whobody is ready for halloween?

Well...bring on Halloween!

We are ready.

 

We have our pumpkins carved and our costumes ready. I thought I would share some pictures of our preparations.... first, the carving.

 

This is always quite a process...but it seems to be getting easier since Keaton and Lola will actually TOUCH the pumpkins now. (Two years ago...they would only draw the face...that was it.) It is usually a mom & kids project...but, lucky for me, our friendly (and very crafty and patient) babysitter, Rachel, helped us with the carving. First thing we did was scoop out the pumpkins. Like I said...this goes much faster now that Keaton and Lola are willing to get their hands dirty!

 

Nash, on the other hand, just supervised. He couldn't handle the muck. For a kid who is very brave in so many things...he sometimes surprises me when he is timid about something.

 

 

Look at Nash...hands behind his back...and scowl on his face....

 

 

Then, we spent about 30 minutes on google...trying to decide how to carve our pumpkins. Nash's favorite movie is "How to Train Your Dragon" so he and Rachel chose to carve a picture of Toothless the dragon into Nash's pumpkin. (We mistakenly thought that we could take the permanent marker off with fingernail polish remover...not so much...Oh well, looks good in the dark!)  Keaton just chose a combo...he really wanted to run the drill and do dots...but he also wanted a scary face....Lola wanted a cat.

  The 2 older kids actually helped CARVE this year. The little saws that came in a kit worked great. (Note to self...have more than TWO next year....) This is a picture of Keaton actually carving....and below is a posed picture of Lola. :)  I was a little too busy during the carving process to be snapping pictures.  Nash was eventually uncooperative, so he ended up watching a cartoon while Rachel carved his pumpkin. Cruz just sat in his high chair, snacked, and watched us.

 Here is a picture of our finished products! They had lots of fun...and if I had a little more energy...I would let them carve more (the older 2 anyway....) Maybe next year! I was SO glad Rachee was here to help...the extra set of hands was great!

 So...I didn't do a great job of taking the picture in the dark...but you get the idea! I am looking forward to someday carving my own pumpkin! :)

 I am thinking it will be awhile.....

 

 

We carved pumpkins on Friday night...then, on Sunday afternoon we got into our costumes and went to our church's Halloween party!

 

Cruz was supposed to be a dog..but ended up being too LONG for the costume...so we went with our old reliable penguin. :) It was very comfy for him. Keaton was originally going to be a fireman...but Nash insisted on conquering Keaton's costume, so I got him one of his own. As of right now we have THREE accessories that make a siren sound....I'm pretty sure you will hear us coming..... Lola is a zebra (obviously). Her mask actually makes a zebra/horse? sound when you press its nose! I bought her the mask and a tail...the rest are clothes that she wears!

 

The Halloween Party was from 1pm to 3pm.

Nash usually naps from about 12:30pm to 4pm. 

(Along with Cruz....)

 

So, needless to say...we were pushing it.

But, we went anyway because the kids were excited about it. Nash did alright for the first part...but didn't like playing bingo at all...so he began coloring his prize coloring book...and made it through.

 The kids had lots of fun. They had a pumpkin decorating contest (divided us into teams) and they had a few other activities...and we played Bingo.

This is a picture of Lola concentrating on Bingo. I know she is concentrating by the tounge hanging out of her mouth...

 

This is our little penguin....he obviously thought the party was boring. (kidding...he fought his nap so hard...but his little eyes got too heavy....

and finally shut for the last 45 minutes...)

 

Here a picture of Nash trying to mess up Keaton and Lola's bingo cards....

 

The best part of the day for Lola

....she got 2nd in the costume contest!

She was more excited than she looks in this picture...

 

Tomorrow is Halloween. The weather is going to be nice....the costumes are laid out...and I have the stroller ready! The kids are SO excited to trick-or-treat.

 

I'll admit. I don't love Halloween.

....but I love that the kids love it. When adults say that Halloween is their favorite 'holiday', I think they are nuts! (Mine is a tie between July 4th and Christmas.)  To me, Halloween is mostly a lot of work and hassle... and it doesn't help that this is my single parent time of year. But, as the kids get older, and more independent...

I am finding a little joy in this otherwise creepy holiday.

...but I say, bring on Thanksgiving and Christmas!

(Yes, as usual, I am one of those people.)

Happy Halloween!

whobody loves mondays?

I have a confession to make.

 

I love Mondays.

 

I really do. I know most people complain about Mondays...but, usually, not me. I love my kids...and I really enjoy my kids....and I love spending time with my kids.

 BUT,  when the number of kids in our house goes from 4 to 2, things are a lot different.

 

I also love weekends....I really do have fun when all of the kids are around....and the little boys have a blast with the big kids leading them around and playing with them. 

