Dorothy and Elmo, Halloween 2012

Yesterday was a fun and exhausting day!

I'm finding that the more holidays I celebrate with little ones, the more I find myself completely wiped out at the end of the day. When you see the joy on your kid's faces, it makes every penny spent and minute planning worth it!

This year the weather was beautiful and unusually warm. Typically a Halloween in Colorado means snow and bundling the kids up so much that their costumes are covered up by coats and hats. Due to the nice weather, we got some fun outdoor shots.

Ethan's costume was a no brainer this year. Over recent weeks he has become obsessed with Elmo. I mean OBSESSED! He requests to watch ONLY Elmo movies, anytime he finds an Elmo book he'll bring it to me or Caleb and plop down on our laps to read it to him, and he can spot the smallest Elmo face on anything-even in a large, crowded store. When he spots Elmo, his face instantly lights up and he points exclaiming "Elmo!" So, naturally, Ethan HAD to be Elmo this year.

Once his costume came in the mail, he carried it around all week hugging it like a stuffed animal. When he was upset he would find his Elmo costume and snuggle it. Too funny.

It's really hard to get a good photo of your 19 month old son in constant motion. This was the best photo of Ethan I got only because Caleb was holding him. Ha!

Then there was Elliana's costume. I kind of laughed to myself when I realized that Elmo's pet fish is named Dorothy. Ellie was not Dorothy the fish. She was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. Ellie has only seen the movie once or twice so I was surprised when she got attached to the idea of being Dorothy. I even tried to make other suggestions, but once she heard the idea of being Dorothy, she did not want to be anything else. I think she was most excited for me to braid her hair, something I don't do often. :)

I wanted so badly to get a good sibling shot of Ellie and Ethan next to each other, but no such luck. Again, Ethan's need to never stop moving didn't help.

This was the best one I got of my 2 kiddos:

After getting dressed up in the afternoon, we packed up the kids and headed to the Fall Festival at a nearby large church. This is the church that Caleb's school is attached to. We'd never been to the festival before and we heard it was quite the party for little ones.

We asked Jon and Jenn to join us with their 4 littles and I'm SO glad they did! We got some great cousin shots outside before heading in.

Here's the 4 oldest cousins. Aren't they adorable?!? We have Devyn as a 50's girl, Ellie as Dorothy, Hudson as a cowboy and Reagan as Tinkerbell. Ethan and Ashlynn weren't in the mood to take pictures.

Once we got inside the festival, we were amazed at how large and crowded it was! I swear, the church must have rented out every bounce castle and inflatable slide within 30 miles! There was SO much for the 4 older cousins to do that it was hard to decide where to start.

Unfortunately, these 2 little ones were just a bit too young to enjoy much of the activities. :( At least they had each other. :)

 

After spending an overwhelming hour at the festival, we went back to our house to host dinner for my parents, Caleb's parents, and Jeremy and Courtney. Jon and Jenn went home to have dinner and Trick or Treat with their neighbors, kind of a tradition. At our house we enjoyed 2 different kids of hot soup, rolls, and apple dumplings for dessert. Yum yum!

Of course Jeremy and Courtney were instructed to bring their dog Willow to play Toto to complete Ellie's costume. Ever since they got Willow, I've been saying she would make the perfect Toto and I finally had the chance to prove it. ;)

During dinner we got a few Trick or Treaters. We've never been home on Halloween before (we've always been with Jon and Jenn at their house) and it was really fun to see how many Trick or Treaters we got. We didn't expect very many since we're always saying we live in an old neighborhood and don't see very many kids around. To our surprise, we had quite a few.

After dinner we quickly took the kids in the wagon to Trick or Treat at just a few homes. We had a great time but it got pretty late quickly and after about 10 homes went back home to put the kids to bed.

I swear, the holidays just become more and more fun every year with our two sweet babes to keep us smiling and seeing life through their eyes.

I hope you had a fun and safe Halloween too!

Light At The End Of The Tunnel

In case you haven't noticed, I've been pretty much absent from this blog of mine lately.

Nothing incredibly great or terribly bad has been going on-life's just been kind of ho-hum. I'm not sure if I'm feeling really blah because I'm still grieving the loss of my Grandma Nancy, or if I'm just waiting for something new to happen.

This past week has been especially hard. On Thursday night, Ellie and Ethan came down with high fevers (101 and 102) and went to bed early. Then Friday morning we discovered they had croup.

I was SO disappointed! Not only because this meant a trip to the Dr. for some meds/steroid injections, but I also knew it meant spending the next several days cooped up at home, feeling tired, sick, and well, grumpy.

My disappointment increased when I realized it meant missing out on the event I was REALLY looking forward to---cousin night! I know the word cousin means many things to other people, but my cousins, my sisters and I are tight. We've always been more like siblings and grew up having "cousin nights" often. A few times at Grandma Nancy's house even.

