Trick or Treat

This Halloween was pretty amazing for a few reasons:

1) The kids are all into it--dressing up, trick-or-treating, picking out pumpkins.  They are at such a great age right now for all of it.
2) We left the weekend before Halloween and missed out on 3 parties on Saturday.  I was sad to not see our friends, but oh so delighted that we didn't run ourselves ragged all over town, dragging our kids from party to party.  Instead we were out of town for wonderful weekend and arrived back just in time for the Halloween festivities.
3) Our kids could care less about the candy they received.  We sorted it out and I took all the chocolate for me, took a huge bag to the office, and threw the crappy junky stuff away.  I felt bad throwing stuff in the trash but there's not much else for me to do with it.  If you have any ideas for next year let me know.  Three kids trick-or-treating = waaaay too much candy.

Cutest Spider Man. Ever. 

 "But I'm a nice vampire!"

 Our three cuties!

 The crew

 Reese with her candy :)

 Mimi and the kiddos.

 
The girls with their loot.

Rocky Point

We just returned from Rocky Point and it was hard to come home.  We love going down there for a long weekend and wish that life wasn't so hectic so we could visit more often.  We arrived on Thursday afternoon and settled in with a trip to the beach.  The kids were obsessed with hunting for seashells.  We played and played on the beach, swam in the water since it was still so warm, ate yummy food, and had a wonderful time together.  It was amazing and I can't wait to go back soon.

 Sunset on the beach.

 Reese, posing in the sunset.

 We love buying stuff on the beach.  They can see the gringos from a mile away.  The boys had fun trying on sunglasses.  LOVE the old school Ray Bans in crazy colors!

  Ryan was hesitant to get her hair braided.  She said no and told us, 'It kind of hurts getting it done'.  She sat and watched Reese for awhile.  Then she caved in and decided she needed her hair braided too.  I think it had to do with all the fun colorful beads they got to choose from.

 They got matching dresses and some little dresses for their dolls.  They were in hog heaven with these outfits.  Of course they had to do a fashion show with their babies.  These 2 pictures are not the best from a photography standpoint, but I couldn't get them to stop moving.  They were all over the place and my photos were turning out blurry :)

 Me and Jess with the boys.

Our friend, the little blue crab.  He was so pretty.

Pumpkin Patch

The girls' class took a trip to a pumpkin patch and we snapped some really cute photos.  It was HOT and not really feeling like a fall day, but we still had a great time.  I had fun chatting with some of the other moms while the kids played.  We're always in and out picking up the kids and it's usually so hectic in the hallway.  I really enjoy the moms and kids in their class this year.  We're so blessed to be at such a wonderful preschool.

 Reese

 Ryan

 The girls loved this scarecrow with the eyelashes.

 Here they are with their little bestie from class, Rylan.

 The 3 Rs

I'm so excited...

for this to arrive.

Cory ordered me the new Iphone for my birthday and I am SO stoked.  My BlackBerry is so old and crusty and I'm so ready for a new phone.  It arrives in 5 days.  I'll keep you posted and let you know how much I love it :)

Happy it's winding down

I'm so happy it's the weekend.  My week has been insane.  I feel like it's been a blur since Monday.  My birthday was on Tuesday and we had a great day.  Cory and I went to work together and then out for a coffee and some shopping at the mall.  Dinner at PF Chang's with the whole family was a fun, crazy adventure.  I selfishly wanted Chinese food but our kids wouldn't eat a bite so we spent most of the time entertaining them.  My dad said next year he'll pay $50 for us to get a babysitter for all 4 kids (Will was included in this mix).  The food was delish but I barely got to taste it since we were up and down with the monkeys.

DSMOM has consumed my last three days.  We had our general meeting on Thursday night and I wanted to do something crafty.  I searched for ideas on Pinterest and decided we would make Halloween frames.  There were only 8 people at the meeting so it was a nice little group, perfect size for crafting.  I made a huge mistake and forgot scissors so I frantically drove to Fry's to buy a pair.  Can't do a craft w/o scissors. 

