Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! Last night we carved our pumpkins. We let Liam stay up a little later than usual because Brendan had to work late and we absolutely had to carve the pumpkins or they wouldn't get done in time for Halloween night. The smiley face pumpkin is Emma's and the mummy is Liam's. He insisted on doing the mummy. It was tricky! Brendan and I took turns carving out all the little pieces, but it took so long, Liam had to go to bed before we finished. That's why he is posing with Emma's pumpkin in the pictures. Emma was asleep during the entire pumpkin carving event, but when she got up this morning, she noticed them right away. She is very fascinated by them and she keeps wanting to touch them and pat them. She is going to have such fun walking around the neighborhood tomorrow night...now that she can actually walk!

WOW!

Liam's school is participating in an arts competition through the PTA called "Reflections" The theme is "Wow!" and the students can submit works in several different categories - visual arts, photography, choreography, musical composition, and film production. Liam chose to do photography. I let him use my "good" camera and we walked around the neighborhood one afternoon while he took pictures of whatever made him think "wow." This is the picture he is going to submit. The title of his work is "Cool Weed." Here it is:

Best of Baby Shower!

I did already post these pictures on facebook, but for certain friends (who will remain nameless and who refuse to have a facebook account) these are for you. The "best of" Michelle's baby shower this past weekend:

Does Michelle look like she's ready to have this baby already?! She's had a rough week, already having had a short stay in the hospital for pregnancy-induced hypertension. She joked that she would have to lie on her left side on the couch for the entire shower to keep her blood pressure in check. But she made it to the shower and was a real trooper!

Measuring Michelle's belly. I did not win this game.

Sara did not, either, but she's looking pretty confident here, wouldn't you say? ;)

A hooter hider! How exciting! These things are among the best inventions EVER, ladies....

Two of my oldest and dearest El Paso friends. I've known Michelle and Cindy for over 5 years now. Friends have come and friends have gone but somehow we were the lucky few who got stuck in El Paso! Woo Hoo! (Although Cindy did start out here, so she's not really as stuck as Michelle and I are, lol.)

A surprise package from Tennessee! Michelle was saying something along the lines of "how stinkin' cute are these clothes?!" And we were all wondering how Troy found time to send them. It's not like she's getting ready to have baby #4 with hubby deployed while nursing her other 3 kiddos through mono and other fun illnesses. I think she might be superwoman.

Michelle & me

A positively glowing mommy-to-be

And last, but not least, the gorgeous cake. Made my Michelle's friend, Melanie. Michelle makes cakes like this, too. Beautiful!

Welcome Home, Jason!

My friend, Jen's, husband has been serving as a surgeon in Baghdad for the past four months. He arrived home tonight and I went to the airport to welcome him and take some pictures of their reunion. Welcome home, Jason, and thank you for serving our country and caring for our soldiers!

One more....

Here's one more picture from yesterday that I just found this evening. Emma loves coloring. Every time Liam gets out his crayons, Emma has to do just what he is doing. You can see how happy she was to be drawing on Liam's magna doodle!

Balancing Act

Here's Emma showing off her new walking skills! (I wish I hadn't busted my other digital camera with the video feature. This will have to do for now.) She is really moving now!

Emmy

Here are a few pictures of my little Emmy from today. Her very big news is that she can finally walk all the way across the room! She was taking 3 or 4 steps for SO long, but she finally figured it all out. It's so cute, she has to hold both hands over her head for balance!

Checking out the dirty laundry....



Emma loves to read!

Sporting her cute new candy corn shirt from her friend, Alana. Thanks Alana!

And in case you were wondering, she hasn't forgotten about her beloved beads. She wore all of them to Lowe's and to Liam's school this afternoon.

The love between a brother and sister

I just witnessed something that brought tears to my mommy-eyes. Something so sweet I had to write it down before I forgot exactly how it happened....

When Liam got home from school today, he immediately noticed his lego houses had had some remodeling done to them while was away. In other words, Emma had demolished them. He had put a lot of work into these houses and after a long day at school, his tears freely flowed. Emma crawled up to see what the matter was and Liam pushed her. There now, isn't that a sweet moment?! Just kidding...there's more to the story, so bear with me. I sent Liam to his room, angry that he had been rough with his sister. After a little while, Emma and I went in get him. He was still a little weepy. I set her down on his bed and she crawled up to him and sat down, almost on top of him. She started stroking his chest with her hand. She then leaned all the way in so that her forehead was touching his. She lightly touched his cheeks and his chin and then wrapped her arms around him and gave him a big hug! Liam stopped his tears and looked at her. I could tell his heart was softening. Again, she stroked his chest and his face and then leaned in to give him another big bear hug. Liam sat up and hugged her back. The two of them sat on the bed, embracing for several seconds. I could have cried...in fact, I almost did. It was the sweetest thing I had ever seen. Without uttering a single word, my children had forgiven each other. Liam then told Emma he was sorry for pushing her and we came up with a plan to hide the lego houses from her in the future so this doesn't happen again. I'm still contemplating if he needs a further consequence for his actions toward his sister. But that loving exhange was a moment that I could never have imagined, and also one that I will never forget.

Friday evening at the Corn Maze!

