Halloween Part III

We had one more adventure in our month long Halloween celebration before actual trick-or-treat and it was the now annual, Brooks Halloween party. We didn't take the girls last year because of how young they were but we drug them along this year and they had a blast. I only allowed Cadence to stay for a few hours and then took her to her mamaw's but Addison held up all night. I'll let some of the pictures describe just how creative the Brooks are at their party planning. Daniel said growing up they went all out every Halloween and I think they are part of the reason why he loves Halloween so much.

This past Saturday we took the girls trick-or-treating in my mother-in-laws neighborhood. Our current house is out in the country so we couldn't exactly take the girls around our place. They were both a little stand offish at first but they eventually warmed up to the fact that at every door they went to, they were given candy. In our house candy is actually called camdy and by that night we were having to hide their buckets because they were on sugar overload.

Visiting with their great aunt Nanny while we were in the neighborhood.

We were afraid they would never get to sleep buy thankfully a walk around the block with no nap equaled being out cold by the time we were off my mother-in-laws street. I wish I would have snapped a picture of them asleep but I didn't think of it then. My mother-in-law gave them each their own light up wand to carry around with them while they were trick-or-treating and they both feel asleep in the car seats with them in their hands. The purple glow of the wand cast a little purple light against their chubby little faces and it melted my heart. Addison's snores even made us a giggle a little bit.

I can't believe another Halloween with them has gone by but thanks to my camera it's one that I won't soon forget. I'm pretty sure Addison is going to be disappointed tomorrow when they drop them off with their mamaw while I go to an appointment. I don't think it has hit her yet that trick-or-treat is a once a year event. 

Now...whose ready for turkey?? Or wait, is it Christmas? Since the stores have had Christmas stuff out for a couple of weeks around here I'm getting all of these holidays mixed up.

Halloween Part II

Our second adventure this Halloween season was a trip to the pumpkin patch. Since moving further north we can't see driving over an hour away to go to the pumpkin patch that we've frequented in the past so this year we changed it up a bit.

We took the girls to Young's Dairy which has a little bit of everything for young children. We went on a Sunday when the wind was really bad due to incoming storms but we made the best of the time we had before the rain hit.

The ladies first got to select a pumpkin of their own which Addison was a pro at. The girl knew what she wanted, however, her little sister needed a bit of help from mommy. I was helping to coax the pumpkin picking along so can you believe not a single picture was taken.

The next adventure consisted of petting and feeding the goats, visiting the baby cow, and a few other farm animals inside the barn and lastly, visiting the cows. They loved seeing all of the animals but didn't understand why the cows didn't want to come over and actually visit with them.

The third stop at the farm was their ride on the Moovers & Shakers train ride. Train ride in this instance being a golf cart pulling a bunch of barrels around but you get the drift. We were skeptical at how Cadence would do riding in a barrel by herself and of course my mommy brain immediately started thinking of how she might want out during the ride and then falling out and being run over, but she surprised us all and had a ball. She hung on to the steering wheel for dear life, but you could tell she was a happy little girl getting to be big and brave all by herself. I was holding her tonight close to my chest and I just couldn't get over the fact that she is almost two years old. Both of my babies are growing up so fast it's mind boggling at times.

 Lastly, we played on the big tires and the old tractor but the wind kept getting worse and we could see the storm clouds rolling in so we decided to head on out. We were going to eat in their restaurant there but the wait was 45 minutes long so we passed and headed to mamaw's for tacos.

 

I absolutely adore doing this kind of stuff with the girls. It's the day before Halloween and those pumpkins haven't been carved yet, but its the thought that counts. These are memories and traditions that I hope that they hold dear to their heart even after I'm long gone.

Halloween Part I

This should have posted about two weeks ago so please bear with me...lol!!

This weekend was the kick off of our Halloween celebrations. It seems like every year, we have more and more scheduled for our month of October and we wouldn't have it any other way. I think the fact that the girls are both getting older and starting to enjoy themselves and all of our festivities really helps. Halloween is Daniel's favorite time of the year so he is in seventh heaven.

Dylan celebrating his 3rd birthday before the fun started!

We started off Saturday night at my uncle Dan and aunt Robin's annual Halloween party for our family. The girls had a blast running around the backyard and playing with their cousins and it was nice that I could kick back and relax a little bit knowing that I had so many other people helping to watch them. So many years ago I could only wish that I would be a stay at home mom. I had some idea in my head that I could sleep however long I wanted, sit around and watch t.v., pretty much do whatever the heck I wanted all while enjoying my babies. Man, oh man, was I wrong! Being a full time stay at home mommy is by far the hardest job that I have had to date. I never get to shut my mind off. Even when they are napping I'm constantly listening for when they wake up or if one of them has a dream and needs consoled. So when I'm with my family I know that there are so many sets of eyes on my girls that I can relax for a little while and just enjoy myself and my surroundings. It was heavenly!!

