I Heart Faces.....Halloween

As the sun danced through the corn, The Candy Corn Princess danced in the sunlight turning every ear into candy corn....

......and for more of The Candy Corn Princess visit June Makes Six Gallery.....

A week in review......

I guess I will start my review with some pictures of June in her new outfit! Super cute, thanks again to Becky....pictures in the Halloween outfit to follow tomorrow:)

My weeks seen to go by faster and faster, as I approach 40 I wonder if the second half of my life will seem to pass by faster than the first half.......I think it will and sometimes that scares me. Today for some reason that was on my mind, not in a bad or anxious way, just on my mind. I guess since I have been journaling our lives on a weekly basis I am more aware of how time passes. I wish I could say I enjoy every minute of every week, but I can't. Life's responsibilities sometimes hinder the enjoyment....I think my New Year's resolution is going to be to try to enjoy each day where I am at, perhaps I will try and start sooner, like tomorrow! Wish me luck:)

As far as our week, it was a good one! Russ had a day off work and we were able to get some work done around the house, we even took June out to lunch. Russ's Mom came for the weekend, unfortunately it rained the whole time. We were hoping to make it to the local farm for hayrides and pumpkin picking, however, the weather did not cooperate. Instead the kids had lots of one on one time with Grammie. June especially enjoys her time with Grammie and even told her she would be missed when she left....sweet!

I guess in other news our 17 year old dog Bandit is not doing so well. Most days he sleeps and sleeps and sleeps. I do not know how much longer he will be with us. He has been a faithful companion and a great friend for the kids. He will be missed when his time comes. Bandit has been with Russ and I since graduate school in South Carolina. He has seen 3 homes, 4 states, 4 kids, and 5 cats, and for now he is still kicking.

Well, you are all caught up on our week, not too exciting (especially in the reading department, I have nothing on Shakespeare....nothing), but it is our life and all is good!

Have a great week!

A BIG shout out!

Remember in my last post I said what an artist Russ was, well I forgot to mention that his family also shares the artistic gene.....I am posting to give a BIG shout out to "Cousin Becky"....you are amazing and talented. THANK YOU!! Becky told me a couple of weeks ago that she was whipping up a costume for June.....no details, so we have been waiting patiently to see our surprise. Today was the day. June is going to be a "Candy Corn Fairy" for Halloween, complete with fluffy skirt, wings, hair clip, and white ballet shoes. There of course will be many more pictures to follow with Junie strutting her stuff!

....and if that was not enough, an extra outfit just for the fun of it! Too Cute!

....and still more, the boys were supplied with Starbucks gift cards and candy. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

PS. When I convince Becky to start an ETSY shop I will post the address:)

The finer things

Russ is a skilled artist and my Dad's side of the family has many skilled artists......the gene, however, skipped me. I am glad to say, though, that TJ has inherited some of the artistic genes that were floating around. Today he brought home his artwork from the first quarter.

ceramic mushroom sculpture/container

geometric design

still life

self portrait made out of torn pieces of paper

print make from a carved piece of rubber, inked and printed by hand

Great job TJ, keep it up! My favorite is the torn paper portrait, it is hard to tell all the detail from this picture, but it is amazing.

A week in review....

Let me start by saying that Junie can make my day! Today after a long day of filling prescriptions for the world's largest retailer I pulled in the driveway and in the front door was Junie waving so hard I thought her arm might fall off. When I came in she greeted me with a "mooch" and a hug. If that wasn't enough I put my pregnant body into my PJ's and put non-matching fuzzy socks on my feet and June said, "You look beautiful Mommy". Melt my heart....because really I had one of those outfits on that you hope no one comes to the door while you are wearing it! Thanks Junie, you made my day.

In other news this week I found the flu vaccine for June, everyone was out of it. We had to make a little trip to get it but it was worth it. June was a trooper, no tears at all! We have all been vaccinated....now I wait for H1N1 for me.

