What we do all day....

As a stay-at-home mom with 3 kids (one of those I babysit full-time), we don't get out of the house too often.  The only time we leave is for preschool and play group.  So, what do we do all day?  Here are just a few things...

Build Lego towers!

Build a Lego telephone 

and call Daddy!

Cuddle...

and attemt to take group selfies! HA!

Play in our stocking cap...Ya know...just for fun!

Play in our costumes!

We do this...A LOT!

Play in the ball pit!

And of course...take naps!

Mommy could not survive without these!

I sure love these two kiddos, and while we definitely have exhausting, emotionally-draining days, I am so super blessed that I've been given the opportunity to stay home with them every day!

Preschool Fall Party!

Since this is Caeden's first year in preschool, he got to experience his first school party the other day.  On Halloween Day, they had a Fall Party - he and Ella were sooo excited!  They talked about it the entire week.  And they were most excited that I was going to be there!  I wasn't sure how he would do - sometimes he can be clingy in situations like this.  But he did great!  He stayed with his class when he was supposed to and obeyed everything they were told to do.

All four preschool classes were combined, and all the students were divided into groups of 4-5.  Then each small group rotated around the gym for an hour, playing different carnival-type games, and going to various stations.  Since I volunteered and was running my own station myself, I wasn't able to get pictures of Caeden at all the games - but got a few.  Here's what I got:

Using a water spray bottle to shoot the

ping pong ball off the "Minion!"

Getting a face painting...except he opted for the hand!

He chose a blue pumpkin... 

Dropping the clothespins into the jar.

He said this was his favorite station because

this was the station that MOMMY was at!

(And surprisingly, he didn't whine or cry or hesitate

when it was time to leave my station). 

Stopping for a snack of caramel apples

and orange Kool-Aid!

Going on a treasure hunt in the tub of corn kernels!

Mommy & Caeden!!

I was so blessed to be a part of this day!  Going to my kids' school parties is something I always looked forward to when becoming a mommy....and that day is here!  Bittersweet!

Trick-or-Treating 2013!!

This year (back in August) Caeden decided he wanted to be a magician for Halloween!  He stuck to his story for 2 whole months, so a magician he was!  So of course, it was only fitting for his little sister to be his rabbit!  Caeden even learned a few magic tricks from Daddy a few weeks before Halloween.  Here are some pictures of our Halloween night, trick-or-treating!

Caeden's friend Darby stopped by after school!

The magician and his rabbit!!

Family Pic!

 Our community group met up to go trick-or-treating together.  We ate chili, played some games, and headed out!

Caeden doing the beanbag toss!

And making a foam pumpkin!

Group shot!

And we're off!

Caeden never likes to stay out long for some reason - he's always been like this!  We started trick-or-treating around 6 and he was done by 6:30!  Ha!  So we got home around 7, started Callie's bath, and then he decided he wanted to out for some more!  So he & Daddy drove his Power Wheels around our own neighborhood to rake in some treats!!  We had a great evening, and I loved my kiddos costumes!!

FALL!!!

Our family loves the season of fall!  We have many traditions that our little family does each year to celebrate this season!  Here are some things we've done the past few weeks in October!

Of course we went to the pumpkin patch, and we also were a part of Witchy Weekend in Branson!

But we also painted pumpkins!  We do this every year with Caeden.  Last year Callie slept while we did this, but this year, she got to paint her first pumpkin!

 Caeden's finished pumpkins!

And Callie's first pumpkin!!

Another yummy fall tradition we have is to make (and eat) homemade caramel apples!!

And lastly, a few days before Halloween, we carved a pumpkin!  This was Caeden's second year to help Daddy do this!

Callie getting in on the action!

Caeden liked to cut up the little pieces by himself

Our finished Jack O' Lantern!

Yay for fun fall times!  We cherish these moments every year as a family!

Halloween in Branson!!

A few weeks ago, in mid-October, we went to take part in Witchy Weekend at the Compton Ridge Campground in Branson, MO.  This is a weekend where the campground hosts lots of Halloween activities throughout the weekend.  There was a pumpkin-carving contest, haunted house, a clown show, magic show, costume contest, and the best part...TRICK-OR-TREATING!

On Saturday, all the campers totally go all-out decorating the camper and campsite.  I'm talking lights, signs, inflatables, etc.  It's awesome!  And that evening, all the kids in the campground go from camper to camper to trick-or-treat!

While our weekend got off to a rocky start (too long of a story to post), we had fun on Saturday!  We actually started out the day going to Silver Dollar City, since we have season passes.  It was in the mid-40s that day, so it was very cold!!  I didn't get many pictures, but we got one on the way out!! (Caeden refused to be in the picture!)

After we got back to the camper and took some naps, we got all dressed up!  Caeden was a magician and Callie was his rabbit!

And this is my sweet niece, Elise (7 mos):

A few pics of the actual trick-or-treating:

This was a super fun experience, having never trick-or-treated at a campground before!  We will definitely be doing this next year and already have our campsites booked!  However, we did decide to nix SDC from the weekend.  It made the day long and a little stressful.  But overall, it was so fun, and Caeden has still been telling people about "going trick-or-treating at camping!"