Conversation stopper – by exuberant randomness

Ethan & Alaina finished their 5-minute time-out for jumping on mama’s bed, so I sat in front of them to discuss why jumping on mama’s bed is such a heinous crime. “You know kiddies, Daddy goes to work everyday. He goes and earns money. We buy nice things with the money…like our beds. If you break the beds, we have to have more money, so daddy has to work even more. We don’t want to have Daddy go to MORE work do we?”

You can see Ethan’s face light up as he has his eureka moment - "Ahhh," I think, "I’ve gotten through to him."

Thoughtfully, Ethan says, “Oh…daddy has to work for more money? Oh, that’s right. He buys more Fish? What? Daddy is going to buy more fish?! Oh that’s right…Daddy’s going to buy a BIG fish!

Mama stammers out, “uh….what?


Conversation stopper – by excessive affection

During dinnertime last night, the boy was exasperating. He was slowly chewing down one tiny bite of food at a time. (guess he caught on to the fact he was going to bed the second he was finished.) But, I managed to spit out an empty threat regardless of what he knew, “Eat Austin! Eat your food or you are going to bed…”

That was as far as I got. By the second “eat” Austin was already leaning towards me with that close-mouth, sweet, dimpled smile. By the time I had reached the word “bed” he had both arms tight around my neck and was giving me soft, understanding pats on the back. As soon as he knew I wasn’t going to pursue my initial line of discussion, he leaned back…gave me one more smile and continued to take miniscule bites of his dinner.

The hug hypnosis technique only lasted a few minutes and as soon as I came back to my senses, I started up again, “Austin, so help me, if you don’t…”

Again the smile and hug routine was pulled on me. I can’t help myself…it works every time. And that sly guy knows it. Over and over I was hushed up, until Robert saved me back picking him up and whisking him off to bed before the same dark magic could be pulled on him.


The handkerchief drop

Laina was busy on my lap getting her nails clipped. Austin was reading a book next to us. Laina looked at Austin and with a smug look on her face, she dropped her book on the ground, “Austin…you get my book?” she innocently asks. Austin, always happy to help a damsel in distress, grabs the book and puts it in her lap. As soon as he is settled back with his book Alaina drops her book on the floor again…”Austin, you get my book?” I quickly reach for the book myself to save Austin the effort and I hand it over to our resident princess. She promptly shoves it back on the floor with disgust and says, “no…not mama. Austin get it.” Oooooh, are we in trouble!


Santa mistake

Ethan was not doing well. He had been having a very naughty morning and was polishing it off with refusing to take his nap. Infuriated I told him that if he didn’t shape up I was going to call Santa and tell him not to bother coming to our house for Christmas (we are having a bit of a belated Christmas here on the east coast. Rob’s parents are coming to visit in a couple of days, so we moved Christmas back a week.) Ethan was unfazed until I dial a number and proceed to chat with Santa. (I really am a grinch)

Oh yeah…that did it. The poor guy was frantic. Of course, instead of having a nice calming effect, Ethan lost it. He refused to be comforted unless I called Santa back and let him tell Santa that he was going to be a good boy. After a quick call to Dad, “Santa” not only calmed Ethan down, but instructed him to go to bed without any more fuss.
A very subdued Ethan hung up the phone and crawled right into bed without one complaint. I should really have Santa call more often. :)