 

But, when Monday rolls around, I think all 3 of us are happy to have things a little more calm and peaceful.  I call Monday my weekend recovery day. :)  Keep in mind, Jason is still in the field....so it is just me and the kids all weekend long....and things tend to get a little hectic.  This harvest is going well...and all in all...I am doing fine...but I am getting tired, and am very much looking forward to Thanksgiving!

 

Below is a picture of Keaton and Lola waiting for the bus...of course, Nash joined them (like he usually does) and they decided that they should do a group hug to stay warm. It really isn't that cold....but one week ago the kids went to school in shorts...so it just feels cold now. I love that too...I am ready for the change in seasons. I actually had my air on last week (i hate having my air on)....only because it was so warm in here... and....with the corn dryer running, I cannot have the windows open without flooding the house with pieces of corn. Now, the air is fresh outside...and it feels like fall. Love it!

 

 

This is Nash already starting to say "No me say bye to Keaton & Lola..."

 

I wanted to do a little reminiscing.....here is a picture of me one year ago today.

It isn't the clearest picture...but I think you can see that I am a little pregnant in this picture. (No, this is not my announcement...I am not pregnant now, but, thanks for asking!) Anyway, as you can see above, I was pregnant one year ago today....(and didn't even have my 9 lb baby for 1 month after this picture was taken!)

No wonder I felt miserable by the end of the day! Wow.

Amazing....that tiny little baby bump

(okay, I know it isn't tiny) is now THIS:

Isn't he stinkin' cute? I know I haven't posted much about Cruz lately...he is really great!

 

He has just started using his little walking toys...and is VERY proud when he can stroll across the room.  He usually dances while he is walking, because his lion makes music when it moves...who can resist dancing when you hear music? He has 7 teeth already and is crawling everywhere (and into everything).  I love to smooch his cheeks...and he loves to be tickled.... When I look at these pictures I am reminded that I am truly blessed! It is just amazing...when I was that pregnant...I never imagined having an almost one year old a year later. Somehow at that stage of pregnancy, it is hard to see past the newborn stage.  My children truly are a blessing.  :) Sometimes I need that reminder on Sunday night during harvest... Luckily, my Mondays bring me back and ground me a little.  

 

Funny thing is, here I am....looking forward to one hour from now when Keaton and Lola get home from school!  Too funny.

whobody partied?

Of course, the morning of Nash's birthday, we began the celebration with a candle in

Nash's breakfast bagel. 

He LOVES to blow out candles and have everyone sing to him!

 

 

 

 

Our trucks & tractors themed birthday cake....

 

Paired nicely with our  pirate themed plates & napkins (?)...

 

 

We had lots of people come to Nash's birthday party...My whole family was there (mostly because it ended up being planned around their schedules :)... even Grandma and Grandpa Werges celebrated with us the night before they left for Florida!  Also partying with us were Grandma Piano, Grandpa Sheryl, Uncle Steve & Aunt Lisa, Uncle Steve & Aunt Tessa, Cora, Aunt Nancy, Grandma Tractor, and Cagney & Mason! (Uncle Rod & Grandpa Tractor were picking corn...and Devin had a birthday party for a friend). We had lots of people here, but everything worked out perfectly in our newly remodeled basement.
(Yay! First birthday party down there!)

 

 

The kids played for a bit before we ate...the puppet theater is always a big hit. (No, Lola is not supposed to be standing up on the furniture....) The kids LOVE to play with their cousins! Although we live very close...and Jason & Rod work together every day...
we just don't get to see them as much as we would like to!
They really play well together!

 

 

The boys pretty much spent the whole night at the Foosball table (my brother included...)

 

 

We had pizza and fruit and veggies for supper...

 

 

and then it was time for Nash's FAVORITE part....
(according to him at bedtime that night)...
blowing out the candles.

 His little smirk was SO cute...it was like when we started singing, he all of a sudden
got very shy...and very proud!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nash AFTER his cupcake (obviously)...this was on purpose. You can't see it very well, but he actually had frosting UP his nose. (anything for a laugh.)

 

 

Then time to open presents....Nash LOVED this toy that Keaton and Lola picked out...and has really been playing with them a lot ever since his birthday....even though they are the WRONG color. Lucky for us, none of them have broken down yet.....

 

This may have been Nash's favorite gift
...he loves to 'work' and 'fix things'....

 

 

Nash opening his present from Keaton...a hand drawn book!

 

 

Cagney was a big help with Cruz...she is always a great 'babysitter' during family gatherings for all of the kids!

 

 

This is a picture of Nash trying to figure out exactly what Cora was doing....

 

 

Then, of course, he had to hold her....

 

 

Keaton put on a puppet show for us....

 

 

And...I wanted a family picture of us...(but forgot about it til the end of the night....therefore, Cruz's shirt is a little wet).  I love to get pictures of all 6 of us...it doesn't happen very often (mostly because I am usually the one holding the camera.)

