Trunk or Treat

On Sunday, St. Ambrose held their annual Trunk or Treat. It's the newest thing where kids can trick or treat safely among a group of people you know. Parents park their cars on the lot and some go all out decorating them up and you hand out candy. One of our friends entered her car so we gathered there with our bowl of candy to hand out to all the cute trick or treaters! After Olivia went around and got all her candy, she did the honors of handing out candy. She was handing one piece out to everyone...even innocent by-standers. It was great!!

Olivia was a witch. She wore this glittery dress that was once Auntie's. I altered it to fit her. Then, Olivia had her witch's hat and broom. I found some green hair that helped accentuate her outfit. I put makeup on her and seriously, that girl has some loooong eyelashes! I love it!! Olivia had a blast going from car to car getting her candy. I tried to teach her a few jokes but she just didn't understand the concept. So she just cackled and said "I'll get you my pretty!" I wanted her to do the "Ma-damn foot's caught in the door" joke as a tribute to when I taught Liz at the age of 4 or 5 to tell that joke! It's a classic in our family.

Alex was the Unknown Phantom. I think he was really getting out of the groove of dressing up for Halloween. I kept asking him what he wanted to be and he kept saying the infamous "I don't know." Then it dawned on me...maybe he doesn't want to dress up anymore. Is 9 and 10 really the age when they start thinking dressing up for Halloween isn't cool anymore? I think I dressed up and trick or treated until I was in 8th grade. Anyway, he thought maybe he wanted to be a vampire but I knew he was not going to wear the makeup. Then I found this costume and I figured he would like it because the eyes light up. He did. He had a blast hanging with his friends and going into the Haunted Hallway.

We ended up leaving Trunk or Treat 30 minutes early. It was freezing outside! With the wind blowing, everyone was so cold. All the candy that was to be had was safely tucked away in their little pumpkins waiting to be devoured. So we headed home. We are looking forward to trick or treating with Brendon and the Spear family on Halloween. More Halloween fun to come!!

Beep...Beep....

It started on Thursday...when Jimmy and I saw each other in passing at the Y, he had been home once already, he warned me...one of the smoke detectors is beeping at home. My first thought was "thanks for leaving it for me to fix!" But OK, he is leaving one job, running home and changing and going to another job. But dang it, now I have to bring in the huge ladder and get up there to get it. I love having 12 foot ceilings except when it comes to changing light bulbs and getting to the fire and carbon monoxide detectors. So, when we got home I just ignored it for a little bit. It was an intermittent beep not a continuous beeeep! It was upstairs and when downstairs it really wasn't that big of a bother. And by the end of the night, the intermittent beeping had stopped. Hmm...well, Friday morning at 5:00 a.m., the intermittent beeping started again!! Beep...beep...beep! Neither Jimmy nor I wanted to go out to the garage and get the ladder at that time so I closed the door to Alex and Olivia's room's and our's but you could still hear it!! Finally, at 6:45 a.m., I couldn't take it anymore. I woke Jimmy and he went out and got the ladder and took it down. Of course, we had no 9 volt batteries in the house. Fast forward to Friday night about 3:30 a.m. Jimmy and I were finally settling down to go to sleep when all of a sudden we hear, beep...beep. Are you kidding me? We were trying to figure out where the beeping was coming from. Jimmy took down the detector in Alex's room because it was showing a blinking red light, we took down the one in the hallway downstairs and had the one we took down earlier that morning. So, back to bed, then, beep...beep. Seriously? We stood in the hallway trying to figure out where the beeping was coming from...it sounded like it was coming from one of the detectors in which there was NO BATTERY! So we got that squared away. Back to bed again...then an hour later, beep...beep! It was the detector in our bedroom! I woke Jimmy up and made him climb up there and get that one. So now, we are down to only one detector upstairs and that's in Olivia's room. I prayed that there would not be a fire tonight since we had almost every detector in the house down! How crazy for all these detectors to need a new battery at the same time! When we got up on Saturday, we figured we were going to need about 12 9 volt batteries in all. We are not taking any more chances...all the batteries are getting replaced. You know the other crazy thing...they don't sell 9 volt batteries in bulk packaging. We only saw a pack of 4 for $10.50. Now that's crazy!! But not as crazy as waking to the beep...beep...beep!!

