37 weeks Bones Family Fun

Well, I'm 37 weeks today...so baby can come any time as far as I'm concerned. Although I know there are benefits to the full 40 weeks, so I won't be doing anything crazy to make it happen sooner. Unless you call chasing a 2 yr old around crazy...or emptying the dishwasher...or picking toys up off of the floor repeatedly through out the day...or going up and down the stairs to get to Judah's room and other things I need in the second half of our house. Cause all of that FEELS crazy...hello braxton hicks.

I figured I'd still be pregnant for Halloween, and so far it looks like that will be the case. I found this fun bones shirt on etsy with the baby skeleton. It was easy to find matchy matchy costumes for the rest of the fam.
Lance is off flying right now, but he'll actually be around for Halloween, so the Bones family will be hitting the streets for some candy gathering! In the meantime, Judah and I went to our Moms Club Halloween party this morning, figured it would be a good test run for our costumes. We may or may not add some white make up to the ensemble...depends on the weather and if Judah will tolerate it ;) lol

What are your plans for Halloween? dressing up? gorging on candy corn? hiding from trick-or-treaters in a dark house? church fall "harvest" party? How will you celebrate?

October gave a party...

October gave a party;

The leaves by hundreds came -

The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,

And leaves of every name.

The Sunshine spread a carpet,

And everything was grand,

Miss Weather led the dancing,

Professor Wind the band.

~George Cooper, "October's Party"

I'm not one to skip a good party ;)

So when the weather chilled and the leaves started turning colors

I made some yummy potato soup and we headed out for a little partying with the leaves.

I hate to go to a party alone, so I brought my boys.

Turns out we were crashing the party...tons of people were already out enjoying the festivities.

Party favor.

Snacks for the party of course...grapes, ritz crackers and cream cheese.

Judah's favorite party treats.

(and PS for those who read the post right before this one...about my husbands birthday gift...notice he is now wearing

the shirt...he put it into his party wardrobe after reading what I wrote...lol...ahh, the power of words...wink)

I brought my baby to the party too...he was dancing...he loves to dance.

More party favors. These ones were hand picked.

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. ~Albert Camus

Always sad to see a good party end...

Low and behold! The party took an unexpected turn...the woodland creatures

decided to make an appearance. So we lingered...something my party going husband

does not do often. And it paid off. The woodland creatures know how to party!

Oh dear, the deer have shiny eyes!

It was a delightful end to the party. A family memory made.

And then it was home for potato soup and nighttime snuggles.

It was one of those perfect English

autumnal days which occur more frequently

in memory than in life. ~P.D. James

This one will live on in our memories for a while...

belated birthday post for my hubs

This post is only about 2 months late...only.

So my husband had a birthday, which one is irrelevant ;) He is older and wiser and hotter all the time. That said, he is also the hardest person to shop for. He has what he wants, doesn't need much and has outright told me he doesn't like getting gifts. So yeah...not easy.

Lucky for me though, we had recently went to hunt down the new store opened by one of the guys from American Pickers, the show from the history channel about antiquing. We both enjoy the show and love antiques, so it was fun to see the store. It's called Antique Archeology and it has some pretty neat stuff in it...and gobs of memorabilia you can purchase for the show. My husband happens to love memorabilia, especially if it's a T-shirt. But when we were at the store we didn't actually buy anything. (score! I knew what I was getting him...)

We did take a couple pictures though...

I actually remember the episode where they bought this one. ha. cute.

cool old bike Judah wanted to ride...um...no.

"you break it you buy it" is not a rule I enjoy when things are crazy expensive

and breakable and there's a toddler involved...

"straight up now tell me do you really want to love me forever...oh oh oh..."

sorry, having a Paula Abdul moment...

So a week later Judah and I went to the store to find a T-shirt for Lance...only...for some reason I couldn't find anywhere to park, and there were gobs of people with really big nice camera's getting out of their cars. I had no idea why...

Oh yes, that's right. One of the guys from the show was there signing autographs!

I knew, but had totally forgotten.

Getting Lance a T-shirt from Antique Archeology-good.

Getting Lance a T-shirt from Antique Archeology signed by "Mike"-priceless!

So we got in line with my little iphone camera and before long it was our turn...

Judah liked talking to him, and he had his dog with so they instantly had something to chat about. I told him it was my husbands birthday and he graciously signed the T-shirt and a couple little posters for us.

