we'll NEVER

win any kind of attendance award.

While Molly was home sick yesterday she made this for me. "It's you mom. I put your name on it. It's your birthday that's why I gave you balloons." Perfect. I love her drawings. It's also fun that she's starting to write. She likes writing words, but there are only a few that she can spell without help. Mommy just happens to be one of them. ;)

Yesterday morning a friend called and invited Lincoln and me over for a play date. After I got off the phone Molly asked who I was talking too and why they called. After answering Molly asked if we were going. I said no your throwing up. She shrugged "we could bring my bucket".

1st field trip

Molly and Gabe had their first field trip on 9/29. They went to the zoo. Of course Lincoln, Miss B and I had to tag along. First we got to get up close and personal with a bunny, a snake and a hissing cockroach.

Molly petting the bunny.

Gabe petting the snake.
Sorry, no pictures of the cockroach.

After touching the animals we ate lunch and then we 'ran' through the zoo. We did briefly get to see the cute new baby polar bear. I took the option of signing Molly and Gabe out and taking them home with me. We stayed with the classes through about 3/4 of the zoo and then we slowed down and took our time through the last 1/4. I was a little worried about having all 4 kids, but they did so well. Molly and Gabe were happy running around. Lincoln and Miss B were happy in the stroller. It was beautiful.

Why do they never look at me?

Picture Day

Today was school picture day.

Say Cheese!

Lil man started crawling today! He's been doing an inch worm crawl for a couple weeks now, but today he started moving those hands and knees together. Yay Lincoln!

A couple pictures from yesterday.
Just lookin around.

Then he spots Molly behind me.
Lincoln adores Molly. I have to say I'm a little jealous.

a little home decor

I've been at a loss about what to do with our front room wall. There is one high window on the wall and that's it. I decided that I wanted a couple floating shelves to bring some symmetry to the wall. Finding a floating shelf even close to the size I wanted for the price I wanted wasn't easy. But lo and behold I found one on clearance at Target a few weeks ago. Love Target. Drew finally hung it for me. Beautiful. But I guess you get what you pay for because the shelf isn't sturdy at all. On the self is an 8*10 picture frame and then a pumpkin sitting on a book. I was at Meijer the other day and bought a funky green gourd to put up there. The gourd weighed maybe 1lb. When I put it on the shelf the whole thing came crashing down. I guess when Fall is over I'll have to be careful when I change the decor :( . (We have a giant floating shelf from Ikea that we used as a mantel when we lived in Az. When we moved to Ne it became a laundry room shelf and now it's serving in my crafting/storage room. It's super sturdy. I could probably hang from it. :) I wish Ikea sold floating shelves in more sizes. Just sayin)

At first I thought I wanted to hang a big family picture on this wall, but that would get expensive especially if I wanted to keep it current. So we decided on a big circle mirror. After going to a bunch of stores I found this bad boy. I was telling Drew that it looks so small in all my pictures, but this mirror really is huge. It's 33in in diameter. That's almost a yard. The best part about this mirror is that it came from the Home Depot. It was 7 inches bigger than the circle mirror Target was selling and it was the same price. I feel like our room has come together.

Next to the floor lamp hidden in the corner is my grandma's big WWII trunk. I think it's beautiful in an old cool way. When we're done with the high chair I'm going to move it to that corner to make it more of a focal point.

Just in case you were wondering

Across from the big couch we have a console table with 3 11*14 frames hanging in a line above it. (one for each of the kids). Next to the table is our coat stand.

(I like knowing what people's houses look like)

some fabric flower

Molly doesn't want to wear clips in her hair anymore. She says "they just fall out". Well we live really close to Sally's... I found some new clips. Not as cheap, but they are twice the size (about 3 inches). They're called duckbill clips. After I found the clips of course I had to make something to go on them. ta da

I had tried to make these flowers before, but I didn't like the way they had turned out in the past. After reading a few tutorials I gave it another shot. I love the way this one turned out. I made 9 layers using 4 different sized circles. The key is making slits in the fabric before you start burning then you get the petal effect versus just having a burnt circle. Although I think the burnt circles could be really cute too if you have enough layers.

I also made this headband out of a few old shirts. I love it. I think it's very shabby chic.

I thought I'd share just in case you were wondering what I was doing with my new found time :)

The 81st annual Fairdale Fair

We love a parade.

what?

We went from 102 to 56. I can already feel cold coming on. Gabe went back to school without incident Tuesday. Molly was happy that he was with her again.


I think Molly and Gabe staying up too late is starting to catch up with them. Wednesday was a nightmare of a day.

I think it's cute how Molly and Gabe miss each other. They're in different classrooms. They see each other at breakfast, lunch and recess, but I think that's about it. So instead of falling asleep at bedtime they talk and giggle. It's cute, but they're super moody if they don't get enough sleep. They probably get that from me...

We wait for the bus on our porch. I saw the bus rounding the corner so I told Molly and Gabe to get their backpacks on. Gabe said he didn't want to carry his backpack. As I was telling him that I would carry it to the bus for him. Molly lost it. She started crying about how she HATES naps and she doesn't want to go to school without Gabe. As I try to explain to her that Gabe is going to school the bus pulls up and Gabe starts crying too. Gabe doesn't want to go to school if Molly isn't going. AHHHH! So I told the bus driver that we'd be meeting them at school.
Of course this is the one morning that I haven't showered or nursed Lincoln yet. Great. We rush inside I throw some jeans on quickly nurse Lincoln and then we're off to school. I stayed through breakfast and then walked them to their rooms and helped them put their backpacks, coats and lunch boxes away.

It was kind of nice getting to meet a few more kids. I met Jasmine. Jasmine is in Gabe's class, but Molly really likes her and actually talks about her. Jasmine had on a dress with some fancy tights and little high heel shoes. Seriously the girl looked like Fancy Nancy. It was obvious right away why Molly would choose to be her friend. Adorable.

I left school around 10:45 and had a quick errand to run. Luckily I was showered and ready by 1:00 when Miss B arrived. (I watch a friends little girl a few afternoons a week) Lincoln and B were napping when I got a call from Gabe's teacher around 2:40 telling me that Gabe was hysterical. He was rolling around on the cot and the floor holding his stomach screaming and crying. His teacher knew about what happened the week before and thought he needed to go to the bathroom. I strapped a car seat in the van for B, woke everyone up and we went to pick up Gabe. Gabe's teacher was right. He needed to use the bathroom so once at home everything was alright. But trying to sign Gabe out of school with Lincoln in the stroller and Miss B (14 months) trying to run away from me was crazy. Holy Cow bedtime could not come fast enough. I was ready to put that day behind us.

Thursday was perfect.
and yes in case you are wondering I have taken pictures of Molly and Gabe everyday before they leave for school ;). I am that mom.

Look at this adorable little man. I could just eat him up. He's getting up on his hands and knees on the floor now. He's barely 6 months! I think the saddest thing is when he does it in his crib and he gets his face smashed against the bars. He has no idea how to fix that so he screams until someone comes to the rescue. He really is the best little guy.