Pre-Halloween Fun

Celebrating Halloween this year was so much fun because Lily was so into her costume and dressing up. Every day she asked if she could wear her Sulley costume, and several times I found her with Marco's Mike Wazowski costume on (true story). 

Our Church Halloween Party was the introduction to Halloween and "Trick-or-Treating." As a family we decided to go all out and have fun this Halloween and do a family-theme. Our Family theme was:

Monsters University

Daddy was Art

Mommy was PNK cheerleader Monster

Marco was Mike Wazowski

Lily was Sulley (James P. Sullivan)

Lily was especially excited to participate in the parade.

After going through about half the cars, Lily caught on to the concept of "trick or treating" and was so excited to go to the next car. Mommy made sure that she said "Thank You" each time she received a pice of candy.

The third time Lily was able to wear her costume was at her Preschool on the 30th. 

She loves her preschool class and her preschool teachers and she loves dressing up and she loves monsters. So the last week of October was one of the best for Halloween because she was so in her element and so happy. I love living vicariously through her happiness and enthusiasm and watching her experience new things.

Lazy 5 Ranch

On October 26, I was invited (through Parkgroups) to go to Lazy 5 Ranch. Apparently, if you get a group to go, then you get a discount ($10/person ages 1 and up compared to $16/person). I invited Rachel McClung (and her two adorable little boys) and we ventured out to find out about all the hype behind this Ranch. 

I came with no expectations. And left completely BLOWN AWAY! It was one of the coolest things I have done in a long time. I felt like I was on a safari/adventure/traveling/exploration/entertaining hay-ride. And I'm sorry to ruin the surprise for you, but if you ever come out and visit me - we are definitely going to Lazy 5 Ranch (even if we have to pay $16/person), it is so worth it! I hope that over the next few years I am able to post more pictures of this cool place on my blog and really give you a feeling like you're there on this wild wagon ride with me!

Word of advice (mostly to myself). Next time, I'm going to come better prepared...

~ I'm going to dress more appropriately (it was extremely cold and I only had on light jackets for the kids - we all got colds as a result of my carelessness). 

~ I'm going to make sure that I bring lots, and lots, and lots of hand sanitizer.

~ I'm going to bring another adult with me so that I'm not trying to manhandle two children, a camera, a phone, a purse, and a bumpy wagon ride (where any of the above could have easily fallen off).

~ I'm going to learn to take better pictures of this place.

~ I'm going to take advantage of feeding the animals, or having my children feed them.

~ I'm going to make sure that as Lily get's older that she gets to relieve this experience so that she can remember it and talk about it when she gets older.

Whew.

So... Lazy 5 Ranch is essential a great big area of land, where you can drive your own car through - or take a wagon ride (which I highly suggest) and you get to see all sorts of interesting and intriguing animals that you've probably never seen before, of never gotten that close to before. On top of that - you can pet them, feed them, be slobbered on by them, and have your picture taken with them. It is so incredible. 

Here's a list of some of the animals that we saw: 

Zebras

Ostriches

(Every sort of interesting) Cow

- Scotch Cow

- Watusi

- Texas Longhorn

Buffalo

Water Buffalo

Deer

Scotch Cow

Lemurs 

Pigs

Giraffes

Apparently on the 185 acre tour we went on, there are over 750 different exotic animals from all over the world. And in addition to all the animals we saw, we were able to see some animals on the ranch that were born the day before we came (as well as many mothers who were in active labor).

While on the wagon ride we were able to feed the majority of the animals. Even though it was a little intimidating to feed some and have them get so up-close, in your face - it was still a thrill!

Feeding the animals

Besides being cold, Lily loved seeing all the animals. Notice how at the end of the ride, her bucket is still almost full. She was a little timid and didn't want to feed the animals, but she sure loved looking at them and waving to them.

I was so proud of her for being brave and feeding the giraffe. I think that she would have fed more animals, had I not had my hands so full.

Here are some of my favorite group shots of everyone who came!

10 stars out of a possible 10 stars. 

This place is one of those hidden gems I never knew existed! It makes me want to continue exploring North Carolina to see what else is out there that I can discover!

9 mo. dr

October 23

Marco 9 Month Wellness Check Up

Stats:

Height = 27.5" (69.9 cm) 17%

Weight = 16 lb 3.5 oz (7.357 kg) 4%

Head Circumference = 44.1 cm (17.36") 23%

Shots = 1 (Flu Shot)

Marco is such a cute little boy. He is doing well and seems to have the pediatrician wrapped around his little finger. (We really are so lucky to have our pediatrician, not only as a family doctor, but as a good friend as well).

