oh.....pumpkin day!

after many days of preparation....and MANY MANY costume changes...halloween is finally here! we started the day by carving a very traditional pumpkin...with a bit of a vivian twist.

vivian was in charge of drawing the face, i did the carving, and clif and bauer supervised. when we were all through i was quite pleased but vivian INSISTED that it was missing something....a bow and earrings! ;)

luckily i know just where to find both!

look, even old momo and gigi got their halloween pictures made! (and yes, that IS a light sword...bauer refuses to have his picture made without it!)

next we made a little trip to popa and dotdot's for lunch and to help celebrate her 68th birthday!

then it was home again for a quick wardrobe change and off to party and trick or treat.

i have NEVER had so much trouble getting a good picture of everyone. here you can see bauer's face, but vivian's eyes are closed....

and here bauer is hidden, but vivian is looking. oh well, fun was had by all! hope everyone had a safe and fun halloween!!!

misc & excuses

my poor computer has bit the dust...again. clif is in the process of sending it out, so i have been forced to use HIS computer. this is my sorry excuse for lack of posts....and my excuse for this first post being such a hodge podge. the next few are much better...so keep reading...

yesterday, i grabbed the mail and noticed a hand written letter to vivian....from THE WHITE HOUSE! yep, she got a reply. and her reply, when i told her she had mail from the president, "oh grrreat! i have been waiting on that!!" :)

a couple of weeks ago vivian asked me to take her picture. i turned around with the camera and was faced with this....teehee!

and mr. b, well it has been a virtual monsoon here for weeks, but sweet little b is determined to go fly his kite. almost every day he asks "kite, mommy?" it is hard to disappoint such a sweet face. soon sweetheart, soon....i promise!

superhero

don't you wish they were protecting your neighborhood?

boo at the zoo

this year the zoo started boo at the zoo during the day. however, preggo-crazy-can't-remember- a-thing-lady got the dates wrong and went a day too early. sheesh! oh well....

daddy went with us (a very rare treat) and miss v offered to take a (even more rare) picture of the grown ups only!

since the weather was super nice (the most rare event EVER) we were able to check out some additional exhibits.

like the super hilarious and super cute tri-butticus...definitely my favorite! ;)

pumpkin patch

no you are not experiencing dejavu. the last post was also about pumpkins...but...well...it's just that time of year. our dear friend hbl turned six last saturday, and had a party at the patch. bauer was AMAZED by the large tractor that carried us to the fields....

vivian worked very hard at picking her special pumpkin...but decided alas that she needed a little help from mommy since they were all so heavy! ;)

back on the hayride, i managed to get a great shot of v and the birthday boy. (and yeah, that is a sorority girl smile in the making if i have ever seen one!)

and just for posterity...i did get ONE picture of bauer looking at the camera...but doesn't his little face just scream, "what mom?! can't you see there is a TRACTOR over there?" :)

pumpkin pickin'

what should you do with the first cool, fall saturday?

why....pick your pumpkins of course! the church where clif and i grew up, has been selling pumpkins to raise money for their youth group since....well....clif and i were little!! ;)

the superheros, ready to get busy.....

sweet b with his find.

and the crew with some of my personal favorites....the gourds. hope everyone is enjoying this amazing weather!

oh, i almost forgot....the second thing you should do on a day like today: surprise your sweetie with a big plate of buffalo wings and blue cheese to enjoy while watching the razorbacks. look how happy it makes him! :)

a conversation with big sister

me: hey vivian, what do you think about the name grant?
vcd: no mommy. it sounds like greedy. would you want a greedy baby?
me: no...i guess not. well, what about hatcher or holden (what can i say? i was rereading catcher in the rye.)
vcd: noooooo, mother.
me: oh...ok. well, why don't you suggest a few names.
vcd: ok. what about:
minick
diggit
shelly
wait, that's too, nubby...shellican is better, mommy.
marlakate (one word, i asked)
peela
leega
airanick (which i quickly realized was a cross between aaron and nick.)
sennican
mannequin (she apparently like the "can" sound...we had quite a few of these.)
nan
narneca
vivica (the name of one of barbie's three musketeers.)
me: vivica sounds a lot like vivian. why don't i just name her vivian?
vcd: MOOOOOOMMMMM!!! vivian is standing right here beside you! you gotta pick a different name! uuuuuhhhh!! (in exasperation...and walks off, obviously tired of me.)
me: oh, thanks.
:)
oh, and just for the record. when we first told vivian we were having a baby she wanted to name it "pumpkin patch sally clark". so this is an improvement...i guess?!

