Fall Festivities

This is another catch-up post :-)

Back in October, we headed to a local pumpkin patch with some great friends.

They loved these little pumpkins

 

Is anyone else a little freaked out about the rat
that appears to be attacking my children?

But time stood still when they saw Dora, Diego and Boots

Yes, that is Olivia stroking Dora's face

True Love

Do you think they could have drawn Dora a little smaller? 

I mean, look at that massive head!  It is 3 times the size of Diego's.

And what's with Boots.  He appears freaked out by something.

Maybe...Dora's head?  Heh?  Heh??

Zachary demonstrates his strength

Abby tries to decide which one

Picking out a pumpkin is hard work!

 

The girls ended up choosing one from the Pumpkin House

Then it was time to carve them up for Halloween.  

The girls demonstrate the face they want

I helped Olivia with hers

 

Zachary helped Abby

And I got this priceless shot

Zachary needed no help to get his started

Ta-da!

 

Scary faces!!

Hallowen

I am going to do some catch-up over the next few weeks. Better late then never, right? :-)

Halloween was so much fun with the girls this year. Zachary was with his dad, so I don't have any pics of him. The discussion of costumes was a long and drawn-out one. We talked about cats, but they settle on butterflies. And when I say settled, I mean Olivia decided she wanted to "fly high in the sky" like a butterfly. So, a purple butterfly it is. Did I pick purple for her? Nope, she has taken over that choice. She loves her some purple. Abby was completely like "whatever" about the entire thing. So a pink butterfly it is for her.

My beautiful butterflies

My pink Abby butterfly

My purple Olivia butterfly

The Butterfly Wagon

::sigh::

I swear they were excited

The first Treat or Treat

With our sweet neaighbor

 

One thing I was really surprised about was that Abby was the one who ran ahead to every house and said "Treat or Treat" loud and clear.  Abby is usually the clingy one who needs some warm up time, but not that night.  Olivia held back a little, which is soo not like her.  A little Halloween surprise to keep us on our toes.

More treat or treating

Ahh, the spoils of the night

 

Chocolate - Mmmm

Notice the makeup?  Yeah, I created a monster with that.

Shifting Priorities

Well, I certainly will not be following my yearly tradition of National Blog Posting Month with a post a day in November.  You can go ahead and laugh right along with me on this one.  Since it has been almost a month (yikes!) since my last post, I can safely say I would be setting myself up for failure. 

I have been thinking a lot about this blog.  Truthfully, I started it because it was the thing to do among my on-line friends, especially my multiple moms.  Then, it became my sounding board, my creative outlet, and my therapy.  It didn't hurt that I was recording details of my life that would never be remembered otherwise.  But sometime this year, I lost my way.  It stopped being fun and started becoming one more thing that needed my attention.  One more responsibility.  One more on top of the meeellion I already felt.  It became a chore (gasp!) I know! 

And let me just say - I detest the new way to upload photos.  DE-test it!  One night I decided to get all caught up by uploading pictures into posts to place later.  What I didn't realize is that it doesn't hold those photos unless you actually put them into your post.  Curses!

Then, THEN, I had the brilliant idea to tag each picture I wanted to put in a post as I pulled them from my camera.  Brilliant, right?  Yeah, until I realized that I couldn't choose a certain tag when uploading photos.  Curses, again!  Hours of work, wasted and who has hours in the first place, right?  

But I digress...and continue to think about where I want this blog to go, pretty much on a daily basis.  It used to be high on the priority list.  It was one thing I had for me, by me.  Priorities are shifting.  In a perfect world, I could update everyday with a hilarious story of what goes on here and cute pictures.  I just haven't found the umph I need.  Meanwhile, birthdays, holidays, milestones, moments have passed without a single notation of them.


I hope I can find it, because just doing this has made me realize how much a have missed it.  Who knows, maybe this will be my kick in the pants to get started again.
 

