Delectable Cupcakes

Lucy is in love with Fancy Nancy books, and both sets of grandparents have been so generous in sending her LOTS of books. One of the most recent was "Fancy Nancy and the Delectable Cupcakes." Lady prepared a fun decorating cupcakes station for Lucy when we arrived to celebrate Thanksgiving here in Atlanta. Lucy was so cute when she announced excitedly, "Oh! They're going to be delectable!" :-)

They had chocolate toppings, crushed peppermint, marshmallows, and icing of course. They decorated a cupcake especially for each person, complete with initial lettering! Lucy split the decorating and eating about half and half, while Jack got about two marshmallows on a cupcake before he began to focus solely on eating the toppings!

Which baby bedding?????

The baby's room is coming together - or really I should say Baby's Room/ Guest room...

We're not setting up a "themed nursery" complete with painting the walls, coordinating everything for this baby, and so I had been on a major hunt for a while for a neutral bedding, ideally something white with red accents.

Well, after searching forever and finding nothing, I found a set at Play It Again last week that would work. I didn't exactly LOVE it, but it coordinated all the colors in the existing room, and the price was right - $36. So, I bought it.

Only to get home and that very night find out that my friend Jeri had a baby bedding set that was white with red accents. Of course...

So, here are some photos of the two sets: which do you like better?

Here's the room so you can see what I'm working with...

Set I bought:

Jeri's crib bedding set up (sorry, it posted twice and won't let me delete... ;-( I really hate computers!):

cute little farmyard theme...

So, weigh in - whatdya' think? Thanks!

Christmas Lights at the Botanical Gardens

It seems Christmas begins earlier and earlier each year! We counted five homes in our neighborhood that already have their exterior lights all done up. And we were noticing this on our way to do the walking tour of the Christmas lights at the Botanical Gardens.

There were five families meeting together (thanks Molly for organizing our fun get together! ;-), and the kids had a blast running along the trail. The light displays were great, and it definitely put me in the Christmas Spirit!

Fun(ny) pictures!

Not long ago, I had fun taking pictures of Lucy dressing herself, enjoying the funny things she insisted on wearing together. She'd put together some crazy ensembles!

Well, now Jack seems to be doing that in his own fashion. For whatever reason, he absolutely LOVES wearing his helmet ("elmet") - all the time! And he calls the buckle a "seatbelt."

I was telling Jack to smile, and these are the faces he made - LOL!

It was gameday morning, so Jack was already dressed in his jersey. Jason put the AU song they play at the beginning of each game, "all we do is win!" blasting over the speakers. And what ensued was a crazy form of dancing and playing. Jason was bouncing the kids to the beat (and I imagine getting an amazing ab workout at the same time ;-)

Jack is holding his quilt in one hand, and a decorative pine cone in the other. And of course, still wearing the helmet!

As accident prone as Jack is, it's actually a good thing he insists on wearing his helmet so often! ;-)

Baby's Quilt

It is so wonderful to be anticipating this new baby without the overwhelming fear that I was feeling for some time! And so with a much lighter heart, I began working on "they baby's quilt" about two weeks ago (sort of strange referring to him or her as just "baby" since we knew the sex - and had even named - Lucy and Jack before they were even finished developing, but I have to say not knowing is incredibly exciting.)

Anyhow, it came together very easily, for I didn't choose a difficult pattern (Yes, I have learned to take it down a notch and keep life simple and FUN!) The quilt is fun and playful, colorful and made with love. All the things I know our baby will be!

So, here's some photos that show how it came together!

Okay...not sure why, but niether Firefox nor IE are letting me cut and paste my pictures, in order. So you'll have to appreciate it backwards ;-)

finished product!

the 30 squares laid out:

I sewed 2.25 in squares on all four corners of the 6 by 6 square, and then trimmed off the "outer triangle". With the iron, the triangles were pressed out, to create a square.

More Videos!

Jason uploaded a bunch of videos from his phone, so here are some more:

This was taken a while ago, but I was watching a rerun of Glee, and Lucy goes to town dancing... ;-)



this next one is not the most thrilling one - just the kids sliding at Kidventure, but I'm sure the grandparents will enjoy!



