Rachel's 1st Night in her Room

We FINALLY got around to putting Rachel and Brooke in the same bedroom. We had decided a long time ago when I was pregnant that the girls would share a room. We only have 3 bedrooms, so we knew theyd have to anyway. For awhile Rachel slept in her bassinet, then after that we kindof concocted a redneck bedroom in the hallway, with roomdividers and a pack-n-play, haha and thats where Rachel has been sleeping for the past several months. We had been working on cleaning out Brookes room and getting it re-decorated. Arnold painted the walls pink and my friend Natalie got her the wall decals at Target for her bday that match the new bedding we got Brooke. It has owls, birds, mushrooms, stuff like that. Anyway, its really cute! We havent finished the room but we decided to go ahead and move Rachel in anyway. When we first put her in the crib she looked really uspet and worried but she had stopped crying by the time we left the room. We kept the door cracked and from the living room Arnold and I could hear Rachel and Brooke "talking" to each other, it was really sweet :) Brooke really kept her entertained. I was afraid theyd never go to bed, but Arnold checked on them later and they were both fast asleep! AND rachel slept the whole night! So Id call that a success! I just hope it keeps up. This is wonderful so far b/c now we can clean the hallway out!

Please dont leave me!!!

Is this her way of flipping me off?! I guess ill never know

Maybe this wont be so bad...

Had to get one of Brooke too :)

Fall Photo Shoot

The other day we were outside playing, it was nice weather and a relaxing weekend day. I told Arnold to take the camera and start taking random shots, which he did.. and he took ALOT! this is only a few, some of my favorites. I know i take way too many pictures but i love to get lots of shots of the kids because they change so much, so fast! We have been wanting to go get professional fall pics done of the family, since we havent had a family pic done since last year! :( But we havent been able to yet. At least I have these, which capture the kids having fun this fall :) And if you wonder why i never have as many pics of Brooke and Caleb as Rachel, its because they wont sit/stand still long enough for me to take them! Im sure Rachel will go thru that stage soon enough.. she already starts to sometimes give me dirty looks when I bring the camera out :P

My favorite!

School Picture Day

Brooke had school picture day last week. It was her first ever school pictures! We had to pre-pay so I hope the pictures turn out ok. I asked her if she smiled pretty and she said yes. she even re-created the smile for me :P I cant wait to get the pictures back! Heres the outfit she wore for the pics. She got the sweater for her bday from her Aunt Beth. And she wore a Hello Kitty bow that a friend of mine made her for her birthday, although you cant really see it in the pic!

My big 4-Year Old :)

At least the shoes dont show, they didnt match!

Weekly Walking Group!

I dont quite remember how this got started, but a few friends and I have started a weekly walking group at our local mall. Every wed. morning at 9:30 we meet up in the foodcourt and walk several laps around the mall. Its good exercise! Especially in the cooler weather when you dont tend to always get as much exercise. Its so nice to get out of the house, and just be with the girls. Girl-time is the best! Im able to actually talk to adults! Small thing but makes a big difference when you are a Stay-at-Home-Mom! There are a few of us who make it just about every single week, and since we started we have added on some new people. Its funny because we start to take up the whole aisle and sometimes the older people who do their mall walking get frustrated with us and try to shove by :P Along with the walking also comes shopping of course. We sometimes stop into stores to look or buy things. Caleb HATES this part.. haha, typical guy i guess. Then we usually end up at the play area they have for kids, at the end. Now that Rachel is walking, she loves to play in there with the big kids.. its so cute! Lets hope they dont catch some kind of nasty sickness in there though, because that place is probably crawling with germs! Anyway, I love doing this every week and im glad we came up with the idea! I look forward to wed. mornings now, and im not even a morning person! :)

Connor and Rach cruising in their Strollers :)

Big Halloween Party!!

