Fun filled weekend

Our weekend was all about the kids. Saturday they were able to sleep in as soccer was over last week and we were all happy about that since it was quite cold this weekend. The kids spent all day asking about the time since we were off to a Halloween party at Meredith's in the afternoon. It was so much fun. There were mummy wrapped hot dogs, spider crackers, eye balls in the punch, orange frosted cupcakes, crafts, and bobbing for apples. Haylee struggled with this game since she is now toothless on the top. There were all kinds of costumes and tons of kids. The cutest costumes (besides my kids) were siblings who dressed as Peter Pan, Wendy, and Captain Hook. (SOOO ADORABLE). I have posted some pictures of my little Gabriella and Olympic gymnast and I will post a picture of Claire on Halloween because I left her costume at the party. After the party, we cam home and carved pumpkins. This was great. The kids had safety knives and did a pretty good job by themselves. Claire and Haylee just dove right into the pumpkin guts. Mackenna focused more on the creation of the perfect pumpkin face. On Sunday, I loaded 6 little girls in my van to venture out to see High School Musical 3. It was a cute movie and I think that I was just as excited to see it as the girls. The kids were happily worn out by last night and went to bed early.

Recent books

I have a few new books to let you know about. The most recent one that I finished for my book club was Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult. This is the second book that I have read by her and I liked it. I partially read it and partially listened to it on CD while I was driving to and from work. It is basically about a man sentenced to death for a murder who wants to donate his heart to the sister of his victim after his death. It is not a light hearted book , but certainly kept me interested. The book that I just started is called 'the curious incident of the dog in the night-time' and is told from the point of view of a boy with Asperger's. So far it is good, but I will let you know after it is finished. I should have the fall pictures of the girls shortly from my friend Meredith and I will post them then.

Fall cleaning

Now that everyone is finally on the mend from illness, I decided to embark on my fall cleaning spree. My mom always did spring cleaning and I think that most people do, but I also usually have an itch for cleaning in the fall, too. I feel the need to clean, purge, and reorganize before the holiday season begins and the children receive new "stuff" from Santa. I guess it is my way of getting rid of junk to make room for new junk. I am starting in the craft room/ office where we spend lots of time and it gets messy quick. As I was vacuuming up some little playdoh droppings, Claire decided to help and I took this adorable picture of my little helper. I also have some pictures of our trip to the pumpkin patch this weekend. There is a charming little farm nearby that is quaint and family run. It is adorable and the pumpkins are cheap. The kids had a blast picking out pumpkins, petting the goats and sheep, and looking at all of the cows.

Distraction

I am sitting here writing a post because I have to keep myself busy as Claire cries herself to sleep for a nap. We have had a "when it rains, it pours" kind of day. Yesterday when I picked Claire up from daycare, her provider said that she started getting fussy and developed a rash on her bottom. Due to the history of my children, I immediately looked at her hand and noticed the first little red blister. Yes, she has hand,foot,mouth. My other children got it every spring and fall when they were her age and I know it well. She had tons of blisters in her mouth and back of her throat and she was up every hour last night crying. Ok, so if that isn't bad enough, Haylee came home from school yesterday and asked to take a nap. I knew immediately that she was sick. She ran a 102 temp last night with a cough. So she is home with me today, too. Tonight I am supposed to go back to my mom's before Kenna's second dental procedure in Holland tomorrow morning so I am a little nervous for Kevin's sake as he will be on his own with a very unhappy Claire tonight. Well, I don't hear anymore noise from the baby monitor, so Claire must have worn herself out. Wish us luck and say a little prayer for quick healing. Thank you.

Princess for a night

Well we had a fabulous time with Kenna as the princess of homecoming. She got to ride in a corvette convertible, wear a pretty dress, throw candy to the passers by and crown the homecoming queen. What could be more magical for a 5 year old. I took about 300 pictures, but here are just a few of my favorites. She was a bit nervous as I first put her in the car for the parade. It did not make sense to her that her mother was actually telling her to get in a car with complete strangers since I have always taught her that this was dangerous, but she got over her fear when she saw the candy.

School has begun

We have now been in school for about a month and as you may notice, I have not been blogging much. Now that 2 of my 3 kids are in school, there is not much to take pictures of anymore and therefore not much to say. I will have some great Kodak moments tonight as my little Mackenna is going to be presenting the crown to the homecoming queen at half time at Kevin's game. She also gets to ride in a car during the parade with a beautiful white dress on. She is sooo excited. This will be a great time for her to have something good happen as she has had to go see a pediatric dentist in Holland to have some work done on her teeth. She seems to have bad enamel and our regular dentist attempted to do some repair work, but she flipped out. We were referred to a fantastic pediatric dentist in Holland who was able to do half of the work that had to be done this past Wednesday (with the help of some great drugs) and will complete the job next Wednesday. She did great, but I really think that this positive attention tonight is just what she needed to lift her spirits. I will post some pictures this weekend.