Ghosts of Halloweens Past

Three years ago, when we were fun and went out for halloween.
Sam, Cindy, Lisa, Mistee, Holly, Me and Steve rockin out as Axl and Slash
(I don't know why this is underlined and I can't figure out how to get it off!!!)

Two years ago, I was about 6 months pregnant so it wasn't as much fun!
Me, Cindy, Ben, Lisa, Brock, Steve, Michael and Jared

And last year, our little lady bug. Cute as ever, I can't believe that was just last year!

Long, long week.

We started off the week with a runny nose and carving pumpkins. She didn't really know what to think about the whole pumpking thing. She did think it was funny that we had newspapers all over the floor and was mostly interested in stomping all over them and picking them up and throwing them at us.
Don't let this picture fool you. This was just good timing on Steve's part, b/c this is the only time her hand got anywhere near the inside of this pumpkin!

She was very focused on coloring her pumpkin.

The middle of the week Presley had runny, dirty diapers (sorry TMI)and would hardly eat anything (which is NOT like P at all!) and a sick daddy. We all know that when boys get sick, it is almost the end of the world! :) No fun! By Thursday, I wasn't feeling good either but the end of the month is always busy at work so I had no choice but to suck it up. Friday night, we all started feeling a little better. We all got a good nights sleep (I slept for 11 hours and Presley slept for 12!)

Thank goodness by Saturday life was looking normal again! We hung out with the family since my Uncle David was in town and watched the Iowa game. Presley did not get a nap but she was pretty good anyway.

Snow White was not into trick or treating. We went to a couple houses around the block, but she was tired and shy.

The house on the corner of our block, gets into Halloween big time! I love it! They had their yard and garage all decorated. There were kids lined up in the driveway, most of them afraid to get close to the garage.

Is it weird that I love Halloween and everything that goes along with it....but I CANNOT watch scary movies?

Some of my favorite things:

1) You must read the book "It Sucked and Then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much Needed Margarita" by Heather Armstrong. LOVE IT! I follow her blog also.


2) Darius Ruckers song 'It won't be like this for long'. Again, LOVE IT!
He didnt have to wake up
He'd been up all nite
Lay'n there in bed listen'nTo his new born baby cry
He makes a pot of coffee
He splashes water on his face
His wife gives him a kiss and saysIt gonna be OK
It wont be like this for long
One day soon we'll look back laugh'n At the week we brought her home
This phase is gonna fly by
So baby just hold on
It wont be like this for long
Four years later bout four thirty
She's crawling in their bed
And when he drops her off at preschool
She's clinging to his leg
The teacher peels her off of him
He says what can I do
She says now dont you worry
This will only last a week or two
It wont be like this for long
One day soon you'll drop her off
And she wont even know you are gone
This phase is gonna fly by If you can just hold on
It wont be like this for long
Some day soon she'll be a teenager
And at times he'll think she hates him
Then he'll walk her down the isle
And raise her vale.............blah blah blah....but you get the point. Time goes too fast!



3) Spicy Holy Guacamole - it's good!

4) Jethros BBQ...they have good guacamole too!

5) The movie The Count of Monte Cristo...if you haven't seen it, you should! It's one of our favorites!

Yawn.

Saturday morning I went in to get Presley after an hour of her talking to herself in the crib. Her pajamas were unzipped down to her ankles and her diaper was off. Guess she was tired of waiting for me to come in and change her! Thank goodness it was just wet! :) Later she saw the camera sitting on the coffee table and said "cheese?" I asked if she wanted her picture taken and to bring me the camera. She brought me the camera and stood there saying cheese until I took the picture. Obviously, she isn't camera shy! But this cheesy smile with the gaps between her teeth cracks me up!

We headed to Adel for a charity waffle breakfast for cystic fibrosis and then went to the pumpkin patch!

They had a petting zoo area...which Presley wanted nothing to do with. She liked to watch the chickens, but then hid behind dad when we were near the llamas. She loved the tractor! She kept pointing to the tractor smiling, so we went on a hay rack ride out to the pumpkin patch to find some pumpkins!

She found the perfect Presley size pumpkin!