At 9 in the morning I found myself changing Austin's diaper while Ethan busied himself by playing daddy. He was merrily tucking Alaina into his bed with the whole night-time ritual...reading her a story, singing a song and then with a sweet goodnight kiss he leapt out the door. Life was moving along at an easy, regular pace. Seconds after Ethan left he burst back in the room to start the whole process over again. This is game that could go on for awhile. Ethan puts Lainy back down and tucks her in again. After he gives her another good-night kiss he jumps up for the door...but this time it's different. The door doesn't open. It only takes us a moment to realize that Ethan had lock us in. All of us. Frantically I search for the screwdriver that Robert usually keeps above the door for just such an emergency as ours. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.
All eyes move towards the windows. I unlock our windows and after a lot of grunting and kiddie-friendly cussing, (dag-nab-it you crummy thing!) the window slowly works its way up. Another 10 minutes is spent figuring out that two buttons need to be pressed down to allow the window to pull open like an oven door before the screen can come out. Then, with the stealth of a mountain lion, I jump out the window onto the wet grass (in my bare feet, even) and make a mad dash for the front door. It's locked. We have a total of 5 doors that could lead us inside (ridiculous, I know) and I find each one of them securely locked. We were all locked into Ethan's room and locked out of the house.
Looking at my safe home I realize that the only way in is through Ethan's door, and the only way we would get through that door was to go to my neighbors for a screwdriver. I was really hoping to introduce my family to the neighbors looking all done-up with my sharply dressed husband and three perfectly groomed kids, holding a plate of Christmas cookies. Standing in my PJ's in my bare-feet was not part of my pretty picture. Taking a deep breath and a big helping of humble pie, I sprint for our nearest neighbor. No one answers. I go to the next door. Again, no one answers. By the third door the embarrassment of the situation starts to wear off. I look at my self, this crazy haired, no make-up, half-dressed stranger running around my new neighborhood. As I hit two more neighbors without any luck, I start to laugh at the hilarity of it all. There I am grinning like a maniac and in the background you can hear my three kids screaming their heads off as they hang halfway out the window. Now why do you think no one was answering the door? A little frightened, maybe? Finally, at the 7th house I get a response. A nice man opens up the door and after I stammer out, "hi, yeah...super embarrassed about this, but...please help?" I'm actually really happy it was a man at the door because, (and despite my predisposition to do so, I"m not exaggerating) within 30 seconds he had a tool box in front of me. (Where does he keep it? Displayed on the mantel?) And 10 seconds after that I was trotting back to my window with the right tool.
After getting through the window and saving little Austin who had become trapped between oven-door window and his bed (I love that huge bum of his...but it does get him into some awkward situations) I freed my little family from what could have been the longest day of our lives. And within two minutes I was back at our new favorite neighbor's house, Oh-bee-jus (the phonetic spelling of his name...don't ask me the proper way to spell it,) and after a few high fives from the diaper clad children that followed me, we were on our way back into our humdrum little life in our new house. Welcome to the Neighborhood!
I thought ya'll would share a Merry Christmas Chuckle at yet another strange, but sadly, not the strangest, experience in my little life.

Have a very Merry Christmas!

Here are Rudolph's helpers:

Here it is...our new paint job, all finished. It wasn't quite the renovation that Noelle has been going through with her kitchen, but it sure was nice to say goodbye to some of that orange.

Here is our kitchen before:



And After:



Here is the living room before:


And After:


Here is the side of the living room before:



And after:


Now as soon as we get the curtains up (dark brown, something or other) and our couches, we'll be able to sit down and relax. Oh, and after we unpack. :)

Happy Birthday Rob! That guy finally turned 31. I swear, he is taking FOREVER catching up with me. At the rate he's going, I'm always going to be older than he is. :) We had a fun little family party for the big day. I had purchased all the stuff to make him a great cake and dinner when our oven broke. So, instead I ended up buying him a store cake and frying salmon (ah the shame...) It turned out decent enough. Maybe next year will be perfect.

Sometimes I hate being the adult. I found Ethan running erratically around the living room this morning. Not an entirely uncommon sight, but a little stranger than usual. When I looked closer I saw he was chasing an enormous centipede, daddy-long leg spider like insect. It was huge with long tentacles going every which way. And fast. And did I say huge? After swallowing my initial scream I grabbed a cup and piece if paper and set about capturing the scary devil. With 3 kiddies cheering me on I managed a double turn, dive roll, sudden death capture maneuver that trapped the "thing" in mere seconds. It was pretty spectacular. At this point the thundering crowd of barbarians started chanting "mercy! mercy! mercy!" (sound like a movie you've seen?) Now, as a lover of all things living, I usually take lost and frightened bugs back out to the nature they came from..."back home" is the phrase we use as we let loose the little buggers back on the porch. However, this guy was straight from a horror movie, so I did what any other loving mother would do. I lied to my kids. I told them that we would let this special guy swim home...through the toilet. So, with my cheering squad behind me, we marched to the bathroom to flush the bug back home...to his permanent home. Yeah! Now, I'm thinking I will call that bug guy to come spray after all. I'd rather not help too many types of bugs reach their final resting place in the rushing waters of the drain.



