Halloween '09, done! Now for Thanksgiving!!!

Trick-or-Treating was SO much fun this year!

Alex sort of dressed up as a cheerleader (just wore her cheerleading uniform from Western Wildcats) and Aron was the Campbells Soup kid!

Aron's legs couldn't quite make it ALL the way around the neighborhood, so we brought his trusty wagon!

I'm not sure WHY the weather decided to be 80 degrees out, instead of the nice, crisp 70 degrees it's been!!!! I was sweating big time!

Anyhow, I made Aron's costume this year. It was so much fun (and not to mention it only cost me a whopping $8 to make!). I just used felt, posterboard and paper!


Alex really didn't dress up this year. BUT, she definitely wasn't too cool for school, because they had "mix and match" day at school on Friday and this girl went ALL out! I can't tell you how many people came by my job and had "compliments" for Alex as they saw her at her bus stop this morning! Ha! HA! And no, she isn't posing in this picture. She was displaying her true tween attitude because she was forced to take a picture for mom's blog!

F-A-L-L Blogswap 2009! Thank you, Donna!!!

Well, I knew I was in for a treat when I saw that Donna had me! And let me tell you, this girl hooked me UP!!!!!
Before I get to the pictures, I just want to say thank you to Donna for putting so much time and effort into this! From the little note to the packaging to remembering my family members, you did a fantastic job!
Okay, onto the good stuff!
The note included breaks everything down:
F- Enjoy some Fall time Flavor in your home this season. (the cider)
A- Here is a cute Fall Accent piece for your mantle this month. Trick or Treat! (the Trick or Treat banner)
L- These Little pumpkins are perfect for Rivera mealtimes in the Fall. They'll add some spice to your dinner table. (pumpkin salt and pepper shakers)
L- Another way to decorate the table this season- Leaf placemats!

Look at how festive this packaging is!


This is everything out of the package (except the banner)!
Pumpkin salt and pepper shakers, Leaf placemats (adorable!), cider mix (yummy!)
Socks for Alex, spoon & fork set for Aron and (this is my favorite)- a pumpkin whoopie cushion for Eddie! Lol!! It's like you already know him! He LOVES it!


Here is the banner proudly displayed on my mantle! It's beautiful and I've always wanted a banner! Where do you get these??! Does someone make them??


Here is Alex who could NOT wait to put on her socks! (gosh, she is getting so tall I can hardly fit her in the picture!) She wore them to her babysitting job tonight and was telling them that Donna got them for her ('cuz you know...they go waaay back! lol!--this kid cracks me up!)through her mom's blog swap. You can imagine the confused look I got when I tried explaining this to someone who doesn't blog!


Here is Aron saying "Yaaaaayyyy!" for his new spoon and fork set!


Sorry. No picks of Eddie and I. We had just gotten home from working out at the gym and were gross!!! But trust me, I LOVED it and so did my family! THANK YOU SO MUCH, DONNA!

an "off" week

Since Alex started middle school this year, her schedule has gotten SO busy!
I am kind of glad, though. Better busy than so bored that you have to "find" something to do!
I am so thankful for our church that they have so many different programs for her to get involved in. We all head to church on Sunday, of course, but then she has Bible study there on Monday nights with all girls her age, then she has youth group on Wednesday night. Right now she is on a youth retreat in West Virginia. It is just so exciting to see her growing in the Lord! I really think it is so important to be surrounded by christian friends. Especially when you are in a public middle school!
Anyways, with Alex gone on this retreat, Aron has been acting so weird. I think he really misses his sister. She always plays with him. Eddie and I play with him too, but not the way "sissy" does!
So, we decided to go to Trader Joe's for their "one year birthday". He was kind of fussy at the store, so they gave him a balloon. Let me tell you, he held that balloon forever! We went to Chick-fil-A afterwards and he was screaming when we tried to leave the balloon in the car, so we thought it's not worth the fuss, so we let him bring it in. Again, he will NOT let go of this balloon! Everytime he reached for a nugget, his balloon would fly up to the ceiling and he would scream! (it was tied to his wrist, though).
UGh....so we get home and let him watch a little of his favorite show, Thomas and Friends. He is STILL holding this balloon!
He finally let go of his balloon when it was time to get ready for bed.
The next night before bed while Eddie was reading him a story, Aron didn't want him to stop! I think he read the book like 3 times, already! Check out the hissy fit my little guy threw when he stopped reading!
I could not believe this was my happy baby boy!!! I think he was overtired and missing sissy.
Alex comes home today and we ALL can't wait!!!!
For your viewing pleasure, the madness has been captured below:

Praise Him for all things!

