Halloween Fun!

This week has been full of fun Halloween activities! Now that the marketing world has gone "Halloween crazy" there are so many more decorations, toys and crafts available for this holiday. Who would have ever thought there would be a Halloween Gingerbread House kit? Well, there is, and once Payton saw it, he begged me to get it so we could decorate it together. First we put all the toppings into separate bowls (I'm pretty sure he sampled each one as we were doing this step)...

Then we decorated the house with icing and all the fun toppings. I think it turned out really cute, don't you? We have it sitting on our kitchen bar area and now every time Payton passes by he sneaks a few sprinkles off the bottom!

Next, we made our annual pilgrimage to the local pumpkin patch. We were a little late getting there this year, so there weren't a ton of pumpkins left, but he searched and searched until he found just the "perfect one." He was so proud when he found this one... 

Finally, since the public school system can't officially have a "Halloween" parade, they have a "Book Character Parade" where the kids get to dress up like a character from any book. Then they invite all the parents to come to school and watch the kids parade around in their costumes. Well, of course Payton had to wear his Mario costume, so we used his "Nintendo Choose Your Own Adventure" book that his Aunt Kara gave him as his corresponding book. Turns out, most kids wore their Halloween costumes and just found books that contained the same character. It was a really cute parade and Payton had a ball showing off his Mario costume. Here is a little photo collage of some of his classmates in costume, his adorable teacher dressed as "Little Red Riding Hood" and of course the "Westchase Wizard" school mascot. More Halloween blogging to come!

Pumpkin Bread - Make this soon!

Something about this time of year makes me want to cook with pumpkin. Even though the weather has not cooled off much, the smell of cinnamon, nutmeg and pumpkin coming from the kitchen makes it feel a bit more like fall.

I found this recipe for chocolate chip pumpkin bread on one of my favorite cooking blogs. It sounded so yummy I had to try it out - and it did not disappoint! You've got to try it soon!

The recipe makes 3 loaves, so at first I thought, "Oh, I'll just cut the recipe in thirds and only make 1 loaf." But anyone who knows me, knows that math is not my strong suit, so I figured I'd be safer just making the 3 loaves and giving 2 away. I already know the lucky recipients of the extra 2 loaves - a sweet neighbor who was recently widowed, and my good bud April who just had her baby this morning (welcome to the world little Walker!!!). 

So go get some canned pumpkin and try it out. It's super easy and soooooo tasty!  

Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween

Goodie Bag contents

Getting ready to head into the park

The day finally arrived for us to go on vacation! We've been looking forward to this for a long time (I purchased the tickets months ago) and took full advantage of the opportunity to go "Halloween Crazy" for this trip! First, I got a bunch of little snacks and treats to create a "Halloween goodie bag" for Payton to open when we got to the hotel. Plus I decorated the car with Halloween stickers and found this great Halloween "Doodle" book where you fill in the pages using your own imagination - such a great idea (see slide show at the bottom for photo)!!
Two years ago we went to the Magic Kingdom for "Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween" and have been looking forward to going back ever since. In true Disney style, the entire park is transformed into a spectacular Halloween scene. They have a special Halloween parade, trick-or-treating stations throughout the park, and even a special Halloween-themed fireworks show. It was everything we were looking forward to and more!

Mid-air jump between bed

This year, we decided rather than driving back in the middle of the night, we would get a hotel room on Disney property. Payton thought this was the coolest thing in the world! He loved jumping from bed to bed and seeing "all things Disney" inside our room (even the soap had an imprint of Mickey on it). 

This is my favorite picture! (Taken on Thunder Mountain)

Once we arrived at the park, Payton was in heaven. So much to see, so many rides to ride, so much candy to eat! He loved every minute of it and rode every roller coaster in the park (even Space Mountain!).  Of course, by midnight, the magical spell had worn off and our little Mario had fallen fast asleep on the way to the monorail.

The next day, we met my parents out at Downtown Disney and enjoyed shopping at the Lego store, the World of Disney and of course the Ghiradelli shop (yum!!!). We had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe, which was really fun, although Payton thought the simulated thunderstorms were a little too loud.


