indiana jones and the pumpkin of doom

I grew up in the era of Indiana Jones movies...although I have never sat down and actually watched one of the movies. But I am quite familiar with the infamous scene where they are chased by a huge boulder. Today we had a similar experience, except instead of a boulder it was a pumpkin and the pumpkin wasn't chasing me but I was chasing it.

We had a wonderful day today; Meega watched The Mayor, Love Bug and Bennett while I played a tennis match. After my match, we hung out with the kids, ate lunch, Meega and Bennett went home for his nap and The Mayor and Love Bug went down for theirs. My dear friend Sue came over to drop off my cooler that I left at the tennis match and we hung out for about an hour. When Sue was leaving, The Mayor and I went outside to say goodbye and while I was talking to her in the driveway, The Mayor attempted to pick up the pumpkin sitting on our front porch. He couldn't pick it up on his own so the pumpkin bounced down both brick steps and literally took a hard left turn and headed towards our front flower bed. I thought for sure it would stop but instead the little sucker picked up some serious speed. While The Mayor yelled "Oh no, punkin, oh no punkin" I watched while this pumpkin went careening through the flower bed, down the hill of our side yard, down the slope into our neighbors yard, through their back yard into the wooded area of their backyard and come to a screeching halt as it slammed into a tree. The Mayor looked absolutely horrified that his pumpkin was no longer on the porch and totally out of his sight. Sue and I just stood there laughing. Seriously. I attempted to run behind the pumpkin but I literally could not keep up with it or catch it. I just had to watch as it slammed into the tree. I had to go inside and make sure The Mayor and Love Bug were both secure in their booster seat and high chair and then go off-roading through my neighbor's yard into their forest of a backyard to retrieve the runaway pumpkin. There is a slit in the front of the pumpkin that you can barely see...not too bad considering the trip the little bugger had just been on. Just another day in the Shirley household...

love

just a regular day of nothing

Today was just a normal day...ran a few errands and mostly hung around the house. Sometimes I really love days like that.

I had planned out my chores and afternoon for nap time...the kids would sleep and I would enjoy a quiet peaceful lunch. Once that was over, I was going to quickly clean the downstairs since we were hosting our small group at our house tonight. Since the house was already cleaned, it literally took me about 15 minutes to re-dust, vacuum and clean the bathroom. That is my kind of cleaning! Then at 3:00, I was going to sign the kids up for their annual Santa appointment. This Santa is amazing...he is the real Santa. And we have been going to him since The Mayor was 6 weeks old. They make DVDs of the visit and I can't wait to have a library of DVDs of the kids from birth to college age. The kicker...there are only 5000 slots so you have to register quickly. Usually after the first 24 hours, the slots are filled up...at least the good time slots. In years past, the website would open at midnight, this year it is was 3:00. And as I type this blog at 10:38 PM, we still do not have an appointment. The website has crashed and they are in the middle of working out the kinks. So frustrating.

Oh well...tomorrow Meega will be holding down the fort and watching all 3 kids (yikes!) since I have a tennis match. It is early release at The Mayor's school so we are letting him play hooky. I have the best sister.

black eye is getting better!

black eyes and gagging

Looks like in honor of The Mayor turning 3 in two weeks, we are graduating from the busted lip stage and moving into the black eye stage. Our walking/running skills are improving enough where The Mayor doesn't have a busted lip at least once a week...good news. But, today he got his first shiner. Apparently he was a little too close to one of his buddies at the playground and took a rocking elephant ride in the eye. It started out a purple lump under his eye and by the end of nap time there was a nice dark circle outlining the bottom part of his eye. Chalk it up to having a boy.

before nap...it looked worse in person...the bruise didn't show up very well on camera

Love Bug is on to stage 2 foods and last night we gave her a Baby Mum Mum cracker. It looks like a thin piece of styrofoam (and kind of tastes like styrofoam too...I tried it). It is a banana flavored wafer designed for babies just learning to eat solids...apparently we still have a ways to go. After the first bite, the look on her face indicated she wasn't a huge fan of the styrofoam treat and the gagging reflex that occurred when she couldn't figure out what to do with the food that was in her mouth pretty much sealed the deal that she no longer wanted to attempt to eat the treat. She pursed her lips tightly when I tried to get it back into her mouth.

the first bite...happy

after the first bite...not happy

Black eyes and gagging, life is anything but boring around here.

