Halloween 2014

Happy Halloween Day!  Lincoln and his classmates had a super fun day and posed for a funny picture before the class party!  It was crazy hair day, and Mrs. Bailey joined in the fun.  (Lincoln had asked to have his hair spray painted blue, but he chickened out at the last minute!) 

While Lincoln was in school in the morning, Beau and Mommy went for a long run with the running stroller and came home to bake 3 dozen pumpkin shaped sugar cookies . . . so yummy!  Beau went to hang out with Nana in the afternoon, and Mommy took the cookies to manage the snack table at Lincoln's class Pumpkin Party.  The kids went in small groups to the different stations at the party.  Mrs. Katrina read them a Halloween story that included the kids filling in the blanks with Halloween costume words, and Ava's Mom helped them with a pumpkin art project.  The Math table was fun because they weighed gourds and pumpkins against regular classroom items, and the kids recorded their findings on their sheet.   

Mrs. Cayce worked the Science table, and she and the kids explored so many cool things about a pumpkin.  They really enjoyed smelling it, touching it, and feeling the guts!  A few kids said, "Gross!"   

At the snack table, Peyton's Dad helped with icing the cookies.  We loaded the kids up with their favorite toppings.  It's amazing how many kids wanted M&Ms, chocolate chips, candy corn, and sprinkles on their cookie!  Yikes!  Lincoln kept saying how happy he was that his Mom was doing the cookie table!   

Linc spent a while on the playground after school with his buddies then we had a few errands to run.  Nothing too much fun . . . a stop at Discount Tire to get air, a Sonic run for a chicken snack (since we would be eating dinner after trick or treating), and a visit to Target for a birthday gift for Crawford.  Pops brought Beau back home to have a pretzel and cheese snack, and we all got ready to trick or treat.  We all walked up to Bowie to meet friends, and it was a lively group!  Four Queen Elsas and one Anna (from Frozen), lots of Ninjas and Ninja Turtles, several football players, and a few super heroes and monsters.   

When it was time to trick or treat, this crew ran like wild!!!!  Lincoln was keeping up with the bigger kids and sprinting from house to house.   

Beau was running like mad to keep up, and his determined attitude was in full force.   

About half way down the first street, we had a group meeting to discuss some ground rules.  No one was allowed to be three houses away from the group, and every one had to wait for the littles when we got to the end of the street.  Good rules!  The parents kind of split up to monitor the fast/middle/slow groups. 

The strategy worked for a few streets.  The kids were all amazed when they came upon some "maybe live" statues of angels.  A few kids were brave enough to touch them (Lincoln was one), and the girls giggled a little.   

Beau was a little behind Lincoln and raced to catch up . . . those legs got a full workout!  Sweet guy never missed a house and always kept Lincoln in his sights.   

After about an hour, we broke off from the crew (as Lincoln called it) with a smaller group.  It was a lot less stressful to just hang with Canon's and Crawford's families.  The boys loved wearing their glow necklaces once it got dark, and it made it easy to spot them! 

We ran into Jackson's family and Griffin's family soon, and we had a fun party stop at a house with a DJ out front.  After 2 full hours of trick or treating, we decided to head home.  The boys had walked about 2 miles, and they were looking like it!  Beau's costume (with added weird Batman cape) was falling off, and Lincoln was down a mask, turtle shell, and sword.  Mommy was carrying the candy buckets because they were full and heavy.  The boys were a little weary but full of fun stories! 

The boys got all cleaned up while Daddy went to pick up dinner (Cane's for them, and Manny's for us), and we had a semi-quiet dinner.  We pulled out the sleeping bags and turned on It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown at about 9:00.  We could have taken bets on how many minutes the kids would last through the movie after all of the walking they did, but they showed us all.  They weren't even tired after the movie and asked to watch an episode of the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle video that Aunt Marte gave them in their Halloween basket.  Instead of carrying two sleeping boys to bed around 9:30 (like I had assumed would happen), two semi-sleepy boys got tucked in at 11:00!!!!!  How are they not tired?!?!  They only got two pieces of the hundreds of candies in their buckets!  Hopefully, everyone gets plenty of rest after such a fun day.  Mommy and Daddy really enjoyed visiting with the parents, and it was a really great group of trick or treaters.  Halloween 2014 was celebrated for several weeks, and it was fun all the way! 