I just wanted to do a quick post as I saw this video below, I cried and cried. As a parent, I am so blessed to have two healthy children. I think we sometimes take the little things for granted. Thank you God for the health and well-being of my family.

Yea, yea...so I'm a slacker!

Whew! I really do love summer, but I sure am glad school is back in session! I love being on a schedule. The summertime just kind of seems like a "free for all" or something!!!
Things are still just as hectic as ever, though! Lol!
Yesterday after my daughter came home from school, she told me that some lady at the bus stop claimed she had a son who went to Alex's school and then proceeded to ask Alex and another boy where they lived and if they ever needed a ride home, to "give her a call" and she then pointed to the house down the street where she lived.
Does anyone else find this creepy at all????!!! Not to mention, she was there in the morning for the buss pick up AND during the drop off!
So, yours truly called school to question them about how I should go about handling such a situation.
They said they would "look into it". Which, usually means "I'll write it down on a post-it and then give it a good home in the trash can with all the other complaints".
Well, 20 MINUTES later, my doorbell rang and a Henrico county police officer was on my porch! It was funny, because I wasn't expecting him to pay my family a visit until Alex was AT LEAST 16 years old!
Anyhow, after I opened the door, he asked if he could come in (as he walked past me into my living room). Ummmm....sure...make yourself at home. Bathroom is down the hall and since your here, would you mind changing the trash for me??!
Seriously!! HE just barged right on in!
In any event, he wanted to question Alex about what she saw! The whole time she just kept saying how "cool" it was that a policeman was in our living room. "This is so cool! We've never had a police officer in our house before"!
Easy child!!! Let's not make a habit of this, ok??!
So, he questioned her and left.
The next morning at 7:25am, our doorbell rings, he helps himself inside (again) and of COURSE I'm looking like every other person looks at 7:25am!.....pajamas, no bra, hair in a messy bun, no make-up....yadda..yadda..yadda....
Then, he told me that they found the lady and that she does have a son that goes to the same school and he never leaves the house and she was trying to find him some victims friends for him. My question is...WHO DOES THAT??!!!
UGhh.....I really can't wait to get my car in a couple of weeks! Alex is NOT going to be riding the bus for much longer!
Also, I am losing the battle on my "no cell phone until you are driving" policy!
The police officer told Alex to make sure her cell phone is on as soon as she gets off the bus. Like it's not even a question that she has one?!!!! When I told him she didn't have a cell phone, he acted like those words don't even go together in the same sentence! "Oh...um....well...maybe...cell phone....bus....middle school..."
I get it! EVERYONE has a cell phone except Alex! Sorry!!! I just don't like seeing these kids texting every minute of the day!
So, alas, she will be getting a pre-paid cell phone with a whopping $5 dollars on it to call me in the event of an emergency.
UGhg......well, that's what's going on in my life right now!
Exciting, huh??!!
Lol!!!!

Well, Well...what do we have here??

Look what I found in Sunday's paper in the coupon section!!!! I have NEVER seen any advertisement for Harris Teeter in all my years living in Richmond! Don't lie to us Mr. Ukrop! We know the inevitable!

Harris Teeter taking over??!

OR



I'm not sure if this is going to be good news or bad!
In the Times Dispatch today, it looks like Harris Teeter is (possibly) buying out Ukrops!
I am feeling kind of bitter sweet about this one.
Ukrops is a christian owned grocery store chain that is locally owned. They sponsor just about everything here in Richmond, including the famous Ukrops 10K!
On the other (and *ahem* selfish) hand, Harris Teeter oftentimes TRIPLES coupons!
Not to mention, I would be working ABOVE the Harris Teeter! For those of you that don't know, the YMCA that I work at is above a Ukrops grocery store! Let me tell you, it definitely has it's advantages!
Very interesting! I'm going to miss people rolling my groceries out to my car for me!