7 months ago...

...this gorgeous beauty entered in the world and made our family complete. And as of her 7 month birthday, sweet Love Bug has her first tooth coming through, finished all of her stage 1 foods (with no allergies detected), sits up on her own, rolls all over the place and gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth. She is a pure joy to us and the love of our lives. Looking forward to seeing what new accomplishments she tackles during the next month.

hot pumpkins

For the 3rd year in a row, we made the 40 mile trek to Burt's Pumpkin Farm. Each year our group has grown larger. The first year it was D, The Mayor, PopPop and me. Last year we added Mamie and Meega to the mix, and this year Uncle J, Bennett and Uncle J's parents joined in on the fun. This year we also tripled the amount of kids...triple the kids, triple the fun. It's exciting and bittersweet to see how much has changed in these past 3 visits to Burt's. The first year, The Mayor couldn't even walk. He was content to be carried and wheeled around in a wheel barrow. Last year, Meega and myself were pregnant and The Mayor could definitely walk and was content in picking up every pumpkin he could find. This year, Bennett and Love Bug are here and The Mayor had big fun running through all of the pumpkins, attempting to drive the wheel barrow and just soaking it all in.

We arrived at the same time of morning as we did last year, but apparently everyone else and their mother had the same idea. It was packed. Usually, D can walk right up to the ticket booth, purchase our tickets for the hayride and we walk right onto the ride. This year, we had to stand in line for about 30 minutes to get our ticket, but luckily once the tickets were purchased we walked right onto the hayride. After we got off of the hayride, we had heard the wait was up to 2 hours. Next year, we will be arriving as soon as they open the gates.

Meega and I purchased matching long-sleeved Halloween shirts for The Mayor and Bennett, and by 10:30, it was almost too hot for them to be in those shirts. I am not sure where the fall weather that graced us last week went, but I sure hope it returns soon.

Regardless of the warm temperatures, we had an amazing time. There is just something about this time of year that makes me so unbelievably happy...and sharing that with family is just icing on the cake.

night time fun

Lately, our night time routine has become the same. Dinner, serious playtime, bath and bed. The serious playtime usually entails The Mayor riding D around the family room like a horse, The Mayor begging D to spin him around and around, The Mayor begging D to throw him up in the air, D and I following The Mayor around the family room and kitchen like we are airplanes and Love Bug jumping in her jumperoo with an expression that I can only assume translates to "is this seriously my family?". But I wouldn't have it any other way. The 3 people I love the most all in one room smiling and laughing.

The Mayor wanted his daddy to ride on his back too

seriously??

peas please

Love Bug loves peas. Again, not shocked. After peas, we have green beans and then we are done with stage 1 foods and on to stage 2.

On a much more important note, Love Bug is getting her first tooth! I can't believe that precious gummy grin will be gone soon. There is nothing sweeter than seeing your baby give you the biggest grin and just seeing gums. I love that stage...and I am sad to see it coming to an end. Her lower left tooth is just starting to cut through and I am sure the other teeth will be sure to quickly follow.

Today Bennett came over to play and The Mayor was thrilled. He just adores his cousin. Playtime with Bennett took us straight to nap time. Both children took long naps and as soon as they woke up, D arrived home from his business trip. He has been gone since Monday and we were excited to have him back home.

The week is now half way over and we are looking forward to the weekend. A family trip to the pumpkin patch is on tap and the weather is going to be amazing. Hayrides, pumpkins and The Mayor pulling his sister and cousin around in the wagon...won't get any better than that.