Blog Tag

I have read a few blogs playing this online game of TAG thereby finding myself tagged.

Here a 7 things you might not know about me!

1. I am really an introvert. I am really quiet until you get to know me. I definitely need down time in order to get the energy to be around others. I am drawn to extroverts because they help "bring me out" of my shell. Putting me in a room with people I don't know is pure torture for me. My quietness is viewed as "bitchiness" when really, I just don't know what to say.

2. I have been a paralegal for 12 years but my dream job would be a Medical Examiner. I loved watching Quincy when I was younger and wanted to be just like him. I have a yearning to work in forensics and know the "why" of things. Maybe one day when my kids are grown I can work on fulfilling this dream.

3. I love to read. My favorites are any book by Patricia Cornwell, James Patterson, the Harry Potter books, and the Twilight series.

4. I love to do crafty things. I sew, embroider, cross stitch, make jewelry, and scrapbook. I recently learned calligraphy and would love to learn to smock. One of my biggest regrets is not allowing my mother-in-law to give me smocking lessons before she passed away.

5. I love to cook! I am always eager to try new recipes.

6. I love music. Music helps me feel and say the things that sometimes I just can't. My iPod has a very eclectic selection of music. I love anything with soul, where you can just feel the emotions!

And last but not least, 7. I am a very emotional person. (This may actually not be a surprise to most!) I am very empathetic and tend to put myself in that person's shoes and feel the emotions they are feeling. I cry at Hallmark commercials. I cry during tv shows and movies (even Disney movies). I even cry at Broadway plays. Alex has gotten to the point of even saying "Mom are you crying again?" Crazy, I know.

So now that you have read my blog, if you have a blog, consider yourself tagged! Let's hear 7 things we didn't know about you!

The Color Purple

Last night, Deb Do, Samantha and I went to see The Color Purple at the Fabulous Fox Theatre! I love, love this movie and watch it every time it comes on tv so I knew I was going to enjoy the musical! I picked up the soundtrack at the library so and fell in love with a few of the songs...I'm Here, Too Beautiful for Words and Hell No!

The Color Purple is an extraordinary story, strong, powerful and emotional. It's a story about love, strength, adversity, courage, hope, joy. This story shows how Celie dealt with the adversity in her life. How she overcame hardship and obstacles and managed to pick herself up and move forward every day. Jeannette Bayardelle played Celie and did an amazing job. She has got an incredible voice! Felicia Fields played Sofia and she brought the house down! As you may know, Sofia was originally played in the movie by Oprah, very big shoes to fill but Felicia did an incredible job! This musical had lots of laughs and of course, it's not complete unless I cry, which I did. When Mister arranges for her children to come home and Celie gets to meet them and see Nettie, well hell yeah, I cried! Such emotion! Very powerful. A definite must see for everyone!!

Another Shower!

Lately, my family has been blooming. There have been some new marriages and new babies and of course, with these events come showers! I think my Mom's cousin's are getting sick of all the showers our family has been hosting! I personally love getting together with these women and look forward to every event. I always have a good time and seem to do lots of laughing. Everyone has an awesome sense of humor...I totally see where I get it from.

Sunday was Whitnie's baby shower. I love shopping for babies. Me, Liz and Mom went shopping and just had a blast looking at all the cute baby stuff. I found some plain burp cloths and embroidered them with the baby's name. I also whipped up a cute, pink (very pink) quilt as well. I was so proud of myself. I made that quilt in about 3 hours. That is a far cry from the 6 years it took to make my Aunt's 4th of July quilt. Anyway, Olivia loved helping Whitnie open her presents and commented that she made practically every gift. It was hilarious! Good times!

