Tummy Ache

The other day my sweet, girly, pretty little Princess was having all sorts of tummy issues. While we were driving around doing errands my Little Man kept informing me that she was giving off toxic fumes in the back seat. So on the way home when she hit me with astounding news that "my tummy hurts" I wasn't real surprised. What did surprise me was what I found when we got home. See, earlier in the day when I was doing research on some things, Little Man brought me a jar of pickled okra. We LOVE pickled okra around here and eat them like crazy. He asked me to open it and asked if he and Princess could have a few. Absolutely! Well....when we returned home (less than 3 hours after the snack) and I got into the refrigerator, this is what I found......

One lonely little okra floating all by itself in a very empty jar. They ate the whole dang jar of okra! And she wonders why her tummy hurt! So I put it back into the fridge, got her some pepto, (my car was already toxic, I didn't want my house to be also) and looked forward to eating that one lonely little okra at supper. Did I get to? Absolutely not! Little Man got home not long after that, ate it and then handed me the empty jar and said with a smile, "Here's a jar for our collection!" Umph....next time I buy pickled okra, I'm hiding them. Not because they can cause a tummy ache, but because I would like one myself thank you very much! Seriously!

Little Man's birthday

So I'm a little late posting about this but better late than never. Little Man turned 9 on September 26 and we had a great birthday party for him if I do say so myself. He is becoming quite the CSI fan and I can see this kind of work in his future. He loves trying to figure out the crime before the show has ended...he gets this from his mom, I'll admit it. So for his birthday party we had a CSI party where there was a crime committed and we needed all the kids or "recruits" to help solve the crime. I got three neighbors to agree to be our suspects and the kids had to go interview and fingerprint them to see if they could figure out "who done it". I set up our front and back yard as the crime scene with yellow tape and all. We were going to originally going to do a murder scene but Little Man decided a burglary would be better since there were younger kids coming. He is such a sensitive little guy about stuff like that. It's one of the many reasons I love him so but we'll get to that later. For now, here are some great pictures that my good friend Michelle took for me. Thanks Michelle!!

Our only witnesses

The crime: my stereo was stolen from my garage and then vandalized. Oh the horror!

Every guest was fingerprinted and then deputized once ruled out as a suspect. You can't be too careful when working a crime scene.

Even the birthday boy had to be fingerprinted

Some guests couldn't give an alibi but I cleared them anyway solely on cuteness

Once everyone cleared the initial tests, we split up into two groups and handed out their forensic kits. We looked over the crime scene and then they were sent on their way to start interviewing the suspects.

I can't say enough about our neighbors who agreed to participate in this party. They really hammed it up for the kids and were absolutely awesome. We are very lucky to live in this neighborhood.

After the criminal had been found (it was the bald guy....Bad Michael!) we relaxed with cool drinks and these amazing cake pops that my mom made. Yummy!!

Next came presents...

An idea Little Man had for his party was to have a shirt made specially so his friends who attended could sign it. This was a great thing and one I'll be using again...he'll have those signatures to help him remember this party for years to come!

So that's that! Everyone had a fantastic time and I can't believe I now have a nine year old!

And, just because he's so darn cute, here's a picture of my nephew Kadon.

I've always said that when Little Man was born he filled a hole in my heart that I didn't even know I had. I always liked kids but was scared to have my own. But when I laid eyes on that precious baby boy, I fell in love and it's grown daily since. He makes me laugh, he is so stinking smart, he's talented at just about everything he tries. He loves sports but can be sensitive when needed (just ask his sister...he kissed her on the head today for absolutely no reason), but will kick your tail if he feels threatened or if you're threatening anyone he loves. He loves me and his daddy, he loves his family and he loves God. I knew at a very early age that he had a special heart for the things of God and I think he will do great things for the kingdom as he grows. He is a shining light in my life and I am truly blessed that God gave me this amazing gift to raise.

Modern Stone-Aged Family

Halloween for us this year looked a little different than it has in the past but we still had loads of fun and they got lots of candy. My family went as the Flinstones this year which was really fun because we've never dressed up as a family and especially not all in the same theme. Saturday night we went to Boo at the Zoo and checked out all the animals and even got to watch the lions get into their treat boxes. We did this last year and my kids had so much fun so we knew it was a "must" this year.

Here are my little Pebbles and Bam-Bam watching the feisty monkeys

The whole family...we got lots of attention...I can't image why

We had originally planned on going with my sister and her kids but when we got there, there was about 1 million people there and so we didn't think we'd get to find them. But I finally spotted a mad scientist and Lightning McQueen crew chief in the masses of people.

On Sunday, we joined up with our neighbor down the street and decided to go trick-or-treating at grandparents houses. They always love seeing the kids dressed up and the kids not only got to trick-or-treat on their block, but they got to pass out candy as well. It was the best of both worlds.

I was finally able to find a way to make Pebbles bone stay in her hair so I had to get a close up. Isn't she the cutest little stone-aged girl you've ever seen?

Happy Fall everyone! As much as I try and ignore it, it's here and I might as well enjoy it. My summers gone :( but God's beauty still shines through the changing seasons. May He bless you today!