Spooky fun meets Joe the Plumber

I'm pre-blogging...

Friday night Jo-Jo and dad are going to the Admirals game (BIG surprise) and Jo-Jo is going to wear his Grim Reaper costume. We are making a few changes though...the Grim Reaper will be wearing an Admirals jersey and holding a sign that says "Your time is up GRIFFINS" (Admirals are playing the Grand Rapids Griffins). Do you get it??? Tell me the truth. We want Jo-Jo to get on the big screen...plus the Admirals are having a best costume contest and the 20 finalists get to go on the ice. Winner gets a one night stay at a local hotel that has a waterpark in it.

Add to that the fact that they are running a Joe the Plumber night where anyone named Joe or who is a plumber gets seats for $3 and I think the boys are in for a FUN night.

I'll post pics of the Admiral fan Grim Reaper when they are available. LOL

Trick or Treat

Sunday was finally Trick or Treat...



The kids had fun...



We now have too much candy.

Happy Birthday to You...

Happy Birthday Mom...still miss you every single day. This morning when Joey first got up did you hear his birthday wish for you? Did it melt your heart too?

I love you mom...

The Daughter

My silly little girl...

I keep forgetting...

...to post pics of how my vinyl lettering turned out. I'm pretty pleased with them. Jo-Jo and The Daughter LOVE them. Whaddya think??

This one is in Jo-Jo's room. It is displayed above his closet. Every night before he goes to sleep and before I turn the light out he tells me, "Mom...I ate and I played hockey and now I'm going to sleep". I almost wonder if I can get another one that says PICK UP TOYS, PICK UP DIRTY CLOTHES, PUT TOILET SEAT DOWN...etc.


This is The Daughter's. Her's is above her toy bins near her mobile. It's perfect for the spot.

Friday fun!

We carved pumpkins...

Wrapped baby shower gifts...

And we went Trick or Treating at the zoo...

(Jo-Jo was at the Admirals game with dad)

It was a fun day...

No new pictures today :(

I love my new camera, but I'm a bit nervous about using it. I don't have any lens covers to protect my precious lens. I've ordered some and am awaiting their arrival so for now I'm taking it easy on using the camera...just don't want anything bad to happen to such an expensive piece of equipment! Of course if the perfect photo-op makes itself available, I'm ready and willing to bust that puppy out! The above pictures were taken at the pumpkin farm on Sunday -- look how tall my kids are!!

Love and life

Tonight is the eve of my 8th wedding anniversary. Wow. Eight years ago tonight I was spending time with family anticipating what was the biggest day of my life thus far. It was bittersweet in some ways. I was marrying the man I love and could picture having children with. On the flip side, the most important woman in my life wasn't there to see it...my mom.

Fast forward eight years and I look at my life now and realize how blessed I am. I have a wonderful man who has grown to be my best friend and confident, I have three beautiful children who lighten my life and keep me young. I'm lucky to have wonderful friends who truly listen to me and offer their support in times of preceived crisis. I have a gorgeous home and a wonderful job. I am blessed in so many ways. I know my mom has been watching out for me from above and helped me along in all that I do. Though I miss her desperately I am thankful to have someone in my corner up there.









And to my husband...in case you are reading this. I love you. I love our children and I love the life we've created.

Playing with close-ups.

Whaddya think??






Did these at the pumpkin farm...Jo-Jo was too busy throwing pumpkins in our wheelbarrow to cooperate. I'll get him too...soon!

A busy weekend for us!

Wow! Finally a moment to sit down and check in on my blog. It's been excitement all around us as a few fun things have been going on!

First, on Saturday Jo-Jo's hockey group (SHAW Mini-Mites) were invited to play a short game during the Milwaukee Admiral's season opener. The kids got to suit up and play between first and second period. In the end it was a tie game for the kids (2-2), but they had fun and got to have a huge crowd of people cheering for them!! Jo-Jo was so excited!



The Daughter sitting in the stands while Jo-Jo practices at the Bradley Center before the game.



Lining up before the game starts (Jo-Jo is in the middle with the orange mouth-guard)



Jo-Jo skating up on the puck



Waiting for that puck to head his way!


