Happy Halloween!

No costume picture yet, that will come later today. But, we've began our Halloween celebrations! We made Halloween pancakes! Auntie Keri and Uncle J are here visiting for the weekend. Later on the agenda for today is Halloween cookies and trick-or-treating. We hope you all have a happily haunted Halloween!

Clara's first Halloween projects she made at Mrs. Connie's this week.

My attempt at Halloween shaped pancakes!

Miss Clara and Auntie Keri having some fun with their matching Elmo slippers!

And, now I need to vent because I'm so bummed! I just went outside to get our mail and discovered that somebody (probably some stupid prankster punks) stole our huge pumpkin! It had been sitting innocently on our porch as of last night and now this morning it's gone! I'm so ticked! We were going to carve it today and I was going to feast on it's pumpkin seeds this next week. Luckily we have two smaller ones we can carve, but still. Come on!

Well, anyway, Happy Halloween! Hope you all have your pumpkins :)

Finally! Fall again!

It seems like years since we have lived somewhere that has a real fall. Wait, it has been a few years! It is great to be back up north! We took Clara to the pumpkin farm this afternoon. It was a picture perfect fall day. Driving out there I couldn't help but smile at all the beautiful colors on the trees and share my excitement with munchkin. It was just so pretty!

We had a great time at the pumpkin patch. It was such a cute little place. Tons of pumpkins, a corn maze, hay bale play area, nature trail and a petting farm. We had a very nice afternoon. Too many cute pictures to post just a few so here's a slideshow...

I've also been reminded by my wonderful mother and sister that I haven't updated our blog in a while. I know, I know! I'm sorry! I have no excuses other than I just haven't gotten around to it until now. As promised last time, we did go to Funtopia on Columbus Day and we had a great time. It was a little chilly, but not too bad. We were the only people there! Except for a couple of maintenance guys doing some repairs. Clara really loves the swings and slides. Again, too many great pictures, so enjoy the slideshow...

We have been in Kentucky for nearly a month now and are nearly all settled in. Hope all well with our family and friends. Enjoy the fall; we certainly are!

P.S. For those of you viewing this from email, check the real blog, we've updated our family pic and background for the season :)

The Story of our Couch

This one is just to0 long and too good, it needs it's own post!

I'm sure Aaron is going to laugh when he sees I'm sharing this story with all our family and friends :) I love you baby! :)

We have a finished basement in our new home. Aaron absolutely had his heart set on having the basement be the family room/"man cave" area. He wasn't here the night the movers were unloading the truck. But, the awesome guys from the moving company tried for about 40 minutes to get our over-sized sectional into the basement. They tried every angle, every direction, but the longer of the two pieces just wouldn't clear the tight space at the bottom of the stairs. When Aaron made it to KY and found the big sectional in the living room upstairs (looking horrible I'll add because it's just so large) he vowed that we would get it in the basement even if he had to tear down a wall.

It's got to fit, it's just got to!

That night, with help from my dad and cousin's husband, Scott, they made good on Aaron's promise! Thank God it didn't involve tearing down walls! Some careful exploring and creativity revealed that the couch, when flipped upside-down and partially unupholstered (eeks, I know) is actually two pieces!.

Wait, if we take these bolts out...

Yep! Two pieces!
Thank heaven the three of them kind of knew what they were doing! It made in downstairs and was easily reassembled.

Voila!

What a man won't do for his couch!

Ta-da! Aaron has his "man cave"!

I should also let you know, that he has BIG plans for this "man cave". A bar, sports memorabilia, and all that manly stuff. We'll be sure to keep you posted on the progress. :)

Getting Settled in Kentucky

Hi all! My oh my! So, watching people pack you belongings for you is way better than having to unpack and organize the jumble of "allegedly organized" packing that was done for you! "One box at a time" has been our motto lately. And since there are only about 6-8 boxes left (and they apparently don't contain anything essential otherwise we would have unpacked them by now) we are finally feeling more settled in our house. Not, completely settled, but getting there.

Our house, all clean and trimmed

When we first moved in we had some problems with the property management company. The house looked like it hadn't even been cleaned (inside and out) before we moved in. After many "tactful" conversations and a LONG list of fixes, one cleaning lady, one exterminator, two power-washers, and we are on our way to getting it all taken care of.

Aaron is loving Ft. Knox! The post is a lot nicer, cleaner and more welcoming of his unit. The leadership is a million times better compared to at Ft. Hood. It is so fabulous to have my cousin and her family nearby! They took Clara the evening the movers were coming, she stayed the night (her first "sleepover") and watched the the next day so we could achieve some semblance of organization and start the task of unpacking our home. It worked out more than perfect because the movers didn't even arrive until 6:30 and left a little before midnight. There's no way Clara would have calmly survived all that, or me for that matter.

I haven't started work officially yet, I'm waiting for my background checks to clear before I start. I don't know if I posted this, but, I ended up not accepting the government job on post at Ft. Knox and will instead be doing Early Intervention through the state with Kentucky First Steps. It's the same kind of job (0-3 year olds, going to homes for therapy), just through the state, not DOD.

Anyway, I had an orientation to go to last week. Clara's awesome papa (aka, my awesome dad!) came down for a few days to help out around the house and watch Clara while I had the all day orientation. They both survived and loved every minute of their day together. Gee, I wish I could've been a fly on the wall that day! I left early in the morning before Clara was awake and it would have been my first day of not seeing her at all if I hadn't arrived home just after bedtime and snuck in for some quick snuggles before putting her back to bed. :) Thanks papa for being such a big help, the three of us really appreciate it.

We have had so many cute picture moments, but the camera just hasn't been there when they happened! But I did manage to get a few in the last few days.

Mommy! I can do it myself!

If I could just get this darn foot to fit! Gotcha!

Gotta love a daddy who likes to color with his daughter!

Well, as life settles in for us in Kentucky we are thankful for all the concern and love you have all sent us. We will be sure to post more pics and stories as we make more memories! Tomorrow, being Colombus day, so Aaron has the day off, we are heading to Funtopia. The spectacular playground in Elizabeth town near our house, we'll definitely have the camera for that! Take care, until later,

xoxoxox