Perfect Timing!

Coincidentally after my post from yesterday about how I was going to crack down on saving money this coming year I find out that tomorrow through Sunday is TRIPLE coupon at Harris Teeter!! No better to start the year off then with a great triples trip. God is so good!!! I am always in awe when things like that happen. Even though it was something small it is just so awesome how it works out and the fact that mom wanted the kids this weekend and that I am off work this week.

Hopefully I will be able to get a lot of groceries for barely any money. I just need to get my coupons organized. The best I have ever done was around $60 for $2 something!! I remember the amount because I thought the cashier said $20 until I walked away and saw my receipt, then I was shocked that she had no comment! What is up with that? I mean I got some good stuff like Bryers ice cream and Tyson nuggets. I still have no clue how I saved that much, but I am so thankful that I am.

This is going to be a great weekend! Sleeping in, triple coupons, date nights, and lots of wii playing!

Happy New Year!

Today I was thinking about how blessed we really are and how I never seem to feel that way. I don't know why. We have really good boys, although this morning they were a bit wild. They are healthy except for the reoccurring ear infections. They are also pretty funny and smart. Not to mention the cutest kids ever! With life being so crazy all the time all we ever seem to see is the negatives. Having twins is a lot of work and being a parent is definitely the hardest job I have ever known. I just really want the boys to be the kids that are good around others and well mannered. In today's society it is hard. I feel like all I do is yell, stop jumping on your brother or today, stop jumping off the arm of the couch on to your brother! I feel like I am constantly saying STOP or someone is going to get hurt. I just need to let boys be boys, but I hate going to the ER! Andy has definitely been enough and Cale has already been once. Anyways, today while vacuuming the playroom that made me think how much the boys have and how much do we really need? So that leads me to my "resolution."

I am never very good at making New Year's resolutions, but this year I am going to try. I'm sure it will be a waste by next week, but hopefully not. This year I am going to try really hard to be really frugal. I do coupon, but not as much as I should or could and I try to only buy things on sale or with a coupon. I just don't feel that I am really giving it my all. I could really be doing better job at saving money. I guess what has made me really want to work hard at saving is that in the past year we no longer have to buy diapers or pullups and we lost a huge car payment and there is still really no difference in our bank accounts! I do have a serious shopping addiction and I absolutely hate to cook, so eating out is always great, but I really must stop. So I have decided that we will not eat out unless we have a coupon or kids eat free or something and we can all eat for $15. Well that is my hope but under $20 would be ideal. You see we have been very blessed with great eaters and they can put away the food! I am really going to crack down on my food buying with coupons. I am not going to buy anything that is not a need, like something we use a lot or rely on for cooking or daily meals. I am not going to buy anymore clothes. This I can't promise, but will try very hard. The boys teachers from last year commented that they have as many clothes as girls! I can't not buy something when it is only a dollar or two, but this year I will just say NO! No more decor items that are not a necessity, like if something we used broke I would replace but no more Pottery Barn impulse buying.

I am hoping to save lots of money just so that we can have some for fun things instead of wasting it on stuff we really don't need. Last night we were fortunate enough to get some NCSU basketball tickets from a lady I work with. Looking around the arena I was thinking how cool it would be to have seats in the luxury all you can eat buffet section, yeah right! Or just have season tickets down low, which is a more realistic goal. Then it hit me that we will never get to that point with the way we spend money. And really we don't buy anything worth while! I mean we just got a new tv because ours died and Andy did splurge and get us a fun wii, but we really don't have "nice" furniture or go on fancy vacations or have new cars (Andy still drives my 1990 honda accord from when I was in high school). So what do we spend our money on? It has to be the black hole of Target. I know Andy does not read this, so he will have no idea about what my goal is. I guess I really don't have a goal so much as a just stop wasting my money on stuff I don't need! We always laugh about this SNL skit that was a Suze Orman type thing where they were telling people to stopping buying if they don't have the money. People would show up and be like I want something, but can't pay for it now but I can charge it, should I get it? And they would be like NO don't buy it if you don't have the money! Well I feel like we are going to end up like these people if we aren't careful, so jokes on us. Hopefully, I can turn things around since it is me doing all the spending. We'll see!

Here are the boys enjoying the basketball game!

