coloring contest

tonight we took the kids out to mary's pizza shack for dinner. they are currently doing a coloring contest for halloween. so while we were waiting to be seated ella and i were admiring the entries posted on the wall and window. i commented on how nicely the kids had colored their pictures and ella was quick to agree.

so we were seated a few minutes later and the hostess (who is actually a gal from our church) gave ella and corinne crayons and coloring sheets. ted and i got to work getting jackets off, moving things out of corinne's reach, seating bohdan safely, and deciding what to order.

i looked over at ella and she had begun coloring her pumpkin. for the first time she drew a face and mostly colored in the lines. ted and i were so surprised!! usually she colors "swatches" of color all over the page.

you can't see the eyes here because she colored over them. i guess she was really inspired by the other pictures.

corinne also colored more than normal, but she was more interested in taking the crayons in and out of the cup.

this is corinne's finished product. they both entered their pictures in the coloring contest. ella was quite pleased with having an entry as i filled in her name on the back she said, "that's right mommy, i begin with 'e'".

medtronic trick-or-treat

every year for halloween ted's office puts together a little fesivity. family members can bring in their kids to trick-or-treat through the different departments. so, the kids got to try out their halloween costumes early.

corinne got her minnie costume for her birthday. she actually stood still while i fixed her hair!!

ella surprised me on monday when she told dr. brewer she was going to be a ladybug. it was the first i'd heard of it! so, there was some late night shopping at target to put this thing together.

she was pretty excited about it!!

here's little minnie looking very tiny in a big office. so, this year the office had a haunted house as well. we didn't take the kids through, but there was a section right at the beginning where you could take your kids and get glow sticks and candy. unfortunately, you could hear "boo's" and screams in there. ella was so scared she dropped her glow stick as she headed for the door. luckily only one small part was the haunted house and the girls enjoyed well-lit, scream free trick-or-treating out of the rain. we even got to eat lunch with ted (which i think was their favorite part).

the excitement was too much for corinne and once again she fell asleep on the way home.

here's ella concentrating very hard on how she's going to open her candy.

goodbye

on september 10th my grandma passed away. she was mother to 14 children, grandma to 24 grandchildren and great grandma to 25 great grandchildren. as an adult i didn't get to spend much time with her, unfortunately. but i do have memories of her from when i was a kid. she was kind and so giving! when ted and i took the girls to see her last summer she gave ella the beads she was wearing- stuff like that. when my brother was born, my grandma came to help my mom and, in my 5 year old mind, grandma made THE BEST eggs! there are times when i am with my mom i see my grandma in her: the sweet way she fixes her coffee and drinks it happily, the way she stands in the kitchen and gives me a little smile. i love those moments. this picture of my grandma was taken years ago in my parents old house in south florida (my childhood home.) i think this is how i'll always remember her. goodbye grandma. thanks for being so kind, selfless and humble. for having so many kids- especially my mom!, for putting up with so much racket in your house: like kids running, dogs barking, family laughing, siblings bickering, brothers and sisters remeniscing about younger days, for making the best eggs, for having enough love to go around to all of us. i love you! i'll see you again on streets of gold...

a little treat

another outing we took as the 5 of us was to target (big surprise!) we all stopped in at the starbucks inside and got a treat. the girls were thrilled when ted ordered each of them a hot chocolate.

i'm not sure what they enjoyed more, the fact that they got cups like me and ted or that those cups had hot chocolate. but they were excited.

in true form, my little charmer, corinne, was making friends with the other patrons.

pick a seat, any seat

in between my mom's visit and my aunt's ted and the kids and i had a week alone. ted took the week off and we just took it easy. one evening we decided to go out to "el patio" on fourth street. while we were inside ordering corinne climbed into bohdan's stroller and sat in the basket. i guess she was too tired to walk?

this is livin'

this is how corinne wanted to ride home from san francisco after dropping my mom off at the airport. she cracks me up!

sweet boy

this little guy has been such a good baby. he eats like a champ, and sleeps like an angel. he pretty much only cries when he wants something. i guess he's making up for all the miserable months of morning sickness.

he really likes sleeping in the sling. i love this because i can go out with him and he'll just sleep soundly- i get my hands free and still get to hold him! bohdan is 6 months today! i can't believe it's been 6 weeks. this is my first week by myself with all three kids. so far no trips to the er, calls to poison control, or temper tantrums (by me or the girls).

bumpin' up and down in my little red wagon

for corinne's birthday she got a red wagon from my parents. so, ted and i took them for a walk on sunday. they were all excited to be off, tucked in with blankets and their juice boxes (they had to have something to put in their cup holders). as we headed out, corinne was singing "bumpin' up and down in my little red wagon" over and over again.