Pumpkin Party

Wanted to pop in on my busy day to show a few pics from the pumpkin carving party. It was a great time. We had some white chicken chili and reg. chili, chips and dip, party potatos, rolls, etc... Of course we carved pumpkins. The kids did a pumpkin face craft that I had brought. Campfire with guitar and songs. Fireworks. What a night. I have to get better pictures from my family with better cameras though. I got a few "decent" shots, but most were bad. I fixed every single one up with NeatImage, which helped quite a bit actually, but not good enough.

This first one I actually got into a LO already yesterday afternoon - it is for the Lilypad blog challenge this week.

And here are a few more pics!

Kyle and Braelyn worked on their two pumkins - Both were pretty greusome. Braelyn's was a skull, and Kyle's was just a puking pumpkin. See the bottom pic!

Lindsey (my cousin) helped Selah do her pumpkin. They did a cute pumkin heart eyes and a cute mouth.

I carved Gracyn during the 10 minutes that I wasn't holding her. No just kidding, but I felt like i had her all night and missed out on quite a bit of the festivities b/c of it. Such is life with a 4 week old I guess.

Lindsey and Selah - being cute as ever!

And here are the finished pumpkins - Notice Kyle's pumpkin puking in the back, Braelyn's to the right. Selah's in the middle, and Gracyn's front/center. I just did a bunch of circles, squares, & stars around it. It was a tiny pumpkin so I thought that would be best.

This morning was one of those mornings that NOTHING went right. Braelyn and Selah fought ALL morning. Selah was HORRIBLE. I don't even know how to explain it, nor do I know what to do. She got like three time outs - as did Braelyn. I just want them to play nice together and I want Selah to not whine. I am not sure how to instill this in them. I try to be nice and calm about it, but I just can't. Any advice on what to do or how to handle this would be great! Since I have already told you all about my week I guess I can sign off. Back later in the week!

MandaKay

A week???

It's been almost a week since I last post. For a while I was doing 2 -3 posts a week. Guess that's life! My main reasons is that I am only on the computer when I am sitting and nursing (which is actually a lot! I figure I might as well be doing something as productive while I am nursing right?!) Anyway - it is quite tough to type out a story or journal entry one handed. I can do words or comment on LO's and blogs occasionally if I am set up right, but to do a whole blog entry is tough. There's my excuse - not that I feel I need to justify! :)

Life is good here. I really still feel like the adjustment from 1 to 2 kids was harder than from 2 to 3. Gracyn is my best baby yet - still cries and is fussy, but partly I am probably more relaxed too. My house is going to be cluttered with toys at times. I might have to change a diaper or two in the middle of the night. The kids are going to spill on my newly cleaned wood floors. What's a mom to do? I am trying to just let some of it go. There will come a time when I can have a clean house for more than one day - and then guess what - that will get boring. Someday it will be just Kyle and I, and our kids will be grown. Yikes - what will we do with all our time then??? I pray we as a couple stay close enough that we don't go thru that awkward stage after our kids move out that we don't know what to do with eachother. I don't think we will. My sister teases us b/c we seem to go away alot and get sitters (like our last weekend). She teases, and I know it's true - but her and I both know it is necessarry for a marriage to do those things. I love that time - just driving on the road - 6 hours - sometimes saying nothing, sometimes chatting up a storm - just being together. Have I mentioned how much I love my hubby - he's such a goof - makes me smile so much. Generally it is a "roll your eyes" kind of smile b/c of how crazy he is, but deep down my heart is beating with delight!

Aren't I so scatter brained? That is one thing I have been thinking about today. Here are three things about me that I just am (ETA: or aren't, actually). I am NOT a deep thinker. I am NOT real emotional (except when pregnant - LOL). And I am VERY scatterbrained. I just randomly think of things and forget them two minutes later. I can be praying to God and then venture off into my own random thoughts and then get back into the prayer again. In BSF we are really challenged to pray - like before each day's study and for others in our group, etc... I struggle with prayer. I do not think I am a very good "pray-er" I cannot/will not pray in front of people and even to myself I think "gosh - I am so not good with words". Oh well - I do know that I am in constant conversation with God every day. Like I said - I start to pray, think of other things, pray again more, etc... I at least have the faith that God knows what I am saying and thinking. And by the way - I have asked Him to help me to concentrate more and to be better with my words. He has answered my prayer more and more daily, but man do I wish I could pray like Kyle's Grandpa (who is a reverend).