Cale



Carter and Daddy

Our Week of Christmas

We have had a great week of Christmas this year! It started off a little rocky. Luckily our annual Christmas illness hit early, both the boys had ruptured ear drums Friday morning before we headed out. So we were able to hit the doctor, then pharmacy, then on our way. Only that once we got up to the mountains on 77 at around 9 that night we were about out of gas. So we are going very slowly approaching the next exit and we see a cop car on the side behind a car with a man out behind it, it is broke down. Andy realizes that is his brother, so we call and it is. We then hang out at that exit for a couple hours until they are ready to go and we head on our way again. We stopped for the night in Beckly, WV. It was a good nights rest before completing our journey which I think involved stopping every hour for someone to go to the bathroom. We finally made it to Delta, OH at about 4 or 5 on Sat. Boy is that trip much faster without kids! As we begin across the state of OH we see more and more snow!! The boys have never seen a lot of snow before, just our normal 1/2 inch. So they kept asking if it was water or snow. It was so beautiful, as you can tell from the pictures above. The temp on Sunday night was -2 degrees and the windchill was a breathe taking -12!!! Andy and I loved it though! Needless to say we only have a few pictures of the boys in the snow and that was when it warmed up to a whpping 18 degrees. Cale wouldn't even go out. He did the first night and that was enough for him. Andy and I so want to move up there. We love it!! It was so depressing to come home on Christmas Eve to 70 degree weather. I did not want to leave OH.

The boys had a great time to, even though late bed times and no naps made them a little emotional. They are constantly talking about out trip to Aunt Penny and Uncle Dick's house. I think that will be so excited to go back next year.

We did have a very long trip home as well. There was on and off again icing and in VA they had 77 closed! We had to sit in traffic a little while then were able to get off and go straight, and I mean straight, down the mountain another way. We finally got to my parents at about 1 am Christmas Eve. We had a great time there on the 24th with my family, as you can see below. The kids were wild as usual, but had lots of fun.

We then came home on Christmas Eve just in time for supper, bath and bed. The kids totally crashed!! They slept until about 8 Christmas morning and then were totally pumped to see that Santa brought them their guitars they wanted! Mommy was also so excited that Daddy came through and got me a wii!! We have been playing for two days straight! I have killed Andy at everything. I think we have had lots of major technology advances in the past month. We had to get a new HD TV, I got Andy a GPS, which was really helpful on our trip, and we finally have a wii. The wii really is a workout and I am so excited about it!! Anyways, the boys loved everything they got and of course have way too much. We have really enjoyed sitting at home doing nothing today. We have two more days of this and then back to work and regular activities.

Holiday Express!

On Friday night we went to this event put on at a park near our house. This park is really neat. It has a carousel, train and little boats. For one weekend at Christmas time they put on a big holiday event with lights and singing and Santa. This was the first year we have been and I forgot about it until last week I got an e-mail with the link. They were suppose to also have it Thursday night and that was the night I bought tickets for, but it rained all day and therefore was cancelled. So we went Friday night. We got there early, just after 4, and it wasn't too bad outside. Then the great mom that I am totally forgot their hats and gloves! By the time we had done the train a couple times and Santa and had a popcorn snack they were ready to go. They had Chik-fil-a there at tents, but it was cold and we have coupons so we went to go to the Chik-fil-a. When we left Cale was excited that we were going to the restaurant where it would be "warm and cozy." I wonder where he heard that?

This brings me to the picture below. We did not visit Santa last year because the visit the year before was so terrible. This year however the boys were very excited about seeing Santa and said they were going to ask for guitars. That is until we were about 5 people back and then they were like no way am I going to sit on Santa's lap! So the nice people working at the Santa tent volunteered to take a family picture. Carter did very lowly say he wanted a guitar as we were leaving. Santa is coming to their class at school on Friday, so we will see what happens then. Maybe the peer pressure will get to them, I doubt it though.

After we left the Holiday Express we did a little Christmas shopping. We were able to buy the boys Christmas presents while the were with us. They were totally oblivious! It probably had a lot to do with the craziness at the Toys R Us and the fact that they hadn't had a nap that day and it was getting late. I don't know, but I do know I feel so fortunate that they are as observant as their father.

Here are the boys in this years Christmas pjs. They had them on last night before going to a fun kids movie night. Kids watching time downstairs and parents socializing upstairs is always a great way to spend a Saturday night!

