a mermaid, rapunzel, superman and oh, yes, a TP job

My Saturday started out with this:

No.  We did not decorate.  We were brutally sabotaged by a ruthless Iowa Hawkeye fan.  You see, Chad went to Michigan State (as did I for a year), and they were playing each other on Saturday.  So a certain "friend" thought it would be funny to "decorate" our place for the game.  Even funnier was that if you read my last post, you'll know Chad wasn't even home.  So, of course, I left it all up for him to fully appreciate (and clean up).  And we won't talk about the results of the game...

Later, once daddy got home, we dressed up and headed out to score big on some candy.

A Mermaid and Rapunzel.

The wigs were an idea completely stolen from Family Fun magazine.  (Of course!  Where else do I get all my inspiration?)  And they were so easy and cheap.  Just yarn and pantyhose.  I wasn't sure I'd be able to get those heavy seashells to stay on Addie's "bra," but we managed to make it all night until one finally fell off when we got home.  I might have to hot-glue it back on in a few years for Millie's costume...  The dress Millie's wearing is a hand-me-down that Addie wore a few years ago.  So we changed it up a little by turning her into Rapunzel.  How many years do I have left of hand-me-downs being so easily accepted by her?

Then Super Tate came out to join the fun.

His costume was a completely last minute change.  He was going to be a frog (a costume from a dear friend), but he was too tall for it.  So, luckily we had these Superman pajamas, complete with a cape so he could fly.

He flew all over the neighborhood rescuing the damsels in distress.

Then tonight we had our church small group at our house.  So we put those front yard "decorations" to good use.   For some reason, black crepe paper is really creepy to me.

I'm not really one to decorate for Halloween.  I don't like all the evil stuff about it.  (Read this post from the Sneaky Mommy for a great post on a very similar view to ours about this holiday.) But when you have such a goth-looking chandelier, it just begs to have bats hanging from it, don't ya think?  And I'm pretty sure bats were created by God to completely freak us out.  At least that's the only use I can think of for them.

And the girls and I had a great time cutting out and decorating these cookies.  (Note to self - never ever ever use gel icing if I'm going to have to stack the cookies in a container.  Gel icing does NOT harden, making for quite a smeary mess.)  

The frosting recipe (which is AWESOME!) also came from the Sneaky Mommy, who got it from this I Am Mommy post.  Trust me, these cookies were very cute until I pulled them out of the container and the black gel was stuck to the wax paper.  :(

And this cake was a $3 Target clearance/coupon purchase.

It looked kinda cute, but it wasn't my favorite.  I'd rather have my mom's Wacky Chocolate cake any day!  I'll have to post that recipe sometime.  It's mmm-mmm good!

So, that's all folks.  I can't wait to see the pics of all your little cuties!!!

a little bummed

So, Chad is a deacon at our church.  And this weekend is the deacon's retreat.  It's the third we've been able to go to, but only the first that I was actually excited about since I wasn't going to be heaving with first-trimester sickness or toting a baby around.  My parents were going to come here and watch our kids and my brother's kids.

And I was very excited.  Excited to spend a night away with Chad and to connect with the other wives.  I was so excited that I packed my bags several days ago.  I never do that.

Then last night, Tate threw up.  Twice.  And he had a fever.

I knew right then that I would be staying home this weekend.  And I was bummed.  Very bummed.  And I was sad for my baby.  He was feeling so rotten and there wasn't anything I could do about it except rock him, which he wasn't too fond of.

I believe that God has a plan for everything (yes, even seemingly unimportant weekend disruptions) and there must've been some reason why I wasn't supposed to go this weekend.  Maybe I would've caused us to get into an accident on the drive up.  Maybe I would've said something stupid to cause an all-out, hair-pulling, face-slapping deacon's wife brawl.  Probably not... considering these are very classy, respectable, Godly ladies of course... but you never know.  That would be pretty exciting.

Or maybe Tate just needed his mommy this weekend.

So, here we are.  Just Tate and me.  The girls have gone to their cousins' house with my parents.  And I'm trying to figure out how to get Tate to settle down.  He still has a fever, but at least he's not throwing up.  I've already put him to bed, because he's obviously tired, but yet he doesn't want to sleep.  I'm just praying that tonight goes smoothly.

And even if it doesn't, I guess I'll just have to put my big girl panties on and deal with it.

are you kidding me?

