Had a fun night...but moving onward!!!!

Celebrating waiting 3 months!!!

Halloween night fun!!!

The girls get the pumpkins ready for the trick-or-treaters...

Everything all set for the little goblins...

Who says we are too old for trick-or-treating???

Now, I think you might be too old for trick-or-treating Granny Kyla!!!

Happy "Howl"oween!!!

Hope you all have a fun Halloween with lots of treats and not too many treats!!! But be careful, or your teeth may end up looking like this.............

Also......

Welcome the newest little pumpkin to the Liptack clan,

Asher Allen Liptack

the grandchild score is now even steven

3 girls

Hailey 13

Kyla 11

Abby 8

3 boys

Aiden 3

Josiah 2

Asher 0

Congratulations go out to Len and Sharra Liptack and big brother Josiah

Emma and Ellie and the Great Pumpkin Patch

Happy Fall!!! These are my nieces, Emma and Ellie, at the pumpkin patch. Aren't they just too cute. Love the excited faces. Emma is 4 today, Happy Birthday Emma! And Ellie was two in August. They are having so much fun!!!

They just need to stop growing up!!!!

OK it is past midnight and I really should be cuddled up in bed but I was just reminiscing a little bit because we just got back the girls school photos for this year and I couldn't believe how old they looked in them. I know everyone always says this but they really are growing up too fast!!! I just want them to stop it! We measured Hailey tonight and she is just about a 1/2 and inch away from me (of course she has passed me by in shoe size already). Funny thing is her hip bone is already about 2 inches higher than mine. She was blessed with loooooong legs of her dads, lucky girl! And Kyla....boy she has matured so much this past year too. Gosh, I think I am going to cry! I truly am so proud of the young women they are becoming though! Both girls are giving up their Friday night to help other kids. Kyla's Girl Scout troop is hosting a Fall party for kids at a homeless shelter. We have been collecting costumes and clothes and the girls have all planned a fun carnival style party for these kids who are going through so much trauma in their lives. Hailey and her friend are also going to be helpers for our churches annual fall party this Friday night. It will be a little crazy trying to juggle both events but it makes me so proud that they are both so eager to help out at these events!!!

Now see how fast they grow.....

Hailey in Kindergarten 1998

Hailey now in 8th grade 2006

Kyla in Kindergarten 2000 (I guessed I really liked this dress and bow)

Kyla now in 6th grade 2006

You can both stop getting older now!!!!

Secret Pal and Cyber Shower Pal Strike Again!!!

My awesome July Firefly Secret Pal sent just the most awesome bathtime gifts for Grace. I haven't done bathtime with baby in such a long time and it is one of my most favorite parts of having a little one around. They always seem so happy to splash around in the tub at night before bed and I found that the bath really relaxes children and gets them into the mood to sleep good (that is the hope anyway). The extra bonus is they smell so sweet and cuddly too. So this months theme of "bathtime" was one I was really looking forward to. The little rubber duckie heat indicator was just so awesome. I didn't have any neat gadgets like this when Hailey and Kyla were babies and I think inevitably they ended up having bath water that was too cool because I was always worried they would get burned, so this little gadget will be so handy! The bath letters are so fun and I really can't wait to use the bath toy net. I remember days of having toys all over the bottom of the tub floor and this little holder will help with that for sure!!! Thank you!!! Thank you!!! Thank you!!!


Now on the same day that I received my Secret Pal gift another package was in the mailbox, this one was from the July DTC Cyber shower and this months theme was mealtime so we have both bathtime and mealtime covered!!! Andrea and "Maya" sent the most adorable bib and "mealtime for baby" items! I especially think the bottle is so cool! It is a system that grows with your baby! It starts out with a nipple for a younger baby, then one for a teething baby and it also has an attachment for sippy style lid so it gets the baby used to drinking from a cup! So nifty...what will they think up next!



Thanks so much my Firefly Friends!!!

"Fabulous Friends at Forty" Get-a-Way

Create Your Own!

We had a great time as you can tell but it always great to get back to the family...Mike and his team did awesome in Boston too, they placed 8th. Not to shabby for a master's boat competing against a bunch of young guys!!! Good enough to get invited back next year!!! Way to go!!!

Mom and Dad are leavin' on some jet planes....

After recovering from an awful cold the last few days, Mike and I are busily getting ready to head off into different directions. I am going on a "Friends Fabulous (We're turning Forty) Get-A-Way" with my bestest of friends from jr. high and highschool for a long weekend in Palm Springs. Julie is flying in from Juneau, Alaska, Kathleen coming from Phoenix, Arizona and Inger, Terri and I are all flying from here in Washington.

Girls.....we are going to have a blast!!!

