Leprechaun Days 2012

I know this is old news but time flies....

This picture collage generated with Smilebox

A Treat Filled Halloween

My Girls: Leopard Lady, Cowgirly, Little Pumpkin


Big Guy: IronMan


Little Lad: Construction Worker Dude


We had a blast celebrating Halloween. The weekend started out with a fun Halloween party at the neighbors' house behind us. The four oldest nuts went and had a lot of fun playing games with other little costume friends. Mr. Lugnut had full weekend with our little nuts while I got away to scrapbook with some friends. We all had fun at our own special events.

On Halloween we were very fortunate. Mr. Lugnut was able to hangout in the morning but headed to work just before the festivities of the evening began. Time wasn't passing fast enough for some of our little nuts. But, finally when it was time to pick up Walnut from the bus stop they knew the time was near. After a quick meal of chicken nuggets we raced to change into our costumes. Then, we hopped into the van to start our first route: Grandparents' homes to Trick-or-Treat. It was so fun! Unfortunately, Peanut was frightened of the Clown at Gran and Pops place. She wouldn't go near Clown and she'd cry as soon as Clown tried to get close enough to talk to her. It was still fun, because Peanut was exactly ready to hop back in the van to the next stop. Our next stop wasn't as scary. The little nuts went "nuts" as they sampled some of their goodies at Gram and Gramps'. It was getting dark so we needed to get back to our 'hood for some traditional neighborhood "Trick-or-Treating."

More treats to come. When we got back we waiting for our little nuts' cousins to arrive. It is a five year tradition to walk the neighborhood together. The anticipation was high as they all gathered by the door waiting for "them" to arrive. They were happy to hand out candy to other visitors and grew even more excited that it would be their turn soon. Each one of their eyes brighten as they announced their cousins arrival. A few of them were super eager and jumped out the doorway to greet them and tell them "let's go!" Ah, I remember that feeling when I was their age. It is unforgettable!

Uncle Jeremy was the lucky one who so nicely agreed to take the kids out around the neighborhood even though Mr. Lugnut couldn't join him. It sounded like they all did a great job "treating" and Uncle Jer had fun, too!! He took them out for about 2 hours of treating and from the looks of their treats we won't need to buy candy until next Halloween. Thanks Uncle Jer!!

Happy Halloween treat eating to you all!!

Last Days of Summer

Our summer days were filled with lots of "stuff." Sunny days of water splashing in the pool, lake, sprinkler, or slip'n'slide. Lots of fun at the MN Zoo, parks, play dates with friends, fireworks, leprechaun days, birthday parties, and family gatherings. This summer started later than most and boy did it fly by. I've attached some of my favorite pictures.




Here is a list of events that have taken place since my last blog:



1. Haircuts - Mr. Lugnut barbered Almond and Butternut hairs to a much shorter length than anyone was used too. Bangs were added to Almond and Hazelnut's hairstyles by their Granny.

2. Platte Lake - We're very fortunate to vacation at the Grothee's cabin 2 times this summer. Once with Mr. Lugnut's family (including his sisters' families) and once with my parents.



3. Birthdays - Hazelnut turned a whopping 8 years old, my bro (String Bean) celebrated his 31st birthday in July, our nephew just turned 15 years old, and Mr. Lugnut celebrated is 33rd birthday. All of these incredible people were celebrated to the max.

4. School Started in August for Hazelnut and Almond. The girls are using a new curriculum this year, so we've had a difficult time adjusting. We are currently 5 weeks into it and starting to make way. It will be another exciting year working with them. Walnut will also be taught religion at home and attend a local elementary school for his core classes. Walnut will continue to work on his articulation with a speech specialist at the school as well. He loves it and is having a great time learning with his new classmates.

5. Twins Game - We had fantastic time cheering on the Twins at Target Field in August. It was a beautiful night. We were able to have awesome seats in the lower level then hooked up with the Budweiser Deck to hang with my parents, String Bean & Kidney Bean, and Kidney Bean's family and friends. It was so GREAT!



6. "Mercy Watson to the Rescue." - GrandMa and I were able to spend a special night at the Children's Theatre with Hazelnut, Almond, and Walnut this past weekend. This was the first 'play' experience. All of them were super excited to see what a 'play' was all about. The play was based on a series of books featuring a pig named Mercy. I cannot believe how much we ALL laughed at this wonderful production. Hazelnut almost fell out of her seat she laughed so hard and my eyes teared up whenever I heard her laugh so hard. As soon as it ended all three of the them wanted to know if they could go to it again or at least another play. Here's a picture of them and the books they got as souvenirs.