This was the first cousin night we would have since losing Grandma, and we were determined to make it fun. We had planned a night of pumpkin carving, making pizza and just having a good time.

I mean, look at all the fun we missed!

But Ellie and Ethan had croup. Caleb was with the volleyball team. And after a long week already, I would be spending the next several days nursing my babies back to health.

Don't hear me wrong. I love my babies more than anything. And I've even found some joy in having to slow life down over the last few days. We've watched movies, snuggled, read books, colored and rested a lot. And we've gotten plenty of quality time with one another. :)

Now it's Tuesday. 6 days later and I still can't take Ellie and Ethan anywhere we can get others sick. The fevers are gone and I think we're on the mend, but I am going crazy-with a capitol C! SO ready to get back to the land of the living. :)

 

 I want to see my babes wear these great big smiles again:

 

 

And I'm ready to see them playing dress up, running around and playing outside.

 



Ellie cracks me up with her love for hats.

 

That being said, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

I have a lot to look forward to in the coming weeks. Caleb has fall break next week and we plan on spending some time at the beautiful family cabin in the mountains near us. Then we're taking the kids to a big fall festival on Halloween and hosting dinner for family at our house. We plan on having dinner with some friends next week too.

The beginning of fall break also marks the beginning of playoff time for Caleb's volleyball season! WOOHOO! I really do enjoy watching and being a part of Caleb's volleyball team, but I don't enjoy the many nights he's away at games or tournaments. The beginning of playoff time marks the end of Christine being a single parent for many fall nights. ;)

Then once volleyball is done, the holiday season will be staring me in the face!

Yes, the holidays this year will be very bittersweet as they will be the first we celebrate without Grandma, but I will still look forward to being with family, having Caleb off and eating delicious food.

 

 

Writing this post lifted my spirits already. I think we're over the worst.

A Season For Healing

I can feel Fall coming. The nights and mornings have been a bit cooler in recent days. Autumn/ Fall has always been my favorite season. I love fall for it's bright colors, delicious flavors (chai latte or pumpkin spice latte anyone?), warmer cute clothes, the coolness in the air, the feel of leaves crunching under your feet, apples, pumpkins, hay rides, corn mazes and of course Thanksgiving.

 

This year Fall means so much more to me though. It means the end of what was a very painful season for myself and many people that I love. I discussed my heavy heart on here about a month ago. At the time I had no idea things were going to get much, much worse for some of us.

I'll give you just a small picture of the pain that I'm talking about. Nearest to my heart is the loss of my beloved Grandma Nancy. Our family continues to feel the pain of missing her. Although each day has been a little easier than the one before, I have yet to go a day without crying (even a little) and almost every thought leads me back to her.

Then there's the pain of my friends and family. In our small couples group from church, we have a close friend that lost both of her parents in a tragic accident two weeks ago, and we have friends that are facing some serious illnesses with their children.

I have a sister and some dear friends that have been walking through the valley that is called infertility. Everybody's journey with infertility looks different, and while my journey was very short lived compared to many, I do know how painful it is. I know what it is to lay awake at night and wonder if you will ever get to become parents. To hold your own child in your arms. I have been praying for these loved ones for months and for some, years. I still trust that God is faithful, and that he does have a plan for each of these families, but sometimes it's so hard to understand what he's doing.

I posted this as my status on fb the other day: "And just like that the school year has begun and summer is over. I've never wanted a summer to end so much. Praying/hoping this Fall brings us a fresh start and healing to hurting hearts." This is my prayer. Please Lord, use this time to draw us closer to you and bring some healing to broken hearts.

 

Of course this summer wasn't all pain and sadness. We had some great times too. I just wanted to share some of our happier moments in pictures. :)

Ellie had her cousins Devyn and Reagan over for their first sleepover at our house. I woke to these 3 smiling, beautiful faces.

 

When they were getting dressed they all wanter to wear dresses and headbands to match. You've got to love little girls. ;)

 

And then there is my two babes. Elliana and Ethan. They are my biggest challenge and greatest joy. When I look at these photos, I see two kids that love eachother greatly and have fun playing together. Most of all, I see two kids that are growing up WAY too quickly.



Isn't it odd how sometimes we want time to stand still, and other times we welcome the changing of the seasons? I do know this, God holds all of it in his hands.

 

Spring Break and Family Fun

Caleb had his spring break last week. We decided ahead of time that staying home for an entire week was not an option. We knew we'd get too bored and we'd all go a little stir crazy. At the same time, we didn't have a TON of money to go on a big vacation (our big vacation this year is going to be our San Diego trip in June).

So, about a month before spring break, Caleb and I started talking about doing a mini-vacation within our great State of Colorado. We threw out several options; Colorado Springs, Glenwood Springs, Estes Park, and Denver. When we discussed the things we would want to do with our little ones, Denver ended up being the best option.

Last week ended up being one of the best weeks we've had to date as a family! We had the perfect blend of routine down time at home, spending time with friends, having time with our own little family and extended family, and filling a few days with fun activities. Goes to show you that you don't have to spend a ton of money to go out and make memories.

