Yesterday while cleaning the kids room I got this overwhelming feeling to switch Shawn’s crib into a toddler bed. Why did I do this? Well over the past six months or so he has become a master at climbing in and out of his crib. Seriously I have never seen a child get out of a crib so fast. It was as if the crib bars weren’t even there. So I finally (after bawling internally) took off the crib bars and converted it into a toddler bed for my baby boy, who by the way will be 2.5 years old on the 30th this month.

He looks like such a big boy!

LOL leave it my kid to do this during pictures

My Jr man <3

Daddy trying to tell Mantha Pantha that there’s nothing to be scared of at night (Ignore the pillow without a pillow case, I am constantly putting it on and as soon as she gets in bed she takes it off, yuck).

This was how he was sleeping when I went in to check on him. I just love the leg and arm over the side. Good thing for the rail or he would have rolled right off the bed.

Awww, I just love watching my babies sleep.

He only got out of bed once before he fell asleep which is better then when he was in the crib. He did wake up at 3 and 4 am to come into my room but that’s normal, except now I put him back in his bed. So all and all it was a success!

When decided what to do for Halloween this year I knew I wanted to make my daughters costume. I’m not the craftiest person out there but how hard could a costume be to make. So I got all the fabric and went to work. All was well until I started working on it while I was tired and well just not thinking about what I was doing. I sat down and looked at the fabric and asked my friend Jenny “Why didn’t I cut any of this fabric”? So I went to work and proceeded to cut all the fabric. Once that was done I went to put it on the elastic and realized OMG I cut ALL, yes every single piece in half! So now they were all too short too use. I think if Jenny hadn’t been there I would have cried.
Fast forward to the following Friday (today) Jenny came over and saved the day with tons of replacement fabric. This time I made sure that I was cutting the correct way before I did anything. The end result, a beautiful costume for my princess. I’m calling it a strawberry shortcake princess tutu dress LOL I really don’t know what to call it but I went with the color theme of strawberry shortcake and it is a dress so it works.

The finished product.

Her wand to go with her costume

Samantha was so excited to put her costume on and of course didn’t want to take it off. I’m so happy she loves it because in the end that’s all that matters.

And I cannot wait! I love taking the kids out trick or treating and seeing them having a blast. Today was Jr’s Halloween parade at school. All the kids and the teachers dress up and walk with their classes around the school. It’s fun for them and fun for us mom and dads to watch and see all the kids costumes.

Can’t do early morning parades without coffee! Don’t worry she was just holding my cup for me

Cranky or tired???

Here he comes, my Jr man dressed as Jango Fett. Did I spell that right? I don’t know anything about Star Wars

Not sure which costume he was looking at but he looks a little freaked out LOL

Bye Mom, see you after school!

I am not normally one of those people that sends out cards for every holiday and birthday, in fact I rarely even send out cards at all. While I do have the best intentions and I even take pictures of the kids specifically for Christmas cards I just never actually order them. BUT this year I’m going to do them no matter what! I.am.determined!

Now I know you may be saying, why are you talking about Christmas already. Well it may be a little under two months away but those two months will sneak up on you before you know it. While browsing Shutterfly I came across a few cards that I am just in love with.

The Snowflake Damask Holiday Card-I love damask print and the simplicity of this card.

The Family Wall Noir Christmas Card-This card just seems very elegant to me. Not too busy, the collage of pictures with the family letter for the last name. Black and simple is just elegant to me and you can’t go wrong with that.

Bubble Wreath Holiday 5×7 folded card-Again very simple yet very pretty, add in a touch of color from the bubbles and you have a fun yet elegant card.

And speaking of the upcoming holidays, I think a great present for my parents and my Grandma would be a Desk Calendar especially since we will be moving soon. It would be nice for them to have a full month of pictures of their grandchildren to look at.

It only took two weeks of planning to get over there, and lots of canceling and rescheduling due to sickies or weather but we finally got over the yesterday! The kids were excited, no that’s an understatement, they were ecstatic!

If you live in Los Angeles County, Saugus to me more exact or anywhere near that area I suggest you go to Lombardi’s Ranch. I have been going there since I was a little girl and let me tell you, it’s not like those “pumpkin patches” that are on the street corner that charge you an arm and a leg for a pumpkin and to ride their scary carnival type rides. Lombardi’s actually grows their own pumpkins. Imagine that a pumpkin patch that grows pumpkins, huh what a concept. Every year they grow their own pumpkins and pick them when they are at their peak and set them out throughout their land for families to come and choose their perfect one. They have a sunflower maze that you get to walk through and see all different types of scarecrows that local organizations and schools have made for display. They have a corn maze and a little animal area, even a train ride around the grounds of the farm. Not only does Lombardi’s sell pumpkins they also have corn, tomatoes, squash and watermelon. They are only only for a few months out of the year so don’t delay, check out the link above and head on over for some good family fun.

Now what would a post about a trip to the pumpkin patch be without some pictures.

That’s the title of the article in the Hoffman Hospice seasonal magazine. Hoffman Hospice is the company that took care of my Grandpa while he lived in a retirement home for the last few months of his life. I know I’ve already posted about his Harley ride but I wanted to share this article. I still get very emotional talking about my Papa and reading this made me cry but a happy cry that his family was with him on such a momentous day.

I know it’s small but I can’t make it any bigger on my blog so just click on the picture and it should open up in a new window full sized.
Thank you Hoffman Hospice for featuring my Papa and thank you to everyone who helped make this day happen for him. Also I’d like to thank you for taking care of him. I couldn’t have asked for a more gentle, caring croup of women not only for my Grandpa but you also helped my Grandma and my Mom so much during this time. You ladies are truly amazing.