Picking Pumpkins

I took the kids to Grandma Dixie's yesterday to get pumpkins that we are going to paint. When Brandon got home from work today, we drove to his friends pumpkin patch to pick out big pumpkins that we'll carve next week. It's awesome each kid has 2 pumpkins this year.

The 4 older kids rode in the bed of the truck, and Paisley is having a melt down cause she wants to be back there too.

Emmy still has fry sauce all over her face... we just got done with dinner. You know how Dads just throw the kids in the truck without checking them first? Yup, that's Brandon. ;0)

Paisley has stopped crying but her feet are glued to the ground. She wants Brandon to hold her. She is a huge Daddy's girl.

Abbee found the pumpkin she likes.

Our dog Ruby came along.

Baylee found the only white/green pumpkin in the whole patch.

Will found his pumpkin.

Brandon is taking it to the truck for him.

Emmy is happy I'm holding her. She keeps tripping over the vines.

She found her pumpkin and sits on it.

Ruby jumped into the truck by herself for the first time! Way to go Ruby! Now she is jumping on everyone and really excited. The kids picked some great looking pumpkins.

Abbee is sitting next to Paisley to make sure she doesn't fall on the way home, and she goes back into full melt down mode again.

LOL... she is NOT happy. Sometimes we just can't win with her.

Baylee and Will as we go down the street.

Oct 21, 2013

Will Can Write His Name!

Never mind his Oreo cookie mustache...  Haha.

Will started his first year of preschool 2 months ago. When he writes his name he writes W-i-l-l-i, then stops. Today he was showing Baylee that he can write his name... he wrote Willi and I encouraged him to keep going... I said, "A", and he wrote a little "a". I was so happy he remembered what it looked like and how to write it from preschool without practicing it at home. Then I said, "M", and he wrote the "m" too! I was practically jumping up and down with excitement! I was so proud of him! He was beaming from ear to ear cause me and his sisters were so happy. We hung it on the fridge to show Daddy when he gets home from work.

Oct 21, 2013

Will's Corn Maze Field Trip

Willie's preschool goes on one field trip a month... this time it's to the Cold Springs Trout Farm. In the Fall, they have a little corn maze and haunted house.

Will with his preschool class. He is the one wearing the red angry birds beanie.

He had his finger on his nose for every picture... I have no idea why. :)

Will and Gordo are best friends, they do everything together. I brought the twins with me to this field trip. I'm so glad Isamar is here to help.

Emmy wouldn't let go of my hand. She seemed a little uneasy walking threw the corn maze.

Will and Gordo lead the way.

Paisley and Isamar.

Halfway through the corn maze you come to this door to start the haunted house. Teacher Andrea warned us and said you can skip this part if we want to, but Willie wasn't scared.

This is a creepy little cemetery...

...and a spider web trail.

Paisley is unsure walking through here. LOL.

Then we came to another door where this guy was being electrocuted, convulsing, and screaming. The kids before us were crying and turned back ,but Will thought the guy was funny.

Then it turned into a dark maze with scary stuff around every corner. These cannibal twin babies in a bird cage was disturbing! Haha... who thinks of this stuff?!

This clown made Emmy cry. She did just fine up until this point.

And I did just fine, up until this point. This little girl made creepy movements and was whispering. She hid her face behind her hands, then her eyes glowed white, and she charged at us! Whoa! OK... Mama's done.

Will was staring at the scary scarecrow at the end of the haunted house...

Now we're back in the corn maze trying to find our way out. Emmy is throwing a fit, she really doesn't want to walk. I guess I shouldn't blame her... I kinda got the heebee geebees from the haunted house too.

When the boys were leading we went in a few circles. :)

The kids picked a little pumpkin to decorate.

Will put every color sticker on his pumpkin.

The girls decorated their pumpkins with bats, ghosts, and witch stickers.

Cute pumpkins kids!

They gave the kids cups of fish food for the trout.

The twins were feeding the fish a little bit at a time, then just dumped the whole cup in the water.

We lasted 1 hour, then Willie and the twins were starting to get cranky. As you can see, Will was not in the mood for a picture, Emmy insisted I hold her, and Paisley was crying on the grass. Luckily, I have Isamar to help me get them to the car. These 3 are not the job for one person. :)

Oct 21, 2013

Our Girl's Weekend

It's time for our annual girl's retreat... hallelujah!!! I get a little break from mom duties, and get to spend some time with the girls in the family to play, laugh, craft, and eat good food. When I got in the car to leave, I noticed that Brandon already had taken out the car seats, vacuumed my car out completely, filled it with gas, and secretly put a decal on my back window of a little running man. He is super super sweet!

