I think I have been on blogcation more this month than ever before. This is going to be a heavy duty time for photos and I have already been going crazy…several gig so far and I haven’t even taken the costume photos. I mean…the costume(s)…per kid.

A couple weeks ago I tried to take our annual Fall photos and it was a pretty dismal affair. Peter usually helps but he had to work so we started out at our usual garden place. There were tears within 30 seconds of exiting the van so I thought a change of scenery might help. We went to find our regular pumpkin patch but it wasn’t set up for business, yet. Then we tried the Farm Patch for the hay maze and other fun stuff but that, too was not ready. They let us tour the maze even though it wasn’t complete. Allen fell in love with the very same rat that Katy admired two years ago. Sigh… I finally dragged them to Research Park for the ducks and got a couple decent shots. It was lunch time and nap time and we were all frustrated and exhausted by the end. A few days late Peter came with us for the garden place again and I caught a couple more smiles.

After our frustrating photo shoot(s) we headed to Chick-a-Lay for an impromptu shower welcoming Joy and Tim’s newest addition. We perked right up for air-conditioned fun with “chicken ‘n bok-bok” with Ava and Eli, and Kaitlyn. Kristen C. joined us with her two munchkins and I couldn’t believe how much Gloria had grown! We had a total blast but Allen had a little too much fun pinning E-Man in a wrestling move. No fair! Pick on someone your own size!

Peter was out of town last weekend so I allowed the kids to talk me into a trip to our favorite park. There are usually fun kids and / or puppies there so it’s always worth the walk. We fed the ducks some breakfast cereal and did some swinging in the “fwing”. Given the choice, Katy prefers the baby seats instead of the big kid ones. Who knew? Allen is a little dare-devil and you can't ever swing him too high.

On Monday I took the kids for their flu shots and was expecting a pretty bad time. Usually I make Peter come along for this stuff so he can be the bad guy. I hate seeing the kids in pain. Well, he was still out so the three of us trooped into the building for our shots. There were two nurses waiting to take care of us and two crusty ol’ cowboys behind us. The nurses announced “We’re ready” and Katy, who had remained at the entrance replied, “I’m not ready!” I made the mistake of being honest about why we were there. Well, Katy eventually made it to the desk where a nurse explained the flu mist to her. She just needed to sniff up the vaccine through her nose and then she wouldn’t have to suffer through the shot. Katy refused. They thought she misunderstood and asked if she wanted a shot or the mist. She said she wanted the shot. Everyone was laughing in amazement. Sure enough, she toughed it out and happily sucked on her purple sucker while Allen had his pants come down for his turn. The cowboys and the nurses were shocked to see that Allen didn’t even flinch or show any reaction other than look up with a face that said “Is that all you got?” We have some tough kids. Katy rewarded Allen with a hug and a sucker (also purple) and told him, “Dat’s not so bad.” We hurried to the car so I could call and brag to Peter. When we got home, Katy fell asleep in front of the tv with her sucker stuck to her leg. I threw it away and told her that Jaxson must have eaten it. She was not a happy camper.

Last Saturday we had tickets to the football game so Rebekah S. bravely agreed to watch the kiddos, even though she already has three kids aged three and under. Instead of missing us while we were gone, Katy threw a HUGE fit when we came to pick her up. She absolutely worships her friend “Shange” (Sage).

Somewhere in the past week I actually had a fun day with my friend Lisa! We were being spontaneous by planning two weeks in advance for a trip to Ikea and then canceling instead for some fun shopping around town. It seemed like I was trying on a different lifestyle because Grammy & Papa kept the kids for me from 8:30am until 3pm or a little later. Mom actually kidnapped the Bird around lunch time and spoiled her some, too. It seemed so strange to be able to carry on a conversation, try on clothes…all that fun stuff. We are still doing the Ikea trip and I can’t wait!

On Tuesday it was my first time to open the meadow up for Katy’s class. It’s basically an adorable pond that’s fenced in, and the kids are only allowed to play in there when a parent comes to supervise. It was so much fun! My friend Rebecca T. kept Big Juice for me and I was able to watch Katy and her friends as they fished for minnows with buckets and nets. Katy was quite bossy and kept shushing everyone with her finger over her mouth. She would tell them to be quiet so the fish wouldn’t be scared away. Even though she was right, I’m hoping she doesn’t turn into a bossy know-it-all. Still, she was adorable!! I was cracking up and taking pictures instead of supervising so one of the boys (of course) stepped into the pond. He was wearing crocs so no biggie. Katy thanked me profusely and talked about my visit for the rest of the day.

Usually we carve pumpkins and make a big deal of letting kids help but this year we’ve been pressed for time so I bought a little kit, instead. Peter, Katy and Allen just shoved these pieces into the pumpkins and squashes – so easy. Then Katy helped me nest them on the front porch. The next morning she sat up in bed at 7:30am and announced that she wanted to kiss the pumpkins!

