Costume Party

Caleb and Audria invited us to a costume party at David & Daina's house.  It was fun to get together and catch up with our friends from our old small group...and to eat lots of good food!!!  The boys also had fun playing with David's "toys" (golf cart, trampoline, playhouse, bounce house, etc.)!

When Caleb gave me a cd of pictures from the Halloween party, there was also a picture of Audria and Axton.  Axton's smile just melted my heart and I couldn't help but play with this picture in Lightroom.  Isn't it a gorgeous picture?!?

CANDY!!!!

Tonight was the big night!  Our neighborhood is full of children...meaning it's also full of lots of people with their porch lights on ready to pass out candy.  Our washing machine chose this night to quick working (in the middle of a load), so Mike stayed home to fix it for me so that we'd have clean clothes to wear tomorrow (it's soooooo wonderful to have a husband that's able to fix things around the house!)  The boys....errrr...Hamilton and Aikman and I went over to Trey and Nathan's house in the cul-de-sac to go trick-or-treating with them.  For some reason Barrett didn't want me to take a picture of just him and Brody...

But he was excited to have me take his picture with Nate!  These boys used to be just "Trey and Brody's little brothers"...but now they're becoming really good friends!  It's fun to watch them play together and watch their friendship develop.

Brody and Trey play together every chance they get!  Since Trey lives across the street from Daddy Steve and Namaw (just around the corner from us)...it's pretty much a given that these two will carve time to play together daily.

I took the little boys back to the cul-de-sac after a couple streets, but the big boys wanted to keep trick-or-treating.  When Brody got back to our house, he had filled his pumpkin so full of candy that he'd had to use his hat the last few houses to have something to put more candy in!  I told him that he could've stopped...he didn't have to keep ringing doorbells once his pumpkin was full, but he replied, "No I couldn't!  We hadn't gone to all the houses yet!"  

I'm one of those mom's that limits the pieces of candy the kids eat to 1 (maybe 2) a day.  With as much candy as they got this year...their stash might last us until next Halloween!

Aikman, Hamilton, & Maleficent go to school

Today the kids got to wear their Halloween costumes to school.  Brody has known for months that he wanted to be a Texas Rangers baseball player for Halloween (he chose Josh Hamilton).  Barrett has constantly been changing his mind about Halloween costumes.  Over the past month he's talked about being a sheriff, an army man, a Texas Rangers baseball player, a Dallas Cowboy, a fireman, and "an army man with a badge that goes to work".  This morning (as I was rushing to get them dressed), he finally settled on being a Dallas Cowboy.  Autumn showed up at our house as Maleficent (the villain in Sleeping Beauty).  I was glad she could tell me who she was.  I may be able to name all the characters in Cars or Toy Story, but I can't even pretend to know the name of the villain in Sleeping Beauty! 

Brody wanted me to draw some tattoos on his arm like Josh Hamilton. 

This meant Barrett "needed" a tattoo on his arm too.  I tried to tell him that I hadn't ever seen any tattoos on Troy Aikman's arm...but that didn't matter to him.  I finally drew a star on his upper arm and he proceeded to flex his muscles to show it off.

Grammy is still in town today and went up to school with me to watch the parade of kids. 

At the end of the school day, Grammy and I went back up to school for the boys' Halloween parties.  They were excited to get to show Grammy around their school...and show her all their treats!

Grammy left today when the boys went down for their naps.  It's been great to have her here with us for the past week and a half.  We've had some great conversations, she's played ball with the boys, she's read to the boys, she's gone on errands and to baseball games, and she's even done my laundry and dishes!  It's been a fun time together!  Now we're all going through Grammy withdrawals!

What fits in a zip lock bag?

Grammy doesn't! 

In deciding what to take to school today for the letter "G", Barrett informed me that he'd like to take Grammy (who's visiting right now).  Then with sadness in his voice he said, "But she won't fit in the zip lock bag." (whatever they take for show and tell has to fit in a sandwich size zip lock bag).

