Happy Birthday, Grandma Fran!

Yesterday was my Momma's birthday, and we have to wait another two weeks to celebrate with her. But here's a little love going out to you today, Mom. I hope you had a wonderful day!

Mom & Me, circa 1975

Playgroup Halloween Party

Every year, someone in the playgroup has a Halloween party, but this year we had two - one during the day with the kiddos at Anastasia's and one in the evening with the families.  It was so much fun, though it was rain delayed until Sunday evening.  Crappy Halloween weather!  Nevertheless, whenever we all get together as families, it's so fun to see the dads hang out and get to know each other, and of course, us moms and kids always have a great time together!

Kudos to Mandy for a such a great time - what a great idea, the games, the food, the atmosphere!  I hope this is a new playgroup tradition!

Ryan (in Sean's costume from two years ago) & Daddy

Isabella, channeling Jason (or is that Michael Myers?)

Sommer, the Preggo getting eaten by a shark.

This kid just gets cuter by the second.

One of the Pirates of the Carribean stopped by.

Sean totally steals the lead from Autumn in the

Race Around the Cauldron.

Sean's Bestest Buddy in the World, Nate, begging his daddy for a drink.

Look at these two Besties, scammin' for some treats

Devilishly-Evil Cauldron...of Hot Cocoa

Melissa...somewhere in the background,

can't you hear "Smoke Gets In My Eyes?"

Halloween #4 - The Big Night!

In case you have been living under a rock, I'm pretty sure you already know how awesome my family was on Halloween night.  But just in case....

Oma getting Ryan in Makeup

The family in full-on The Incredibles garb!

Oma and Grandpa came dressed as Grandma and Grandpa Incredible!

The Incredbiles waiting for....

The Purveyors of The Force!

aka The Blakes!

We had a great night, as usual.  What is now Latta Family Tradition on Halloween, we had all extended family over to our house for a Halloween buffet - this year's feature was homemade Italian Beef! - lots of pictures, eats, drinks, fun, and of course, Candy!  Oma and Grandpa made it over, Grammy and Dwayne, and Papa Z and Uncle Dave made it over, plus the most awesome was Aunt Jessica and Uncle Jake!  So glad my baby sis got to see her niece and nephews on Halloween - a first!

Lil Sis & Big Sis

Grandpa Phil - Big Stud!

After we took Ryan around our street, we dropped him off with Grammy and the gang, and set out to explore our neighborhood.  What a great time with the kids!

I hate that this is a bit out of focus - love it!

Little Drummer Boy

Ryan and I have been sick all week, and are slowly coming around.  I have no less than three posts already started, but never finished.  I know.  I suck.

So as I try to get my computer ducks in a row during Ryan's nap time this afternoon, here's a quickie post.

The boys and I just got back from Ms. Kari's house - a playdate to celebrate lil' Nathan's third birthday this week.  Nathan received a *real* kid's drum set from grandma (of course!).  Being a lingerer pays off when it comes to playdates, and Sean got his chance to bang a gong!

You'll note that he is still in his pajamas.  His Batman pajamas with detachable cape.  I have a love/hate relationship with these things.

My future rock star.

Or, at least, Boy Band star.

I love little Nathan in the background,

totally looking like his Momma!

Halloween #3 - Leaves!

One of the best parts of Fall....leaves!  Lots and lots of leaves, and so many of them in our yard!  The kids spent tons of time playing in the leaves over the course of a few days, but I managed to snap a few photos on Halloween - what a gorgeous day!

Burying Isabella

Hey, Sean...what'd you do with your sister?

There she is!

Look at these two!  Love it!

What a little Angel!

Halloween #2 - Carving Pumpkins

Given the title, I'm sure you're expecting photos of cute little kids, getting their hands dirty, experiencing pumpkin guts for the first time.  But you don't have my husband.

Trey likes to use power tools to carve his pumpkins.

Here's Trey sporting a Sawzall to cut up a defenseless little gourd.

Ever-so-delicately carving his masterpiece.

With a Dremel.

Drawing out the face on the 2nd pumpkin.

I haven't seen any children in these photos, have you?

The Final Results:

An Incredible pumpkin for the Incredible family!

Our Happy Jack O'Lantern

Perspective

I could only describe my past week as a Shit Storm.  As bad as last week was, yesterday took the cake, though there were key differences.  Only two of the three children were trying to send me to an early grave, and I only had to waterboard my infant son once.  In a nutshell....

Both boys woke up completely pee-soaked.  All clothing and bedding drenched.
Ryan busted his lip open while I walked Isabella to the bus stop - he obviously knew I was set up for a photoshoot as soon as Isabella was gone!
During the photoshoot (moved to after lunch), Ryan fell on his face on the wood step stool, reopening his mouth injury from last week, and gushing blood everywhere.  (Waterboarding time!)
After he was settled down, Sean shit his pants.
Getting Ryan down for a nap and Sean in my room for some rest time so Momma could take a f**in' break, Sean apparently thought it'd be fun to use our ceiling fan/light fixture as a drum set.  He smashed one of the glass thingies over our bed.

As I recounted my day to Trey, I was laughing myself to tears.  I mean, what else can you possibly do?  And then...

As we sat down for dinner, we got a text from our friends across the street.  A neighbor had been killed in a car accident earlier in the day.  A 35 year old husband to a stay-home mom, father of two - a 7 year old boy and a 4 year old girl.  Trey and I felt like we were slammed into a brick wall.  Because when Perspective hits, it tends to hit hard.  It's not often that I see Trey tear up, but we both just sat there, looking at our freakishly crazy, wild kids and imaging life without any of it all.

So today we are looking at our life with a slightly different perspective.  We are really so blessed, and sometimes it's hard to see the trees through the forest.  Our kids are really good kids, we live a really good life, and I can't imagine it any different.