Pumpkin Carving 2010

Whooo Hoooo!~

This was the 1st year we ALL did our own pumpkin.

The kids had a BLAST!!

Sam went with one of those "tear out" designs...as did Brad.

Kk and I went old school and free handed ours.

Of course ours weren't as "cool" as the boys...I think they ALL came out cute! (though Brad would NOT agree with "cute")

Anyway here are the pumpkins we picked out and what they looked like before we butchered them.



Bug's choice in design...spooooooooooooky!~


Daddy getting the "guts" out...

Bugs pumpkin as we begin...NOTE TO SELF...buy a kit WITH a roller next time as the cork screw approach took WAY too long to poke those holes!

Bug begins carving....

Here is a video of them carving..(just click play)..

My goober! I mean, hubby. Not so funny making faces NOW is it honey?

His finished project...so proud...



KK and her jack-o-lantern...this is her evil look..yes, she has mastered it.


Daddy and his finished project....hehehehe and you wonder where KK gets her faces from!~..

The 4 finished pumpkins together...mine, Bugs, Daddys, and KK's....

Only posted this because of her crazy face....

Outside...waiting for it to get dark so we can light them...


Daddy and KK's all lit up...


Mine and Bugs...(mine is supposed to be scared...um....yeah...)...

The 4 finished LIT pumpkins... :) Whooo Hoo... SWEET!!!

Halloween is only 4 days away!~ We have Bugs cub scout "trunk or treat" on Friday and then Josh (my bro) is having a Halloween Party on Saturday...I am so excited!

Halloween is Sunday and we will probably head to Josh's for that as well so the cousins can be together.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN everyone!~

Man of the house

Bug said the cutest thing to me last night. He was talking on the phone with his father saying goodnight, and I was curled up not feeling the greatest, waiting for them to finish their "I love you's" and "God Bless's"...when Bug hands the phone to Drama Mama.

She takes it in her little hands and starts her chatter with daddy.

Meanwhile Bug crawls up into my bed and starts stroking my head.

"It's ok Mom...I'll take care of you"

"thanks bug" I smile even though it is the last thing I want to do.

"hey mom" he says as he continues to stroke my hair

"Dad said since he wasn't here...I have to be the man of the house"

"that's right Bug" I said.

"well, since dad said I am man of the house....don't you think I should sleep with you in your bed tonight?"

(he has been asking to sleep with me off and on for the last 2 weeks for some strange reason. I have yet to let him...but he continues to ask...not sure why he has started this...but I have avoided it thus far...)

"no bug..you need to sleep in your own bed like a big boy" I say.

"but mom...how can I take care of you if I am in my own bed...I won't hear you. besides I AM a big boy...I AM a man now"

I look at him thinking that yes he is a big boy...one who is growing WAY to fast! And he WANTS to grow FAST....he is all about being healthy, and growing and has taken to looking at the sugar content in everything he eats...he even insists on a banana for dessert instead of ice cream...(it has actually turned into a game with us...where I tell him he has to eat ice cream cause I want him to stay my snugglebug, and he argues that he will ALWAYS be my snugglebug but he wants to grow bigger.) Ummmm... Can I get that in writing???? seriously.

Nothing like a bit of reverse psychology eh? lol

ANYWHOO....got off track...

so he then says " I think its what Daddy wants...I'll go get my pillow and blanket"

Nice try Bug.

Nice try.

NO MORE DIAPERS!!!

McKayla is now 100% potty trained. She is in her big girl panties at night, and I am SOOO proud of her! Granted she could have been trained sooner had mommy not offered water at bedtime every night.

Lesson learned! :)

I am SOOO proud of her.

But Sam asked me the other day when the baby was coming out of my belly.

Does he know something I don't? LOL...He has asked for a little brother about 15 times now. Only because his cousin just welcomed one and he wants EVERYTHING his cousin has.
Guess what Sam?
Not this time buddy....
at least not yet! :)

2nd reason:

This is a random conversation between my son and I....and yes, the words are just about as exact as you can get......

Bug came up to me yesterday as I was making taco's and out of the blue says:

"Mom, .....what would happen if I married Kaykay?"

Kind of caught off guard I say "Pardon Me?"

So he repeats his question "What would happen if I married Mckayla?"

I am GRINNING at this point....

"Honey, you cant marry McKayla...she is your sister, and you can't marry your sister"..

he walks away.