Chad came home last week with this:

Seriously?

I guess he bought the tags and the lady went back and put them on these plates before he could even see them.  They probably thought he looked like a nice guy and wouldn't cause a stir over it.  Which he didn't.  He felt bad since she had already put the tags on them.  I say she's a sneaky little devil.

Luckily these are for Chad's truck and not my car.  So Chad can be the one to look like a perv.  Poor guy.

But when I do have to drive his truck, I'm sure I'll cause a lot of disappointment when I hop out of it with my mom jeans on and not my fishnets.

carving out time for a party

On Saturday, we had our annual Dad's Birthday/Pumpkin Carving Party.

The weather was beautiful, making for a perfect day.

 The kids worked hard on drawing where they wanted their faces carved.  Or just decorating with pipe cleaners, markers and googly eyes.

Don't let that face fool you... she really did enjoy pulling out all that slimy pumpkin guck.

My brother Trent enjoyed it too.  Maybe a little too much...

My Grandpa Tunis was there to enjoy it all too.

Yes, Tunis is his real name.  He's from Holland.  Isn't he cute?

So what does a man named Tunis name his oldest son?

Cornelis.  Or Cornie for short.  It suits him well.

That's my dad with Tate.  Aren't they cute too? 

Finally, it was time for the cake.

 Poor Millie was tired all day and just wanted to cuddle with "Baba Cornie" and "Nana Lois."  We didn't find out until later that she was sick.  Sorry Mom and Dad!  Hope you 

stay healthy this week!  Funny thing is, this same thing happened at last year's party.

Grandpa with all of his 7 grandchildren.

So, we're getting our whole big family's picture taken in a few weeks.  Do you think it'll be possible to get all the kids to look at the camera at the same time?  Maybe we should start taking bets...

Hope you had a good weekend too!

results!

I'll just go ahead and give you the results of my drawing since I know that if I write anything here, you're not going to read it anyways.  You'll just scroll down to see if you won.  Is anyone actually reading what I'm typing right now?  How about now?

So... I wrote out the names of everyone who entered in two separate columns - "Already Followers" and "New Followers" and numbered them in the order in which I received the comments.

 Then I went to random.org to generate a random number.  Hey, I don't play favorites.  And since you're all my favorites, that would be a hard one...

And... the winner for the first drawing (Already Followers) is....

#2 - Lenae@Just Lenae!!

Yay!!  Lenae is a newer blog friend I've made and am so glad that I found her.  She is witty, fun and creative with 3 adorable little boys and is expecting a little girl in the near future!  I highly recommend checking out her blog.  It always makes me smile.  And often makes me think (which is a good thing).  Congrats, Lenae!

 And the winners in my "New Followers" category is...

#5 - Amy Howieson!

Amy is a sweet girl that I've met at a couple of jewelry parties I've done.  And, yes, of course I remember you, Amy!  If she had a blog, I would totally link up to her and tell you to read her, but she has yet to venture into bloggyland.  Congrats, Amy!

Sorry to all of you who didn't win.  Or to those of you who became new followers but didn't leave me a comment to let me know so I could enter you into my drawing.  I saw that my facebook followers went up by 12 people, but I'm not sure who's new.  Maybe you just don't like free jewelry.  ;)

Have a great weekend!

last chance

Okay, so I realize I never let you know when exactly I was going to do this drawing for all that free jewelry... That was on purpose because I didn't want to commit.

So I think I'll be setting the deadline for tomorrow (Friday) at noon.  Get your entry in before it's too late!  You could soon be sporting some super fab jewelry!  Or getting some early Christmas shopping done - for FREE!  ;)

200... who wants free stuff?

So, this is my 200th post.

Actually, it's more like my 240th or so... I lost the entire first "season" of my blog by getting click-happy on our old computer... It was a PC and I was losing my patience... and now we have a Mac and I'm a happy girl.  :)

Anyways, I know I recently did a giveaway, but I feel like I need to mark this momentous occasion.  200... that's a lot of writing for me in two years time.  Plus, my in-laws were here this weekend and were generous enough to give us a truck and a their old washer and dryer (I say "old," but really they're newer and nicer than any I've ever owned!).  So I feel like I should pass on some of that generosity by doing a giveaway for you, my loyal (and maybe not so loyal) readers.  ;)

Soooo.... what am I going to give away, you ask?  Well, some of you may know about my night job - selling Premier Designs jewelry.  Which, since Chad's football season is finally over (Can you hear the sweet sound of angels singing?  I can.), is finally in full swing again and will make me a busy, crazed lunatic until Christmas.  And no, I'm not complaining.  Trust me.  It's a good thing.  :)

I hear ya, I hear ya, "Okay lady, get on with the giveaway already," right?  Okay, okay... so I'm giving away
TWO $30 gift certificates
to Premier Designs!!!

