Aunty Ollie $100 Gift Card GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Aunty Ollie $100 Gift Card GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Halloween 09

We were not off to a good start this year. Wednesday we went to a movie with our friends and that night, the SICKNESS hit our house. I was up all night with Teagen who was running a fever, and Summer, who was worried that we all had Swine Flu. Before you think we are totally pathetic for getting all crazy over a fever, let me remind you that we rarely even have runny noses here. These kids just dont know how to be sick, and they get scared. If someone happens to vomit, all hell breaks loose and it is the talk of the town for a month. Anyway, Teagen missed her class party, her 1st class party ever(at least she had no idea what she was missing) but the teacher asked if I wanted to stop in and get the art projects they were doing. So I did, and also got a tray of goodies and treat bags for each of the kids. There were enough art projects for all three kids to work on. LOVE that pre-school!!
Summer's party was Friday, so I painted her face before school. Amazingly, it lasted all day beautifully!! Oh, she was a "funky green fairy".

She left her wings at school, so we had to steal a pair from another costume and ended up borrowing a really cool pair from Aunt Rae. I would also like to mention that she ripped her tights and had some crud on her shirt. And she didnt even eat at the school party! I was really frustrated, let me tell ya.

Here are our Jack-O-Lanterns-

Summer's 1st...

Jason's...

Teagen's....

And Grady's/mine...

Everyone was fever free by Saturday AM, so we ventured out for trick-or-treating. 1st was a stop to Grandma Joan's and Grandpa Bob's. They fed us and gave the kids loot bags.

Summer's facepaint changed for Saturday.

Hmmmm...another random pic of out pumpkins. Wasnt supposed to go here, but oh well.

I think Batman started to lose it. He was really tired and no acting himself. Smeared the heck out of his mask.

Then we went a few houses down and hit Grandpa Bill's home. Quarters and Candy from Grandpa. He's a good man and had Snicker's for me.

I have a thing for mini snickers. I eat em frozen, and nearly break my teeth. Love it.

Then finally we meet up with the Burns' at my Dad's. Cindy had cups of Oreos for the kiddos(the very 1st thing they all ate once we were home).

Reid was a duck hunter and Kennedy was a nurse.

And Grady was in a daze...

We trick-or-treated a little subdivision our Friend Holly live in in North Muskegon. It was so cold that the little ones were done early. Summer carried on with Aunt Rae and even did another street on the way home. We stopped at out neighbors and it still wasn't even 8pm.

That night, Jason started feeling cruddy and sure enough, he got it now too. So that's really everyone except me. Summer never had a full blown fever, but she lost most of her voice for a few days. How I have managed to steer clear so far is beyond me. Hopefully I can completely dodge this one!

Field Trip- Farmers Market

Teagen's class does at least 1 parent day a month, and on months with holidays, its usually 2. I love it because I get to see what her daily life is like away from home. Since she's never been in daycare, its kind of a tough spot for me to have her with her own little life every day. So parent day is important to me. Not to mention, she is a middle child, and never gets anything that is just for her. She is thriving in the school environment.
Unfortunately, I have to bring Grady with me. This started out OK. Mrs. Cooper treats him like another student. He had breakfast with the class and sat in the circle.

It was both of their 1st time on a bus. They loved it. Teagen was very proud to be riding a real school bus.

At the farmer's market, things went bad fast. Grady tried to hide and run away from me. I was trying to help Teagen complete her list of things to find. and it was really cold and rainy. Here is Grady hiding....

Also I should mention that Grady stole a giant beautiful apple. By the time I noticed it, we were no where near anyone selling apples, and I had no clue who he took it from. A proud moment for me, certainly.

A class pic. You should know that I had Grady in a headlock with my knees in order to get this shot.

Dedication, I tell ya.


Back to the classroom. Grady always finds the naughtiest boys to sit with. The teacher even noticed this and said something.

Next year is going to be awesome.

But since the day was supposed to be about Teagen, I would like to share that she is just amazing me with her social skills, and it seems that for now, all the preschool skills come very easy to her. She is great with scissors, and can write every letter. Mrs. Cooper also made a point to tell me that Teagen has fantastic writing skills. Already sounding out words and writing them in stories! That girl makes me so proud!

Finally Fall

It has been so unbearably cold the last couple weeks, that I was worried that we may have skipped fall altogether and started right into winter. But it seems to be a bit warmer this week so we took our chance and headed to the pumpkin patch at Lewis Farms on Monday. If you are local, then you certainly have most of these same pics, but starring your own children. Its an amazing place and we are very fortunate to have Lewis Farms right here in West MI, and really just a short drive away.

I love the look in Teagen's eye here, she really is full of it.

Jason had spent a good part of the day in the woods, so we picked him up and brought him along.

And you're are nuts if you don't fall in love with the baby zebra.

Summer Jaye Applehead.

Oh its the baby again! I want one!

This guy sure got big since last year. He's got a lot of personality too. And did I mention he is HUGE?

I mean really, he could live here, right? He's not much bigger than my dogs(yet)... And is it weird that I don't care much for horses, but this guys steals my heart? Awe...love him!