Find Waldo...or the boys. We thought we lost them for a moment under the ocean of packing paper, but we eventually found the bottom of the kitchen again - and what do you know? The boys were still there :)

We decided to do Christmas even though we are only half way unpacked. I've got the front rooms looking passable, but that spare room/office looks like a storage unit.


Ethan.... Why do so many of my stories start that way? But yet again, it begins with Ethan. Ethan was busy running around the house, getting into mischief, as I stared deep into little Austin’s eyes and discussed the long lasting repercussions of dumping out cereal boxes all over the floor. It was in the middle of this conversation that I heard the words no mother should ever hear. "Mama! I went pee pee in there!" I looked up to see Ethan with his underwear around his ankles pointing into the closet with Alaina gleefully cheering and clapping at such a wonderful feat. "Go Ethan...go! Go!" I swear I sat frozen for a good few seconds imagining the mess I had ahead of me. And for the first time in a good while, I was quite speechless. "Don't pee in the closet!" just seemed like too strange of a phrase to yell out. When I came to myself I walked over to assess the damage. Ethan remained a picture of pride, beaming with the happiness that comes with knowing he did a job well done. I took a breath and looked into the closet only to once again become speechless. Instead of the disaster I had imagined, I saw that Ethan had found the little portable potty in one of our many boxes and put it to good use. Now, the back-splash wasn't pretty, but most of it was contained in the pot. It was such a bizarre, funny thing to see that I completely forgot to tell Ethan that peeing in closets is inappropriate behavior.

Here is Alaina, our future fashionista...I swear, some of the things that girl puts together. We call it toddler chic. That is a belt and a hat on her head, by the way.



Last night we were taking turns saying a prayer before dinner. Austin usually spits out a routine, "thank you...mama, austin, dada, bless. bless. amen!" Alaina's prayers are more imitation then anything else...and not imitating words, but the tone of voice used. Her prayers go, "Hebanly Farder thank you...wah bahh zuee wee baaah da gooz zee. AMEN!" Ethan always gets a kick out of that...I think it is mostly for his benefit. So silly. Ethan's prayers are getting more and more interesting. Last night he was thankful that we went to a park and saw a dog. He was also thankful for the food and mama and dada. And just when I thought he was going to wrap up he said, "and thank you for underwear." A strange thing to be thankful for, to be sure, but seriously...where would we be without it? (besides splashed on tabloids like some of our current little starlets.) I guess we've been a little focused on the whole potty training thing for a while now.



We went to a tree-lighting event at a small, but posh shopping center and the kids were dancing to a live band. It was fun to watch them show off for the mayor of Charlotte, good ol' mister what's-his-name.

We are so happy to be in our house. The kids are so excited to be able to run around and not be all over each other. Ethan will stop me at least twice a day, stare me straight in the eyes and with a voice strained with excitement, exclaim, “We are in our NEW (pause while taking deep breath) HOUSE!” It certainly beats him crying and asking to go back to his “real” home. The twins are just happy to have found new cupboard space to explore.







Here is a picture of Ethan and Alaina having a moment at dinner time. That girl is so spoiled with attention, it isn't even funny.