Yes, TWO!

This is how it will work:

• One drawing will be for those of you who are already my followers (and yes, facebook counts too).
• The other drawing will be for those of you who become NEW followers!  No, it's not hard.  Just hit the "follow" button and follow the directions.  Super easy.  Takes like 30 seconds.  Or, if you're on facebook, you can find my profile and look under my "blog" tab and follow me through there.  Or, if you're not my facebook "friend," but you're on facebook, click on this link and search for "une autre mere" in the upper right corner and follow through there.

So, you have to be a "follower" to win this giveaway?  Yes.  Yes, you do.  Sorry.  But come on... I only have 41 google followers and 18 facebook followers and many of those are overlapped, so it doesn't even really count.  After 2 years and I couldn't even produce 60 followers?  Sad.  Pathetic.  Humiliating.  And I know many of you "unfollowers" are reading this because you tell me and you know random things about my life that only a blog stalker would know.  And I even know I have some male readers, because you've sheepishly admitted it under your breath.

So, it's time to come out from hiding and admit it.  Admit that you read this blog.  No matter how much dignity you may have to lose in the process.  You can do it.  I'm behind you 100%.  No fear.  Even if you're a boy.  Because I'm sure you have a lady in your life who would love some free jewelry!

Go ahead.  Leave a comment.  Let me know if you already follow or are a newbie.  And you can win yourself some of these: (The following items are all in the $30 price range)

We also have them in gold.

Or how about a shimmery bracelet?

Or a more casual look?

Would you prefer a ring?

Or a big, awesome pendant?

Did you know you can wear pins as pendants too?

 And, of course, we have plenty of great necklaces.

 Remember, it's not too early to get something sweet for your little girl for Christmas!

We have approximately 250 items that are $30 and under!  So, you'll have quite the selection to choose from!

So, go on now.  Follow me and leave a comment.  I won't tell anyone... *wink*

orchard time!

With today being Columbus Day and all, Addie had the day off of school.  Yay!  So we headed out to Center Grove Orchard, the same one I wrote about last year in this post.  After seeing Peter Marie's post a few weeks ago, the kids and I were itchin' to go!  I was quite surprised to see how big it had gotten!  Good thing we got there early enough to avoid the rush!

 The giant jumping pillow thingy was a huge hit.  They probably could've done this all day.

And Tate just giggled and giggled.

We were the only ones on it when we got there.  About 20 minutes later, we walked by it again and there were over 30 kids on it.  Yikes!

Then off to the Hay Maze!  Addie and Millie did eventually find their way out.

 But Tate and I got lost.  So we decided to just inspect the hay for awhile.

The Super Slide was the next big attraction.  Addie and Millie went down together first.

Then they each went down side by side.  I took Tate down it too, and he thought that was pretty cool, but it tickled my tummy a little too much for a second ride.

Of course we had to see the animals too.

And feeding the goats was super fun.

Right, Millie?

We even discovered the Mad Hatter's tea party.

 Is that not the cutest thing?!

And the three little piggies' houses were still there.  The girls were smart and chose the one made of brick.

They even got to drive their own tractors!

Adeline roped a steer.

 And Millie... well, Millie tried.  ;)

Then it was lunchtime!  We didn't have to tailgate like we did last year.  They now have rows and rows of picnic tables!

Trying to get a picture of my little pumpkins...

 But Tate just wanted to roll the pumpkin around.

So we tried again at the same spot I took their pictures last year.

Here's last year's picture:

And here's this year's:

My, how they've grown!

A nice lady offered to take a picture of us all together.  However, she really wanted Millie to come sit by me.  Millie wanted to stand where she was.  I just really wanted her to take the picture before Tate started getting annoyed.  I talked her into just taking it how we were.  As long as everyone's looking in the general vicinity of the camera, I count that as a success.

Good bye, Center Grove Orchard!

Thanks for the super fun day!