Feels Like Home

So this post comes a few days after our anniversary, but better late than never.  Its been 7 years now and each one of them have brought their own joys, challenges, changes, sorrows & excitement.  Year 7 has been really itchy and I think both Scott and I are ready to move on to number 8.  Here are 7 things I love about my husband and our life together:

1. Patience:  I love that he has so much patience with me even when I am being ridiculous.
2. Laughter: I love that he works so hard to inject laughter into every moment, even when I am being cranky.
3. Passion: I love that he is as passionate for me as he was the day we got married.
4. Hardworking: I love that he works so diligently at his job, church, our home and for my family & his.  He knows that what he does he does to make the world a better place for me & our children.
5. Spontaneity:  I love that he continually gets me out of my mold and helps me to be spontaneous.
6. Support:  I love the fact that when my alarm goes off at 5:30 a.m. and I roll over, he asks why I am not going running, because he knows how good it makes me feel.
7. Selfless:  I love that he is willing to give up most of the things he loves to do so I can do the things I want or need to do.

I love you bunches Scott!!!!

Cute Things

Not a very catchy title, I know, but it will have to do.

This weekend we were at my parents house.  Sean starts crying and saying "It's a pokey ball, get the pokey ball"  It took my parents and I a minute to figure out that he was talking about a sticker.  :-)  I guess now we call them "pokey balls".

I also just have to post this picture all by itself to just say that I think Laura's face personifies pure unadulterated joy.  I think this will be one of my favorite pictures forever.

Oh where, oh where has my barrette gone . . .

So, yesterday (as I was writing my previous post) Julia's teacher calls me on my cell phone in the middle of the day.  Now this is usually never a good sign and yesterday proved to be no exception.  I figured she had a bad cough or fever since all 3 of the kids have been fighting off a cold for the past week.  But oh no!!!  It couldn't be that simple.  No . . . what my 5-year-old's teacher let me know was that during naptime Julia had swallowed her hair barrette.  And I knew exactly which one it was.  I remember really insignificant details such as this, I always called it useless knowledge.  On this particular day, though, it was anything but useless.

I immediately called our pediatrician.  She wanted to see her and have x-rays done since the barrette was metal and was pointy.  So, I get on the phone trying to find a someone to babysit my other 2 who were sleeping so innocently.  Thank heavens for my awesome friend Julie who was here within 5 minutes and stayed until my mother-in-law could come over.

After a couple of hours, an exam & x-rays we were headed home with our poop catchers, lots of gloves and tongue depressors (apparently they also work for digging in feces-eewww).  The barrette made it safely down her esophagus and was just sitting there at the top of her tummy.  I could see it plain as day on the x-rays.  Now we just have to wait and pray that it goes through the lower intestine as smoothly as it went through the esophagus.  Oh and did I mention that we have to go through her poop until we find it?  I told Julia that she was going to have to do this part.  She doesn't believe me!!!

Julia was a trooper through the whole thing.  Scott and I did have a serious talk with her about why we don't put things in our mouths that don't belong there.  Hopefully we will all learn a lesson from this incident!!

Halloween Happenings

We survived Halloween this year!!!  With 3 small children, I really think that is a statement worthy of a few exclamation points, right??  Last week our youth group put on a Halloween party so that was the first time the kids got to wear their costumes.  The plan was Julia-Supergirl, Sean-knight & Laura-Minnie Mouse.

So, in true me fashion, I was trying to get them ready at the last minute and Julia's costume (which was a hand-me-down from a friend last year) was too small.  She has recently gone through a warp speed growth spurt and none of her clothes fit.  I, under my new alias-Scatter Brained Mom, failed to consider the fact that she would have outgrown the costume as well as all her other stuff (if you didn't catch it, this statement is dripping with sarcasm).  Luckily, I had received a few more hand-me-down costumes for Julia this year, so Pebbles she became.  Also, lucky for me, Julia is very easy going about stuff like this.  However, she wouldn't wear the wig, so Scott pulled the bone out of the wig and I put it in her hair and it worked.  She even won the cutest costume at the party.

Sean and Laura's getting ready was not fraught with near as much drama.  Laura couldn't wait to be "Minnie Mouse Clubhouse" (as she dubbed herself).  Sean was thrilled to be "brave knight".  He picked his costume based on its accessories.  While in Target he picked out a big toy sword and told me, "Mom, I just want to be whatever I have to be to carry this sword".  He even started talking in third person.  Before I had his shoes on him he was running around his room & slipped.  He didn't realized I was listening and said "oh, the brave knight just fell"  I about fell out laughing!!

Saturday was the pumpkin patch and Scott and I barely survived it.  All I wanted was for the kids to have fun, get some good pictures & to get pumpkins.  Apparently, my expectations were WAY too lofty.  We did end up with pumpkins though.

Our Sunday night pumpkin carving could have gone a little smoother, but we got the job done,  the seeds roasted & Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin watched.  So, all in all it was a success.

Last night the kids were so awesome.  We had dinner at a friend's house and then we trick or treated with a couple of families.  All the kids had a blast.  Laura was a little trooper hanging in there for the duration.  In fact, I think she might have been able to outlast everyone.  Sean decided he was done after 10 or so houses and just declared he had had enough.

All in all, it was a very memorable Halloween.