OK - what else. Tonight we are heading to my mom's for the annual pumpkin carving party. Good food. Good times. We'll dress the girls up for a bit just for fun (Braelyn will be the ladybug costume from Old Navy, Selah a flower - an old costume of Braelyn's, and Gracyn just a halloween orange shirt) and then carve pumpkins and I am bringing a little pumpkin craft too for the kids. I feel like my week - starting Monday is kind of busy for me. Probably my busiest since having Gracyn. (which by the way - was almost a month ago already!) Monday I have to take Gauge to the vet and then BSF at night. Tue. I am the parent helper at Braelyn's school, home for naps, and then late afternoon off to Kyle's mom's work for some trick or treating early. Wed. I am going to trade a few kids off to my mom and take Braelyn and my niece Kylie (since my mom babysits her on Wed.) to a local farm where the kids get to do some fun stuff. And of course Wed. night is halloween so we will be heading out early to make it to all our stops. We go to our church for a big halloween event (big blow up stuff, food, candy, games) and probably visit my mom at her church to show off the kids at her church's Trunk or Treat event, and of course hit a few neighbors! I think Thur. and the weekend are kind of slow though - thank goodness. Two mornings with out Gracyn for a while - what will I do??? That girl has been attached to me. So, that's our week in a nutshell - not like you all really care though - LOL! Just more of a reminder for me!

And here are two more LO's. Like I said I do have my computer beside me while nursing so I tend to just work on LO's since I can do that one handed for the most part! So I may seem like i am scrapping a lot, but hey - what else is a mom to do while sitting down anyway. I really do still clean and cook and do domestic stuff (probably not near as much as hubby would like yet, but my house stays quite clean I would say!)

This first LO is using Shabby Miss Jenn's newest kit Uncle Patrick's Banquet. I LOVE purple so this kit jumped right out at me when I saw it! Yummy colors in my eyes! I will get good use out of this kit!

And, oh boy, are you guys going to LOVE Nov. at the Lilypad!!! There are some new, fun, exciting things that are about to hoppin over there! The above LO is done using some new goodies from a new "mystery guest designer" debuting Nov. 2! You better HOP on over next week Fri.! I am scheduled to do the blog post and I am super nervous b/c of all the stuff I get to "show off" and talk about! Exciting I tell ya! But there are some other goodies on this LO that have already come out - the straight ribbons by Natalie Braxton (the ORIGINAL ribbon queen) and now some new paper clipped ribbons by Natalie's up and coming rival - Amy Martin! And of course I used Nancy's famous frames, and Amy Wolff's highlighting brush for the words. The girls were having fun painting a week or so ago - I just let them go to town - with washable paints of course! I think I will do an identical LO for Braelyn just change out the pictures! Keeping it easy and real for me folks!

So there you have it. That's it for me today folks. Who knows when you'll see me next! Ta ta for now! Keep it real!

P.S. - wanna see what I have on my christmas list???

Bamboo Fun tablet by Wacom. I have never had a tablet nor wanted one, until now. I think it would be fun to play with. Probably would be easier to nurse and scrap too! :) Hubby will kill me if I told him I wanted this. I am sure I won't get it, but a girl can dream, right?

You are seeing my scatterdness come out now aren't ya???

Weekend recap and 2 LO's

So we are home from our busy weekend! We ended up not leaving on Fri. until about 1:00pm - after my grandma's funeral. We brought the girls to Kyle's sisters house and then got on the road. We made it up to Drummond Island at about 6:30pm - just in time for dinner! Gracyn did GREAT on the way up there. Good dinner and some games Fri. night - along with getting unpacked and settled. Sat. when we woke up we just had a great breakfast and hung out. The guys went and baited their deer hunting blinds, while us girls just chatted and hung out. We also rode into town for a bit. After lunch the girls got to go out quading. OH MY GOODNESS was that fun. A bunch of 27-30 yr old moms just tearing it up on the quads. I don't have the pics yet, but we got FILTHY! I mean we were flooring it thru mud puddles. It was such a blast! Once we got back I had to feed Gracyn again and then I took a shower and we scrapped a bit while the guys watched football! Dinner was tacos and then it was just more play time. Guys watched the Michigan game and girls did face and hair masks and more scrapping! I am so fortunate to have such great friends and I just kept thinking how cool it was that we all hung out in this small cabin and got along so well! Thanks girls (and guys!) - Kyle and I had a BLAST!