Once again, I was in charge of the games. Why am I in charge of the games? I don't know how I got this title but I want to resign my post. No one will let me though!! The games I chose were a little hard and little long so I guess I need to re-think them. But overall, fun times were had by all.

Pumpkin Patch with Auntie

On Saturday, we made our annual trip to Stuckmeyer's with Auntie to pick pumpkins. We have gone every year since Alex was little. We always have a blast. This year, the temperatures were perfect...very fall-like. Last year when we went it was 90 degrees and so not pumpkin picking weather! As soon as we got there, Olivia went over and decorated a teeny-tiny pumpkin. Then she got to do her most favorite thing ever...ride the horses. She waited patiently in the line and couldn't wait to get on. They fitted her with a helmet and were going to put her on a little pony. Nope, she's an expert so she got to ride Moonlight. The only issue was we couldn't call the horse "Moonlight". The horses name was "Frosty" according to Olivia. Frosty was the name of the very first horse Olivia rode at Stuckmeyer's so every year she calls her horse "Frosty". When Olivia proclaimed this was not Moonlight but Frosty, the lady remembered her and asked if this was her Frosty girl. I just need to say that my little girl is an expert horseback rider. Her body moves so fluidly with the horse. At one point, she was so comfortable that she left one hand on the horn of the saddle and put one hand on the back of the saddle and just looked around. Totally cracked me up. After riding Moonlight, Auntie gave her $5 so she could ride again. This time, she wanted to ride the biggest horse they had. This horse was named Celia and she actually called it Celia. Celia was huge but Olivia still loved her!! After the horses, we went into Fort Spooky. The kids did a corn maze, played on the big playground and bounced a little on the bouncy slide. Now for the moment we were waiting for...going out and picking the perfect pumpkin. These pumpkins were huge and perfect for carving. I had picked up a few pumpkin carving books at the library for Alex and so he knew exactly what kind of pumpkin he wanted to pick. Once the perfect pumpkins were found, we went in and got a few more pictures and then paid for everything. We had to take our usual trip to the Stuckmeyer store and have a look around. As Liz and I were looking at something, Olivia says to me, "look Mom, they have apples". I take the apple she has in her hand and see that she has taken a bite out of this apple. Perfect. Liz's reaction was "Guess you're buying that apple". Yep, guess so. When I went up the counter, I told the girl I wanted to buy the apple my daughter ate. She indicated it was one of the most expensive and biggest ones they have. Even more perfect. This one apple cost $1.50. Crazy. But it was crazy delicious too. We all took a few bites out of it. Then time for one more pony ride only this one was mechanical. I am in so much trouble when Olivia learns that horses can be a hobby. It was a perfect day filled with family and fun! We can't wait to carve our huge pumpkin. I'll post pictures of that soon.

Mary

Today, I want to honor a very special person in my life. Her name is Mary Morgan. She is my mother-in-law. Have you ever met a person who truly found Joy in everything they encountered? Have you ever met a person who made you feel like you could have been one of their own children? Have you ever met a person who found so much happiness and joy in being a grandmother? Have you ever lost someone and said "Only the Good Die Young"? Everything I just mentioned describes the kind of person my mother-in-law was. Saturday, was her birthday!

She was an incredible woman, mother, grandmother and friend. She had such an impact on people's lives and I bet she didn't even realize it. She was a true Southern Belle. This woman knew how to have fun, how to laugh and how to just find something good in everyone. She is truly missed, deeply and greatly! Alex loved his Mimi so. They were very close. She drove him to the babysitter's every morning from the time he was 3 months old until he was 2. I'll never forgot, a week before she passed away, we were visiting and they were talking. Alex asked her if she was always going to remember him. She told him "Always!" I had to get up and leave the room. This just broke my heart. It was so unfair for my little boy, who loved his grandmother so, to lose her at the young of 3. Today, we share with Olivia, this amazing woman that she will never have the privilege of knowing. Every time I see Olivia's big blue eyes, they remind me of Mary's. Both of my kids are smart as whips, something Mary was also. Even though she is not physically present, her spirit remains and lives on. I hope that I have made her proud with how Alex and Olivia are growing up. I try to find Joy in everyday things like she did. She was such a remarkable woman and I am a better person for having known her.

