happy halloween

Happy Halloween from our pirate and his faithful giraffe…

(Seth wants you to know that he is a good pirate that saves all the boys and girls from the bad guys. Just so you know…)

He kept all this on the whole time… hat, earring, and eye patch. We were really surprised by that. And, just so ya know, cheap black eyeliner makes great whiskers and mustaches…

Happy Giraffe. I’m glad it was cold ‘cause this costume is warm… $7 at a yard sale, baby! Never been worn… the mom had bought ahead, but she was moving to Hawaii. =)

And last, but not least, my littlest punkin. He was so cute that I wanted to eat him with a spoon… but I settled for kissing him over and over instead. =)

harvest festival….

Our church has a harvest festival every year. It’s just one of the many things we love about our church. They have inflatables, pony rides, and rooms full of games to play. The rooms are divided by age, and the games are manned by kind older kids and teens that make me feel like we must be in the right place. I aspire to my boys turning out like that. And this year, all the food was free! They had hot dogs, snow cones, popcorn, hot cocoa…. and funnel cakes! Personally, I feel ministered to by free funnel cake. =)

This was Evan’s very first pony ride. He was a little nervous at first, but then David encouraged Seth to cheer for him… and Seth did. Loudly. For the entire pony ride. “Yay, Evan! Yay, Evan!” And that took care of the nervousness problem, and the smiles came out.

  Seth’s turn. It was his first pony ride, too. Unfortunately, my horse died before Seth ever got a chance to ride him… sniff. But… now that my mom and dad have seen this cuteness, I’m sure they’re going to go right out and buy a pony. Right, Mom and Dad? =)

This was really, really tall, y’all. David and I realized that it was mistake for him to try and take both of them up, but by that point, it was too late. Seth did it all by himself, and he only got a little scared right at the top. But that was ok….

  ….’cause Daddy took them both down with him. I love this picture. =)

Mommy and her….

….. 3 little pun’kins. =)

fall cooking…

I may have an adorable 2-month-old, but I will not let him keep me from doing some fall cooking! Even if we eat that fall cooking off paper plates until he’s 6 months old! =)

I made an easy cake while the boys were playing before nap today. Seriously, it was really, really easy… and quite good. I made it with Ben strapped to my chest in a Bjorn and the boys playing with cars in and out of the kitchen. There are many variations of this on the web, but I like the kind that include eggs and applesauce…

 

Pumpkin Spice Cake

1 box of spice cake mix

1 can pumpkin

1-3 eggs

½ c. unsweetened applesauce

Generous shakes of pumpkin pie spice and/or cinnamon

1 c. butterscotch or cinnamon chips

Mix together, put in a greased bundt pan, and bake at 350 for 30-40 min.

 

Enjoy!

Yummy baby photos…

I would’ve made this my birth announcement photo if it wasn’t for the ugly flowered couch background. Ahh, for mad Photoshop skills. But… isn’t he a tiny cherub? =)

A sweet lady at the park saw me trying to take photos of him, and she got a few good ones of him on my shoulder. Little love bug… And the boys all together. The video of this shoot is much funnier, but I love Seth’s protective arm around Ben’s shoulder in this one. The big boys love “Baby Ben.”

brain dump…

It’s 4:23 p.m. on Friday, and the boys are still all sleeping (miracle!), so I’m brain dumping. Ben is in my bed, of course. These days, the two of us go down as soon as the boys do. Gotta love that baby. Put him in the swing… he’ll wake and scream every 10 minutes or so. Put him in my bed… he sleeps like a log. =)

I’ve realized that the mild nausea I’ve had on an off for a couple of days is familiar. Yes, it’s exhaustion nausea. Ever had it? I did after Evan… after enough nights of crummy sleep, my body fights back this way. Here you are again, old friend. That’s ok. I can get you to leave for awhile if I get a nap. =)

I feel worse for Seth, actually. He practically has dark circles under his eyes. Evan keeps him up with crying and waking a lot more than usual lately. Evan is our light sleeper, and he wakes up when we’re up and about with Ben, and then he wakes Seth up. The poor guy was having meltdowns today at the children’s museum, and it was because he was ridiculously tired. I was more gentle than usual with him about it. I wish there was something I could do to help him, but Evan wakes us all up, so it’s not like moving him out of Seth’s room would help.

I took a picture of Seth today “breastfeeding” his baby doll. Yep, he hiked up his shirt and put baby “Evan” to his chest. I promise not to show it to his girlfriend one day. If he pays me. Mwah hah hah! I can’t bear to break it to him yet that he won’t be able to do this part of baby caring. He’s such a little nurturer.

