"Merry" not Scary Halloween Party

Since Halloween fell on a Sunday this year we decided to host a Halloween party for our family and friends and I am so excited that we did.   I must say that this party was so much fun and so relaxed.   Taught me that I might need to do some things different when it comes to Emma & Gavin's next birthday parties.  Something about not having to be on a schedule, open gifts or cut the cake at a certain time makes it so much more laid back & I loved it. 

We purchased a  pumpkin for the little Goblins to paint, carve or decorate and they all had a blast doing it.   So easy and all the kids and some adults seemed to really enjoy decorating their little guys.  We supplied them with paint, glitter, glue, rhinestones, pipe cleaners, fuzzy balls, wiggly eyes, stickers and so much more.   There was something from the littlest to the biggest to enjoy. 

We wanted it to look festive and not scary for our sweet little guest and so we stuck with an orange and black polka dot theme.

We were running so behind schedule all day, so I barely got any pictures of all the decorations or the food but I did manage to get a few.  We served Pizza, Chik Fil A, PB&J bat and pumpkin sandwiches, caramel apples, 3 different kinds of Cheetos out of a witches cauldron, cheese nips, chips & queso, cookies, cupcakes, cake, juice, CFA sweet tea, orange and purple Crush soda in a glass bottle & candy galore.

I loved the way this little cake turned out.  We asked the bakery to put a friendly little spider on it and they did not disappoint.   This is a YUMMY new cake place I have found and it is amazing and the best part is their handwriting.   Of course I had to put Love The Frazier Four on it.

I can not take credit for the candy jar.  Borrowed it from another blogger, purchased the stuff and my husband sat in front of the laptop and designed it after looking at the picture (just one of the many reasons I love him so much)!

No party is complete with out cupcakes.   Thank you Curtis for decorating these while I was running around like a crazy person picking up last minute supplies and food.

A party at our house would not be complete without a candy bar.   All the kids look for it first thing when they walk into our house for a party (ha ha).  Do not worry sweet babies, I am never going to let you down.

Speaking of Trick or Treating, we asked each family to bring a treat to the party to drop in the bucket of all the little goblins and it was a blast.  We had all the adults sit around the fence line in a circle in the backyard and the kids went around to each family and yelled, "Trick or Treat".  It was so much fun and so cute to watch them all.   Of course we had to keep our eyes on the big kids because we found a few trick or treating in the buckets of the little ones.  Between the pinata, the back yard and our candy bar each kid left with a TON of candy and goodies and I would not have wanted it any other way.  They were all so cute and so appreciative.

I will be posting pictures of our party guest in the next couple days.  We think we had about 51 people attend and 27 of those were kiddos.   I am thinking we might have to do this every year it was so much fun.  I got lots of text after the party thanking us for a good time and saying, "lets do it again".  For those of you who could not join us, we missed you and hope to see you soon.  We are so incredibly blessed with great friends and family.

I am certain my husband is ready to rest, but I am so ready to take down the orange and black and start putting up the green and red, because Santa Claus is coming to town!

41 Months (13 days late)

Okay, I admit that I do not know if I will ever stop taking monthly pictures of my children.  Perhaps I do not want to admit that they are growing up so fast or I want to remember every little detail of their life along the way.   I love looking through the folder labeled Emma/Gavin Monthly pictures on my computer.   Really hard for  me to believe that there are 41 of them saved in this sweet babies file.

Emma, you are everything I dreamed of when I prayed to have a daughter one day.  Your unbelievable compassion and love for life is a breath of fresh air daily.  No doubt in my mind you are going to do  great things with your life and I look forward to being by your side every step of the way.   We love you more than you can ever imagine and think it is the sweetest thing when you  ask us for, "two Kisses & a Hug". 

Pumpkin Carving

We decided to turn our pumpkin into a Jack O' Lantern last night by giving him a sweet little face.  We let Emma choose the design she wanted carved into him and we were not a bit surprised at the one she chose.

Little Man enjoyed scooping the guts out of him and yelling, "YUCK, YUCK, YUCK" as his sister stood about 5 feet away and held her nose proclaiming, "he STINKS!"   Daddy was laughing because she did the same thing last year as a 2 year old.     



Curtis is like a big kid when it comes to anything that has to do with the holidays.   They were all so serious about this pumpkin.  Of course, Mommy is behind the lens.

