Boo!

So, some would say I'm killing all the fun for my kids, but we don't really do the whole trick-or-treating thing in our house. We did for the first year or two, but then I looked around and noticed how everyone is VERY into the scary part of this holiday. And scary when you have children under the age of 14 is just not a cool thing. When Jacob and I go into Wal-Mart or Target (that's almost a daily occurrence in this house!), he points out all the skeletons or monster-type things and says, "Look, they have scary guys." Basically, if it's scary, gross, yucky or something I would have a heart attack if I rolled over in bed and saw it laying next to me, I have trained Jacob that it is scary and that we don't like it.

So, what does the March Family do for Halloween? We get dressed up (only non-scary costumes, of course) and go to a Harvest Festival. It's even better than just plain, old trick-or-treating if you ask me. There is food (yummm... Brunswick stew...), games, moon bounces, pony rides, train rides, hay rides and a petting zoo! And after each activity, the kids get candy. Jacob is still young enough that he doesn't know the difference, so this may get harder as he gets older, but it's become a tradition and we're sticking to it. Quite honestly, I was getting tired of opening my door to see teenagers (and usually rude ones at that) in regular clothing asking me for candy. And after they would leave, I was usually left praying that I was nice enough and gave them enough candy that they wouldn't come back later and smash my pumpkins!

Happy Halloween - no matter how you choose to celebrate it!



That's the cowboy, Jacob, tipping his hat and saying, "Yeehaw!"


Jacob walking in the parade at pre-school.


A better view of the cowboy "riding" his horse.


There goes the neighborhood!!! The boys with their two friends who live down the street.


Daniel, the dragon, and Jacob, the quarterback (Broncos, of course!!!)




Still working on that whole standing & walking thing!

Down on the farm

I can't decide if I am grateful for the summer we are still having or if I wish that Fall would hurry up and get here. There just seems to be something wrong with going to the Pumpkin Patch when it is 82 degrees outside. Don't get me wrong, the weather is beautiful, but I am having a hard time preparing for the upcoming holidays when I'm still dressing my kids in shorts!

Jacob had been asking about going to the Pumpkin Patch for at least two weeks and this past Saturday, we finally went. It didn't take us long to pick out the "perfect" pumpkins for us. Before we did the hayride to pick out our pumpkins, we got to see a pig race, shoot corn cannons and visit animals in the barn. Needless to say, Jacob had a blast doing all of it!



This was the name of the aisle where we parked. Jacob actually remembered it when it came time to go back to the car!


That, my friends, is a squeal of delight!






Daniel helps Daddy pick out a pumpkin for him.


Jacob shows off the pumpkin he picked.

The party is over

My 28th birthday has come and gone and I don't feel any different. Don't get me wrong - this is a good thing!!! My birthday was totally awesome - complete with many birthday wishes, kisses and wonderful presents. Dylan followed his list to a "T" (yes, that's right - I said list. How else do you expect him to get me exactly what I wanted?!?!?) Daniel even attempted to help me blow out my candle on my cake - super cute! But, Jacob actually succeeded in helping and I think he was even more excited than I was that we got to have cake. You would have thought it was HIS birthday...

So, this past Saturday, we headed up to Carter Mountain Orchard for some apple picking with my parents. It was crazy busy, but hey - we were all spread out on a mountain. Once we headed up the mountain (no, really - this time we had to literally hike UP the mountain to get to the section where we were allowed to pick), you really couldn't tell that there were hundreds of other people there. Jacob was too cute. When we got to the top of the mountain where the apples were in abundance, he started pointing and screaming, "I see the apples! I see the apples!" Daniel was a little confused about what was going on until we gave him an apple to hold onto. He must have worked on it for at least 30-40 minutes and in the end he had finally bit off a tee-tiny piece.

Anyways, here are some pictures of what a family having fun looks like:


So happy to be here - he's been looking forward to this day for a while now.



Hmmm... and what should I do with this?




Yeah... that feels about right!




The guys - doing their part to pick the apples.




Enjoying the "fruits" of their labor. Hahahaha!




I love this life!!!

Ready or not, here it comes!

Ok, my friends. Now is the time to panic. I will officially be 28 in less than 2 hours. Wow... getting closer to the big 3-0 every minute. I'm actually looking forward to my 30th birthday just because it is a big deal and I am hoping someone (hint, hint...) will throw me a big ol' party. The only part I am not looking forward to is actually being 30. There's nothing wrong with it other than the fact that I will no longer be able to say that I am in my 20s. You see, I am used to always being the youngest person in the room. Everywhere. It doesn't matter where I go, I am usually the youngest. Especially at my Moms groups. More and more women wait until their 30s to start having kids, so for me to have 2 kids at 27 is a rarity. But, I am already starting to realize that as you get older, you not only, well... get older, but you also get replaced. Yikes!!! Why didn't anyone warn me of this???

Oh, well - on the upside of all of this, at least I will probably be the youngest Mom at Jacob's high school graduation. Plus, if everything goes as planned, Daniel will be off to college and the house will be empty (sniff.. sniff.. waaaaaahhhhhh) when I am at the ripe, young age of 44. Pretty rockin' if you ask me. Dylan and I will still be in our prime and maybe we will finally get to take that dream vacation to Hawaii by then. (Yes, my dream, not his.) Actually, if I am doing my math correctly, 17 years from now (when Daniel is in college), we will be getting ready to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. Wow. Sounds like a perfect reason to take the most kick-butt vacation ever!