Happy Birthday Mary, we miss you and love you!

Pumpkin Patch

Today I went with Olivia's preschool class to Stuckmeyer's Pumpkin Patch. This is the first time I have ever went on a field trip with one of my kids class. I guess I will need to do something with Alex next. Of course, I was running late this morning and forgot the camera. I can't believe it. I drove Olivia and her friend Audrey plus Miss Lisa and Miss Erica. We go to Stuckmeyer's every October for our "Pumpkin day with Auntie" so I knew exactly where it was...right by the Big Pink Elephant. We were so excited to go. The first thing we did was take a hayride. We have never done that before so I was looking forward to seeing what it was all about. Since we had so many in our group, we got an entire wagon to ourself. The hayride took us back through all the land and we got to see the garden with blooming Mums, some lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, corn, sunflowers, etc. All along the route, there are little scene's. They had painted scene's of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Pooh and his friends, Peter Pan, Snow White, a few skeletons, an Indian scene and their most favorite was Cinderella's scene. The girl's loved it. After our hayride, the girl's got to go into a big blow up Haunted House. I didn't go in so I don't know what it was all about but most had fun. There were a few who were apprehensive. After that, they got to go crazy in Fort Spooky!! They ran and played on the huge playground that was packed full of kids. It was hard to keep track but we managed to keep all 10 in check! Then it was time to go but not before picking a pumpkin! Olivia dove right in and found her 2nd perfect pumpkin. Her first is a tiny one that we got at Soulard Farmer's Market last weekend that is now decorated with a face and her name. I wonder what she will want to do to this one. Alex is all about carving pumpkins this year. So I think I will give him my little one and let him have a ball. We are looking forward to our Pumpkin Day with Auntie which is tomorrow at 2 p.m. I will have pictures for sure! Tomorrow, Olivia gets to endulge in her passion of horses. She is already talking about seeing Frosty tomorrow. Frosty is the very first horse Olivia rode, ever. So every white horse is called Frosty. I love it. Till then...

Weekend Full of Family!!

2008 Klipsch Family Reunion

Alex playing Hoosier Golf

Gayle and I practicing our Dirty Dancing moves

Family

What a fabulous fall weekend spent with family. Saturday was the Klipsch family reunion. What can I say about these people? They are a hoot and a lot of fun! I am grateful that I have an opportunity to spend time with them. I am grateful that my children also have an opportunity to spend time with them. Olivia had a great time playing with Megan and Matthew. Alex got to meet and play with a few distant cousins as well.

Family is so important to me. Once my family lost its matriarch, my Grandma, we had to find a way to stay connected. I didn't appreciate all the moments spent with my family before we lost her. Now, I do. I only wish I could have appreciated it more then. I had a great time connecting with my cousins on Saturday. We all seem to have such a great sense of humor that when we get together, you cannot help but have a fun time!!

Sunday also was a family day. My Mom and Dad graciously hosted us kids to celebrate Stevie and Jimmy's birthdays. My Dad made homemade chicken and dumplings. It was fantastic. He even made me my bisquick dumplings. For those that may not have had the pleasure, let me indulge you. While growing up, my Mom used to make homemade chicken and dumplings. The dumplings were made from Bisquick not noodles. This type of "dumpling" is so light and fluffy! It soaks in the juice and all the goodness. I LOVE the Bisquick dumplings and to this day, whenever I make homemade chicken and dumplings, that's how I make it. Thanks Mom for such a wonderful memory and recipe! So we spent the afternoon talking and laughing. We even had an opportunity to make one more necklace for Liz's wedding. It was the perfect ending to a perfect family-filled weekend! Which we don't seem to have enough of.