Emma did a large amount of the carving her self and did a great job.   She has gotten really great at tracing over her numbers and letters at MDO, so it was easy for her to follow along the dotted line on the pumpkin.

Here he is in all his glory, our 2010 Pumpkin that my sweet babies helped bring to life.   Turned out pretty cute and he will certainly  welcome our guest with a smile on Saturday at our "Merry" not SCARY Halloween Party!

Halloween at Ballet

Tonight we journeyed into the world of Pixie Hollow as our very own Tinker Bell ventured out the door to Ballet/Tap class. 

The days of picking out Halloween costumes for this itty bitty are over with and she decided she would settle for nothing but Tinker Bell this year.   After sprinkling her pixie dust on me, I decided it was really about her and not about me so we set out to find cutest little costume ever.

Tonight when she got dressed for the first time she said, "Mom, do you want to see me fly?  I think I can really fly."   I truly believe in my heart she thought she was going to be able to fly, so sweet and so innocent.

Emma's dance teacher, Mrs. Cheryl has a very special place in her heart for Emma.  She is always so sweet, gentle and kind to Emma and truly appreciates her ability to stay on task and follow directions. 

Emma's little friend Mia was the cutest little Alice and so proud to share with the class that her brother would be the Mad Hatter.  I  love this costume and might have to buy it to add to our dress up collection.

Looking forward to the upcoming festivities this week and our Halloween party on Saturday.  I wonder if Captain Hook is going to let us get a picture of him with Tinker Bell?

Pumpkin Patch 2010

We are running a little behind this year, but we took our first trip to the Pumpkin Patch yesterday in search of 25 pumpkins for our Halloween Party next Saturday.

This little guy was running 102.3 fever all day yesterday, so there were no smiles to be had out of him.  When he found his pumpkin he was ready to go and did not want to hang around to watch us hunt for the rest.  Good thing the airport was near by and "airpwanes" kept flying over to keep him occupied.

Miss Emma could have hung out in the patch all day.  She found her pumpkin and held it in her hands the entire time we looked for the rest.  She is so excited to paint and show him to all her cousins at the party.

Hmmm....the camera is over here guys.  They were more interested in what the other people were doing and which pumpkin they were going to choose.   So my children, I love to stare too.

Gavin was not a fan of his tie, but I thought it was so cute and the perfect way to have him and his sister match at the patch.   His Daddy would not have been happy if I had ordered him a polka dot pumpkin shirt.

I love this little boy so much and am so glad he is one of the Frazier Four.  He has worked so hard in the last 3 weeks on his behavior and we are so proud of him.

You are looking at my FAVORITE two boys in the whole world.  Not sure my kids could have a more perfect Daddy.  Curtis is the most loving and kindest man I know and I searched the pumpkin patch a long time to find him.

My super sweet girl that was very concerned why the pumpkin to her right had a frown on his face.   Just like her to notice the little things or if someone is not happy. 

Last week we got in the car to go somewhere and this "witty itty bitty" sang every word to the song, You're Gonna Miss This by Trace Adkins when it came on the radio.  I had a lump in my throat and a sick feeling in my stomach listening to her and thinking about how I am going to wish these days hadn't gone by so fast.

We had a great time picking out pumpkins and at the end of the search the best little pumpkins came home with me and I could not be more grateful.   So thankful for my family and all the memories we are making along the way.

                         

We will be returning to the Pumpkin Patch one day this week to try and get a picture of both kiddos looking and smiling.  That seems to be a challenge these days, I am certain our Christmas Photo shoot will be very interesting.

Happy Fall Y'all ~ Love The Frazier Four

My LIttlE ShADow!

This little girl would follow behind my every step all day if she could.  Not sure if it is the age or she just loves me so much, but she does not want me out of her sight or to go a single place without her.   Every time we do go our separate ways she always says, "Mom, please give me two hugs and two kisses" and I would not dare leave her sight without doing it or her day is ruined.

In her little mind she thinks she is a model and is quite SASSY for a three year old.  We had to pick up a couple little things from Gap for Daddy the other day and she had to have this jean jacket. Emma was willing to take money out of her piggy bank to pay for it so she could, "look just like you Mom". 

I can hardly believe how quickly this little girl is growing, but in my heart I hope she always wants to be like me, give me 2 kisses and 2 hugs and wants to be so close to me every step of the way in life.

Calling all Mommies of BOYS!

