Pumpkin Carving

This afternoon, we decided would be the perfect time to carve our pumpkins, as we know we won't have time tomorrow.

 LG was so excited to carve his pumpkin.

He has wanted to carve them since we got them two weeks ago.

Buddy too was excited and got right to it - asking for very little help from M.E.

LG wanted his to look like Lightning McQueen, so I added lightning bolts for him.

 Buddy did a fantastic job.

Here's a sneak peek at Buddy's. 

 Babe had fun playing in the water bucket for rinsing our tools and hands. 

The Man got in on the action too!

 Thanks to the Man for taking some photos of M.E.

 My pumpkin turned out awesome, if I may say so myself.

You'll have to wait until tomorrow to see them all lite up and ready for Halloween.  Stay Tuned!

Soccer

LG had another soccer game today and seemed to be a little more into the game after a two week break.  His says they one, but I'm not sure of the final score, as I was chasing Babe around the last part of the game.
But none-the-less we all had a good time despite the cold morning!

Trunk O Treat

 Buddy was a nerf gun dart.

 LG was Harry Potter.

Babe was a WSU football player but neither the Man nor I managed a photo. 
Sorry for the poor iPhone photos but I was in charge of Trunk or Treat and didn't manage to get my camera out of the van.  I'll probably dress them all up again on Halloween for better photos.

Why LG is not allowed to have gum!

It always seemed to be anywhere but in his mouth!


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Wordless Wednesday

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Honor Roll

Buddy recieved his very first 3rd grade report with real letter grades.  Letter grades that make sense to M.E.

Buddy was excited and pretty proud of himself. 

 All As and one B+ in Science.

For his report card treat, he wanted to got have asian food, so the Man rushed home from work and took him out for some fun asian food at PeiWei.  

Congrats Buddy, we are so proud of you!

More Camping Photos

So one of our good friends just happens to be the state director for the nature conservatory here in OK.  And he was nice enough to let us and 3 other families tag along on his annual fall camp out with his family.  Oh it was so much fun.

 As we arrived on the preserve, there was a large elk standing in the road.  We had to wait a few minutes for his cow to move across the field before he would move.

 The caravan.

 The Camp.

Sweet L and Babe playing.  I must admit it was wonderful having both L and D for the whole weekend.  They are both so good with Babe and genuinely love him. 

Saturday after breakfast, we all loaded up and drove a couple miles to a dry creek bed for a hike.  The weather was perfect and it was so nice to be outside in nature. 

 Here the kiddos are getting ready to hike. 

 D and one-shoe Babe.

 Pixie. 

 The kiddos.  Of course all of them are looking at the camera expect, LG and Babe.

 The boys had such a wonderful time playing, running and getting dirty. 

 We went for a really nice hike back this dry creek bed to a waterfall.  It was really rad. 

Saturday afternoon everybody would load up again for another hike and some fishing.  Babe and I and two other moms stayed behind because the hike would be too much for Babe.   I think it involved a 200 ft bluff.  So we had a very relaxing time collecting extra fire wood and tending to the campfire, when very near sunset we heard thunder.  yes, thunder.  

I managed one bar on my phone for service and was able to access doppler and the entire state of OK was having some sort of precipitation or storm.  Not fun.  Everyone would arrive back at camp and we had a very quick supper and then we loaded up.  Well, I will say I skipped supper and got my kids in the van.  The lightning was getting too close for my comfort so we sat in the van, long before everyone else loaded up.  

We made our way to the visitor center about 3 miles from camp and hung out there for a bit and realized after the intense lightning and hail that this wasn't just going to pass right over, so we made camp inside the center.  It was funny.

 Sunday morning heading back to camp, the same elk was hanging out near the road again.

 Won't it be wonderful if this were your driveway!  

we arrived back to camp to find one of the tents (we had two now that we are a family of 5) was underwater. And the other one was very damp.  So we packed up wet clothes, pillow, tents and such and headed home.  

If we had to do it again..... a definite YES!

Thanks, Mike for letting us play on your playground!

Camping Trip

We had a great weekend camping with a bunch of school families. Lots of adventures, including a huge thunderstorms, elk, & hiking. More pics to follow.

Thanks, Chris for this group shot!

