Annie Banannie's Consignment Sale!

It's time for my friend Annie's consignment sale for kids' clothing and equipment!  Annie is one of the most detail-oriented people I know (and one of the friendliest!), which means she's PERFECT for this line of work.  You can sell kids' clothes, shoes, toys, strollers, high chairs, etc, etc, etc.

The sale is next Friday/Saturday (October 15 & 16), so there's plenty of time to get your items together for the sale.  For more details or to register, go to:  http://www.anniebananniessale.com.

GratiTuesday

Happy GratiTuesday!  This week we're thankful for:

1. Our friend Patti had knee replacement surgery last week and is doing great!  We need to get over and see her soon.
2. Caryn started picking up Sophie for preschool this morning, and will be our Tuesday 'lifesaver' while I'm still working Tuesdays.  Sophie loves riding with Ryan!  You're the BEST, Caryn.
3. My friend Annie invited us to El Dorado Lake's fun day last weekend, and the kids loved it!  (Despite Mommy's poor wardrobe choices that morning...once it warmed up a little, we had a blast!)  They fished (Blake was thrilled--he kept saying "I caught a WORM!  Look--I caught a worm!"  We need to get them some fishing poles and take them to the park).
4. Brent's car has been making a horrible rumbling noise when taking sharp turns for a while now.  We've been putting off taking it to a repair shop for fear of the unknown ($$$), and I finally Googled it hoping to get an idea.  The forum I stumbled into said the rear differential fluid needed to be changed, so we got some fluid from Honda and Brent changed it himself.  It worked beautifully--no more noise!!  What could have been an expensive trip to the service shop ended up costing about $30.  Brent's so handy.  :-)
5. We have a new sitter for the kids, and she's working out BEAUTIFULLY!  This has been such a source of stress for us--I'm hoping things continue to go smoothly.
6. My friend Christy came to town and the kids and I got to spend the day with her on Sunday!  I just realized that I didn't take ANY pictures that day...what was I thinking??  Christy is awesome with kids, and brought fun stickers for them to make Halloween pictures.  She was also very encouraging when Graham used his "S" and "L" sounds well, so it helped reinforce his hard work (Christy's a speech pathologist).
7. Sophie had school pictures today, and I'm pleasantly surprised at how they turned out!  She has a genuine smile in them. 

The only thing that would make this week better is if we could get rid of the allergies that are plaguing us right now...but I guess that leads me to our final thing to be grateful for this week:

    8.   Allergy medicine!!

GratiTuesday

Happy GratiTuesday!  This has been a bittersweet week so far, since one of our newest sitters' last day was today (due to an out-of-state move) and we're reconsidering the babysitter decision I posted about yesterday (we're already having issues with scheduling and inconsistency).  So...babysitting remains our family's biggest stressor right now.  It's been a long summer in that department...

All that being said, there's still so MUCH to be thankful for!

1. There are officially over 65 people in the Financial Peace University (Dave Ramsey) class now!  It's exciting to see his program 'speaking' to people and helping families.
2. Dad and Louise's visit was so nice, but too short.  It's nice to have them here, because it's obvious how crazy they are about the kids by the way they interact with them.  It sounds strange to say, but it lightens the pressure I feel when they're here.
3. Brent is getting a few overtime days this month--perfectly timed since our vehicle tags/taxes are due this month!
4. Brent has an incredible ability to fix our possessed icemaker.  It constantly freezes up and he fixes it.  I'd have been using ice cube trays by now--but he doesn't give up on it!
5. Brent is grateful for the new Crocs I ordered for him!
6. Kelly went shopping with me and the kids this weekend, and I found some clothes!  Woo hoo!  Taking the kids to any clothing store alone is practically out of the question, so I'm super grateful that she came along.  Plus, it was nice to be in REAL clothing stores (I can't tell you the last time I shopped for clothes anywhere other than Target or WalMart...seriously YEARS).  I forgot how great the 'new clothes smell' is...Ahhhhh, I can't wait to go again!!  (Anyone want to come??)
7. BEAUTIFUL FALL WEATHER!  The chill in the air is so nice, and the kids are loving being outside.
8. The trampoline makes the list again--the kids are crazy about it!
9. My friend Laurel came by my office to bring me a Pepsi the other day, which was wonderful and unexpected.  I had a good visit with her, and it reminded me that small gestures sometimes make the biggest impacts.
10. My friend Jen invited us to her in-laws' farm to see chickens, ducks, goats and donkeys!!  It was SUPER cool!!  The kids got to collect eggs (there was a chicken sitting on them, and she made the funniest noises as the eggs were being collected from underneath her) and play with the goats.  The goats act like dogs!  I'm not sure who had more fun, me or the kids.  We all loved it!  I'll post pictures soon.  (I checked to see if I could have chickens in our neighborhood...and am sad to say that we can't.  Bummer.)