He was a nice guy, just like in the show. You never know if that's going to be true or not so it was refreshing to find that he was as nice as he is portrayed.

Had to snap a pic of the van parked out front :)

So a whole week later (not easy to keep a secret people when you are used to telling your hubby everything)...I hopped an airplane my honey was flying and we jetted off to Panama City beach...it was an overnight for my working husband, but one with enough spare time it was worth my coming along. (thanks to my sis for taking care of Judah!)

Gotta love a man in uniform ;)

The next morning after we enjoyed breakfast (and it was his actual birthday) I pulled out his gift...and it was a crowd pleaser...I think I did alright for this birthday. He was pretty happy with it...only he won't wear it cause it's autographed. LOL. Oh well, I tried. haha. It will be treasured for a while :)

It was nice to actually get my husband something he liked and wanted and came with a memory.

Love you dear!

Shower of Joy for a sweet baby boy!

So right before I got pregnant I joined a local MOMs group...I wanted to meet moms who live in my neighborhood and just get out there and be involved. Unfortunately I got pregnant...well...it's not unfortunate I got pregnant, it's unfortunate that pregnancy hates me. I was not able to go and do anything with the moms group after the first couple outings. I was just to sick. I stayed connected via email and facebook but no real life contact.

I saw on the message board that one of the gals was having a yard sale, she literally lived a block from me on my same street. So I took my zofran pump and exerted all my energy to walk a block and visit the sale. I left Judah at home with my SIL and her kids (they stayed with me for a month to keep me and Judah alive). I bought a couple stuffed animals and met the gal, Sarah Beth, and a few other moms. I barely made the walk home I was so tired.

Well the gals of the moms club still had a baby shower for me even though like 3 people know me. ha. I didn't know what to expect since I am just now starting to be able to attend events and meet ladies.

The gal whose house I visited for the yard sale was the host (on the left). So that was nice, I had at least met her ;) And she's a sweet heart who has her own baby Judah (and a couple other kids too). The shower was for me and one other gal (I had not met her previous to our joint shower, she is on my right). There were several sweet ladies who came to the shower and several who dropped gifts off on their way to doctor appts and other obligations.

I did not expect that I would get more than a couple little gifts, but these ladies truly did shower me...so many cute items and things that I will treasure. I had walked to the shower with Judah and our walk home was sweet. Lots of little gift bags in tow, Judah was my helper...and he stopped to smell the flowers while we joyfully headed home.

It was fun to celebrate this new baby boy...Judah's new little brother. (He really liked helping me open the gifts)

And it was fun to get to know some of the moms in the hood a little bit more.

Bean Soup with a Kick!

So my husband is on this funky diet...I say funky cause it's not food I really enjoy. ha. but he's losing weight and he likes it so I guess that's what matters. However, it has made it quite challenging to eat together...although with my Hyperemesis, eating wasn't something I have done much of until really recently.

So my goal is to try to find meals that my husband CAN eat and that I WANT to eat. See how that works? not easy...but not impossible.

So tonight I made a bean soup...it is a variation of This Recipe but I didn't have all the ingredients and dumplings aren't an option for him and they are not something I like...so like I said, variation. (ps...just met the gal who runs the food blog I linked to, she is adorable and clearly knows her stuff!)

So here is MY bean soup recipe :)

Bean Soup with a Kick!

2 cans black beans (15 oz cans)

1 can red kidney beans (15 oz can)

1 can green chili's (8ish oz)

1 can diced tomatoes (15 oz can)

1 can Hoppin John (black eyed peas, tomatoes, onions and jalapenos) (15 oz can)

1 box progresso chicken broth (it's like 30 some oz)

2 tsp chili powder

2 cloves garlic (I use the minced stuff in a jar which is 1tsp)

smallish bag of frozen corn

smallish bag of julienned carrots

1/2 large onion chopped

1/8 tsp and a pinch of red pepper (cayenne) (this is the kick! I almost added 1/4 tsp but knew I would regret it)

bring to a boil, simmer for a half hour. (you may need to cook it longer to get the carrots soft, or pre cook them a bit)

serve with pepperjack cheese and chips! or corn bread which is what we had tonight...YUM!

a deal's a deal!

So thanks to my friend Michelle listening to me complain about how darn expensive my heart burn meds cost...I was able to save a ton-o-money...which was completely fun. So thought I'd share...if anyone else has to buy Prevacid pay attention!

