Halloween night

Mason went to a friends house for a party tonight.  He still came home with a lot of candy. 

 Our neighbor Colton is the taller Captain America.  ;)  We trick or treated with him last year too.

 Brian usually does the gore for the kids. He had meetings tonight.  I think I did an OK job. 

This tutu that Karlee is wearing is actually an old dance costume she wore in first grade, I think.  She's still just as skinny.

Bailee went to Boo at Bos and needed to dress up.  She started worrying about a costume on Saturday.  This morning she decided to buy a T-shirt and and a tutu at Walmart after school.  Surprise! There wasn't anything left.  She was thinking about wearing a witches hat and came across this toddler costume that McKinzie wore when she was 3.  Well...it worked! 

Happy Halloween!!



BTW ~ McKinzie only has 6 more weeks!!!
We're all ready!

Halloween ~ trunk or treat

pumpkin patch

Two weeks ago I took Adam to the pumpkin patch.  He was excited all morning to go until we got in the car.  He fussed and cried most of the way there.  I started wondering if this was going to be worth it.  He had a death grip on me for the first 10 minutes.  It takes him awhile to warm up to crowds.  I convinced to go on a hay ride with me.  It started getting fun for both of us after that.  

 

He tried rolling pumpkins. 

He also tried picking them up.  He often chose the largest ones to pick up.

 This picture is my favorite.  I'm sure I'll put this on my wall. 

 Adam was trying to become Diego.  :)

He wasn't too sure about the bounce houses or slides.  I ended up pushing him into the bounce house and going over to a window so he would follow me to stay close.  He started loving it.  The slides too!

It ended up being a great day!  The weather was amazing!  Adam fell asleep on the way home.  Another successful day.

pumpkin carving

roses do more than smell lovely

I love roses and Brian knows it. 

Some days ago Brian and I were struggling.  You would think after 20+ years it would be smooth sailing.  We have to remember that as individuals we continue to grow and change.  Therefore our marriage/relationship needs to grow and change, and sometimes we need to reconnect.   

I'm so very grateful that we are committed to each other and don't just through up our hands and say, "I'm done." 

During those days of struggle Brian went out of town.  He came home a day early from his trip and brought me roses.  Did it make it all better?  It softened our hearts to help us communicate.  So, YES!  Roses help. ;)

I love you Brian!  Thank you for not giving up on me...on us. 

living room

I used my wide lens for this picture to get the entire room.  I love my camera.

 

After Dad past away we used a part of the settlement for a few needs around the house.  We had the exterior of the house painted.  It looks so much better.  I love that it's not a contractor color anymore.  :-)

We also bought new living room furniture.  We had the last set for 16 1/2 years.  I think we got our monies worth out of it.  A few days ago Brian put up curtains for me.  I love the whole look (Brian isn't sure yet).  The couches are very cozy and large once you remove the pillows.  I'm still trying to train everyone that this is a quiet room.  To read, rest, or visit.  The boys love hiding in the pillows, especially Adam. 

oklahoma city

Last weekend Brian and I found out that Dallas Temple was closed until November.  We hadn't been to the Temple yet for the month so we decided to attend at the Oklahoma City Temple.  It was about a 3 hour drive.  We headed up after work on Friday.  The Temple was very small. They didn't have clothing to rent, or a cafeteria.  It only has two sealing room.  I was able to peek into one my way back to the dressing room.  Very elegant. I really liked the Celestial Room too.  The Temple had been remodeled recently and it was beautiful!

 

 When we returned back to the hotel this is what we found.  Two lazy boys watching TV.  They were loving it.

 We needed to hurry back home so Carson could attend a friends birthday party.  As you can tell in these pictures the pinata was huge.

Much larger than the kids. :)

birthday boy is 3!!

 Wednesday we celebrated Adam's birthday.  His birthday is today but he'll be spending the evening with his Dad.

I can't believe he's already 3!!  He talks better than a 3 year old.  His imagination is like a 3 year old.  I just can't believe we have been blessed to have him in our lives for 3 years. 

 The toys he got from us are toys like Carson's that he loves to play with at our house.  Carson gets frustrated that Adam wants to play with his toys ALL the time.

 Adam had been wanting/begging/crying for this ship, Bucky, for weeks.  We are all glad his birthday has arrived so he will stop.  ;-)

Every time I've taken him to the store he wants to look for a Captain America costume.  Now he's ready for Halloween. 

Happy birthday Adam!  You're my favorite 3 year old!!!  Love you!

donut time

(A super candid picture.) This morning was Moms and Muffins at the boys school.  I mentioned that we might not stop and get donuts this year.  Carson said we should since Mason doesn't like their muffins and he likes donuts.  Those were good reasons for me.  They were yummy as donuts always are.  :0)  This is Mason's last year.  It will be strange going with only one child to all the school events. 

Sparta

Yesterday about dinner time Mason mentioned that he had PACE homework that is due today.  As I take a deep breathe and close me eyes I remind myself that PACE isn't graded. 

One of his options was to make a shield.  They are studying Greece this year.  Which is very exciting!  Brian, Bailee and I are going to Greece in March so I told him to learn lots and share it all with me.  :)
Love the shield Mason!!

Ariel's big day

Saturday Ariel got married!! She looked AMAZING! I was surprised how choked up I got when I first saw her. 

This is McKinzie's friend Lindsey.

Introducing... James and Ariel!!

McKinzie and Ariel have been best friends since 8th grade.  I remember going on a school field trip with McKinzie and meeting her for the first time on the bus.  She was so quiet.  I can't believe how grown up they are now.  I love them both!  :0)

Camp El Tesoro

The second week in October the 5th grade class at Mason's school went to a camp for three days.  Brian was hoping to go in place of me.  But as it got closer there were meetings that he couldn't miss.  The rest of the kids weren't too excited that I was going to be gone, but I'm soo glad I was able to make arrangements so I could go and hang out with Mason and his friends.

 

This bridge is the main entrance into camp.  They allowed 10 students and one adult at a time.  It was extremely wobbly.  The kids loved it!

The first activity was "rock, paper, scissors".  In a short time we had a winner. 
Every day we attended 5 different classes.  Each day it would build upon the last day.  The classes were,

team building,

trees,

fossils,

compass/GPS,

and archery.  Archery was everyones favorite.  On the first day Mason hit the target with all five arrows.  His classmates were impressed.  Cub Scouts is paying off. ;)

The first night Mason was involved in the flag lowering ceremony. There was one student from each class.

This is the cabin I slept in, on the left.  We had 8 girls and 2 chaperone's.

This is the main lodge.  Where we had our meals and the tree classes.

On the last day there was a challenge, each class had to compete against each other.  Chaperone's couldn't help in any way.  Team building was the most fun to watch.  It was these two pictures above.  The students were in a circle and they couldn't let go of hands.  They had to pass two hula hoops going opposite directions.  While at the same time passing a soccer ball to the next person between their feet AND passing a bowling pin from neck to neck. In less than 20 minutes!  Surprisingly they did it!!

Another fun one was the archery.  They had three different targets.  Each with different points needed.  3-10-69.  On the first round of students we had 3-9-14.  Chandler shot the 3 point with one arrow.  Very exciting.  It was Mason's turn and he only needed one point to get to 10.  He shot the first arrow and missed.  He shot the second and hit the white! One point!!  Exciting.  In the end we ended up hitting 70 points on the last target.  But we found out we tied for first.  Wahoo!! 

After lunch the teachers tallied all the points together and they announced the winner of the challenge.  Drum roll please..........Mrs. Young's class!!!!! (That's Mason's class.)  Wahoo!!