This Big Blank Page

Here it is again.  This big white space ready for me to fill it with updates and cute pictures and funny stories.  Every time I sit down to type/write, I just stare at this empty space.  Then I go on to something else.  I just haven't had it in me this summer (and fall).  Then as it got longer and longer between posts, it just seemed daunting.  Know how many posts I have started and saved to be finished at a later date?  10.  10 posts are sitting in my list.  Some need captions, some need photos, but all need something. 

I have no idea if anyone still reads besides my family and close friends.  I know my site numbers have gone WAY down.   

So today is the day to fill the white space a little bit.

Here are my big kids just a few weeks ago.

Potty Training Marathon Day 6-7

They have it.  They really have it!!  Now do they DO IT, every time?  No, especially Abby.  She had several accidents yesterday along with a really nasty poop one. 

I have no doubt that in a few days we will be down in accidents.  The only thing we are struggling with is night time.  Olivia wakes up about 1:30 or 2:00.  We put her on the potty and she goes but then she doesn't want to get back in her bed.  She wants Mommy in Mommy's bed.  She also wants Mommy's pillow and Mommy's space.  She stays dry, though.  Abby wakes up sometime in the night, either 2:00 or 3:30 or even 5:30 or 6:00, but she is wet.  Sometimes she sleeps through an accident and sometimes she wakes up but she is always wet.  Plus, she is upset because she is wet.  She also doesn't want to go back to her bed.  She wants to sit with Mommy in the recliner.  So every morning it has been Mommy in the recliner with Abby, and Gary ends up with Olivia's feet in his back. 

Are toddler beds our next step?  That scares me more than potty training because then they will be LOOSE!  But really, we are on the verge of it because they can get a foot over the rail and I am sure they could figure out how to get out if it occurred to them     

We also had our first outing yesterday!  We drove through Chick-Fil-A and brought it home.  I even had to stop for gas.  They did great.  Then, last night we went to a Spaghetti Dinner benefiting the 3 day Breast Cancer Walk Gary is participating in.  I was very nervous to take them out, but they did great!  I had them go twice before they left.  When we got there they tried to go, but didn't until we got home.  They stayed dry!!  Whoo-hoo!
     
Today, we started with an actual Potty Chart.  Each time they go tee-tee in the potty, they get a sticker.  If they poop in the potty, they get two.  Then they get to pick a prize after 7 stickers.  I had them both go to earn their first sticker.  They don't "get it" but maybe it will help them to know they are working toward something.  So far today, Olivia has told me she had to poop.  Abby has told me twice she had to pee and she has had one accident.  Again, she was so upset and said, "I tee-tee on the floor." over and over again.  Poor baby. 

We ran out of rewards so Gary went to the store to get some more along with...

Aww, yeah, BABY!  Finally!  I have been waiting for this one all year.  I can't wait to dive into it.

Potty Training Marathon Day 5

We have turned a corner.  Olivia only had one accident today.  It was really quite funny when Abby is yelling at me, "Shissy tee-tee!  Shissy tee-tee!  Shissy TEE-TEE!!!"  After that she told me every time she had to go and even when she had to poop.  Yay!! 

Abby had a couple of accidents, one of which was poop.  She gets really upset at herself when she has an accident.  I know she gets it and it is just a matter of her making up her mind to do it!  Over all she told me more times than not today.  Double yay! 

I can see the results.  I know they are almost there.  Tomorrow night we have to get out of the house for something and it will be a true test of how ready they truly are.   

We did have a "Oh crap, what do we do now?" type moment tonight.  We went for a walk and made sure that both girls went potty before we left.  About halfway through our walk, a mile from home, Abby says she has to tee-tee.  Gary and I look at each other blankly, because, seriously?  What do we do?  We tried to put her off but it was obvious she had to go.  So we stopped beside an empty grass lot where there were no houses close and let her go in the grass.  I mean, what do we do??  Next time, I will bring our travel potty with us.  Luckily no one drove by or anything.  Sheesh!  Diapers are so much easier!   

Thanks for hanging in there with me through all of these picture free posts.  I know cute pictures are so much more fun to read about.  Those are coming soon.

Potty Training Marathon Day 4

So, today was better.  It actually was.