gone punk

so i might have mentioned my recent personal dilemmas....but rest assured, that has not slowed us down one bit. things around here have been as busy as usual! we are still making playdates a priority, visitng the museum, and wrecking havoc in general! ;) bauer has decided to embark upon a new way of thinking....so i take this opportunity to introduce to you...

punk bauer!!!

obviously, punk bauer still spreads the love...

and brushes his teeth. hey, as long as the basics are there.....i'm cool with it! ;)

lee love

i've said it before and i'll say it again...we are SO blessed to have the lee's in our life. as our numbers have expanded, so has the fun!

trying to get a picture is impossible....and i LOVE it!

and apparently so do they!

ok...so maybe they were loving it more than me! what a crew!!!

gnomes.

steph and i took the kids downtown last week to have lunch in the rivermarket, and to enjoy the weather. we also hit the fairly new, game and fish exhibit.
did you know arkansas has a very cute population of gnomes?

both female and male, have been documented and photographed. :)

where are you?

"over heeeeeere!!!" i guess daphne found her old buddy!! ;)

stinky ramblings

apparently, i am not that great at multi-tasking-motherhood duties. today vivian mentioned that i was "stinky" looking. now in her defense i was a bit...well....let's just say "unkept". leave it to a four year old to be honest.

so, in her honor, here is a little more honesty for you:

my mother did not own a baseball hat. nor any other greasy hair covering accessories. never in all my years did i see her wear a ponytail or pick me up from school with paint covered clothes, or no makeup. dinner was NEVER frozen. piles of laundry were never insurmountable (ie. taller than the children). the table was set every night, the clean clothes were on the corner of your made bed when you got home from school....and you were greeted by a hair-rolled-lipstick-on picture of perfection. how in the world did she do it?

i wish i knew.

i wish she were here to ask.

but she isn't, and that stinks, too.

all too often i feel like we as mothers are...well...guilt ridden. for example: i have been wrestling with the fact that i didn't think on the night of vivian's accident to have a plastic surgeon sew her up. the truth is, at that moment i didn't care. all i wanted was MY vivian. my walking, talking (even sassing), laughing four year old. her partially shaved head, and a booboo were (and still are) SO minimal, as long as the rest was intact. and i KNOW that in the big spectrum who gives a hoohoo about a scar, right?! but alas....mommy me=guilty. case in point: tonight for dinner i made a pumpkin pie. note: i said for dinner, not for dessert. yeah, and then i realized that was pretty unhealthy, so after dance i got the kids mcd's instead. yeah, i'm mother of the year, i know. why am i spilling the proverbial beans, you ask? where are my rambling leading? who knows....

but i do know this: i have been in a bit of a funk lately. feeling as if something big is about to happen. i won't lie, the last few weeks have been....well....heavy. i have started a new bible study of esther. it is amazing, and is truly rocking my world...changing the way i look, at not only myself, but my marriage, and other women. also, i don't think i have shared that my best friend lost her baby a few weeks ago at almost 17 weeks. this hit me a lot harder than expected....being the medical type i have always thought miscarriages were god's way of protecting us. (i KNOW this isn't a popular opinion, but i have been on the other end of so many difficult pregnancies, and to watch the family and child suffer...it changes you, and your opinions.) but this was different somehow...personal. shocking. then there was a sudden death of a young man in our community. i did not know him, but his story....so very easily could have been our story. and it moved clif and i both to tears.

so for the record, there is definitely something brewing...and i am hovering between thrilled and terrified.....and oh yeah, stinky.