I have come to really enjoy Halloween. I don't like the spooky or scary stuff AT ALL, but I do like costumes and cute themed foods. This year we had our second annual Halloween party. We had dinner in a pumpkin, ghost cookies, spider topped deviled eggs, and other fun foods. It was fun to spend time with friends and take the kids trick or treating. I think that this is the first time Kaelyn has understood what was going on, and she is still enjoying her candy.
I had some fun this October doing some Halloween craft projects. I made Kylie these super cute hair bows I also made a trick or treat bag for Kaelyn out of scrap fabric I got from my mom, which she used to make her kids trick or treat bags. In case you haven't noticed I really like this generation to generation thing. :) This year is also the first time I have attempted to carve anything other than a face on my pumpkin. It think it turned out pretty well. Kaelyn instructed me as to what shape to make the features on her pumpkin and it was fun doing those this year. We never got around to carving the pumpkins we got last year.
The weather was so beautiful this year, it still hasn't snowed which makes me quite happy! Here are some of the fun costumes that came to our party. I am sorry I didn't get good pictures of everyone there, and my table full of yummy foods. My camera and I were having...a disagreement that night. I am going to try and get better pictures of my girls in there costumes this next week. Because that is literally the best picture I have of Kaelyn!
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I had a wonderful October during which I had 3 (yes three) weeks worth of visitors. My siblings Heather, Tyler, and Kyle all came and spent some time with us during the beautiful Ohio Fall. Thanks for coming and I hope you all enjoy this glut of pictures.
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The following pictures are from a calendar I was given last year. I have enjoyed looking at this quirky yet cute produce all year. 
However, this month is a little odd to me. What is up with the cannibalistic kiwi? Why do they have such happy faces on when their comrade has been decapitated? Ummm, I am not sure I can handle looking at this all month!
Does this trouble anyone else?
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Here is most recent conversation from Kaelyn that had us all laughing our heads off...Kaelyn and Kyle (my brother who is visiting) were working on a new puzzle together. Jon was near by.
Jon- "Are you having fun with Kyle?"
Kaelyn continues with the puzzle without responding.
Jon- "Are you ignoring Daddy?"
*Silence*
Jon- "Are you ignoring Daddy?"
When met with farther silence Jon started seeking puzzle pieces.
Kaelyn- "Stop taking the puzzle pieces."
Jon- "Are you going to answer my question?"
Kaelyn- "Yes, I am ignoring Daddy."
Well at least she is honest right?!
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So Jon and I just finished playing a board game, and throughout the game Kaelyn had been climbing up and down out of my lap saying that she was a penguin. "Mom your little penguin is cold.", "Hold your cute little penguin.", and so forth. Toward the end of the game I put her down on the couch wrapped in a blanket. Then as we were cleaning up she said rather excitedly, "You need to carry your little penguin to bed."
Both Jon and I told her that after we finished putting away the game then we would have prayer and carry her to bed. Apparently that wasn't good enough. It was only two minutes later when we were done cleaning up I looked over and she was fast asleep. We tried to wake her up enough so she would be aware that we were carrying her to bed and she didn't even stir. So the moral of the story is...
... if your little penguin asks you to carry her to bed, she means NOW! Here's hoping you and all your little penguins have a good night too.
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Kaelyn was invited to a friends birthday party this week and from the moment I read the invitation I knew that she would love it. The invitation was to a tea party and asked that Kaelyn "please dress fancy". Oh she was excited; so excited in fact that she let me curl her hair. So here is my fancy Miss Kaelyn trying her best to wait patiently for party time.
As Kaelyn was walking to the door with her gift in hand I had a little moment of, 'oh my goodness my baby is growing up! She is going to birthday parties on her own...sigh.'
When I went to pick Kaelyn up all I saw was the leftovers, but truly this looked like a party any little girl would dream of. How cute is that teapot cake! They had little finger sandwiches (pb&j), fruit, fancy dishes. They decorated their hats, each little girl got a feather boa, gloves, a little purse with candy, and a ring. The whole thing was darling!
Kaelyn had such a fun time. It took a lot of convincing to get her take off her hat for bed. Thank you again, and a very happy birthday to Miss Mishayla!