We had another big soccer weekend for TJ, two games and they did great, TJ's team won both games. Saturday TJ played goalie and held the other team at 1 goal to their 8. Sunday was a great game to 5-1. Russ trucked our whole crowd over a hour from our house today to get TJ to his game.....what a trooper. Today while Russ was driving a car passed him, the person in the car was waving and trying to get his attention, he was concerned that something was wrong. However, when he came to the next stop light said car pulled up to him and was waving a Dave Matthews Band CD at him.....I have a Dave sticker on my car (sad I know)! When I asked the boys how old the Dave fan was they said old.....in her 40's....UGH!!!

Finally it was Jake's Birthday weekend. Jake celebrated Friday night with 6 of his friends. Russ took all the boys bowling....back home for antics in the yard, cake, gifts, and of course more antics. The boys all had a nice time and I know Jake enjoyed having all of his friends together to help him celebrate.

the Birthday cookie for the boys...

the boys....

Every year on Jake's actual Birthday he requests the same cake....chocolate with chocolate frosting and of course candy corn. Surprisingly we call it "The Candy Corn Cake".

Jake finally received a sock monkey.....thank you Target for making this possible:)

We have a busy week ahead of us. I am hoping to finish cutting down the plants around the yard in preparation for winter. We also have a dumpster coming....yes a dumpster! We have collected a lot of non-donateable stuff over the years and we need to clean out before we start construction on the extra bed room in the basement before the baby. We have a lot to do before #5 arrives. Did you know I am already through my first tri-mester. How time flies!

Have a great week!

Happy Birthday Jake

Tweleve years ago today our sweet Jake was born. Jake has an excellent sense of humor, is easy to get along with(most of the time:), and has a caring heart. Happy Birthday Jake. We love you!

Down on the farm

As I posted earlier this week we were heading to the farm on Monday if the weather held out, well the weather cooperated so off we went. Our neighborhood has been going to Green Meadows on Columbus day for years, it is a great time to visit with friends and let the kids go free. This year was June's first trip......the highlight for June, the pony ride.

June's first pony ride

Who knew you could play with corn like sand.....only in corn country

Chicken taming

Watch out boys!

We fed the goats....

went for a hayride.....

posed for a group photo....

Look at that hay....the fog in the barn was unbelievable from all the dust, but the kids love the hay barn....

see the fog.....there was a lot of coughing at the end!

we held kittens....

picked pumpkins.....

held the babies......

.......and had an all around good time.

Finally it was time to head home, we loaded up the car and stopped by McDonald's for some warm french fries. After arriving home the boys helped me unload.....and the laundry began. I am still finding stray pieces of hay throughout the house!

I Heart Faces....excited

I originally took this picture while shooting for the "bubbles" contest, while there are no bubbles in the picture, June was really excited! To see more exciting pictures stop by I Heart Faces.

A week in review

Sunday night and another week gone! The fall is getting chilly here, yesterday morning it was 28 degrees when we woke up...UGH! I am a hot weather girl, how did I end up here in the Midwest? (I am not ready for winter. ) TJ had 3 soccer games this week and it was chilly on the field too. I was able to attend the game on Saturday and took some pics.

"a little action"

"get that ball"

"How did he grow up so fast?"

Soccer season has a few more weeks to go. Jake rounded out his cross country season on Tuesday and had a great season. Jake has played football and soccer, he enjoyed them, however he has really enjoyed cross country and did well at it too! Max has one more week of golf....if it does not snow:)

We had a busy but nice weekend. Friday night the boys spent time with friends and then we watched "Monsters vs Aliens", I use the term we lightly, I fell asleep. Saturday we cleaned the garden for winter removing any plants and vegetation that was still lingering. We emptied flower pots, cut down perennials, and planned for the final clean up in a few weeks. Saturday afternoon my parents came to visit, we celebrated Jake's Birthday, worked on a basement renovation plan, and Russ and I went out to dinner, alone.....it has been a long time since we ate alone. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Tomorrow is Columbus Day and the kids are home from school...weather permitting we are heading to a local farm to pet baby animals and pick pumpkins.....wish me luck!

Have a great week!

Fall photo shoot

June and I had a little photo shoot yesterday. I wanted to practice some of the great tips the kind people at I Heart Faces gave me last week. Since June is my only willing subject we headed outside for some photo fun. I love this picture of June...I hope this is not how she felt for the entire shoot. Stop by the Gallery to see the rest of the pictures...not shot on Auto....boy am I stepping out of the box:)