They had a couple bounce houses, which she loved when there were no other kids in it! She wasn't brave enough to try to stand up though!

Saturday night we had another wedding! (our 3rd wedding in 6 weeks!) Presley was in heaven! She was running around, wanting to dance it up! We couldn't keep her off the dance floor!

Mommy and Presley taking a break from dancing!

Another cheese for ya! She almost looks like she's in pain! ha!

Sunday morning I went to work and Daddy and P hung out. Presley has a runny nose now, but she is pretty good at blowing it herself. Hopefully, it won't turn into an ear infection! Keep your fingers crossed! Happy Sunday, hope everyone has a good week.

Snow White

We headed to Night Eyes at the zoo on Friday night. It was our first experience there, we figured we might has well get some use out of her costume! It was nice and busy with a lot of things for kids to do! She wasn't too interested in the candy but once we got to the fun zone she let loose! :)
She loved the straw maze!

and playing in the corn!

and her favorite part....the swings! She was laughing and smiling the whole time, loving every minute of it.....until we took her out and she threw a fit!

Snow White cried when we left the zoo, guess that means she had a good time and we'll be going back next year!

Hmmm.....

Got a call yesterday from my banks fraud department questioning some of my credit card activity. Two charges, $139 and $103 were declined at some online electronic stores. Great. She asked me if there was anyone else who had access to my card. I said 'my husband, but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have charged these' (I'm about 97% sure that Steve wouldn't spend over $100 without mentioning it to me!). She finally cancelled my credit card and is issuing me another one. It makes me so nervous that someone out there got my credit card information somehow! It's a card that is rarely used so my guess is that someone hacked online to get this information and then didn't have that little 3 digit number on the back! Thank goodness my bank is on top of abnormal activity to accounts and they made the process nice and easy!

We are refinancing our mortgage. Interest rates are so low right now and we'll be saving about $100 a month so why not? When Steve and I bought this house Steve didn't have the best credit in the world with a nice, low fico score of 615. When we bought our car 2 years ago, his credit score was higher than mine! Most of our credit was in my name since I had better credit history. So we just got our credit scores from our refinance, 2 of them are exactly the same as each other and Steve's third fico is 3 points higher than mine! He should thank me for getting his credit back on track. And I'll brag....our median fico score...805! No wonder credit card theives want our information! :)

I never know what information is too private or if anyone cares or if the wrong person is out there reading this. I try not to mention first and last names of people, and if I'm not sure someone wants me posting their picture on this blog then I just don't do it. If any of my friends or family are offended or doesn't feel comfortable with names or pictures on here, let me know and I'll edit or delete my post!

No pictures.

Another busy weekend. I sound like a broken record. Friday night we headed to Earlham to watch our nephew play in the highschool football game. This is the first and only game we have been to this year. It was the perfect night for some football, Presley was very good. I think Friday nights in Earlham is an excuse for the parents to socialize and let their kids run crazy. There are so many kids in that town. It's so weird that we can go to Earlahm and know so many people that live there. I'm not big on small towns but Earlham is growing on me.

Saturday morning we headed back to Earlham for Brant's Great Pumpkin Festival. A race and carnival that is held every year in remembrance of one of our nephews friends who died of a brain tumor in 2005. They have so many games, a rock climbing wall, clowns, pumpkins, lunch and a silent auction. It is a great fundraiser that we love being a part of. There were too many people there for Presley's liking so she clung onto us most of the time, but it was fun!
While Presley napped that afternoon, Steve and I watched the Hawkeyes win their football game and after dinner we head down to Howells Farm for a bonfire. A friend of mine from work, reserved a bonfire area and there were about 25 of us! We were able to go on a hayrack ride to the corn maze and go thru the maze in the dark! We roasted hotdogs and marshmallows, we had hot cocoa and spiced apple cider...it was a great way to spend a cool, fall night! Presley was fairly good, she didn't try to play with the fire or anything!

Sunday Steve got up with Presley and I got to sleep in until 9 am! (funny how 2 years ago 9 am seemed early to us!) I went into work for a couple hours in the afternoon, we played outside and just hung out. It was a great weekend! Next weekend should be a little less busy, and hopefully the weather will be just as nice!