Lucy loves driving her Barbie Jeep, and she's proficient now in driving it; her favorite thing is to drive herself into a corner and use the gear to switch to "backing up". The driving backwards is her favorite!

But, here in this video, she was just getting the hang of it. In this video, she's focusing on mastering her "Power Slide" ;-) THanks for the jeep, Papa and Lady!

The "Papa Book"!

Hallmark makes these really cool audio recording books you can buy, record your voice reading the book, and send to someone. My dad sent the kids the "Night Before Christmas" book last year, and just last week, he sent Lucy and Jack the book, "Grandpa and Me." Of course, he's "Papa," so we adjust the title.

Anyhow, the kids LOVE listening to it! And my dad does a great job narrating what's happening in the pictures and asking the kids questions as well as reading the text. Jack usually answers Papa's questions , and we've been trying to get a good video of him interacting with the story. This is the best we've been able to capture...

Jack's favorite page is the one with the monkeys, and you'll hear him repeat, "Ehhh, Monkeys!" each time they go to that page.

Thanks Papa! Enjoy!

We love when mommy changes the sheets!

It seems the "night sweats" that occur during pregnancy (for some, I guess...) have begun...I woke up the other day to a 40 degree morning, yet I was covered in sweat. And as much as I don't like changing the sheets, the kids LOVE it when I do, for they get to jump on the bed after the sheets come off!


Here we go!
this was a cool 180 spin jump! ;-) her uncles would be proud! ;-)

sleepy jack finally climbed up on the bed...

Lucy LOVES her brother!

check out the hand holding! awwwww...

sweet face!

despite jack's foot in her face, she's laughing!

and after jumping on the bed, they promply jump on toby!

goodbye to halloween

lucy drew the face on her pumpkin (on her right) and daddy carved it out. Jason made the other one ;-




I was organizing some photos this weekend, and I came across a few more I hadn't posted. These are from carving our pumpkin, though I should say "dremmeling our pumpkins," as Jason decided his dremmel tool would be awesome to use ;-)

Such an engineer...


Lucy checking out the tool!




And later that night we went to the Jim and Jamie Moore's for their annual Halloween Costume party. Here was our family all dressed up. Lucy was a ballerina, Jack a puppy dog, Jason a character from The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and I was a baby factory. Jason did a GREAT job making my "factory"!



I love the baby on the conveyor belt - great idea, JAson!



And finally, here are some of Lucy enjoying carrying around her school pumpkin full of treats:


Lucy's favorite thing to do is go check the mail, everyday! She LOVES it! ;-)

My puppy dog loving on our puppy dog, toby...


Hope you had a great Halloween. Lucy has already announced she wants to be a fairy next year. We shall see... ;-)

How hard it is to get a good photo...

We had several families come over for a bite to eat and trick-or-treating as a group. It's so entertaining to me watching these sweet kids "do what kids do" as the grown ups tried earnestly to get a picture. Of course, as expected...there's not one where all of the children are even remotely cooperative...they're adorable just the same ;-)

Baby T and baby C were opposed from the start...



Already lost one...Lucy can't figure out where to put her feet so she doesn't bump C...



Jack: my confused puppy...


Okay, a few of the kids are smiling/happy, but K's face is priceless...she is not amused...



J is all smiles, but we're loosing C. and Jack...



this was the best one of the bunch...


What fun!

So, we headed out after this "photo session," and the kids did great trick or treating! Lucy and Audrey literally ran from house to house, leading our large pack.

Jack totally took to the whole process, smiling and saying "tstrick or treeet" and promptly adding "tdank dyou" after he was given (way too much) candy. But the third or fourth house, he began just barging on in as soon as the door opened, helping himself into various foyers, and plunging his hand into the candy bowl.

Of course, everyone thought this was hilarious, and allowed him to grab handfuls of candy. So, I became really quick at grabbing candy out of his bag, and returning it to the bowl. Generosity of the kind folks much appreciated, but seriously, he's not even two - he doesn't need all that candy! ;-)

Lucy never tired, and Jack was ready to stop about 30 minutes into our stroll around the neighborhood.

I think Skittles was the most popular candy, but the low point of rummaging through my kids' bags was when I realized there were no Mounds or Almond Joys to be found. So sad... ;-)