October 2016 Highlights (part 2)

Pumpkins

Aldi had a great deal on pumpkins, so each boy got to pick out his own pumpkin! Ryan loved "dressing up" his pumpkin with various hats and costumes before we had the chance to carve them. 

I asked the boys to pose with their pumpkins, and I have no idea why they all had a foot up on them.

 Ian and Ryan looked through templates on line to find one they liked. Ian picked a "scary face," and Ryan chose a Lego man image. Nathan let us carve whatever we wanted in his (a cross). The boys (once again this year) didn't much like the sliminess of the seeds inside the pumpkin. But they all wanted to be involved in the carving process.

 In the end, the pumpkins all turned out super cute. I'm surprised as I look through these pictures that I forgot to take a "finished product" picture. We did learn our lesson, though. We carved these about a week before Halloween, and (even with spraying the pumpkins a few times with a bleach solution) they were SUPER moldy by Halloween night. The warm Texas weather doesn't preserve the carved pumpkins very long. :)

Trick-or-Treating

The boys were spoiled by having multiple opportunities to trick-or-treat this year. One evening, we met Jaden, Cody, Amy, and my parents at Kroger (and the surrounding stores in the strip mall) for trick-or-treating. Most businesses had tables set up in front with an employee or two handing out candy (or snow cones or other treats).

Ryan (race car driver), Ian (ninja), Cody (Mario), Jaden (Luiji), Nathan (Batman)

Grammy and Papa invited us to their neighborhood for a "Trunk or Treat" event. Local businesses were handing out candy, and there were also free inflatables and train rides.

 Grammy invited us to their house for dinner (including Halloween cupcakes) afterward!

 On Halloween night, we met up with cousins and friends at a local memory care facility who had invited us to trick-or-treat in their halls. The residents were thrilled to see the kids in their cute costumes!

 We then came home to do some trick-or-treating in our own neighborhood.

 After our feet got tired, we came home. The boys were very excited to hand out candy to other kids while they enjoyed some of their own treats!

School Events

Ryan's class had "Funny Feet Day" during their F week.

 Ian enjoyed attending his Thursday after-school Lego Robotics group.

 The "big school" celebrated 50's Day on the 50th Day of School.

Random

Matt and I were invited to sit at the CLHS Crusader table at the Trinity Trivia Night. Our team was just barely out of medal contention in the event, but we enjoyed the fellowship, laughs, and great costumes. :)

 I took the younger two boys to a fall festival while Ian was at a birthday party and Matt was at a school event. Ryan's favorite game was getting to shoot cup pyramids down with a Nerf gun. Nathan preferred the big inflatables.

 We enjoyed spending some time with Uncle Mark and Aunt Kathy when they came to visit my parents.

 Nathan went through a brief stage of wanting to sleep with LOTS of stuffed animals.

 Grammy read aloud to Ryan's class. Since it was "E" week, she wore her land of Enchantment shirt, a name tag with Elaine, and a hat full of E's. She also read two Elephant books. Ryan was SO proud to have his Grammy in his classroom.

 I attended a professional development workshop (still trying to maintain my teaching certificate!!) at the zoo. We got to learn about some fun animals (like this sloth), and I even got to spend some time exploring the zoo with my family!

 The little boys had fun "painting" the house with branches from our foxtail fern. I thought they had a creative idea!

 Speaking of creative, this little guy cracks me up. Ryan was frustrated that Nathan kept removing the Halloween window clings from the bottom window. So, Ryan stood on a stool and put them all out of Nathan's reach. Next thing we knew, Nathan had grabbed his kiddie broom and was standing on tiptoe trying to push the clings off with the broom bristles. Clever! :)

 It always warms my heart when Ian reads to either of his two younger brothers.

 We had our first cooler days in October. The boys get really excited about wearing gloves/mittens/ hats since we don't have to use them much. :)

 Matt and I enjoyed attending the CLHS Gala!

 Nathan enjoyed putting all of his blueberries through the middle of his bagel one day during lunch.

 Nathan, pre-haircut, engaged in a show, likely "Mother Goose Club" on Netflix.

 Bubble bath time, post-haircuts!

 The younger two found "walking sticks" and insisted they must be painted.

 We joined Daddy at a few football games he had to supervise in October. The boys' favorite part continues to be playing in "Daddy's Big Sandbox" (the long jump pit) near the football field.

 I got the fun idea from Amy to do some "splat" painting with my guys. They stripped to their underwear and had fun using fly swatters and pantyhose legs with rice inside to "splat" paint on the paper (and fence ... and themselves ...).

 All three boys don't usually take a bath together, but they did this particular day. :)