Busy Saturday

Yesterday we had a very busy day! I had my first and Last outside holiday market. It was VERY cold. I don't know what I was thinking. I did sell a good amount of stuff, which was surprising considering it was so cold outside. Andy's parents were nice enough to come up from Charlotte and watch the boys for us to be at that and then that night Andy's work had their Christmas dinner. The boys really enjoyed them coming. They went to the children's museum and the park. Today we celebrated Andy's dad's birthday a little early since we don't live in Charlotte and won't be there for the big day. We had a Boston creme pie Andy's mom picked up at the Whole Foods and it was surprisingly very good. Andy tries to steer clear of that place because he doesn't like anything trendy or granola, but he loved the cake. We may have to buy our bakery goods from there from now on.

As for Christmas dinner, it was at Ruth Chris which is our favorite nice restaurant. It was so very yummy! Unfortunately I filled up on the stuffed mushroom appetizer and barely ate my dinner, but don't worry I brought that bad boy home! I ate it for lunch today and still have the dessert in the fridge for tonight. I can't wait to eat it! I was really looking forward to being done with my last holiday market yesterday so that I could finish my Christmas shopping and clean my house, but I have received so many orders since Thursday that I will be busy working for a few more days. I am glad though, because it is Christmas time and I do have a shopping addiction, so I need to pay for all those presents!

Here are some pictures from my fair yesterday. This is my booth. I lucked out by having a end spot right in front of the food and at a walk way cut through and in front of the information booth. I think that helped my sales. Notice the tent behind me, it was this really old couple selling paintings. There tent was probably from 1980 or before. It took a ton of volunteers to get it put together. I felt so bad for them because I think they said they didn't sell anything. It was a cold, long day and then to not sell anything would be terrible. Hopefully they will recover. I think my next market will be in March and then I have also applied for one in April, so hopefully the weather will be nice!



Here we are before heading out to dinner. We are in our usual Christmas dinner attire. Andy in his suit and me in my black dress, that I bought when the boys were 6 months old and bought a size smaller just to make sure I could keep wearing it. We only wear these items at Christmas dinner because we never do anything nice. I did buy a new necklace, that I bought with my free money from black Friday at Kohl's, a cute sweater from Target, and a new pair of black heels, which I got a while back on clearance at Old Navy.com. My other heels were old and I needed a newer cute pair, also there is nothing to make you feel more like a woman than 3 in heels. I really wanted some red ones, but couldn't find any my size and affordable.

Christmas Time!

Well we got our tree up and decorated on Friday (sorry Mom I am just now posting these pictures). I think that the tree is a cute little tree, could have been bigger though. The branches have dropped some since I took these and it looks very symmetrical, which makes my OCD self happy. It did take me forever to decorate and the boys sat and watched very patiently. I do have to have it perfect, so the boys have a tree in the playroom that they get to decorate. We will hopefully have that one up today or tomorrow, it is a fake one. I am so excited about my nice new Pottery Barn tree skirt and stockings! I hated how the other ones didn't match and looked tacky together. Although it did hit me the other day that what IF we have another child then what am I going to do? Oh well Pottery Barn doesn't change too much. Which is what I LOVE about that store! It is so classic.



I do have a wreath to go on that wreath holder, but didn't have it when I took this picture. The boys are very confused as to why the ornaments are in the class holder and not on the tree. We have to explain it to the daily. They also keep asking every morning if it is Christmas morning and when can they open their presents. They have been really good about leaving the tree alone. I did get a little ornament from Hallmark that is an elf that says stuff like, "Step away from the tree." Whenever the tree branches move. It is really cute.

We had to move the living room around to fit the tree in and the boys have also had a hard time understanding why we did that. They ask us who moved the couch and table and why everyday as well. We kind of like it this way. Andy and I like change, which is good.

Our Thanksgiving

We luckily had a very uneventful Thanksgiving. My parents and my aunt came to Raleigh and ate lunch with us. We did have a close call on Wednesday night Cale was running a fever, but was fine on Thanksgiving. That is why I say uneventful, because every year someone has been sick on Thanksgiving. The food was very yummy and I think most of it was eaten! The boys are not too crazy about holiday foods, so I will probably cook something different for Christmas or if the good ole K & W is open we will go there. The boys LOVE that place!