About an hour later he walks up to me again....

"mom....what would happen if I married Auntie Mimi?"

I look at him confused.

"Why are you asking me that Sam?"

"what would happen? what is her last name?"

"First off, auntie Mimi is already married honey, and second her last name is "smith"
*name has been changed to protect the identity of his love interest! LOL)*

"So I would be Samuel Cody "Smith"???....hahahaha thats so funny mom...it sounds craaaaazy... *insert frown*....WHO is she married to....why is she already married?"
(note that her last name IS something pretty...ummm...diffferent"

"No, IF you did, and remember that she is ALREADY married, but if you DID marry her, then she would be Mimi Brenneman...but she married Uncle Kim...you remember him right?"

"What about Kayla?"

"What about her?"

"What will she be?"

"Well, she will be McKayla Brenneman until she gets married and then her last name will change to whatever her husbands is"..

"Ohhhhhhhhhhh..... *frowns* .....so I cant marry auntie Mimi...so who am I going to marry mom? Who are we going to get Kayla to marry"

He sits there and seriously ponders this for at least 2 full minutes...naming off everyone in his class.......

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH sweetie...YOU'RE ONLY 6!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Here's a few added bonus smiles! (thanks Amber! lol)....

7 Reasons Not To Mess With Children


A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales.
The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal its throat was very small.
The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale.
Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically impossible.
The little girl said, 'When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah'.
The teacher asked, 'What if Jonah went to hell?'
The little girl replied, 'Then you ask him'.
......................................................................

A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they were drawing. She would occasionally walk around to see each child's work.
As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was.
The girl replied, 'I'm drawing God.'
The teacher paused and said, 'But no one knows what God looks like.'
Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, 'They will in a minute.'
..................................................................

A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds. After explaining the commandment to 'honour' thy Father and thy Mother, she asked, 'Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?'
Without missing a beat one little boy (the oldest of a family) answered, 'Thou shall not kill.'
..............................................................

One day a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly noticed that her mother had several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast on her brunette head.
She looked at her mother and inquisitively asked, 'Why are some of your hairs white, Mum?'
Her mother replied, 'Well, every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white.'
The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then said, 'Mummy, how come ALL of grandma's hairs are white?'
.........................................................

The children had all been photographed, and the teacher was trying to persuade them each to buy a copy of the group picture.
'Just think how nice it will be to look at it when you are all grown up and say, 'There's Jennifer, she's a lawyer,' or 'That's Michael, He's a doctor.'
A small voice at the back of the room rang out, 'And there's the teacher, she's dead.'
.....................................................

A teacher was giving a lesson on the circulation of the blood. Trying to make the matter clearer, she said, 'Now, class, if I stood on my head, the blood, as you know, would run into it, and I would turn red in the face.'
'Yes,' the class said.
'Then why is it that while I am standing upright in the ordinary position the blood doesn't run into my feet?'
A little fellow shouted,
'Cause your feet ain't empty.'
..................................................

I LIKE THE NEXT ONE IN PARTICULAR

The children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Catholic elementary school for lunch. At the head of the table was a large pile of apples. The nun made a note, and posted on the apple tray:
'Take only ONE . God is watching.'
Moving further along the lunch line, at the other end of the table was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies.
A child had written a note, 'Take all you want. God is watching the apples.'
.................................................

Love to you all! Have a GREAT DAY!!

News... News... News...

Come and get your news!

Lots have been going on but FIRST I'll update you on the "revolutionary love" project.

We decided $10 could actually get you A LOT!!

Especially at the DOLLAR store! :)

Here are our supplies we bought...


Bug was excited about glueing the puff balls onto the cards..


Making a card....


Just SOME of the cards we made...


We have an appt at Penwick Village Nursing home this Tuesday to "visit" and hand out our cards! My hope is that we reach at least ONE person. I am so excited to go...I hope I make a friend! :) I would like to do something like this with the kids at least once a month!

God is good! :)

Second Page news is.....

We found a snake in the backyard...gee that's nice...


a video of us saying goodbye to the little bugger....



3rd page.

....a girlfriend/roomie from boarding school (Nancy) came to visit with her family! We had a great time catching up (it had been about 2-3 years)...and her kids were adorable!! I hadn't met Mehdi or the twins yet...see how much can happen in 3 years? LOL :P

Here are a few shots...(oh, and did I forget to mention she has 6 kids....2 are 11 month old twins!)

