Happy Halloween

Thursday night was trick or treating in out community. The Elliott's came over to walk around the neighborhood with us. Greg and Leah were pirates. Grisham was a frog and Genevieve was a pumpkin fairy. It was Leah's costume from last year. Thanks Mary for letting us borrow it for the night. We stood out in the drive way waiting for six o'clock to arrive and then we were off. Grisham and Greg were so excited but I must say they did a great job with their "trick or treat" and then their "thank you's". Most people sit out in their drive way but one guy actually jumped out of his window to scare the kids. I was so mad that this guy would scare little kids. Grisham ran for his life and said that the man was scary. He wouldn't go back for his candy at that house but at least it didn't ruin the night. We made our rounds in about an hour. By then the kids were tired and their bags were way too full.

Play Kitchen

Most of you may not know but over the past year or so I have been obsessed with finding the perfect play kitchen for the kids. Not just perfect in play ability but price too. Well I finally found it. Wal-Mart on line. Great price and think the kids will have many fun hours of play. I originally planed to keep it a secret until Christmas but Scott (who has no patience when it comes to gifts) wanted me to put it together for the kids now. I caved thinking about all of those long winter days being stuck indoors. I looked at the directions and found out that it was going to take me hours so I had to wait until either bed time or nap time. I had my chance yesterday after the birthday party. The kids were so tired I figured they would take long naps. Scott sat and watched football while I put it together. I have never been one to like putting things together so this was going to be a challenge. It did take me a couple hours but I was very proud of myself when it was all done and I think the kids like it too.

Birthday Party

Saturday the kids and I went to a Halloween themed birthday party. The birthday girl , Alexa Simpson, was turning five. Grisham, Genevieve, Sophia, Luke and I had a great time. Grisham was a frog, Genevieve was Elmo, Sophia was a mouse and Luke was himself. The kids got to eat cotton candy, sno cones and pizza. They painted pumpkins and masks. A balloon guy came and painted faces too. But none of my kids had the patience to sit through that. I had to keep a close eye on Sophia because she loved to go pick up all of Alexa's presents and attempt to open them. We had to call it quits around 12:30. Nap time was a must for crabby kids. It was a great party. I have always loved having a birthday around Halloween and I hope Alexa does too.

Carving Pumpkins

A couple weeks ago when Scott's parents were in town went to a pumpkin farm to find perfect pumpkins. Well, these perfect pumpkins sat in the garage until now. I finally made the time to carve them up. Scott and Grisham took care of cleaning out the guts then I was going to do the carving. Scott had an enormous amount of reading to do. I bought one of those carving guides and figured it would be easy enough. Yep, NO!! I picked a simple one to start with. It was supposed to be a castle and a ghost. It took forever and my hand was killing me by the time I was done. Then Grisham decided to help and broke off the castle. I tried to put it back together with tooth picks but now it just sags. So the next pumpkin was going to be a simple jack o lantern face. Turned out ok. I decided to give one of the guides another chance. So I found and even simpler cut out and went for it. It was supposed to be a bony face but didn't turn out very well. Scott came in and noticed how tired I was and volunteered to take over. Well he couldn't see my outline very well and ended up cutting half the face off. Once again we tried to piece it back together with tooth picks. Needless to say we are not artists and the carving pumpkins was a complete failure this year. Hopefully next year will be better. I don't think I will put candles in them, they are pretty sad looking.

Boo at the Zoo

I know I am backed up with my posts. Sunday we went to Boo at the Zoo. We went later in the day after naps. The weather was great. Grisham was a frog this year and Genevieve was Elmo. We first went to see the snakes and then went in search of the treat stations. We headed over to Australia but found nothing so we decided to cross over and go back to Asia and North America. Success!! Lots of treat stations but they always have you fill out their win a prize cards after you get candy. I really hate that because in a month or so I am going to have umpteen phone calls about how I won a trip or a facial or a free sample set. Uggg!! I don't want it!! I just want your candy for my kids!!!! We ended our evening with a ride on the train. The kids were cold and hungry and I was so ready to go home. (side note- As the sun was setting the fog machines turned on. Well Grisham really really did not like them. Especially when Scott would play in the fog. Grisham had to save daddy from the fog)

