Halloween With Horses

Don and Alyssa invited us to attend Halloween With Horses with them this year and since we had never been we were thrilled. We got the kids dressed in their costumes and off we went. Cael was so excited about the horses and kept asking if Bapa was going to be there too. After we paid for our tickets we headed to the rides where the lines were short and the horses were plentiful. Cael rode a couple of times - once where I was allowed to walk the horse - and once being led by another rider. Alyssa asked if she could ride with Branoch and their initial response was no, but we were soon told that as long as we were all wearing helmets it would be fine. Aveyn was all smiles as she rode next to Cael, in front of me on the saddle with Daddy snapping pictures as quickly as he could. I am pretty sure the three of us would have been content to hang out with the horses the entire time, but there was so much to explore. We picked out a pumpkin for Cael to paint and then headed to the Trick or Treat barn where Cael and Aveyn accumulated WAAAY too much candy :)

Unfortunately, it was a bit of a chaotic morning and we left the house without a bottle, diapers, sippy cups, snacks - any of the items necessary for an outing such as this - which meant to we had to leave earlier than we would have liked. However, now we will know exactly what to pack for next year!!! Thank you Sylvester Family - we had a blast!!!

Happy Gram - Circle Time

At the new daycare, they hand out 'Happy Gram's' when the kids do something special or something worthy of being mentioned. I didn't know they did them until I got one for Cael and I was THRILLED..... what a great idea - not to mention it made me so proud! Every day when I pick him up he tells me how much he loves his new school and he seems to be excelling in the new environment. We love him so much and couldn't be happier about the transition!

'Cael's doing a great job listening and paying attention during circle time, he was the only one all week that could remember that the month was October.' - Mrs Kelly & Mrs Stacee

{Aveyn} Quick Update - B.A.N.A.N.A.S

Our daughter is bananas for bananas. She literally cannot get enough and we have to hide them in the pantry because if she sees them she will refuse to eat anything else. She is the complete opposite of Cael who ate everything at this age. She only eats bananas, yogurt, bread, cheese and the occasional Gerber's Graduate meal, but that is far and few between. Ryan and I are going crazy trying to find things that she will put into her mouth rather than throw a fit.

Car seat carnival

3Once again as the kids get older, we are faced with the prospect of having to switch car seats. We knew Aveyn was going to use Cael's old seat and that we needed to find one that would last until the law said he was old enough for a booster {4 years in the state of Colorado} - thankfully the one we ended up purchasing turns into a booster and {fingers crossed} we should be all set until he no longer needs a seat of any kind {fat chance}. Anyway, I digress.....Ryan unpacked the box and put the seat together in the living room and Aveyn LOVED playing in it! She crawled in and sat down, she walked over it, crawled over it, stood up in it and giggled the entire time!

She was having so much fun and it was pretty darn cute to watch. Although on one hand it is kind of aggravating to have all of these toys for her to play with and she chooses the car seat - money well spent I'd say! LOL!

{Cael} - Quick Update - Naughty words

Cael's new favorite phrase is 'Mommy (or Daddy) you're pissing me off'. Awesome right? Wonder where he picked up that little jewel (Ryan Joseph Zikas you should be ashamed). LOL - too bad I was the one who introduced him to the *F* word. THANK GOODNESS he didn't pick up on that phrase. I have said it before and I will say it again - sometimes I wonder what God was thinking when he agreed to give me kids of my own - although I am grateful He did! :)
***As a side note, neither of us make a habit of cussing in front of the kids, but at this age they pick up on EVERYTHING that you say and then throw it back at you with perfect timing.

Holiday preview - 2010

I am a dork and get very excited about clothes especially when it comes to buying for the kids. When Aveyn was born, I received a gift card to Children's Place from a good friend of mine, Kristin and I have been waiting for the perfect opportunity to use it. We are headed to Park City for Christmas this year and I want both of the kids to have outfits to wear for Christmas Day - not just outfits - CUTE outfits. I did some perusing online of all the things that Children's Place had to offer and decided to splurge a little. My goal is to get family pictures taken in black and red and use them for our Christmas card this year. Sooo, what do you think??? Pretty cute, huh :)