Setarra and Bug.....


Mehdi and Drama Mama


The nanny and one of the twins (well wouldnt YOU need one with twins and a 2 year old, 5 year old, 10 year old, and 11 year old?


We decided to visit the zoo while she was here...
Here is Drama Mama LICKING the bench! *sigh* she is ALL Brad people!


While at the zoo, we had a LOVELY display of her temper...


and we all cooled off with some ice cream...here is Mehdi....


And last but not least we enjoyed the great weather and the wonderful lake...

Here is Mehdi fishing...this kid was GREAT at casting!...and he's 2!


Bug and Setarra telling each other a story and looking out at the lake...


Everyone (but me and the nanny and twins) in the water...


Taelyn (tai) and Jaelen (jay) paddling away...


Nancy and Mehdi...


Some fun...fun...fun...they played a game called "ghost in the graveyard"...has anyone else heard of this? It's a form of hide and seek..but this is just a video of them playing with the glowsticks.

It was a great 4 day visit! Thanks Nancy for making thats 6 and a half hour drive from Georgia to see us! We had a WONDERFUL time....and..

ya'all come back now...ya hear?

TTFN!~

HAPPY 4th OF JULY 2008



First off a HUGE thank you to all those brave men and women out there serving our country, and to their families and the HUGE sacrifices they make EVERY day for our freedom.



*******************************************

RANDOM RUGRAT PICTURES (and video) GALORE!!!

My sweet little cheeseballs!~

Messin' around...

intense concentration in progress...

He said he wanted his shoes on and no clothes so he could be "like the man with the yellow hat"...ummm....can't recall as I have ever seen him dressed this way...but o.k...

My "gettin jiggy with it" gal....

Heaven help me....




One of her famous (most common) faces...




Yo sweetness...give it to me....




She is into hats right now....can't you tell??


Ahhhhh....the things they come up with...




Arrrrggghh...it's the Sam pirate...




Out back view....




Fun out back...



The name says it all.....


That's all folks...



TTFN!~

P.S Hopefully I will have more pictures and video of the beach trip...MOST of the shots were taken on Becca's camera...and I am hoping we can figure out a way to get them to me...since I have none of us at the beach, carnival, boardwalk...etc..BAD Kristi. BAD girl.

now go sit in the corner and eat your ice cream! :)

A day in the life of:

Drama Mama (a.k.a Kaykay) and her potty training...

1st off let me announce (with GREAT pride) that Drama Mama is Day potty trained. She wears her panties during the day (and even when we go out) and knows to tell me she needs to go.

Here is an example of a typical day...

SET SCENE - Living room...reading a book together

Act I

Kaykay: "mommy, kaykay needs to go shee shee in the potty...Hum (come) on runnnn.."

**see mommy and kaykay running to the bathroom...kaykay tripping on toys or running into things as she goes because she is watching ME the whole way and not watching where SHE is going!**

Arrive in Kids Bathroom

SET SCENE- Kids bathroom....little toilet seat over toilet and step stool in place

ACT II

**see Kaykay sitting on potty with her feet propped up on the seat...(makes for a nice mess, but hey...I'm not complaining...she IS going in the potty) ...and mommy sitting on the edge of the tub.

Kaykay: Geh (get) OUT mommy...geh OUT...*meanwhile pointing her finger at the exit of the bathroom*

Exit mommy.

*5 seconds go by...as mommy waits right outside the door knowing full well what is coming next*

Kaykay: "Mommy!...Mommmmmmmmmeeeeeeeeeee!?"

*I peek around the door*

Kaykay: "come ere (here) mommy sit down!" *gestures for me to sit on the tub again*

I sit.

KayKay: "Here it comes mommy..issss (it's) coming"

*she opens her eyes wide and waits for the sound of her own shee shee*

Kaykay: "Mommy sing ABC's peeease (please)"

*see mommy singing ABC'S while being joined in periodically by a letter here and there and an "hij..lmooppppppppp"...also see an occasional dance and wiggle*

She is done....

*see her marching (while her feet are STILL propped up) while still sitting there and singing

Kaykay: "Kaykay went shee shee in the potty...kaykay went shee shee in the potty..HOORAY!"

followed by an immediate

"now kaykay gets arshlelloooows!!" (marshmallows)

Kaykay: " Mommy get issue (tissue people!!! I already KNOW i have issues! LOL)..kaykay wipe ta ta.."

