Wishing You a Spooooooktacular Halloween!!

It has been a crazy. crazy. CRAZY. week!! I am behind on so many things including blogging and reading all my favorite blogs! Dale was on a business trip this week in Hawaii. I know. I had a pity party all week!;) (Last business trip he had in Hawaii we made a family vacation out of it, but with air prices right now we decided we better skip this year. Believe me we do not over do it at Christmas, but if we would have bought air line tickets for Hawaii right now that would have been Christmas for the next 10 years!) He got home last night just in time for all the excitement tonight will bring!!
The kids were each on different school schedules this week due to it being "conference week." It made for LOTS of driving back and forth. I'll catch up later on how conferences went, but I'll just say I am one very proud Mommy!!:)
Faith is exhausted!!! She is actually napping right now! She hasn't had a nap in ages! It has been a hectic week. She had to keep up all week with the boys activities too. Dale normally takes care of their activities they have going on, but with him being gone this week we were just constantly on the go. Plus on top of all the Halloween preparations......Whew!! She had a MAJOR melt down one evening and that hasn't happened in a LONG time. I was emotionally exhausted by the time it was over.
This morning Faith had to be at school at 8:00 due to them combining Kindergarten classes for early dismissal. They dressed in costume and had a costume parade. Imagine two Kindergarten classes combined together on Halloween day dressed in costumes!!!! Imagine it! And I volunteered to help today!:0 I. am. exhausted! lol! I have to say they actually did REALLY REALLY good and were very well behaved. I was very impressed with the organization these teachers have. Not anyone can do what they do.
I would be posting some pictures, but my computer has been acting up again and I just haven't downloaded any of them yet. The big news flash is that Faith has decided NOT to be Captain America. She changed her mind! Of course! Just when I came to grips with my daughter wanting to be a boy super hero she changes her mind. It actually worked out for the best because the company I ordered her shield and other accessories from sent me an email saying they were all out of stock. I'll keep it a surprise what she decided to dress as until I can post photos. I'll just say it fits her PURRRRRRRFECTLY!!!! ;)
Well off to get ready for the big evening. Reed has all his buddies coming over to get in costumes and have dinner. (PIZZA) Wishing everyone a safe and happy halloween!!!!!!

Pumpkin Farm~

On Sunday we made our annual trip to the pumpkin patch that we have been going to for 4 years now! I can't believe it was our 4th trip here! For our family that is really "planting some roots"! Faith was only 2 years old when we brought her here for the first time.

Before the pumpkin patch we had brunch at Denny's......this seems to have become another tradition. From the looks of all the photos you would think we have only one child....Faith:) As soon as we got there the boys saw some of their friends....... so that was the end of our family day at the pumpkin patch!;) They were off running around with their friends the entire time. They did manage to spend 10minutes with their family and go on our annual tractor hay ride. By the time we were ready to leave I tried to get pictures of the 3 of them and it was hopeless. By that time they were tired (Dean), cranky (Faith), and silly (Reed)! I gave up!

Our annual Pumpkin Patch!



Faith has to do this every year!

Trying to please Mom with a picture by the scarecrow

picking out her pumpkin to paint......

found one!!

working hard on her pumpkin.........

putting the finishing touch....the mouth! Isn't it cute!

Faith found some friends

picking up walnuts.................

The pumpkin patch......................

Faith finds her brothers finally!

just a couple of my many attempts at getting a photo of the 3 of them.......(trust me these were the only ones worth posting)

home and crashed!

~New Post on Faith's Blog~

There's a new post of Faith reciting the Pledge of Allegiance on her blog! It's awfully cute;)! Faith's blog is private so if you would like an invite please let me know. You can send me an email!

New Outfit!!!

Look at this adorable outfit!!!! I was lucky to have won the bid for it on the auction at " One Child at a Time" (you can find the link on the right side of my blog) I just love it and BEST of all the proceeds go to help save the lives of a child in need of surgery. I was so excited to have won because I am terrible at bidding on things! I never want to swipe away a bid from someone. :)lol!!!! I'm REALLY glad I won this one though because it is SO adorable. Thanks Paula for your donation!! Faith loves her new outfit and she had to wear it to school the same day it came in the mail! She loves keeping her hands in the sweater pockets.

And here are some photos I took of Faith before heading off to school in her new outfit..................
(she was not in a mood for picture taking so it was kind of hard to capture the outfit like I wanted to)

See, she loves those pockets!!!:)

And of course it goes perfect with her pink high tops!!!:)

Paula, THANKS again!!!!!!

Busy, Busy, Busy!!!!!

