Happy Halloween

I made the girls costumes this year. If you remember last year, there was too much going on with house repairs and I wasn't able to make them.

I have been so busy, it was getting too close to Halloween Parade day at school for O. Several days ago, she came to me crying (big crocodile tears) afraid I wasn't going to finish in time. I tried to convince her that I would finish. Even if I needed to stay up all night on Thursday. She didn't totally believe me or trust me. I'm not sure why.

CK seemed to be okay. Trusting that I would finish in time, but she is different. She won't say. She internalizes.

Thursday afternoon I finished O's Tinkerbell costume. She was so excited. So proud, and felt much better. Now she was worried I wasn't going to finish CK's costume.

5:30am O woke up. 5:30AM!!!! Went to the office to check on my progress from the night before. Came to my bed with joy in her voice, "You FINISHED!" YES, I said I would. My sweet girl then asks me "Did you have to stay up all night? Did you get any sleep?" Yes, my dear sweet girl, I went to bed at normal time and got some sleep. UNTIL 5:30am!

Once CK woke up I had her try on her costume. "It's beautiful!" she says. "You finished it." I knew she was worried a little too. She just won't say. I promised the girls I would start earlier next year, but they need to do their part and decide earlier.

Today at the school Halloween Parade the girls proudly showed off their costumes and made sure to tell eveyone "My mommy made it!"

Official Halloween Portraits will be tomorrow, right before Trick-or-Treating, but here are pics from today.

After school we went to a local farm/pumpkin patch. It's a wonderful old fashioned pumpkin patch. Plus I like the idea of supporting one of our local farmers. Here are some pics:

Here are the Jack-O-Lanterns we carved from our pumpkins. I love doing this as a family. From left to right; C's, mine, O's, CK's. The girls designed their own and CK carved her own.

My Beloved Turns 39!

C is my best friend, the most caring loving husband and daddy, a wonderful cook, my biggest fan (other than maybe my mama and papa), makes me feel like the sexiest women alive, and makes me laugh until I cry. I love our family time together as well as our alone time and date nights and days. C makes the most of spending quality time with his family. He always makes me feel beautiful and loved. I am so blessed and proud to call him my best friend and husband.

I love you C! Happy 39th Birthday!

Our Miracle Baby Turns 8!

I can't believe my miracle baby is 8 years old today! I waited for her for so long and now she is 8 years old. It seems like yesterday that CK was born. How time flies.

CK is a wonderful big sister. She is so smart. Nothing gets past her. She is Beautiful, loving, caring, and always helpful. She is always willing to try new things. A wonderful pianist. Enjoys the outdoors and camping. She is a Girl Scout and loves God.

HAPPY 8th BIRTHDAY CK!!!

 

A Day at the Aquarium

One of my favorite places to go is the Monterey Bay Aquarium. After spending two days in Capitola and a wonderful night in Santa Cruz with my brother and his family, the girls and I spent Sunday (of Labor Day weekend) at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. What a wonderful day. Just me and my girls. We missed daddy terribly, but we will find a day to bring him.

Here are some pictures from our day (double click on the image to enlarge)

One of my favorite creatures of the sea are the Sea Horses. So beautiful. So many different kinds. My favorite Sea Horse is the Sea Dragon. (green leafy one)

We went to see the Great White Shark they have in their Outer Bay exhibit. I was so excited to get this shot. Then I got home and C told me that wasn't it. Oh well. It's still a nice shot.

Look who I found on exhibit. The girls just loved this little bubble window.

So much to see at the Aquarium. O had not remembered she had been there before and CK was excited to be back.

Wonder

Pure joy!

This last image is perfect to reflect how our day was.

Our Second Day at the Beach

As I said in a previous post, Labor Day weekend was the Begonia Festival in Capitola. You saw what did on that Saturday. It's taken me a while (just a little busy), but I wanted to blog the rest of that weekend. It was such a great weekend.

Sunday, the girls and I caravan-ed back down to Capitola with my brother and his family. Sunday they had their annual begonia floats parade. The beach was packed around the water to watch the floats.
Here are some of the floats.

Our favorite was Snoopy!

 After the floats we sat on the beach. The kids all played. We were there with two other families, so when I mean kids, I mean KIDS. Here is a photo of all the kids together. WOW.

13 kids!!

Uncle S brought some of the kids to see the sea critters in the rocks.

It was another great day at the beach. Nice weather. I sat and relaxed while the girls played in the sand.

After the beach S, G and the M.E.S.S. kids and my girls and I all checked into a hotel in Santa Cruz. We had a very fun sleepover. The kids all had so much fun laying in bed watching TV and having breakfast in the room.

Sunday was just me and my girls. I'll be posting that next.

Laughing

I am SO behind! I promise to catch up on my blog soon, but I just had to post this NOW.

We were in the car driving to mass and the girls were in the back seat laughing. O was making herself laugh, it's so wonderful to hear. Then O says:

"Today is a laughing day!"

Every day should be a laughing day.