How can something so cute be so mean?  This little boy keeps me in constant prayer, reading literature on raising a boy, striking up conversations with other BOY Mommies and questioning myself.

So let me hear it....what has been successful with the Little Men in your life?  I want to hear it all from dealing with fits, timeouts, spankings, hairpulling, biting and the agressiveness that comes in such a little package.   I am open for suggestions, ideas and trying new things.  I will be the first to admit that we do not have all the answers but we are working super hard to help this little guy be happy and make good choices.  Let me just tell you that this boy MOMMY thanks you in advance.   If you don't have anything to contribute perhaps you can tell me your BOY is doing it too and I can find some comfort in knowing I am not alone. BOY oh BOY I can hardly wait to hear what all of you have to say. 

Biggest Losers...104 lbs down

I am so PROUD to announce that me and my husband have lost 104 pounds in the last six months and we are beyond thrilled.   Why?  We did it for our KIDS, those spoiled children of ours DESERVED it and so did we.  I am not usually one to brag, but I have been waiting for the day to post that we reached the 100 pound mark together. We have been sick in our house for a week, so the virus makes us look like over achievers.   

Back in April we both decided we no longer wanted to continue living unhealthy, so we began eating right, eliminated junk food in our home, stopped going out to eat and began riding our bikes.   I can honestly say we did it as a team and it has been easy, once we made our minds up that we were committed to ourselves, our marriage, our children and living healthier.  Funny thing is, alot of people did not know we were doing this and had these goals in mind.  We would just show up at family events or see friends and they began to notice that we looked different.

It has been a journey, one that was a challenge but one we both took very serious and we could not be happier.  I can honestly say that we feel better, we have more energy, we look better and are thrilled to continue on this journey to teach our kids to live healthy lifestyles.   Yes, we cheat every now and again but the key is to journal our food intake daily with Lose It.   When we started we were consuming about 15,000 calories a day combined, now we are down to about 3200 a day between both of us.  Crazy I know, please keep your comments to yourself because we were out of control!

So, this is an old picture (when we got engaged) and I hope to have a new one soon.   We are scheduled to have our Christmas pictures taken in November, so I plan to post a new picture of us and believe it or not we are both smaller now.

I encourage each of you to get motivated, it is so worth it.  My only regret is that I waited so long to realize how much fun healthier living truly can be and I look forward to being around a few extra days to watch my babies grow old.

Emma & Gavin ~ We love you both so much. Thank you for being the motivation that encouraged us to think about the future of our family and how important it is to make wise choices about our health today.   We are going to have a BLAST at Disney when we finally decide to make the trip!  

Curtis, I am so PROUD of you!  You look amazing and have worked so hard to be healthy so you can be a great role model for our children.  Thank you for all your support and for encouraging me every step of the way.  Thank you for staying at home when I take off on my 10 mile bike rides every night after our babies are asleep.  No doubt we can do anything we put our minds to as long as we are TEAM FRAZIER! I love you with my WHOLE heart!

So YES, we are still THE FRAZIER FOUR we are just 104 pounds lighter and hoping to lose 36 more together!

Please help!

Can someone please take a look at my post below and tell me why my post are looking like this?  I noticed that Blogger changed about 4 post back & this girl does not do change well at all.   Is there anyway to go back to the old format?   Is this format still compatible with Blog2Print?   I plan to go back and rework the post below because it looks CRAZY, but would love any advice you have to offer on what in the world is going on.  Oh, and one last thing...when I look at this from my phone a square shows up right below the picture, what is that? 

Because post are no fun without pictures, here you go.  I am a girl who likes the same ole' same ole!  Perhaps that is  why I am so excited my baby girl is playing with one of the same toys I played with as a kid.  Strawberry Shortcake, the memories I have of you will last a lifetime. I use to love when I would squeeze your belly and you would blow a strawberry kiss in my face, I can recall that scent like it was yesterday.  I sure hope they remake you soon, so Emma can enjoy you as much as I did.   I love to hear her say, "Mom, she has red hair and freckles just like me!"

Rough, Tough & 19 months old

Happy Birthday to YOU, Little Man!



