Gift giving discussions Part 1

Me to Lucas: What should we get daddy for his birthday?
Lucas: Hmmm...I think we should get him a new TV.
Me: Really?(said with extreme skepticism in my voice) We already have two TVs. Where do you think we need a new TV?
Lucas: Well, we could put it in my room....so daddy wouldn't have to share. That would be good, right?

Uh huh. Not buying it Lucas. Sorry. Guess we need to go back to the drawing board on discussions about gift giving...tis the season.

Happy Birthday Lucas

Just a quick post--today Lucas turned FIVE. I cannot believe the cute little baby above has been a part of our lives for five years. I've got tons of pictures of birthday events--gotta get em downloaded from the camera, and of course, his big party isn't until this weekend, so I'll have even more then, but just wanted to say how much I love him and how glad I am that we have him in our lives. And I miss the spike Mohawk ;)

Vintage Chloe

My mother recently brought me a bunch of my baby clothes that she has saved. So in the next few weeks I will have to take quite a few pictures of these cute outfits and post them--I'll be doing a "Vintage Chloe" series as she grows into certain pieces. I would love to have pictures of ME in the same outfit to post beside Chloe...but that would mean my mother would have to dig them out and bring them to me since she has all of those...or else I'd have to put the outfits on now and somehow that idea sends me into a fit of childish giggles. The first outfit above was not a childhood ensemble--this one was given by my father when Lucas was born. Both Lucas and Alex have had their pictures shot in it (in the first picture--Lucas on the left, Alex on the right). I'd say Chloe looks the cutest by far...and poor thing practically had to be STUFFED into it. The hat was way too tight for her big head. So we substituted a nice red bow instead. Below is an outfit that was originally gifted to my parents at my birth from my Uncle Allen and Aunt Judy. My mom said she had to squeeze me in it, too, so it was no surprise that it was a little tight on Miss Chloe. But we couldn't pass up an opportunity for vintage pj's! More Chloe "couture" coming soon.

Yard Gate 2010

So we are a little crazy sometimes, but our latest foray into insanity is YARDgating, or tailgating in our very own front yard. We can't make it to Death Valley for the games, so we just set up shop on our very own grass (or dirt in our case). We did this for the Florida game and again this past weekend against Alabama...and so far it seems to be our good luck charm. Scott made Gumbo, and Jenn ordered special desserts. Everyone drank, ate, and chanted the fight song frequently (our Razorback friends abstained from the singing). Below is the set up--and yes, that is cars pulled up in my yard. What would yardgating be without a tail to rest our TV's on??
Dessert 1 against Florida...we also had a cookie cake.
Chloe decked out in purple and gold for the Bama game:
Dessert for the Bama game.
Josh sharing his "40" with the kids. Just kidding.
Lucas showing off his fleur de tiger

10th Annual Halloween Festivities...

Can you believe we have been having Halloween parties for TEN years?? Sheeesh. We are old. Anyway--each year I get more and more decorations. Sadly, I did not put out all my adorable Department 56 houses this year--no time and no place to put them (we cannot build a new house fast enough--we are BUSTING out of this one!) But I did score these wonderful new coffins for FREE (thank you Target and thanks mom for helping me pick them up!) They were actually displays at Target last year and I nicely inquired if I could have them...and they said yes! I LOVE free! Especially when it looks so cool (after a nice coat of paint). I bought the skeletons for cheap online and hid them in my closet until I was ready to decorate. Lucas was snooping one day and scared himself silly. Now he refuses to go in my closet (which is a very good thing) and he cracked me up one morning by innocently asking me "Mommy, do you still have skeletons in your closet?"
Here's Spidy...I've had him for years and he likes to hang out on his big old web on the front of the house. This year he had some baby friends lurking around in webs too.

Somehow we misplaced our tombstones (that phrase would be strange if read out of context...) so we had to borrow some from the BM crew this year (thanks!) If someone wanted to get me a great Christmas present, I'd love some big wooden tombstones with funny phrases written on them like "Ima Goner", "Seymoor Butts" and "See...I told you I was sick!" Anyway...I watched a HGTV Halloween special this year and I stole the bones/dirt/candle idea for our yard. Turned out nice and spooky.
Lots of great costumes again this year, I'll feature a few here...Tim Burton's Corpse Bride:
The Unicorn Farmer family:
The Roller Derby Crew:
And our family...the vampires. Here is Count Alex...He wants to suck...his finger!!
Josh and I were Bill and Sookie from True Blood. Josh got a little too into character...here he is showing off his chops, his fangs, and sipping on his real TruBlood.
Scott and Jenn cracked me up as crazed Razorback fans..Scott's shirt said "Happy Hogoween" and featured a Razorback.

And Lucula...who ate so much candy I'm surprised no one reported me to DHS.