Yes, he was right.  Grammy will not fit in a zip lock bag.  So...he decided to copy Brody and take a picture of Gentry (you know...Craig Gentry of the Texas Rangers!!)  I wonder if Craig Gentry knows that he fits in a zip lock bag?

Just Because

 



You know how our boys are always cutting flowers off our rose bushes to give to me?  They always tell me they are bringing me flowers just because they love me.  Wanna know where they get that from?  Their Daddy.  Tonight he went to the grocery store to get something for dinner (which definitely scored him some points!) and came home with flowers for me...just because.  Flowers on Valentines Day or Mother's Day are special...but flowers "just because I love you" mean the world to me!  I'm so blessed to be married to a man that finds joy in making me feel special!  Love you Mike!

Did I really just do that?!?

I did something yesterday that I NEVER thought I'd do!

Grammy and the boys went with me to run errands.  One of the errands involved the mall, so we decided to grab lunch in the food court.  The boys picked Chick-Fil-A (great choice!) and traded their kids meal toy in for an ice cream cone.  We were in a hurry to leave the mall (so we had time to play at the park before naps), so after they'd eaten a few bites of their cone, I told them to keep eating while we walked.  We got halfway back to Macy's when it happened.

Brody dropped his cone.  Of course, an ice cream cone ALWAYS falls ice cream down.  Grammy's hands were full (a kids drink in each hand) and I was holding Barrett's hand with one hand and my drink with the other.  I let go of Barrett to dig around in my purse for napkins (to clean up the mess off the mall floor) and when I turned back around Brody was licking his ice cream cone!!!!!  I said, "NO!" and then grabbed the cone from him.  I weighed my options for a few seconds, wiped off the top layer of ice cream with my napkin.....and then handed the cone back to him!

I looked up to see a guy who works at one of those kiosks in the middle of the mall selling cell phones.  He was looking straight at me and I could read the shock in his eyes!  "That woman just let her son eat an ice cream cone OFF THE MALL FLOOR!!!!!"

Yes I did.  I smiled and nodded at the man, wiped up the mess off the mall floor, and then led the boys out of the mall to our car. 

It's ok (kiosk worker)....I feel the same way.  I can't believe I did that!

Homeland Security

When your husband is a hunter and God blesses you with little boys...you end up with little hunters at your house.  There is shooting taking place in our house on a daily basis (toy guns, Nerf guns, sticks, and even imaginary guns)!  We have the boys pick their toys up multiple times a day, however, it seems like every time I open the pantry door there's a toy gun laying in the middle of the pantry floor!  I find them various other places around the house (mainly in the middle of the hallways), but the pantry is the most consistant place where I can count on there being a gun (even more than the corner of their room where the guns are stored)!

Today I opened the door to go to the bathroom and found a gun laying directly in front of the potty!  It made me wonder what battle was taking place while someone was using the bathroom...

 

I don't think I'll ever need to worry about my boys not being able to protect their momma.  They make sure to hide their guns around the house so that they're always ready to defend and protect.  Just another advantage of being the only princess in the house :)

Definitely a base hit!

Do you see the bird feeder in this picture?  It's on a tall pole (at least 10-12 feet tall).  Click on the picture to make it full screen and then follow the white arrow on the right side of the picture.  Now do you see it?  (again...picture taken with my iPhone...I say this so you're not critical of the picture quality...I didn't have my "real" camera with me.)

I took this picture from home plate.  This is the baseball diamond that Grammy, Brody, Barrett, and I played on at the park this afternoon.  I was the pitcher and was pitching (overhanded) to Brody who was batting.  Let me just say that he gave me quite the workout!  He was slamming those balls!  Twice he hit a line drive between 1st and 2nd base that I had to chase all the way to the bird feeder!  It went straight past me and didn't even hit the ground until halfway to the bird feeder...and then I had to run as fast as I could to chase it down!  Even if we would've had a full team in the outfield, every one of his at bats would've resulted in base hits.  With only me in the outfield....every at bat resulted in a home run!

