Happy Halloween

Our two little trick-or-treaters are in bed for the night in spite of all the sugar they inhaled this evening.  

Gavin was a dragon and loved walking around shaking his dragon tail tonight.

 

Emma was a Princess, of course.  She actually bought this costume with her own money while we were at Disney this summer.  

 

 

These guys did not want me taking pictures of them this afternoon, they were just ready to get the party started.  They were eagerly waiting on two other families to join us for pizza, sweets and trick-or-treating.

Every Princess needs a Dragon and every Dragon needs a Princess to love.  These two love each other indeed and nothing makes me happier.

Pumpkin Patch 2012

Today we made our yearly visit to the Pumpkin patch to let the kiddos pick out the perfect little fella that would soon become our Jack O' Lantern.  The middle of the day is not the best time to go because my red headed children do not do well in full sunlight, they are quite the squinters.

 

 

Every year we visit a local church to support their Pumpkin Patch fundraising efforts, they had some great pumpkins this year.

 

Here they are, my little squinters that could barely stand to open their little eyes.  Of course Gavin is over my picture taking in about 10 seconds, so this is the best I could get.

 

 

I will never forget the first time we took this little girl to the Pumpkin Patch, she was only 3.5 months old, where has the time gone?

This boy ran in and out of the pumpkins like they were a maze.  He tried to sit on them, stand on them and pick them all up.

 

Finally got him to stop for a second to take a picture for his Momma, doesn't happen often.

 

 

Sweet Daddy carrying our Pumpkin to the car and excited that he gets to bring this guy to life.  My kids are so blessed by this man and do not even realize how lucky they are to have such a kind, considerate, good hearted and dedicated father. No doubt in my mind one day they will know the value of having a hands on Daddy that never missed a single event in their life, led by example, worked hard and loved them unconditionally. 

 

We have had a family fun filled day, that is not over yet.  We are still roasting pumpkin seeds and watching the Spooky Buddies Halloween Hound. Nothing better than the memories we are making today as the Frazier Four!  

Nanny Love

One day this week I came home to three smiling faces that were so proud of the pumpkins they created. Our Nanny came to work with a bag full of goodies for the kids and they spent their day crafting away.

 

Just realized I never introduced our new Nanny that came to work for us in July, so meet Miss Becca.  She has worked out wonderfully and loves our kids as much as they love her, can you tell?   I am so thankful for this sweet girl who helps keep our home running smoothly, our son in MDO and Emma in our school of choice.  She has blessed us in so many ways and has allowed us to keep our kids on a schedule we/they love.  Gavin is in school from 9-2 and Emma attends from 8:05-1:50.  We scored when we snatched her straight out of the water, she just happens to be one of Emma's summer league swim coaches too.

Becca is our 3rd Nanny (all have been beyond amazing) and we are praying she stays with us for at least 2 more years and then we are hoping to juggle it all on our own, once little man starts Kindergarten.  In the meantime we will continue to enjoy all the help we can get.

My Pirate Boy

"Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope." ~ Dr. Suess

 

 

This is probably my favorite picture from his 3 year old photo shoot and just sums up who is in a nutshell.

One of the things I love most about this amazing little boy is his ability to dream, imagine, tell a story, pretend and live life.  He is such a great story teller that he has his sister asking, "Mom, is Will really a person?" (when Will is his imaginary friend).  Sunday morning he woke up telling us that he rode a dragon to a fishing hole and spent time with his Grandfather.  He loves to tell us about his trips to outer space, his visits with his grandfather (that lives in heaven), sailing the seas with his pirate friends searching for gold and about the monsters that come to life at night when all the rest of the world is fast asleep.  I love to listen, I take in every word he says, I ask questions and MOST of all I encourage him to keep dreaming. 

I am blown away daily at his ability to role play and be so creative with his 3 year old mind, it is interesting, it is different, it is fun to observe and it is GAVIN THOMAS.   He is a dreamer, he is a leader, he is a creator, he is strong willed, he is smart, he is witty, he is hilarious, he is mischievous, he is active, he is wild and HE IS MY SON. 

 

This kid NEVER meets a stranger and is the first one to extend his hand and say, "Hi, my name is Gavin."  I love hearing him say it.   Last week when our Nanny picked him up from MDO he saw  a little boy with his Mom and shouted, "Wow, you have a really cool Mom."   His vocabulary increases daily and his new favorite words are, cool & actually.

 

I loving walking in the door after work and hearing his little feet run across the kitchen screaming, "Mooooommmmmmmaaaaa!"  He usually jumps up in my arms and squeezes my neck super hard, lays his head on my shoulder, says I love you and then wiggles his way back down to the floor and is off to play again.

 

...there is nothing like the love a little boy!

