October went by so fast!

Our pumpkin that we carved!


My cute Fireman!


Bricen and Chloe at the Apple Orchard picking out their pumpkins


Bricen and I at Disney on Ice


Bricen playing soccer.

Wow how the time passes us right by. We have had a very busy month. I kept waiting to have a slow week but it never happened and looking ahead I don't think things will slow down until after the first of the year.
We went to Windy Hill Apple Orchard for Bricen's field trip. The kids got to hear a story about Johnny Appleseed, take a hayride, make a scarecrow, pick out a pumpkin, pick out some apples and eat a snack. We went to lunch with April and Chloe afterwards.
I had my 10 year class reunion on October 11th. There was a couple of us that planned for months and boy was that so more job. It was a great idea until the week of. We went to the home football game on Friday night. Then I was at the Larne building we were having the class reunion at 6:45 AM on Saturday morning to decorate. We left there to go to Courtney's at 11:15 for lunch with those that wanted everyone to meet their families. Then we had to go get balloons blown up and finish decorating. I got home at 5 PM to take a shower and I headed back up to the Larne building at 6:00. We had a babysitter. The first time ever. My mom had her class reunion and Albert's mom was out of town. Albert meet me at the Larne building at 7:00. We had a great time. It's hard to believe all that planning and it was gone like the blink of your eyes. I got home at 2:00 AM and I was wore out.
My 28th birthday was October 12th. Needless to say I was a little wore out on my birthday. We went to church and then to my mom and dad's for lunch. April took me to the Long Horn for dinner. Albert had deacon training and they didn't want me to be at home on my birthday.
We had the 4th annual kids halloween party. All the kids are getting so big. I hope to get my scrapbook done of the past 4 years so next year I will have it so everyone can see how much the kids have changed over the years. The kids seemed to have a great time.
We went to Derrick and April's after the kid's party to carve pumpkins and eat chili. We had a great time. I can't tell you the last time I carved a pumpkin.
Bricen had soccer games every Saturday. He had a great time. It was fun seeing him play his first sport.
Bricen also had a bad cold for a couple of weeks and we ended up having to take him to the Dr. because his neck was swollen. The Dr. said he thought it was a bacteria infection possibly from when he had step back in September that was still in his system or a sinus infection from the cold. He is feeling so much better and he is eating so much better as well. It's like the antibotic has given him an appetite.
Bricen had a carnival and trick or treating at his school and he had a ball.
We went to some friends house and had a hayride trick or treating around their neighborhood. That was the most trick or treating Bricen had ever done. They had the best neighborhood to trick or treat and the kids had a great time. We don't need candy until next year. Yes, I am serious. Hope everyone is enjoying fall as much as we are.

Pumpkin Bread Recipe

I love pumpkin bread so I thought I would share this recipe.
Can ya'll tell I love Fall?

Pumpkin Bread Recipe

This recipe makes 3- 9x5 inch loaves

INGREDIENTS
3 cups canned pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
4 cups white sugar
6 eggs
4 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoons ground cloves

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 9x5 inch loaf pans.
In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin, oil, sugar, and eggs. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves; stir into the pumpkin mixture until well blended. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.
Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour. The top of the loaf should spring back when lightly pressed.

Pumpkin Finger Play

I got a piece of paper that the teachers handed out yesterday at Bricen's preschool. It was suggestions for fine motor skills. Finger plays was on that suggested list. So I thought I would look and see what finger plays I could find that would have something do with the time of year. Five Little Pumpkins was a finger play Bricen learned last year in the two year old class and he loved it. So I am going to kick it up a notch and let him draw and cut out little pumpkins from orange construction paper then help him draw faces on the pumpkins. Then we will glue the pumpkins to popsicle sticks and use them for this finger play. So I thought I would share this cute little idea.

Five Little Pumpkins

Five little pumpkins were sitting on a gate.
The first one said, "It's getting mighty late."
The second one said, "There are witches in the air."
The third one said, "I really don't care."
The fourth one said, "Let's run, run, run."
The fifth one said, "It's Halloween fun!"
"Whooo" went the wind, and out went the light,
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.

Here is another finger play you can use with the popsicle sticks.

Five Little Pumpkins

5 little pumpkins at my door
A neighbor came and took one then there were 4
4 little pumpkins under a tree
Along came a farmer and then there were 3
3 little pumkins looked so new
I gave one away then there were 2
2 little pumpkins laying in the sun
Grandma made a pie now there is just one
I then made a jack-o-lantern, wasn't that fun?


