Pumpkin Patch & NO Trick or Treating

Nothing around Halloween seemed to work out right for us this year (or maybe just how we thought). With Todd's surgery we didn't want to chance any hayrides or a lot of walking so we went to the same pumpkin patch as we did last year to get our pumpkins. I am not that upset, it is set up very cute in a church parking lot and they always have really good pumpkins. We carved them into Cinderella and Mickey Mouse per the kiddos request and Todd did a great job on the actual carving part. Alyssa helped clean them out as Aiden kept his distance from the pumpkin goo...he is pretty backwards when it come to "icky" stuff. Then on Thursday before Halloween Alyssa came down with the stomach flu :( As most of you know she has a condition that makes her body dehydrate at a fairly quick rate. So on went the stress factors for Todd and I as we took turns sitting with her upstairs while the other played with Aiden downstairs (in the disinfected part of the house :) We thought we were in the clear Friday afternoon before she started getting sick again. I called her Doctor to see if he could call in something for her and he said there was nothing, so we waited. By 10:30 pm it was apparent she was going to need some help getting over this as her eyes were starting to sink in. So Mom and I took her to the ER (Todd stayed home with Aiden). WOW, ER on a Friday night...not recommended...the crazies are out. We were moved into a trauma room behind closed doors after the police escorted patient next to us screamed the worst curse words at the top of her lungs for a while. At one point I looked at mom and she was checking out the labels on the drawers in our area...she said she was looking for a scalpel, just in case...can't say I blamed her. At this point I was glad she offered right away to join me in my trip I had planned to make myself. We saw some more police escorted patients on our way out. Anyways, back to my story, they were able to give her an oral disintegrating pill for the nausea and on try 2 after the first came immediately back up we were able to go home with a prescription for it. Makes me wonder if we could have avoided the whole ER scene if her Doc was willing to call something in. She still had a rough Halloween with round 3 of the bug but is finally back to normal. So, Aiden got in his costume for about 3 minutes and one day this week we will dress them all up and take them to Maw Maw and Paw Paw's (and some neighbor friends) so they can Trick or Treat! Sorry for the loooong post but that is a summary of Halloween for you!

Picking out pumpkins.

Getting ready to carve.

Finished products!

Our little frog.

He was debating a little walk.

Trying to climb the stairs was quite humorous :)

I will post our after Halloween shots when we get to it this week.

Boredom

As you know Todd was off for 3 weeks after his surgery. Apparently the house (um, kids) needed some new things to do during that time. So here is a look at some new tricks we learned. By the way Todd is back to work as of this past Monday and doing great surgery-wise. He started day shift when he went back (due to the large amount of layoffs recently, they redistributed people throughout the plant). This is a good and bad deal...but without boring you, I will say from a wife standpoint that I like it better as of right now (may change my mind slightly with the first paycheck, but overall Mommy is happy :)
Okay, so here is Aiden's newest trick:

Almost got it...

Phew, that took some work....it is also now an off limits trick!

Then one day I was in the other room and Todd yelled for me to come and sit by the fire with them. As I turned the corner he said Alyssa was roasting marshmallows (above).

Over the fire. Hey, It is free unlike our gas fireplace :)

Moments later she dove in the...

Crystal blue water for a swim! They also went fishing that morning. At least they were using their imaginations while sitting on the couch. I love my family!!

Art Show and Harvest Party

Alyssa's preschool had a Fall Art Show last Thursday night. It was really cute. They decorated the gym with all the different types of art done at school and had big flood lights set up. Since she only goes 3 days a week she didn't have as much stuff, so you get to see each of her art pieces that were displayed :)

Each child had an "about me" page displayed, no real surprises on hers.

Gotta love the pose next to the painting!

Friday was her harvest party, so we went to watch the parade. Here is a shot of her with Maw Maw. Alyssa is supposed to be Snow White this year for Halloween, but she wanted to dress up as Barbie Mariposa for preschool. That is who she was last year. And someone asked her today what she was going to be for Halloween and she said Cinderella...maybe because that was what she was wearing when they asked. I have no idea, pretty sure she will decide moments before we leave to Trick or Treat. Guess that is what happens when you have dozens of princess dresses??

Aiden at the Harvest party, searching for something in a bowl of rice...

...he didn't care for the spider ring, can't blame him.

Okay, I am going to try at keeping this updated at least weekly again. We shall see!

Aiden's Birthday Party

Here are some pictures of Aiden's birthday party. We had a lot of fun with our family. He got lots of trucks and clothes and also a toy where you hammer all the pegs into a board...lots of fun (& noise ;-) The cake turned out soo cute. I love our Wal-Mart cake decorator, I always take her a napkin from the party theme and she always makes it so cute. I was going to try and make his cake this year and be "that mom", but after thinking about how yummy store bought cakes with bettercreme icing are I decided against it! Here are the pictures:

Family Shot

Taking off his monkey party hat.

Waiting on us to finish singing.

YUM!

Eating with Alyssa.

Organizing party hats.

What a great day, Happy Birthday Aiden Conner!

Happy (late) 2nd Birthday Aiden!!

Aiden is 2!! He actually turned 2 on Monday but it has been a busy week. We celebrated early Monday morning with him before Todd went in for surgery. He then spent the day with friends (Thank You so much Marcie for watching my monkey all day). That night he got to have dinner with MawMaw and PawPaw, and visited with Grandma and Grandpa. I was sooo glad we sang to him and had cupcakes at 7:30 am since we got home later than expected and missed the evening part. Here are some pictures from his actual birthday and I will post more after his party here tomorrow :)

He loves his new Handy Manny toolbox, but it sure is a loud toy!

Cupcakes for breakfast!

Happy Birthday Aiden Conner! We love you very much!

Love,

Daddy, Mommy & Aiden

Crazy busy update

All I feel like my posts are anymore are random/rushed updates. Sorry, that is just how life seems to be around here lately. So here we go! Alyssa still loves preschool and today was pajama day which she thinks is about the BEST DAY EVER!! So she went to school and Aiden and I got to join up with our Church playgroup for a tour of a fire station and lunch at the mall after. Since Todd is off for an unexpected surgery scheduled for Monday he picked Alyssa up from school and Aiden & I got a little one on one time. He enjoyed the fire trucks and the fireman all dressed up (although from a distance)...it was a very extensive tour of the fire house & stuff on the trucks and we had a lot of fun with friends!
Todd came home from work yesterday with what turned out to be a hernia that has to be operated on Monday. Please pray for Todd, the surgery, the recovery, and all that entails. He will not be able to lift more than 15 pounds for awhile...um, like the kids :( So that alone can be a challenge for all, including little ones that do not understand. So that will bring me to another rushed, random post sometime next week I am sure. Until then, here are some pictures of what is going on around here:

Aiden "using" his fork.

Random nap time...

well, we all know by now Aiden would never actually stay still long enough to join the sleeping part of this.

What happens when I go upstairs for 25 seconds.

And here's a look at the new arms crossed pout that is becoming quite popular around here...

...and this is where he learned it.

At the fire station.

In the truck.

Looking out at the Fire truck.

Checking out the fireman from a distance.

A try at a whole group picture, of course Aiden is the only one walking out of it ;-)

Okay, that will have to do for now!!