USA swimming ~ First Meet

Woo, we are beyond exhausted but it was a great weekend supporting Emma Caroline in the pool.  Started yesterday at 7 in the morning and ended today at noon for us.   Long two days for sure, but it was packed with warm ups, swimming, playing with friends and cheering on the cutest little 5 year old that went off the dive block.

 

This girl was so excited to compete, navigated her way around like she had been doing it for years and determined to improve her times.

I love this picture!  Anyone who knows me in real life, knows that this is my personality to at "T" and always has been.  She might look like her Daddy, but this girl is ALL me!

 

Emma posed like this and declared it her, I can not be beat pose.  She cracked me up all weekend, seriously.  Far from her dress, ruffle pants, pointed toe and hands on her hips picture, huh?

 

 

She was so excited that Aunt Stacey, Hunter & Camryn came to cheer her on as she dove off block #2 ready to go.   We were so proud of this girl in so many ways.  There were 23 girls swimming against her in the 25 Free and she placed 8/23.  We were ecstatic, especially since she was swimming in the 8 and under category as a 5 year old.  When we picked up her baby blue 8th place ribbon, she was thrilled but she said, "oh Mom I wish it was PINK" (ha ha).

 

This is one of Emma's best friends Lauren that she has loved since she was three.  Lauren is in 1st grade and Emma looks up to her so much, she is an amazing swimmer also.  These two have danced together forever and now they have swam summer and select together too.

 

My sweet girl waiting for the signal to make her way up to the block.  The lady at the block fell in love with Emma instantly and found us today to see how she did.

 

 

Look at that face. She is concentrating so hard and is ready to go, she knows if she has a false start she is disqualified.

 

There she goes, check out that dive that she is still working hard to perfect.   Getting so much better, but she knows if she dives down she can take 10+ seconds off her time.  She will be attending a dive/starts clinic soon.

 

Her strokes were beautiful on her Freestyle, almost perfect and we were so proud of her.  She must have told me 5 times this weekend how much she loved swimming on this team.  Never did I dream that this girl would fall madly in love with swim and I would be inhaling Chlorine for 15 hours straight on the weekends.  I am so glad she has found something she truly enjoys and is surrounded by such great kids.

 

This smile says it all, she is having a great time and never complains about the early mornings, freezing pool or tight fitting suit (ha ha).  She was also super excited that Grandma came to support her today.  Sure wish I had gotten a good picture of Emma with my Mom today.

 

Sweet secret time shared between sweet friends.  There were about 400 kids that joined us for this meet, but these two stuck together.  It is so funny because Lauren swims in a different heat then us, but her and Emma both always sit in the bleachers when the other is swimming and cheer each other on.

 

When they are not in the bleachers they are asking me to take silly pictures of them and sometimes they have to be redirected.

 

These two make me smile, they share a special friendship.  Every time they are together they beg to go home with the other one and are heartbroken when they have to go to their own home.  

 

Emma is also just like me in the friendship category.  She loves her friends like crazy, all of them are her best friends and she is so affectionate with them (hugs, kisses and she really loves to pick them up).  Most of her friends are not touchy/feely, but they accept that Emma is a hands on friend. She instantly meets people no matter where she goes and acts as if they have known each other forever.

 

I was not able to get many pictures today because it was super crowded on the deck.  However Emma swam the 25 backstroke and got 6th out of 15 swimmers in the 8 and under category, not bad for a 5 year old.

 

Two more funny things Emma said this weekend that I never want to forget.  She came home from school on Friday and said, "Can you please quit your job and come work in the cafeteria at my school, I would love it."  She also told me she was going to tell her principal I wanted the job (crazy kid).  Then tonight before we put her to bed she said, "Mom I think it is really gross when you and Dad kiss.  I am never going to kiss my babies Daddy because you get bumps all in your mouth."  Who knows where she heard all of this stuff, HILARIOUS!  Emma, you are truly one of a kind girl.

 

End to a great weekend, but we are exhausted and have a very busy week ahead.  Oh wait, all our weeks seem to be very busy these days.  I would not have it any other way, now Curtis would love to slow down a little bit.

 

Once again, Emma Caroline we are so PROUD of you and think you did a great job rocking the pool this weekend.   8th (freestyle) and 6th (backstroke) are great places to be.  Keep up the great work and remember, all we ever ask is that you do your BEST baby girl.

 

There is so much potential inside each of us and it is our choice how we choose to use it, that is God's courtesy for us all.   I hate to think about all the potential buried in the ground because people were afraid to try. Thank you for being a "tryer" sweet girl.  I can not wait to see where God's courtesy takes you and lil' man in the years to come.

 

Disclaimer: Gavin refused to have his picture taken this weekend but he was so proud of you.