That about sums up our week!! It is just that time of year! The excitement is mounting for Halloween and we have been getting out the decorations and putting costumes together. School festivals and parties are being planned. Reed is going with his friends tomorrow evening to their 6th grade halloween dance and costume contest. They'll be coming over here first for pizza. We plan to go to the pumpkin patch this week-end. I have two more weeks and Reed and Faith will have a month off of school for their fall break! A month! Yikes!

And look what I just ordered for Faith ......................

Her Captain America shield!!!!! hee hee She has been asking for her shield and I think I have been putting it off hoping she might change her mind about THE costume:) We are down to 2 weeks now before halloween and I don't think she is changing her mind! I also ordered her red boot covers and gloves to go with it. She is going to be one darn cute Captain America!!!:)

I did something I swore I would never do.......................enter my daughter in a photo contest! It's not that I have anything against them, I just find it kind of silly to enter a contest that millions of others are entering just to have someone judge the looks of your child. To me it's like playing the lottery with those photo contests. How those judges decide on thousands of adorable children is totally beyond me. Anyway, I received an email from Gap Kids about entering your child in their contest. As I was about to delete it I thought oh, what the heck! Since Faith was a baby I have had people telling me she should model. Of course as her Mommy I know she is the most beautiful girl in the world!;) Yes I am biased!!!! But I don't even know where to begin with modeling and to be honest I don't know that I would want that for her. Besides she would much rather be "saving the world" than posing for a camera;) I figure this was easy enough just to send in some pictures. I wasn't even sure which photos to send in so I just sent in the following because they are head shots. What do you think? Do you think she could be a Gap girl??;)

~Angels Among Us............

I received an email from a friend sending me a link to a very special families blog that is on their journey to bringing their sweet baby girl home through adoption. They are trying to raise funds to bring their angel home and my friend donated a very pretty bracelet that she made to auction off. There is only one day left so if you would like to head on over and make a donation or just send them wonderful wishes I have posted the link below.........

(I tried to put the link on their babies picture but I am not savvy enough to know how to do this so go to the link below the picture)!

http://www.waitingforreese.blogspot.com/

Precious baby Reese has Down Syndrome and in honor of this month being "National Down Syndrome Awareness Month" I wanted to share this beautiful poem..........

~Creed of Babies with Down Syndrome~

My face might be different
But my feelings the same
I laugh and I cry
And I take pride in my gains
I was sent here among you
To teach you to love
As God in the heavens
Looks down from above
To him I'm no different
His love knows no bounds
It's those here among you
In cities and towns
That judge me by standards
That man has imparted
But this family I've chosen
Will help me get started
For I'm one of the children
So special and few
That came here to learn
The same lessons as you
That love is acceptance
It must come from the heart
We all have the same purpose
Though not the same start
The Lord gave me life
To live and embrace
And I'll do as you do
But at my own pace.

~unknown author

Fall Trip~

On Sunday morning we loaded up the mini van and with 3 kids and 2 dogs in tow headed to Lake Tahoe on a "spur of the moment" trip. These "gypsy souls" of ours needed to get away for a few days:) This was Pearl's (our Beagle) first road trip so we were not sure what to expect. I bought a soft kennel to put her in while driving in the car (she is horrible in the car, jumping around everywhere) After listening to 15 minutes of her "howling" in the kennel we decided her jumping around was much more tolerable! Eventually she settled down and for the rest of the trip she actually did much better than we ever expected. It was fun having the dogs along with us. For 3 days we had a great time hiking through the woods, playing at the lake, exploring and enjoying the beauty around us, making smores and best of all just being together........................(I was so excited about using my new camera on this trip. As always Dale was a sweety and got my camera all ready for me in its case. It wasn't until we got there that I realized he forgot one thing......to put the battery in that I had setting out charging:0 I couldn't believe it! I was so upset. I knew it was my own fault because I am much too dependent on Dale to take care of things for me. Of course the whole trip he heard how it was his fault....okay maybe not the whole trip;) Luckily I threw my little back up camera in my purse. I think it was a blessing for everyone as I wasn't so busy trying to take photos every minute:)


~Lake fun~

Pearl learning some of Ruby's retreiver habits....

~Making smores and enjoying the bonfire in the crisp cool air~

~Beautiful nature walks~

Lake Tahoe

"God's great gift to us, offering the "fairest picture the world affords"

~Mark Twain

On our way home we stopped off at an apple orchard and had some yummy fresh warm apple fritters and donuts. I also bought an apple pie and cider to bring home. It was a perfect way to end our fun fall trip! Ahhhhhhhhh, such a great trip. Now back to reality..........I have to go clean up the bowl of Kix cereal that Pearl just knocked to the floor and the milk footprints all over the floor that Faith made after asking her to PLEASE not walk through the spilt milk......it's GREAT to be home;)