*see mommy pulling off the tissue since kaykay knows she is not allowed due to numerous previous incidents where the whole roll ended up unwrapped IN the toilet*

She jumps down:

Kaykay: "kaykay ash (wash) ands..(hands).."

* see mommy turn on water and kaykay wash her hands *

Kaykay: " ets (let's) go get arshlellooooows"

exit bathroom

Set Scene: kitchen area...in cupboards where marshmallows are located..

Act III

Mommy: " Good job Kaykay...that makes mommy soooo proud of you...Good JOB!"

Kaykay: " Yay kaykay...kaykay get arshleloooows peease"

*see mommy pulling down the mini colored marshmallows and placing them on the counter in front of her*

Meanwhile Kaykay is dancing and singing to herself her potty song.....while waiting for me

Mommy: "How many do you get kaykay?"

Kaykay: "foooooouuuuuurrrr"

Mommy: "Thats right...now count them out.....ONLY 4 kaykay!"

*see kaykay look at mommy out of the corner of her eye...grab 2.. stuff them quickly in her mouth...and begin counting*

Kaykay: "1....2.....free.....4"

Mommy: " No kaykay....you already had 2...now you only get 2 more."

Kaykay: " no Mommy....kaykay get ffffffoooooouuurrrrr....seeeeeee..."

*see her counting them out of her hand and placing them on the counter*

Kaykay: "1...2....freee....4!!!!"

*see Mommy grabbing 2 and putting them back IN the bag*

Kaykay: " Dooos (those) are miiine mommyyy...but I sharrrrre"

Mommy: " gee thanks kaykay...nice try"

***repeat about 11 times throughout day***

End Scene.
End Act.

IN OTHER NEWS:

I have tons to share...my cousin Katie and her family came for a wonderful visit...I will post more on that soon! Plus Bug's 1st game. So much to tell.

No time to tell it! :) Soon though.

I leave you with this video...I only hope I can teach my daughter to be the same way!~

Weekend Video's and such...

For the family!~

Thought you may enjoy these...

This one cracks me up, as Kayla starts singing around the end...

The Drama Mama right before church today....

I know I have one more to add, but blogger isn't cooperating with me....so enjoy these for the time being!

We miss you guys! (HUGE HUGS to Popo and Papa!!!)

Nana's Visit!!

We had the pleasure of having Brad's mom (my MIL) visiting us this past week or so. She arrived on the 9th, and left on the 15th. Let me tell you, it FLEW by!!! Of course we were busy B's....running around, and having a blast!! She spoiled the kids rotten (which they already were...rotten I mean lol *wink*)

We shopped a lot..:p...made it to the Sandhills Gardens here....the mall in Raleigh, ( I actually got to go to Victoria's Secret!!)...made LOTS of trips to town...ate at the pik-n-pig (OMG..YUM!)...and just had a blast.

Here are just SOME of the pictures...
Nana, Bug, and Drama Mama,


Nana pitching to bug..

Batter up....just note the intense look of concentration....this boy can HIT!!



Here is Nana, Bug, and Drama Mama are at the gardens....



Bug....


THIS is what she did the entire time...look for water to throw things in...


Or splash in...(exactly why I am looking into water tables)


more water....oh.. oh.. oh.. i know.. i know.....lets throw something into it..ya! ya!


my cheese ball.....


Stop and smell the flowers ya'all!~....


Get a nice hug in.....


Perhaps a kiss....


Our cheesball family! :P


My pretty little flower...


I LOVE this picture!!!...


Here is Bug in the meditation ring....


Daddy and Drama Mama...


Mommy and the "let go of my handdddddd" girl...


This little guy was hanging out, and Kayla did her best to try and pet it.....note to self: bring extra clothes when going ANYWHERE with this monkey.


We came across this guy as we were walking, and once again Steve Erwin would have been proud...I had to tackle my daughter to keep her from "petting" it....


Aren't these adorable...I want to make something like this my next project...


After all that walking we HAD to have some (more for SOME of us...) waterplay...




a video of the fun....


Good Ol' Pik-N-Pig....talk about yum!..oh, and they have the best sweet tea EVER!..


Pik-n-Pig's smokehouse...where they smoke their pork and other stuff....

On our way to church...

*sigh* what can you do?...

Nana and the drama queen...

And lastly....little miss attitude....

Take care ya'all and have a great weekend!~