As good as it gets

So I have been soooo terribly busy, and have been working on our house instead of the computer lately that I have been out of touch. And I don't have much time now, so here are just a bunch of pictures from the last, er, three months! Enjoy!!


Did the pumpkin patch, riding the tractor.


Hudson loving his independence

Max loving his fruit snacks

Addie being silly, like always

Busy pushing her brothers around

Max rooting for his dad's favorite team

I just love this kid!! Even if he is three and a willful one at that!

Finally, a freshly painted house. Bye bye peeling paint!! And, yes, Colorado does have these beautiful blue skies nearly EVERY DAY!!

Hudson, stitches round two! This time he fell into the hymn book holder about 42 seconds after arriving at church. Blood everywhere!

Halloween with the kiddos. Addie was Aurora (Sleeping Beauty, for the princess challenged), Max was Captain America (for this pic at least), and Hudson was a dinosaur, but we didn't get a SINGLE picture! Thank goodness for skeleton jammies.

Was worried about the thin costume, so I made this awesome cape! It was double lined fleece with a pointed hood, just like Aurora had. Too bad Halloween was like 70 degrees and did us no good! Cute cape, though!!

Max was Spiderman for preschool. The best part of the day was the rubber spider he got in his goodie bag!

Here he is with his class, Spiderman to the right

Menacing, isn't he?

Our yard is a fraction of what we had in Milwaukee, so leaf cleanup was a breeze!

Corey is so patient!

Our one and only snow this season. Did I mention we've moved to God's country? Just sayin'...

Addie and Max enjoying the fun.

Addie's sassy new haircut. We're growing out her bangs, and losing some length to avoid some of the morning fights over combing through the snarls.

Max really doesn't like having his picture taken. Most pics of him are when he is distracted, otherwise he's running away in a blur! A rare treasure...

Sure, he looks sweet. But this kid will be the DEATH of me!! He fears nothing, doesn't learn when something hurts or causes damage. Oy!

Of course, Santa came to town. Here's Max asking for all sorts of superhero stuff!

Addie probably wanting something to do with princesses.

And convincing Santa she's been good, regardless of what Mom and Dad say!

The ONLY way Hudson would get near this guy, with Mom being the buffer.

Max and Hudson decorating cookies at Max's preschool party.

Enjoying just the frosting. We had soggy cookies at the end, because they were sucked on over and over again, until the frosting on his plate of decorations was all used up! Weird kid!

I don't care if he's weird, I love him to pieces!

This one, too! Even though he's trouble.

Good thing he's CUTE!

There you have it, the Grips for the last three months! Hopefully I'll get better, but for now this will have to do.

Birthdays

We had a very busy season of birthdays, and I didn't want to blog until it was finally over. This has been an exhausting month!!! Addie's birthday is the end of August, but we were in Minnesota visiting family the week before so we celebrated with them. Then we had to do something once we got home and actually had her birthday. But her special day was also the first day of school, and I hadn't been organized enough to schedule a birthday party with friends, so we decided to wait a couple weeks and combine parties with Max as his birthday is the end of September. That was a day of total chaos and fun!! What great people we've become friends with! And, to finally fulfill a promise made months ago, tonight we graced Chuck E. Cheese's with our lofty presence.

Now, the children are sleeping peacefully, and I don't have to worry about another birthday for nearly three whole weeks!! Corey's mom is turning 49 (or so) in October, then his dad turns an unmentionable number (tee hee hee!) the first of November. We also have a nephew and uncle mixed in there, didn't talk about the few nieces' that came and went, and then comes my day of fun followed by Christmas. Whew!!

After all that, here are the pictures to prove our month of total fun!

In Minnesota, lovingly enjoying her first (of many) Polly Pocket princess


A rare show of affection to someone other than his mama, Hudson is warming up to cousin Sophie


This kid LOVES to dress up! As long as it's something cool, like a real live Space Ranger.


Or the Hulk! Here's the only real cake I made this season. Aren't my kids darling?

Back home, at the beginning of our fun party. This is a common view of Hudson. Dumping the contents of whatever is within his reach onto the table, floor, over the balcony... whatever pleases him. Good thing he's cute!

Planning a party for kids ranging from two to six years old is a little stressful, especially since that meant there would be plenty of adults to entertain as well. I thought a pinata would be a fun crowd pleaser. I was right!

She's got a great arm, but this thing outlasted 10 kids and several hits from Dad before giving up it's bounty

Even this guy got his share, the candy was everywhere!

Cupcake time, every girl's favorite time of day!

I made spiderman webbed cupcakes for Max, and I really wanted to get the right red and blue. We're still seeing the food coloring coming out of these kids.

PRESENTS!!!!

Corey had to make sure part of Max's dress ups included a cool football helmet and jersey

How could you tell this face "No!"

My tough guys

I love this picture. It is Addie to a tee! Has to be involved in everything fun, even if the ring on her finger clashes with the helmet head she sported for the rest of the day.

The very best idea we had was to meet at Chuck E. Cheese's at 4:00 on a Monday. It was quiet, still clean, the staff must have just clocked in because they were all very accommodating and pleasant... not what I had dreaded.

A typical view of Grandma, JACKPOT!

And the final present opening! Trying to replace a night time vise with a cool pillow to snuggle. I'll let you know tomorrow if it works...

And I've started sewing!! I made superhero capes for my super kids, and I'm pretty proud of them. I also made Addie a dress, but made it for next year as we have a great friend that has loads of beautiful hand-me-downs she blesses us with so there is no need for now.

How cool is this?! Halloween is taken care of, thanks WalMart!

Happy Birthday, to my lovely kiddos! I love you so very much, and hope you have a great year!