This is a Rite-Aid deal, and there is literally one right behind my house. So in a way I saved even more cause I walked there and didn't drive ;)

I bought a 28ct box of Prevacid, normally $21.99...I used two 4$ off coupons which brought the cost to $13.99, so with tax I paid $16.02. I earned a 10$ UP-reward and turned around and used it to buy a second 28ct box of Prevacid along with another 4$ off coupon...so that box was $10.02. I am mailing in the rebate info and will hopefully (I don't do rebates often so not sure how reliable they always are) get $17.99 back off of the first transaction. Which means I paid a grand total of 8$ (with tax) for 4 weeks worth of heart burn meds! woot!

The deal was shared here, and here it is:

Buy $20 worth of Prevacid or Maalox Stomach Relief or Any Gas-X Softgel or Ex-Lax 90 ct. and Get a $10 +Up Reward *SUPER HOT DEAL*
Buy 1 Prevacid 28 ct. $21.99
Use $4/1 SS 9/18 or printable
Use $4/1 October Video Values
Pay $13.99
Get a $10 +Up Reward (limit 1 offer)
Submit the free after mail-in rebate form from the SS 9/18 or foundhere (you should receive a rebate check for $17.99 as you will be reimbursed for the cost of product minus the $4 manufacturer coupon)
Final price FREE + $14 moneymaker!

Happy Camping comes to a rainy end: Life is really really Good!

We woke up on our last day of camping to the pitter patter of raindrops. I sent a text to my bro who was in a tent with his kids to make sure they were okay (they were) and then I heard Lance get up and he went out to try to salvage the remains of the fire and put away all our camping chairs.

Once everyone was awake, all the kiddo's and ladies filled the cabin up while the guys went out and dealt with things like cooking and cleaning things up while it rained.

Of course with bunk beds, the kids were having a blast...oh, and Auntie Jessi too :) They thought it was great fun to pile into a top bunk and have a picture taken....lots of giggling and wiggling. No one fell off thankfully :)

Britt was feeling like a big boy! Doll face :)

And once the novelty of climbing bunk beds and being crammed into a teeny cabin in the rain wore off, we pulled out the handy dandy ipad and let the kids watch "Finding Nemo"

oh Dory how we love you.

Oh and puppies were also in the cabin, it was quite a pile of fun!

Ira in his yellow slicker, Lance crouched down cooking on the camp fire. I think this was the most fun these guys had the whole camping trip. For real.

All these photos were taken with my phone, cause I had packed my nice camera into the car the night before and had no desire to get it out in the rain. ha.

These photos were taken from inside the cabin, zoomed in through a screen in the window...thus the high quality ;)

Before long Ira came with a special delivery.

Coffee for Auntie Jessi and Tea for Gramma Lynda. Gotta keep the ladies happy!

(gotta love Ira's style)

Next up Lance appeared with scrambled eggs and bacon. Enough for everyone who wanted any. And some hard boiled eggs (they weren't as popular).

Kids had cereal and pretty soon we were all feeling good! Food does that.

Britt loves his daddy. He pretty much wanted to be in Daddy's arms the entire trip. I think it was a little exhausting for daddy, but good. Oh, and Ira's pants...he said they are like wearing shorts and having protection for your ankles when walking in the woods. Camping pants. Um. I think they need to be used for keeping the fire burning next time we camp...lol.

My husband is a stud. Cooking in the rain. Oh yeah.

Gotta wear a cute hat if you ever want pictures of a gal during a camping trip ;)

Before long being confined in the cabin wasn't working, even with Nemo. So I sent the kids all bundled up off with Auntie Jessi and Gramma Lynda to take a walk in the rain. I used the time they were gone to completely pack and clean out the cabin. It was a mess after hosting the masses that morning.

What's better than watermelon in the rain?!

The little boys especially loved the watermelon treat :)

A little more hot water to warm us up. And that was the end of the campfire.

A little car protection from the rain...not an umbrella but it did the trick.

Grammy was a sport, taking little ones for walks in the rain is not for the faint of heart!

It wasn't long before we finished packing all our stuff into the cars and then we said good bye to our sweet little cabin and camping adventure. This little cabin really did the trick. Made camping at 8 months pregnant in the rain a possibility and dare I say it, a delight!

This is a picture of the fire pit right outside our little cabin...and I have to agree...

Life IS Good!