My mom and I were back to our usual Black Friday shopping. I got some really good deals! We got to Kohl's at 4:00, yes I have not seen that time of night in about 3 years! We got in and got what we went for and got out. I even got an extra 15% off because I had to wait for them to find my rebate sheet. That was great! We then went to Toys R Us were I seriously thought people were going to brawl either with the employees about the line situation or just out of total frustration from not being able to move. We got in got almost everything we were after, not all just because it was crazy, and got out. We then went to Target. All this was by 6 am! We waited about 15 mins for them to open the doors and then got in and shopped a bit and then quickly checked out, which Target has always been wonderful at having every register open to minimize wait time. I got everything I was after there and then some! We were back home by 7:15! It felt great to able to go and get all that done and we were surprisingly not that tired.

Later that morning just before lunch we headed down to the Christmas tree lot and got our tree. The boys were pretty excited. I wanted a much bigger and fatter tree, but Andy wouldn't agree because he said it wouldn't fit. He is definitely no Clark Griswold. I have decorated and will have those pictures up soon! I am now busy wrapping all the presents. I hope to have that done soon, just because I like it finished early. I also have a very busy week this week! I have a vendor fair Thursday night at my mothers of multiples club meeting and then on Saturday I have a market in downtown Cary, Winter Fest. I am hoping all goes well, because we could really use the dough after having to buy a new tv, which has been a good purchase. It was great watching State whoop Miami in HD yesterday!

Spending a long weekend with the boys always leads to something funny happening. On Thursday morning while watching the Macy's parade Carter commented that some big clown float looked like Mawmaw. We all thought it was really funny, not my mom so much. That reminded me to tell her that the other week Carter randomly asked Andy did he not like Mawmaw. This was while we were in the drive through at an Old McDonald's and I could not stop laughing. Carter always carries on, Daddy why you not want Mawmaw to come? I have no idea where he got this because Andy has never lead on that he doesn't like my mom. Who knows.

Also, Cale told us that he was sleepy at lunch on Friday because Carter woke him up. So I asked Carter why he was talking so loud and woke Cale up and Carter's response was, "I couldn't stop the songs from coming out." We all died laughing. That kid says the craziest stuff. In a couple of the pictures in the slide you can see his lips are puckered that is because he was ready to eat and had to wait so he began his, "I sleepy." That is what he says when we is nin trouble or doesn't get his way. Andy has begun putting him in time out for saying it for no reason and this morning the second time he had to go the whole way to his room he kept saying, "I not sleepy, I not sleepy." We laughed and then after his 3 mins he didn't do it again and that was at about 10 this morning. Who says time out doesn't work?!

There is always tons of funny stuff they say and I always mean to write it down and of course by the time I make to to somewhere to be able to write it down I forget! I am going to try and be better at it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We decided to stay home for Thanksgiving this year. My parents and my aunt are coming over to eat with us. The boys are looking forward to eating pumpkin pie and apple pie. Hopefully they will eat other foods too! They are also looking forward to getting a Christmas tree, which I can't do until after we have Thanksgiving. I am looking forward to Christmas this year. The boys seem to get it a little more and hopefully we will not be sick again.

Last night Andy and I got to go to an NCSU basketball game. It was fun, but could have been a little more exciting. It was a blowout by NCSU. We had great seats though. As we were walking into the RBC Center we noticed that they had a different entrance for students, so we walk in the general entrance and a lady working there asked us if we had student tickets! We both answered, "We wish!" Then I think she felt dumb, but Andy and I do look young. I just got my hair cut last weekend, because I have been mistaken for being 19. That is when it is time to cut my hair. I think that the short hair suites me better.

Here are some pictures from the boys Halloween party at school, I have been forgetting to post them.

Carter with his typical cute little puckered lip face. He is too funny when he makes that face!




Carter, was the line leader that day, and Cale

This has to be Cale, I only guess this because there is no line leader sticker. They made cat masks to wear while trick or treating at school.

Carter and another silly face!

Stomach Bugs=Yuck!

Well we havn't had one of these is a while, so I guess we are due. Carter was sick last night and this morning throwing up. The poor guy kept getting up to "spit" and he said he tongue hurt. He actually cought on pretty fast. He only threw up on Andy once and then knew to get to the bath tub. This morning he even covered his mouth while I ran him to the bathroom. It is still hard having a sick baby that is hungry and can't eat, but it is a lot easier than when they had their first stomach bug at around 9 months. That one lasted about a week!