Tonight we went to the La Union Corn Maze in Anthony, NM. It is just a quick 15 minute drive from our house, but it feels like you are out in the country. Liam I and have been there before, but this was Brendan and Emma's first trip. We went with Liam's new friend from school, Reagan, and her family. We got a little lost in the maze, but that is part of the fun of it. The sun was going down as we were trying to find our way to the exit, and by the time we got out, it was completely dark. I have been here before during the day, and let me tell you, even in October, it is HOT in that corn field. It felt so nice to be out in the cool evening air. Liam and Reagan were singing kindergarten songs together as they trampled over fallen corn stalks. It was pretty cute. Liam is very clear about what his intentions are with Reagan...they are JUST FRIENDS. So don't go getting any ideas, lol....






At one point, there was a bridge that you could climb and see the entire maze from above. It was an amazing view and the sun was just about to set when we got there!


We finally made our way out of the maze and Liam and Emma headed right for the giant sandbox. Emma was having such a good time being one of the "big kids." It was a fun night.

Field Trip to the Fire House

Today, Liam went on his very first class trip to the firehouse! Both dual language classes went, so it was a total of about 40 kids. And since the firehouse was relatively close by, we walked. That's 40 kindergarten kids, 2 teachers, several mommies, and one grandpa that made the almost 2 mile (round trip) trek by foot. All things considered, it was a smooth operation. The kids "buddied up" and had to hold hands the whole way there and back. Mrs. Wicker assigned them their buddies and I was amazed that not one of the kids complained of cooties (most of the pairs were boy/girl). Here is Liam with his buddy.

At last, we arrived at Fire Station 27.

The kids watched a video about calling 911, got a tour of the firehouse, and learned about all the cool fire gear that firemen get to wear.

The each child got to try out the fire hose! Mrs. Wicker got things started!

The kids LOVED this:

They also dispatch ambulances from the firehouse. Liam got chosen to hook up to one of the heartbeat monitors. It was really neat. Only two of the kids got to do this. They even gave him a printout of his heartbeat!

Another thing I just have to brag about...Today, Liam brought home a list of words that he will be expected to be able to read by the end of the year. He is supposed to practice them every night. One part of the list consists of sight words (basic memorization) and the other half consists of more traditional "phonics" words. I have to be honest...when Liam started kindergarten he knew his letters, but he wasn't confident about them 100% of the time. He would occasionally get mixed up. I was worried that maybe he would be behind in his reading skills. Well, tonight, a mere 7 weeks after school started, he rattled off almost the entire page of phonics words, including the "challenge words" at the bottom of the page! I was flabbergasted! I had not heard him sound out words before and he does it so well and so easily. I am very proud of him. It's so awesome to see the excitement on his face when he knows he is getting it. I was thinking to myself, thank God for Mrs. Wicker and thank God I decided against homeschooling, haha! I wish I had been able to accomplish this much with him in 7 weeks!

Say a prayer and hug your kids

A friend of mine just told me that a kindergartner in her son's school is clinging to life right now. He had an accident on Friday where he hit his head. He seemed to recover from it and was feeling better. Later that night, however, he had a stroke and is now in a coma in critical condition. Last I heard, the prognosis was not good. Please say a prayer for Jude, his parents, and all the children at St. Mark's school. (This is not our good friend, Jude, who is featured in my blog from time to time - I don't want to cause any confusion.) Jude's classmates are aware of the dire situation and are struggling emotionally. I am sorry to bring such sad news to my blog readers, but I know that some of you prayer warriors out there will lift Jude up in prayer. Thank you.

The big 2-9

I had such a nice birthday today. It truly was the most relaxing birthday I can remember. I could definitely make a tradition out of that morning massage. I was so chilled out afterwards that I barely noticed all the havoc going on in the bathroom! I was overwhelmed by the number of friends and family who sent me their well-wishes. Thank you to everybody for making my day so special!
Liam chose one of my favorite restaurants for dinner, The Cattle Barron. Good thinking Liam! It was so delicious! They have the best salad bar ever and awesome steaks. Liam got a hamburger and Emma ate a variety of things from the salad bar. The watermelon was her favorite.


My two babies. Doesn't Emma look like such a big girl?


Brendan got me my favorite cake - Carvel. YUM!


I think this will be the last year I have my age on my birthday cake...ahem.... Or maybe I'll just keep using the same candles.

Sleepy baby

Bathroom demolition is officially underway! And so far, so good. I am optimistic about the outcome. Brendan is off of work for Columbus Day, so I let him hold down the fort this morning while I went out for a little birthday treat - a full body massage! I thought Emma would be ok to wait for me to get home to take her nap...I was wrong! She has never done this before. Brendan said she was in the middle of eating a meatball and she just fell asleep. I walked in the door as he was taking her picture. What a sweetheart.

BEFORE...

Tomorrow we are starting the big remodeling project in the main bathroom of our house. I am dreading the process, but I can't wait for the finished product! Here are some "before" pictures. Yuck, yuck, yuck.






Notice the second layer of wallpaper underneath the first?


Couldn't resist....






What a second! What have we here? The one and only thing I want to keep from the bathroom. Liam at 9 months. Awwwww.