Mike is heading to Boston on the same day with his Master's Crew-mates to compete in the Head of Charles Regatta. His dad will also fly from Seattle to New Jersey and meet up with Mike's brother, Dave, and they will then drive to Boston to watch Mike and his buddies race on Saturday. I know they are going to have a great race!!! I have the kids all squared away with friends so Mike and I can go on these two different trips. It was so weird that they both landed on the same weekend considering we rarely travel without the whole family or together but we were still able to make it work.

Here is photo of the 4 guys that will be rowing together at the Head of the Charles Regatta http://www.hocr.org/home/default.asp

I will post photos from both fun trips when we return, in the meanwhile, have a great rest of the week and terrific weekend!!!

Kangaroos were everywhere!!!

Kyla and I went on a field trip today for her homeschool program to a kangaroo farm and a pumpkin patch. There were over 50 kangaroos (all different types) and emus, lemurs, goats, turkeys, peacocks, parrots, and a "not so friendly" miniature pony. The kangaroos were so cute and friendly. We actually got to feed them and one just kept licking my hand like a puppy. A mommy was even hopping around with her little baby poking out of her pouch.

It was also a beautiful fall day so the scenery was just breathtaking. The trees were all glowing of crimson and gold. The pumpkin patch trip was short but we got a couple of cute photo ops.

The Journey to Tessa begins....

The Hale family (who I met just a few weeks back) are now on their way to China to meet and bring home little Tess. If you want to follow their journey check it out here. They landed in Hong Kong today and they will be united with their daughter very soon. It will be so fun to finally watch an adoption journey of someone I actually know. I pray that their trip is safe and that Tess will not be too upset during the process.

Here is a picture of their youngest daughter with the pilot on the plane to Hong Kong.
She looks like she is having fun!

Here are the older kids trying to occupy themselves during the VERY long plane ride.


Best wishes and prayers for a wonderful journey!!!

PJ party was a blast!!!

Friday night was the "Pajama Palooza" at our church. We had loads of fun but not too much sleep, so Saturday was pretty much a loss. The fashion show was my favorite part but I didn't get any pictures since I was helping the girls. When I get the pictures from my friend I will post them.

Here the girls are working on painting a frame...

Here is a picture of the frame we made to go with our official "PJ Palooza" photo.

Here is a shot of us during our pamper stations, giving hand massages....nice!!!

Mike also brought us home a surprise on Friday night....MOONCAKES...they sure are pretty but as you can tell by the little nibble out of them, they are definately an aquired taste.

Phew....busy week!!!

I can't beleive the week is almost over. It went by like a flash! One of the things I was working on this week was the planning of a Mother-Daughter PJ Party at our church. We are calling it the "Pajama Palooza" and I am part of great team that is putting together this fun event for mothers and daughters to connect. We will have a "Truth or Bare" fashion show, pamper stations, games, crafts and then end with a movie before bed. It should be a blast but there was a lot to do. Plus, I was painting a friends daughter's room, homeschooling and just the other busyness of life.

I will post pictures of the fun time soon and when I am done with the painting I will post those too! Then I will collapse;) Have a great weekend!!!

It was a great mail day!!!

You gotta love the postman on day like today. I was truly blessed with all the packages that were sitting at my door when I came home this afternoon.

First, my Firefly Secret Pal sent me this wonderful gift of an antique mooncake form. What an awesome present!!! She also sent me a paper describing the origin of the Moon Festival and the signifigance of the mooncakes. You can read about it here. Isn't that just the coolest???

She also sent along the most fabulous books in the package. The are the sweetest stories and we can't wait to read them to our Gracie!!! Thank you to my Firefly Secret Pal, this first month has just been awesome!!!


There was another big package at the door too, this one came from my CCAI secret pal. I know what your thinking, "Two Secret Pals"? but oh this is so much fun how could I resist? Besides I justify the fact these gifts are not for me anyway...they are for Grace. Look at the cute Cabbage Patch Doll that my CCAI secret pal sent. She is so adorable!!! Her name is Camilla Meredith and I think she is just perfect for Grace. What a lucky little girl!!! Thank you so much!!!


Now the presents did not stop there either. Last month I won the prize for the cutest scrapbook pages in my Yahoo Scrapbook exchange group, The Ladybug Hunters. Below is the prize I received for winning last month. It is a great BH&G book called Creative Scrapbooking All Seasons. I will get some great inspiration for the months to come in the book! I also posted my pages but I really think it was the cute paper I used that help me win. How could anyone not fall in love with the little baby in the tub after all?

I also received three envelopes in the mail with quilt swaps that were fabulous too. So, you see...it was a great mail day!!!