Best of all LIVING LIFE to the FULLEST. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family and awesome friends. Thank you.

Say It Like It Is

While Butternut was swinging this week we had the following conversation:

Butternut: Mom!!! Pushy, please?
Mrs. Macadamia: Sure
Butternut: You have baby belly?
Mrs. Macadamia: Hhhhuh??
Butternut: (a bit louder in volume) YOU baby belly???!!
Mrs. Macadamia: No, but it sure looks like it some days, huh?!
Butternut: Yes.

Then I broke out in laughter....he sure know how to win a smile!! My physique must be lacking this month. Boy, I think I need to work a little harder in the exercise department. Thanks Butternut for the reality check; I love your honesty!

Just like Dad

Our adorable little Butternut knows how to sweeten any day. His favorite thing to do is to watch and help Mr. Lugnut (aka: Dad). I get a kick out of how much he admires Daddy's hard work. As with most families, the "Dad" usually takes care of the outdoor jobs like caring for the lawn. Butternut loves to weed-whip using a broken smoke-bush branch and mows the grass with his toy lawn mower, just like Dad (although, Dad uses the 'real thing.') It is the most precious thing to watch especially when he wears his boots and goggles for protection (just like Dad). I think you'll agree!!

The video posted below is of Butternut in action and fully equipped with a bonus act via our God-daughter. Enjoy!

Friendship Bracelets

Due to all the rainy weather we've been having this past week, I had to come up with some new stuff to do indoors. Thankfully, I was able to clean out part of our storage space in the area we call - The Very Far-in-the-Future Bathroom. This area has been accumulating stuff for a very long time and was in dire need of reorganization. I happened to stumble upon my old embroidery floss that I used to make friendship bracelets with when I was "young." I was so excited as a I reminisced back to those carefree days of just doing "whatever" I wanted. Ahhh, those were fun days. Okay, back to reality. I had talked to the girls about making friendship bracelets a while back but had never found nor searched hard enough to find my flossing kit.

I was as thrilled to teach Hazelnut as she was learn a new art project - Friendship Bracelets. Hazelnut had a blast learning how to make friendship floss bracelets. Back in the day I only learned 2 ways of making them. Each style is fun and not too complicated. The first style is probably one of the easiest because you only need to count to 10 for each color (pink, black, and white). The second bracelet has a forward knot on each strand of floss. This style takes double the amount of time to make than the first style. Hazelnut worked so diligently all day. I just LOVE how she puts all of her heart into what she creates. That is ultimately what makes her work shine.

Birthday Cake and Scary Temps

The video is Peanut eating her first piece of Birthday cake on her Birthday. She had a great time enjoying the messy piece of chocolate cake. She did a great job cleaning off her tray!





The next couple of days were a bit hectic and scary. We were all trying to clean and prepare for Peanut's Birthday bash. Unfortunately, Almond came down with a serious illness which gave her a consistently high fever. All day long I had to keep her fever in check, switching between doses of Ibuprofen and Tylenol. Then, we Almond awoke at 6:15AM Saturday (birthday party day) her fever was at 105 Degrees. Mr. Lugnut quickly cooled her down and within a few minutes she dropped down to the upper 102 Degree level. We decided that it was best to cancel Peanut's party so we could get Almond to a healthier state and not expose others to a potentially bad illness. We were very concerned for her and our family members. Almond remained mellow and sad that we couldn't have the party. We still had a good day, though. As it went on Almond began to feel better and her temperature did not creep up like the previous day. She made it through the entire afternoon without needing fever reducing medication. Plus, my parents dropped in to say "happy birthday" to Peanut and hang out for a bit. Our little nuts had fun entertaining them!

The evening went well, too! After dinner we had a Cupcake Party. It was a blast. Peanut loved the strawberry butterfly cupcakes I made special for her. Again, she enjoy eating it and making a big mess. Everyone went to bed all tuckered out and with a full and happy tummy.

Today, Almond awoke at 8:30AM which happens to be very late for her! It was good because she was as cool as a cucumber! Yahoo, she no longer had a fever. Whew, what a relief! All-in-all our weekend went surprising well even after Almond's scary temperature and Peanut's canceled birthday party.