Parents got to watch the game from the Admirals box which was AWESOME for me too! LOL

Then on Sunday we took a family trip to the pumpkin farm where we each picked out our pumpkin's for this years carving. It was really windy, but great fun as we picked around to find the perfect pumpkins. Because we had Bubba in his stroller we couldn't do the hayride into the patch to pick our own...but next year you can bet we will! There were still millions of places for us to get great pictures and there were a TON of already picked pumpkins for us to choose from!!


Bubba checking out his first ever pumpkin!



The Daughter finds her perfect pumpkin and is bringing it to daddy.



All three kids pose in front of a spooky school house.



Jo-Jo and The Daughter better watch out for the train heading their way!!


All in all it was a fun but hectic weekend. Just preparing us for next weekend when we have hockey games, trick-or-treat, Halloween at the Zoo, and a baby shower! WOWZER!

First colds

Yup, Bubba has his first cold. He spent last night sleeping with mom in the lazy boy. His litle nose is so stuffy and runny. So far no fever (knock on wood). Poor baby.

Got my new camera!!

Yay! I finally bit the bullet and bought my dream camera...so of course I've been playing around with it. Here are some of my examples!!


Best brother buddies



Pretty girl


Bubba's first cold

Nothing I love more...

...Than a sleeping child, especially when it's my own.

Angelic

I just had to share this picture I took of Bubba sitting in his papasan chair looking deliciously kissable and squeezable. Don't you just want to smother those chubby cheeks with smooches??

Hockey season officially starts!!

Jo-Jo's the kid in the all red jersey...

Halloween starts early!

Jo-Jo and his dad had a chance to go to Great American's Fright Fest last week Sunday. They had a great time despite the rainy weather. Dad was able to take a few pics on his phone camera





Jo-Jo is sporting last years costume as he hasn't decided yet if he wants to be a police officer, mummy or skeleton this year...

The difference between boys and girls

So, my daughter has finally taught me the difference between boys and girls. Lately she has become Polly-repeat...repeating EVERYTHING Jo-Jo says. So today when she was mocking him I called her "Jo-Jo". Her reply???
"I'm not Jo-Jo, I have long hair."

SO...remember:
GIRL = LONG HAIR
BOY = SHORT HAIR

So it's the weekend

So, it is Saturday -- and we all are sick. Fun times here. I'll probably post more later today as right now I have a killer headache and Bubba is bored with his exersaucer. I think this will be the first time I am offically "sick" with three kids. It could get interesting around here...


Oh! You may have noticed that I changed the blog name...and chances are I will change it again. It seems "Adventures in Mommyland" is used by a larger blog and I don't want there to be any confusion. I have no clue what to call my blog...so any suggestions are welcome! I'll figure something out.

Random acts of kindness

This post is inspired by one of my dearest friends...

Tonight we talked for quite awhile on the phone. It was an upbeat and fun conversation, the kind I crave after a day of baby-talk, deciphering preschool chatter, and listening to wondrous stories of 1st grade adventures. Real "grown-up" talk.

She told me how the other day she went to McDonald's and when it came time for her to pay she was told that the person in front of her had graciously paid for her food. What a novel idea. Have any of you ever had a random act of kindness like this? I admit I did it...once. It was probably a year ago and there was a woman in a minivan behind me in line at a fast food restaurant (for the life of me I cannot remember which one). When I came to the window I asked how much her food was. I'll be honest here, had it been a lot of money I wouldn't have paid, but as I recall it was under $5 so I told them to add it to my bill. The young girl at the window was slightly confused I think...which surprised me after even Oprah jumped on the random acts of kindness band wagon a few years back. It was a good feeling, a kind of high doing something so randomly nice.

I told my friend I had never had that random act "repaid" to me, not that I expect to. However, in a moment of reflection I realized how very wrong I was. See...those rare moments when my friend and I get to catch-up, and I get to escape from the monotony of the day is her gift to me. Every time she listens to my ranting and raving and offers me a nugget of insight or advice is her gift to me. Every time I use her voicemail as an outlet to complain about things going on in my life is her gift to me. Everytime she sends me a funny story or a random text message that brightens my day is her gift to me. She offers me random acts of kindness almost every day, and for that I am forever in her debt.

Thank you my friend.