Here are some pictures from the first bug. As you can tell Carter felt much better after he yaked and Andy looks as if he enjoyed it too.

Lots of Use

Andy and I, well mostly Andy, are pretty frugal people. We do what we can to save money. We coupon, Andy tries to fix things that break(more on that later) and I try and buy the kids clothes that will last way longer than they should. These next few pictures demonstrate that. These hats have lasted us 3 winters!! They are a size 18-24 months from the Baby Gap. I don't think they had big heads as babies, but they fit and they fit great the last two years. I think they actually still fit this year but were a little snug and I think Cale had had enough of those hats because he would have nothing to do with wearing them. So in the last picture you can see that we finally got them new hats. I just thought it was funny how long we were able to use these hats! Also, you can tell we got 2 years of use out of the coats and actually the coats they are wearing this year they wore last year too. I love getting the most out of my money!

This brings me to the tv. We have not gotten our moneys worth out of the TV, it is 5 1/2 years old and I don't think that is very old. Almost 2 weeks ago it suddenly died along with the cable box, which was replaced by time warner. Well Andy swears he can fix the tv and it takes him a week and a half to try. On Tuesday night he was able to fix it or so we thought. Back to Tuesday, at school that day for some reason Carter started crying at tea party that his toes hurt. Who knows why? On Wednesday morning his teacher asks him if his toes are feeling better and his response is, "Yes, they are better because my big tv is fixed." What?! They don't watch that much tv and Carter never even mentioned the fact that it was a larger 32" tv and since has been a small 19" That kid makes me laugh. So anyways, today I fix my lunch and sit down to watch last weeks ER and turn on the tv and poof it is broken again! I call Andy and inform him to not add tv repairman on a list of things he can do. He was bummed. I really don't want to buy a new tv, because I need a new washer and dryer. I guess we will be moving into the 21st century and finally breaking down and buying a flat screen tv.



6 months old

18 months old

2 1/2 years old

3 1/2 years old

Weekend Mountain Trip

This weekend we took a much needed trip to the mountains to relax. We went to Andy's parents' mountain house in Sparta, NC. It was so nice! We went with some friends who have a 5 month old baby, who was a terrific baby. I wish the boys had been that good at 5 months! It was a very relaxing weekend. We had a tiny bit of snow this morning and some rain yesterday. After the rain ended yesterday we were able to go for a little walk and the weather felt nice. Then it got windy and cooled off last night. So this morning it was pretty chilly outside. It was a nice change. We are actually ready for cool weather. Hopefully next time we make it up there we will have more than a dusting of snow. The hats the boys are wearing are from LittleToppers and they are wonderful!

Always Something

Doesn't it feel like every time you buy something expensive or pay something off that within days something goes wrong. Well it happens to us all the time! We paid our car off last month and literally the week of the service engine light came on. This past week we bought these sewing machines and then yesterday morning I turn on the tv and the picture was messed up. Andy hit it and it got a little better, but later in the day it was worse and then just turned off on its own! We didn't know it was the tv until that happened. Before we thought it was just the cable messing up. Well Andy managed to carry the big heavy old school tube tv out of the living room and then set up our huge 19" tv. Well after doing that the cable box wouldn't work! Just great, now all my ERs are lost and this is the last season. We also lost countless Man vs Wild and Disney movies that the kids love. Now I don't know how we lived without the DVR! We are hoping the tv can be fixed because there are other things we would rather spend money on than a new tv. Oh well, that's life!

Yesterday, since the tv was broken, I decided to take our Christmas card pictures. The reason why is that Shutterfly has their cards 20% off and then if you buy 75, which I needed, then you got 75 free address labels, and then you also got free shipping if you spent more than $25! So the shipping took of almost $13 and the labels were worth about $18! That is a great deal!! So if anyome needs photo Christmas cards then hurry and do them at Shutterfly before 11/22--I believe is when these deals end.

Here is a preview of our Christmas card pictures. These are not the ones we chose, but some cute ones. They made me really relaize that the kids look nothing like me. They look exactly like their daddy, which I guess is a good thing.

Would have been cute if Cale didn't close his eyes!

Triple Coupons and More!