Pumpkin Patch

I was ***this*** close to being successful at my blog-post-every-day challenge!!  We got a bit off track this weekend with the babysitter search and an early visit from Dad & Louise.

The good news??  We have a new sitter starting on Friday!  We were really torn about whether or not to continue to keep the kids at home with a sitter or to start taking them to a daycare.  Hopefully we're making the right choice.

We had a fun visit with Dad & Louise this weekend!  They were on their way back from a week-long trip to the Grand Canyon.  We celebrated the boys' birthdays with cupcakes and a trip to the pumpkin patch.  Dad joked (joked??) that they spent three days in Sedona for the cost of what 2 hours at the pumpkin patch cost, but the kids had a great time.  :-)

New shirts--cute!



One of MANY turns blowing out candles



Grandma & Grandpa gave them a racetrack!

Was it windy?? What's up with my hair??

Barrel train--BIG HIT with the kids!

Tires

The highlight of today was getting new tires for the van!  (If you classify spending money on boring necessities a 'highlight.'  I can think of a LOT more fun ways to spend that kind of money.)

We're in the middle of the never-ending-sitter-search.  Our summer sitter is moving back to Michigan next week, so we're in the middle of an intense search for the right person.  Keep your fingers crossed for us--it's a little stressful around here right now!!!

Doughnuts and elephants and salsa...oh my!

The big day started with doughnuts for breakfast (with candles, of course!), then Brent and the boys came to see me at the office for a bit while Sophie was at preschool.  Afterwards, Brent took the kids to the zoo for a Happy Meal picnic lunch!  Apparently the animals were all pretty active--especially the penguins--and the kids loved it.  Sophie kept asking to see the elephants and the giraffes.  They love the zoo so much! 

We took the boys out to dinner for their favorite--chips & salsa!  Kelly, Roger, Becky & Aaron joined us, too!  (Which I'm pretty sure they regret, because...)  See the salsa bowl in front of Sophie?  Shortly after this picture was taken, Graham took a tumble off of his chair.  Before his aerial-back-handspring-with-a-stuck-landing took place, he somehow hit the edge of Sophie's salsa bowl and sent it FLYING.  Half of it went down her face and into her lap, and the other half went ALL over the walls (with some splatters on Becky's white shirt--sorry Becky!).  MUCH CRYING ENSUED.  Sophie was completely appalled because "Brother did this to me!" and Graham was just shocked and startled.  (Blake, however?  Glanced at them and kept eating.  I wish I had a replay of the event!  That might have been the funniest part!)  We joked afterwards that we would never have guessed that the amount of salsa in that small bowl could cover so much ground!  Apparently you CAN paint an entire room with just a quart.

Graham was SO embarrassed (but not hurt, thank goodness!), so we had to get pretty silly to bring him back around.  Sophie was playing in her sour cream, and thought she was grossing us out with it.  We were actually laughing at the finger she was using (she didn't know that, of course...and yes, we really ARE that immature), which made her try even harder to get us messy...



This look is too much (and how did she get sour cream on her forehead?!)!!!

All in all, they had a good birthday!  

Happy 3rd birthday, Blake & Graham!!!

Can this be possible?! Our boys are THREE today! It's flown by! I was (semi)joking the other day that I feel like the past three years have been such a blur, and we're just now to the point where we can peek our heads out of the cave and look around. What a three years it has been!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLAKE!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRAHAM!!!

The night before you were born (whoa belly!):

You loved to sleep right next to each other from the very beginning:

Proud big sister!

You've always played right next to each other, too:

Best friends:

Giggling boys:

Into mischief!

And here you are at THREE!

Gentlemen, you have blessed us beyond words. Both of you have such sweet hearts and outgoing personalities. You are crazy about each other and are your sister's biggest fans.

Blake, your favorite food is pasta, you love your koala bear, and are so laid back and snuggly. Lately you like to go outside at night and look at the stars. You are such a gentleman, wanting to help carry even the heaviest items.

Graham, your favorite foods are fruits and vegetables, you love your Pooh bear, and have more energy than we could have imagined! You are so social, and from a distance start shouting 'Hi friends!' to anyone within earshot.

We love you, we love you, we love you!!!

XOXOXO