And the countdown continues...

Don't panic. Whatever you do, don't panic. You still have 24 hours to find the perfect gift. Well, ok. I'll give you 48 hours. That will still get the gift here before midnight, so technically you will still be on time. Oh, and in case you are wondering: No - cash is not a tacky gift and is gladly accepted. Just kidding (well, ok, not about the cash part). Just wish me a happy birthday and I will be, well... Happy!!! It just makes me happy when people remember it's my birthday.

Oh, and just so you know, I have successfully trained Jacob for his future girlfriends/wives. They can thank me later. (Mostly because since Jacob is only 4, I'm assuming that the majority of these girls probably don't even know how to talk yet.) Anyways, back to the reason they will be thanking me... Jacob called Dylan after preschool today and after he was done talking to him, he gave the phone to me. Dylan and I were talking and I heard, "Wait, Mommy! I forgot to tell Daddy..." So, I handed Jacob the phone and he says, "Daddy, you need to buy Mommy a cake, a card and a present for her birthday. We need to do that." Keep up the good work, son.

For you early bird shoppers...

Please have this shipped to my house no later than Saturday, November 27th. Thank you in advance for my lovely Christmas gift. Oh, and I'm sure my neighbors thank you, too!!!!

Play that funky music...

If you don't like to listen to the music on my page, well, that's just too bad. I can't help it if you have bad taste in music.

Totally kidding!!! Hit the pause button, silly - the music will stop. =)

Just another Saturday around the house

Dylan is off golfing with his former boss right now. Yes, I know he has a rough life. Just kidding - he did let me sleep in this morning so that was awesome! Right now, the boys are taking naps (well, Daniel is asleep and Jacob is still trying to see what kind of stalling tactics he can use to avoid sleeping) and I am just waiting for Dylan to come home. I need him to help me out with a few things around the house that only big men with big muscles can do. I think the rest of the day will probably be spent cleaning. Not fun. Very necessary, but not fun.

I keep doing a mental countdown in my head of how much time I have left before it will be time to decorate for Christmas (yes, I said Christmas, not the holidays - don't even think of saying Happy Holidays to me. I'll have to save that conversation for a different post.) Anyways, after this weekend there are only 6 weekends left before it will be time to make my house look like a candy cane factory. Some would even say it looks like a candy cane factory exploded all over my house... I do a HUGE candy cane theme - gets bigger every year - and Dylan doesn't like it. I love it! In fact, I think I may even love it even more because Dylan doesn't like it. hahaha. (Click here for my reason on doing a candy cane theme.)

Next weekend we will be going to the Apple Festival at Carter Mountain, so at least we will have that to look forward to. Mmmmm... drool... Mmmmm... oh, sorry. I was thinking about the yummy apple pie I will be baking from all the apples we will be picking! =)

It's crunch time, people!!!

Ok, you guys have officially less than one week to pick out the perfect birthday present for your favorite person. No, not that person - I'm talking about ME! For those that are close to me, you know that I LOVE my birthday! I love telling people it's my birthday, I love getting cards in the mailbox the days leading up to it, I love everything to do with my birthday! I think the main reason is because it's MY special day and I don't have to share it with anyone. (Well, that is until I found out that it is the same day as Bill & Hillary's wedding anniversary - and yes, I did just throw up a little bit just thinking about that!)

So, other than looking forward to my birthday, not much has been going on around here. Oh, I guess I did forget to tell you that two days after the layoff, someone stole my iPod out of my car. I always lock my car (well, now I can only say that I lock my car 99% of the time), but I was deathly ill and I was unloading my car after a trip to Wal-Mart. Anyways, I had my hands full and I just wasn't in my right state of mind. I must have forgotten to lock the car and someone took advantage of that. It makes me so MAD to think about it even now, two weeks later. Oh, and on top of it, we discovered a HUGE cigarette burn inside up on the roof liner. The thugs must have done it while they were looking for more loot in the back of my van. Hahahaha - joke was on them because all there was back there was a stroller and some Christmas decorations. (Yes, we like to prepare for the holidays early around here. And when I say we, I mean me.) Anyways, we filed a police report and are now going to begin the lovely process of dealing with our insurance company. The sad thing is that I was going to let it go when it was just my iPod. But, I refuse to drive around with a daily reminder that some low-life was in my car and couldn't keep his grubby little hands to himself.

So... other than some suburban crime, things around here have been going pretty well. I participated in a VERY successful consignment sale where I was able to unload the rest of my baby gear and the majority of our 0-12 months clothes. I am actually able to see some of the floor in our attic now after all of the clearing out. Wooohooo!!!

I have really been enjoying my free time in the evenings. I still catch myself looking at the clock at night and thinking, "I need to hurry up and finish (insert whatever activity I am doing) so I can get started on my work." This is usually followed by a hysterical laugh. Especially when I think about how the poor schmucks that work in the office at my old job are now having to do all of the work I used to do. Yeah, you know - the work that they used to complain about if they had to help out even a little bit. No, I don't feel sorry for them and no, I don't miss working. Money, now that I miss, but at least I have my life back and I sincerely believe they couldn't pay me to go back to working the way I was. It's so nice to be in bed before midnight. =)