Lordy, Lordy, Look who's 40!!

Happy 40th Birthday Jimmy!

Today is Jimmy's 40th Birthday. He doesn't look a day over 39! HA HA! He definitely makes 40 look good! Seriously though, Jimmy is a good husband and a wonderful Daddy and deserves to be celebrated on his special day! He definitely has not let age stop him from reaching his dream of becoming a police officer. I am so proud of him and couldn't be cheering any harder or louder than I am right now!

I love you Smooch. Hope you have a great birthday and an amazing 40th year!!

The Schwartz quads!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, a friend of mine from high school recently had quadruplets! Amazing miracles these 4 beautiful babies are! Yesterday, I went over in the afternoon to help with Cole, Molly, Meghan and Kurt. As you can imagine, "it takes a village". I was so excited and couldn't wait to see Jill and her babies. Yesterday, they were two months old. Jill is so amazing! She is so laid back and takes everything in stride. I told her I needed to take a page out of her book. She asked me if the title of her book was called "Insanity". She is such a crack up! Everything is down to a science with these 4 precious babies. Every feeding, every diaper, every thing is charted. You definitely need to keep track or how else could you stay on top of it? When I got there, another friend of Jill's was there. The feedings were wrapping up and I got to feed Kurt. So sweet. When I changed his diaper, I felt like I had never changed a diaper before. But of course, Mommy instinct kicked in and all went well. After they were all fed, they all slept. Jill's friend left and Jill had a dentist appointment. I helped by sweeping and mopping the kitchen floor. I kept checking on the babies...just to be sure they didn't need me. After I was finished with that, it was just so quiet...they are such good babies. So, I decided to sweep the hallway and living room. Then, Cole was fussing...nothing major but it was my excuse to hold him! It felt so good. He is so sweet. He settled down and then Meghan started moving and fussing. It was getting close to feeding time and she's the first one who eats. Jill came home and we started getting all 4 bottles ready. I fed Meghan and Jill fed Cole. As soon as they were done, Molly and Kurt were ready to eat. We started feeding at 3:30 and we were done with all 4 at 4:45. Jill said we made good time that usually, it takes 2 hours to feed them. After they all ate, I showed Jill how to lay them on the boppy pillows so they could get some tummy time. Cole is so strong...he kept lifting his head and looking around. Molly had an upset tummy so of course, I had to hold her. Then, it was time for me to go. I spent 5 hours there and the time went by so fast. Jill said her days just rush by. She also has two other boys, Jason 4 and Kyle 2. They were in school but I can only imagine what it must be like for her when everyone is home. Jill has an amazing support/help system and I am so thankful to be a part of it. She asked me if I was going to come back. Definitely! They are just so sweet and as they get bigger and start doing more, I am sure things will get even busier! Thanks Jill for allowing me to be a part of your miracle!

Alex's First Swim Meet

Alex on the diving block taking his mark
Backstroke
Freestyle

Alex has joined a competitive swim team at the YMCA. His friend Ronnie from school also joined. Alex really enjoys it despite the HARD work out Coach Larry puts him through on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On Sunday, Alex had his first swim meet. He did so well. I am so proud of him. He participated in a 100m, 50m freestyle, 50m backstroke, 50m butterfly and 50m breaststroke. His strong points are freestyle and butterfly. They got to use the diving blocks and it was Alex's first time. He loved it!! Jimmy helped the Coach so Olivia and I sat in the stands to cheer Alex and his team on. 2 hours later, we are sweating from the sweltering heat of the pool and it's finally over! This meet did not focus on places (i.e., first, second, etc.) so I was glad about that, especially for his first meet. Alex can focus on his times and work up from there. He did great and really wants to continue on. I definitely support him. Alex indicated that me swimming with him would really help motivate him...ugh...I don't want to get into a swimsuit but I will do whatever my boy needs me to do to help him out. Alex, we are so proud of you!! Way to go!!

