October Happenings

October has been a fun month for the Calderwoods.

More than ever, I just love and adore being a mom, while at the same time feeling completely overwhelmed and inadequate.  I suppose that is Motherhood in a nutshell.

This photo is actually old, but I wanted to include it because I actually liked it of me, which is rare.

 It's fun to see my little girls become such good friends.  They are so very different, and their personalities really compliment one another.

 Ella continues to be very intense.  She's learning by leaps and bounds, and has started putting letters together to spell words, all on her own.

 Amelia is happy and fun loving.  She has so much to say, and it's pretty adorable to hear her talk, ramble, sing, play.  She's about as cute as cute can get.  In my unbiased opinion, she's the most adorable two year old ever!

 Ella's been excited about being a "real cowgirl."  She got boots and a cowgirl hat, and plans to dress up for Halloween.  She tells me this is for real though.  She will be a cowgirl when she grows up.

 Nana and papa took her to visit the horse down the street.  She fed him apples.  She thought she might get to ride him, but was still happy to spend time with him, ride or not.

 Bound and determined to get on his back...

 Amelia was more comfortable visiting the horse from the comfort of Papa's arms.  No fence climbing for her.  While she's more easy going and laid back, she's not quite as fearless as Ella (a little like Shaun and I- me being more like Amelia)

 Ella feeding the horse some apples.  I think he'd already snatched it at this point.

 I think he welcomes her return... as long as apples are in hand.

 The girls have been enjoying time with their nana and papa when Shaun and I are working.  Here they are with papa this morning before church.  Ella was performing in the primary program today, an extra special Sunday for her.

 Well, at least one of them was looking at the camera

My beauty queens with their adoring papa.

More to come on trick or treating, if we can get around to it with this hurricane coming.  We are ready to hunker down the next couple of days while Hurricane Sandy makes its way this direction.  Already schools and government are closed, so we'll enjoy some nesting time indoors I suppose and see how Halloween plays out.

S'More October Fun

Last weekend we "camped out" in our backyard.  And by campout, I mean Ella and Shaun slept in a tent for all of an hour before coming inside (Amelia and I knew better than to even try).  But it was a lot of fun.  We had a bonfire, s'mores, sang songs, and enjoyed seeing the girls loving their first campfire.  We have to give Ella credit for the idea.  I'm not sure where she got it, but she had been asking all week to have a campfire, so we decided to give it a try.  We had Emily and Riley over, and we really enjoyed an evening under the stars.  Maybe one day we'll work up to camping out away from home, but for now I think that's just about the perfect way to do it, with a kitchen and bathroom just feet away:)  It turned out to be the perfect evening for it.  The weather was just chilly enough.  The girls LOVED it!  I hope we can find time to do it again before the Autumn ends.

 Ella was so excited.  She helped Shaun collect firewood.  Amelia preferred to stay out of the woods.

 Ella loving the fire

 Amelia loved the fire too.  You can see the tent in the background.  We borrowed it from a friend, but I'd really like to get one of our own.  Maybe Santa can bring our family one?

 All the kids enjoying the fire.  They are so stinkin' cute!

My boy scout.  Okay, not really, but he did a really great job with the fire.  And he was very proud of his roasting sticks, although we called them roasting limbs.  They were rather large.

Definitely a great way to spend a Friday evening in October.  It's a wonderful thing to put on your

 "Autumn Bucket List."

Eight Year Anniversary!

To my dearest hubby:

Thank you for eight beautiful years.

They've been hard in many ways, 

but also very rewarding.

Even after all the ups, downs, and in betweens,

you still manage to make me laugh,

relieve my worries,

and remind me to have fun in life!
I look forward to whatever life
may bring us.
With you by my side, 
we will continue to weather the ups and downs... together!

Happy Anniversary!
Love,
Rebecca


This year we decided to go
horseback riding in the mountains
for our special day.

We had a great time.
For me this was a first.
For Shaun this was doing
one of his favorite activities.
Then we had a nice dinner
at our favorite local
restaurant, "Long Horn."

We're calling this one our
"Southwestern Cowboy"
Anniversary! 

Pumpkin Patch Pickins

We had a lovely time visiting the pumpkin patch yesterday.  Ella and Amelia enjoyed seeing the chickens and bunnies

 They enjoyed slides small and big

 Ella went on a tractor ride in a recycled barrel

 Amelia played in the tunnel (Elle too if you see her boots in the background)

 Ella awaiting the hayride.  She was so excited about it even though she looks more pensive in this photo.

 Amelia inspecting the pumpkin picking

 Me and my lil' pumpkin.  She is the most gorgeous little girl and every day gets more and more precious to me.

