Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving this year was celebrated at my Aunt Marsha's in Iowa. My cousin Dave was in town from Chicago, and Alivia and Addison just LOVE Dave. He is a lot of fun for them. Aunt Marsha had her home looking so festive as usual, and the food was wonderful. We missed family that could not make it this year, especially my Grandma Marci. Asher and I took food up to her on our way home. She was so happy to see us, roses from Marsha, and the food we brought her. 

We are thankful for our blessings. I am thankful for my wonderful husband, our 3 beautiful kiddos, our home, and the family that loves us.

Happy Thanksgiving!

November at the Omaha Children's Museum

Alivia, Zoe & Addison

After a morning to recover, I took the girls to the Omaha Children's Museum (Alivia, Addison & Zoe). Asher stayed home and took a nap since he is suffering from a bad cold. Alivia had not been to the Big Backyard yet, so she was excited.

We stopped and picked up the Allens to come along with us...so we had a car full. And, we met my friend Heather and her 2 kiddos, too! We were hoping that it would be a quiet afternoon at the museum as they usually are after lunch, but we were wrong.

The kids had fun at the Big Backyard to over an hour. Then we hit the downstairs for another hour maybe. Alivia was exhausted (Zoe spent the night last night and the girls did not sleep much) and her friend had a belly ache. So, we made our way home.

Gotta love the OCM, especially on a cold and sleet full day on Thanksgiving Eve.

Alivia lost her first baby teeth!

The kids with Alivia's friend Zoe

Today, Alivia had the day of school, so it was a good day to head to the dentist. Alivia had what is called, "shark teeth," where the permanent teeth are coming in behind the baby teeth. In order to fix the problem, her dentist removed two baby teeth today.

We arrived at the dentist with her friend Zoe tagging along for support. Alivia stepped back without a problem at 8:26 AM. She had some idea what was going to happen, but we were not to talk about it. After a little laughing gas and some numbing, the dentist removed the teeth. At 8:55, we were in the car going home! She did an amazing job!

Tonight...the tooth fairy comes. We heard that she will be giving Alivia $5 for the first tooth, $1 for the second tooth, a note and the Junie B Jones book "Toothless Wonder." We are hoping she will be excited upon waking in the morning!

Here is our Big Girl!

Before

Before...Shark Teeth with the Permanent teeth coming in behind the baby teeth

All Done! What a big girl!

Asher's 3rd Birthday...

It is difficult to believe that it is nearly 3 years ago that we were blessed with a son...Asher Wade. Here's to looking forward to his Spider-Man Party!

And, thanks to Chris for creating such an amazing invitation!

Cleaning out

It is that time of year again. You know, the time of year when you walk into the storage room and it looks like a closet of clothes just exploded. What do you mean, that must just be us. :)

Well, with 3 kids who are constantly outgrowing their clothes, I have to stay on top of getting rid of things or the things just take over! Well, we are at a point of takeover at the moment. We have old baby toys, broken toys, old electronics, just a lot of stuff, that we need to part with along with the many stages of clothes from the kids. So, I posted a bunch of stuff on craigslist, selling some, but mostly selling nothing. Seriously, I post on there and an hour later, my post is like 3 pages in! No wonder nothing is selling.

So, I reopened my EBAY shop. Yes, it is a total pain. But, I hope to get rid of some of the stuff that is just too nice to give away. My kids had nice things! It would be nice to get some return on our toy/baby clothes investment.

I will see if all of this work is worth it. Chris told me enough is enough...the stuff has to go. I better get to it!

Back to the Big Backyard

Today was just another cold day, one of many we will experience this winter. We could not think of a better place to visit than the Omaha Children's Museum's big backyard! LOVE IT! The kids played upstairs all morning, worked on an art project, and then were ready to leave. I was shocked! Addison was just tired and wanted to go home.

Asher said he had fun in the big backyard, and Addison said her favorite part was the vet toy in the toy shop! Seriously...we could have seen that at Target!

Until next time...

Another Mommy Makeover...

Today, after 11 months, I went and got my hair cut with low and high lights. I feel fabulous! I believe I will try and get it cut in less than 11 months next time.

Thanks to Jamie at Blonde!

Alivia's 6 year Timeline

Alivia had a speaking project at school. She was to prepare a timeline on a provided poster with 6 points between birth and today and present it to the class. Alivia is shy and quiet, so I wish I could be a fly on the wall while she presents her timeline to her 1st grade class.

Alivia and her Daddy worked on this poster together. She liked cutting out the pictures and sticking them into place. And...here is Alivia's Timeline.

Birth-1st Birthday-Big Sister the 1st time to Addison-Big sister to Asher-riding her bike without training wheels-cutting off her hair for locks of love-getting her ears pieced-Today (at Halloween 2010).

Going Ringless

A couple of weeks ago, my wedding band standing snagging on things. When I looked at it closer, I noticed the main diamond had slipped down causing the prongs to snag things. I could have lost the diamond!

So, I took it into Borsheims where it has been ever since, being repaired.

Not having a wedding band on feels weird. I feel like I am getting judged when I am out with the kids and do not have it on. Do people think I am a single mom? Do they even notice and I am just paranoid?

For now...I am married without a ring on my finger to prove it. I think I will go buy a fake one until mine is repaired.

First Snow Day!

Addison was up with the first morning light and wanted to go and play in the snow. She contained her excitement to eat breakfast and wait for Asher to wake up. He was finally awake at 9am...and out they went.

Now...for the first Austin Snowman of the year...

Can I say how glad I am that we have our Christmas lights up already?

Bouncing for a Birthday

Last night, as the 1st season's snow began to fly, the kids and I hit Leah's 4th birthday party at a Jumpin' Jax in Papillion. All of our kids were invited, making it Asher's 1st friend birthday party. We all had a lot of fun running in and out of all of the bouncers.

Happy Birthday Little Leah!

2009...Finally in an Album

It is fall, it is dark, and it is cold. So, I have nothing better to do at night than to finish my 2009 goals, right?

So...here it is...the 2009 Austin Album. Check! Mark that off the list. Now...onto the other goals.

For your viewing pleasure (but be warned...not all of it is friendly on the eyes!).

THE AUSTIN FAMILY 2009

Halloween Candy

It has been 10 days since Halloween. How are you doing on the Halloween Candy supply?

I am not one of those parents who gives their kids candy on Halloween night and then throws out the rest. Seriously, why allow them to trick or treat at all? Or, if you are going to do that, go to 5 houses and then go home. That way there is not too much candy to tempt anyone.

As with anyone, Chris and I have our favorites. I am happy with my supply of almond M&Ms, and the kids did not get any of those from trick or treating. Chris likes Snickers, and the kids are happy to share those with him. Other than that, we can care less about the candy. Half of the candy is in the freezer!

We give the kids 2 treats for snack and sometimes one more after dinner. Afterall, you are only a kid once. And, we rarely allow them to have candy at any other time of the year.

So...we will let them have their moment at being kids.

They can eat their candy and enjoy it, too!

Gotta Love THIS November...

...well, at least so far.

We have been enjoying the wonderful fall weather. We have to soak it up while we can!

Here are some pictures of our fall fun.