Red Ribbon Week, BOO-ing, and Spooktakular at Canyon Creek

This week is crazy busy with lots of crazy fun!  It's Red Ribbon week in Kindergarten, and we all are happy to say No to drugs!  Most importantly to Lincoln is that he gets to wear fun things all week.  Monday was Wear Red, and he wore his Bowie red shirt (like he does every Friday!).  Tuesday was Camo Day, and Bubbles got him a cool pair of camo pants.  The school also made a lesson about caring for our troops who wear camo, and we donated toiletries (shampoo, soap, toothpaste, etc) to send to the soldiers.  Cheesing before school with a happy little brother!

Of course, Lincoln loved his art project for the night.  He made a holographic owl, and he was so proud! 

Wednesday was 50s day, and he was going to wear a Grease (the movie) inspired black t-shirt with the T-Birds logo.  Apparently iron on transfers got the best of Mommy because the t-shirt was an epic fail!  How hard is it to iron on letters?!?!  Crafty Mom card has been pulled!  We went with a white t-shirt with the sleeves rolled up with black pants.  He was fine with it, and Beau loved posing for another early morning pic! No wardrobe issues with Beau because he was loving the Ninja Turtles shirt and favorite shorts!

We got BOO-ed this week, and the boys loved it!!!!  Our BOO package contained gummy bears, a light up necklace, lots of Halloween stickers, jelly beans, and a fun ghost poem.  The poem instructed us to BOO two other neighborhood friends, so we got our BOO packages together to deliver.  The packages consisted of suckers, tattoos, pretzels, popcorn, and Scooby gummies.  We had so much fun sneaking up on our friends' houses to BOO them!  A few of our soccer team friends had their BOO ghost taped on their door, so we couldn't BOO them again.  We found two friends without BOO ghosts and did our best to sneak to the door, leave our treat, ring the bell, and race to the car before they could see us.  The boys had the most fun ever!!!!!!  Can we do this for every holiday?  Or just for random days of the week?  Seriously, it was the best fun ever! 

We were ready for Spooktakular at the Club on Thursday night!  The boys had to strike their best Ninja poses on the way in.  Crazy guys! 

There were tons of fun decorations, and a few crafts to do right away.  We enjoyed the buffet and got busy with the cupcake walk.  Serious cupcake walkers!!! 

The Costume Contest was a big hit . . . the DJ and Head Chef were in charge of handing out trophies.  A sweet baby girl "chick" won the girls award, and there was a little competition for the boys award.  It was between a pose-striking Leonardo (Lincoln) and a cute SWAT team kid.  The DJ decided a dance-off between the two would decide the best costume award, and he started up the "Happy" song.  Lincoln immediately began to dance like crazy, and he was awarded the trophy right away!  "This is best trophy ever, Mom!"  He danced the night away with his special trophy.   

Beau didn't walk away empty-handed . . . he won a cupcake in the cupcake walk!  They are still debating over who's win was more important/special/meaningful/lasting/etc/andonandonandon!  This cute family went for a spooky hayride through the golf course, and it was super fun!  There were spooky skeletons, flashing lights, and ghosts in trees, and Beau desperately searched for gob-o-lins.  Best hayride ever!  (Until next year!) 

One of the best "real" pictures of us in a while.  We have had a super fun week for sure.  There isn't anyone better to do life with than these guys. 

Busy Week, Fun Weekend

So much fun this week . . . it was crazy busy, but crazy fun!  Lincoln and Beau got new Komen shirts.  They were in heaven!  They totally love Komen shirts, and Mommy got the hook-up on a few international RFTC kids shirts.  Happy guys!

Beau was super clean, super cute, and super excited for bedtime prayers on Wednesday night.  When he's not a holy terror, he's a sweet angel! 

Lincoln was soooooo proud of the owl he made at school and needed a picture with "Hootie Lincoln."  His "friend" is living on the dresser in a prime spot for a while! 

Minnie and Bubbles came to visit on Friday after school, and the boys were so exited!  Love Minnie and Lincoln hugging when they got here! 

