Jack

O'Lantern

Rob helped the kids create this fine fellow on Wednesday night. He is currently gracing our front porch shining God's light from within.

Halloween?

October 31st is not halloween here in these parts . . . it is when the OSU Cowboys take on the Texas Longhorns at 7 p.m.

So, the City of Stillwater declared Thursday, Oct. 29 as the official Trick-or-Treating night.

Why not Friday, you ask? Well, because of high school football, of course! We aren't quite in Texas, but I guess people still take their football pretty seriously around here.

Anyway, after dinner the kids decided they were definitely interested in participating in the whole t-o-t event, and Rob and I decided we were willing to give it a go, so we gathered up some costumes and came up with . . .

and hit the streets. I think we only spent about 15 minutes and visited about 10 houses, but they still came home with more candy than any child needs. They had a good time.

Rachel was a little unsure of what was going as we hadn't really prepped her or Cole for what they were doing and they have never done this before. By house #5 though, she was running to get to the door first, cutting through yards, and blocking out on the front stoop. It was quite amusing to watch, although I should have been apalled that my young daughter was acting so aggressively, rude, and greedy and I am sure I felt those things too, but my amusement definitely took the front seat. (Isn't that how bad habits get started with kids?!)

Anyway, the evening was a success other than that the excitement from the evening walk and one piece of candy each upon the return home was enough to keep Rachel and Cole awake much longer than they should have been!

Fall Festival

by Cole

by Rachel

by Alexa

by Robbie

We ALL went to the Fall Festival hosted by our church this past Sunday. The event includes carnival type games, a best pie tasting contest, a pumpkin decorating contest, guessing jars, etc. The kids all had a great time!

Cole was really into making the rounds and playing all the games -again, again, and again. He reported the golf ("Hole in One") to be his favorite. The only one from our family who may have had more candy and toy prizes was Robbie.

Rachel also had fun playing games, but I think she enjoyed the social aspect as much if not more than the games. Is that a girl for you, or what?! She did like having a flower painted on her cheek and participating in the cake walk ("Walk in Jesus' Footsteps").

Alexa also enjoyed having her cheek painted with some flowers as well as playing games. Like Rachel, she didn't make the rounds as fast as the boys as she was often seen checking out what everyone else was up to. Alexa's favorite game was "David and Goliath" where you use a slingshot to shoot a ping pong ball through the hole cut out in the painted plywood Goliath's head.

Robbie was quick to move through all the games again and again. He reports his favorite game as being "The Circle of Love" which was a basic prize sheet game where various prizes are laid out on a sheet and you throw a ring trying to circle the prize you like best.

To be a good participant, I did take a "homemade" pie that I made using pie crust mix and canned apple pie filling. It won no awards, but the lady at the table did tell me it was a favorite among the kids. Seeing as there were only three pies submitted this year, I am glad that I brought one to at least challenge the "real pies" a bit.

The kids all brought a small pumpkin that they had decorated as seen above. Rachel and Cole had decorated theirs a long time ago at a different activity. Robbie and Alexa prepared theirs just hours before the event, and Robbie's pumpkin won first prize. Now again, there was not a lot of competition, but he did win and he felt quite proud!

What do

snacks
pizza
Gatorade
tatoos
music
friends
eye black
sideline markers
and a football
have in common?

They are all the things you need to have a successful football party on a Friday night with the boys, of course!

Right now we are an hour and half into Robbie's Football Party. So far the boys have spent their time outside playing backyard football. They have football tatoos on, eye black (actually my Avon blackest black eye liner), and a football music mix playing. They seem to be good sports so far. The scuffles have been minor and quickly deflated on their own.

Snacks have been munched on. Gatorade is in a -yes!- a Gatorade cooler on the patio. Pizza should arrive in about 20 minutes. I have Little Giants (an OLD football movie from Disney DVR'ed) to show later if they want to see still long enough to watch. I can actually see this group just wanting to play outside all night!

What a fun night! I wish I could play too! :)

Oh Boy- Oh Boy!

I have a "house full" of boys right now and am loving every minute of it! My crew includes Cole (2 1/2), Day Baby (17 months), neighbor friend (16 months), and littlest neighbor friend (4 months). Rachel is here too, but she is still napping. What fun!