I was so impressed with my aunt Robin. She made homemade bingo cards for the older kids that had a Halloween theme to them. I'm talking, she actually drew pictures of Halloween themed items on the cards. She also made homemade pumpkin pinatas for the big and small kids out of poster board and made a spider out of wire hangers for a ring toss. The adults got to break the pinatas and it was so funny for the smaller kids...when the treats went flying they just stood there trying to figure out which treat to pick up. They didn't understand that they could pick as many up as they could. Poor Addison kept picking stuff up, looking at it, and then throwing it back down to move on to the next piece that she thought might be more appealing. I had to help her out a bit.

They had a costume contest and Daniel was the judge, however, after naming Cadence last place, his judging rights have been revoked for all future costume contests. Addison is a going to be a cowgirl this year and Cadence is the prettiest witch I've ever seen. They were both so adorable in their costumes, as were all of the other kids. Can you please check out my niece, Ireland! Is she not the cutest spider that you have ever seen? And of course her brother, Dylan, the dinosour. I love these kids so much!


We ate, played a few games, and most importantly, got to spend some quality time with our family. I love moments like these!

The kids shooting the Nerf gun for points.

Playing a friendly game of euchre. Nikki and I lost by a point.

Fall pictures and a trip to the farm...

This past Friday the girls and I got to spend the day with my mother-in-law. Since she has retired we have been doing things just us girls during the week and we have so much fun together. She picked us up early Friday morning and we drove over to Carriage Hill Farm and got to visit with all of the farm animals as well as hit up the candy store.

Visiting with Maggie the horse.

The girls love seeing all of the animals even though Cadence is terrified to get to close to them. We pretty much had the farm to ourselves so we allowed the ladies to run around without the stroller and they enjoyed all of the freedom.

Petting the kitty.

I took a few fall pictures of them and even though I tried hard, the pictures with both of them just didn't turn out. They have issues looking at the camera at the same time...lol. Cadence has issues looking at the camera period.

After lunch we hit up Bob Evans as a nice little treat. I ordered the unlimited salad, bread, and soup lunch special and it was delicious. Addison ate a good portion of my salad and both girls enjoyed eating lunch out with their mamaw.

After lunch we stopped by Wal-Mart so that we could get the girls Halloween costumes. Addison got a new costume compliments of Mamaw and since Mamaw likes for Cadence to have new stuff as well she got a brand spanking new costume as well. I had just planned on putting her in the Dorothy costume Addison wore last year but instead she's going to be a spooky witch. Addison gets to be a little cowgirl with a hat and all. I'm looking forward to Halloween this year now that both girls get to actively participate.

I ordered chili as my soup at Bob Evans on Friday and it got me in the mood for more. I sent out invites to our closest friends and my mother-in-law for a chili and homemade cornbread dinner Saturday evening, followed by a bonfire. I made two different types of chili and they were both delicious. So was the cornbread. I made it from scratch and baked it in our cast iron skillet with lots of butter. I don't think I'll ever make a boxed cornbread again. I'll be posting all three recipes over on my food blog within the next week or so.

We rounded out our weekend by attending the Mum Festival in Tipp City. I really enjoyed myself until the very end when my ostomy bag started leaking. It was really upsetting but I was thankful that I was wearing black pants. No one noticed my wet and dirty front side but I was mortified and overall disgusted. My mother-in-law purchased two huge mums for me and after we picked them up we headed out so that I could get home to shower and change clothing. I dropped everyone off at her house, went home took care of myself and the dogs, and then headed back out for pizza  at her house.

 My gorgeous mums.

I just love weekends like this. We get so bored sitting at home during the week since Daniel takes the Yukon to work leaving us without a mode of transportation. We try hard to take advantage of our time together on the weekends. Sue, my mother-in-law, was so tickled that she got to spend three days in a row with the girls.

Family Time and a Birthday!

One of the benefits of having divorced parents is that I have lots of family.  All of my great-grandparents have passed away, and all of my biological grandparents, with the exception of my maternal grandmother have passed as well. Thankfully, all of my grandparents that I was blessed with via step-parents are all alive and as well as can be being in their seventies.

I have lots of great aunts and uncles, and every year my grandma's four sisters come to Ohio to spend a week or so with her. We didn't get to visit them last year as I was extremely sick at the time with my Crohns but this year I committed myself to visit and I made sure I stuck to my guns and went. I went with the girls without Daniel, but by golly, we went and I am so pleased that I got to spend some quality time with some amazing family.







Poor Cadence sustained a nice little head injury while we were there as she decided to nose dive off of the deck onto concrete, instead of walking down the stairs but the girls had fun playing with a few of my cousins and their aunt and uncles.




 Hopefully we'll get to visit with their great-great aunts again next year!