Let me just take a break here and say how crappy it is that they are both getting molars and Abby now has a stuffy nose.  Really?  Really??

Olivia has been going through a fashionista stage.  She wants to wear her swim suit.  Every.day.  All.day.  With this 3 day program, they suggest wearing a t-shirt only.  I could just see us trying to get a swim suit off in a hurry.  She was...shall we say, adamant about wearing it, so I just said screw it!  I told her in no uncertain terms that she needed to keep her swim suit dry, that if she got it wet, it was no more swim suit for her.  

Well, that little bugger did not have one single accident all day long.  Huh...how do you like that.  Now several times I said things like that we needed to go before we sat down to eat or go outside.  She would.  Huh. 

Now Abby on the other hand had 3 accidents, one of which was poop.  The first one we have had yet.  By the afternoon when she had accident #4, I started being a little firmer with her about keeping herself dry.  Then, a light was flipped.  The next time she had to go she ran up and told me excitedly she had to go and she made it!  Then she told me "I no tee-tee on the floor, I tee-tee in the potty."  Hallelujah!!  She did have another accident but she was so upset about it, I know it is finally sinking in.

Tomorrow is another day of more training.  As it goes now, I am sure we will be able to leave the house...in a few weeks.

Potty Training Marathon Day 3

Sorry this is a little late.  The first day of school was yesterday and it was craziness! 

Oh wow,  so much for every day getting better.  We took a huge step back today.  It was totally my fault and unknowingly set us up for it.

Long story short, I got an IUD placed in the morning and I was out of commission for the rest of the day in bed.  This was a total shock because I expected to be perfectly fine to help do the potty thing.  My mom stayed with the girls doing the procedure.  Even though she followed the same procedures we did, I wonder if it made a difference that we weren't there in the morning, then I wasn't there until the evening.

Mom said they told her some of the time so they made it to the potty, then other times they would have an accident.  Gary said in the afternoon he was able to catch them for the most part and get them to the potty in time. 

The evening?  Oh Lordy, the evening was accident after accident after accident.  Not only would they not tell us at all, but they would just stand there and watch it get all over the floor.  I think between them they had about 7-8 accidents, more than even the first day!  They would happily proclaim, "I tee-teed on Dora (their panties)!" or "I tee-teed right there on the floor."  They did not care in the least that they were wet.  It was very frustrating.  They have gone to maybe getting their panties a tiny bit wet but then holding it and telling us, to squatting and going on the floor.  Ugh! 

They are doing better with bed time.  Neither had an accident before bed time and they didn't even ask to get out to go.  Abby had an accident in the night, then needed to be taken to the potty around 4:00 but then stayed dry until morning and made it to the potty.  Olivia got up to go sometime before 4:00 and then got up again at 4:00, then stayed dry and made it to the potty in time.  Let me just say it was party time after that.  We ended up back in our bed, but then they slept in until 8:30.

So today I am on my own still very tired, but keeping on with the program.  I am just hoping that they get back on track real quick.      

Potty Training Marathon Day 2

I went back and forth whether or not to tell ALL the details, but I decided I would really like a record of exactly how each day went.  If I don't record it here, it probably won't get recorded.

Abby: Woke up dry and made it to the potty in time
Olivia: Had 1 accident in the night, but woke up dry and made it to the potty in time.

Morning
They did really well!
Abby - 3 accidents and 3 times when we "caught" her and rushed her to the potty in time, one of which was poop.  Then she actually told us 4 times she needed to go and made it to the potty in time.
Olivia - 2 accidents and 4 times when we "caught" her.  She told us 2 times she needed to go, one of which was poop.
 
Nap Time
Abby - 1 accident in her bed before she went to sleep, but she woke up dry.  NO times did she ask to get out and go.
Olivia - No accidents and she woke up dry.

Afternoon/Evening 
Abby - 2 accidents, 2 where we caught her and made it to the potty in time, and 3 times when she told us she had to go and made it to the potty!
Olivia - 0 accidents (!), 4 times when we caught her and made it to the potty in time, and 4 times when she told us she had to go and made it to the potty in time.  One of these times was poop. 

