It's official. I'm old.

I was reading a book in bed last night and Rob was beside me editing away on his laptop. When I reached over to turn off my lamp I noticed Bennett's music box on my night stand. It is an Ariel music box and Ariel sings and dances when you open it. The following was our conversation.

Me: You know, I never really noticed before, but Ariel isn't wearing much at all.

Rob: She's a mermaid! What is she supposed to wear?

Me: Well, She could at least have some straps or something on her bikini top.

Rob: When did you become such a Mom?


He's right. I'm old. And that mermaid is showing far too much skin in my opinion.

What in the world?

A few nights ago I was making dinner and when I called Bennett to the table she asked me for some juice. Being the good Mom that I am, I poured her some orange juice.

The problem was that she didn't want orange juice. She wanted strawberry juice. I told her she was getting orange juice.

She burst into tears and said, "STOP CRITICIZING ME!"

Okay. Let's get beyond the fact that this made no sense whatsoever in the context of what was going on, but where in the world did she hear that phrase? It's not like it's bad. In fact, Rob and I are still laughing about it three days later. But we don't say that to each other.

Did Minnie have it out with Mickey in one episode and let him know how she truly felt? Because other than the that cartoon, I have no idea where she got that. On the playground at school? Who knows?

And at dinner last night this was all we heard. I am writing it in the stream of consciousness form that it was delivered.

Bennett: Ooohhhh, you had better watch out because the killer crabs are coming. They're going to get you, Mommy. Killer crabs are not nice. They eat horsies. You better behave, Will-men or killer crabs will get you. You a killer crab, Daddy?

I have no idea where this child came from. I just hope the killer crabs stop criticizing her.

So many pictures it might hurt your eyes

I am way behind on posting pictures. I know this may not be a problem for most of you, but I like to have a record of things, so bear with me. Here are some completely random shots that have nothing to do with each other, but I thought I would throw them all together and see what comes out. Kind of like a GLEE mash-up. Yes, I went there.

Here are my sweet kids enjoying the beautiful Fall weather. I LOVE autumns in Kansas. They are almost as perfect as the ones in East Tennessee. Almost.

We went to a pumpkin patch earlier in the month and Bennett had to find Levi first thing. These kids adore each other. Bennett always wants to see her "bestest buddy."

I went to the pumpkin patch with a bunch of other ladies from my Moms group.

My friend Sarah and her beautiful little girl, Reese.

Only my daughter would completely ignore the pumpkins and head straight for the fake horses on the wall. She is not right in the head sometimes.

Look, Bennett found a pumpkin!

Look, Will found a paci!

My daughter wears her Cinderella dress everywhere. And I do mean everywhere. I don't want to stifle her creative spirit, but I did have to draw the line at wearing it to church. If they think I'm odd when she wears smocked dresses, there ain't no telling what the would think if she showed up in this.

Gooey pumpkin goodness

Stoic and focused Rob on pumpkin scooping duty. Stoic and focused Bennett copying her Dad.

Casey- if you're reading this, there's your drawing table. It's like Switzerland in this house. It's the only neutral activity that my kids will actually do together.

I snapped this shot of Bennett on her way to school. I absolutely love this picture. And how pretty does it look outside? I mean, come on!

My friend Ali had a Halloween party so I took Goldilocks and Baby Bear a few days before Halloween.

Some of my lovely KC friends with their cute little ones.

Of course, Bennett only had eyes for Levi.

Until she found a horse. Then Levi was history. And baby bear had long shed his costume by this point. I'm telling you, my kids and horses are matches made in heaven. We drive around in the afternoons and just look for horses. Think what you will, but that gets me through many long "witching hour" afternoons.

And here's Levi again. This time the bestest buddies met up for a play.

Here are the budding thespians catching a morning show of, "Alexander and the No Good, Horrible, Very Bad Day." It was such a cute show and I probably enjoyed it more than the kids. I will instill my love of theatre into Bennett or else.

Afterwards we caught lunch at the train restaurant...

... and then they hung out in the train with their friend, Ridley.

The cutest kids in the world. It's my blog and I can say that. But they are.


Okay, I'm done. If you made it to the end then you deserve a reward. Maybe three blog posts in a row that don't have any pictures in them. Would that be a good enough reward? We shall see.

More haunting

We didn't take our camera trick-or-treating this year. I know, I know.... shocking! Us without our camera is like Lucy without Ethel. Scarlett without Rhett. Rob without his morning coffee. Crazy stuff.

But my friend Melissa fortunately took some shots of the kids demanding candy and here are a few of them.