9 Months

Happy 9 Months Little Boy!

You are one resilient little boy who is full of smiles, determined to get your way, does not enjoy cuddling, and ultra skinny.

Here are some interesting facts:

Teeth: 4

Mobile Situation: Still stands up on his own, but can crawl faster than you'd believe

Words: None, just full of grunts to let us know he's communicating with us

Sleep: Goes to bed between 5:30-6:00 pm. Wakes up between 5:30-6:15 am to eat. After eating, goes to bed for another hour. 

Naps: 2 - Regularly (Morning - around 9:15 am, Afternoon - around 2:00 pm)

Favorite Toy: Anything Lily is interested in

Loves to eat: Anything. Seriously anything!

Size Diapers: 2

Very mischievous, always wants to play, hardly hardly ever cries, and has us wrapped around his finger.

Thanks for being such a cute little boy and coming into our lives! We love you Marco!

Book Club: The Rent Collector

On October 22, I hosted a Book Club for ladies that lived in the ward (and some that didn't). The rules are: whoever hosts book club gets to chose the book. So the book I chose was:

The Rent Collector by Camron Wright

I decided to "host" a bit different than the norm. I wanted to hear everyone's thoughts and opinions on what they thought of the book (instead of reading the discussion questions out of the back of the book and having only those who read the book in its entirety comment). I'm so glad I decided to do it this way because I learned something new from almost everyone who shared their thoughts! People who would have never normally commented, shared their opinions on what they had just read (thus far). Plus, it wasn't a lengthy discussion and after we went around the circle - we were done! (And went to the "bar" for round two of drinks and treats!

As the night concluded, we found out Katie Burton had received a 'selfie stick' from a relative, but admitted to not actually ever using it yet. So I pulled mine out so she could learn and be amazed (and hooked) on to how ingenious this item is! The selfie stick got us laughing so hard that I'm surprised none of these mothers peed their pants. My favorite part was: "The Many Faces of Laura Bell." In a matter of 3 seconds, these were all the various poses that Laura had... while everyone else's faces remained stoic and frozen.

(And the nice thing about no one in the ward knowing that I have a blog is that I can post things like this without offending anyone). 

These same "selfie stick" gals all stayed and chatted with me well until after Midnight. Since having kids, it was the first time I felt (is liberated the right word?) like I was back in College and catching up with my girls! It was so fun to sit around, without the cares of children, and chat into the early hours of the next day. We laughed, we cried, we shared intimate stories and all got to know each other on such deep, profound levels. After tonight I respect these gals so much more and have such a deeper care and love for them than I originally had before. 

It's amazing how something as simple as a "book club" really can bring you closer together!

Littles Halloween Party

For the littles at church, who don't go to school - we wanted to make sure that their Halloween was super fun and that they got an extra special reason to dress up in their costumes! Therefore, three of us gals (your truly, Michelle Jaramillo, Alicia Clinger) got together and planned a Halloween party for any child under the age of 5 (or not in Kindergarten yet) on October 22.

We started out the party where they could color a Halloween image on the table. 

Next came a spooky Halloween story.

Followed by a cake walk (where every child eventually won a prize).

After the cake walk, orange and black balloons were brought out so that the children could run and play with balloons. 

To calm the children down we gave them snacks (Goldfish, Jack-o-Lantern faced clementines, mini cinnamon rolls, cookies, and juice boxes).

Lastly, we had the kids try their hand out at a craft that they could take home with them.

I was in charge of the craft. And I picked one that I thought would keep the kids attention span, not make a huge mess, and one that they could take home and enjoy. Thus the Popcorn Hand was invented.

~ Candy corn as the fingernails

~ Popcorn to fill up the hand

~ Spider Rings as a nice little accessory

~ And tie up the end with some floss

(and you're good to go).

The craft didn't go quite as planned (most mothers ended up sitting down and doing it for their children), but everyone loved the popcorn that they were able to partake of!

(The popcorn was so kindly donated by a local movie theater and everyone commented on how cool, kind, and selfless it was for this theater to donate to children.)

Overall, I think that the kids had fun... and they looked so cute in all their various Halloween costumes. I was so nervous it would be lots of work to organize and carry this party out, but I really enjoyed being a part of the "planning committee" that I can't wait to help out again!