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Lately I have seen a lot of blog or facebook posts about how, "sometimes my kitchen is messy..." Going along with that theme, sort of, I must admit that this clean kitchen...
...is so not the norm at my house. It is lovely though! The other night I stayed up kind of late cleaning my kitchen because it had been far too long since all of my countertops were cleared off and wiped down. It feels so nice to have a clean kitchen again. Now if I can just keep it that way.
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A few months back our ward did an enrichment centered on the theme of "A House of Order" One of our mini classes was on interior decorating. Sarah talked about a number of things but the quote that stuck with me went something along the line of keep your eyes open..."The Lord knows your budget"... and He will help you find the things you are looking for and need, within that budget. I thought it was a really cute quote, but didn't think much else of it.
Yesterday, I was struck by how empty Kylie's room is. After a short lived experiment with room sharing it is literally left with only her crib and a cork board/whiteboard in it. When I put her down for a nap I noticed it was echo-y as an empty room usually is. So I thought it might be nice to get rug or something to fill the void. (I don't want to move her clothes and the glider back in because I really like the set up that we made during our experiment.) So I got on craigslist thinking if I could find something for $10-20 I could deal with that. I think a good sized area rug would do wonders for the echo factor. Sadly nothing I found was under $70. And if I had that much to spend I could just buy a brand new rug I loved! So I gave up thinking that we would just deal with the echo till it gets super cold and we try and have the girls share a room again.
Fast forward 4 or 5 hours...the girls and I were out on a walk when I saw a sign at a nearby Catholic School for a 23 family yard sale. I figured it was worth checking out, even if I didn't have any cash on me. So imagine my surprise as I rounded the back of the school building and I saw a large pink rug sitting on top of the dumpster. I paused a moment thinking, "Seriously?!" I looked around to find an owner for this obviously unloved item..."Really, someone threw away exactly what I was looking for? Seriously, it is just sitting on top of the dumpster and not IN it?!" So I put it on top of my stroller and started walking home full of gratitude for my find. And especially touched to know that the Lord really does know my budget!
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I already put this collage on my 365 blog, but I worked hard enough on it that I wanted to share it here too! I love it when Kaelyn lets me do a session with her, she is such a sweet girl!
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I have something to blog about that doesn't directly have anything to do with my kids! Weird. I know. 
So in April of 2008 I got a nice DSLR in the hopes that I could start a photography business. Well in June of 2008 I had a baby, July we moved across the country, Sept I was adjusting to my new life... and well practicing with my new camera fell on the back burner. However, I think my valid excuses for not trying harder to perfect my art are no more.
I really want to get better at providing consistent quality images and to do that I need people willing to be on the other side of my lens. (Kaelyn is no longer willing, whenever I have the camera out she acts like I am the paparazzi and runs the other way!) I am thankful to those who have already given me the opportunity to do a session with them, you can see a few images from those on my new blog. I emphasize there are only a few, because I just barely created the blog. If you feel so inclined go check it out... www.SkyeBluePhotos.blogspot.com
So to those of you reading, please give me a chance to practice taking pictures of your family, your kids, your newborns, your friends, a cake smash session. I am looking to improve. So give me a call or drop me a line and we can set up a time to do a shoot, and I'll give you the cd of images. All it will cost you is about an hour of your time. I hope to hear from you soon.
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I have come to really enjoy Halloween. I don't like the spooky or scary stuff AT ALL, but I do like costumes and cute themed foods. This year we had our second annual Halloween party. We had dinner in a pumpkin, ghost cookies, spider topped deviled eggs, and other fun foods. It was fun to spend time with friends and take the kids trick or treating. I think that this is the first time Kaelyn has understood what was going on, and she is still enjoying her candy. 
I had some fun this October doing some Halloween craft projects. I made Kylie these super cute hair bows I also made a trick or treat bag for Kaelyn out of scrap fabric I got from my mom, which she used to make her kids trick or treat bags. In case you haven't noticed I really like this generation to generation thing. :) This year is also the first time I have attempted to carve anything other than a face on my pumpkin. It think it turned out pretty well. Kaelyn instructed me as to what shape to make the features on her pumpkin and it was fun doing those this year. We never got around to carving the pumpkins we got last year.