 

Barrett was also doing great hitting the ball.  He was nailing them past me when he hit off the tee, so he asked me to pitch to him.  I pitched underhanded to him and he hit quite a few really hard!  One time he was playing 1st base while Brody was batting.  As soon as Brody hit the ball, Barrett threw his glove up in the air and started running the bases...and then slid into home.  Grammy and I were dying laughing!

 

After our game of baseball, we got the boys bikes out of the car and Grammy and I got another good workout as we tried to keep up with the boys (us on foot...them on bikes) as they rode through the trails at the park.  It was a fun afternoon together! 

Can your lip do this?

Barrett has an amazing pouting face.  I'm all the time telling him, "You better get that lip back in or you're gonna trip on it!!"  Of course...that just makes him stick it out even farther to prove that he won't!  This is the look I got this morning when he said, "I want milk from the presso machine." and I told him, "That's only on the weekends.  That's a special thing that Daddy does for you."  I don't think he liked me telling him "no".    (picture from my iPhone)

Rock Climbing in the City

It was a gorgeous day outside today, so after Ladies' Bible Study we took our lunch to the park.  The boys ate super fast so they could go run and play.  Brody loves climbing on this random rock that's in the middle of the playground.  I wonder what he'll do someday when we put a harness on him, hook him up to a rope, and tell him to climb up 100 feet? 

(pictures below taken on my iPhone)

I was taking a picture of him standing on top and caught this instead!  Ahhhhh!  This makes me think about the story Mike's told me of his time as a camp counselor.  He jumped off a rock from pretty high up onto soft dirt.  Everyone told him, "That was awesome!  But...we didn't get a picture...so you need to do it again!"  He did...and ended up in the hospital for his knee.  I think I need to tell Brody that story a few more times...

After the playground we went for a walk.  The boys thought this would be a good tree to crawl back under the limbs and make a fort...

 

Barrett was too interested in the squirrels running by to look at the phone and smile.

When we tried to take a group picture, Barrett wanted his stick to be in the picture too!

EVERY picture had his stick in it...which really frustrated Brody!  (He's saying, "NO BARRETT!" in this picture! lol)

 

ALCS CHAMPIONS!!!!

Mike and Brody were AT the ALCS game tonight where the Rangers beat the Tigers 15-5. Yes...FIFTEEN to five!!! They scored 9 runs in the 3rd inning! It was an AWESOME game to go to...and even more awesome to be at the game where they clinched the pennant! They stayed all the way through the speeches and trophy presentation. What an experience! Brody is growing up in the right decade to be a Rangers fan! World Series here we come!!!

Meeting Elmo

Tonight Mike surprised Brody with tickets to game 6 of the ALCS!  I decided to distract Barrett (so he wouldn't realize where Mike and Brody were going) by taking him to Daddy Steve and Namaw's.  From there we went downtown to the Arts & Music Festival.  I think it really should've been called the Food Festival!  Almost every restaurant in town was represented there...and they were all selling there food for $2 a plate!  We sampled several different restaurants.  Yummy!  Caleb, Audria, and Axton also met us downtown (I had a picture of all of us sitting on the sidewalk eating...but the boys "accidentally" deleted it from my iPhone.) 

(pictures to follow are from my iPhone) 

Barrett got really excited when he saw Elmo walking around!  He's typically afraid of people in costume, so he shocked my socks off when he said he wanted to go give Elmo a hug!  He ran right up to him and gave him a big hug.  Too cute!

There was a Schlotzsky's sandwich walking around too.  The first few times Barrett saw it, he hid behind me.  Finally he said, "I want you to take my picture with the hamburger!" and then he ran up and stood beside the sandwich.

He was most excited about getting his face painted.  In honor of the Rangers game tonight, he chose to have a baseball painted on his face.