Bedtime
Sooo much better tonight
Abby had 0 accidents and only asked to be let out twice, one of which she actually went.
Olivia had 1 accident and only asked to be let out twice, but didn't go either time.


To say we are exhausted is an understatement.  Man, this is rough, but so worth it because I can tell they are getting it. 

Potty Training Marathon

The girls have been more than ready for this step, but I have been putting it off.  It was just plain laziness on my part.  After both of them had stayed dry and asked to go potty while we were out shopping, I knew it was time.  I had heard about the 3 day potty training method from some of my MOM buddies.  It is seriously not for the faint of heart.  It is an intense 3 day, balls-to-the-wall, take no prisoners process that after 3 days will leave your child wearing underwear 24/7.  And yes, that means at night and nap time, God help us all. 

So we checked our calendars and mapped out this weekend as the time.  We stocked up on Dora panties, M&Ms, stickers, big kid wipes, salty snacks, and lots of juice.  We have stacks of towels ready for accidents, because there will be accidents, oh the accidents. We put away our computers, iPhones, and every other distraction and focused 100% on them. 

Before we even got started this morning, in was apparent that Zachary was not doing well.  How do parents will 5 or 6 kids do this, I'll never know.  It is tough to be what each of my kids need.  The girls needed 100% of my focus, but here was Zachary needing me, too.  He was short with us and the girls and ended up in his room.  He was pretty upset about something, but couldn't put into words what he was feeling.  I am sure the  thought of the girls getting all the attention, prizes, candy, and all that jazz was a part of it.  We had originally planned for him to be away this weekend but that didn't pan out.  I put in an emergency call to my mom and my brother and between them, he is getting taken care of.  It was such a load off my mind to know that he is playing and distracted at their house.

Here is the day's rundown:
Morning
Abby - 2 accidents and 3 times when we "caught" her and rushed to the potty in time for her to make it.
Olivia - 1 accident and 2 times when we "caught" her

Nap Time

I was seriously dreading this because my girls catch on pretty quick that asking to go potty = getting out of bed.  I knew they would totally take advantage off this...and they did, they Soooooo did.  I suggested we put off trying to keep them dry at nap time and bed time, but that would be "deviating from the plan" so...
Abby - 1 accident in bed - several times running to the potty with no results
Olivia - 4 (!) accidents in bed - a few getting out to run to the potty with no results.
The problem with Olivia was she would relax enough to go to sleep and then have an accident.  That would wind her up and then she would have to settle back down, rinse and repeat and repeat and repeat.

I just about gave in at this point.  I was almost in tears and have not been this stressed about them since they were babies.  After over an hour, they finally fell asleep and I napped with them.  We had a great success here though because both woke up dry and made it to the potty in time.  Yay! 

Afternoon/Evening
Abby - 2 accidents, one of which she got really upset about and 4 times when we caught her in time to run to the potty
Olivia - 0 accidents and 3 times when we caught her

Bed Time
Oh Groan!  Once again, this was a nightmare.  We started bed time a little later since they didn't wake up until 4:45 or so.  It took them 2 hours to finally go to sleep.  2.freaking.long.ass.hours with 70 bajillion requests to get out of bed to go potty with zero results.  Plus, when one would say they needed to go, the other would jump right in with the same request.  Patience was wearing thin, to say the least.   
Abby - 0 accidents and 2 times actually doing something
Olivia - 2 accidents and 2 times actually doing something - one of these accidents was us saying "No, you just went potty."  Yeah, so she had an accident.  Ugh! 

For the first day with zero diapers or pull-ups, I actually think they did pretty well with it.  Tomorrow, I am hoping they start telling us or at least saying they need to go.  The only time they actually asked to go or said they needed to go was in bed.  The other times we were watching them so closely that we would recognize their little cues and rush them to the potty. 

I will update tomorrow on how it goes. 

And because it has been sooo long since I updated with pictures...

How I Made the Par-tay Cake and Cupcakes

 I have had so many people ask how I did the girls' cake and cupcakes I decided to do a blog post about it.