H1N1

Ohh the H1N1 Virus. Life would be so much calmer if you were not around. I am amazed at the mass hysteria that this bug has caused. I don't think the media has helped one bit. Yes it is there job to inform us but they only like to inform us on those very rare and scary cases!! I have been concerned about being exposed to the virus, being pregnant puts me in high risk. I worry about my children and I worry about Scott. He is exposed more than any of us. Audey, Brenner's mom sent me an email yesterday afternoon. The Health Department was holding a two day vaccination clinic for those who are high risk ( pregnant, health care workers and childcare givers who care for children 6 months or younger). Scott was post call yesterday so we decided to go down together. He is not so worried about himself, but I am. I forwarded the email to all my pregnant friends so they could make their own decisions. My friend Erin went down about an hour before me. She said it was packed and that they were turning a lot of people away (people who did not meet the requirements). Scott and I made it down around six and we were out before 6:30. I must say the Health department was very organized and did a great job getting people in and out. I am so thankful that we had the opportunity to be vaccinated. I know it is a controversial subject but Scott and I made this decision for our family.

Baby Appointment

Another baby appointment today. Scott was able to go with me since he is still on vacation. Scott's parents stayed home to watch the kids. I had another ultrasound. Last time the ultrasound tech had a hard time getting pictures of the blood flow from the heart. Baby was being very stubborn that day. As you know I participated in an ultrasound conference for the residents so I was able to see what we are having. Anyway back to the appointment. The ultrasound was first. This was Scott's first time seeing the baby since it was a peanut with arm and leg buds so it was really exciting for him. We did confirm the gender. No surprises for us. It is a girl. We did decide on a name and baby Bob is now baby Carolyn. Carolyn was Scott's grandma's name. We do like family names and this just felt right. The tech was able to get all the measurements and she looks good. Now it was time to see the doctor. I must say that I really do like my new doctor. I know I changed OB's with great reluctance but now I wish I switched sooner. She is so nice and personable plus a great doctor to boot. Dr. Roncone was happy to see that I gained weight this month. I on the other hand have mixed feelings. I never really gained weight with either Grisham or Genevieve so I kinda feel a little out of control with the weight gain. I know it really wasn't much but it is weird and may take some time to get used to. Dr. Roncone went over the scan results with us. She says the baby is doing great but she did bring up a possible concern. On my last ultrasound a big spot showed up on the placenta. The Dr. and the tech both figured it to be a large venous pool ( a large blood vessel), No worries. Well like I said I did that ultrasound conference a few weeks ago. Well one of the residents showed the high risk OB my scan. He thinks it may be more than a pool. I can't remember the technical term but it was fibrous material. This may cause the placenta to be less effective which may cause the baby to not grow normally. Now we are kinda at a cross road here. We can go see the high risk Dr. to get a more concrete diagnosis or do another scan at my next appointment and keep close tabs on the babies growth. Either way growth scans are recommended by both my Dr and the high risk Dr. So Scott and I decided to wait until after next months scan to decided whether we need to start seeing the high risk OB. Dr. Roncone is pleased with Carolyn's growth but just to be safe we are going to be doing many growth scans just to be sure. Then later in the future if any trouble does pop up we will do what we need to do for the baby. Overall I am not too worried but still anxious for the next scan. Lots of prayer that all turns out well. More than likely everything will be fine. God is in control and trust in His will. Whatever it may be.

More Weekend Fun

Sunday we drove down to Cincinnati to see the largest grocery store in the country. Jungle Jim's International Grocery covers six acres. I was able to snap a few pictures outside the store but was unable to take them inside. I guess it was banned. This store was sooo big we didn't even see half of it in the hour we were there. The wine and liquor section was half the size of our grocery. They had every kind of food imaginable. The displays were unbelievable. Their was a full size fire truck that housed all the hot sauce from every corner of the world. They had food samplers around every corner. I really can not tell you all that this store has to offer. It was just too big. The kids and I were getting too tired and hungry to carry on so we picked up a few groceries and left. Betty loves to eat at the restaurant Max and Irma's so we went there for lunch. After finding our way back to the interstate we drove back to Columbus. Since we had a few more hours of daylight we decided to go to Circle S farm for some pumpkin picking. They have some fun activities for the kids but I think the greatest had to be the hay barn. Grisham and Cali really liked the slides. Genevieve had a blast trying to walk around in the hay. The sun was setting so we needed to get our pumpkins picked. Each kid got to go find there own. Cali found hers in no time. Genevieve and I found a perfect sized pumpkin for her. Scott and Grisham went off the beaten path to find one for him. The temperature was dropping fast and we were all ready to get home. With pumpkins in hand and noses running we bid farewell to the farm.