Trunk or Treat

   Every year at our church we do this thing called trunk or treat. On the Wednesday before Halloween after Bible study the kids go trick or treating from car to car! It is so fun to see the kids in their Halloween costumes. From little babies to the teens. Well some adults go all out as well! It is fun to see the trunks all decked out.
   Aspen couldn't decide what she wanted to be, until today. She decided on a beat up soccer player. She ripped up a shirt and had red paint at the ripped areas with soccer shorts, socks and shoes. Then Matthew was...... I don't know what he is! But he thinks he is really scary! I think he is a spooky scarecrow or something.


Here is scary Matthew with his best bud Trey. Notice the bare feet!

I wish I remembered my camera! I snagged this picture off Facebook! Thanks Mindi:) I didn't see any of Aspen tagged so you'll have to wait till Halloween to see hers!

To do lists

I have not been the kind of blogger I would like to be. I would like to post at least three to four times a week. Not three to four times a month. There, it is out in the open. I find if I write things down I do them. I will add it to my to do list:) I have to admit I am a list person. I make a list everyday and love the feeling of crossing tasks off my list. Shane is a list person too. We buy notebooks during back to school time. We easily go through ten to twelve notebooks a year! So blogging will be added to my list.
Back to my Yankees game:)

P.S. I love doing a spell check and seeing I have no words to fix!

My baby is growing up!

  Matthew lost his first tooth today! Yeah and boo at the same time. Of course this emotional mama teared up a little! I am so glad it happened on his home day and not while he was at school. Just so I could be the first he told! Stingy me.
  He was doing his computer work and said, "My tooth is out."
  Shane also happened to be home too. Shane told me to blog it, Facebook it and mark the calendar! Just a little excited! I am so happy the tooth fairy will be visiting our house again!

Matthew lost his first tooth today!

Bad Blogger!

I was doing well for a while with blogging somewhat regularly. Till I broke my finger! I am not a football player but I tried and it didn't work out for me! So now my ring finger is broken and I can't get my wedding rings off! Oh well, just a funny story when people see the hideous blue splint on my finger! It does make typing a little difficult though! I can't place my fingers on the keyboard to type so I am typing fine with my right hand then finger pecking with my left! I now see some interesting words when I proof read!


Right after I failed to catch the football.




A few days later.




I finally realized it wasn't just "jammed" and went to the doctor. My stylish splint while I await the referral to the bone doctor.



Happy Birthday Aspen!

Yesterday my daughter turned 14! 14!!!! I am the mom to a 14 year old!

She had a great day and I am so proud of who she is and who she is becoming. Her favorite gift was a new phone with texting privileges. We switched our plan around so we have unlimited texting. She was so excited she didn't even really notice the stipulations. It has to be in the kitchen charging at 9:30 on week nights, 11 on weekends, not aloud at the dinner table and of course if grades slip it's gone till they come back up. She was understanding of the rules and at 9:30 on the dot she was walking out with her phone!

I made her favorite cake. One that I only make on her birthday. It is a chocolate, chocolate chip cake. A recipe that came from a person at another church who came down to help with VBS 5 years ago. The cake was so good I sent an email kind of like this:

"Someone at your church was here helping with our VBS. While they were here she made a very good chocolate cake! I don't know her name but could you please help me find her so I can get the recipe?"

I got the recipe with in a week!! It is Aspen's favorite birthday cake. One year I ordered a cake from a friend who does cakes. I then had to make a second cake that year because Aspen didn't want to miss her cake. I only make it on her birthday because she kinda dubbed it "my cake". If I make it all year long it wont be as yummy and special.

She broke up with her boyfriend of maybe three weeks. For two of those weeks she didn't even know his last name! Anyway she said he was really nice..... to her. He teased and made fun of her friend. So she broke up with him! Yeah Aspen!! I hope  pray she continues to have the strength to do the right thing and stand up for other people. Such a proud mommy moment! Oh and she has three A's and two B's on her progress report:)

Beach and Band

     What a busy day! I do admit it started off lazy. For the first time in a long time I did not roll out of bed till 10! Shane was home this morning. I didn't sleep till 10, just had the opportunity to be lazy and enjoyed it very much!
     After that exciting morning Matthew and I went to the annual church picnic at the beach. It was weird being just the two of us. Aspen had to be at the school early to practice for the competition. So Shane took her than took advantage of the quiet house and did homework. We had fun. It is fun seeing people outside of their Sunday best.
    Then home for quick showers and off to the competition! The kids did awesome! It was our first time seeing the whole performance together! Our marching band won many awards at the competition. Best color guard, best percussion and best music something (can't remember the word). They also won in the division AND won the whole competition! It was very exciting to watch! I never realized how much work goes into the marching band till Aspen started this year. The kids all did great and they made performing in 90 degree weather look easy!