It will be even nicer when we have heat (such a nightmare…but it is coming next week) and when, or should I say, if, our movers ever decide to bring us our stuff. (another nightmare…one I have quite happily chosen to ignore and let Robert deal with.) But despite those two minor details, we are loving it here. The day we were unloading our car we had 3 neighbors come by and introduce themselves. Wow. What happened to the good ol’ fashion rudeness we have gotten used to up North? One could pin it on Southern Hospitality, but none of these people were from the South. There is one neighbor with a girl one year older than Ethan and a girl the same age as the twins. And another with a 5 year old boy and a 2 ½ year old boy. Our kids are ecstatic.
We have been sleeping in the living room this last week. For one, our bedroom is too cold. And secondly, it is nice to be close to the kids. Ethan has been sleeping great, but the twins have been waking up several times a night. Mostly due to the terrible colds they’ve all had, but a couple time they have just been disoriented. A couple of nights ago I woke up to Austin screaming his head off. I ran in to help him and already checking for a fever before I realized what he was screaming. “CANDY! CANDY! CAAAANNNNNDDDYYY” he cried. He was still halfway asleep, moving around fitfully as he sobbed. “What? You want candy?” I asked. “Yeahhheeesssss..” he moaned. At that moment, Alaina popped up to sitting position, and from a dead sleep, looked over to me and clearly asked, “Candy?” “No…no candy.” I replied incredulously. I couldn’t believe we were all having this conversation at 3 in the morning. After I explained to Alaina that there was no chance of having any candy that night, she shrugged, laid back down and fell asleep. Austin needed some major consoling and rocking before he relaxed and went back to sleep. It was a very sad moment for him. What do you think he was dreaming about? Christmas? I hope all visions of sugar plums aren’t this realistic…our traumatic.
I found a dvd of old Betty Boop cartoons for the kids to watch a few days ago. Yesterday, after Robert came home all of the kids came running up to us and started asking Robert to play the DVDs. Only the question came out, “Dada…we want boobies! Boobies! We want BOOBIES!” Robert had no idea what they were talking about, but he took it in stride. He reached down to Austin shoulders (the ring leader), squatted down to look at him man to man and said, “Don’t we all, son. Don’t we all.” It was very funny.

So who needs ballet classes when the party is goin' on at home? Ethan and Laina were gettin' down to some hard core children's music...I believe this one was a terrible remix of "the ants go marching." As you can see...clothes are optional and bringing your own costume is recommended. Ethan couldn't decide if he was dancing or playing the drums to the music. Alaina was cheering him on..."go ethan, go ethan...go! Go!"



Here are a couple of pictures of the kids on Thanksgiving Day. We were able to spend it with cousin Chad and Danielle's family. It was fun to see them again...but we forgot our camera, so no pics...sorry.

Packing Break

Today is Packing Day. Craziness. Tomorrow is Driving Day...not so crazy b/c all the little ones are strapped down in car seats, or "stuck" as they refer to it. But today has been one little nightmare after another. Two nights ago the twins woke up with high fevers and this morning Ethan woke up with a chest cold. All three have brought crankiness to a whole new level. Which, by the way, has been manageable. Not fun, but not the end of the world. However it has been the little "extra's" of the day have decimated my sanity.

I woke up this morning to Ethan's gigantic, round face directly in front of mine along with his, "Wake up Mama! WAKE UP! UH-OH! OH NO! WAKE UP!" I look over and see that he had decided to crawl into bed with me moments before he wet through his diaper (we haven't figured out the miracle of a dry morning yet.) I heard Robert's words from last night echoing back to me as I started to clean up the mess. "No...we don't need to put him in his big sleeping diapers...he wakes up almost dry everyday. A normal little diaper will work just fine." Hmmm. I guess it is still fine for him, 'cause he's at work and I'm cleaning up the mess. All I'll get out of that guy will be a "oh...I was wrong." But, again, not the end of the world.

The day has been full of packing and feeding kids. I've also been trying to unload all the furniture we got from Craigslist. (From Craigslist thou art and to Craigslit thou shall return :) Austin and Alaina have decided to start potty training, so we've had the usual 15 trips to the bathroom. On one of these trips Austin went his normal 10 gallon pee and before I put on a diaper he decided he had to go again. He's really into standing like a big-boy but can't really reach well, so we've been using my feet as a little booster. We ran back into the bathroom and he struggled to produce. I kept asking him if he was done and he refused to leave, so we kept trying. After a whole lot of nothing in the potty I pulled him back only to discover that there was a whole lot of something smeared on my pants legs and covering the floor. I guess he was done going pee after all. I tried to put him on the toilet which only spread the poo over more surfaces. It was a nightmare. 15 mins and a shower later we had the most of it cleaned up. Thank goodness I've been putting off cleaning the bathroom. It didn't make me feel as bad as if I had just finished it.