We are so thankful for you little boy and love you more than you will ever know.   You have grown so much in the last couple months and seem to be losing the baby look.   There are so many things about you we never want to forget:

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  Wearing size 6 diapers & size 2T clothes but are slimming down and can get back into some of your 18-24 month stuff
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  You go to bed about 7:00 every night and sleep till about 6:30 every morning.
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  Enjoy taking 2-3 hour naps everyday
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  Prefer to eat Special K Cereal bars everyday & all day if we would let you
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  Bite regularly (have had a one on one shadow at school that we have had to pay the salary of for 2 weeks)
• 
  
  Weigh 27 lbs and wear size 7 shoe
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  Love to watch TV and would do it all day if we would let you.
• 
  
  You talk non stop and we love to hear you say, "I don't know" when we ask you where someone or something is
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  Enjoy talking on the phone or carrying one around in your hands.
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  Can start a fight with your sister quicker than we can get a light turned on.
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  Bath time is still one of your favorites
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  Want to drink "juicy juicy" all the time (Minute Maid 10)
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  Walk around talking to Beamer all the time and saying his name
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  Throw, hit or kick anything you can get your hands on
• 
  
  Constantly smile and have the brightest eyes we have ever seen
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  Super ticklish and laugh hysterically when we rub your skin lightly
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  Airplanes in the sky catch your attention every time they are close by
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  We have 2 frogs that you love and walk around saying "ribbit ribbit"
• 
  
  Like to help us take the trash to the back door

There are days you are SUPER SWEET and others where you make us say WOW!  You sure do know how to keep this Mommy & Daddy on our toes.  We love you very much and always will!

Yucky week at our house.

It has been a pretty rough week around the Frazier household with 2 sick  kids that have not eaten for a couple days.   Guess we have picked up the bug that everyone seems to be carrying around in their pockets.  Not fun at all, but we have gotten in some good old fashion lovin' with our little man that rarely sits still these days.

I knew that they must be feeling better when I opened the pantry a few minutes ago and found this.  Not only were they laughing hysterically,  they were double fisting them into their mouths as fast as they could.  Still not sure which one of them opened it up and decided it would be a great idea to dump them out on the pantry floor, but both of them thought it was pretty darn funny.  Oh, the ones in the bear were on the floor too and they decided to go ahead and try to salvage those.  No way kiddos, they are all going in the trash especially since our weenie dog decided to join in on the party.

Ready for Fall

The Frazier Four are ready for Fall and all it brings with it this time of year.  We have been excited and ready to welcome it with open arms for awhile.



Cooler weather, less expensive electric bills, pumpkins, caramel, orange everywhere, football season in full swing, Halloween costumes, blue jeans, sweaters and so much more have me feeling giddy about what is yet to come.  Can not wait to take the kids  to the pumpkin patch and on a hayride.   Looking forward to seeing all the children dress up and hear them yell, "trick or treat".  So, come on Mr. Fall and bless us with all the special things about you.

My Pretty Lil' Boy

Your Daddy told me not to post this on my blog, but I could no resist.   Gavin has fallen in love with a certain little item that belongs to his sister and he does not want to take it off.   I happen to think it is pretty cute and something I want to remember and share with my Son one day, so in the spirit of preserving memories I had to share.

Being the amazing BIG SISTER that she is, Emma begged for him to be able to wear it to MDO this morning, but we decided it was probably not a good idea.  Sweet boy, I think PINK looks pretty good on you. 

Blessed at the POLE this morning!

Went to bed last night with a heavy heart because I realized late last night that it was "See you at the pole" this morning and we had not made a plan for our students. Text my principal late and told him we had failed to make a plan and I was disappointed. Might have had a little to do with the fact that every administrator in my district set through a 3 hour meeting before school started with our school district attorney that addressed...praying and losing our jobs.

This morning as I arrived to school there were 5 students standing near the flag pole and I was beyond EXCITED to find the nearest parking spot, jump out and join in at the expense of being unemployed today. I quickly watched and listened as 5 voices turned into 44 voices (2 Faculty members, 2 Youth Pastors & 40 of our students) that are on fire for the Lord and willing to share their FAITH.

I was so proud of our students today and so proud of their BOLDNESS as they prayed for each other, their families, our school, our community, their friends and shared their HEARTS with one another. So thankful for a special little girl named Selena that made it a priority to organize this on behalf of our school, but most of all our HEAVENLY FATHER.

This picture was taken by one of our teachers this morning and I {heart} it so much!

My prayer is that my sweet Emma & Gavin will make it a priority to be at the POLE one day and share their love for Christ with others.

