Our Ninja Turtles

Emerson in ninja action

Hayden tried to avoid the camera but we threatened that he couldn't go trick-or-treating without letting me take a few shots, lol.

Hayden's loot

Emerson was thrilled to make it back home as he was super tired and cold when he returned. He was one happy boy when he finally got to sort all his loot.

This year Clayton decided to make the boys' costumes. He even made their shells (even though you can't see them in the pics). He is so clever. Hayden was Raphael and Emerson was Michaelangelo. They did turn out better than the costume at Target but he did go through a lot of work to make them. I would rather spend the $20 each than to take all the time he had to create them, lol.

Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Our newest addition...

Meet Wolfie. Clayton created him yesterday. Isn't he cool? Unfortunately, no one around here will know who the heck the NC State Wolf is but at least we still have Pack pride, lol.

Clayton's Creations

Every year Clayton carves some awesome pumpkins for Halloween. I really wish that I had a picture of last year's because he did a Spiderman face, the Dharma logo from the TV show "Lost", and a Bon Jovi smirk (the weird smiley face that was on the "Have a Nice Day" CD cover). They were all so cool! He chose to do an intricate Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles one this year that I thought that he was crazy for trying to carve. It took him a long time to do but he was happy with the outcome and the boys love it. It kinda makes me think of a "Charlie's Angels" pose, lol. The second pumpkin is a Transformer's Autobot logo. The kids both love both the Transformers and the Turtles so that was why Clayton chose to carve these. We still have a couple more pumpkins for him to carve over the next couple of days and I will be sure to post the results. :)

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas....(at our house anyway, lol)

I have everyone's gifts already bought and wrapped for Christmas (well, I still have to wrap 2 gifts for my parents but I unfortunately don't have the right size boxes for them yet). The stocking stuffers have already been bought and so have the Santa gifts (they all go out unwrapped Christmas morning). Not pictured are the teacher gifts and neighbor gifts (I still have to wait for Target to get in their awesome Christmas bags in the dollar spot).

Remember the recipe boxes that I made for my family last year? Well, here are this year's set of recipe cards to add to them. I plan to send 10-12 cards each year. They are tried-n-true recipes from my own collection. I printed them all out onto 4x6 notecards for easy filing. There is also a letter to each recipient that may include-why we love a certain recipe, changes that you can do them, how I got them, etc.

***My Gift to You***

If you know that you aren't getting this envelope from me and you would like a Word version of this year's 10 recipes, leave me a comment here on the blog and I will forward them on. I will also send you the 5 recipes from last year. They are already conveniently formatted to be printed onto 4x6 notecards. Be sure to leave me an email address so that I know where to send them. ;)

Arghhhhhh, me a scurvy pirate!

My friend Joanna (back in NC) always had the cutest pumpkins made with these potato-head like kits out on her porch so I just had to buy one this year. Isn't he cute?

Fun at the Pumpkin Patch

Me at 29 weeks with the surrobabe

We finally made our way to the local pumpkin patch yesterday. Clayton has lots of ideas for carving so he made sure to get several. He plans on carving the Transformers logo and a TMNT scene. He is also considering doing a Fat Tire logo (that's a local beer for those of you on the East coast and have never heard of it) and an NC State Wolf. Last year he did a Spiderman face and an awesome Bon Jovi CD cover. I wish I had pics of those. This year I will make sure to take some!

Well, what do we have here?

We woke up this morning to our first snowfall. How weird is that? It was really coming down good for the first couple of hours after we got up. I took this pic before everything got covered. Once it got nice and pretty, it stopped and melted super fast. I knew it wouldn't stick around since we were wearing short sleeves just yesterday. The temps will rise back up tomorrow to the high 60's. I have heard that Colorado has weird weather patterns and now I totally believe it, lol.

BOO!

A week ago I made these baggies for 2 of my neighbors. They were full of candies and Halloween treats. Hayden got to drop the bags on their porches, ring their doorbells and then run like heck so that he wouldn't be caught. He did a fabulous job! We got Boo'ed last week too.

Cute Tees at Children's Place

Aren't these shirts adorable? The Yeti Spaghetti one is my favorite. It says, "For Abominable Appetites" on the bottom, lol. The Snowball Fight one says, "Glacial Grudge Match-One Night Only" on the bottom. I couldn't resist them when I went to Cherry Creek in Denver over the past weekend. Me and the kiddos met up with a good college friend of mine at the mall, Jennifer (or J-fer as I call her). We had lunch at CPK and my kids were outstandingly good. I tried to explain to Jennifer that they aren't always that well behaved. They were definitely putting on a good front, lol. Clayton spent quality time at the Great American Beer Festival while we shopped.

