Catching my breath...

Oh what a whirlwind my life has been the past few months. I seriously do not know how I managed to do it all without landing myself in the hospital. I guess it's because I am slowly learning how to manage my time and just concentrate on what needs to be done next. If I think too much about ALL of the things, then I just get overwhelmed, crawl into bed, put the covers over my head and fall asleep in the fetal position. It's not a very good coping strategy.

I really don't like writing "catch up" posts, but I feel like if I don't do it I will forget the fun times. So here goes:

I'll start with Alex's birthday. He turned 18 and I have to admit I felt a little sad. Life just goes by too fast. Soon he will be off on his own, doing his own thing and I will no longer play a leading role in his life. Ah well....I am excited for him too, though. That kid has a lot going for him; talent, intelligence, humor and not to mention my devastatingly good looks. :)

I love this picture. I can't tell who is more excited about the cake--Alex or Abby?

I can't let October go by without a shout out to one of my favorite holidays. Halloween! This marked the first year in which Abby wanted to be something other than a princess (or a variation of one.) Yay! She picked something scary. Doesn't she look terrifying? Ha!

I think this might be the last year that I get Seth to dress up. Of course he chose David Tennant's Dr. Who, complete with his sonic screwdriver.

Abby turned 7 this year! I swear the time has just flown by. Here she is blowing out her candles and losing her first tooth all on the same day.

This is self-explanatory. I went to school. Got good grades. Decided not to go back. The end. Well...not really "the end" because I plan on writing about the details of that later, but this is just to prove to myself that this actually happened.

Random Mommy and Me pic

Our New Year Celebration at Uncle Fraig's.

This doesn't even come close to being all the things I want to talk about, but it has literally taken every ounce of my energy just to write this post. Ahhhhh! More on that later too. Stay tuned! Part 2 is up next!

happy October!!

The virtual Halloween parade {2012}

What is the deal with Halloween?  It is by far the weirdest holiday we celebrate as Americans.  We dress up in anything we can think of, from scary to downright bizarre, walk around and beg for candy from our neighbors, put out jack-o-lanterns to ward off evil spirits that don't exist, then we put away our decorations as fast as we can the next day because we can't stand the sight of them anymore.

Don't get me wrong, I love Halloween.  It's my second favorite holiday.  Every year I get excited about the whole costume thing.  I think my family gets a little frustrated with me, honestly, because I bug them and bug them and bug them about their costume until they at least show a little enthusiasm.

Abby is the easy one.  She LOVES to play dress up.  The problem with her is keeping her committed to the same idea long enough for me to sew the costume.

I found this cute pattern at a website called A train to crazy.  It came together relatively quickly, which for me means twice as long as it would take someone who actually knows what they are doing.  I got the fabric on the "value" rack at Walmart ($1 a yard!) and let me tell you, there is a reason why it is so cheap.  I don't think there is a natural fiber to be found anywhere in it.  But that's ok!  All in the name of Halloween!

I got the shoes from Walmart too, which I rationalized by thinking she would most likely wear them every day for regular shoes after Halloween was over.

Doesn't she look freaking adorable?

                                                                   

Seth is lookin pretty cool in his motocross stuff.  His was the easiest one because we already had everything. I forgot to take a picture of the back of his shirt, but it actually says S. SHIPLEY.  He couldn't wear his helmet for the school parade, so we smudged "dirt" around his goggles to make it look like he had been riding all day.

Nate's costume was awesome!  It cost about $5 to make and turned out so funny.  The only problem with doing something like this is that while the people who actually know what you are supposed to be are going to love it, most people just thought he was a funny robot.

If you have never seen LMFAO's Party Rock Anthem video and you are dying to be in the know, then here you go.  Just don't blame me when this song gets stuck in your head for three days.

Here's the story with Alex.  He hates Halloween.  He always has.  We think it might stem from the fact that I sewed him a fuzzy lion costume when he was barely walking and paraded him around in it while he scowled and cried.  He probably needs therapy.

So getting him to participate in Halloween is tricky.  Getting him to dress up is nearly impossible.  But I pitched the Waldo idea and he went with it.  Especially when he decided he would photo bomb every picture he could.

I didn't make this costume, but ordered it from Newegg.com for a great price!

And yes, that is a cemetery he is walking around in.

Happy Halloween everyone!!

Scary!

Dang! I love Halloween!