halloween 2009 & some

i need to get these posted before it's way too late, if it isn't already! we had a great halloween this year...the holidays just keep getting more and more fun as the kids get older and their excitement grows. here they are making some witches' brew before getting ready for trick-or-treating...

they were a cowboy & cowgirl this year...in the weeks leading up to halloween, emerson tried to convince everyone that they should "be like me" and dress up as a cowgirl. she loved it...she's still asking people, "what you be??"

headed out with dad...emerson has like 5 shirts on mind you. it was pretty chilly that night, and so in an effort to not cover up her cowgirl outfit, we just layered her like crazy...she was little miss hefty for the night.

our after trick-or-treating snack...i don't know what i was thinking, really. well, i do know what i was thinking. i thought this was a cute idea and i wanted to make them, BUT the kids really didn't need more sweets & it was cold outside...icecream on a cold night...not the best idea. BUT, we did have hot chocolate with it...if that counts for anything!

the chocolate webs were a hit...i'm pretty sure the kids skipped out on the icecream & brownies...

miss emmy with her "de-peanuted" candy. i was very thankful for her cooperation with the whole thing. i'm surprised at how well she understands the fact that certain food will make her sick. thankfully she never puts up a fight at all & zac is always sooo good to keep an extra eye out for food that contains peanuts. it sure makes things a bit easier in times like halloween! :)

this girl is a hoot. she makes us laugh every day & is growing up sooo fast, it's crazy. i still call her my baby, because she is in a sense...even though she is 2 1/2! she's very quick to correct me when i call her ''my baby", by saying, "no. me emmy. me big guu (girl)." we're having a twin bed delivered for her tomorrow...and it makes me sad. i'm realizing that these kids are not going to stop growing up! they change so fast. if anything, it's just a reminder to savor the time i have with them all that much more...

in this picture, she was in perfect position for a cute shot...i asked her to smile, and this is what i got in return...

this fall zac conquered the monkey bars!! it was so fun to watch his persistence come out...he'd try over & over until he got it down. those little accomplishments are so fun to watch and experience...i was so proud! :) and speaking of kids growing up fast...this boy's 5th birthday is monday!! crazy...

it's a...........

so thanks to cousin natalie, we tried something different this time around. instead of finding out what the baby was right then and there at the doctor's office, we had the ultrasound technician call a bakery with the baby's sex...and then we had family over last night to join in on the fun...chad wasn't such a fan of the idea...he really wanted to peak during the ultrasound, but it turned out to be a success!!

cutting the cake...ooooh, what's it gonna be???!!!! pink???? or blue????

and it's........

BLUE!!!!! yay!!! zac was sooooo excited, as you can tell from the picture...for the last couple of days, he's been saying "mom, i REALLY hope the cake is blue!! i REALLY want a brother!!"

needless to say, we can't wait to have another baby boy in our home!! (and thanks again natalie, for the fun, fun idea!!)

the bug

emerson has caught the bug already...

and we're all recovering from a nasty cold bug that paid us a visit last week...i'm finally getting my voice back, so that's a plus. we did find out through this whole ordeal that the reason emerson has had pneumonia 3 times since april is probably due to the fact that she has asthma...poor girl. is asthma something you can grow out of? probably something i should research. :)

halloween house

we may be bad bloggers, but we're sure having fun getting ready for halloween!! hope you are too!!! :)

p.s. these houses are much improved from years past...they come pre-assembled! so all we do is the decorating!! we found ours at walmart for only $10!!

from the mouth of zac

we're heading to boise for grandma field's 90th birthday! should be lots of fun...it's always a party when the field family gets together that's for sure!

anyway, real quick...here's a funny conversation zac and i had last week:

as we're cleaning up blocks in the family room...
zac: "damn, damn, damn, damn. damn, damn, damn, damn."

me: "um zac...that's not the nicest word to be saying. why don't we try saying a nicer word like darn, darn, darn, darn."

zac: "no mom. i'm saying it like beaver dam." (oh, duh.)