Lewis Farms has the best little Bunny Town. So cute and fun to watch those furballs.

We've been reading "Llama Llama Red Pajama" a lot, so of course these guys were a big draw for the little folk.

Time to make your pumpkin pick!

The job was taken very seriously.

And some winners were taken home. Along with hot cider and cookies. Mmmm.

We plan to carve this weekend, and need to start working on ideas. Not to mention the last minute touches I need to add to everyones costumes.

I have a field trip with Teagen's class this week, so watch for that post later. I promise, I will get better about posting again!

Announcing....

Over the summer I was lucky enough to help a friend with an event she was organizing. She asked if I would be interested in working with one of her friends and run a face painting booth. I didn't realize what a cool art form REAL face painting can be, and after some research I was hooked. Angela, my painting partner felt the same way. Over the summer we both did some more work in the art and after some time and consideration, we decided to join in a little business we are calling la-la land.

la-la land is face painters for hire, party planners and so much more. Face and body art is hot right now, and we use only professional quality, makeup grade, top of the line face and body paints.

Perfect for:

children's parties- We can match your theme! Fairy Party or Superhero Bash, anyone?

bachelorette parties- Very trendy,sexy painted eye masks for everyone!

baby bumps-Unlike what everyone else is doing, and hides any imperfections for prenatal photography! You and your baby-to-be will be a work of art.


We can do face paint only or even go all the way to planning the entire event, while you sit back with you camera capturing the moments. How much you want done is up to you.

So anyway, Angela and I are so excited about this and hope you are too! If you are at all interested, we are accepting bookings NOW! contact us at lalalandgurls@gmail.com

Thanks in advance for supporting me and Angela in this lalaland adventure!!!!
XOXOXO

When a Weird Man and an Odd Woman Fall in Love...

You get this motley crew: Oh my...

I normally would not think for Grady to be the most normal of the bunch, but he was just modeling his Halloween costume( Thanks Kristin!)

This one?

Well, lets just say I am fully aware that I have some very difficult years ahead of me. As I type, she is singing"I'm a Barbie Girl" at the top of her tiny lungs.

But ya gotta love those socks.

10 years of Wedded Bliss and a Very Happy Wheatland

We had no intention of going to Wheatland this year. Just getting back from our big family vacation, and the fact that most of our group was taking a year off due to other vacations and a cross country move. We had my Aunt Julie to watch the kids for our 10th anniv. and we just couldn't decide what we wanted to do. Well to make a longish story short, we suggested going to our friends Ian and Leslie, and decided to give it a go! This would be so different than years past, only 2 couples in our group as opposed to the usual 8 or so.

It left us the chance to camp somewhere new(and completely awesome). We also got front row middle seating for the music Friday night. Just totally a different experience.

If you've seen my facebook pics, these will all look familiar. I forgot to grab my memory card, so I could only take the 20 pics that my camera holds in internal memory.
Some of my fav art pieces...

Oops. bad focus! But you get the point.

My new favorite band, Crooked Still. Turn on the music for a couple of their songs. So So good!

The stage a night, from our spot on Saturday. We were still closer than we've ever been! Thanks to the boys. They were so good to us.

Sadly, we worked entirely too long to get a good self-group shot that night. Apparently using the timer was too much work for us. I just happen to think that Ian and Les are camera hogs.

Another fab band, The Deadly Gentlemen. They are so different, I can hardly explain. Like banjo rap( as if that makes sense to anyone). They even do a version of "Bust a Move" that was soooo cool.

The Cajun Dance. Crappy pic, everyone is moving to fast and the lighting is bad. But just to give you an idea as to the amount of people down here after midnight. I have to admit that I hate the Cajun dance. It has turned into a giant,gentler mosh pit. The year some girls stuck a flashlight down the back of Jason's pants kinda did me in. I prefer to stand back and watch, listen to the music and avoid any groping;)

Ten years last Friday. I can hardly believe it. We've thrown around the idea of celebrating with a fancy vacation or big gifts, but not only is that difficult on one income with back to school expenses and tons of new medical bills, its just not our style. We don't need it. The long weekend together was one of the best times I've had with him. It doesn't matter to me where we are. I am just so completely content and happy. I really love this guy.






Jason and Ian. Its really great that the both of us still have such good friends from our childhoods. I guess we have all been through so much together, that its always easy to pick of where we've left off.

The "Cranderson's" . Really enjoyed the weekend with these two. The kind of laughter that leaves your stomach aching. I believe Leslie has been going to Wheatland as long as we have. Its possibly when I met her 9 years ago.

I also discovered that these two are actually very alike. Like one would say something really funny and smarty-pants, then the other would walk up and seriously say the same stinking thing. Scary, and I adore them both:)

Great weekend. Funny how much can change in a year. Friendships disintegrate, people get married, people move, babies are born, and much more. Makes me wonder whats in store for next year.

Looking back now, I can't believe we were not going to go. Crazy talk. And if I say that next year, somebody slap me!