who's a cutie?

we're in PA now and so far, so good (four kids...is alot of kids :) ... more pics to come!

while i'm gone..

i am searching for the perfect blog template...i want the look to be crisp and clean, with large pictures to enjoy (because often times the pictures are the BEST part of my posts) and something that represents our family?! hmmm am i seriously going to have to breakdown and PAY for something!!!!
yikes!
anyway, just thoughts for now.

random picture of my boys that makes me smile every time i see it.

i will miss oklahoma with all my heart.

photo courtesy of aunt hanna

just a few for now...

presenting Miss Cheeks...

all cheeks ;)

and more cheeks...

and the tired mommy...

proud daddy...

okay guys, we leave out this friday for the big move to PA...

i'll update you with pics of our trek east (okay, roadtrip;) wish us luck!

Love me.

hey folks...

we're alive!
adeline made her entrance via C-section (boy, that'll sure knock ya for a loop) on 10/30/09 and she weighed a whopping 11lbs...no joke!
we are doing fine (with help from wonderful mother's) and are recovering well.
thanks for all your sweet comments and emails. it means alot.
i'll post pics when i feel up to the undertaking...soon, soon. i promise.

thanks again, love me

moving...

boy, all this boxing up and cleaning has just gotten the best of us. it's a little overwhelming to be honest. I mean, we do have a baby coming on friday...
everything just feels like a whirlwind. having said that though, i feel super excited and really blessed by the Lord, that things have worked out as well as they have (i suppose it ain't over till it's over in regards to signing over the house...but i just have to have faith that nothing major will come up between now and then that would change the buyers minds).

here is the place we are relocating to in PA. we've decided not to rush into buying anything just yet. we really want to looove the next house we buy (at least as much as we loooved this one).
isn't it beautiful? it's on 43 acres and it's so lush. im really diggin' that red barn, and can't wait to take some family photos by it. the house is bigger than it looks; same square footage as the house we are currently in.
we're excited, and like i said, we feel so blessed to have this opportunity. and thank the Lord for looking out for our family.
now, having said all that...i can't WAIT to meet our daughter! stay tuned for pictures (coming soon).

can i just tell you, that there is nothing more i love, than to bundle up and cruise the streets on a chilly, overcast fall day, with my children chirping in the back, and the windows rolled down (the heater on full blast, of course).

it's remarkable, this earth we live on. and all the beauty it possesses. it strikes glee in me. oklahoma's fall foliage is beautiful this year. and the hay fields... simply heartwarming. it's been fun to take the kids on a drive everyday after school. we seek out all the cool halloween decorations, and enjoy all the fall colors. i love it.

beautiful huh?

some i took, some are web images.

and here are my italians, eating bloody noodles last night....night 4

ps...

we close on the 13th of November. whirlwind i tell ya, whirlwind.

night 2

So tonight was a particularly hilarious part of the "13 nights of halloween".
we ate "slop" otherwise known as bacon, eggs, and biscuits (pretty cannibalistic meal, eh) and we dressed up as pigs! we were in stitches by the time we got around to actually eating... i'll let the pics tell the story.

as our craft today, we made tissue paper ghosts. they swayed over-head while we feasted on our slop...or "cousin joey" as i like to call him (we didn't let the kids in on that one though,, little too much i think ;)
and the kids watched a marathon of "scooby doo". so fun.

we are looking forward to the rest of our nights...and by tomorrow night, i may have grown facial hair - stay tuned!

ps...

i should mention... that although we are doing the "13 nights of halloween"..it will be fairly mild this year. seeing as how we are scheduled to meet our daughter on the 30th of October...and we are selling our house.
yes.
you heard that right---we are selling our house. we are relocating to the New York/Pennsylvania area (jared's been promoted), and are currently looking for a place.

wish us luck!

it's almost time...

for the "thirteen nights of halloween"...dunt dunt duunnn

*

*insert creepy music*

...plenty of fun crafts, creepy stories and food coming your way

...muah-ha-ha-ha!!!

it's gonna be fun.

