Just another photo dump post

Oh, hello there! So, I know I haven't been around here much. Here's the deal. So we made the decision as a family to eliminate processed foods with all the additives, preservatives, and so on and so forth. And it's been three weeks and it's been going well (and delicious)! The only downside is that I have been cooking everything, for every meal, three times a day... EVERYDAY! It's getting easier the more it becomes our new normal, but then there's still the planning and then the clean up! I feel like it's all I think about... which in turn fills up all of my blogging ideas.

Oh, and I'm studying for the National Counseling Exam (the test I have to pass to secure state licensure) and boy does it ever make me feel as if I learned nothing in grad school! It's keeping me humble. Hopefully the paperwork comes quickly so I can get registered and get the silly test over with! I'm done with tests!!!

Okay, so now for the reason I know most of you are here anyway-- kids pictures. Here's my latest Instagram photo dump from the past few weeks.

Belle applied her own mascara a few days ago. And when I got the camera out she was all melodramatic. These pics, taken just moments apart just crack me up.

We visited the local fall festival a few weekends ago and we enjoyed a funnel cake! (now, before you're asking how this is considered appropriate for our non-processed foods... well, two things 1. we get to have treats every now and then and 2. it was homemade and even if the ingredients are practically all sugar-- there weren't additives, chemicals, food coloring etc.)

Belle made a hedgehog at the library!

We went to the zoo last Monday-- it was officially the beginning of sweatshirt season!! 

This girl needs a Permit Driver sign on this cart! Thankfully the other patrons just thought she was cute. In other news, my Achilles tendons were practically bleeding when we left the store.

I found these two playing the other day... They was so cute!!!! I was told that this was their "little sister" named Amy. (This was all purely imagination. We have no pregnancy news to share.)

Belle cooks me breakfast almost daily. She the cutest little chef, isn't she?

I've been doing some yoga videos these days and Belle likes to join me! She is really good at doing what she sees on the tv! How cute is the toddler downward dog???

Another thing I just happened to find my kids doing... Jackson was reading Belle a "bedtime story". A long one, too. I'm either a great mom for letting them explore and develop a love of textbooks and learning-- or I'm a terrible mother for introducing them to the world of substance abuse at this incredibly young age. Time will tell, I suppose...

Today, Chacey (and her little sister!) came over to play for several hours! The kids were SO excited. Chacey giggled like a little school girl when she walked into Jackson's room. And as I was taking the picture, Jackson said "I love you, Chacey. I'm going to give you lots of kisses!" (no kisses were exchanged!). It's hard to believe that these guys have been playing together since they were newly one year olds!! 

That concludes the photos I've taken.... I could take pics of all the food I've been cooking but I've vowed to stay away from documenting every meal. You're welcome!! Happy Monday everyone!

Out and About

Sometimes I wish I was better at blogging individual things that we do so that I don't have super long posts, but.... I'm not, so here's a long post full of photos from our recent outings!

We visited Aunt Ashley a few Saturday ago. Go Mizzou!

Storytime at the library! In the past week, we went to a Toddler storytime for Belle's age group and then another for Jackson's age. Fortunately, both are fun for all the kids! 

We took the kiddos over to Bass Pro the other day. The place is so fun for kids to explore-- do you see the size of that catfish!?!? But then when the kids get bored of looking at the fish in about 4.5 minutes, I'm not irritated that I wasted $50 for our family to visit the actual aquarium. We were surprised to find a whole section of the store for Christmas kid activities, but I don't want to share those until after Thanksgiving.

This isn't an outing, but a special "in-ing". Jackson asked if we could picnic in the family room for lunch last Sunday so I cooked a fancy feast (frozen pizza with mac and cheese) and we dined in the family room!

And lastly, we've been enjoying this unbelievably wonderful fall weather as much as possible! 

Yesterday we traveled over to St. Louis to spend Thanksgiving with my brother-in-law and his family. We got in late last night, but already I've enjoyed baby Eli snuggles and Jackson is having a blast with his cousin, Gabe. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

So many shows... so little time!

If I were ever to move out of Kansas City- aside from my friends and family- I think I'd miss the library system the most. It has over 30 branches in the KC and surrounding areas and they all operate as one system. It gives me access to so much more content than any library could do on it's own. And technically, I don't even live in a county that pays taxes towards that library and I still get all of the benefits. (The down side is that the libraries my taxes do support are pretty awful.) The branch that is closest to me is a fairly small branch, but it doesn't even really matter since I use their website to find the material I want, place it on hold, wait for the email to tell me it's available, and then I swing by to pick it up. Other cities have similar systems, but you have to pay for the transfers and/or pay for the use of entertainment items (i.e. DVDs and CDs). Seriously, if you don't live in Kansas City then you should be jealous. Of the library at least. The mayor is kind of an idiot.

So, yesterday, I decide to stop by the library to pick up whatever items I had on hold. I had no idea what they were- only that I remember getting an email to say they are ready and this is what is waiting for me:

There is no possible way that I could watch 4 entire seasons of tv shows in my 28 days check out limit (especially since I have two 10+ page papers due in this time). Most of these shows I have had on hold for several months (Smallville- it's been at least a year) and of course, they all become available at the same time! I guess I should be watching TV instead of blogging!

NCIS is first, next is Smallville. Numb3rs is last because it has the shortest hold list so if I don't get to it, I could get it back fairly soon.

And don't judge me. I get books from the library too. In fact out of the 33 items I have checked out, 25 of them are books (some for me, most for Jackson) and two of them are CDs that Jackson listens to when he takes a nap.

This has nothing to do with the library. Today is Wednesday so the grocery ads came in the mail. I took a few minutes to look at them and then put them down. Obviously, grocery ads are really funny to little boys.

Book Club

This was book club in 2007. We'd each take turns picking a book, meet at Panera, and talk (at least a little bit) about the book. We'd stay at Panera until we were the last ones there and every once in awhile we'd make a trip to Barnes and Noble or to watch a movie that was made about a book we'd already read.

Kristin, me, Audrey, and Jessica

(reading Twilight before it was the cool thing to do)

Kristin got married and moved out to Washington State where she does cool things like go to the Olympics and travels all sorts of cool places. Audrey graduated with her Master's and has begun working on her Doctorate, all while teaching and coaching volleyball. Jessica already had Tobin at this point, but then had another baby boy- raised them both while her husband served in Iraq, then had another baby boy and will be on her own again while hubby goes through FBI training. Meanwhile, I've started graduate school, became a mommy, and went from working full time outside of the home to full time inside the home. (Am I the boring one or what?!?) Needless to say, we can hardly find a time that works for everyone to get together. 

My 2010 book club is vastly different.

We eat macaroni and cheese instead of Panera. We don't read books like The Devil Wears Prada, My Sister's Keeper, or A Total Waste of Makeup. Instead, we read books more along the lines of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round, and Hop on Pop. And we don't read them just once, but over and over and over and over and over.... you get the point. All I can say is thank goodness for the library so I can switch up the books I have on hand. But we have fun. I love reading them books and I think it is so great that they are so interested being read to. I can't wait for the Summer Reading Program! So this what I call Book Club: The Next Generation.

David, Chacey, and Jackson diving into

some new books I picked up at the library yesterday.

I am open to any recommendations of  must-read books for me or the kiddos? The kids books must be board books, and if you have to ask why- you clearly haven't met my son. I do have to say that I love, love, love the Sparkle and Shine Noah's Ark book, enough that I am tempted to just buy a copy! Let me know of any suggestions!