First of all I need to start with a flashback picture. Here are Bennett and Levi trick-or-treating last year when they were 19 months old.

And here they are one year later. We tried to recreate last years shot, but we put them on the wrong sides. On, well.


These kids will be friends for a long time. I can't put into words how much they adore each other. Bennett looks at me constantly and says, "Levi is my bestest buddy." And just look at how cute he is! My girl's got good taste.


Here they are with their sweet friend, Luke.

Goldilocks trying to keep up with the candy craving boys.

I am so glad Melissa's husband got this shot. I only let Will go up to two houses and this was one of them. He stayed in his stroller most of the night, but I wanted him to have a little fun. I love this shot, because by this point in the night he has lost most of his costume. He just looked like a little Ewok.

16 months and 2 days.

My baby boy is 16 months and 2 days old today.


Why is this significant? Why is today the day that has caused me so much disbelief?


Because Bennett was 16 months and 2 days old on the day Will was born.


I knew it at the time, but Bennett was such a baby when Will was born. I mean, my goodness. She was a baby.

I look at Will now and he is still so small to me. I cannot imagine bringing another baby into the house. He still needs me so much. How in the world did I do it? But it was what it was. I wasn't able to focus on the fact that it would be hard. I couldn't be sad about the fact that Bennett was about to have to share me. We were just so thrilled that God blessed us with another child.

And Bennett seemed so much older than Will does now. She was speaking 2-3 word sentences. She was so independent. She was so smart and capable. Will is a lot needier. He seems.... younger than Bennett did.

Yet, I do think of all that Bennett has been through. By the time she was in 16 months and 2 days old she had lived in three different homes, moved across the country, and acquired a baby brother.


And it has been hard. I am not going to sugarcoat it. It has been hard on all of us. I have had two babies that have needed me so much and I have been 14 hours away from my nearest relative. I haven't had a break. I haven't had a weekend away. My Mom wasn't able to keep my kids for an afternoon so I could run errands. My daughter just started a kids day out program, so for 14 months I was home 7 days a week all by myself with two incredibly small children. But we did it. We survived and I know our family is closer because of it. Our little family unit has an unbreakable bond and love for each other that I think has been strengthened because we have been in the trenches together.

And I am so proud of Bennett. She is a trooper and is able to adjust and accept whatever life throws at her. However, that being said, I am certainly glad that I am not bringing another newborn home when Will is 16 months old. I have looked at him all day today and shaken my head in disbelief. Craziness. Complete and total craziness.

My babies 16 months ago and then again this past weekend. I am blessed.

All Treats. No Tricks.

We had a wonderful Halloween night. We get into Halloween around these parts, that's for sure. Maybe it's the drama major in me that needs an outlet once a year. I don't know. But I do know that I love the fact that my daughter seems to have inherited my flair for the dramatic. She insisted on wearing her Cinderella dress everywhere she went for the past 2 weeks. She has worn her dress to the bank, to a furniture store, to a hair salon, and more. I let her. Why not? You only get to be young once. Or in my case, once a year. However, she was not Cinderella for Halloween this year. She went as.......

.....Goldilocks and we went as the three bears. Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear. Of course.

Baby Bear with the big blue eyes.

Goldilocks with some blue eyes of her own.

Do I not have the cutest kids ever? I mean, really. I dare you to look at this picture and tell me I'm wrong. Okay, I'm biased. And on a sugar high, but still....

Beware afraid, Goldie. Be very afraid. Or else you gonna get some porridge thrown all up in your face.

Our best friends in KC are some pretty good chefs. They cooked up the cutest little hamburger and hotdog I have ever seen.

We got together with some friends to take the neighborhood by storm. Side note- Our neighborhood was perfect last night. It looked like a movie scene. It was a gorgeous fall night with cool temps and orange leaves falling. The streets were filled with kids and moms and Dads with strollers. It was an incredibly picturesque and beautiful scene.

Spooky graveyard cake!

Halloween fail. Marshmallow pops that slid off of the sticks. Epic fail.

Epic win. Fruit kabobs coming out of a pumpkin.

Pumpkin cheese ball. And it wasn't Rob.

Bennett and I had a blast making these cupcakes together. And she learned how to spell, "Boo." Bonus.

Spooky Mummy Dogs.

Suckers stuck in some floral foam as a table decoration. We ran out of candy at the end of the night and some lucky trick or treaters got these bad boys. I was jealous.

Throwing together anything I could find in the house to make fun decorations.

Getting ready for our little ghouls and goblins

Happy Halloween everyone!


And here's just a quick flashback-

Last year's family photo. Bees and Beekeepers.


Two years ago- Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe.

I love this holiday.