All in all, it was such a special family vacation. One that will live on in our memories forever. And speaking of memories, I took a ton of pictures. I've broken them out below into 3 slideshows: 1) Hotel Room, 2) Magic Kingdom and 3) Downtown Disney.


Enjoy and Happy (early) Halloween!

Signs of Fall

I have been noticing signs of fall around here. Want to see them?  There are candy corn pumpkins,and regular pumpkins all over the kitchen...









The hammock has made it's annual fall pilgrimage from the garage into the back yard. And I even caught my hubby working on the back porch today!

And the front door wreath has changed into its fall attire. We're ready for fall! How about you?
 

Oh Baby!

I wondered if this day would ever come. For over 4 years I've dreamed, imagined and prayed like the dickens to experience another pregnancy. And finally, our prayers have been answered. We always knew we were working on God's timetable and not our own, but year after year it became harder and harder to understand why God wanted us to wait to have another child. And although the answer may never been 100% clear, I do know that in the past 4 years I have grown intimately closer to God and have strengthened my marriage and my faith like I never thought possible. So although thousands of tears have been shed throughout the process, in the end, I know it was necessary to go through the pain to get to this point.

Now, onto the fun stuff! Several people have asked me to post some "belly pics" on the blog, so I finally took some this morning. I will be 5 months pregnant in 2 days, which seems almost impossible. Last Friday we had our sonogram which confirmed my suspicions that we are having another boy! We couldn't be happier. Truly. All I prayed for was a healthy child, but in the end, I think having a little brother for Payton is the best scenario possible. He is so excited and every night he prays, "And thank you God for my little brother..." it's SO cute!

So even though most of you who read this blog have already seen this first ultrasound photo (his profile picture), I wanted to post a couple more that I thought were particularly cool. I wish I could post the video the sonographer took during the ultrasound so you could hear all of Payton's little comments while she was pointing out certain things. Especially his reaction when she pointed out his "boy parts"... oh my, did that get a laugh!

The picture below is of his arm and hand. It looks like he's actually giving a "Thumbs Up" sign which we thought was so funny. As you can see the sonographer had fun writing things on the screen like "Go Gators! Beat Tennessee!"

This next image is of his little tushy, leg, and foot, which is so clear, it's astonishing. I can't believe the things you can see on a sonogram these days. Modern technology never ceases to amaze me.

So there ya have it. Our little boy. Our miracle baby. Our gift from God. We can't wait to meet him in 4 more months! Thanks so much to all of you prayer warriors out there who never gave up on our dream and kept on praying right along with us. We love you all!

Grandparents... oh how we love them!

I often remind Payton of how very, very fortunate he is to have both sets of grandparents living so close to him. He's never known any different, so it could easily be something he takes for granted. But we constantly remind him that all of his cousins have to use an airplane to see their grandparents, so he should be so very grateful that it is only a short car ride for him.
We were reminded of this incredible blessing this past week when Payton's school had "Grandparents Read To Me Day" in honor of Grandparents Day. Brian's parents made the drive over (my parents were in the Bahamas on vacation) and had the opportunity to read to Payton in his classroom.
I was shocked at how many grandparents turned out for this event! The entire school cafeteria was filled with grandparents (and it was only grades K-2 who participated) for the breakfast they served that morning. Then we each went to our respectful classrooms where the kids were SO excited to see their grandparents.
Payton's two tablemates did not have their grandparents there that day, so Brian's parents (and Brian) were nice enough to read to the entire table. The kids had such a great time and Payton was so proud to have them there.
Thanks so much to both sets of Grandparents for your vital role in helping us raise our son (and future child). We couldn't do it without you! We love you all so much!

Tooth Fairy

So many changes and all at once... somebody help me! Not only did Payton start Kindergarten, but he also lost his first tooth... at school. Fortunately, his sweet teacher was nice enough to send it home in a ziploc bag so he didn't loose it (not sure how the Tooth Fairy knows to come to your house if you don't actually have the tooth).
So, we excitedly put the tooth under his pillow that night and anxiously awaited the Tooth Fairy's visit. Payton was thrilled the next morning to find 8 shiny quarters and 1 dollar bill with a sparkly-glittery note from the Tooth Fairy reminding him to keep on brushin' those teeth!