But seriously...why today?

I decided that I needed a break to regain my momentum, so I thought I'd unload (heh heh) my story into cyberspace. Too graphic? Well, I figured most of you skipped over this entry when you saw there weren't any pictures attached. And the few of you who read through all my stuff (mom, gina, lora) aren't easily shocked.

And...I do feel better now. I guess I better get back to the grind. Wish me luck.

Here we are trying to pack the twins. They just won't stay put!

We had yet another beautiful day as we walked along the D.C. mall. Our first stop was the Museum of Natural History...a sure hit with all the dinosaur bones and what-not. It's a little sad because it was our last big outing here from Centreville. Next Saturday is our big moving day. I must say, I'm very very excited to sleep on a real mattress. Of course we are still in the middle of our movers' nightmare, but I digress.

The boys loved all the bones and the giant elephant in the entrance of the museum, but they were even more amazed at all the buttons they could press. In fact, I think they would have like the museum even more if it only consisted of buttons and touch-computer screens.

Alaina proved to be a real girl, though. She loved the African artifact section with all of the "dollies and pretty dresses." However, it was the jewelry section that really got her going. I held her as we passed by crowns and necklaces given to empresses and queens. At each display she held on tight to the glass with her eyes glued to the pretty, shiny stones. Her running commentary went something like this, "Oooohhh, pretty. I like this one, mama. I want it, okay mama? Pretty. Ohhh.....how 'bout this one mama? How 'bout this one?" It was non-stop chatter. As soon as I pried her hands off one window she was off talking about then next one. I guess she just has simple taste. Simply expensive. Like mother, like daughter. I wouldn't mind a couple diamond encrusted tiaras and 200 carat diamonds, myself. The only problem would be finding the right outfit to go with it...




After the museum we walked around the modern art sculpture gardens. The twins didn't mind running around, but Ethan wasn't very impressed. He was really confused at the giant typewriter eraser. I have to admit, I was a little lost when I first saw it. Robert, of course, knew what it was the second he saw it. Like he sees giant typewriter erasers everyday.









I gave the whole exhibit two thumbs up...well, maybe three.




The kids' favorite part of the garden was this giant fountain. The fountain is in the middle of a huge doughnut shaped building. It is really cool because the spray starts out small and slowly grows higher and higher until it looks like it reaches the sky. The little monsters stayed there forever, running back and forth. When they started washing each other's hair, we knew it was time to take off. (That and the grumpy looking security guard bee-lining it in our direction.)



The little ones were so excited they kept running back and forth between the fountain and us. Of course, it was alaina working the camera.

Veteran's Day at Arlington Cemetery

Despite the fact that most trees have now lost their leaves here in Virginia, Arlington Cemetery has magically managed to remain in a perpetual state of early Fall. Our usual chilly mid-November weather was replaced with temperatures in the high 70's with a cool, soft, refreshing breeze. Most trees in the cemetery have retained their red, green and gold leaves creating a gorgeous landscape of Fall colors.




Because it was Veteran's Day, a small company of officers walked through each section of their cemetery to say a few words and play taps on a single bugle.


At the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, we were able to watch the changing of the guards. The Tomb is in honor of all those soldiers who have fallen and were never identified. The guards pace back and forth for an hour, 24/7 and there is a ceremony every time they switch. The kiddies did as well as could be expected for three toddlers in keeping with the required silence at the Tomb...but they were ready to leave after the 20 min. ceremony. However, Robert and I really enjoyed the watching it.









Alaina had a permanent seat to it all on her Daddy's shoulders. I don't know who was having the better time.












We trekked all over the pathways and roads to make it over to the famous Iwo Jima statue (naturally located outside of the cemetery for those, like us, who thought it would be with all the other monuments.) But it was worth the hike. Very cool.
















Here are a couple of cute pics of the kiddies. They held on to each other until they all fell down in a pile of little arms and legs.

Another day at the park. The kiddies were so cute I had to take a couple of pictures of them.





































Alaina can be seen here modeling the "grunge-sloppy-pj's-"yeah I'm wearing my brother's undies...what are you gonna do about it!" look.