Starting tomorrow Harris Teeter will triple coupons up to .99!! The sale runs starting tomorrow 11/6- Sunday 11/9. That is a whopping 4 days!!! We plan on going several times. For a look at good deals check out savvydollar.org.

I purchased a new sewing machine yesterday! Actually, 2 sewing machines. One machines sews and does embroidery. The other is a serger. I am "sew" excited aobut learning to use them! Hopefully it will not take me too long to figure it all out and I of course have several classes to go to. So soon I will offer monogramming on items!!

Also, the pork chop casserole from the other day was a huge hit in our house! It was funny when we sat down to eat Cale asked why we were eating at home? I laughed and Andy didn't understand him until Carter repeated it and then he said that was sad. I said we eat out a lot and I wasn't kidding. I do cook a couple times a week or more. This week I was already making a list of things I could make from stuff I had or were on sale and looking through my Kraft and Fix It cookbooks. then my mom told me there were triples this week! I had totally missed it! Usually I keep up with the savvy dollar forum, but I have been forgetting to look. I guess I will get back on track looking. Anyways, good luck with you couponing!!

BLACK FRIDAY!!!!

I also just added the link to the Black Friday ads page, http://bfads.net/. I heard the other day that this year, because of the terrible economy, they are going to have awesome deals!! I can't wait. Last year I didn't go because we were in Ohio and there wasn't really anything that I cared about, but this year I am hoping to make up for it. They have released the Sears ad, which I HATE Sears so I didn't even look and that is a long story for maybe tomorrow so that others don't make the mistake we did, and heard there were great deals. Also, Bed, Bath and Beyond and Walgreens. They say with in the next week we should have a lot more. I can't wait for Target and Best Buy and Toys R Us!!

Crock Potting and Other Stuff

This weekend Andy actually remembered to take out meat for the week. First up is pork chops. I am so tired of eating grilled bbq pork chops, so I decided to look in my favorite cookbook, Fix It and Forget It. Almost every recipe called for browning the meat first. I do not like to pre-cook! I will do it if I have to, but prefer not to. So I figured have boneless, skinless pork chops I probably didn't need to do that and then called and asked mom and she agreed. So I chose, Pork Chop Casserole. It called for 4-5 chops, rice, water, parsley, salt, pepper and cream of mushroom soup. The boys don't like normal casseroles, but love rice and cream of mushroom soup. I think so far it smells really good, but what doesn't smell good in the crock pot?! I will update tomorrow on how it tastes. Hopefully it will be yummy! I may do some stewed apples with it since I love apples and pork. If only I had beer for my beer bread.

Yesterday Cale made Andy and I laugh, which does happen often but this is kind of sad too. We were stopped at a red light and across the intersection was a Moe's, great restaurant for those that don't know. Well Cale spots it and says, "M-O-E-S that spells quesadilla store!" Andy was like what did he say, but I was too busy laughing to tell him. As you can tell, the sad part is that we eat out way too much! Plus the boys LOVE quesadillas! They have them classified as spicy-Taco Bell, cheese dip-El Rodeo, and yesterday they had one at the balloon place-Red Robin. They actually even looked at the pictures on the menu and when I said do you want bok bok or quesadilla, Carter pointed to the picture of the quesadilla and was like I want that. I guess I need to cook more, which is why I think Andy came home and took meat out. Also, I need to save money to pay for the new sewing machine I am getting this week! It is going to be a combo that also monograms!! I can't wait to learn how to use it and add that too my growing business. So if that interests anyone give me a month to make sure I can do it and not ruin anything and then I will post when I am taking orders for that.

Happy Halloween

For Halloween we went to a neighborhood party and then trick or treating. It was a lot of fun! The boys had a great time at the party, especially playing on the scooters. I guess we know what Santa will be bringing them. Then once it started to get dark we headed up the street to go trick or treating! The first house we stopped at were some new neighbors and they turned out to be identical twin sisters that were probably about our age that bought the house together! They were so excited that their first trick or treaters were also identical twins! How funny is that? We got a lot of comments on the costumes and a lot of people asking if I made them. Which was kind of funny because I don't think our neighbors know what I do for a living. I did not make them though. I was lazy and pushed for time, so I ordered them from Target. The boys caught on very fast as to which houses we could go to, the ones with the lights on, and which ones we could not. Unfortunately for me I forgot to put out my bucket of candy for any trick or treaters, so now we have a ton of candy! The boys got a lot of candy and other goodies. So much that their buckets were too heavy to carry. They don't really care too much about eating it, which is a good thing. They just like to take it out and look at it. Sounds good to us!