Visitors from Little Rock

Olivia and Katie - the Princesses
Playing outside
Katie and Sarah

This weekend, Jim (father-in-law), Michelle (sis-in-law), Katie and Sarah (nieces) visited. We were so excited for them to come up from Little Rock because we haven't seen each other since April and May. Olivia was so excited all week and waited patiently for Katie to arrive Friday night. Alex was bummed because Nicky couldn't come due to a father-son camping trip that was already planned. I tried cleaning my house but didn't have a lot of energy to do everything I really wanted...but they still love me anyway right? We went to the Shaw Art Fair on Saturday and just all around relaxed. I made my mostaccioli for dinner and made Jim his favorite chess pie for dessert. We had some friends over to visit and the evening was very enjoyable. The girls played so well together and had a great time playing dress up. While the adults were visiting, Alex got to try his hand at babysitting Sarah. He did a pretty good job and made $6. On Sunday, they headed back but not before some playtime outside...it was a beautiful day. Olivia was sad to see Katie go and can't wait go visit her in Little Rock. Wish they weren't so far away!

Left Eye

I feel like such a bad mother!! The diagnosis for Alex's current eye problem is still steming from the left eye turning in. I had no idea!!! Let me explain. When Alex was about 5, I noticed that occassionally, his left eye would turn in...almost like a lazy eye. We saught the help of a pediatric eye specialist. They "fixed" him up with a special pair of glasses. The glasses would help strengthen the weak left eye. After wearing them for awhile, we were informed that all looked good and no real need to keep wearing the glasses. I thought all was well...we dodged the eye surgery. Fast forward to present day...if you look at Alex, you can't really see it...but the doctor showed me...his left eye is still turning in a little. Thus, the "blurry" vision Alex has been experiencing. I told Alex before his appointment today to be very honest with the doctor. Well, the doctor asked him if he was seeing double. Alex said "yes". The doctor asked how often...a little or a lot? Alex's response...A LOT!! What?!? This is news to me. Alex has not complained of this problem to me. A few weeks ago was the first mention of things being a little blurry at school. As the doctor and I talked, things were clicking into place...Alex has had a difficult time reading. We asked him numerous times if he could see the words because he would shift the book back and forth while reading. I asked the doctor if the left eye turning in could affect his reading. "ABSOLUTELY!" he said. So yeah, I totally feel like a bad Mom!! The doctor recommended we try vision therapy before going back to the specialist he saw 4 years ago. So I am going to contact this new doctor and hopefully get things started soon. I feel that if we can get a jump on this, maybe it will help him with the reading. Then, we can tackle whether or not Alex really has dyslexia. I have been on the fence about this for so long because it just didn't feel right to me...maybe the eyes have been the problem the whole time. I am so glad we found out about this now. I am going to go research vision therapy to see if there is anything we can do at home to help in addition to seeing the therapist. Wish us luck, if vision therapy doesn't help, the other option is surgery.

Picture Day!

Today is Picture Day for Alex. Say CHEESE!! So last night, we were practicing his smile and went to Target for a new shirt. I remember as a kid, we always got new outfits for picture day. I think it's funny that I am doing the same thing for my kids!!

After school today, Alex has an eye doctor appointment. He has been saying that things are blurry at school. I haven't heard him complain at home but I thought I would get it checked out especially since he had a lazy eye problem at 5 years old.

Alex is such a great kid. The other day, I was looking at him and it just amazed me how quickly he has grown up. He is getting so tall and so mature-looking. It just blows my mind to think that soon his voice will be changing and all the other fun stuff that goes along with puberty. He has been working so hard lately with his swimming. We went and bought the special spandex swimming suit and he requested a swimming cap. He was so excited! I remember taking swim class in high school. I HATED wearing a swimcap but it's something new and exciting for him. His first swim meet is this Sunday. I can't wait. He's got a great freestyle stroke!!!