Ethan is going with the less is more approach.
























Robert needs constant reassurance and support to eat his dinner. Alaina is a born cheerleader. Put them together and this is what you get.

A Norman Rockwell Moment,

Fall here is really spectacular. I've forgotten what it looked like after living in Colorado for so long. In Colorado, Fall consisted of a two week transformation from the hot and dry summer to the cold and snowy winter. In those two weeks the trees start out green, turn colors, fall to the ground and are frozen over by a sudden freeze. Here the process has been nice and slow. All month the trees have been gradually turning colors (while still on the trees) and gradually falling to cover the ground.

Today I took the kids to the park. It was cool but we were bundled in sweatshirts. After exhausting ourselves on the play equipment we started running through the blanket of leaves that cover the grass. Whooping and laughing we kicked the leaves high off the ground. We chased each other and fell into a huge pile of leaves that I had heaped together. First Austin, then Alaina and Ethan became lost in the golden pile. I threw more and more leaves over their heads until their cheeks were red with laughter. I couldn't help joining them...wrestling around like a child. After we had calmed down Austin headed over to a small hill and discovered how to roll down the grass. His expression the first time he went down was priceless...a mixture of fear and excitement. By the time we caught up with him he was on his third run down. Ethan bounded up the hill and practically threw himself back down in a dive-roll. Alaina carefully worked her way up the hill and tried to join them. It took her a little while to realize that you have to face parallel to the ground and not perpendicular. Although, it was amusing for me to watch her try to get going sideways on the hill. Pretty soon she got the hang of it and was flying down with the best of them. I held off for a few moments, posing as a responsible adult until the urge to roll down was too strong. There is an exhilarating sense of freedom rolling down a grassy hill. All those pretenses of being a grownup are shattered and you remember just what really makes you happy. So, together we bumped, twirled and twisted until we were all covered in twigs and leaves. After a while I just watched the kids run around, unable to keep up with the inexhaustible amount of energy. Ethan ran off to kick his soccer ball, Alaina studied the leaves and Austin tried to break the law of gravity by rolling up the hill. I realized that today was a day I'd dust off out of my memory when my three babies are all grown up and acting very seriously with their own lives. (I'm sure I'll manage to keep all the diaper changes and late nights tucked safely in the dark recesses of my mind forever.) It was a perfectly lovely day, though. A Norman Rockwell day.

A change of perspective

Laughing, they ran past me at each other’s heels. They always move in a group, chasing and running around each other. I continue to focus on my task. Peanut butter…check. Honey…check. Where’s the bread? Ethan, in the lead, screams out, “Come on! Chase me!” Everything with Ethan is spoken with exclamation points. The laughter passes back through the halls as I start spreading the honey onto the sandwiches. I've finished making the sandwiches before I realize the house has suddenly become very quiet. I put the knife down wondering what mischief they had gotten themselves into. Before I take a step, a slow and somber Ethan shuffles by, head down, shaking slowly back and forth. “no, no….no.” he mumbles. One step behind him is Alaina wearing the same forlorn expression. “no….no….” she whispers. And Austin with his blue eyes cast down has fallen just a step behind Laina. “no.” he says. The funeral-like procession passes by as my somber children wander into the living room. I’m fascinated and very curious. What could have happened to suddenly change their playful demeanor? Alaina peers over to me and say, “no…no mama. (huge sigh) scared. No no no.” “what are you scared of Laina?” I ask…but I’m only getting more head shaking. I grab a couple of hands and lead them back into their room to find the culprit. “What is it, guys?” I ask. Ethan breaks out in a mournful sigh, “we’re scared of the dark.” The twins concur with sad mumblings. Because we only have one lamp at the moment, there is no light in the twins room. I laugh…”oh, the dark? That isn’t something to be afraid of…. it’s fun!” Instantly three little continence’s brighten. Ethan shouts out, “yeah, it’s fun! Yeah!” They run around me, jumping and clapping…it’s fun! Whahoo. I guess it really is all in your perspective.