 

We had a great night with our families!

Happy 3rd birthday Nash!

 

whobody is Nash?

 

 

and now for a quick interview with the birthday boy:

1. My favorite food is....pizza.

2. My favorite sport is....basketball.

3. My favorite color is....yellow.

4. My favorite thing to do outside is....ride mine rocketship bike.

5. My favorite song is...E-I-E-I-O.

6. When I grow up I want to be...fireman.

7. The coolest person on earth is...Keaton.

8. If I could go anywhere in the world I would go...at Jodi's (the restaurant)

9. My favorite treat is...chocolate teddy grahams.

10. A food I really don't like is...peacock. (?)

11. My best friends are...Cagney, Mason, Devin, Keaton, Lola, Colton, Tate, Lily, Nikole, Jeff, Aidan, Charlotte, Olive,  Grandma Zittergruen, & Grandma Tractor, Rachee, Alicia, Blake, Kylee & Alison.

12. Three words to describe me are...cool, fast, tired.

13. My favorite book is.....E-I-E-I-O (Jolly Barnyard).

14. Before I fall asleep I think about...mine flashlight.

15. I love to learn about...Jesus.

16. My favorite thing to do with Keaton is....work.

17. My favorite thing to do with Lola is...play toys.

18. My favorite thing to do with Cruz is...play baby toys.

19. Something that makes me happy is...Goo Goo Ga Ga! (this is what he says to make Cruz happy)

20. The best thing about being three years old is...havin' my birthday cake.

whobody helped?

Nash LOVED helping me get ready for his birthday party.

 

The day before, he assisted me the cupcake baking...we had to do both yellow cupcakes AND chocolate...because Nash was insisting on yellow (I don't know if he has ever even had yellow cake before)...and the other 2 kids were trying their best to talk him into chocolate....I decided to just try to make everyone happy!

 

 

 

 

Of course, we had to do a picture of him pointing at the cupcakes...

just in case we couldn't see them. 

 

 Ironic how we had cupcake wrappers with skull & crossbones on them.

 Nothing like desensitizing the kids to the

universal sign for poison....

(Didn't think of THAT one when I bought them....luckily, we did not make poison cupcakes.)

 

 

The day of Nash's birthday, he went around a picked out which trucks and tractors he wanted on his 'birthday cake'...(and then I washed them...) and then he helped me set it up!  Notice how both the skid loader and the loader tractor are 'lifting' the cupcakes into the other trucks. Nash thought that was HILARIOUS.

 

 

Then he (without me asking him to) went into the storeroom, where Lola had his wrapped presents hidden...and started carrying them out. (They must not have been hidden too well...since he found them unprompted.)

 

 

Checking out the presents...these are not actually all filled with toys...

the bags are from Keaton and Lola....

those sweeties made pictures, books and cards for Nash...and Keaton even saved little snacks and prizes from school and gave them to Nash in his present.

Sometimes they really do make my heart smile.

(And if you check out the tape job on the present...Keaton wrapped it all by himself....I was actually impressed...however, I may need to go buy some more tape.)

 

 

Lastly...Keaton worked very hard making this banner for Nash...He cut out all of these separate triangles....and had plans of stringing them together...but we ran out of time, so we just glued them on some scrapbook paper.

I believe we will be saving this for other years....

 

Nash (and the older 2 kids) really had lots of fun getting prepared for the party....they LOVE to have people over...especially their cousins!

whobody is 3?

Are you kidding me?

 

It has been a week since Nash's birthday...

and I am finally sitting down to write about it!

 

below is a picture of Nash...trying to show me 3 with his fingers....

 

I just went through the pictures from his birthday...

and picked out my favorites to share on this blog.

 

My 34 favorites.

 

Therefore, I will be splitting this into a few posts (or I would never get it done).

 

SO Nash is THREE YEARS OLD!!!

I cannot believe it. I know I have said this before....I really LOVE this age. 

 

Nash is so much fun to be around. 

 

A FEW THINGS ABOUT NASHITY NASH!

HE really never stops talking

(which is fine, until I am trying to talk to someone else and I can't even hear

them over his constant chatter/questions.) 

HE is FULL of personality. 

(I really don't know how it is possible to cram that much personality into a small human being.)

HE is very brave.

(Sometimes too brave...he does end up hurt a lot.)

HE can be healed with a kiss.

(Truly...he gets hurt a lot...but when I kiss it...it is usually all better.)

 

HE is hilarious!

(Nash will pretty much do anything for a laugh.)

HE loves bathroom humor.

(Inserting the words "pee" "poop" and "fart" into as many conversations as possible....these conversations happen when he thinks I am out of earshot. Little does he know that I have monitors in each of the kids bedrooms...

and eyes on the back of my head, of course.)

He LOVES Cruz.