Spring Break started off with a birthday surprise for Caleb. Caleb and his best friend Joe both turn the big 30 this year so Kim (Joe's wife) and I wanted to plan a fun weekend for the two of them.



Kim and I arranged for the kids to be with their grandparents (we're so thankful to have such loving and willing parents nearby) and to spend the weekend in Denver doing fun "guy" stuff.



The four of us went out to dinner, went to an Avalanche game, went putt putt golfing (this was plan C when paintball fell through), played some card and board games and relaxed at the Warwick hotel. Honestly, I think we just enjoyed having time together and acting like we were young again. We stayed up late and got to sleep in. It was wonderful!





When we returned home on Sunday we decided that we weren't ready to part ways so Joe, Kim and their two boys spent the night in our small home. We had 4 kids ages 3 and under in our house for 24 hours. It was crazy, but also so much fun. The next day we took the kids swimming, went out to lunch and then parted ways.


Love this family!

I spent most of Monday and Tuesday morning unpacking, doing laundry and repacking for our next little adventure.

Tuesday afternoon we told Ellie that we had some surprises planned for her and we took off with both kids to another hotel in Denver.

Ethan especially enjoyed the mirror and the heater/air conditioner in the room. :)





Tuesday night we went to The Spaghetti Factory. There was a balloon artist there that made a purple cat for Ellie (at her request).





Wednesday morning we woke up, had breakfast and spent the whole morning at the zoo.






Even Ethan enjoyed himself.





Elliana got to try cotton candy for the first time.



After the zoo we went back to the hotel for lunch and naps.

Wednesday afternoon we met up with my sisters Jenn and Alli, my brother in law Brian, and all of Jenn's littles at Park Meadows Mall. We didn't tell Ellie that she was going to see her cousins. It was so fun to watch all of the cousins run to each other when they saw each other. We just strolled around the very large mall and let the kids stop and play when they needed to.





Then we all had dinner together in the food court and parted ways after dinner.

Thursday morning we packed up all of our stuff and went to the children's museum. I had no idea how much fun that would be! Both kids really seemed to enjoy themselves. There was so much to do for both ages.













After spending several hours at the children's museum, we had one last meal out and then went home.

We finished off our spring break at home enjoying some down time as a family. Saturday I took the kids to a St. Patrick's Day parade with Jenn and her kids.

It was a wonderful week and we made lots of great memories. I don't know if it was the PERFECT weather (60s and 70s), or the fact that the whole family enjoyed last week so much, but now I'm really excited for the rest of spring and summer. Life is good!

Lost My Blogging Mojo

I've never been one of the most amazing, fascinating bloggers. I'm still not amazing or fascinating. But suddenly I feel as though I have nothing creative or even interesting to blog about. I wonder if people are getting bored with updates on Ellie and Ethan.

I say I blog for myself to keep an online "diary" (or something like that), and that is mostly true. But I also love it when every once in a while I write a post that hits home with others. You know, one that many people can relate to. Or a post that's about a subject that I'm really passionate about, or a post about something I'm struggling with.

I guess it's true what they say sometimes. No news is good news?. I can say this, life for us has been busy but overall just good. Thank the Lord for that!

So, I guess I'm just saying that I'm sorry my blog hasn't been very exciting to read lately. I hope to get my mojo back soon. Not for everyone or anyone that reads this, but for myself too.

Okay, now that that's off my chest, here's some photos of this past week. It was a BUSY and fun one!

Last Friday I went to the zoo with my sisters, nieces and nephew, and parents. We had a GREAT time! Here are some of my favorite photos from the day.

Me and Jenn with our babies. Ashlynn is 7 months old.



Poor Alli and Courtney ended up carrying these two most of the day.




Ellie and Reagan. They love like sisters and fight like sisters. I love to watch these two together. They crack each other and everyone around them up!



The four older cousins



Me and Ellie on the carousel. Although this picture doesn't show it, she was overjoyed to be on the carousel.


On Sunday we went to the family cabin and spent the night there with Caleb's parents. We LOVE spending time at the cabin. I only wish I had gotten more pictures of our time there. Here's Elliana enjoying her first smore. :)



We spent the day of the 4th at the cabin. I think the highlight was taking the canoe out on the lake. Ellie really enjoyed that too.

In the evening we went to my parents house to watch fireworks. Even though Ellie is 2 1/2 years old, this was the first year that she got to watch the fireworks. She loved them!

Here's Elliana with her oldest cousin Devyn.



Sweet Reagan getting some alone time. :)



Our sweet, handsome Ethan.



Watching fireworks from the backyard.





And last but not least, here is a picture of our two babies together. I was putting away laundry in my room and turned around to see that Ellie had climbed into Ethan's bassinet. Yikes! Poor Ethan.



My sister Jenn used to climb into my crib when I was a baby. Maybe it's an oldest sister kind of thing?