Carving Pumpkins 2012

We got some HUGE pumpkins this year...for $3 apiece at Kroger.  Can't beat that.  After church today, we spread out some newspaper and carved some jack o' lanterns.  

 Morgan's finished product:

 And Tessa's:

They are virtually the same, except the nose.  And here is Daddy working on the pumpkin guts.  This is actually the first year we have carved in a couple years.  We kept it a bit simpler the past two years and painted pumpkins one year and used Mr. Potato Head pumpkin sets the other.  But they did a great job and were very safe around all the knives, so back to carving we go!

And there you have it!  Four posts in a day.  We'll see how long it takes me to post again, but I will try to be better.  We've had a great fall, as I think you can see.  We just have a tired Mommy, and the blog has been one of the things that has been put on the back burner, along with cleaning and cooking.  Sorry, honey!

Disney on Ice

We continued or annual tradition of Disney on Ice with the Polcas this year.  In addition to Anna and Tessa, we also brought the little ones and the daddies along.  Dinner at Dewey's beforehand was a bit chaotic, as is anytime you have four small children in a restaurant.  But they all had a great time at the show, and I must admit, it was better than last year.  I think the flash from the camera blinded Morgan below.

 But he was happy to see the Incredibles make an appearance, along with the Lion King, Peter Pan, and many of the princesses.

I didn't really take many pictures of the kids.  It was pretty dark in there and I kind of forgot I had brought the nice camera with me at first.  All in all, a very fun evening.  We didn't get home until almost 10 and somehow the kids managed to stay awake...and still get up by 6 a.m.  I am convinced there is something wrong with their sleep cycle.

UA Halloween Carnival

My high school, Ursuline, does a pretty sweet Halloween carnival each year.  I haven't gone since in two years because last year it was the week we were closing on a house, Morgan was sick with a fever...it was just a time of craziness.  But this year I took both kids and we even invited Tessa's good friend from preschool, Kendall, to join us.  They all had a blast playing the games, trick or treating, and participating in the costume contest.  They even got to play musical chairs...which only led to a few tears on part of Morgan.

Can't wait to go next year with all three pumpkins!

HallZooWeen

Hey, anyone still checking my blog?  Sorry.  I know it is the same excuse, but I am just so darn tired!  These were from a couple of weeks ago, but they just got downloaded from the camera today.  Tessa and Morgan were so happy to go to the zoo with some of their cousins.  They both love Jenna, aka Little Red Riding Hood!

By the way, I love this new turtle exhibit where you can go in and touch the turtles.  (At least it is new to us...we just noticed it at the zoo within the last couple of months)!

Gymnastics

The kids had gymnastics again and this was the one week out of the session that the older kids could have a parent watch and take pictures/video of their child at class.  I kind of forgot ahead of time that this was the week.  Fortunately I had my cell phone and was able to take a few pictures of Tessa when her class was next to Morgan's.  They both LOVE gymnastics.  It is so cute!  I think we'll be doing this at least through the winter this year and probably next summer too.  I'm hoping we can do something soccer related in the spring and get them outdoors too.

I think I love taking them simply because they are so happy there!  We love Kids First!

More Fall Fun...and Feeling Better!

So most of you know this from Facebook or real life, but I guess it is safe to put it out there on the blog now too.  Baby Palmer #3 is on the way.  My due date is April 20, which is one day before Morgan's birthday.  I am really hoping this baby stays in there until fairly close to the due date so I can stay home until the end of the year with no docked pay, but my OB already predicted my adjusted due date considering Tessa was almost 3 weeks early and Morgan two.  He said not to plan anything after April 5.  We'll see.  But, I'm sure he or she will come a bit early, just like his/her brother or sister.  All I ask is that the birthday is not the same day as Morgan's.  I'd like them each to have their own special day, though I do fully intend to have a joint family party each year.  

And, that, my friends is probably why my blog has been on the back burner.  I have been SO.DARN.TIRED.  When I am awake, I am a zombie and I fall asleep on the couch pretty much any time I lay down, no matter the time.  Throw in some nausea and it's been a great few months.  The good news is, I am finally starting to feel better.  I made it through the whole weekend without an afternoon nap, though I did crash around 7 on Saturday night and 7:30 on Sunday.  Fortunately at school I have a student teacher right now and he is wonderful!  It has certainly made my school days a bit better and provided me with plenty of time to use the restroom and go to the refrigerator for a snack from my lunch as needed.  Now, on to our weekend!  

We had a lot of fun - park, Costco, celebrated my brother's birthday at my parents' house.  The highlight was probably Sunday afternoon at none other than their favorite spot, Kings Island.  We are loving the family friendly Halloween activities during the day.  Morgan woke up from his nap early, so we were able to make the 3:00 costume contest.  They were thrilled to participate.  Morgan is dressing up like Spiderman:

 And Tessa chose Cinderella.  (At this rate, we may have every single Disney dress at our house, especially if this next one is a girl too).

 We took pony rides (in our costumes...yuck!)

 Isn't this a lovely picture of Tessa?  She was trying to tell me she saw the Peanuts characters on the stage behind us.

 We drove tractors.  Tessa was quite speedy, princess dress and all.

 Morgan's legs weren't quite long enough, so Mommy ended up pushing him through the hay maze.

 And clearly Tessa left us in her dust.

 Then we walked through another corn maze.

 And posed for a photo with Sally.

 Finally, Morgan got to show Tessa the talking pumpkin I wrote about a few weeks ago.  She was equally thrilled to meet it.

We have two weekends of Fall fun before Halloween and are planning to cram as much fun in as we can.  On the agenda for this weekend - our 7th anniversary celebration.  Any suggestions on where we should go for dinner?  I need to think about this one...if only I had some major pregnancy craving other than pizza.  I don't think Dewey's will cut it for our anniversary.

We also plan to hit up HallZooWeen at the Cincinnati Zoo, one of our favorite activities.  One of Tessa's friends invited us to go to Miami for the afternoon on Saturday as well, so we may try to squeeze that in before our anniversary dinner.  The following weekend we have tickets to Disney on Ice with the Polcas and are bringing the younger ones for the first time (and for that matter, the Daddies too).  We also need to squeeze in one last visit to the amusement park part of Kings Island.  I know two little ones who will be sad once they are closed for the season.

And since the pregnany announcement is out there now, anyone have a Bumbo, swing, exersaucer, or jumperoo they'd like to loan the Palmer's for awhile?  We pretty much sold all of our big baby things when we moved to Minnesota since we thought we were done having babies.  Whoops!  Anyways, we'd be forever grateful!  Fortunately we still have our crib, travel system, high chair, and pack and play.  We've borrowed a baby carrier and bouncy seat already.  And Morgan will move into a booster seat by the time this one needs a big kid car seat.  So, not too bad.

Children's Museum

We hadn't been to the children's museum down at Union Terminal in quite a long time.  Our passes expired shortly after Morgan was born and with living so far away from it, we just never renewed.  Then, as you all know we moved to Minnesota.  And back.  So when my dad got some free tickets through work, we were thrilled to go back for a day.  Both kids had a blast.  Morgan had been there, but not since he was a baby, so this was an entirely new experience for him.  They loved the balls!

 They both spent quite a bit of time climbing through the "forest."  Morgan loved just following Tessa.

 I have a very similar picture of Tessa from around the same age, where she is loving this ball station as much as Morgan.

 And here she is as a big 4-year-old loving it some more!

 His faces are just priceless!  And speaking of priceless, I will have to figure out a way to scan or take a picture of their school pictures to post.  They are adorable!