Why parents drink

My sister encouraged me to post this story on the blog because although I want nothing more than to forget the experience, I will {hopefully} laugh about it later {and tell ALL of Cael's girlfriends}! I got off of work early yesterday and went to pick up the kids thinking it would be fun to go to McDonald's Play Land. Cael was so excited and kept referring to it as Old McDonalds - 'Mommy are we almost to Old McDonalds'! Once we arrived, Cael immediately started climbing the towers and going down the slide. He was having a blast and I finally decided to just let Aveyn crawl around on the floor {sanitary wipes are my friend}. There were a few other kids, but not too many, which was nice since my kids were by far the youngest and smallest. I was getting ready to take a picture of Aveyn when Cael came down the slide announcing that he had pooped. At first I didn't believe him and wasn't too concerned until he walked towards me and his pants were SOAKING wet. Cael started crying and to make matters worse, there was a little boy behind Cael on the slide who got off, walked up to his Mom and said 'eww, gross, it's all wet' {his mom was at the base of the slide so she could watch him}. At this point, I was embarrassed and trying really hard not to panic. I calmly told Cael that we would have to go home and he started throwing a fit. The other parents were giving me looks of sympathy as I gathered our things and started to herd Cael towards the bathroom. I pulled down his pants and there was poop EVERYWHERE; he had it on his legs, on his pants, all over his underwear and on his feet. You can imagine that at this point I am pretty upset. I wasn't sure what to do with Aveyn since I knew I was going to need both hands, but thank goodness there was a little chair attached to the wall that I was able to put her in. I threw away his underwear and his pants and as I am cleaning him up the mother and son enter the bathroom. Here is a summary of their conversation:
Mom - 'Wash your hands really well honey, in fact, wash them twice'
Son - 'Okay, ugh Mom, it smells so bad'
Mom - 'Are you sure you didn't get it anywhere else?' 'We should probably go home so you can change'
Son - 'Nooo, we don't have to go home, I only got it on my hands, I promise'
Mom - 'It smells AWFUL' {groaning} 'Let's eat dinner out in the dining room' - originally they were going to eat dinner in the play area.
I am pretty sure I could not feel worse until a piece of poop drops to the floor and Cael proceeds to make a huge deal about the fact that there is poop on the floor {he is almost hysterical about it}. The mother and son exit the bathroom quietly, neither saying another word. At this point, Cael has no pants and no underwear and although I do not want him walking through McDonalds with his bare bottom hanging out, I don't know what other options I have. We wash our hands and as I am getting ready to open the door {secretly wanting to disappear}, it occurs to me that I can put my hoodie on him, which will cover his 'parts' so that we can leave {and spare me the embarrassment of parading my son half naked through the dining room and out the door to freedom}. As we exit the bathroom I immediately make eye contact with the father and he smiles as if to say 'sucks to be you, but we have all been there' - keeping in mind that their kids are quite a bit older - around 7 and 9. All I want to do is make a beeline for the door, but I walk over to their table and start apologizing profusely stating that it has been so long since he has had an accident and that I hope I didn't ruin their evening. The mother was very understanding and sweet about the whole thing wishing me a better evening and reassuring me that it wasn't a big deal and not to worry {um, sure}. I thank her, tell her I will try to have a better evening once I get over my humiliation and leave with a screaming Cael at my heels {he really didn't want to go home and wanted to continue to play - HA, NOT ON YOUR LIFE}. So, if there is anyone out there who wonders why parents choose to drink - now you know. After telling the story to my sister, a glass of wine and a solemn promise to never return to that McDonalds again, I am feeling much better.

Halloween preview - 2010

I am so proud of myself because I didn't wait until the last minute to pick out Cael and Aveyn's costumes for Halloween this year {go me}! I did a lot of research because I really didn't want to spend a ton of money {there will be plenty more Halloweens in the future} and I wanted something cute, but also warm - no coats ruining the 'look'. Naturally I will post pictures from Halloween, but wanted to give the viewing audience a preview of what they will be dressing up as this year!

Originally, Aveyn was going to be a butterfly and Cael was going to be Diego, but the costumes I found were either too expensive, too small or not warm enough. I think these are super cute and I can't wait to see what the kids look like all dressed up!!!!

Haircut time!

Ryan still gives Cael his haircuts, however, we have upgraded from scissors to clippers and it makes the job much easier, well, easier than it was :) Cael still hates getting his hair cut and even more so now that he is older. We have tried everything and the last time, instead of cutting his hair in the shower, Ryan opted to try it while Cael was watching his beloved Diego DVD. It started out smoothly, but quickly turned into a nightmare because the tears caused the hair to stick to Cael's face and neck when he rubbed his face. It was traumatic enough that I had to stop taking pictures and help Ryan keep Cael from going off the deep end.