Travels on Sunday were good. Gracyn didn't do quite as well - she's been a bit fussy since leaving there. She must have liked the Upper Peninsula! Braelyn and Selah seemed excited to see us, although they made it very cleat that they loved spending the night at Grandma and Grandpa's and that they had a riot. So they loved seeing us, but I don't think they missed us much while we were actually gone!

Today is just catching up around home - laundry, dishwasher unloading/loading, kids play, nursing, etc... My mom stopped this morning on her way back from her walk which was nice. We then all walked to my sisters for some coffee and kid play time. Good stuff.

Here are the LO's I was talking about. I have one more that is almost done, but I will have to show that off later!

This first one is for the Lilypad Blog challenge. If you haven't played along on one of these yet - you MUST! They are a great way to get a LO done, and you could win something too - extra perk! My LO was done in my head before the challenge even came about this week. I have been listening NON-STOP to the new Casting Crowns CD and the songs all speak to me so clearly. The song "The Alter and the Door" is one that I love. It is about losing our way between the alter and the door - we can so often have tears in church during a sermon or worship. We feel so convicted while there. Then, once we stand up, get out, and live life we lose it. I do it on a weekly basis unfortunately. I need to just let Jesus be who He is in me. So when the challenge came up - I already knew what I would do! Love when that happens.

This one is just another LO for Gracyn's book. Love my sweet angel when she sleeps! She is zonked in my arms right now in fact!

Thanks for reading today - hope I kept you interested - LOL! This week should be pretty basic. BSF tonight, Sadie's birthday party tomorrow, and then Sat. night is our family pumpkin party! I always look forward to that! Hope you all have a great week!

Manda

Titleless

This is my titleless post. I couldn't think of an appropriate title. Last night, a little after 10:00pm my grandmother past away. My mom actually called me this morning to tell me. We were just kind of waiting, as odd as that may sound. About a year ago actually is when I came face to face with the fact that Grandma was not doing so well. As I was heading out to my girlfriends house to drop off a meal, I saw my grandma getting out of her car at a house that I knew she didn't know the house/person. I thought it was odd and so I told myself that on my way out of the neighborhood, if she was still there, then I would stop and talk to her. Well, she was not there. I decided I would just let my mom know when I got home that I saw her there. With no coincidence I turned out of the subdivision in an opposite direction than I normally do, to head home. I found Grandma again, up the road in another subdivision. I backed up and turned in behind her. I asked her what she was up to and she was very confused and emotional - lost. This was when the alzheimers really started up. There were a few signs before then, but this was really it. I ended up leading her back to her condo safely. My grandma was 83 years old - she had lead a great life. My sister Tammy reminded me today that there is a lot to be thankful to her for. Grandma finally past away due to what they believe was bladder cancer, which lead to kidney failure too. Thank you all for your prayers and little emails/comments here in the past week. Tomorrow we will have the visitation and then Fri. morning the funeral.

After the funeral we have decided to still go up to Drummond Island with our friends. It's a 6 hr. drive and we had planned to go up on Thur. with everyone else, so now we will just leave after the funeral and we should still get there by dinner time Fri. night. Kyle is so excited to get up there again - next month is guy's only for hunting so this time us girls get to tag along. We will do some quading, scrapping, eating, hanging! Very excited. We will take Gracyn with us and leave Braelyn and Selah in the loving arms of their grandparents. Kind of a kid free weekend - LOL. So with all the busyness I will not be back on here until Monday again most likely! Should have some fun pics by then!

Here is a LO I did today while nursing and naps. It is done with this gals fabulous designs. Credits here. It is also my submission for this challenge! You all know me - I love me a good challenge - LOL! They just get me scrapping!

Thanks again gals for all of your kind comments. I am still getting around to all of your bloggies when they update - just don't always have the time or free hand to type in a comment - but I still see when you update and read up on all of your lives!