Some of you might remember the big Halloween party I threw last year. Well i wanted to have another one this year but arnold hates parties with a passion so i told him I would make it small. Then my friend Jamie asked me if I wanted to throw the party together. We have a lot of the same friends so it worked out well. And of course the party list kept growing and growing, haha! But we had a lot of fun planning it, and Id say it was a pretty good success. We had lots of food and desserts, thanks to Jamies cooking skills! I cant cook so im glad she stepped in on that part ;-) Jamie made little goody bags for the kids that looked like tombstones. And i made ghost lollipops. We had halloween music playing, and all the kids dressed up, it was cute to see them all! They decorated mini pumpkins, which seemed to be a big hit. We then played a game called Mummy race-- the kids used rolls of toilet paper to see who could wrap one kid up the fastest! It was funny to watch. We didnt think that one through though, the kids made quite the mess with that TP after the game!


All in all id say it was a really fun night, and Im glad we decided to have it. As for Arnold? I told him he didnt have to show up, but you know he did.. he cant stay away from the awesomeness of the parties ;-)

There were several Bumblebees there :)

Halloween 2010!

We had a wonderful and busy Halloween weekend! On Friday night my friend and I threw a party for a lot of our friends and their kids. Then saturday evening our church had their Trunk or Treat and Fall Festival. We had always taken the kids but never participated so we decided to do a trunk this year. It was fun handing out candy to all the kids. They also had carnival games which the kids loved playing, and a chili contest. Im not sure who's I ate but it was really good! :) I had a lot of friends show up that I had invited, so that was great. I was worried about it being really cold that evening, but it wasnt too bad at all!

Then sunday evening we took the kids out again. First we went to my parents' church, and they had a festival and trunk or treat also. They played more games, got their faces painted, and did the cake walk, which Brooke won! :) Then we stopped by my good friend Jess' place so the kids could see her and get some candy :) And lastly we went over to my parents' house and had dinner with them. Its become a yearly tradition for us to go to their house and have dinner after all the Halloween festivities.


Anyway, this year I had a Princess, a Lion, and a Bumblee! Didnt get Rachels costume till last minute b/c I couldnt make up my mind about what i wanted her to be, everything was so cute! Then i saw a Bumblebee costume at Oldnavy one night for 50% off and so I knew it was meant to be ;-) LOL that sounds like a joke. Anyway, we ran by Walmart the other day to see if they had any Halloween stuff left on clearance and was able to score Caleb a Transformer costume for next year, for only $1.80! I love deals like that. So lets hope hes into Transformers next year!

My baby Bumblebee! :)

My ferocious lion :)

My princess :)

My neice, the Bunny

Church Trunk or Treat

Brooke's Preschool Days

I know, its been forever since i updated!!

Brooke started preschool! On the actual day she turned 4! She had her first day, then had her bday party that night, so needless to say she was EXHAUSTED at the end of all that! :)

We got up early, got her ready in a new dress Lauryn and I had picked out at the mall. Then we took a ton of pics of course ;-) We went as a family to drop her off at her classroom. Her teachers name is Mrs Corpening, and she seems like the sweetest woman, i really like her. Her assistant teacher is Mrs Sullivan. I had a VERY hard time letting her go that morning-- i was crying all the way home after we dropped her off. I didnt know it would hit me so hard, but it did. Anyway, she was SO excited to actually go, but then she cried for us when we left. But of course she ended up doing ok and having a great day.



Its been about a month now and we seem to have gotten used to the routine. She has to be there early-- Arnold leaves with her around 715 every morning. Im lucky hes able to drop her off-- that helps me out alot. Then i pick her up every afternoon around 230. She loves it so far, and has made lots of friends. She even has a BOYFRIEND, (or a few, she can never decide ;-) But she talks about this one boy in particular a LOT! ;-) Anyway.. i am pleased with how well things are going. She is learning alot and doing great. Every day that she listens and does well she gets a star-- so far shes gotten a star every day, so lets hope that keeps up!


Next monday they have their first fieldtrip-- to the FireStation. I know she will love that.