Pumpkin Time

Niles thought it would be cool to make a different pumpkin this year. Walmart had kits for 4$ that came with several designs, the tools needed to complete the design, and other random things that didn't seem purposeful. I told him that I wasn't that horrible of an artist and to take a picture of it and I'd see what I could draw up!

So with my limited artistic abilities and his limited carving abilities....this is what we came up with! I think our pumpkin totally ROCKS!!!! AND we saved 4$!

Pumpkin Patch Fun

We decided to get out of the house this afternoon and not waste a beautiful day! The pumpkin patch opened up last week and we beat the rush! It was so much fun. They had a huge pit of dried corn to play in (like a sand box, but only with corn), a kiddie hay maze, friendly petting zoo, hay climbing zones, hundreds of pumpkins to pick from, and a nice scenic hay ride! The kids had so much fun they were sleeping by 6:45pm (WOW!). I took a ton of great pictures but these were the best!

Ice Cream, Cookies, and Cake = MESS!!!

Dorian's First Manicure

I went out with a friend to get a pedicure the other day. We had an "okay" time, the place we went to wasn't the greatest, but it was girl time with out kids for a few hours so we we had fun!!! No more than 30 seconds of me walking through the doors when I got home Dorian noticed my toe nails were painted. She couldn't get over that there were colors on my nails. She couldn't stop touching them and talking about the color...it was amazing how in 'awe' she was!

So with this Niles suggested to her that maybe she might want color on her nails!?!?!?! I wasn't so sure of this idea but let him "try" to put nail polish on her nails. Come to find out we have not a single bottle of nail polish in the house. Well, now Dorian is very adamant that she get some color on her nails and, well, she was NOT about to wait for it! ha ha So we piled in the car and headed to walmart to get some nail polish. Dorian picked her own colors out and she was very happy about this. I'll give you one guess which color she picked.....PINK!

As soon as we got home Niles told her to sit up at the table and he would paint her fingers. Now this could go one of two ways. Either Dorian is going to not be able to stop touching the wet paint that it would be impossible for the paint to dry and she wouldn't be able to get her nails done. It is in Dorian's nature to NOT be able to sit still for longer than a fragment of a second, so this is how I had foreseen this event going. OR Dorian would sit there in a amazement of her getting beautified and her nails would get painted.

I was totally wrong. She sat there for a solid five minutes, long enough for Daddy to paint her nails (one coat). She STILL has the paint on her nails and shows them to EVERYONE!!! She says "pretty hands", and holds them out to show her color off. If you ask her what color it is she has on her nails she will tell you very loudly...PINK!!! ha ha ha

Dorian is very proud of her pink finger nails!!!! and I am Amazed that Daddy pulled it off!! I underestimated the situation!!! Dorian is becoming a pretty pretty princess!!! ha ha ha

Addeline's First Birthday

Our Sweet Addeline turned one today!!!! She is such a big girl now! We had an awesome day. We spent all day outside playing and cooking out and having so much fun. Dorian was in her glory! She was able to color and run around and be outside with no boundaries! Addeline followed Dorian around like always and had a blast following in her footsteps!

Our AMAZING babysitter and friend also had a birthday today so her and her aunt (our neighbor) came to celebrate with us! Cyndi and Addeline both opened gifts and blew out their candles together!

Why is it so sad that your babies turn one?!?!?!! But I am sad!!! I am so sad she is not tiny any more and getting so big! It is such a joy to watch your kids grow up and see them change with each day. I wish for Addeline the world. I see each day how happy she is and the love she has for her family, it makes me so proud.

To Addeline...We LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!! I can't wait to see how what you learn and how you grow over the next years of your life!!! XOXOXOXO

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Saving Space!

There were two birthday parties going on this Saturday morning, there were only two swings, and they were a hott commodity! So we saved space and only used one swing! :)

Our First Family Camping Trip

We took our FIRST family camping trip the other day and honestly had the best time EVER!!! When we are at the apartment in Little Rock Dorian can't run outside, she can't be with out mommy or daddy, and she just can't be 'free'. I am always afraid of cars coming, or that someone could take her, or something else that is bad!

We had been talking about doing a trip like this but Niles' schedule has been to strange and he gets random days off un-announced that it made it a little tough to plan. Niles just found out that he has 9 out of the next 10 days off! So we QUICKLY made fast plans, hopped in the car, and headed to the closest state park we could find! ha ha

Lake Catherine is located in Malvern, Arkansas. (It is right next to Hot Springs) We figured that with it being a Sunday that we had a good chance to rent their Yurt. We have never heard of a Yurt until we moved here, but honestly they are awesome. It is like a mini-circus tent! It was big enough to hold three bunkbeds, a small table, three nightstands, two coolers, two pack and plays, and all of our extra stuff. A huge plus is that they are build on wooden decks. Dorian must have ran around that 'yurt' a hundred times within the first 10 minutes of getting there! It was awesome, she could be outside with NO worries of any of the things mentioned above! She was in her glory for the past two days!!!

We went on long walks to get the girls to take a nap, lost shoes and had to retrack our steps, went hiking on nature trails, swimming on the beach, and playing at the parks! It was so nice to not have a computer to stare at all night or cell phones ringing and just be outside!!! The lake was beautiful and the people we met were super nice!

This is definitly something we will do more often, and maybe even just buy a tent of our own one day!!! I LOVED IT!!!! And I really believe Dorian loved it more than Niles, Addeline, and Myself combined!!! She is definitly an outdoor girl. I truly believe she could be outside forever if you let her. She had the biggest smile on her face for the past two days and that alone makes all the work that goes into trips like this totally worth it!!!!

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