fiona flies in for the night..

every year fiona the witch (aka grandma) flies in for a fun halloween party. the kids look so forward to this every year. games, crafts, freaky food, pumpkin carving with awards, bobbing for apples and the favorite of the evening ghost pie. lots of people came this year, angelina jolie, brad pitt, indiana jones, a hippie and many more. a great time was had by all who came. fiona sure does a great job with the help of her partner mildred (grandpa) evan was a tire, yes a tire. he loves all tires, and will check every SUV to make sure they have a spare tire underneath. crazy i know. i wasn't sure how i was going to make a tire costume, but we were at walmart and i saw a wheelbarrow tire and it just happened to fit perfectly around his waist!

"medium"

this is a funny story that i have always wanted to write down. and tonight i thought i would. when lily was about 3 she was my little shadow. she loved going with me everywhere. she especially loved going to the dry cleaners. she loved the high school girls that worked there and thought they were so pretty. she was also fascinated by the little lever they got to push to one side to make all those clothes go round and round. she was so surprised that they would stop right in the exact spot where our clothes were hanging. every time we would go she would always ask me what the girls name was. i told her i had no idea because they didn't wear name tags. a couple times a week we would visit the dry cleaners, the girls knew who we were, so when we would drive up they would type in our last name and then holler at me what kind of starch do you like and i would holler back "medium" the pretty girl would walk our ticket to our window and off we went. one day after several visits to the cleaners, lily asked me the usual question, what is the pretty girls name? again i would say, "lily i have no idea what her name is." this time lily kind of chuckled in the back seat and said, "mom I know her name" i replied "you do? what is it?" she then told me," mom, her name is medium."

HB Mom

happy birthday mom! today she is in colorado with my little sis, jamie and her cute family celebrating her birthday. we were able to celebrate a little before she left and we will celebrate a little more when she gets home. i hope she has a fabulous day!

my mom has a very special gift, she knows exactly what her family needs and how we go about getting what we need. my sisters know this too, without any doubt. this summer i was getting over being sick and pretty much couldn't get back on track. i felt like i was in the deep end of a swimming pool and my chin was barely above the water. my house looked like a bomb went off, i had laundry that was so overwhelming that i didn't even know where to begin. one day my mom said to me, "tomorrow i am coming over to help you with anything you need help with." how did she know? she hadn't been to my house or seen the laundry room. did i have written on my forehead "HELP ME I AM DROWNING!!" that only she could see? of course not. she just KNEW. she always just KNOWS. she saved me. she is saving all of us all the time. this is just one example of the many times. i love this special gift she has.

she is probably wondering where this picture was taken. i was a senior and we were in florida for one of those silly cheerleading competitions. of course they were not silly at the time. we went to florida my junior and senior year just ME and HER. It was so much fun.

i hope you have a wonderful day mom! thank you again for always saving me. love you. i know kind of a long post- but my mom is worth it.

my very special lunch date

we went and had lunch with our favorite 1st grader today. our little 1st grader who really had a hard time with school this year and didn't want to go for the first 2 weeks. so today when she was getting a little teary eyed before school, i said, "how about i come to lunch with you today?" she threw her arms around me and said i was the best mom in the whole world. i wish it was always that simple. if you can't tell by the picture, evan really wasn't enjoying himself there. love ya lils!

welcome

last weekend jessica went to a "new" friends house. whenever she goes to a "new" house she knows the drill. i take her to the door and meet the mom or dad and make sure everything is ok. we were invited in. the house was so inviting and warm. when i got home i went to my front door and opened it. did my home feel the same way? not so much. there are new rules at our house. no more shoes in the entry, no more backpacks in the entry, no more jackets in the entry, no more junk mail on the cabinet or whatever else anyone decides to throw on it in the entry. no more nothing. i want visitors to come to my door and feel invited, warm and welcome as soon as they walk in. this is my goal. i know this is kind of a silly goal and you might think how hard could it be, but with 5 kids even the entry can look disastrous at times.

9/11

I looked out my front window today and saw the flags. At first I didn't know why they were up, and then I realized what day it was. 9/11. I remember this day like it was yesterday. I was pregnant with Lily and turned on the tv first thing in the morning and saw the 2nd plane fly into one of the Twin Towers. So many awful things happened on that day, but so many good things happened in the following weeks. I think about those families today who lost loved ones, and I think about those who were heroes on this day 7 years ago. I am so thankful to be an American. God Bless the USA!

bath time

there is nothing better than a baby who has just gotten out of the bath and has been lathered up with baby lotion. one of my favorites. i also love the orange tint she is sporting lately because of all the yummy fruits and veggies she loves that happen to be orange in color.