(Nash always refers to him as "little cruzie woozie woozie"...my mom is afraid Cruz will go to kindergarten with that as his name...I don't think that is going to be a problem. He always says that Cruz is his best friend...and plays pretty well with him. He likes to help me do things...like put Cruz to bed...or carry him around. Picture this: I am carrying Cruz...and Nash is walking along beside me...holding one of Cruz's feet.  He holds it til we get to his crib...then he lifts it up to HELP me put him into his crib.  He truly thinks he is carrying some of the weight. When Cruz starts making noise when he is waking up from his nap, Nash will say "listen mom, hes sayin' Naaaaa-ssshhheeee come and get me!"....so I usually let Nash go in there first.)

HE idolizes Keaton & Lola. Especially Keaton. 

(He loves to follow them around and do whatever they do. He likes to ride bikes and go on nature hunts with them.  He goes outside with them most mornings while they are waiting for the bus...and then when the bus comes...and then leaves with them on it...he comes back to the house with his bottom lip out and says "I no wanna say goodbye..." but then instantly moves onto something else.)

HE burps...and then very politely says "excuse you mom"

(this stems from him burping...and me saying "excuse you, nash"....)

HE still uses his binkie and blankie to sleep.

(He really loves them...I will be 'losing' his binkies soon...but I promised him I will NEVER take his blankie away from him and that he can always sleep with his blankie.

My apologies to his future wife.)

HE is very independent.

(He will sometimes get his own sippy cup out of the cupboard, get the milk out, fill his cup, put on the lid, put the milk back in the fridge...and enjoy his milkie.  Some might say, if he is old enough to do that, he shouldn't have a sippy cup... I SAY let him be little....and it is quite helpful that he can get his own if I am unable to help him out....like if I am sitting here catching up on my blog, perhaps. )

HE is very sweet.

(He acknowledges the nice things people do for him...thanking them unprompted....and will talk about nice things that people did for him WAY after it happened.  "That was so nice of Rachee to give me this backhoe." "That was so nice of Keat to give me his candy from school!" I love that!)

HE is a mommy's boy.

(He wants me to do everything for him...from helping with his shoes...

to putting him to bed.)

HE loves to play with things that hook together.

(Nash really enjoys playing with little tractors, wagons, and combines....and ANYTHING that can be hooked together....whenever he plays with the train set he always has about 10 cars hooked together, and then cries when it won't stay on the track.)

HE is very intense.

(Nash is either going 100 mph awake...or sleeping hard. He either eats everything on his plate...or nothing. He is either yelling...or silent. )

HE thinks that the person he is talking to on the phone can see him.

(When he talks to people on the phone...he nods a lot...and says things like "look at my new backhoe!" and holds the phone up to his backhoe.)

HE sometimes puts his underwear on backwards.

(Okay...if he is the one putting it on...it is most of the time.  It does NOT look comfortable at all..but he doesn't seem to mind...and most of the time the more interesting picture is on the BACK of the underwear.  Choosing my battles....)

HE never watches where he is going.

(I cannot tell you how many times he has run into the banister of our

stairs because he is walking down the hall to his room....

looking backwards and talking to us.

Luckily, most owies are fixed with kisses....AND we have the baby gate up,

 so he can't fall down the stairs.

He says Yuh-Huh.

(Okay, I have to admit, this is one of my favorites.... simple, but something I want to remember.  His 'affirmative' response to things is not

"yes, yeah, yep or uh-huh" it is "YUH-HUH" and I love it!)

 

 

 

Quick story:

We were eating supper as a family...I was trying to get the kids to try something new. (Not sure what it was....it was a month or so ago.)  Nash tried it and then got a big smile and said

"tastes wike....tastes wike...."

(we knew he was going to say "poop" so both Jason and I are saying

"Nash...don't say it! Don't say it, Nash!" while trying to keep our laughs under control)

Nash continues to say

"tastes wike....tastes wike...."

at this point he is smiling...looking from Keaton to Lola to Keaton to Lola....

and of course they have TOTALLY lost it.

He kept it up for a few minutes til Jason and I lost it too...and then
"tastes wike....POOP!"

(He knew that it would be hard for us to punish him when we were laughing so hard.)

Oh. My. Goodness. It might be one of those times that you just had to be there...but it was SO FUNNY! I am actually laughing out loud while typing it up right now!

 

 

Getting things set up for his birthday party...still trying to make 3 with his fingers....it is a tough one!

 YAY. finally got it!!!

 

 

Can you believe that just 3 years ago...THIS was Nash?

 

...and 2 years ago, he looked like this:

 

 

Nash....1 year ago...when he was TWO...

 

 

Kids REALLY grow up so fast.

(I know that is said way too often, but it is SO true!)

I can't believe that Nash is THREE....but, I am so excited to see the awesome person he is growing into!

 

Stay tuned for more birthday posts...they should be a lot less wordy. :)