 Naptime on the hayride.  She was so sleepy, but she hung in there until we went home.

 We went with friends, Emily and Riley, and had a lovely time!

We love the fall and are so excited to go home and decorate with our pick of pumpkins.

Family Beach Trip, 2012

Our family took advantage of the lower rates in September and headed to beach last weekend.  We ended up staying at a wonderful hotel and resort.  Above was the view from our balcony!  Talk about picture perfect.

 

 The girls enjoyed the sand and pool, and Ella enjoyed riding some waves in with her daddy.

 Amelia preferred the pool to the ocean, so that meant most of the time one of us was at the pool while the other was at the ocean with Ella

 Our last night there we enjoyed a lovely walk on the beach to the Pier.  The girls played games at the Pier Arcade, and then we walked along the Pier, where Ella proceeded to talk to every fisherman there:)  Our little social butterfly.  Then we walked back to our hotel for a lovely dinner:)  By far my favorite memory from the trip, but really the whole four days were wonderful.

 My girls are so stinkin' cute, and getting so big.

 We found some other beach walkers who volunteered to take our photo while on our walk.  We lucked out.  They were really into it and took several for us.

My Favorite photo from the evening!

Crazy Idea

Okay, here's my thought.  I have an addiction to Pinterest.  I have an addiction to decorating.  I want to do more with interior design.  These things are all true, yes!  So... I'm thinking I should start a separate blog, and post photos of designing/decorating I do around my own house or for others.  I can upload the photos to Pinterest, and begin my own portfolio of sorts.  Then I'm incorporating my love for design, photography, and Pinterest into one big project.  What do you think?  Share your thoughts.  Let me know.

Lessons in Gratitude

"It’s our job as parents to slow our children down and teach them to be thankful for what they have.  It’s our job to capitalize on the small moments and help our kids stay grounded.  It’s our job to model the gratitude that we want our kids to demonstrate each day."



I have been thinking a lot lately about gratitude, maybe it's the upcoming season of giving thanks, or maybe it's just something I feel I want to have more of in my life, and by extension, I want to raise my children to be grateful.  It's so easy to get wrapped up in "I want this" and "I want that."  My children are always asking for things, and I know that's very normal for children, but how do I combat the overwhelming message they get from media, from friends, from the world, that it's all about the getting?  I found this lovely blog, and this mom has some wonderful ideas.  I'm not sure exactly how to give credit in the "grammatically appropriate way," but here's her blog address, and here are her ideas:

Source: http://practicalkatie.com/2012/03/19/lessons-in-gratitude/

1.    The Happiness Jar:  When kids become bored, frustrated, or feel like they don’t have what they really need in life, it can be useful to stop and think about what they do have.  What you need:  A large glass jar and a stack of index cards.  In a moment of calm, ask your kids to name the things that make them feel happy.  Write one happy statement on each index card and place them in a large glass jar.  Place the jar in a prominent place and reach in and grab a happy statement when life starts to feel overwhelming or unfair.  Talk about why that makes everyone happy.  It might be playing cars, walks on the beach, or chasing butterflies that makes your children happy on any given day.  Sometimes they just need a gentle reminder that they can do any of these things.  For that, they can be thankful.

2.    Three Good Things:  Bedtime is a great time to decompress and check in with your kids.  It’s also a great time to talk about gratitude.  Ask your child to identify three good things in her life as she goes to sleep.  Keep a journal by her bed so that you can write them down and revisit them during the day.  You will probably find that family, mommy & daddy, and favorite toys make the list often.  Many kids tend to think about these things as they end the day.  Having them verbalize it shows them that it feels good to go to sleep feeling happy and thankful.

3.    Collect Coins:  It’s no secret that kids love coins.  They like to play with them, hoard them, fill their banks with them, and throw them in fountains.  Create a special coin collection jar.  Have your kids put a few coins in the jar each week.  When the jar is full, talk about local charities where they can donate the coins.  Better yet, find a fountain that donates the coins to a local food bank or some other charity and make it a fun outing.  Be sure to explain where they money goes and how it helps other people.  Kids (even toddlers) take great pride in helping others.

4.    Pick a Stick:  Do you ever feel like your kids are constantly looking for something to dodespite shelves of books and toys?  It can be tempting to start listing the things they should be grateful for, but this doesn’t actually teach a lesson.  Sometimes kids just need visuals.  Make a list of fun family activities and toys and games the kids have at their disposal.  Make use of those extra craft sticks by writing one activity on the end of each stick.  Flip the sticks over and ask your child to pick one.  Flip the stick back over to see what activity the family should do next!  Sometimes a simple game to make things fun reminds our children that wonderful things are all around us.