Fall Break... Vomit.... More Vomit... & the Pumpkin Patch

We found a potty in the middle of the pumpkin patch... who would forget a potty???


James found a good one... he loves to carve them!



The boys looking for the perfect "little" pumpkin for Owen. Our rule is that you have to be able to carry it to the car yourself.









What a fall break it was. We had three days off of school to enjoy the kids. I had such great plans... the museum, skating, swimming... On the first day Parker threw up all day. On the second day we got out for a little, but then Owen was complaining he was sick... then the vomit came again. On the third day of our Halloween party, one for ourselves and one for the kids at the YMCA Owen was puking all day "JOY"!!! That night Brendyn decided to join him. Later that night... James was feeling a little jealous that everyone was throwing up that he decided to start as well. I was feeling pretty lucky that I didn't receive the "gift of vomit", but on Sunday morning the gift was given to me as well as Daniel. James and I were both sick and praying for death. My lower back and sides still hurt today. How on earth do the kids run around and play with this is beyond me. We took all of Sunday off, lounged around and did nothing, feeling like crap. We are all much better today. We took a trip to the pumpkin patch, saw some animals and played in the hay. It was fun! Now I need to catch up on laundry... if I miss a couple days... I am catching up for what seems like weeks!!!

This week should be fun.

Lots of Halloween activities and candy!!!

More gray to come

It seems like life is spinning in circles. It has been crazy around here. It always seems like there is something to do.

Owen has been testing us in every way possible lately. If I have to hear one more thing about "poop" I will go crazy. He has burned his hand on the stove (it wasn't anything bad thank god), James had to give him the Heimlich since he was choking on a fruit snack (very scary!!!!), he almost got hit by a car running into the road... Many, many gray hairs are coming, I can feel it!

James made me my first Canadian thanksgiving dinner the other night. I know we were a week late, but with James out of town all last week it just wouldn't have been possible. It was nice to enjoy the company of good friends and good conversation... even a little celebration dance for the eBay winning!!! The turkey was fantastic, the mashed potatoes (my personal favorite) were even better. He made pumpkin dip and fruit salsa with my favorite Cinnamon chips.... Thanks husband!! Now I need to put in order for KFC for you thanksgiving. I am sure it will be just as wonderful as mine was. :)


On Friday night James and I went out by ourselves. It is so nice to spend time alone with him. Tracy watched the kids again. Thanks Tracy!! We decided to go out to dinner and then to one of the haunted houses around town. Dinner was great, better than expected actually! The little Hispanic woman asked me for ID, then laughed and said "you look jung". She made my night!! I must say I felt rather old in line for the haunted house though. It was mostly high school kids and their parents. It was lame. The only time I was scared was when a bookshelf almost fell on me. Hey, that is my real fear! I am terribly claustrophobic, a little secret I will share with you all. So, I have come to the conclusion that a visit to a haunted house was much better in my twenties when I was drunk, than in my thirties trying to take a break from my children. It was a fun night though, thanks to James' great sense of direction we made it out of the maze. If it were left up to me I we would have still been there.

Lisa and Fernando are leaving on Thursday morning. To be honest, it will be nice to have them go back home. They have had some pretty trying behaviors that I have worked through, but they are still struggling. Now I need to prepare myself for the next group that will come. I am just going to wait for the phone call, instead of picking and choosing my ages. It just seems to work out better that way. I am secretly hoping for a younger girl with an older brother. We are lacking estrogen in this house!

We are off to another week with Halloween just around the corner. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. It come right after Christmas.... I would much rather have presents than candy!!!


Oh ya... I almost forgot... The snow is falling in the mountains... do you know what that means??? Ski season is almost here. Loveland and A basin have already opened... Now, I have to wait until the middle of November for Copper and Winter park. I am thrilled!!! I think the boys will do so well (James included). He told me the other day he was excited to go skiing this season!!! I have brainwashed him well!

"let it snow, let it snow, let it snow..."

Pound puppy dashboard

While going to King Soopers today to get some groceries, I hate grocery shopping BTW, I saw a very interesting car. It was an Cadillac, white in color with a very interesting decor. All along the dash of the car were different miniature stuffed pound puppies. There was probably 25... NO JOKE... all the same size but arranged by color. This is crazy. Now bobble heads I could see... but not 25! This adds to my theory that as we age, we become crazy! I think by the time you are seventy you are reverting back to your childhood and becoming young and stupid... AGAIN. Hey, we were all young once, and made some stupid choices in life... right???

It has been a busy week and this week does not look any better! James will be out of town all week. I am going to change my workouts to the evening, that way I can have a break from the madness.... Madness being my children! James and I are planning to go out to dinner on Friday night and then go to a haunted house. The last one I went to was before we had Parker. I believe it was at Eltich's with Catherine and Chris. Man I miss you guys!! Did you have to move all the way to the east coast??? Anyways, it should be fun. It will give me something to look forward to all week.

I know many of you, if you haven't already, are having your Thanksgiving dinner tonight. I am extremely jealous. Every year James tells me he will cook just for me on Columbus Day (The Canadian Thanksgiving) yet it never really happens. Yesterday when some of you were eating turkey, I was at a great birthday party! Thanks Cindy it was awesome and the kids had so much fun! Tonight, when the rest of you will eat that yummy turkey, I will be at the YMCA working out... and probably having mac and cheese for dinner. On the upside, James said he will make me my "thanksgiving" dinner this coming weekend. I am excited! The catch to this is... I will have to make his for him and and the family in November. Those of you that know my "culinary skills" know that we might be eating KFC that night!!!

Back to laundry.....

This whole Hockey thing makes me tired!!!

It has been a very busy few days.

Ladies... Thursday night could not have been any better! We went to go see the show Girls Only: The secret life of women. Before hand we all had dinner, which was amazing! Good food, great conversation, news friends, and a super hard chocolate canoli that was less than desirable(I didn't need the extra calories anyways!). The show was very funny. I was very upset that I didn't get a parting gift that was thrown at the end of the show. Maybe next time :)

Saturday James and I went out to dinner and then to a movie. We usually choose our movies based on the time they end, due to having to pick the kids up from Kids Night Out at the YMCA. We decided to chose the movie "blindness". BAD CHOICE! I kept looking to see what time it was. I honestly think about 15% of the movie was a blank screen. I could have fallen asleep. James thought the gang rape orgy was somewhat interesting... hmmm I have to beg to differ. On a good note, we had Cold Stone on the way home. That always makes me happy.

Today was CRAZY! Parker was at hockey in the morning, Owen had his hockey class at noon, and then they both had lessons at 4. Needless to say my laundry sat folded on the couch (still is sitting there) to be done tomorrow. It was fun, but I just felt like I was running around like crazy all day. It is fun to watch the boys play. Parker is having so much fun. He really enjoys playing. He has two other boys from his class that are in it too! Owen actually made it through his whole class without losing his attention. He does get bored easily, I mean honestly, could you skate around your hockey stick for 5 minutes without going crazy? He did a great job today.

Another start of a new week. Halloween is coming. We took out all of our costumes and decorations tonight. I think we might have a Halloween party. We're not sure yet. James tried on this really cool ghost buster costume. It was skin tight and he wore it without anything underneath. I couldn't stop laughing. It was so funny. Something a sick old man would wear, for sure! I will try to convince him to wear it. I snapped a picture, but it didn't turn out.... bummer!

Owen's video from his YMCA hockey class

James usually uploads these to youtube, but he has been so busy lately. Here are a couple of short clips of my little "O" skating at his YMCA hockey class. Owen is in the red jersey with white socks, number 3, the smallest one in the bunch and he holds his hockey stick way up in the air.