Friday, Day 1:

After we met up at Kristin's house we grabbed a quick bite to eat then headed to Frightmares at Lagoon for the day. 

I got a picture with Freddy Krueger... the Nightmare on Elm Street films are classic.

Our girl's weekend started out with the six of us... Mitzi, Hillary, Kristin, Tiff, Crystal, and Me.

We are waiting in line for the Backlot haunted house. It had scenes from several scary movies. I haven't been through a haunted house in over 10 years. Hillary and Mitzi were the only ones not screaming, so Hillary led the way, and Mitzi was in the back. We were huddled together with our faces buried in each other's shoulders.... we inched our way through it and looked so pathetic, I'm sure. It was hilarious! I barley looked up and my voice was raspy afterwards from screaming... haha... good times.

We went on lots of rides. We're about to take off on Wicked. I think Crystal is a little nervous. She's never been on this one.

Hill and Mitzi

Kristin and Me... and a photo bomber.

Tiff was joking how her hair sticks out like a bat in the wind... this pic didn't do it justice.

I love the Tidal Wave! It's the giant swinging boat ride. After it was about to stop, all the kids on it were yelling to go again, and the lady started it again without letting us off! I think it made all of us nauseous to go twice in a row. Kristin thought she was gonna puke and Tiff was warning her, "Do not throw up!", cause she was sitting right across from her. Haha. But we all survived.

They went on the log ride. I hate being wet and cold, so I sat this one out. 

They didn't get too wet. :)

We rode everything we wanted to and all of us had weak stomachs today, so we left Lagoon early... it was about 5:00. We went back to Kristin's house to stay over night, and Julie joined us. We ordered Chili's to-go, and played cards. Mitzi is so cute, she always has a prize for the winner of each round. I won one round and got some Body Works hand soap. We stayed up talking till 12:30.

Oct 18, 2013

Saturday, Day 2:

I slept in until 9:30, then put my running shoes on. Mitzi made us her yummy breakfast casserole. All the gals started getting out their craft and sewing projects to start on. I went for a run first, cause that is my idea of a real "retreat" when I have nothing to hurry home for and I can run for as long as I want to and go as far as I want to! Kristin has a great little paved track by her house that goes for miles and miles. I started out with a goal to run 10 miles today. The weather was perfect and the track was busy with people walking their dogs and families out for a bike ride. The fall trees were beautiful to enjoy on my way. It was really refreshing to be out there and not have a care in the world. After running 9 miles and having 1 more to go, I was feeling really good, and thought, "Hey! If I run just 3 more miles past my goal it would be my own little half marathon!" I couldn't back down from the challenge and the feeling of accomplishing something awesome while on my retreat weekend. So I kept going, and I did it... 13.1 miles. I ran at a comfortable pace and wasn't sore afterwards. ;0)

Crystal and Tiff made a really cute Fall sign.

Hillary and Julie worked on some blankets.

Kristin and Mitzi made us lunch that was fabulous... I was stuffed! Kristin made a cute Fall craft. I wasn't really into crafting this year like I usually am. But I did end up spray painting 3 green pots an almond color to match my house for outside, and I finished painting a letter B for Baylee's bedroom, but that's all I did. Just hanging out and eating good food with these gals was all I needed today.

Mitzi sewed some blankets too.

Kristin's craft was a detailed one and took her most of the day, but it turned out so cute.

Kristin, Jess, and Heather. 

Jess is Brandon's brother. Heather {Brandon's sister} came down for lunch and to hang out. 

The 8 of us is usually our whole gang every year. Kristin is a great hostess. It was a great weekend. And I can't forget to thank Brandon for taking care of Willie and the twins by himself the last 2 days so I could get away. I came home to a clean house. Brandon had laundry washing, the dish washer was on, and the twins already had their bath when I got home Saturday night. I had so much fun and I loves these women so much, but I was also happy to squeeze Brandon and my kids.

Our day of Christmas shopping with the gals is our next event I can look forward to. :)

Oct 19, 2013