flashback friday...halloween style!

what a perfect day to look back at costumes from halloween's past. isaac was 8 months old his first halloween & dennis' sister darla made these adorable costumes for isaac & maxie. don't they make a cute raggedy ann & andy?

the next year isaac was a cowboy while his lil buddy kole was an indian. we went to kole's house & went trick-or-treating with kole to just a few houses ~ enough to satisfy a 1 year old's sweet tooth.

this was just 5 short days before lauryn would come into the world. isaac was 2 & 9 mo. old. i was on bed rest so had to stay home while dennis & my mom took isaac over to see kole, then came back to trick-or-treat in our neighborhood.

lauryn's first halloween. g'pa bedford was here to visit. we went to the district (a shopping area). lauryn was a puppy & isaac was her vet.

last year my mother-in-law made these cute pebbles & bamm bamm costumes that were a hit!

tomorrow i'll post this year's halloween festivities, so stay tuned...

halloween music

pumpkin time!

this past weekend our little brother william came over to spend a day with us. we thought it would be a perfect time to carve pumpkins. the weather was beautiful, our day was relatively uneventful, & we hadn't seen william for a long time! william has now been our little brother for over 6 years & we don't get to spend as much time with him as we should. we all are busy leading our own lives, doing our own thing. william has been a part of our lives since he was in 3rd grade. now he's in high school & is just a hair taller than dennis. things change so quickly! anyway, we had a great day with william & everyone enjoyed the day together.

isaac's jack-o-lantern is the skeleton one. isaac was very excited about this design. although daddy was in charge of the carving on that particular one, isaac joined in whenever he could to help. lauryn's is the happy jack-o-lantern. she didn't want to do anything "spooky" or "scary". hers is called "happy hal" so isaac coined his "scary hal". william rounded off the trio with his skull jack-o-lantern.

and the award goes to...

isaac!!!
our little kindergartner received the "sharing award" from his class. we always knew what a good boy he was, but it was nice to have it reaffirmed by his teacher. she told us that isaac is always so nice in class, shares things, & is a good helper. way to go isaac!



and of course, he couldn't have the spotlight to himself ALL morning...that would just be way too much to ask.

conversations with lauryn...

lauryn ~ knock, knock.
jen ~ who's there?
lauryn ~ apple.
jen ~ apple who?
lauryn ~ joke, joke.

lauryn ~ knock, knock.
jen ~ who's there?
lauryn ~ horsey
jen ~ horsey who?
lauryn ~ joke, joke.

lauryn ~ what's this mommy?
jen ~ it's vaseline.
lauryn ~ what's vaselineS mean?
jen ~ umm...it's petroleum jelly.
lauryn ~ what's petroleum jellieS mean?
jen ~ umm...it's a lubricant.
lauryn ~ oh.

flashback friday...where's lauryn?

my mother-in-law loves to sew & does such a great job. she's made outfits, blankets, halloween costumes, etc. for our kids & we so appreciate it! when lauryn was born she made these 2 adorable one piece outfits & one came with a matching blanket. so when lauryn was 7 weeks old, she was finally big enough to fit into one of these outfits. i thought it would be fun to dress her in it, then lay her down on the matching blanket...see, she really blends in!

p.s. whenever i look back at pictures of my kids, i so want to relive those moments at those times with them. they always seem to go by so fast that it makes you feel like you didn't have enough time to take it all in...mothers out there, do you all have that same feeling?

growing pains

on sunday afternoon, lauryn started to complain that her thigh was hurting. she hadn't injured it, hadn't been horsing around, hadn't done anything to it that we could recall. there were no bruises or bumps...nada! all we could figure was that it must be growing pains. that night right before it was time to go to bed, she started crying because it hurt so bad. that was when i started the tylenol. she proceeded to cry out in pain every few hours, sometimes waking up, sometimes just crying in her sleep. at one point she woke up to eat a waffle before heading off to bed again.
on monday morning after the interpted night if sleep, she woke up in pain...she refused to walk on it so i had to carry her everywhere. and anytime i lifted her up, the tears started to flow again. so i continued the tylenol doses and put the heating pad on low for her to use. she wouldn't let me change her out of her pj's so we went to the bus stop with her dressed in her pink jammies because we had to pick up isaac. lauryn was not happy about this at all. between the crying and the attitude, i was pooped...and so was lolo. she took a 2 1/2 hour nap but woke up in pain still. finally, at 4:20, she was ready to try walking. she held my hand & walked gingerly on the left leg & was so proud when she could do it...it was so cute, as if she was learning to walk for the first time. after this feat, she thought she could tackle a bath. after that, she was miraculously cured! whew!

flashback friday...rewind 4 years

dennis after a game of flag football...doesn't it look like it was a fun game? i think i actually had to throw that t-shirt away because i couldn't get it clean. look at how his face lights up from playing sports. i couldn't imagine his life (or mine for that matter) without sports.
he almost looks kid-like in this picture. there's something to be said about playing a game of basketball, football, volleyball, softball, etc. that makes you feel youthful & puts a spark in you. then you hobble home & remember that you aren't 16 anymore...so you watch more than you play...or you coach your kids...or you cheer on your favorite teams, even though they are awful...whatever it is, it's fun!

trios of information that you probably think are not necessary for me to tell you , but i'm gonna do it anyway!

Rules: list 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions, and 3 random facts about yourself. Tag 5 people at the end.

Joys
1. my family
2. church
3. reading a good book

Fears
1. losing a loved one
2. my kids getting hurt
3. the ocean...i like to be in the ocean but won't go out very far...i respect (fear) it way too much

Goals
1. to go to grad school
2. to go to the gym more often
3. to have more serenity in my life...sometimes there is just too much noise!

Obsessions
1. tv ~ i watch way too much...
2. facebook
3. reading...when i finish one book, if i don't already have another one waiting in the wings, i kind of panic

Random Facts
1. i admire people who can speak their mind
2. i've been taller than my mom since 4th grade, but i still look up to her!
3. i can't whistle

i tag mom, kelani, & mama bear!

flashback friday ...4 years ago...

...to the day, this is what isaac looked like. he loved the froggy slippers from g'ma & g'pa!

this is L -(heart)-V-E

even though lauryn doesn't show her dad love very often, she still loves him...
even if she won't give him a hug...
even if she won't give him a kiss...
even if she won't cuddle with him...
but isn't it the greatest show of love when you share something that you really love, like, say a bubble gum sno-cone?