me: "oh, i see. well not everyone knows that when you're saying that word that you're meaning a beaver dam. so maybe you should say, 'beaver dam, beaver dam, beaver dam.' because just saying 'dam' is probably not the best choice of words."

zac: "no. i feel like just saying dam. dam, dam, dam, dam. dam, dam, dam, dam."

whatever. i gave up. BUT, he hasn't said it since...so i think he got it out of his system...for now atleast! :)

the "keeping it real 2009" campaign

so pam had a "keeping it real" post on her blog the other day & i loved every bit of it & knew i wanted to join in.

you see, i like interior design...i love looking at & collecting magazines with ideas and inspiration in hopes of one day being able to incorporate some of the ideas into my own home. i love going to the parade of homes every year...for the same reason...inspiration. the only problem with this little passion of mine is this.

so i look at these magazines & go to these home shows and see perfection...literally. i mean everything is beautiful, the beds are perfectly made & don't have wrinkle in them...everything is immaculately cleaned & organized & coordinating...the kitchens have bowls of fresh fruit or freshly baked goodies on the counter...there's fresh flowers in every room, i mean really, everything is just blissful. so of course, i look at these beautiful homes & i think..."i want my house to be and feel like that." and then i want to recreate it in my own house......and i am learning that that is just not realistic. i've had to remind myself that those homes are not lived in. and homes are for living in! yes, i can have a neat & tidy house MOST of the time...but to be cleaning up after my kids ALL day long is not my idea of fun. i'm learning that i'm only going to be in this stage of my life once...and then it's going to be gone & if i don't make the most of it & try to enjoy each day...messy house or not...i'll look back and regret it. i'm learning (slowly but surely) to go with the flow...if things are bit chaotic around the house & the kids want me watch tv with them...but i really have soooo much to do and can't possibly take the time to sit down...i'm learning to SIT DOWN & enjoy a half hour of watching animal planet or whatever we watch. and you know what? everything turns out to be okay. eventually things get put away (it may be days later), but it all gets done, eventually!

so anyway...here's my pictures. now this was my house sunday afternoon after church. yes people, i didn't use saturday as my get ready for sunday day...but that's okay...because sunday was still a great day!

here's our table with a sippy cup full of old milk from the night before & some lovely folded laundry that has a tint of mildew smell to it, seeing as how i left it in the washer for a day too long. BUT there is a solution to that...soak the clothes in the washer for about 30 minutes with a combination of 1 cup vinegar and 1/2 cup baking soda...it works great! trust me...i would know! :)

then we move on to the kitchen floor...emerson's been cooking up a storm in her kitchen & had a hay day. mind you, just after i took these pictures, zac brought me 2 bowls that emerson had stuck in her kitchen's fridge that were full of rotten cucumbers and olives from a week and a half ago. that was a pretty sight...and smell.

the kids' table...and yes it is right in front of the tv, and yes they do eat their meals there, and yes they do watch tv while they're eating.

so here's my magical laundry basket. this thing has come in very handy many times when i'm in a hurry to get things straightened up before someone's coming over. the only problem is that it takes me a week to get it unloaded. so here sits this basket...and this time i did better, it only sat like that for probably 3 days...something to be proud of! :)

i had to laugh to myself the other day when i was thinking back to the first 2 or 3 years of our marriage. every sunday we'd have like a 5 course meal...roast, potatoes, carrots, jello, and rolls. i'd get the table all fancied up and put the food in pretty dishes, it was always something to look forward to. well, life is different now, and we've probably had that meal once this whole year. but there will come a day when i'll have more time and energy to cook bigger meals...but for now, i like simple. it works best for us at the moment...

so i made some progress and cleared off the table for us to eat...and moved the clothes upstairs to my room to join the other clothes that were already draping the chair for a few days....and there they stayed until the next day when i forced myself to get the job done...and i must say...it always feels so good afterwards!

here's the hall closet...as you can tell emerson has definitely been there ripping the toothbrushes out of their package in the process. not sure what she accomplished in all of that, but i'm learning that that's just what 2 year olds do...they like to make messes of anything they can get their hands on. and hey, if it makes her happy...fine. one day i'll have my nice, pretty, perfectly organized closet...but now's not the time for that...at least not for me! :)

playing catch up

so it's been a while since i've blogged...i know. but it doesn't mean that we haven't been up to anything. it's hard to believe that summer is basically over...kids are going back to school & it's time to start shopping for the kids' fall clothes. it always goes by so fast!! zac is sitting here with me as i type and he wants to explain each of the pictures...so here it goes, according to zac:

"it's me eating a popsicle. a star popsicle that i made out of juice! i loved it!"