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Spot Remover

Okay so I found this recipe for a stain remover in Pinterest the other day and decided to give it a try.
2 part hydrogen peroxide
1 part dawn dish soap



3 random stains in Buddy's carpet, there is 100 but I choice these three to demonstrate.



I used a medicine syringe to apply it solution so I wouldn't make a bigger mess.
And I gently applied it to the spots.



After about 2 minutes I wiped them with a wet wash cloth and they foamed up pretty good.



An hour later I did the same thing again with the wash cloth and observed the disappearance of the stains.



Awesome. I would proceed to remove about a dozen or so more stains. Woohoo!
I'll be doing the whole house when I get more peroxide.


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LG has a hard head!

The other night at Buddy's football game LG was climbing around the van and accidentally jumped in the front seat a little too fast and too hard.



He totally hit his head and cracked the windshield. I'm not sure if it had anything to do with the heater being on and the inside was hot and the outside was cold, or if he hit it just in the right spot, but none-the-less, we will be getting a new windshield today.
As for LG's head, he didn't rub it or complain.
Ah, life with all boys. It's always an adventure.

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Dolly

I totally forgot to mention in my weeks past recap, that I got to see Dolly Parton in concert.
Yep, the one and only, Dolly was in the area for a show and I was more than happy to buy a ticket.  Zkid's Dad and big sister went with M.E. and we had a really good time.  I knew 90% of the songs, so that made it even more fun.

photo courtesy of Chris Lewallen

Dolly was also very funny and told lots of jokes about her life and the stories behind the songs she's written and the places she's lived.  It was very interesting and really cool that she shared all that with us.  She also thanked a lot people who helped her, something that most artist don't do on stage.  I was impressed for sure.

Mom & Me Cub Scout Campout

After spending the day at the pumpkin patch on Friday, we went to a local Catholic high school football game.  The weather was perfect and they had a KidFEST going on with games and bouncy houses and lots of activities for the kiddos.  Plus it was next to the last home game of the season, so we wanted to see one more game. It was exciting to say the least.  Buddy has two 3rd grade friends whose brothers are both on the team - so we have two to cheer for.
Bright and early Saturday morning, I got up and headed to Walmart for some last minute supplies before Buddy and I headed to his annual Mom & Me Cub Scout Camp Out on the lake. WooHoo!
The weather could not have been better.

Buddy with two of his 3rd grade friends. 

We got to take two hikes and make leather crafts and visit with the other scouts.  We had a really good time and although I had my camera, I didn't manage that many good shots.  I was too busy keeping up with Buddy. 

Late night tent shot. 

It didn't take us long to get settled in the tent and fall asleep because we were so tired. It was really nice to just hang out with Buddy and talk and visit.  The hour drive over and back was great too!

The sun peeking over the trees first thing in the morning.  We were fortunate enough to camp on the lake and so it was beautiful to wake up to. 

The boys spent as much free time as possible on the lake shore, throwing rocks, finding fish bones and other random stuff. Yes, Buddy is in his pajamas. 

Our Shadows!

It was a very happy Mom & Me time!

Pumpkin Patch

I arrived home from Atlanta on Wednesday evening and was ready to see all my boys.  I spent most of Thursday resting and recovering from the stomach bug and traveling jet lag and getting back in the groove.
On Friday, the boys didn't have school for their fall break, so we decided to go on our annual pumpkin patch trip. We started the day with pancakes.

 My attempt to make pumpkin shaped pancakes for LG and Babe.

Bat pancakes for Buddy.

The Man would get home just in time to go and Zkid got to join us as well. 

 LG loves everything about the pumpkin patch.  He bought a lot of feed for the animals.

Buddy had no problem with feeding the animals this year, but mostly spent his time running around.

 Babe really liked the animals and had so much fun looking at and talking to them.

 Before the day was over he was feeding them himself. He also really liked the chickens.

LG also had to have a pony ride. He gets so excited and happy, that its so worth the $4. 

Babe was pretty disappointed he was too little to ride. 

Babe's pumpkin shots. 

 The boys pumpkin shot.

Buddy and Zkid spent about an hour running through the hay house.  They had so much fun.

The Group Photo!

We all got pumpkins and enjoyed the beautiful and warm day at the pumpkin patch.
Until next year.....Happy Fall Pumpkin Patch.