WAY TO GO SIS'!!!!!!!!!

NO SHOES, NO SERVICE

Matthew is always barefoot! Living in South Carolina this is easy to do at least half the year. He hates wearing sneakers. He has outgrown sneakers that were worn just a few times. We also don't wear shoes in the house. So for him it is much easier to run outside without shoes on. Aspen also likes to be barefoot but not as much as him. She will at least keep her shoes on till we get home then throw them in the basket. Or drop them inches from the shoe basket!

There have been occasions when we got someplace and realize Matthew forgot his shoes. Easy solution, put him in the shopping cart. Since then we have tried leaving them in the car. That worked for a few months. He takes them off as soon as he gets in the car anyway. So instead of having him bring them in and put them in the shoe basket, he keeps them in the car and that ends the shoe battle. Then last Sunday he forgot to put his shoes on before church. I stayed home during Sunday school because I had a headache. I get a call from Aspen.

"Mommy, when you come to church can you bring Matthew's shoes."

I'm thinking it's church! How can you not remember your shoes for church! So my son was barefoot in his Bible study class! His teacher Monna thought it was funny though. She told Shane about her son when he was a teenager forgetting his shoes for church! He drove himself to church and once in the parking lot reached for his shoes and they were not there. So He called mom to bring them.

I guess living in such a warm place near the water many people enjoy going barefoot! I never saw tan feet before I moved here! 16 years later I still love the tan lines on my feet from my flip-flops! Nothing says winter is over like a flip flop tan line!

I thought about this post because as Shane and Matthew were leaving to bring Matthew to school, Shane ran back in the house to get........ yup Matthew's flip flops!

Where were you 9 years ago?

I woke up this morning and thought about what today is. 9/11 As I watched a little about 9/11 on The Weather Channel the images made me cry. It was like 9 years had not passed and I was seeing it for the first time again. It made me remember what I was doing this day 9 years ago.

I stopped by my old room mates house to pick up something and Kazu and Michelle were watching the first tower on the news. It didn't really register at first. It first sounded like a plane accidentally crashed into the tower. So off to class I went. On the way to class I heard on the radio the announcement of the second plane crashing into the second building. I felt so scared, shaken and alone. I had to pull over to a gas station just to be around other people and hear them talk about it. They had a radio on with the news. It felt like time stood still. It of course did not and I was late for class! I walked into class 20 minutes late! Shortly after another professor pulled our professor out into the hall. It felt like he was gone forever. He came back in and told us the Pentagon had now been attacked. He said if anyone has family who works there they were excused and it wouldn't count against them. A girl left class in tears, her uncle worked in DC but she wasn't sure where (I don't remember the details but he was okay). After class I went to work. Everyone was in shock and didn't really talk about it. I worked at a preschool and we didn't want to let on to the children what happened. It was a very forced day at work.

I just wanted to take a moment and share my memory of 9/11.

Please Vote

I took this post right off my friend's blog. Sorry Mel if I messed up:)
          "Friends & Family,

You will be blessing so many families and children with special needs by voting for The Center for Courageous Kids for the 50K grant from Pepsi!!



Please click on this link to vote:



http://www.refresheverything.com/courageouskids



You may also text your vote, as well!



Text this number: 102408 to Pepsi (73774)



Our family was blessed to attend “family weekend” back in 2009, and then the triplets got to attend the “Physical Disabilities Week” this past May. CCK provides a fun, safe, and medically sound camp experience for all children with disabilities. CCK does for children like ours what Disneyland does for yours! Please, think of the joy and happiness that your child experiences each time they go to a theme park, camp, etc… your vote today (and hopefully every day until Sept 30!) is helping special children like ours to continue to experience “a little slice of heaven on earth” each year at zero cost to our family! What a blessing. Please, take part of this action to bless others. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! "

I am still trying to figure out blogging and wanted to help Mel out. CCK is currently in 28th! They need to be in tenth in order to recieve the donation from Pepsi. We are a Coke family but I think this is cool what Pepsi is doing:)

Happy Anniversary to us!

Today Shane and I celebrate our 8 year anniversary:) It has been eight years since we said I do. And I would do it again:) I feel like I am the most blessed woman in the world. I have a hard working dedicated husband and 2 awesome kids. Thank you Shane. I love you so much!