Ahh...Halloween

The wonderful life-lesson moments where we teach our kids to hide their identities, walk up to strangers and demand as much plunder as they can get their grubby hands on. It just warms the heart. :)
And our little monsters loved every moment of it. Twice, actually. Once at the church halloween party and again last night. It was last night, however, that they really got into the "give me candy or give me death" mentality.
They would approach the door en masse and begin what became their knocking ritual. Ethan, grinning in anticipation would start the pounding on the door. Alaina, not to be outdone by her brother would gleefully tap tap tap with her little fist. Austin, the bumbling bumblebee would force his way in between the two and give the door a good ol' smack or two. Then, all together...before anyone answered the door...they would shout out in unison "TRICK OR TREAT." By the time door was opened, the kids had already exhausted all their pleasantries and went straight in for kill. In through the door and over the threshold they crowded with their bags low and hands high in the candy bowls. Most people were so surprised that they took a step back. Mistake number one.
Instead of backing off the kids would take this as sign of weakness and crowd in even more. Watching their glittering greedy eyes, I could tell that if no intervention would take place they would send the people back in a full fledge retreat and claim their candy plunder. So as soon as we spotted the scared-deer-in-head-lights look we pulled the monsters back. Invariably as soon as the boys started down the hall to the next conquest, Laina would tip toe back and flutter her little eye-lashes and ask for more candy.
Which she got. Every time. It was really masterful work on her part. Flawless timing. Perfect mix of coyness and boldness. And stellar results. We are in trouble with that girl.
It was a fun experience but boy where we (and I mean Robert and me) beat. The kids were thrown into a bath with their suckers still stuck in their mouths, scrubbed down and hurried off to bed. As soon as their doors closed we collapsed onto the floor...devoured as much candy as we could shove in our mouths and vegetated in front of the TV covered with discarded wrappers. Okay...maybe not that bad, but we were pretty exhausted and we did eat some of the candy. This morning Robert took off with the majority of the candy to disperse to his co-workers. Poor kiddies.

Happy Pumpkin Day!

WE took off early to Cox farm, an over-the-top pumpkin farm. They had a giant slide, a bunch ofs smaller slides, a band, a really fun hayride, animals and free apple cidar, kettle corn, apples and applesauce. Oh yeah...and pumpkins.
We ended up pushing it a little, staying over 5 hours and the kids ended up crashing pretty hard.

I guess there is a thing as too much fun. But, besides those last 15 minutes, they loved every minute of it .









After an hour power-nap...we all got busy carving those pumpkins. Not too shabby, don't you think?

Luray and Skyline Drive

So, you’ve never heard of Luray? Neither had we, but I’m so glad we decided to make the trip. Some random woman at some random park told me to visit. And because I’m such a wild and crazy girl, I thought we’d throw caution to the wind and go for it. Off we went into the freezing yonder towards the Shenandoah Mountains. They have this ancient bell tower in Luray and an equally ancient man plays once a week on an ancient instrument called a carillon, (this is a bunch, in this case 47, levers that bang on the 47 bells up above.)

Now, the freezing weather might have discouraged most good parents from making their children go outside to listen to this lovely music…but not us.

The few fingers and toes we lost to frostbite was definitely worth the gorgeous music from this very strange instrument. We never saw that old guy playing though…he locked himself in during the concert. Mysterious.

We also drove Skyline drive, which is a single road stretching from one side of the Shenandoah mountain range to the other. This was very boring for the kids, but we didn’t let that stop us from enjoying ourselves. The view was amazing and I felt like we needed some mellow soundtrack to go along with the red, gold and brown leaves that swirled around us as we drove. We did have a crazy weather experience though. On our way home the clouds really started to come in gloomy and dark. On a whim we stopped at a fruit stand/shop and I jumped out to get some apples. As I was picking the apples I felt some rain drops start coming down, so I quickly filled up my bag and walked into the store. Moments after I walked in a sudden blizzard hit. Snow and hail was blowing in sideways through the door. Everyone was stood frozen in place for a few moments out of pure shock. I quickly paid and forged my way back to the car. Even though I was only about 10 feet away, I was covered with snow when I jumped in. Within 10 minutes of driving, we were in blue skies once again. It was unbelievable. And kinda cool.