On Wednesday night I had Sage and Jade over for some fun. Mom came over even though she wasn’t feeling good and she taught us how to make spiders in honor of Halloween. The kids went bonkers for it! Our finished product didn’t resemble the inspiration at all, but they didn’t care! She also brought homemade chicken nuggets and the kids pronounced them to be YUM! Mom rented a couple movies for Katy this week - so sweet! I haven’t had the heart to explain to Katy about rentals and I dropped them in the return bin tonight, so tomorrow she’ll ask for them and I better come up with an excuse. Maybe I can blame Jaxson again.

Yesterday I loaded up the nuggets and we visited Dr. Yen for Katy’s eye appointment. I forgot to tell the good doc that Katy imitates her all the time and pretends to “fix” my eye. After hearing that we need to be patching for half of Katy’s waking hours (OUCH!) we met up with Dad and then Sarah at the nearby mall. We feasted on “chicken ‘n bok-bok” and then rode the merry-go-round. Next came the play area and then a visit to the pet store. The last place we stopped was Libby Lu’s and Katy was in love. Gramps treated Katy to a jelly belly puppy which now has to accompany us everywhere. Lots of fun! We just don’t get to see Gramps enough…or the rest of my fam, for that matter.

This is a fun little comparison I spliced together to show how much Allen looks like his birth brother Jamie when we first met the family. Jamie is still a little older than Allen in this shot. It’s so cool – like looking at my son’s future face!

And Katy's hair is finally growing in longer and thicker so we celebrated with some new accessories and her first hair brush of her very own!


Today I finally found a hair dresser I’m excited about thanks to my friend Heather. Warren and Marjean watched the nugs while I got my first trim since mid-July. I have been a straggly mess but I’m much better now. I even committed to her by scheduling in advance my next appointment – yay! Luckily I had sitters because I needed to pick up a replacement ring pop for Katy after throwing one away yesterday. I had to try FIVE different stores before I found them. That is love.

And finally, here are some Katy-isms:
· Elmo has a pet fish named Dorothy but Katy makes it sound like “Dirty”
· Mom is my witness that we were at Target and Katy, upon spotting a VERY big woman announced, “That lady has a baby in her tummy!” There was no one else around and it was so embarrassing for everyone involved. Half an hour lady Mom spotted the same lady at Sam’s and we desperately tried to keep Katy from seeing her and re-living the humiliation.
· Along those lines, Katy insists she has a baby in her tummy that’s almost coming out.
· Lately (and I’m not sure why) Katy has been repeating the phrase “You’re kidding me” over and over and over….and over…
· My friend Sheila taught her to say “You crack me up” but she replaces the “me” with a “my” and I’m not sure why that is.
· Yesterday I let Katy put on eye shadow. When I asked her why we wear make-up she told me it was to keep the mosquitoes away.
· When asked to eat her vegetables, Katy will say, “No dank you. I’n going to get a tummy ache for dat.”
· “I’n sick and hot today.”
· “I wud dyew” are the sweetest words known to exist – I’m sure of it.
· If there are red peppers in her rice or queso Katy picks them out and calls them ABC’s
· When comforting her dolly during a scary part of Monsters Inc movie, Katy said, “Don’t be scared, it’s just real” which is a far cry from my usual refrain of “it’s just pretend.”

And some Allen-isms:
· Allen is learning his body parts and his favorite is “tummy” because we always tickle it as part of the lesson. He has the best laugh EVER!
· When we read to him and he sees food depicted in the book, he pretends to eat it. Mom taught Katy the trick and I made sure it was passed along to Allen. So cute!
· If you ask Allen to take stuff to the trash can, he will….90% of the time.
· If you ask Allen for a diaper, he’ll bring it to you and then try to run away because he knows we’re going to change him.
· Allen says “yuck” when we change him, says “truck” for vehicles and can say “shoe” when he’s bringing us one to put on him. He can also make lots of animal sounds and can imitate snoring, which we learned from Mom, too.
· Allen tries to sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.
· Allen can do all the motions for Patty Cake and loves to clap for the If You’re Happy and You Know It song.
· He is still the dancing king.

Well, it’s 2:30am and now I know why I was putting off blogging. It’s no fun doing two weeks at once. Hopefully we’re shooting some Halloween costume pics tomorrow!

I found this on my psuedo-sister Nancy's blog and it made me laugh. Then I was inspired to make a couple of additions to it.

It’s been so long since I updated about the nuggets and their adventures – I’m sure I missed a ton of things. They both love to watch “diggers” or construction equipment of any kind. If Katy sees a man in a reflective orange vest, she calls him a digger man and swears he’s looking for his truck or his digger.

Here is Allen having some fun in the back yard during some cooler morning weather. The Bird was at school and he was enjoying some one-on-one time with the slide and swing set. This was the same day he was “airing out” his under-carriage due to a bad diaper rash.

This is Katy during a recent bath. We have new tub toys that Mom and I picked up at Sam’s Club. They’re little foam shapes that don’t need to be squeezed out. We’ve been squishing the water out of ducks, sharks, crabs and so many more bath critters that I finally had a “round up” and sent them to “dry out” in the garage. It’s all part of my Operation Efficiency that I’ve been trying to implement in our lives. The new toys can stick to the bath tub, the tile wall or even get thrown into the net till next time. Love it! There are ballerinas to dress with different outfits, animals of all kinds, a turning ferris wheel and little men in cars. Any guesses on Allen’s favorites? Woof woof and vroom vroom!

