Pluck it!

Interesting expletive, huh? :)

What do you do to relieve stress? Do you have a stress plan? I mean, do you consciously turn to a certain activity or ritual or habit that soothes you? Or do you just find yourself doing a certain something in stressful times?

I've noticed over the years that one of my most effective methods of stress relief is the otherwise much dreaded deed of shaping my eyebrows (or, as I mentally refer to it, the completely insane, unnecessary, and incredibly painful ripping out of the hair in my delicate eye area!). Yep. I'm certifiable. It works though. I've never ever actually done this on purpose to relieve stress, but I noticed once that I was just plucking away, and I couldn't even feel it. Normally I'm one of those total weenie girls that can't help but form tears as the hairs are jerked from their rightful home on my brow. I don't actually "cry," of course, but there's definite watering of the eyes. :)

Anyway, I was stressing over something at the time I made this strange observation. Out of curiosity, I did a little digging through photos, and I found that I tend to get a little bushy when the stress level is low. Yet, in the pictures taken at the most tense times of my adult life, I'm sporting some seriously sexy eyebrows!

Now this really only works to a certain degree. I've had a couple of total down and out lows that certainly couldn't be detected by the thickness of my brows, but for the most part if you're wondering how I'm really doing just take a closer look...not into my eyes, but above them!

Party Moments

So, check me out...I finally did a little slide show deal for ya. :) Wanted to share a few of the sweet little moments from Tony's 2nd birthday party. In case you haven't noticed, it's over there on the right. ;) I guess black and white is probably a little odd for a crazy toddler's birthday party, but I think the photography of the day kinda reflects the nostalgia Steve and I were feeling. Still can't believe my baby is two.

I Two!!

This picture was taken yesterday...or at least it seems that way to me! Little Anthony Thomas turned two last week, and he's been busy reminding me of that fact, both in word and deed! :) I'll try to get some birthday party pictures up soon, but since I've been reminiscing over his birth day pictures for a week now, I just had to share this one.

And Finally, Our Halloween Party!!

Sorry for the delay. We've had some computer issues that have kept me from getting the pictures to the blog. Here are a few of the cutest. Hope you enjoy!

We had a lot of fun here on Halloween! Here we are making lots of "music" with our shakers and dancing to the beat...

Spidey-Zach enjoying every last bite of his yummy cookie treat...


Elmo-Nathan making his latest favorite face. How cute is that?!


Our very own collection of Tiggers...
Brianna, who was "supposed" to be Tinkerbell but wanted nothing to do with her costume while she was at my house. She wasn't the only stubborn one though. This is Tony's costume, and he went running and screaming from Mommy at the first request to put it on. Bri made a pretty cute Tigger too though, don't you think? :)



And my dear Tony, the true owner of the Tigger suit. Once Bri had it on, he could hardly wait for his turn! That's Tony for ya!


And yet another Tigger...Dillon came with his own Tigger costume to bounce around in! What a sweet face!


Halloween is just not complete without a superhero or two! Tyler and Zach were ready to protect us in their spidersuits. Those two boys are so much alike. It really fit for them to be twins for the day! :)


Okay, how perfect is this?! I mean really! Garrett's Daddy is a mechanic, and Garrett's already a car guy just like him. Amanda has a picture of the two of them in their "work" clothes. Love it!!


I wasn't able to get a lot of action shots of our day, since I'm pretty much engulfed in the action around here! The kids had a lot of fun seeing each other all dressed up though. And we read Halloween books and did Halloween crafts all day. We practiced saying Happy Halloween and trick-or-treat. I wish I'd gotten some video of that! They were soo cute!

Somehow I failed to get a picture of the sweet little pumpkin, Ian. He was a total doll in his orange and white outfit. Sorry I can't show you. :(

It was a great day for sure. The kids are at a wonderful age now. We just have so much fun. Thanks again to you mommies and daddies who share your little ones with my family and me. We love them!!

To school or not to school...

That is the question! Tyler will be starting kindergarten next year (wasn't he JUST born??), and Steve and I are seriously considering home schooling. I know several of you have school aged children, and even those of you who don't may have a well-defined opinion on this. So I'm asking to hear them. Let me know what you think...public school or home school? And why?? I just want to really think thru all the issues. So maybe you've thought of something that hasn't crossed our minds yet. Please share! If you don't want to make a public display, that's perfectly fine. You can also email me at kristiemknox@yahoo.com.

Thanks for sharing!!