Punkin' smugglin'

nearly 36 weeks...

would ya look at that belly!

can you see how tired i am?...i'm sooo ready to have this baby!

ps if you look closely, my sweater is covered in sock fuzz...darn that lone sock that makes it into the dark load. oh, but you must know, at this point...it's the least of my concerns. lol.

fall lovin' hooligans...

just a few (mostly candid) shots of my little men...

daddy is soaking in that precious lovin'

i was really wanting them to wear their fall sweaters...but naturally, they rebelled against mom, and opted for the new super hero tees that their daddy bought for them -go figure! (i did get my way with the dark wash jeans though ;)
having said that...arent they the cutest? often times people tell my how "pretty" my boys are...i've always wondered why they say that? because if they only knew how rough and tumble these guys are...i truly think the word "pretty" would be the last thing on their minds when describing 'em ;) lol.
the weather has been yummy, so naturally i couldn't resist a little photo shoot outside.

~enjoy!

ready-ing for Fall...

guys, it's 63 degrees outside as i type this --is that not exciting...

my house is currently littered with things like these (though it's not all as cute as i'd like it to be yet,,, we're getting there)....

and these...

i tell the boys that witches grow the "wart-y pumpkins" in their witch gardens...;)

and i really love this idea (though i haven't done it just yet)...

and whats better than piles and piles of these...

i've been baking, eating and giving away loaf upon loaf of...

i'm sooo sooo soo excited, but you guys already know that huh?. i wish i had my camera so i could take some pictures of the actual decorations for you (the hubs is out of town with my camera, clicking fall images of NEW YORK for me, gorgeous eh?)

anyway, i also plan to "decorate" my children in sweaters and jeans (love sweater weather...yippee) so i can take some fun fall pics of them this weekend (hopefully). i'll be sure to post them soon!

oh and i totally forgot...what Fall is complete with out kitchy, fantastic wooden signs declaring autumn's bliss? (i've got a few of those sitting out too ;)

pictures of the children coming soon...stay tuned!

ps what do you luuuv about this time of year? and what are you doing to prepare? -do share!

a feature friday...

so sweet for the nursery, eh!

found HERE

only thing is, i'll have to make my first million before i can afford to hang this in my kids nursery?! still makes for some great, creative ideas though, huh!

a 33 week addendum: smugglin' a basketball

a

32 weeks (and 2 days) pregnant...

and i've never wanted to eat a "horse" so bad in my life!
i've done pretty well with this pregnancy, only eating fattening foods occasionally, and always walking at least 45min every night.
but when the ticker struck 32 weeks...it's like every bit of self discipline i've had up to this point, has flown out the window with the pigs...

i bought a jar of potato dip this weekend (cause it looked good), and i popped the seal on it last night... before i knew it half the jar was gone! and what's worse is i only noticed because jared said,

"what kind of dip is that?"

so i showed him... suddenly he gasped and said "have you already eaten that much of it?"..."how many fat calories are in each serving anyway?"...

i was mortified.

"um, it wasn't full...all the way to the top..." i squeaked out. it so was...

then i mumbled something like,

"who appointed you the fat calorie police anyway"...



i screwed the lid back on and marched upstairs to take a bath....



although i didn't want to...i thought of my personal little "fat calorie policeman" while i spiked my hot chocolate with reddi whip (extra creamy) and pumpkin spice this morning...and i thought of him again when i squirted it [reddi-whip] straight into my mouth about a half-dozen times after filling my cup with it.

"oh whale" i thought...

"i've only got eight weeks left of this here pregnancy anyway.... right? i can just burn it off later..."



right.


(poor jared, this makes him look like a big meany doesn't it ;)


ps if you are wondering why i am drinking hot chocolate, it was only 65 degrees this morning and i felt a chill...that is exciting isn't it!

Meet Rasta-Acorn

every week day, when i go to pick sam up from pre-k, i see this tiny tree (i believe it's a burr oak) nestled against the side of the old school building. it hangs on for dear life to these massive acorns.

they are so cute and remind me of a little rasta-man (rastafarian) everytime i see them. my mind keeps thinking of all the fun fall crafts i could craft with these cool rasta-acorns....

maybe something like THIS...

or

THIS....

oh the possibilities, eh? i think they'd look great on the mantel, piled in a big apothecary jar, too.

i aim to ask the school if they ever use said acorns...if not, i'll request to pluck them up as they FALL to the ground. i will prepare to keep my tots busy with fun fall time crafts galore. -yippee!

ps i'm really excited for the boys to bring home autumn crafts that they create at school, too. they may go for nature walks and end up collecting these rasta acorns to be used for said craft, how fun!