David and I have kept striking out on getting a date night the last couple of weeks. One of his friends, realizing how tired he is, offered to take the hit and watch his 2 kids and our 2 two oldest tonight by himself so we can go out. And I will bounce until I’m dizzy with Ben in the baby carrier if it means we can go to a restaurant without Seth and Evan.

I think I’d like to “boo” some of the neighbors. See this for more information. I think the boys would get a big kick of sneaking up to someone’s house in the dark and leaving a treat on their steps, then running away. I bought the stuff to make chocolate kiss acorns, so maybe we’ll make those and do it. Maybe.

See, I want to enjoy my children to the hilt, despite exhaustion. I kissed Ben’s sweet sleeping cheeks a few minutes ago and prayed that I would. I want to take them to the children’s museum and watch them play, even if I’m dead on my feet. And I am so glad that we have three, even though I look around and see other couples with less children who are also struggling less with the tiredness. I don’t envy them, really. The boys are worth it.

October Saturday…

….a fall picnic by our special “rock throwing” stream…

…. riding his bike up and down hills, racing Daddy with the stroller, and stopping to wait for Mommy and Ben to catch up…

…. excitedly throwing rock after rock…

… and borrowing a blanket from his baby brother after he fell in throwing one of those rocks…. =)

Embracing the adventure of 3 tiny boys today. I love fall.

easy hamburger and vegetable stew

Well, it’s time to get back to cooking again! We were given meals by sweet friends 3 times a week until Ben was almost 7 weeks old. I feel very spoiled and loved… and I appreciated every. single. meal. It was such a huge help.

But now I’m getting back into cooking again… and I pulled out the crockpot yesterday. This stew was easy, had cheap, healthy ingredients I had on hand, and had a nice, comfort food flavor.

Crockpot Hamburger and Vegetable Stew

6-8 white or red skinned potatoes, chopped

4-6 carrots, chopped (I’m buying peeled baby carrots again to save my sanity, so more of those if you’re using them)

1 onion, chopped

1 lb. ground beef, browned (I have browned ground beef in my freezer, so I put it in the crockpot partially frozen.)

1 cup tomato sauce and 1 cup of water

Salt and pepper to taste

1 bay leaf

1 T. Italian seasoning

2 tablespoons rice

Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-5.

Serve with cornbread if you a) don’t have 2 little boys under the age of 5 or b) squeal with glee at the idea of sweeping up many, many cornbread crumbs off the floor.

I cut up the onion and carrots the night before and put them in a bag in the fridge, and I took out the frozen ground beef and put it in the fridge overnight. I also took out all the other ingredients and put them on the counter with the crockpot. That’s the only way I can do something like this in the morning with 3 tiny boys to help get ready…

pumpkin monday…

 

Hello on this beautiful fall day! I woke up this morning with a determined glint in my eye. I would do more today than simply get by… I would craft, and do laundry, and make waffles, and be outside… all before naptime! As you can imagine, I now have a sink of dirty dishes, I’m tired and mildly frazzled, and I’m praying the baby doesn’t wake up before I finish this post.

But we did have a good morning overall! I made up the batter for waffles last night and stowed it in the fridge, and despite oversleeping and not getting my act together, we did actually have them for breakfast. And then it was on to crafting!

This is a craft I was able to do with both boys at the same time while the baby (fitfully) napped. Seth got out the scissors and cut up orange construction paper while I worked with Evan to rip up his orange paper. Then we all sat at the table, and I helped Evan glue his papers onto a cut out paper plate circle with Elmer’s while Seth used a glue stick to put his papers on. I cut out the stem, eyes, nose, and mouth for them, and I put them on for them after they were done with the rest. Seth spent quite a while trying to get his just right, and he kept telling Evan, “Move away. You’re distracting me from my work.” =)

Then we read “Too Many Pumpkins” by Linda White. It’s a sweet story that I got from the library after reading the linked review.

For lunch, we had applesauce with cinnamon sprinkled in, just like the cinnamon in the baked goods mentioned in the book. Seth enjoyed it especially. And I wondered what I was thinking letting Evan feed himself out of a bowl. =)

I have lots of other plans for fall activities. We’ll see how many of them I get done ‘cause I really need to take it slower than I did today. But I found some great stuff on my new favorite preschool website… Homeschool Creations. Her preschool printables are perfect for Seth’s level right now. I printed off the fall printable pack, and I’m looking forward to doing them.

And if you haven’t seen the neat acorn munchie idea floating around the web, you’re missing out. Take a Hershey’s kiss, glue on a mini nilla wafer with peanut butter, and add a smidge of peanut butter for a stem. You have an adorable snack!