I will feel terrible about missing things. I also dread the 2 hour drive we will have to make with them. They do pretty well, but it completely messes up their day. Not to mention they won't get to nap normally and so that should make for some LONG days.

Wes and I decided that we were going to set some standards now that we have the girls. We didn't like it, but we drove all over the place during the holidays in the past. Sometimes we even made the 2 hour trip 2 or 3 times so that we could be everywhere. That will not be happening anymore. We decided that we are going to make one trip and fit what we can into it and whatever doesn't work, just doesn't work. We want our girls to sleep at their own house on Christmas Eve every year so that Santa can visit them. We also don't want to rush to pack them up on Christmas day. In a few years, they will want to stay home and play with their new toys and we want to be able to relax and enjoy this. We have come to terms with the fact that we can't be everywhere and that our little family is most important.

We also decided to tell our families that we want a 3 gift limit for our children and for us. Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Jesus, not about how many presents you get. We do not want our kids to be so wrapped up in what they get and not realize the true meaning of Christmas. I read somewhere that a family gave 3 gifts that symbolized the gifts that the 3 Wisemen brought. We thought this was a fabulous idea. We want them to be grateful for what they get and not rip through so many presents that they forget what they received. We told our parents that we know this may be a change from what they are used to, but that we would really like them to stick to this. If they feel that they would like to spend more money than what the 3 gifts cost we said we would love for them to give money for their savings account. I'm really hoping that the girls learn a valueable lesson from this.

Hopeful Opportunity

Last night Wes and I decided to invest in our future and become representatives for a network marketing company. We are very excited about this opportunity and can't wait to get started. The company asks you why you would want to do this and what your financial goals are. I sat down to think about this and here is what I came up with.

1. Pay off our debts.
2. Buy/Build a new house that is large enough for our family with room to grow.
3. Make enough money to be able to stay at home with our children.
4. Have a college savings account for the girls and any future children.
5. Be able to live comfortably without worries about money.
6. Take family vacations every year.

Most of these would be dreams, not goals, for us if we were to just be teachers. We realized that our goals would never happen if we had to live on our pre-set salaries. It is frustrating to know that there is no chance to get bonuses or raises beyond the cost of living raise we get each year. It doesn't matter how hard we work or how much time we put in, we will make the same amount of money. My dad presented this opportunity to us and we jumped at the chance to add to our income. It looks very promising and we are hoping to be successful at this. Wish us luck!

A visit to the Punkin' Patch!

On Sunday we went to visit Fleitz' Pumpkin Patch with my Mom, Taylor, Amanda, Ashley, Craig, Will and Sophie. It was a great day to go. It felt very fall-like. It was 59 degrees, so we bundled the girls up in cute sweaters and jeans and went to enjoy the day. We saw a 620 lb. pumpkin, tons of different sized pumpkins, interesting gourds, Indian corn, apples, goats, a straw maze, a corn maze and a straw tower complete with a slide. Of course the girls are too young to have a clue what was going on. We went more for the photo op. After taking tons of pictures, drinking hot cinnamon apple cider and buying a bag of Honeycrisp apples (Mmmm) we headed to BW3's for dinner. When we got home we took a few more pictures of the girls so you could see their outfits (It's one of my favorites!). Here are some pictures to enjoy...