"during the summer, we popped water balloons for a LONG time....for like a hour! i liked seeing the splashes going up. i looove doing water balloons. well that's it."

"at dad's birthday party, we had lots of fun. i loved the cake & if we had something else i loved it too. we played and i loved playing with grandma & grandpa & brooke & nate & grandpa cazier. i love playing basketball with dad, it's so much fun. i like when he lifts me up in the air and i can shoot a basketball hoop."

"mom worked so hard on her cake that she made. it's out of fabric & diapers. she made it for her friend's baby shower."

"whatever day it was, cause i can't remember...i loved going swimming with brooke, nate, & kalle. it was so much fun. i loved swimming around and around and going inside the pool. but then another day, we came back to grandma's house and the pool was really, really dirty. it had dirt and leaves inside. it was soo grose, so they took the pool down."

"on the orange page, i read a ton of things. i read cat, bat, & whatever it was. it was a fun day writing and reading. i can't wait if i do it again!"

"emerson has been sick lately & we're trying to make her feel better. but sometimes she never gets feeling better. we'll hope that someday she'll get feeling better. she's really, really funny you know!"

there's been so much going on...and we've loved it all. and yes, i've been LAZY when it comes to blogging...but i've had an excuse.

yes, we're expecting!! and we're very excited about it! i just started my 13th week...so that makes our due date sometime around march 6th. and seeing as how my babies like to come a bit early, i'm guessing this little one will make their appearance sometime around the end of february...hopefully. i'm always so ready to be done by the end of it, so we'll see! but yes, i have been sick. i feel like this has been my hardest pregnancy so far. maybe it's because i have two other kids to take care of and more house that needs to be cleaned...but it hasn't been fun. the last couple of days have started to get better, so i'm hoping that the worst is over. :)

zac wants to throw in a few last words..."i don't want my mom to go the hospital 'cause i just don't want her to. it scares me that she's going to get hurt, but i know that she's going to be safe and i know that the baby is too. i can't wait for the baby...if it's a boy or a girl. i'll like it whatever it is!" (i must say, i love that boy...so sweet!)

so even though i've been a bad blogger, life has been very good for our family. for the last month, my new life motto has been "simplify"...and it's making such a difference!! i'll have to share more later...for now, we're off to run errands!! :)

timpview ten year

the reunion turned out to be so much fun! it's nice to have it over with, but seriously as much work as it was, it was all worth it! i think most everyone that came had a good time & it was so fun to catch up with old friends. crazy how fast time flies! i really wasn't the best picture taker though...but i have a few more that i'll post later on facebook for all you t-birds that want to see more.

kristen did SUCH a great job as the emcee. had i been the one on stage, it would have turned into a really boring, awkward night...so we were thankful she came through!! the night wouldn't have been complete without the timpview fight song performed by the cheer & yell leaders...

so good to see friends like ashlee, lindsey, and amy!!

and cameron & brad...

and of course jane...

and a big shout out to my brother nate who was literally sweating to death dressed up as the t-bird. i felt so bad...what a trooper! never again nate, i promise! :)

and i stole some of liz's pictures that her & collin took...

luci & jack

i took some pictures for a friend of mine last week...and it really was so much fun. luci is such an easy going, down-to-earth person...she's one of those people that is just refreshing to be around and she made my job easy! jack LOVED his cute little cars and wouldn't put them down for a second...so cute! anyway...i was glad that luci let me take some pictures...here's a few of them!!