MandaKay

The start of the week

So it's Monday again - the start of the week! So much to look forward to. Today has been good so far. The girls are just being great for me. We have our frustrating moments, but for the most part they have been GREAT!

We had such a nice weekend as a family too. I love family time. Hanging out with Kyle and the girls - nothing beats it! Fri. night we hung out at home, Sat. we went to the pumpkin patch farm nearby. Super fun - I will post pic below! Then we came home and napped and then did dinner at Branns. Now we hadn't been to Branns in probably years. Can't even remember the last time. We had a VERY good experience. Once again - the girls were awesome. We went fairly early, got right in, and our waitress was a young mom who knew just what we needed and when. Extra napkins without asking, kids meal out when it was ready, friendly, fun, etc... The food was good and the bill was fairly cheap! Good stuff! Sunday we skipped church again b/c the girls and us are just getting over our sicknesses and I don't want to expose anyone or have any of us get re-exposed. So we did our cinnamon roll breakfast, went to Sam's club, came home for lunch and then went to visit my Grandmother. She is still at the Hospice House and as of this morning she is doing fairly well. Yesterday my mom told me she thought we were in the last hours. Apparently Grandma wants to hang out here for a while longer. She seems to be pretty peaceful which is nice.

That leads us to today which has gone pretty fast. The weather is great today - 67 degrees - so we have played outside, went for a short walk, and the girls just woke up from naps. I feel like I sit and nurse all day though. I forgot how much time that takes. Gracyn falls asleep so much yet so sometimes nursing takes an hour alone and then I nurse every three hours so I only get about 2 hours in between. Tonight I am going to try to make it to at least part of BSF bible study tonight. It is a two hour program so I am not sure if Gracyn will be okay for Daddy for that long. We'll see, but at least I will make it to part of it again - I actually miss it.

Here I leave you with a few pics from our pumpkin trip! Can't wait to scrap some good fall LO's!

Hope you all have a pleasant week!

Ciao,

MandaKay

Hold on tight....You're in for a long one

That's what you get when I haven't blogged for a bit. I have so much to talk about. I will try to categorize it in an orderly fashion!

:::BLOG:::

As you can see, my blog has a whole new look. Thanks to my sister Shawn, who designs blogs. Didn't she do a GREAT job? I just adore the new look! So a big thanks again to you Shawn - I think it's fab! And although the blog has been a bit neglected I have had a ton of stuff to share and blog about, so sit tight and hope your eyes don't get too tired!

:::SCRAPBOOKING:::

This is my latest LO I finished up. I LOVE how it turned out. I think it is very "paper" scrapbooking like! And that truly is my favorite style! The LO was done with a template by Janet Phillips and the kit is by Shabby Miss Jenn - ROCKING kit - maybe my favorite YET!!!

I hope today to work on a LO that might be a bit challenging for me that I will be able to show off on Monday - it is for the Monday Lilypad Blog Challenge.

:::Movie Reviews:::

We have watched a bunch of bad movies lately. One we watched two weeks ago is Good Shephard - stongly suggest NEVER seeing that movie. One would think with all the good people in it that it might be good - not true. The one we watched just this past Sunday is Babel. Wasn't real into that one either. Brad Pitt really isn't as great as what some people say, I don't think. Anyway - those are the bad ones in my book.

OK - have any of you seen the trailer/commercial for Dan in Real Life??? If you have not you MUST click on that link and then click on "watch the trailer". All the way at the end he gets pulled over by a cop ( I think in Rhode Island), and the cop says "Do you know how much this is going to cost you?", and Steve Carell (who recently just CRACKS me up, says "Put it on my tab" under his breath. The cop asks, "what did you say", and he again says "put it on my tab". SO FUNNY. You have to watch his face though when he says it. I seriously LAUGH out loud every time. Can't get enough of it. This might be Kyle and my first date night out without baby when it comes out. Good stuff. I just love a good movie with no guns, violence, etc.. I am getting old and I think since having kids I just want decent movies without that stuff. I see enough depressing stuff in the news, let alone in a movie that I pay for!

:::GRACYN:::

OK - so I realize I have not posted any recent pictures of her! Here goes nothing. Not at all fixed up - so excuse that!

