Happy Halloween!

We had a great Halloween. We trick-or-treated several times this week. We started with the downtown trick-or-treat last weekend with Auntie Lee and Uncle Luke. Addie had a costume day at pre-school on Thursday. Today we put on our family costumes and hit the neighborhood. Nana, Poppa, Grandma, Russie and the Gunnink girls made an appearance. We also meet up with some neighbors along the way. As you can see, I think the kids had a great time and we did too. I had fun putting together Brody's costume - way too much hot glue :0

Shriner's went great yesterday. As Brody said when we left - everyone that works there will be going to heaven for sure! They were so thorough and wonderful. The great news is nothing major on Jackson's mouth until he is 6 or 7 and will need a bone graft to accommodate his adult teeth. The not so good news is that his hearing is not great - some fluid in both ears that has compromised his ability to hear clearly. So tubes are in our near future. Pretty quick surgery and it sounds like it makes a huge difference with speech. Not sure if we will do it hear or down there, I guess wherever we can get in soonest. The best part of our whole visit was with the pediatric dentist who noticed some decay on one of Jax's teeth - he said that can't wait and got us an appointment in his private practice office later the same day, at no charge - he is spectacular with kids. I so wish he were closer. He even sent a princess toothbrush home for Addie. What a nice guy. I have to agree with Brody - Shriner's are amazing!!!!!

Onto the pictures:

Headed to Shriner's

Think about us tomorrow as we head off to Shriner's bright and early for Jackson's all day cleft lip/ cleft palate consultation. I have heard very good things and my expectations are high. His palate looks very good in my opinion so I hope that we get good new, ie. no surgeries for a few years at least. Still I am a little nervous because they will be poking and prodding my little guy. They sounds so nice on the phone - they even offered us a ride the hospital which I thought was above and beyond. We will be forever in debt to the kindness of the Shriner's I feel.

It will be weird to be a family of three tomorrow as Addie will be with Grandma and Grandpa because it is costume day at preschool and she didn't want to miss that. Plus an all day appointment would have been very boring for her anyway - better to stay home and eat candy with the grandparents :)

Only two days until Halloween - wait until you see our family. We are straight out of Oz.

Love & Hugs!

Items for Sale

We are cleaning out closets around here, Addie's in particular because she grew several inches this summer. I have a lot of nice items listed on eBay - mostly Children's Place and Gymboree. All are 18 Mos, 24 Mos, or 2T. I also have several nice pairs of toddler size 5 & 6 shoes that are like new. If you buy multiple item I will combine shipping and save you quite a bit.

Hopefully we will raise a little money for the holidays and those lovely post-placement costs :)

Check out our Auctions [Click Here]

I've Been Tagged - Thanks Larua L.

I've been tagged by Laura at A Joyful Family, . I am supposed to share 7 random and/or weird facts about myself.

1) I have completed 12 years of college. Yes, I really should be a doctor by now. I have a bachelors (4.5 years with a triple major), then I did an associates program in web design (1.5 years), finally I completed my Masters this May (I picked away part-time for 6 years, while working full-time). No more school for awhile.

2) I married my High School sweetheart. It doesn't happen much these days. We have been married for 9 years and together for 15 years.

3) I am very nerdy and a computer geek. My husband knows this b/c of the amount of time I spend on the computer. I would much rather build a website than watch TV!

4) I still gag when I change poppy diapers. TMI, I know. I act all cool and collected, especially if changing them in front of hubs b/c he is really dramatic about the poop. Yuck!!

5) My first car was a 1983 Plymouth Reliant, not very cool, but hey I had wheels.

6) I like to eat peanut butter on a spoon dipped in chocolate chips - a guilty pleasure. I don't do this often and I could probably buy a Reese's. It would be easier right.

7) I am already dreaming about adopting another little one, ssshhhh! Don't tell my husband. I watch Adoption Story when the kids are napping. The cutest little girl from Ethiopia was adopted on todays show, but I digress...

Hmmm. Who to tag:

Laura G. @ Our Family of Five (Feel better Laura and family)
Kelly @ The Bloomquist Family Blog
Kimberley @ Lucky Family of Four
Lisen @ Guo Ji Familia
Pam @ Pamster's Planet

We'll I can only thinks of five right now - maybe I will add a few more later.

Blog Design Fun & Pics!

Wow this blog makeover stuff is fun! Kind of addicting actually. I have been reading a lot of tutorials and got some great ideas from the Blogger Help on how to add different things like the signature and the divider image. For those that are interested I bought the graphics from Shabby Miss Jenn Designs and they have a great video tutorial on blog makeover basics. There are several sites that do blog make overs, but this seemed much cheaper, although more time consuming. The good news is that now I can do it myself in the future... if I remember how. Maybe I will start doing it for my friends :)

And of course... pictures!!!

[So Handsome!]

[There's a reason we call her turkey!]

[Hangin' with Daddy - Apple Orchard]

[Chillin' at Home]

[Gator Surfing??]

[Ridin' the Range]

[First Day of Pre-School]

[At the Zoo]

[Holy Pumpkin Batman]

[Addie of the Corn ;)]

Welcome Fall!

We are brushing off the dust, no really we loved our old design. Thanks again Melissa. But I couldn't resist trying my own with the help of Shabby Miss Jenn Designs. I'm still working out the kinks. Let me know what you think!

Yes, I will post pictures of the kids soon. We have been very busy enjoying a beautiful, albeit warm fall!

Hope all is well with you!

Tracy