The joy of plastic rings and stickers & tripping over flat surfaces...

It has been so long since I took the time to update everyone about what the family has been up to, so here goes...

Halloween came and went. It brought with it lots of candy, which I managed to sneak out of the house this morning to give to my kids at school. Sam & Lily (who dressed as a vampire and a princess, respectively) have not yet noticed that their loot has gone missing. Hopefully, they won't notice at all. The 24 hour sugar high was getting really old. We went to the trunk or treat/ fall festival at church. We took our traditional hayride through Shallowbrook with Sam, Myra, Carmen & family (my "other" family). I just love Halloween. I don't know why but I just love the feeling of it. I love dressing my kids up and I love the spooky-ness of it. I can't watch a freakin' scary movie anymore because I have turned into a chicken in my old age, but I do still enjoy Halloween.

We added another member to the Cornwell clan. Brad's brother, Jeff & his wife Mary had a baby girl (Julia) on October 27th. She is beautiful and so TINY! You forget how small those things are when you haven't had a new one in a while! Not that I would consider getting another one... I love mine, but no thanks. All of us Cornwell wives are pleased that we have now managed to outnumber the boys in the family. The testosterone levels were outrageous when I first joined the family. :)

Lily had her first dentist visit back at the beginning of October. She was so excited that when the lady called her name and she walked to the door to go back into the exam room, she stood there in the doorway and opened her mouth as wide as she could to show the lady her teeth. The lady laughed and said, "Why don't we get in the chair first?" My crazy child. She has been saying that she has popcorn in her teeth for months. I have flossed her teeth (although none of them actually touch each other anyway!) but she still says she has that feeling. She kept saying, "Mom, when are you going to take me to the dentist so that I can get this popcorn out?". The only thing that made her visit any better the getting her teeth sparkly clean was the fact that she got a bonafide plastic ring to show for her efforts! And to think that some people avoid the dentist!

Speaking of healthy children, I had to take mine to the Children's Clinic just the other day for their annual well-visits. They got the works... fingers pricked, peed in cups, eye exams, hearing tests, weighed, measured, poked, prodded, flu vaccines squirted up their noses & of course, shots galore! But once again, the whole mess was worth it because we got STICKERS! Lily cried when she got her shots (bless her, she DID have 4 of them!) so she managed to con the nurse out of 4 EXTRA stickers for herself and her brother. Aaaah, the magic of cheap plastic rings and stickers!

Well, time now for a funny story about Heather and how she does indeed trip over flat surfaces. Brad and I decided to transform the kids' playroom into our family playroom. We took all their toys to their rooms (they NEVER went up there) and we are going to find a cheap couch or two and move the Wii up there. Well, they have nearly ruined the carpet so we decided to give a carpet shampooer a chance. I had cleaned everything out and Brad was shampooing the last part of the room. I went upstairs to carry down my cleaning supplies. After walking across the damp carpet to pick up a dustcloth I had been using, I started down the stairs, not realizing the danger of wet shoes on top of wooden steps. My feet went straight out from under me and I went straight down on my monstrous behind. Thank goodness I was a fast enough thinker to grab onto the kneewall beside the steps or I would've bounced my big butt all the way to the bottom. Yeah, so today, along with not being able to sit comfortably unless I sit at an angle, I have got the nastiest bruise I've ever had right across my rear end. Applause??? Don't worry, I'm not going to put a picture of my bruise on here! :)

Brad and I went to Concord this past weekend and did the majority of our Christmas shopping. It feels so good to have that out of the way. We had pictures taken of the kids (they are great... you have to go see them if you haven't seen them yet... just don't tell grandmomma because that's what she's getting for Christmas. And if you get a Christmas card from me, just pretend you haven't seen them before). So Christmas is right around the corner and I am getting ready for it!! Thanksgiving is kind of being bypassed this year because we are going to Disney during Thanksgiving week.

Well, papers are needing to be graded, laundry needs to be moved to the dryer, and kiddos need to be put into their jammys... so it looks like that's all the blogging I'll be doing for now.