On Sunday, I went to the Aveda salon for a prenatal massage. It was absolutely fabulous!! I will be heading back in there at the beginning of December. Shhhh, don't let Clayton know that, lol.

Hayden's Class

Aren't they cute? H's teacher sent out this pic to all the parents so I thought that I would share. H is the one in the back row, farthest to the left.

More Disney Photos

I just got my Photopass CD from Disney so I finally have some pics to share with me in them (what a concept!). The photo above is my favorite.

Mom and Aunt Judy

I wish you could see my sequined Minnie ears in the pic. They were so cute!

Emerson LOVED all the characters

My Main Squeeze and Me

Aunt Judy and Me

Just the Gals

Strike a Pose, lol

Aunt Judy and Mom

Coolio 1 and Coolio 2

Hayden, Clayton and Mom all riding Test Track (this was one Hayden's faves)

Introducing....

the future boxer from within my belly, lol. He is constantly abusing my poor insides by kicking, punching and thrusting about. He may cause me some occasional pains but isn't he adorable? Who couldn't forgive that sweet baby face?? My IPs are ecstatic and I am thrilled to see that he is growing so well.

Funny Tidbit...

Everytime Big E goes #2 he says the same thing, "I don't eat poop". Then he says, "I eat cookies". Gee, it's a good thing that he understands that concept (cookies=poop), lol.

BTW, I had a 3D ultrasound done on Thursday and my IPs got some great pics of their little guy. I was lucky enough to get one and I will post it as soon as I can get it scanned in. He is absolutely adorable!

The Rockies

This is the beautiful view I have just before I turn down the street to our house. I love coming home and seeing those snowcapped jagged mountains as I make my final turn. Ahhhhhhhh...

Walt Disney World 2007-The Trip Report

Sit back, have a drink and I hope that you enjoy our trip report. We had a wonderful time at the World and can't wait to go back again. The report is posted below by day and the restaurant reviews/final report will be posted later this week. Enjoy!

9/21/07-Day #1

Sage & Hayden at MNSSHP

Let me just say, Clayton and I both abhor Orlando International Airport. It royally stinks. Trust us on this one. We have flown into many airports and never have been as confused as we were when we arrived. Let me back up and tell you that we flew Southwest (and we never will again-explanation will be included in the last day report). Our flight had 137 seats but there were only 60 people on board. Crazy, huh? Anywho, our flight thankfully landed on time but then we couldn't figure out what to do to find where my Mom and Aunt were. None of the screens had US Airways on them. Our terminal only had Southwest and Frontier in it. After walking around forever and looking like idiots, we finally realized that there must be another terminal but then we couldn't figure out how to get there. The signage was horrible. We decided to take the rail system and prayed that we wouldn't end up in baggage claim. We got to terminal A and then found the gates to where my Mom and Aunt should be arriving. Unfortunately, we couldn't get to them because of there being another security checkpoint in this terminal. It totally stunk. I was hoping to be waiting at the gate for them when they arrived. Instead, we had to wait outside of their terminal's checkpoint because we didn't have boarding passes for a flight originating out of that particular terminal. What a load of crap. In Denver you can go to all 3 terminals with only one universal security checkpoint to go through. In fact, I can't name any other airport that does that and I have been through many. Ugh. We finally met up with my family and off we went to Disney's Magical Express.

DME was a little bit confusing because the people working the counter forgot to tell us where to stand after checking in but we finally got on our bus and were on our way. We checked in at POP Century for a one night stay before we transferred over to the Polynesian. We got an upgrade to a premium room and let me tell you, big whoop. I was really hoping that the value hotels at Disney World would at least be decent but I cannot lie, they suck. The rooms were tiny, the bedspreads were awfully faded, the grounds were extremely cheap and seemed dirty, the food in the food court was yucky, the food court itself was terribly gross with the floors being so sticky that you felt like you were walking on fly paper and the counters really needed to be cleaned, and worst of all was the transportation. You can only take a bus to/from the values and that was awful. For the amenities that you get by staying there, you might as well stay somewhere better off property and rent a car. It would be a lot easier, cheaper and less hectic.

Hayden and I had tickets to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP) that night so we took off after dinner. The bus trip to the Magic Kingdom wasn't too bad. We met our friends Sandy & Sage (from NC) for the event. They had just moved to the Orlando area recently. The kids had a blast and we walked onto almost all the rides without waiting. Space Mountain only had about 20 people in line both times we passed it on the TTA. It was unreal. It's too bad I couldn't ride. Oh well, maybe next year. Hallowishes (the fireworks show) was spectacular and the parade was decent. All in all, the extra expense for the event was well worth it.

