Kelty's Lil' Pumpkin and Other News

Our weekend flew by, not quite sure where it went. Most of the tasks we set out to accomplish this weekend were flops but at least we ended the weekend on a good note ... Kelty has his 1st pumpkin! We don't have cool pumpkin patches here in Tampa so our little hunt for a pumpkin took us to a large tent set up on the side of the road. Most of the pumpkins were rotten but Kelty loved standing amongst them and beating them like a drum. Here are a few pics ...

A rare family shot!

Oooh ... this is neat!

This is the one!

In other news ... the Gymboree Play and Music Centers in the Tampa Bay area have unexpectantly closed; they filed bankruptcy. One day they were open ... the next day the doors were closed. Though I'm not happy about being out the money for the 16 week tuition I am truly devastated for Kelty. He is such an active little boy and he has lost the freedom to climb and explore in a place that was suitable and safe for this type of activity ... also lost was the wonderful interaction with other children, fun little songs, bubble time and parachute play. Of course we can play bubbles at home and I sing and play with him all day long but I also enjoy the oppotunity for a guided class with some fresh ideas. It's nice to get out of the house for playtime a few times a week! We also had a wonderful teacher with such a beautiful singing voice ... I can't exactly hold a tune ... no matter how simple the song. :o)

This is your chance to win! I belong to the EtsyMom Team on Etsy, an on-line community where artisans sell their handmade items. One of my pottery pieces will be given away to one lucky winner on November 9th, but we are giving away items twice a day, everyday in November! Click below to be taken to our site for this super giveaway ... starting November 1st!



Etsymom SUPERGIVEAWAY is coming! The Etsymom Street Team is prepping for the holidays by taking the time-honored tradition of gift-giving to another level! Riding the wave of unity, harmony and excitement inspired by the Etsymom Trunk Show in September, our team tossed around a few ideas about our next team event. A little idea of having a giveway, where Moms would donate an item to be given away each day of November on our blog has morphed into a SUPER GIVEAWAY!! When the call for volunteers went out we had an overwhelming response of over 60 shops willing to donate a $10.00 in value item to this cause. Two winners will be randomly chosen everday to receive one of over 50 prizes. Donations will range from an assortment of hand embroidery, vintage finds, hair clippies, baby accessories, papercrafts, earthenware pottery and more. Perfect for gift-giving! There is a little bit of everything, so whether you like trendy, shabby chic, traditional or retro styles, you're sure to find something! Don't miss this ONLINE EXTRAVAGANZA. Visit us here beginning November 1st for giveaway rules and deadlines!

Al is Home ... Ribbit Ribbit!

Things are GREAT in the Clay house ... Al is back from his deployment. He flew in late Tuesday night. This week has been quite busy, as it always seems to be. My neighbors were out of town for 4 days and I had their 9 year old daughter staying with me ... I guess it was a preview of my future ... packing lunches, getting a child off to school in the morning, fixing snacks, playing games, making early dinners and helping with homework. It was a fun time .. really, I enjoyed it! I also had another custom ChichiKids order and a ChichiClay order to fill this week. It truly made the days leading up to Al's return pass quickly. Unfortunately we all have colds this week and we had to miss out on Evangaline's 1st Birthday and Gymboree this week. :o( We were able to take Kelty in for his Halloween photo's on Wednesday ... the photographer had a rough time getting a good photo of Kelty ... he's a mover ... but we were able to get a few OK photos. Nothing spectacular but nice. Here are a few photos of the week!

Daddy is back! Kelty was playing shy but quicky warmed up. While we were waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting for Al to fly in, Kelty was clapping and waving like crazy! He loves to wave and then gets excited and claps. It is so stinking cute!

Ribbit! Kelty loves to bounce and hop ... what better costume than a frog for his 1st Halloween!

Looking like such a big boy in his jeans and t-shirt!

Cute in his little hoodie ... who can resist this little face!

I've Been Tagged

I've been tagged by Michelle ... here we go!

10 Years Ago (1998):

1. Married Al (Aug 98)

2. Graduated from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

3. Was commissioned as a 2d Lt in the AF

4. Was 22 year young!

5. Living in Daytona Beach

5 Things on Tomorrow's "To Do" List:

1. Get my eyebrows waxed

2. Drop off my medical records at MacDill

3. Do some grocery shopping at the commissary while at MacDill

4. Take Kelty to Gymboree

5. Go to the gym

5 Things that I would do if I were a millionaire:

1. Pay off our mortgage

2. Pay off our last student loan

3. TRAVEL!

4. Take care of family

5. Save, Save, Save

5 Places I have lived:

1. Indian River, Mi (born and raised)

2. Daytona Beach, FL

3. Panama City, FL

4. Rapid City, SD

5. Columbus, MS

5 Jobs I have had:

1. Clerk at Ben Frankins Store (Indian River, MI)

2. Office Assistant for Intramural and Recreations Sports at Embry-Riddle

3. Character Entertainer and Parade/Show Perfomer at Walt Disney World (96-99 and 05-now)

4. Air Traffic Controller

5. Dance Instructor & Yoga Instructor

5 people I'm tagging are:

1. Rachel

2. Karla

3. Heather

4. Kristie

5. Sherry

Week in Review

I don't know where the time went since my last blog! It was a busy week filled with home showings which was a good thing but such an inconvenience. The dogs have thwarted my attempts to keep them out of the house and off the property during the showings ... they don't play well with strangers so they have to be out of the house. The first few showings I was able to put them in the neighbors backyard which was perfect, however I was quite alarmed when I came back to the house after a realtor finished with the home only to find the dogs inside ... what the! My two chihuahua's managed to dig a whole under the fence and into our yard and then proceed to eat a hole through our screened-in pool deck so they could get into the house! Every time I block the holes they just dig new ones! Now I have to pack up the dogs and drive around in the car every time a realtor comes to show the house ... what a pain. Yesterday we had 3 showings in one day and today we had 1 showing that was over 3 hours late! Grrrrr.

In other news ... my sister Rachel came to visit for a few days. It's been so nice to have company! We had a movie night complete with popcorn and Oreo cookies (yumm) and of course we always have fun in the kitchen (we tried making a peanut butter and jelly french toast).

Well, I don't have many photos of the week but I have two cute videos. Enjoy!

This little feeding spoon by Boone is AWESOME! I was skeptical when I bought this thing but it is great! You fill the container with baby food and then squeeze it out directly into the attached spoon ... no mess! Kelty loved it and would not let go of this thing ... I literally had to squeeze the food out while it was still in his mouth. I've used it for normal applesauce and also stage 3 foods. Good find!

Kelty finally figured how to "sing" into the microphone!

Kelty's new game is running in circles in his jumper. He also like to run and then pick up his feet. He was cracking Rachel and I up!

Back in Tampa

We're back from Homestead ... I pulled an extended period of military duty last week and arrived back in Tampa late Sunday night. I flew my mom down to take care of Kelty while I worked ... Nana did a great job! Though we didn't have much free time to spend together while we were down at Homestead we did get some good time together before leaving for Miami. Here are a few pics of this last week (not too many since I didn't have my camera with us in Miami).

Nana joined us at Kelty's Gymboree class last Tuesday.

Kelty eating his peas and carrots. Actually, he would only put them to his mouth and then throw them ... at least he would touch them which is more than what I can say for bananas.

Kelty playing with his Dance Tower. He actually bounces when the music plays now ... I haven't captured him shaking his bootie on video yet though.