Our Journey

Dreaming of ways to slow down, enjoy every moment, make a difference, live with no regrets, cherish the little things, embrace differences, remember it all, simplify our lives & love these two like there is no tomorrow!

“Too often we are so preoccupied with the destination, we forget the journey."

Happy Friday

Monkey See, Monkey Do!

We have quickly learned not to leave these two unsupervised for very long or we have T.R.O.U.B.L.E on our hands.

Last weekend they were very quiet and we could not find Gavin. When we made our way to the front of the house we found him sitting in our foyer buckled in a car seat that we had sitting there to be installed in our Nanny's car. Emma giggled and said, "I put him in there because I wanted him in there". She frequently has to be reminded that she is not the boss.

Today this little monkey decided she needed some water before soccer practice, so what does she do? You got it, she helped herself up to the bathroom sink and went to town at the faucet. Not really a big deal, but....

Another little monkey decided to do exactly what she did, but he got frightened and began screaming, "help me, help me" and the other little monkey went on her merry way leaving him stranded and crying.

Of course she ROCKED her tutu at practice over her shorts tonight. Her "Coach Daddy" (that's what she calls him on the field) told her it probably was not a good idea. Surely he did not think this strong willed little girl was going to take it off or did he? I am not sure if it will be the pink, the bows or the tutu that get us kicked off the team first. I have learned there are some battles not worth fighting, especially when you are part DiStefano.

I miss this!

Seems like so long ago, I miss this. Amazing to me how quickly they grow, I miss this. Longing to hold a little baby in my arms, I miss this. Dreaming about the smell of a newborn, I miss this. Remembering those sweet little cries, I miss this. Reminiscing about nursing late at night, I miss this. Getting rid of the baby stuff in our home, I miss this. Thinking about how excited we were to meet him, I miss this.

There are so many more things I miss, but for now I will continue to thank God that we are the Frazier Four and we are so BLESSED!

Pitter Patter of Little Feet

There will be a day when I will long to hear little feet running across my wood floors, a day when I wish I could get on my hands and knees and clean muddy footprints off my tile, a day when Emma no longer begs me to paint her toenails, a day when Gavin's little feet will no longer be super ticklish, a day when I wish I could spend $450.00 on a pair of custom orthotics every time her feet grow and a day when these little feet will no longer be little.

These little feet taught me how to be a Mommy. It is hard to believe when I am buying size 7.5 shoes that these were the tiny little feet I fell in love with that have changed my life forever.

And these feet belong to a little boy that melted my heart from day one and reassured me that God loved me so much that he made him a spitting image of my Daddy who now lives in heaven.

Her feet are getting bigger and she is starting to explore so many different things and I pray she will always be true to herself.

I pray she will always be willing to try new things and never quit in the middle of something.

I pray she will always love herself, her family, Jesus and LIFE!

I am feeling a bit sappy tonight and feeling like I really need time to slow down. When I look at my sweet babies these days I realize we no longer have an itty bitty in our house. Our children are becoming more independent, self sufficient and opinionated.

Gavin has been sick for about 24 hours vomiting and I can honestly say it has been a blessing. Not that he is sick, but he has let me hold and love on him, that does not happen to often anymore. He has climbed up in my lap and laid his head on my shoulder more today than he has in the last 6 months. As strange as it might sound I am grateful that he needed me today and wanted me to squeeze him tight while he nestled into my shoulder. I am also grateful for a little girl that begged me to stay inside her ballet class tonight to watch her instead of sitting outside with the other Moms.

In spite of how tired I might be, how overwhelmed I might seem, or how many hours I spend working, one thing is for sure....I NEVER want the pitter patter of the 4 sweetest little feet I know to fade.

My BOWLING babies

Both my kiddos bowled for the first time on Saturday and it was a sight to see. I will not be surprised if we get a bill in the mail this week saying we need to pay for a cracked lane or a ball that was damaged. There was very little rolling and lots of throwing go on and it was LOUD as could be.

I just knew this guy was going to break one of his little piggies before it was over.

The witty itty bitty finally figured out how to roll the ball between her legs and onto the floor without biting her tongue off. Emma really enjoyed bowling, so we might have to do this a little more often.

I have never been one for arcade/game venues, but I must admit that I had a blast watching these two in action at their cousin's 9th birthday party. After shopping for costumes at the Disney Store and spending the day at this place, I am dreaming of the day we can go to Disney as the Frazier Four!