Hayden and I were exhausted when we left and we had to wait for a stupid bus forever. We waited in line long enough to fill 4 busses before we could finally board one. It was standing room only. Can you believe that no one even bothered to offer me a seat? I would never have accepted it but that is beside the point. I cannot believe that people just watched me stand there while I hung to a bar and held a 4 year old child against me. Did I mention that I am 6 months pregnant??? How rude. After that horrid ride that seemed to take FOREVER, we finally got into our room after midnight.

9/22/07-Day #2

Emerson was simply thrilled to be at Disney World, lol

We spent our first morning transferring over to the Polynesian (thank God!). The hotel was beautiful and we were so happy to be there rather than Pop. The lobby was calming and felt like we were in a different place other than Disney. It was so wonderfully themed that you actually felt like you were in a tropical place somewhere far away. It was a relatively easy process to change resorts. All I had to do was call bell services and tell them to move our baggage. We put a tip on top of the pile of luggage and left it all in our room. They moved it over to the Poly later that afternoon and brought it straight to our room. It was totally painless.

When we checked in that morning, we received our leis and got our keys to the Kingdom. Our room wasn't ready since we were there so early but at least we could go ahead and begin using our tickets and dining plan. We promptly headed over to the Magic Kingdom via the resort monorail (which is the biggest convenience ever!).

We did a couple of rides and then headed over to our first ADR (Advanced Dining Reservation) at Liberty Tree Tavern for lunch. It was delicious!! I had the pot roast and it was the best stuff ever. We will definitely be going there again.

Clayton & Mom braved Splash Mountain

Disney World puts on a wonderful light parade a few nights each week and this night was the one I picked to stay for it. Sure the crowds for it stunk, but it was well worth it. We got the kiddos on the frontline and that is all that mattered. The loved seeing all the beautiful lights and cool characters go by. Mom bought them their first set of Mickey ears for the event and they loved them. They have little lights that flash on the ears. Neither kid would let us remove the stupid sticker that said that they light up but whatever, lol.

Hayden gave the Spectro parade a thumbs up

Big E wearing his new ears at the parade

9/23/07-Day #3

Emerson and Hayden at Sci-Fi Dine In

E & H in the front of our "car" at Sci-Fi, Judy & Mom in the middle, Clayton in the back

I felt kinda sick this morning so I had everyone take off to Animal Kingdom without me. While they were having fun, I called up Garden Grocer (they had just delivered us a ton of groceries the day before) and asked if they could get me a particular medicine. They told me that it would be no problem and that they would even waive the delivery fee. I was amazed at how wonderful they were to work with and I highly recommend their service. Shortly afterward I took off to meet my family in the park.

Animal Kingdom was awfully hot but we somehow managed to make it through. While Mom and Clayton rode Dinosaur, the rest of us hung out in a gift shop. It's a good thing we did because a torrential downpour happened and we weren't prepared. I bought us some ponchos and then clothespinned some waterproof table cloths to the strollers. Heck if the rain was going to spoil our fun, lol.

We ended up eating lunch at Restaurantasaurus before noon. I had originally wanted to eat at Tusker House but it was being refurbed and then my second choice, Flame Tree, smelled bad. Oh well, at least we didn't go hungry.

After lunch, we headed to the safari ride when we noticed a little boy standing alone in the crowd. He was lost and his parents were no where to be seen. He looked to be around 2 years old and didn't speak English. I watched over him while Mom and Clayton went to find a cast member to help us. One guy was able to speak some basic Spanish and talked him into following him to the lost child center. It was so sad. I can't imagine losing my little one and he must have been so scared. We stopped by the lost child center shortly afterward to check on him and his parents had been notified to his whereabouts, thank God. They were on their way to get him at that point.

For the evening, we headed out to MGM. It is my favorite park but unfortunately I was unable to do pretty much everything in there due to being pregnant. At least I could still eat at my favorite fun restaurant, Sci-Fi Dine In. We had a fabulous time there. The kids absolutely loved sitting in the car to eat while watching goofy clips from old sci-fi movies. My whole family rated it as their favorite restaurant at the end of our trip.

The boys' treat bags that I made for them

Before leaving for Disney, I bought a bunch of Disney themed items for the kiddos and decorated them each a bag. They got things like Nemo toothbrushes, Mickey Mouse dolls, Incredibles fruit snacks, Cars drink cups, etc. Needless to say, they were well received. :)