A song.

I have been listening to this a lot lately.

Mommas....you better grab a tissue.

And it came on just like that.

Each of the boys had their last tumbling class for the current session. It was ribbon day... they get up on the podium, accept their ribbon and shout, "Ta-Da"!!

After watching his brother for the past (almost) two years, Owen was finally able to take his first tumbling class. So while Jack was in the big-boy, don't need your Momma anymore class, Owen and I were in his toddler, get out your energy class together.

Owen loves his Ms. Jody. 

A little back story on this tumbling class. 

When we first moved here almost two years ago, Jack was just two and I was very pregnant with Owen. It was the middle of the winter, I didn't know a soul and I needed something to do with my Jackers. Thank goodness for Google because it led me to this gymnastics gym and its tumbling classes. After I had Owen, I took Jack to class with my baby carrier in hand. I was getting O all situated in the carrier when another mom informed me that no babies/no babies in carriers were allowed. Literally, tears welled up in my eyes when she told me this as I was thinking, "Now what am I going to do?".

rambunctious toddler + newborn baby + middle of winter + don't.know.anybody = Emotional Nicole

Anyway, we made it work so we could still take Jack to this class and so I could have interaction with other human beings. We have since had Jack in many classes and he went to there camps this past summer. Looking at these pictures has shown me how far I have come and how far my boys have come and that makes me happy. 

And then after lunch and naps....it came on just like that!

The first icky virus of the season hit both boys at the exact same time.

Jack explained it as, "my brain hurts" and "food it hurting my throat" 

and

Owen had lots of tears and was attached to me for two whole days.

And both boys had high fevers, glossy eyes, and were super lethargic.

"Hold me...hold me...hold me" ~ Owen

My cure for the icky virus is simple.

The boys get into their comfortable clothes, we make "sick beds" on the couch, we have lots of downtime, take naps, watch movies (three to be exact) and eat popsicles.

This worked....48 hours later it has exited our household (hopefully).

One down....who knows how many to go?!?!

Cousins, Superheros and a Wedding.

Road trip, road trip...we went on a road trip.

To see cousins Ty and Frankie

and

attend my aunt's wedding!

Yeah...Yippee...Woot-Woot!!

.

.

.

.

Are we almost to Ty's house?

It's okay Owen that you have been fussing for the past four.hours.straight. 

Truly, four hours people!

We're still having fun.....right boys?

This sign of affection (which I have been seeing a lot of lately) definitely seemed to help.

Ahh...heart warming as I look at this (even if the focus is on the blanket and not the hands-boo).

After greeting each other with hugs and giggles, the boys immediately changed into a more appropriate attire.

Spiderman, of course!

Which then made them extra goofy and extra silly!

Perfect way to hand them off to the two babysitters along with their siblings and four dogs!

Yes, I was nervous...very nervous.

But, we glammed ourselves up and headed out to the wedding...nerves and all.

My brothers....oh, how they make me laugh like no other!

                My brother Andy and his wife Kady.                                             Us.                                                          My brother Keefe and his wife Holly.



Okay, onto the wedding. This was my aunt's wedding, as I said before, and she was getting married for the second time. Her first true love died unexpectedly six years ago. Well, who knew that there was another man out there in the world whom she would fall deeply in love with three years later. And three years later, get married. This wedding was not only the union of two people, but it was truly the union of two families. Beautiful, just beautiful. It was something I had never experienced before.

You could feel the love between these two families, it was overflowing!

(and they actually like each other as well)

 This picture makes me smile for many reasons.

But, what comes to mind first is that after seeing my aunt so sad for so many years, it makes me smile (big) to see her so truly happy.

beautiful wedding + fun night with my family + flawless babysitter experience = A Good Night Out!

The next morning, we woke up to rain...all.day.long.

So, we got in some GiGi snuggles

and we played in the rain anyway.

Warning...cuteness overload.

 

 

I wonder what they are talking about?

Doodle (which stems from Frankie Doodle which stems from the song Yankie Doodle) was not feeling well while we were visiting so she mostly was sleeping or snuggling her Momma. 

But, I was able to snap a few pictures of her.

She is always up for a photo-shoot even when she is not feeling well.

*Sigh*....she sure is a lovey!

And before we new it...time to head home boys...

Owen didn't even make it to the freeway before he completely zonked out! Phew!

Sure do wish we could see them and all of my extended family more often! When we got home, Jack asked, "Momma, now how many more sleeps until I get to see Ty?" 

We need to make that sooner than later, Bub!

Eight on Friday.

 Ramblings of what we've been up to lately....

 1. Hitting up the local pumpkin farms!

Playing in large cornboxes (is that what they are called?)...I love these things!

