Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men.....

Like I said before - I love the fall and everything about it. Ever since we had gotten our pumpkins this weekend I was excited to carve them. Raif got home from a business trip early today and my parents are here for Quinn's birthday so I thought that this afternoon was the perfect time. I imagined the whole family sitting around and carving and having a ball. Yeah, not so much. The kids hated picking out the seeds and were completely bored while Raif and I carved our pumpkins. I had even been crafty and went to Michael's and got some stick on felt for the kids since they can't use the knives. The kids were completely uninterested in the whole process. I had to push them to put the felt stickers on their pumpkins and they were more interested in pulling the stickers off the others pumpkins than decorating their own. When I tried to take their pictures with their pumpkins they cried. This is the only decent shot of them I got all day. And somewhere in the process one of them even hit me in the head with a broom. Oh well - maybe next year.

Greyson and Quinn and The Great Pumpkin

Saturday we spent the afternoon at our local pumpkin patch (sometimes it does pay to live in the boonies!). The kids went on their first hayride, played in a corn trough and picked out lots of pumpkins for Halloween. Greyson loved pulling the wagon of pumpkins while Quinn was quite content to just walk around with her little pumpkin she picked herself. Personally, fall is my favorite season and I was excited to do something fall-esque. Now if only the temperatures would match the season.

Finally, Raif is exposed...

The kids have both started a lot of imaginative play lately and so we have spent a lot of time recently at a restaurant, on a plane, at the hospital, at work or getting ready for naptime. But sometimes they sort of mix up their scenarios. Today Greyson was playing with Quinn's panda bear and he informed me that Panda was on his way to work. I asked what Panda was going to do at work and he replied "Take a nap - just like Daddy."

Touche

Apparently Quinn has learned that when I yell "Quinn Virginia" she is in trouble. Today she wanted to read a book and I was trying to get some laundry put away. She asked politely for me to read to her and I said in a minute - with a little more insistence she asked again and again I told her to wait one minute. Finally, she got really mad and yelled "Mommy Virginia you read my book!!!" I guess I am in trouble too.

Happy Birthday Hudson!!

This past weekend we once again packed up the family - this time going to Austin TX to celebrate Hudson Kerr's 1st birthday with Jamie and Page. We had an incredible time and just wish that we lived closer to J & P. Hudson is adorable and sat there quietly as my monster's tore through his house. I think we gave Jamie and Page a little insight into toddler-dom which is rapidly approaching their house.


All my kids know about birthdays is that they get cake. They whined from Thursday night to Saturday afternoon for their birthday cake!

Hudson favored us with a jam session on his new drum set. Only one and already has a couple of groupies.
Jamie and Page about a half an hour before we left on Sunday. Either my children totally exhausted them or they were playing dead so they didn't have to deal with the crazy Erims anymore.

This is what you get....

When you let your husband dress your children. Raif 'claims' he let Greyson pick out his own outfit - sure, that is what it was!!

First time - though I am sure not the last

Today Quinn and I enjoyed a beautiful fall morning and took in the zoo. As we were walking around this man came up the walk wearing this filthy, dirty wife beater shirt and these far from appropriate length shorts. As he was nearing us, Quinn in her usual boisterous way said "Mommy, that man is dirty." I tried to shush her and get her attention away from the man as he neared by asking her to look at the ostrich but she wanted no part of it. In a louder voice "Mommy, that man is dirty and naked." I tried to shush her again and told her to talk quietly but the quieter I got the louder she got until just as he passed us "Mommy look at that dirty, naked big man." I don't think we won Ms. Congeniality today but at least she is doing well with her adjectives!!