Gracyn in bed - 10/6/07 - one week after birth! She is such a honey. Mmmm...I have a hard time not snuggling her all day for some reason.

This was actually taken right when we got home from the hospital. Braelyn went right to her books, found the smallest book, and started reading it to her sleepy sister. It was the most precious thing on earth! Braelyn is such a GREAT big sister. A good helper.

And of course - Selah - here to poke and prod her little sis. She really is doing soooo good with her though. She pretty much ignores her, but every once in a while she will come up and try to snuggle her. Love it. I would say we have all adjusted pretty well to our newest addition.

:::FAMILY STUFF:::

My maternal grandmother is not doing real well. Yesterday they put her into Hospice Home and they say it could be days-weeks until she passes away. Such a hard thing for many reasons. I remember my grandma from when I was little. She would take us camping. We had a ton of fun, but unfortunately my grandpa made it fun. My grandma was a bit strict. Still love her. The last year she really has deteriorated mentally and physically. She was hit real hard with alzheimers, and now has almost complete kidney failure. I might go visit her tonight once kids are all settled with Kyle. I have mixed feelings on going to see her b/c I feel like she doesn't know me. She never invested a TON of time in our lives, but I know she loved us. I also struggle with it b/c I want to remember the grandma that was healthy and energetic, not my weak grandma that she is now. I know though that my going to visit will be mainly to support her and my mom and our whole family. Prayers for peace in these next few days/weeks would be appreciated.

:::WEEKEND PLANS:::

Well, this is the end of my post. Tonight we staying home and my sister in law is coming around 4:00 to see Gracyn with my nephew Cobe. She is bringing enchiladas it sounds like so I think we will bake those up and have that. We are skipping out on the haunted corn maze tonight with friends unfortunately. They will have a blast! Tomorrow I am thinking we should go to a local pumpkin farm and pick pumpkins! We have never taken the girls pumpkin picking and I think they will LOVE it. I think they have a hay ride too. I think it will be a touch warmer tomorrow too which will be good. The last few days here have been more fall like - 50's. I also kind of want to hit the local scrapbook store (LSS) that is having their annual sale, which just happens to be by Fazolis - which would be a GREAT lunch place. We'll see what Kyle says about all my plans - LOL - I have not discussed any of it with him. Tomorrow night I think we will go out for dinner. We have a TON of gift certificates and dining coupons so who knows where we will go. Somewhere fast and kid friendly and probably somewhat early! Sunday is just back to a normal Sunday. Back to church this week, probably lunch at mom's (although that could change due to grandma's situation), and then naps and movie night!

Hope you all have a fun filled weekend!!! Signing off for now - Gracyn waking up and time to feed and try to do a LO while doing that - LOL!

As Promised

So as promised - here are the LO's I was working on. The first one here is my LO for the scraplift challenge I hosted over at the-lilypad blog! Play along!!! Super easy b/c the LO design is already decided for you!

And this LO is just one I did using some new stuff I bought recently. The Template is by Janet Phillips in her Oct. Grab bag - available thru today only! And also some of Gina's new papers over at DDE!

Gracyn'a appt today went good - long. 2 Hr. of testing an looking. She does have a small hole in her heart, but Dr. explained that there is nothing to be concerned about, and to go on with stuff as usual. It will most likely close on it's own.

That's it for today - I am shutting down computer until tomorrow to appease Kyle!!! Night!

Lots of Sickies around here

So, when you bring a newborn home from the hospital there should be some unwritten rule about no one else in the family getting sick during your first week home. Braelyn came down with Bronchitis last Wed. night, while at Grandma's luckily. Problem is Grandma doesn't need more than two nights of no sleep so we knew we needed to take the girls back home. Also for Braelyn and Selah's sake we knew that they might begin to feel "pushed to the wayside" if they couldn't be at home once new baby came home. Well, no Braelyn and Selah have quite bad bronchitis and we are just praying that Kyle and I and of course GRACYN don't get sick. They have had horrible fevers during sleeping times. Mostly fine during the day, but bad at night at nap time. I would have thought that Braelyn would have gotten over the fever by today, but she had a slight one again after nap. So please say a quick prayer for some health over here. I guess that is our major difference here with three vs. two kids - I think we will finally start getting stung by the sickies more often. Up until now we have had quite healthy kiddos, now I fear with Braelyn in school and all of us here, that things will just spread from one to the next.