I was co-chair of the rummage sale and I started working at noon on Friday until 5:30 and then again today from 10-3:30. Phew!  It was a lot of work but the sale turned out great and the new location was awesome.  I just took a long hot bath to relax my tired muscles and now I'm going to bed.  Can't wait for a relaxing day at home tomorrow and Mexico next week.  Mama needs another vacay :)

Pinetop

We just got back from Pinetop and had an amazing weekend.  The weather was gorgeous and we spent so much time outside.  We rented a cute little cabin that had an adorable front porch and grass in the front yard where the kids could play.  I love getting away for a vacay with my family.  We have so much fun when it's just the five of us.

 

The girls loved this wooden bear that sat on the front porch.  His sign said "Welcome" on one side and "Go Away!" on the other side.  When we would head out for the day they would turn the sign to "Go Away!" so no one would bother our cabin.  Hilarious!

Thank you, Pinterest...

For giving me creative ideas and inspiring me to do stuff around my house and create fun projects with my kids.  Sometimes all I need is good kick in the pants.  Here are a few projects we've been creating for fall.  

The footprint ghosts turned out SO cute.

The black/orange ribbon wreath with the BOO letters hanging down.  These were 2 separate ideas that I copied and put togehter.  Looks really fun hanging from our front door.

 

 I love decorating for fall, even if it's still hot as Hades outside.

21 months

Can you believe this kid is going to be two soon?  I can't.  

This is a shot of him on his 21 month birthday.  He's hanging out on his new awesome bus toy that I picked up at a yard sale for $20.  It's the new household favorite.  Ryder is in love with anything that has wheels so this bus and the cars that came with it have been providing hours of entertainment.  He could spend all day, every day outside.  When I make him come in he's so distraught and he cries at the door "Outside, Mama!!"  Our backyard is great but his true love is riding the plasma car up and down the driveway in front of the house.  Thank goodness for our cul-de-sac and almost zero traffic.  That kid loves going up and down the street and I'm always chasing after him, making sure he's not heading the wrong way.

Little man is turning into a big chatterbox.  It's hard to keep track of all the new words & phrases, but these are a few I can think right now: moon, butt (yes, butt.  Thanks, honey, for teaching him that one), poop, Anya, outside, football (sounds like oopball).  I love that he understands every single thing we say and if you ask him questions he can answer yes and no to get what he wants.  The communication with him is so much fun right now.  His favorite song is Old McDonald, and he'll sing "E-I-E-I-O, moo moo moo, E-I-E-I-O".  We crack up every time.

I have no idea what he weighs or measures but he's still such a skinny dude even though he can put the food away.  I bet he's only 22 lbs.  He's been drinking more milk since we're only nursing once a day but it hasn't fattened him up like I thought it would.  I think he's just going to have the world's fastest metabolism like his father.

Homeboy can throw some awesome tantrums. They last about one minute but the terrible twos have definitely arrived at the Whyte house.  I usually just walk away from the screaming and it stops pretty quickly.  I've been to this rodeo before and it's best if you just let them be alone for a few minutes.

He's sleeping in his crib with the tent on and it's working like a charm.  He usually goes to bed around 8 and sleeps until 7am, with a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon.  Love that nap time.  He sleeps almost the entire time the girls are at school and it's heaven.

This age is such a blast and I'm trying hard to soak up every second with all three of our kids.  It seems that time flies by so fast and it makes me so sad sometimes, but also happy that there is so much fun stuff to look forward to. 

Mother Nature's Farm

We headed out for some fall fun today (even though it was back up to 96 degrees).  We met Tracy and the triplets at Mother Nature's Farm and had so much fun.  As we were driving there we told Ryder that we were heading to the farm and he kept singing, "E-I-E-I-O!! Moo Moo!".  We were all cracking up and he kept singing the entire way there.There was a bounce house, tractor rides, pumpkin decorating, a corn maze, and animals to see.  The kids were in hog heaven, no pun intended. 

Ryder loved all the animals, especially the baby pigs.  

He kept going back for more hay to try and feed them.

Farmer Ryder

 Ryan didn't really want to pose for this photo, but I sure do love her expression.

 Reesie and her gap toothed grin :)

 Picking out our pumpkins to decorate.

 Ryan and Ryder loved the corn maze.

 Sweet little girls.

 Trying so hard to get a photo of all three looking at the camera. 
It just doesn't seem to work out for me. 
They're still so stinkin' cute!

 Reese was so excited to take a photo with the pumpkin she picked.

 Time to go home, but one last picture by the 200 lb. pumpkin!