Climbing on hay bales...O-bubs loves these things.

Sliding...lots of sliding on this ginormous slide.

Jack-bubs loved this thing and may have shed a few tears when we had to say, "good-bye!"

But he also loves the zip line, so the tears were for this as well.

Ohhh my Jackers, he has pure excitement and enthusiasm for everything he does!

So good-byes can be hard even if it is only a slide.

2. Helping out poor little birdies, like this one...

She flew right into our window on her quest to somewhere as we were sitting right there eating dinner.

It took the little chaquita a good 10 minutes to re-orient herself.

I think the back-rubs provided by Jack did the trick!

Because after a few minutes of this, off she went up into the trees.

2. Stocking our freezer (well, not really...I only got about 5 jars from the 20 or so apples I used) with homemade applesauce.

Jack or I mean Superman, helped me core and slice the apples.

It's hard work. 

Thank goodness Superman has "big pects" as Jack likes to say.

 It was such hard work that he needed to refuel (by eating apples) while working

 and then taking a much needed two-minute rest when his work was done.

 

The Superman costume was a positive reinforcement/incentive to get Jack to stop having a certain type of accident in his pants. It worked....hallelujah!

4. Decorating for Halloween.

I did check this off my list from last weekend!
My lil' spider looks a little weak, but that's due to the fact that we have curious toddler living in this house who likes to destruct pretty much everything in his path.

5.  Baking and Cooking and lots of it!

I also checked making Martha's Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Squares off my list. Oh.My.Goodness...these were awesome!! Make them...now!

I tried two new recipes and both were great!

1. Pioneer Woman's Grilled Chicken and Pineapple Quesadillas

2. Chili with Cornbread Topping

And these Chocolate Peanut Butter Pots are so darn good! Beware, you may be tempted to eat the whole batch yourself. They are so good, you will pop them in your mouth like grapes!

Dangerously delicious.

6. Making homemade Play-Doh.

 It still always surprises me how long (this was well over an hour) the boys will play with the simple things. Ahhh...makes for a good day!

Just like when Jackers cut paper for 45 minutes.

 7. Breaking down and cutting Owen's hair.

Only after a woman at our gym "swore he was a girl for the past year"! 

Really....Really!?!?!
I couldn't believe my ears!

So, I decided maybe he was ready for a trim to just clean it up a bit.

It was needed regardless of what that silly woman said.

Note to self...never ever say that to a mother.

(When in doubt-keep your mouth shut..I'm just saying)

And look-a dog triangle!

and a dancing dog.

Happy Friday!!

Five on Friday.

1. As part of 'Getting My Fall On", I decided I needed a new purse more fitting for the season. I found this cutie at Target recently, but I kept thinking it needed a little somethen-somethen.

Hmmmm?

Well ladies, then I saw the autumn bloom belt complete with an easy-peasy tutorial.  It was so cute, but I couldn't see myself wearing it as a belt. However, I thought it could be just what I needed for my purse as a pin...the perfect Fall bling (without the actual bling) to my purse.

Yep, perfect!

Ahhh...love it when my ideas work out just as I want them to!

2.  I truly think that as the mother of two boys, I will be fighting pee on the toilet seat for the.rest.of.my.life. Seriously?!?!?

3.  Jack had his very first school pictures taken recently. We practiced 'Jack Smiles', bought a new shirt and styled his hair (which he really cannot stand, because "Momma it's all crunchy, I don't like it!"). Hey, I know I may sound a bit annoying....my mother laughed at me when I told her about this. Whatever....I need to take advantage of this time that I have being able to "style" my Jackers for his school pictures. There will come a time when I will hear "Umm, no way Mom!"

Anyway, they turned out great, so here is a super blurry Blackberry picture to share with you.

4.  The boys and I ventured up to Costco today to load up on groceries. On our way home, we stopped at Passiflora, a small store that I just happened to discover recently. It's located in an old school house and they sell refurbished antique furniture and cute gifts and bobbles (as Pat calls them) or curiosities (as the owner calls them). Oh.My.Gosh. So cute! I will definitely be a returning customer, they may even come to know me by my first name. I bought a blue side table for my family room and this adorable owl hat!

5. This weekend, I think I am going to attempt:

1. Martha's Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Squares 

     2. To make these super cute pumpkin-spiders.

     3. To sew together a coffee cozy...wouldn't these be awesome Christmas presents.


     4. Make a fun scarecrow (or Scarescrow as Jack calls them.) complete with a pumpkin (or pancake as Owen call them) head with Pat and the boys.


    5. Make myself a ruffled camera strap. I really want one for myself and to be able to make it for myself is even better!


  6. Oh and stock my freezer with applesauce.


Who am I kidding? Sheesh!