Halloween Week

A busy week/weekend leading up to Halloween:

On Tuesday, Crosby had his last flag football practice for the season.  Alexee and I admired the colorful sunset while we waited for him.  On Wednesday afternoon Alexee had an orthodontist appointment to be fitted for a top retainer.  She was actually kind-of excited about this because several of her friends have retainers and she wanted to get it over with now while her friends have them.  She chose a mint green base with green glitter sparkles.  :)  On Friday, Alexee and a classmate (both former spelling bee winners) were invited to walk over to the elementary school to speak on the topic of preparing for the spelling bee and the habit of "beginning with the end in mind'.  Alexee said she was nervous, but I couldn't tell at all!  The girls both did great with their answers.  Afterward I took a picture of the kids with Mrs. S, Alexee's 2nd grade teacher and Crosby's current teacher.  We are so thankful for her!!

Tuesday was also the drama performance for Rhett's speech class.  He was a narrator in the play The Giver, which was very good! His teacher allowed him to do his entire part in an English accent, just for fun.  He has really enjoyed the 6 week speech/drama class, and would like to take it as an elective next year.  Next up is 6 weeks of Spanish.  He earned a $5 Starbucks gift card from the orthodontist's reward program, so we stopped by Starbucks after school one day.   Thursday was the school Halloween social and costume contest.  R was a pizza slice with pepperoni-red paint in his hair.  

Things are finally starting to look like fall here.  We've had nice weather, but warmer than usual for this time of year.  Our rose bush is still blooming like it did in the middle of summer.

Thursday and Friday were half-days for parent teacher conferences.  I bought pumpkins for carving, and we did that Friday afternoon...always a fun fall activity.  

Rhett carved his own this year while Lane and I helped A & C with theirs.  Bogart constantly tried to eat pumpkin seeds, which we did not think he should have.

The kids' finished jack-o-lanterns (L to R:  Crosby's, Alexee's and Rhett's)

We went out to eat at a new restaurant Friday night, then stopped by CVS to buy tea lights for our pumpkins.  They were excited to light them as soon as we got home.

Lane had to work on Halloween evening, but the kids dressed up and we went over to a friend's house for dinner and a fun night of trick-or-treating.  This was our first Halloween here because we've gone back to visit friends in Little Rock the last two years. (2014 and 2015).  

We had a great time with friends!

October, I'm sad to see you go!

Fall Picnic

October 22

We had perfect weather for our fall picnic this year!  Crosby played two football games that Saturday morning, then we drove to Flippin and met everyone at the river.  We played volleyball and football, and the kids even changed into swimsuits and played in the cold water!

My niece started playing volleyball this year too, so Alexee had fun practicing with her!

And this was baby J's first picnic.  I think he had fun! :)  Can you tell we are all crazy about him!!  He is such a good baby, and so precious!  He "talks" and smiles all the time.

Love these sweet boys!

The guys caught a few rainbow trout.

Dinner time!

Fall Picnic 2016  

White River

Campfires and s'mores...more reasons to love fall!

Happy.

My Grandparents came over to visit after church on Sunday.  More baby snuggles!  My Grandmother LOVES babies and she can always make them smile.

Group pics by the hay bale turkey that Dad built!  :)

It was such a wonderful weekend!  I didn't want it to end.

Field Trip to the Farm

October 20 was a beautiful fall day for a field trip to a local farm/pumpkin patch!  I had a great time with Crosby and his sweet 2nd grade class.

The pigs were my favorite!  So cute and funny to watch.  The kids screamed and laughed when this turkey gobbled at them.

The classes rotated through different areas of the farm throughout the day.  The corn maze was definitely a part the kids enjoyed!

I loved getting to spend the day with this sweet guy.  He's such a joy.

Lots of fun activities for the kids.  They played so hard!

I think Crosby would probably say that the GIANT trampoline was what he liked best.  Mrs. S jumped with the kids, which they all loved.  She's such a wonderful teacher!

I'm thankful to have had the opportunity to attend a pumpkin patch field trip with each child.  Here's a  collage of the three trips: Crosby's 2nd Grade year, Rhett's Kindergarten year and Alexee's Kindergarten year.  Memories I'll treasure!

Catch-Up

Catching up:

October 7th, Rhett and Alexee went on an overnight youth group trip (SuperStart, in St. Louis).  They both had a wonderful time!  

Meanwhile, we loved having fun with Crosby here.  We let him choose a restaurant for dinner then we took him to the candy store. 

                            

He didn't have a football game that weekend, so it was a quiet Saturday.  The weather was perfect!  Crosby went with me to buy milkweed plants for attracting Monarch butterflies, then we went for a walk/bike ride and asked a friend on our street to come over to play.  They played soccer in the back yard while I planted the plants.  (Hopefully we'll have butterflies next spring.)

Friday, October 14th Alexee had two baby teeth pulled.  She was a little nervous about the procedure, but it went very well.  She had no problems at all and actually felt like playing basketball that night.  It was the last game for this league so we didn't want to miss.  The season was a lot of fun--thankful for a great coach and sweet friends!

Saturday, October 15th was Dad's birthday, and he drove up to see the kids play football and volleyball.   It was great to have him here with us.  Between games we hurried home to pack our bags to go to Mom and Dad's house, then we grabbed a quick lunch at Freddy's.

At their house that evening, Dad grilled steaks and Mom made lots of delicious things to go with them.  My Grandparents came over to eat with us, and we had cake and ice cream for dessert.  Happy Birthday, Dad!  We love you--so happy to get to spend the day with you!

More wonderful fall weather to enjoy!

Sunday afternoon Dad had a project he wanted to work on...a round hay bale turkey for Thanksgiving decoration.  :)  The kids went with him to get the hay at the barn, then we started cutting and painting.  We had to leave town before it was all done, but he worked on it more later (which was probably much easier without us--ha!) and made a really cute display.

Finished project

Mom and Alexee went to check for new baby calves.  Great day for it!

The dog likes to go for a ride every time, and he doesn't leave you much room.  :)

October 19th, Alexee "graduated" from Little Medical Explorers, a club she has been involved in at school.  She really liked it and learned a lot!

October 19th after school was the last swim of the year.  We'd had several warm days so the water was nice.  We'll be ready to start swimming again next spring.