An announcement was made over the PA that the Rangers game was being shown in the old timey movie theater, so we ventured in to watch for a bit.  It wasn't looking so good for the Rangers, so we decided to head back to our house to watch in the comfort of home (and so I could put Barrett to bed...and Axton could fall asleep...and, most importantly, so we could make some popcorn!)

Puddles

"Wow!  Look at that HUGE puddle!  I really wish I could go jump in that!" - Brody

Never in my life have I looked at a puddle in the parking lot and thought, "I wish I could jump in that!"  Is it just a boy thing or am I not living life to the fullest?

Beautiful

Today when we got home from running errands, the boys followed me inside.  I heard Brody rummaging through my desk and then the front door open and shut.  He was gone for a few minutes and when he reappeared he was holding his hands behind his back.  He looked up at me with those puppy dog eyes and said, "Mommy...this is for you because I love you."  Then he handed me a wrinkled, half dried rose that he'd cut off our rose bush (not even leaving a stem to hold it by).  He said, "The thorns kinda poked me, so I cut off the stem so they wouldn't poke your fingers."  Then he gave me a huge hug and ran off to play.

Some people would walk into my house and think that I need to throw away the dead rose in the bud vase by my kitchen sink...but to me this is the most beautiful flower in the world!

Alternatives

When you're unable to go hunting or fishing in the great outdoors...just go to Cabela's and pretend!
(pictures taken with my iPhone)

My Little Indians

Yesterday the boys and I had a picnic at the park after my women's Bible study at church.  After eating and playing on the playground, we decided to go for a walk on the trails.  We hadn't been to this park before and were excited to learn that not only was there a paved walkway, but there were also lots of trails through the woods and lots of reserved nature areas!  It was a beautiful walk...

(click on collage to make full screen.  click again to zoom)

In the end, the only thing of importance that we found was a rock...

 

which Ant Killer used to squash more ants!

It's the little things

Yesterday Mike and the boys left to run an errand and I stayed behind to pick up around the house.  They'd only been gone a few minutes when Mike called...only he didn't say anything.  I assumed he had pocket called me and was about to hang up...but then I realized that I could hear the radio really loud.  Instead of hanging up I paused and listened....

         No one can make me cry

         Make me laugh
         Make me smile
         Or drive me mad like she does
         It's like a curse that is the cure
        Better or worse, one thing's for sure
        It's real love and I don't know what I'd do
        If I lost it

After the chorus ended, the phone went dead.  I texted Mike and asked if he had just pocket called me or if he'd intended for me to hear the song on the radio.  He texted back, "I wanted you to hear the song.  I love you and don't know what I'd do if I lost you!"

I just love that!  Such a simple act to remind me how much he loves me made me fall more in love with him (crazy how that's even possible!)...and the effects are long lasting.  Today my heart is still smiling when I think about his sweet call and text :)

Family Picnic 2011

Click on the collages to see full screen (once full screen, click again to zoom).  Making collages as I go helps me save time when I create my blog book at the end of the year.

And we can't forget about the picture on the humongous baseball!  There are huge baseballs lining the front of Big League Dreams.  The boys always want to climb on top of them...and of course have their picture taken on them!  We definitely left the picnic tired....yet sugared up!  (Everywhere you turned they were passing out cotton candy, cracker jacks, peanuts, ice cream, and licorice sticks!)

 

Catcher

Brody got to play catcher this afternoon.  To my surprise, he was super excited about it!  It took a little while for me to realize his plan.  He was somehow able to convince the pitcher (no, there's not an actual pitcher in t-ball...but one of the kids stands on the pitcher's mound to field the ball) to throw the ball to him instead of the first baseman (who couldn't catch the ball).  Teams bat all the players in their line up each inning (meaning there are at least 10 kids that bat).  By the 3rd inning Brody and the pitcher had a routine going...and Brody got 8 of the 10 kids out as they tried to run home!  There was only one questionable "safe" call...but that was because Brody had to chase down the ball that was thrown over his head...and then he basically tackled the runner as he crossed the plate!  No takin' it easy for this ball player!