Monthly Archives: October 2013

Punkin’ Guts

Part two of Halloween overload comin’ atcha. Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever posted this much Halloween in one week. Not to mention I’ll be back Friday with actual Halloween photos.

Reese was super into pumpkin carving. She thought the fact we put plastic down on the floor was super cool. She thought sticking her hands in the pumpkin was cool. She thought throwing the guts in the trash was cool. Pretty much pumpkin carving was coolest thing to happen to her thus far in her 15+ months of life. She only tried to eat said pumpkin guts once.

Rylee thought it was gross, then of course after her pumpkin was cleaned out {by me} she said “oh it wasn’t that bad.” To her credit, her pumpkin was particularly slimy.

On an unrelated note: trying to get these two in a decent photo together is proving to be a…challenge.

I didn’t edit a single one of these photos, looking at them more, I probably should have because the lighting is kinda wonky, but then again I don’t actually care that much. Anyway. DSC_0750 DSC_0752 DSC_0754 DSC_0761 DSC_0769 DSC_0771 DSC_0772 DSC_0774

And no. I don’t have a single photo of the finished pumpkins. I mean, come on, what am I…put together?

Pumpkin Patchin’

Saturday we hit the pumpkin patch with some friends. Both girls were super into it and I remembered to bring my “big camera”. Rylee was off pumpkin hunting out in the middle of the field so most of these photos are of Reese, but holy cute., amiright!?

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She was SO excited about the pumpkin she found…don’t worry, we made sure to get her a non-rotten one.DSC_0713

Watching all the big kids in the field…still holding on to that pumpkin.DSC_0719

Oh hey look! Another one!DSC_0729

While Ry poses with her find, Reese is trying to load hers into the cart.DSC_0731

Daddy’s girls…DSC_0732

Family shot!DSC_0734

This was the first year we’ve been to this particular farm. The one we have gone to in the past {not counting Albertson’s} is the most popular one in our area so it’s always packed. This one is closer to our house and we were the ONLY ones out there. I definitely see this one being in our future.

Tomorrow I’ll post some photos of the carving…

Happy Taco Tuesday!

20k in my Venza

As I sit here in the dealership’s waiting area while the mechanic dudes give my car it’s 20,000 mile tune-up, I realize I never wrote a proper “hey we got a new car!” post. Turns out I’ve got some time to kill so, lucky you?

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We’ve had our Toyota Venza now for 11 months. Yes. 20,000 miles in 11 months. We drive quite a little bit.

It’s our “main driver”. The kid hauler. The first choice. See, before we had this car we had 1 car that was the kid hauler and 1 car that got good gas mileage. And the Venza does both. So this is our go-to for any errands we run or any trips we take; whether we have the kids with us or not. Hence the 20,000 miles.

Most of those miles have been put on by Andy…he drives about 75 miles a day so he takes the car most days. I joke that we have joint custody of it since I get it during his school breaks/holidays and on the weekends.

Of course there have been minor annoyances…like the controls on the wipers and lights are the total opposite of our other vehicle so I’m constantly having to “relearn” everything. If it was my daily driver I guess it wouldn’t be an issue.

Then there’s the point of the car seat installation. The car is a 2013 model, the “Extended Rear Facing” recommendation has been a thing for a while now. When I went to upgrade Reese’s seat from the infant to the rear-facing convertible seat I was pretty disappointed to find that it didn’t have the ERF floor anchor. I guess I just assumed that Toyota would be on top of that junk and I wouldn’t have to jimmy rig a tether strap around the front seat mount. {First world problems…I’m aware}

Overall? I really do love it. It’s comfortable. Roomy for a car {technically I “crossover”, I suppose}. We like the looks of it. It gets decent gas mileage. The car seats fit well. There are a number of little touches you don’t even notice until…well, you notice them and you’re like “wow, that’s pretty sweet little feature!” {i.e. the adjustable center console/elbow rest}.

The point of this post? I don’t know…a time killer, I suppose. But seriously, if you’re in the market for a new car and you’ve got a family, want good cargo space without getting an SUV and need decent gas mileage check out the Toyota Venza.

The end.

Five.

Where do I begin…5 is simultaneously blowing my mind and making me want to cry.

Five is full of big, huge monumental things…not only for the little 5 year old, but also the parents.

Five brings kindergarten. And new friends. And packing a lunch every day.

Five brings out the wacky and the sweet.

Five is booster seats and real seat belts.

Five brings out the legit independence…as in “Go brush your teeth” and know it actually gets done kind of independence and not just “I DO IT MYSELF” kind of independence.

Five lets the sense of humor shine.

Five brings out the little white lies that leave you wondering where they learned how to do that so well.

Five brings out the awareness of…certain things…and only wanting to tell mom those things and not dad.

Five brings the sass like you never thought possible…I fear the teenage years that lie ahead.

Five brings some impressive and scary understanding of complex things.

And as of last night? Five brings the first visit from tooth fairy…

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XXXXX

Miss Rylee Vivian…five is your jam.

You are witty and funny and at times you say things that are years beyond you and it cracks me up to hear such a little body say something like, “well ya know…like the old saying goes…”

You are silly and have a wonderful imagination. You are thoughtful and caring and selfless.

Hear me right now, I love the person you are becoming. You are perfect. You are smart. You are beautiful. And I hope you never change.

xoxo,
Mama

Oh Reese…{School photos gone bad}

We’ve long since established I won’t be winning any mother of the year awards so I don’t really feel that bad for this post. If you can’t laugh at life when things don’t go according to plan, then I kinda feel bad for you.

But I digress…

When I walked in to daycare to drop Reese of the other day the infant teacher said that pictures had come in and Reese’s were on top of the cubbies. Then let out a kind of evil, knowing giggle. I headed to the cubbies, saw the picture and laughed…loudly. She heard me laugh from down the hall and laughed as well.

I mean…I love my kid and I think she’s adorable, but this photo? Oh my crap…it’s awful. It’s hysterically awful. I’m pretty sure if she knew how to flip someone the bird, she would be.

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Thinking back, I remember Rylee’s first school photo being bad as well, so when I was talking to the daycare director about it this morning she dug out Ry’s class picture. And so a side-by-side…20131016-144731.jpg

Rylee was almost 2 1/2 in her photo and Reese was 14 months. Apparently it runs in the family no matter what the age. And no, I still can’t stop laughing.

Do you have an epically awful school picture of your kid? You must share.