Allen before his bath, and after his Oreo cookie. YUM!

Karli turned the big Double Dueces on September 23rd and we were just cool enough to be invited to her birthday party. Jason’s special friend Kristen (do people even say girlfriend anymore?) sang a little birthday song for KarStar, and then Hillary and Katy jumped into the action. Katy ended up show-boating by singing a rowdy version of “haddy biwday to YEW” all by herself, followed by her ABC song. Karli felt that she was stealing her night away. Maybe she can sing at Katy’s next birthday as revenge.

I blame Hillary for Katy’s show-boating. She will probably have Allen doing it next. Happy Birthday, Karli!!

Katy’s school had a Hot Dog picnic that was too die for! So adorable! It was last Wednesday, which isn’t one of her normal school days but she missed Thursday while we were in Tyler, so it all evened out. Mom came with us because we were heading out straight from the picnic, and Peter joined us from work. The only blanket I brought was our Aggie blankey made by Kathy G. It was too small for all of our buns and Mom got mustard and pickle relish on her back somehow, but the picnic was still a success. Julia and her adorable family let us sit with them. She’s my expert friend on Katy’s school. Then we all trooped over to the playground for some fun. This tricycle merry-go-round was a huge hit with all the kids!

Last week we presented our two Grandmas with a special treat as a thank you for all they do for us. Peter, Katy, Mom, Marjean and I all went to see the local theatre company put on a production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. They over-sold tickets so Katy sat in our laps and tried to see around adult heads. My other complaint was that Cinderella had dark hair. That’s like Santa Claus showing up with red Pippi Longstocking braids….I mean, c’mon. Really? Out of blonde wigs? Katy loved it no matter the flaws. Her favorite part was Cinderella, of course, but the step-sisters made her laugh with all their pushing, shoving and whining. I guess they were speaking her language. Mom watched Katy’s face more than the play. Peter bought his little princess a snack during intermission. Marjean bravely offered her lap up to a squirming, wiggly, toe-stomping Katybird. It was a gift of love. And Mimsy loaned Katy a Cinderella dress, which brought compliments and stares from everyone who saw her. We finished up the night with ice cream at Marble Slab. Katy insisted on the mint flavor which immediately turned her tongue an electric green…gross! And all Warren got was a night of babysitting Juicy Allen, plus a couple scoops of Pecan Praline, or something like that.

I specifically left my camera home for the show because I’m trying not to look like such a tourist and embarrass everyone who is with me. Wouldn’t you know it…after the show ended we were allowed to walk down a long line of all the cast members and talk to them. Cinderella was at the end of the line, so Mom took Katy through while I frantically tracked down a lady with a camera. Then I forced the lady to take Katy’s picture, made her give me her e-mail address, and immediately sent her a reminder for the photo as soon as we got home. She was a mom, too so she came through for me. Insert sigh of relief.

And finally, we hadn’t visited with Laura’s gang since May so we were due for a trip to Tyler. It started off with a trip to Mimsy’s dance studio where Katy and Abby peeked under the door to see the dancing. Katy cried and cried because she thought she should be in there dancing with Mims. Mike joined us after he got off work, too. Then dinner at San Pedro’s where we “white trashed” up the patio. The weather was great and the kids were running wild until Allen brought the cigarette ash bucket to me and dumped it at my feet. That was our signal to leave. Emily had school the next morning so the three midgets had a photo shoot in their Rodeo/Fair clothes on Laura’s front porch. Next we checked out their awesome Children’s Museum that had a real ambulance to climb around in and tons of fun things to do. Caves with earthquakes and a fake town of cubbies that represented a bank, restaurant, hospital nursery, vet clinic and so much more!

We picked up Emily from school early and finished up the day with a visit to the East Texas State Fair. It was awesome! Laura and I each spent at least a hundred dollars on rides and food and games but the video we got from the event was priceless. Katy is still talking about popping the balloons and riding the huge 40-foot slide. I ran over Abbygator with the double stroller, but she has a very forgiving nature. Then we visited the petting zoo where a deer chewed on my shirt FOUR times. She is apparently in the upcoming Twilight moving that’s getting released in December. I guess she thought she was famous and so she could do anything she wanted. Celebrities.

Allen’s favorite part was riding the Crazy Bus, a ride that goes pretty high up and around in circles like a ferris wheel. I couldn’t tell the first time that he liked it, but he threw a fit when we had to get down after the ride. Sure enough, he loved it even more the second time! He also enjoyed munching on a corndog on a stick and yanking Gator’s hair from the back seat of the stroller. He wasn’t as fond of Emily and Abby’s trampoline as Katy was, however. If it didn’t look like a trip to the ER once a month, maybe we would get one.

OK, I think that catches me up through most of last week. WHEW!!