Who does that!?!

Adam meets up with a friend 2 or 3 mornings a week to work out, so he left this morning about 6:10 to meet Ben for a run. On Elise's school mornings, Adam's alarm is set for 7:15 for me to get up, prep breakfast, etc...before the girls get up at 8. No big deal. BUT, this morning Ainsley was up at 5:50-very unlike her! She cried off and on for about an hour and then I finally fell back asleep. 20 minutes later, the alarm goes off...I hit SNOOZE. Two minutes later, it goes off again! WHAT?! I'm not a big "SNOOZ"er, but, seriously, TWO MINUTES!?! I hit it again and looked at the numbers to make sure I was correct. It was 7:19. I rolled back over and closed my eyes. 7:21 and it's BEEPING again...really!? Who programs their alarm (apparently Adam) to only give you 2 extra minutes? That's such a tease. I thought Snooze meant, like, 9 more minutes...Grrrr...

This week...

A couple quick pics from the last few days...

Elise and I just spent 30 minutes on a little craft project that a neighbor dropped off...Elise had a lot of fun making little ghosts...we hung them outside and she loved it! and this may be my new favorite picture of her!
Ainsley started munching on Cheerios this week. Doesn't sound all that exciting, I know, but it's cool to see her dexterity improve and it's AWESOME to be able to put her in the highchair, scatter a few "O's", and all of a sudden I have 20 minutes to work on lunch/dinner/etc..!!! yay!

Stacey and Clinton would be horrified...

If you don't "get" the title, don't worry...you'll see where I'm going pretty quickly! A couple weeks ago, our friend Steve got married. Adam was one of the groomsmen and it was a GREAT wedding. He/we were able to catch up with a lot of friends that we hadn't seen since we left for Japan, had two kids, etc... and it was especially fun for me to have "no official responsibilities whatsoever...".I could just relax and have fun!!
Of course, the bride was GORGEOUS and all eyes were on her MOST OF THE TIME...except when everyone was staring at this guest:

The mullet aside, the head-to-toe WHITE SUIT on a MAN at a WINTER WEDDING was so shocking. The fact that he NEVER left the dance floor at the Reception was part of it also...he was an absolute riot...I tried to be subtle as I took a few pictures, but I'm not usually great at that. I wasn't the only one snapping shots of him, though. I mean, can you blame me?!

*Special thanks to fellow Groomsman OJ for standing in for me to pretend taking a picture of him, while shifting the camera quickly to the right to snap the shot of the true intended guest...


I hope this doesn't come off sounding tacky or mean, because maybe he's a great guy. Maybe the Bride asked him to wear that so she wouldn't be the only one capturing all the attention, who knows!? It was humorous, though...

Here's a happy picture of us and the Bride and Groom! Yay for Steve and Mary!

Mmmm Mmmm Good

On Saturday, I made my FAVORITE FALL RECIPE ever! Patty G's PUMPKIN CURRY SOUP! It's so tasty and super easy to make, too...of course, you have to like pumpkin, curry, and onions...I gave some to 3 of our neighbors and they all LOVED it and asked for more! Thanks again, Patty! Here it is if anyone wants to make it:

Cream of Pumpkin with Curry Soup

4 Tbsp Butter
1/2 C. Chopped Onion
3 tsp curry powder
6 C. Chicken Broth
2 C. Heavy Whipping Cream
32 oz. Canned Pumpkin Puree
1/4 C Brown Sugar, packed
Salt, Pepper, and Nutmeg (season to taste)

*Melt Butter and sautee onions until translucent.
*Add Curry and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes
*Add pumpkin, brown sugar, and chicken broth. Stir until smooth.
*Add salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste.
*Cook for 10 minutes, stirring, over MEDIUM heat.
*Stir in Whipping Cream and cook 5 minutes more...
*Pour all into a blender and puree/liquify until smooth....

*Serve with fresh chopped chives as garnish...

ENJOY!

How do you say "no" to that?

Adam was getting Elise ready for bed tonight and, as usual, she picks out 2 or 3 books for us to read to her. I gave her a hug and kiss and started to leave the room to feed Ainsley. I was close enough to hear the request as she pointed at her 'My First Bible' on the shelf:
"I want some Jesus."

Midnight Conversations...

Elise woke up crying last night at 11:55, Adam was only 1/2 conscious so I went in with her...after about 30 seconds, she was soothed and started chatting with me:
elise:Mommy, where Daddy?
Me: He's in mommy and daddy's bed sleeping
elise:He calling for you. He want to cuddle with you
Me: Oh, he is? I don't hear him
elise: He IS calling for you. He dropped his book. (which is what she does and calls for us!)
Me:I think he's sleeping, elise
elise: NO, mommy. He dropped his book. You got get for him and that make him happy.

I get up to leave, kiss her and say goodnight again

elise:Mommy, it dark in your room. Can you see ok to read book for daddy?

so cute.

This picture has nothing to do with our conversation last night, but it's a cute pic from a Bubble Bath that she took the other day in our big Garden Tub in the Master Bathroom...she loved every minute of it!

Pumpkin Patch...Volume II

Elise and Grayson playing so well together!

This was well supervised!!! They were 'pretending' to nap together!

After traveling to Greenville, we had 2 quick days of turnover, and then headed to Florida for Steve and Mary's wedding (more on that later!) On the way to Gainesville, we spent 36 hours in Jacksonville visiting Mike, Konomi, and Grayson...we hadn't seen them in almost 8 months and I was in major withdrawal after seeing them DAILY in Japan. It's always nice to catch up with them, and Elise and Grayson played together like they never missed a beat. She's asked for him everyday since we left, too...that part makes me sad. =(.
When we all lived in Jax, there were about 5-6 of us that hung out every Sunday night watching Desperate Housewives, drinking some adult beverages, etc...at the time, Konomi was the only one of us with kids. Now, there are 6 kids (+1 pregnant) and we're spread out around the country. Three of us got the kiddos together for a little photo shoot at a Pumpkin Patch. It was DISASTROUS! We had good intentions, but here's a syn0psis...it really went wrong on so many levels...
*Elise didn't sleep well the night before...I ended up sharing a twin bed with her, but no blankets. I was GRUMPY, so was she.
*It was 89 degrees outside. Unseasonably hot for mid-Oct, even in Jacksonville!
*Ainsley had a fever of about 102. I didn't know that at the time, but realized it when we got home from the pumpkin patch
*Grayson also was sick. He'd been fighting off something, but had a fever, too
*We put Elise in an extra costume of Madeline's....head-t0-toe fleece
*Grayson was in head-t0-toe fleece, also
*It was 89 degrees. Did I mention that already? I'd be pissy in all that fleece in the heat also...
*We didn't want a crowded street in the background, so we had to face INTO the Sun...you'll see ...and try to smile

That's enough...you'll see from a few pictures how well it went. We'll just laugh at these now and realize that none of them will be framed and put on a wall anywhere!

madeline, grayson, elise...all relatively happy
Madeline is bored, Elise is antsy...

We thought we'd add Ainsley...she totally FREAKED out over the costumes!

All three kids are BORED/hot/grumpy... I was trying to cheer up Ainsley, but really just LAUGHING soooo hard!

Ainsley can't open her eyes, Elise wouldn't even LOOK at the camera now

AFTER the event, back in the A/C...Elise was much happier!