Here is a cute website with crafts and activities.

http://www.angelfire.com/dc/childsplay/Halloween.htm#Activities:

I love this weather!

You sure can tell that fall is in the air. We have had some great weather this week. I wish it could be this way year round. Low humidity with sunshine and that cool breeze. Fall is one of my favorite seasons. I am so excited that I can now put out my fall decorations. Since Albert has lost so much weight we have some extra clothes and Bricen and I are going to make a scarecrow. So that should be a lot of fun. Happy Fall Ya'll!

A little catching up!

We have been busy. We have been enjoying Friday night football. Albert and I went to Georgia last weekend four-wheeling and we had some friends that came on Saturday to ride with us. We had a great time and Albert and I were both down that we left Bricen at home so we packed up and came home Saturday night. We picked him up from his Papa and Nona's on Sunday morning. It was nice for Albert and I to have a little time away. Albert took me to my favorite resturant California Dreaming on Friday night on our way to Georgia. Albert bought a back seat for the Rhino for Bricen to ride and it has a harness seatbelt just like his carseat but I just wasn't ready for him to go start riding the trails. I guess he is old enough since he will be buckled up and wearing a helmet and the trails are not bad.
Bricen has been playing soccer. He has a great time running around. Not so sure he knows exactly what is going on but it's never to young to learn. I will post some pictures of him in his uniform. They are all so cute.
Bricen had his first experience this weekend with strep throat. He started not feeling well on Saturday and he was complaining with is throat hurting and since my nephew had strep on Thursday and they had been together on Wednesday I decided to go on and take him to the Dr. I went to the Minute Clinic at CVS and it was great. We were in and out with medicine in our hands in 25 minute. He is doing much better and we are praying no one else gets sick.
I have had several Dr.appointments since I last blogged and everything is going great. I was 13 weeks this past weekend. It sure is flying by. My blood pressure is great and I am praying it stays that way. With Bricen it was already high and I was already taking medicine. I go Wednesday for an ultrasound so that will be exciting! Dr. Peach promised me last Wednesday that he would not let me go over March 29th!!! I was tickled with that news. Bricen's birthday is April 2 and I would love NOT to have them on the same day. Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying this cooler weather as much as we are. Take care!

Bricen's first day of 3 year old preschool!

Bricen's first day of 3 year old preschool! He was excited other than the fact he was going to have new teachers. He didn't understand why he couldn't have his old teachers. It's so hard to believe how fast they grow. It just seems like he was starting the 2 year old class last year.

Baby Update

I went to the Dr. Monday for my confirmation to know I am for sure pregnant. The nurse came in and she said you are for sure pregnant. I laughed and told Albert I am glad we know for sure four pregnancy test later that have all said positive.
I pulled something in my back on Sunday and was feeling a little bit of pulling in my left side so they did an ultrasound just to make sure everything was ok. It was and we got to see the baby and hear it's heartbeat. That is so amazing at 6 weeks you can see that little raisin and hear it's heartbeat. That was a sigh of relieve just to know everything looks great.
They gave me a due date of March 29th. I go back to the Dr. on the 18th for my work up. So that will be my first real appointment.
I have been a little tired and I have been trying to rest in the afternoons to help with that. I do not remember being as tired with Bricen as I am with this one. I guess taking care of a three year old is the difference the second go round.
Bricen is excited! He was so cute Monday. He came in the bathroom while I was in the shower. He said, "Mommy, you got to go to the Dr.?" I said "yes." He said, "Are they going to check your baby?" I said, "yes." I thought that was so cute!

We're going to be a family of four!

I am pregnant! I was a bit surprised on July 21st when I found out I was pregnant. I knew just about all day and wasn't going to tell Albert for a couple of days. Although my husband is pretty observant. So he asked me that Monday night if I was pregnant and I blew it off and it made me get all nervous so I decided to tell him. I had taken a picture of Bricen in a shirt that said I am the big brother so I walked back to my room and got that picture and the pregnancy test. I took it out in the den and handed it to him. It felt like someone had lifted a ton of bricks off of my shoulders. It felt so good to be able to tell someone. We were very surprised. We wanted to wait and tell our parents together and the first time we could get them together was tonight. We had our parents over for dinner and I went back to the bedroom and changed Bricen's shirt and he got to come and out and show it off. He had no clue what was going on. We had not told him. We knew he would tell. Everyone was shocked. I go to the Dr. on Monday but with calculations I am due March 28th. 5 days before Bricen's birthday. We are so excited! Albert's face was worth a million. He was smiling from ear to ear. I will keep you posted!