They brought the boys a couple of pumpkins to decorate, and Mommy brought out the glow in the dark spray paint.  We taped triangle eyes and nose and a snaggle-tooth smile, then we got busy spraying.  Linc and Bubbles worked together. 

Of course, Beau didn't need any help and sprayed away! 

The spraying helpers turned into climbers and Bubbles had to finish the job with a couple of monkeys on his back!  (I bet he loved it though!!!)  It would be great to report that the glow in the dark painted pumpkins looked awesome . . . but they didn't!  Apparently the spray paint Mommy got wasn't so great!  At least we had fun! 

We met up with Nana and Pops and our usual group for dinner on Friday night, and it was fun as usual.  Saturday morning was lots of playing, or actually lots of bossing!  The boys bossed Minnie and Bubbles all morning about what games to play, what books to read, etc.  They were all happy!  Lincoln soccer game in the afternoon was warm and fun.  Beau recruited Katie to race cars on the bleacher.  Katie is such a fun player!   

Lincoln had an awesome soccer game.  He usually prefers to play in the goalie position, but Coach Billy had him more on offense in this game.  He worked so hard to hustle and always be in the action.  He scored an awesome goal, and we all cheered so much!  (Seriously, every parent on our team was totally thrilled for hard-working Lincoln to get a goal!!!!)  He ran through the end game "parent-tunnel" with so much joy!  So proud of Lincoln! 

We had a shopping plan for Saturday afternoon, but we ended up at the church Trunk or Treat.  It should be noted that it was 90 degrees on 10-25-14, and that is a little warm to be in full Halloween costumes.  The boys were determined to wear them, so whatever!  The had to strike a Ninja pose! 

We hit up all of the trunks to get candy, and then we had to pose with the Pumpkin Head man.   A little creepy, but they were all for it.  Lincoln was hard core about leaving his Leonardo mask on! 

Once we got to the games, we convinced Linc to take his mask off so he could actually see what he was doing.  The boys had so much fun with the games. Golf was easy for them! 

They were also pretty good at fishing! 

We hit up the bounce house and bounce slide before we left.  We really enjoyed having Minnie and Bubbles with us for a fun Saturday.  We had a yummy dinner at Manny's and thought everyone would be tired from the busy day . . . not so much!  The boys settled down to watch a movie at 8:30, and they were still up at 11:00!!!!  Mommy was teaching Lincoln's Sunday School, and the kids loved the story from Ms. Jeanette.  We learned about the Ten Commandments.   

We had brunch at the club with Minnie and Bubbles before they headed back to Arkansas.  We were definitely missing Allyson because we haven't seen her in ages!!  She had a busy school schedule and now busy work schedule.  She had taken on work to make sure she didn't miss trip . . . then she was diagnosed with Mono on Thursday.  We are praying for her to get better soon.  See you next time, Ally!  Lincoln's soccer team had the end of season party at Bowie on Sunday afternoon with a Sno-Cone truck!  It was the perfect afternoon for playing on the playground with friends and enjoying a fun treat!  The Ninjas teammates joined by their little siblings made for a super fun table!

Lincoln loved when Coach Simon presented him with his trophy!  The boys all discussed how they haven't lost a game yet, so they can't lose the (rained out) make-up game next Saturday.  They really want to end the season undefeated! 

The kids all ran to play for a while, and they had fun on the playground and playing soccer against Coach Billy and Coach Simon.  Beau decided he wanted a second Sno-Cone, and he sat in solitude and worked on that treat for so long.  Love that he does his own thing that makes him happy! 

After the soccer team party ended, Daddy and Lincoln went to play golf at the club.  Beau and Mommy hit up Tom Tom and Central Market for groceries for the week.  Dinner was Baked Penne, and we all made happy plates!  It was a great weekend!  We loved having Minnie and Bubbles visit, and we had fun with our regularly scheduled activities and adding a few unexpected events.  Happy Weekend!

Super Busy - Sunday and Monday

Sunday afternoon took a little detour . . . after a normal grocery trip with the boys (Central Market balloons, of course!), Beau wanted to see if anyone was swimming at the club.  After explaining that the pool was closed because it was fall, Beau responded that it wasn't cold and it was super sunny.  "I need to see that we can't swim Mom!"  So we made a quick stop to check out the abandoned pool that had cool water and no occupants . . . can they please drain the pool already so Beau doesn't think it's ok to swim?!?!