First of all, anyone can do this, really you can. Can you play with Play Dough? Can you roll it in a ball?  Can you make a snake?  Then you can do this, for realies. I usually look at something and say, "I can do that." But very rarely to I ever get the chance to actually follow through. I was looking into what exactly I was going to do for their birthday. I started looking at farm animal cupcakes and came across this:

Farm Animal Cupcakes
I was **this close** to doing this.  If you can get past the perkiness...they also have other theme party ideas.  I got the idea for the long horse face cupcake from the zebra in their zoo animal party video.  

I looked around the web for several hours and found a ton of how to videos out there about fondant.  So I had a test run with pink fondant from Walmart.  It is in their cake decorating section.

After watching this:
How to make a fondant pig, 

This little guy was my first attempt. 

 

 Why is he facing away?  Because he is otherwise known as...

Pycho Piggy!!

Ahhhhh!!!!  He wasn't always psycho looking.  He started out with holes for eyes, then I tried to color the eyes with blue edible marker.  Can you say disaster?  Then I filled in the holes with black fondant and viola!  Psycho Piggy was born.

Then I made this little piggy...

And I realized, not only could I do it, but it was dang fun!  So I went out and got more fondant and gel food color and set to work.  and worked.  and worked.  and worked into the night until 3:30 came around.  It was wonderfully fun but time consuming.  Plus, I kinda waited until 2 days before.  Umm, yeah, I don't recommend that.

So here are the links I used to help me and some close-up pictures of the figures. 

I got the idea for the above pig from these links:

Cupcake Tower of Farm Animals by Blue Cupcake  and Barnyard Cupcake Tower
When I first saw these cakes I fell head over heels in love with them.  Never mind that my sweet hubby sent me this very picture several months before the party and told me I could do something like it.  I totally poo-pooed him off.  No way could I do that!  Look at those horses!!  I ended up making some of my animals based on this cake.

like my sitting cow

and my horse

 

Oh, my horse!  My loverly horsie!  I'm pretty much in love with him.  Is it the horseshoes?  the side swiped hair?  the sweet smile?  I don't know but he is my new boyfriend.  He still sits on my counter today waiting for me to get acrylic spray so I can preserve him foreva.  **Happy happy sigh**

Farmyard Theme Fondant Cake
I got LOTS of my ideas from this one like my standing pig (above)

my standing cow

 

my standing duck 

 

 and my sheep

Where's his mouth?

Ahhh...there it is

Another view

I also found these videos helpful when making the sheep.

How to make a fondant sheep part1   and 2

And while I was at it, I made a horse based on these animals, too.

I also got the idea for the sides of the cake from the Farmyard Theme Cake

I used brown fondant for the fence and tip # 223

You can go to this Wilton page for grass icing tips

 

I used these videos

How to Make a Duck Part 1   and 2

to make this guy with his huge beak

I made several animal heads like the ones above and put them on the tops of the cupcakes.  The ladybugs are from a cupcake kit that my friend Sara gave me. 

I continued my search and found:
More Farm Cupcake Toppers - When I saw these, I knew I could do it.

So I did

In the end, at 3:30 a.m. I had the cake and all the animals and needed a set-up.  I had bought bandanna tissue paper so I wrapped it around a round cake pan and that is what the green cake is sitting on.  Then I needed a place for all the other animals to hang out so I covered another cake pan with a cow pattern bandanna.  Had it not been 3:30 in the morning, I may have thought about doing all that with actual cake and fondant.  Ack!  Next time, maybe.  I already have 1 request from a fellow MOM for her twin's 2nd birthday next year.  I can't wait to get to make these cuties again!

So this post is already sooo long.  I am going to put together another post about the tools I used and the techniques I found best.  It won't take a month...hopefully.

 Oh!  I found these today (Where were they a month ago??) - This is a fabulous video about how to make figures.  They make a panda bear but it an be used for anything really.

Making Fondant Figures Part 1
Making Fondant Figures Part 2

There are really a lot of links out there on step by step instructions.