Group shot, this is our immediate family with the aunts, my step-dads girlfriend, my sisters boyfriend, and my brothers fiance.

Four generations.

My brother Steve with his soon to be wife, Jessica and their furry son Charlie.

Why do both of my sisters get to be so skinny? This is my baby sister from my mom's second marriage, with her main squeeze. Such an adorable couple.

We met up with everyone for this gathering a week and a half ago, and this past weekend something big happened to me. I turned 29!! When did that happen? Seriously though, I am having a hard time wrapping my head around that number. Something they don't tell you when you undergo a major surgery like I did, is that your hair falls out. My surgery was in April and my hair is still falling out. The hair that is growing back is coming in gray and wavy. Thankfully I have a lighter shade of hair anyway, so you can't really see the gray unless your up close, but every time I look in the mirror I want to shed a tear. Therefore to celebrate my 29th birthday, it appears that I'll be buying my first box of hair die in probably ten years...lol.

Splash Pad

I took the girls to one of the local splash pads this summer all.by.myself!! We had a few touch and go moments like when Addison refused to leave so I had to leave her playing while I loaded Cadence and all of our belongs in the Yukon. Thank goodness I parked in the front row and could keep my eyes on her, but still, I was a nervous wreck. When it came time to actually grab her I honestly had to chase her around the splash pad with a few mothers just sitting back and staring as if their child never not listened. It was so fun carrying her kicking and screaming to the car with just a wonderful viewing audience. I won't admit that I called them a few choice names in my mind while they just sat there and allowed their children to circle around Addison which made grabbing her even harder.

Cadence strutting her stuff in her water gear!

 For the longest time we had the splash pad with one other young boy and that was it. We stopped by Wal-Mart on the way there and bought new water shoes, a few pool toys, and a couple of snacks and drinks to get us through our few hours of playing. The little boy had the curliest hair that I've ever seen and Cadence was smitten with his mommy. She kept going up to her and wanting to be held. We obviously have to work on the stranger danger speech.

Addison and the little boy that arrived when we did. We opened up the place!

 I really enjoyed the fact that the girls had a blast, even if they refused to actually play in the water. They spent their time there running circles around the splash pad watching others play in the water and barely touched the toys that I bought them. Other kids had fun with their toys but they didn't care much to play with them. They much prefer playing with them here at home filled up with ice cold water straight from the well....lol. I got their water shoes on clearance for a few bucks each and wouldn't you know, after about an hour or so they both took them off...money well spent don't you think?

Still dry as a bone.

After about two hours and they are both still dry.

Playing with some of the new water toys.

Walking around the splash pad. 

They both had a really good time and I made sure we arrived as soon as possible that way we could go home and go straight to bed for naps. The park didn't open until eleven and we showed up about a quarter after ten so we had some time to kill while we waited. The first few minutes in the car going home were not fun because Addison was still screaming and crying which broke my heart, but a stop at Arby's for some lunch helped heal her broken heart. Curly fries in the car seat are always fun!

Crazy Hair

Both of my baby girls were born with a moderate amount of hair. Cadence had even more than Addison when she was born and it was jet black. Between the jet black hair and dark eyes she really threw us for a loop. Addison was born with light hair and blue eyes and that's what we were expecting when we had Cadence. It honestly took me a little bit of time to get used to the fact that I would have two daughters that looked completely different from one another. Cadence eyes did turn sky blue to match the rest of us, and her hair has lightened quite a bit, but it is still darker than Addison's.

They both have had their bangs trimmed a couple of times but I'm trying to let their bangs grow out at this point so that they can have one length of hair to pull back into pony tails. Between this and always fighting with them to keep their hair pretties in, it leaves for a lot of crazy hair in this house.

Bangs in the eyes as usual.

Addison's crazy bed head on Easter morning.

Bangs in the eyes.

Bangs in the eyes in the front, long and curly in the back.

I got a pony tail in for her bangs, but the knots were so bad I couldn't even brush it out. Isn't she cute eating her pudding?

I am seriously pondering chopping Addison's hair off to a little bob. The other night after rewarding her with a sucker for going potty on the toilet, she managed to get it stuck in her hair. We had to wash and condition her hair and even then to get the knot out I was brushing and pulling to the point where she lost a chunk or two of hair. I was trying to do it as gently as possible, but it still hurt her a little and I had moments of sheer panic thinking that I was going to have to cut it out of her hair and that she would have a horrible mess of a hair do. Thankfully it came out but I am constantly dealing with knots in her hair and its frustrating because she won't hold still when we're trying to brush them out. I have been conditioning and blow drying her hair after her bath and her hair is absolutely gorgeous. Long, silky, and the most precious little curls at the ends. I say I am considering a hair cut for her but in reality I don't know if I'll be able to do it. I love her long hair!