Mommy had some cooking to do in the afternoon, and Daddy and the boys cheered the Cowboys to another super WIN!  We snuggled up to read a few books before dinner.  Love these guys! 

While we ate dinner, a brownie pie was cooling for dessert.  The boys insisted that we decorate it with icing to make it even better.  Happy guys! 

After school on Monday, we headed to Lincoln's first tennis lesson!  He went to camp at Canyon Creek this summer and had tennis and swimming lessons, but it was his first time to be enrolled in after hours tennis.  He loved his coaches (and Mrs. Sally for sure!) and had a great time at the lesson.   

Beau and Mommy reserved a court to have their own tennis lesson for an hour . . . Beau is the funnies tennis partner ever!  And the cutest too!

We left tennis and went straight to our last soccer practice at Bowie.  Lincoln and his teammates did some speed drills before working on their soccer game.  Lincoln was so proud to be the fastest! 

Two smiley and happy guys after soccer are the best!  Everyone had plenty of dirt and sweat after tennis and soccer, and they loved it! 

We got cleaned up at home and had a quick dinner (grilled chicken and steamed veggies) and another brownie!  Super busy and super fun Monday! 

Saturday Soccer with a Celebirty and the Bowie Fall Festival

Saturday was a beautiful day, and we had lots of activities planned outside.  Lincoln was super surprised that his sweet Kindergarten teacher came to his soccer game.  He loves Mrs. Bailey so much, and he couldn't believe she was there to cheer him on!  All of the boys on our team recognized her right away, and she was like a celebrity!  Best Kindergarten Teacher EVER!!!!

The Bowie Fall Festival was in the afternoon, and we were ready!  Mommy worked a shift (or two) as a carnie at the duck pond game, then we all met up to have fun!  The boys loved the big inflated slide. Coach Wes was in charge of the slide, and he might have let them have a few extra slides.  He commented that he was so amazed at what a good big brother Lincoln was being.  Linc always made sure to help Beau with the big step and made sure Beau was keeping up on the ladder.  He never left his little brother behind.  So much sliding fun! 

Of course the boys wanted to go in the crazy blown up ball thingy . . . the line was long, but they waited it out with the entire Ninjas soccer team.  Seriously Lincoln, Canon, Nick and the rest of the team were all in line for the super popular "ride".  The boys were all super nice to include Beau while they waited.  Lincoln worked hard to power his way down and back.  That looked hard! 

When it was Beau's turn, he didn't have as much strength to go as fast.  Lincoln ran to help push, and his soccer and school friend Nick ran to help too.  Such sweet guys!  Nick had to leave to take his turn, so Pops assisted as well.  Beau loved that he got to be like the big boys! 

Off to the next thing, holding hands like sweet brothers do.   

Straight back to the inflatable slide . . . that was definitely the favorite.  Again Coach Wes might have given them a million extra slides.  Mommy had fun talking with Mrs. Coach Wes (importantly also know as Natalie!), and the boys loved the slide again. 

We took a silly picture with a happy scarecrow and a mean pumpkin man.  Beau made me take the picture three times to make sure he was making his meanest face . . . sigh! 

When the boys learned that there was a Haunted House, they were sure we needed to check it out.  Ummm, Mommy doesn't really like Haunted Houses, ok?  The mom in charge of the Haunted House took one look at our little group and said we should announce, "No scary stuff" as we went through.  As soon as the "scarers" heard that, they happily took off their masks and gave us high fives and silly faces.  Such nice older Bowie kids to give us a break . . . the boys loved their first Haunted House experience!  But we all held hands with a death grip!!!! 

We headed back to the carnival part of the Festival, and it was just a great set up, great fun, great weather, and great event.  Bowie is the best! 

Our last game was the strong man, and Lincoln did his best to hit the hammer super hard.   

Of course, Beau had to be super strong too.   

Best Bowie Fall Festival EVER!  We have been for the last couple of years even though we weren't at Bowie yet, and this one was the most fun.  Thanks to all of the coordinators and my fellow volunteers for making this event so great!  Also thanks to Nana and Pops for helping take pictures when my phone wasn't cooperating!