On another happy note, Cale has continued to poop in the potty without very much help from the meds. This is a huge accomplishment! I think we may be over the potty training hurdle. Now if Cale can just get the holding it over night thing down then we will be completely done. Hopefully we will be done with drama for a few weeks, since this last one has lasted over 3weeks.

Epiphany Toilet

Well this afternoon Cale finally pooped on the potty without much crying and screaming! This time it only took about 5 minutes and then he was done, at least for the first time. He then came back and went poopy 5 more times! There was no crying and he was actually trying and had no problems! It was probably one of the best feelings ever, how sad is that?! It really does feel good to know that it has finally clicked with him, at least hopefully it clicked. I just hope that it isn't something that happened once and then he will return to his old ways tomorrow. The new problem I have been having is the fact that Carter will not take a nap. Sometimes they do this and will go several days without a nap, but it is really hard when they won't sleep and you can tell they need it. Carter just lays in there singing and making sounds. It wouldn't be so annoying if Cale wasn't trying to sleep and if I wasn't trying to get some work done and have a little peace and quiet. Hopefully it is just a phase and it will be over soon. That seems to be trend with us. When one kid is going through something the other one is fine and then as soon as it all gets back to "normal" the other kid starts having issues. I guess it will never end, but it would be nice to have a good and peaceful holiday season. toilet

More Pumpkin Events

This past weekend we had a few more pumpkin adventures. Last week my mom came to visit for a few days and we made another trip to the pumpkin patch. When we came home my mom helped the boys put little Mr. Potato Head Vampire parts on it. It turned out really cute and they had fun! Carter calls it tater tot pumpkin. On Sunday our church had it's Fall Festival. The boys wore their costumes, but wouldn't put the tops on. That's ok at least they wore them. Cale was a little cranky at first, that's why there are no pictures of him. They played some games and won some candy. They once again made us wait in line for the bounce house and the wouldn't get in, so then Carter changed his mind once he realized Cale wasn't getting in. I'm sure I will have tons more pictures to put up after Halloween!

The boys' fireman costumes from last year still fit fine, but for some reason they really wanted to be pumpkins. How orignal, right?! Well Target had some left online, but only had 2T-3T which is a little too small. Oh well, they fit well enough. Carter orginally said he wanted to be ghost. I don't know why, but I talked him out of that one. Cale said he was whatever Carter said, which is different from how it usually goes. I tried to hard to get them to be Sully and Mike from Monsters Inc. They would have no part of that. I thought they would love it since it is their favorite movie, but no. So they will hopefully be pumpkins for Halloween. They have been watching the Little Einstein Halloween show and kind of understand trick or treating, but we'll see. Last year the first house we went to they just barged on in. It was funny. It was this guy we always see walking, but never saw which house he lived in. Yes, we know our neighbors real well.

Speaking of which, we will soon (probably when the economy turns around) have a new neighbor accross the street. They have finally almost finished building the house accross the street. I will be so glad when they are done! Today they are tearing up a space to pave the driveway. It is loud and annoying. Anyways they are asking a crazy high amount for this house. I hope that means our house is now worth millions! Yeah right! We joke that the contractor probably wishes we would weed our front landscaping so that it doesn't look so junky. After finding the black widow I no longer weed the yard.

NC State Fair

On Saturday we went to the fair. Andy's parents came up to go with us. We had a good time. The weather was actually cool and sometimes a little too cool, but it was a nice change from the 87 degree weather we had last Thursday. Cale was a little ornery because of some pooping issues. Sometimes I don't understand how one minute he can be perfectly fine and the next minute he is defient. Who knows what 3 year olds are thinking?! If someone can tell me what do with him I will pay just about anything! I do feel bad for him for his constipation issue and I wish there was something I could do, but he just keeps holding it. I don't know what else to do. That is why he looks thrilled to be at the fair. As of today he hasn't pooped since Sunday! I know this is what everyone wants to read about, but apparently this is typical 3yr old behavior. Sometimes I can't understand why people choose to have more children. This parenting thing is hard! Oh well, I guess like all things the good does out weigh the bad. I just hope Cale will one day realize that it is much nicer to poop in the potty than in his pants.