I took the kids Halloween shopping today after we got out of school. I had orginally planned to have Colton dress up as Mickey Mouse since that is his favorite TV character. We were not able to find a Mickey costume, but he immediately spotted a cowboy costume. He was so excited that he ran it over and slapped it up on the counter and told the ladies that his Momma had his money. They all thought it was hilarious! After we left there, we went and picked out Allie's costume. She picked a cute pink and black bat costume. Colton kept telling me that he needed a rope and a horse. I am going to be on the lookout for a rope and Sandy, Colton's babysitter said that we needed to get Duke a saddle and let him be Colton's horse. We came home and of couse Colton could not wait to bust out his cowboy suit, so I let him wear the gun and holster. Now we are still working on the potty training and have found that if Colton is only wearing his underwear, then he will go to the potty all by himself. If he is wearing shorts, you have to catch him or he will have an accident....So, he of course was wearing his holster with only his underwear! It was so funny watching him play cowboy in his little underoos! He finally fell asleep and I couldn't help but catch a picture of him sleeping with his hand on his little gun!

Today was Colton's first day at soccer tots! He was so cute...He has been asking for the past couple of days "Momma, today is my soccer?" Finally today came and we headed to class. Being completely sport illiterate, I took him to his first soccer class wearing flip flops and apparently being the only mother ever to not think to bring a water bottle. We started the class with stretching in a circle.....Now I certainly had flashbacks at this point to the days of me taking Allie to gymnastics when she was 3 because she NEVER wanted to stretch and I spent the entire time trying to chase her around the gym...I even landed flat on my butt once after slamming my head into an uneven bar that I failed to see since I wasn't watching because I was trying to keep her in my sight!.......Anyway, so Colton and I joined the circle with the other 2 boys and their parents. Colton sat for about 2 secs and lost interest. All he could think about was the equipment surrounding the room. He was definitely on excitement overload. Lucky for me, stretching ended quickly and we moved on to LOTS of running and kicking...his favorite things! I couldn't help but think that his enthusiasm for everything in this new sport more than made up for the "I gotta dance" comment he made while wearing a tutu at Allie's dance recital! Rob will be so proud I thought! During the class the coach told the kids twice to take a break and get a drink of water...which is when the other responsible mothers busted out their little water bottles...Colton needless to stay stood next to the coach wondering where this mystery drink was. Okay, so next week we will definitely have a water bottle..... and knowing me, it will be the cutest water bottle there :o) I was really proud of how well he followed instructions and took to listening to the coaches. One of the coaches asked me how old Colton was and when I told him he said..."That is one fast kid!" Now I know Rob will be proud! I had to post this video I took of Colton smoking the competition!!!....ok, so they are only 2, but a Momma has to be proud!!!!

Allie's Fashion Show

I finally got this video working...Hope you guys enjoy it!

Allie's 8th B-day

Allie had her 8th birthday party last night. It was a blast. She wanted a sleepover party with some of her 2nd grade friends. Of course she wanted everything to be pink and black which she calls her signature colors. The party ended up being girls only because Daddy left for work that morning and Colton went to stay the night at his Aunt Novie's. As the girls arrived, Allie greeted each one of them at the door. Then they raced upstairs to see the runway! It was a big hit. Once everyone was there, the girls decorated picture frames. My friend Kim came over and stayed all night to help me keep my sanity. We did all the girls hair and makeup. Then the girls put on a pajama fashion show. You can see the girls strut their stuff on the video clips. Then this year instead of a cake, we decided to do marshmallow K-bobs. The girls were so funny with their little chipmunk cheeks. After opening presents, I sent the girls upstairs for some Karaoke while Kim and I got things ready for the glow in the dark scavenger hunt. We brought the girls tiny keychain flashlights and instructed them to only use them in case of night fright....then the girls came downstairs and were surrounded by dozens of glowing objects. They raced around the rooms in the dark finding as many glowing things as they could. This was a big hit. After the hunt, some of the girls had to leave early, so we said goodbye and got ready for our feature film....Hannah Montana the Movie. Not sure how much of the movie they actually watched, but they did start to settle down a bit. Once everyone had finally drifted off to sleep, I was more than happy to go to bed myself. The girls woke up at about 7:30 and immediately headed upstairs to play some more on the runway. I made them a pancake bar with lots of fruit, chocolate chips, and spray whip and they ate a good breakfast before their moms came to get them. Allie told me yesterday as we were finishing up some of the decorations, "Mom, I hope I have a girl baby so that I can make parties for like you do for me. Then we can plan together and sit and talk while we make our decorations just like we do." MELT MY HEART......those two little sentences were worth it all! Happy Birthday my sweet princess!!

I had a wonderful birthday today! Started out great because it was Friday and so I got to wear my Kaufman shirt and jeans. My wonderful teammate Marianne threw me a FABULOUS birthday celebration. Tonight the Rob and the kids took me to Buca to eat. Then Rob took me to Pet Smart to buy a doggie door....NOW I know this doesn't sound like much of a present, but I have been wanting one since we moved in. He is going to work on installing it tomorrow....he says it looks easy...we shall see. We topped the night off with a piece of Allie's special chocolate cake that she made all by herself!!! It was delicious! HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me!

Today we celebrated Allie's 8th birthday. We started the morning with me waking Allie up by singing Happy Birthday to her. Then we got ready for school and stopped off for donuts. She shared cupcakes with her class and chose a princess crown to wear from the birthday treasure box. She wore it all day and even had her friends saying that they were her subjects! Robert came home from the boat today, so he picked her up early from school for a little special time with Daddy before Colton and I came home. Of course, for dinner she chose to go to Benihana...which if you know her, that is always her go to special dinner place. She ended the dinner saying that this was her best birthday ever...which she says every year....I guess that means she is one happy girl!

Colton had fun today at his babysitter's house. She took him to the park with Kooper, my teaching partner Jill's son. They are so funny together. We are so lucky to have Mrs. Sandy!! She is the best!