Gracyn and I have to head to a cardiologist tomorrow morning. Gracyn has a slight heart murmur and has since birth, so the Dr. just wants it checked by a specialist. She doesn't seem too concerned, just wants to be on the safe side. So that is my morning with her while my mom once again has the girls. I really long for just a normal week of staying in all week - me and my three girls (and of course hubby at night!). Wed. is Dr. appt again for Gracyn. Those first few months are crazy with Dr. appts, aren't they? But Gracyn is just a hunny. She is cuddly and really so far is my best baby! She actually sleeps for extended periods during the day (not at night yet - LOL), and she eats good. No spit up yet, just lots of poopy diapers. I love just holding her! She's so calm. So that is my baby news.

Hmmm... scrapping related - I have a few things I have been working on. One is I am hosting the Lilypad Blog Challenge today!!! Just finished my post up and can't wait to see all the LO's that people create based on the challenge. There is a GREAT freebie this week too by Natalie!!! Be sure to check it out! I also snagged Janet Phillips Oct. grab bag - the big one - and already did a LO with one of the templates in that - what a great bag it is this month! I will be sure to pop in tomorrow and post my LO's!

Here's to hoping this week settles down a bit for me! I need more scrap time - LOL! Hubby would say I am on this thing non-stop though. I do sit and read blogs while I nurse and stuff and check emails, but I haven't had much un-interrupted time to really scrap in the last week! Oh well - it is quite fun loving on my kiddos so it's worth it!

Busy busy busy

Life has just been busy and a bit overwhelming with three kiddos! We are home - got home Tue. afternoon, and the craziness started. Getting unpacked, settled, visitors, etc... All good stuff. Gracyn is adjusting to life here well...she just has her nights and days mixed up like any little baby does! She is great during the day though. My best baby yet. She really doesn't cry much and she seems to be eating well too. At night - a whole different story. She is up and fussing about every 45 min. -1 hr. from 12:00am-5:00am. I am sure she will get that worked out soon though. I sure love looking at her though. EVERYONE comments on her dark hair. I think they think it is funny to see a blondey mom with a black haired baby. I have been told she looks like Kyle and myself- she must be a good mix.

Braelyn and Selah seem to be adjusting well too. Selah really acts like nothing has changed. Braelyn is so good with her sister and I think she likes to be the BIG sister! She reads her books and sits next to her. The best part is that Braelyn is not over-bearing about it. She does not CONSTANTLY want to hold her and be by her like some kids, which makes things a bit easier I think.

Kyle worked yesterday and today. Yesterday - wow - not so good. He had a HORRIBLE day and his job is just getting really stressful for him.. He is running like 3 big projects as a project manager - which is just too many. Add on the fact that two of the jobs are 1 -2 hours away. Then having a baby and a wife that want him home some of this week = STRESS. So now he has been having some chest pain and shortness of breath. Please just pray that his job eases up and that he can breath a little easier - I know these issues are due to stress - poor guy. He does have tomorrow off b/c I have to take Gracyn to a Dr. appt., he has to take Braelyn to school and pick her up. Then we can enjoy the afternoon together. I think we are going to head out to G.R. to Babies R Us and the Target out there to get a few baby necessities! Probably do an early dinner too - wow - look at us venture out with three kiddos in less than a week! Saturday our town has a little Pumpkin Fest celebration and a parade and I think we will also go to that. We are still having 80 degree weather here - Sat. and Sun. are supposed to by 86! I know you are all saying - why are you doing so much so quickly. I feel great! My healing has been awesome - almost 100% already! Nursing is going great - first baby that I have had that caught on almost instantly. Miracle I tell ya!

So that is our life in a nutshell right now. Just enjoying our new addition and giving lots of kisses to all our girls! Today I have actually been home alone with Gracyn and have gotten some much needed things done. 2 more loads of laundry, bathrooms all sparkling, dishes put away, cuddling, nursing, and of course some computer time! I still need to finish up my birth announcements yet, and do my Oct. desktop freebie from Shabby Princess. And of course I have a million LO ideas floating around in my head! So off I go to work some more! Have a great day and weekend if I don't pop in again!