Halloween

My two sweet hearts look adorable for Halloween...

Cowgirl Princess

Dale Earnhart Jr.

This family LOVES Halloween. We have a tradition of cooking chili for the family and trick or treating. I love that all the cousins are so close in age. They are going to have so much fun growing up together and making memories together. Brinlee really "got it" this year. She knew she was getting candy, and as scary as she is, she didn't get scared once! She only walked to the first couple houses, then opted for the wagon ride.

Brayton went as Dale Earnhardt Jr...his new hero and obsession. He wanted to ride his bike, but after he kept throwing it down we made him put it up....I was afraid someone would trip over it! It was hard to walk with Brinlee and the "babies" and keep up with him. He wanted to be with his friends, and they were RUNNING from house to house. So...I am sad to say, he left us! Frank went with Brayton and his friends while I stayed behind with the gang.

Look how cute! Triplets as the "Little Einsteins".

After Trick or Treating we came back home for some partying! We bobbed for apples and jammed out to "Monster Mash". We had a great time and the kids were exhausted!!

And we still have waaaaaay too much candy in this house!

Oh, and did I mention we didn't want that Michael Jackson costume to go to waste??

HA! HA! I think Brayton made a better MJ. Someone told Frank he looked more like one of the 3 Stoogies! HA! HA!

Who's BAD?!

Oh yes, he did!

He did go bustin' in to Knightsville Elementary School just like this!!

As I mentioned before, it was Red Ribbon spirit week at school last week. Thursday was "A Drug Free Life Rocks". Dress as your favorite rock star. I bought the whole MJ kit thinking that he would only want the glove. Boy was I wrong! My son is just like his momma...it's all or nothing with him :-)!! I have to admit, Frank and I were both a little nervous about him getting picked on....but he was excited and ready to strut his stuff!!!! Come to find out, he was the hit of the school. He said his teacher took him for a walk to show him to everyone...wish I could have been a fly on the wall, ha! ha! I can only imagine him 10 years from now in high school!! That child is a character, and I love every ounce of him :-)

Cousin Kylee chose to dress as Taylor Swift. She was too cute about it. She said she only had to wake up and get dressed because she already had the same kind of hair as Taylor. :-) When we picked them up after school I couldn't help but crack up. There was Brayton standing decked out in Michael Jackson and Kylee looked sooooooo embarrassed standing next to him. She is so serious, it's funny!

And while Brayton was having his MJ debut, Brinlee and I had some fun ourselves! Aunt Tiff had a Halloween party for all her munchkins, so we went over to crash the party! She hid candy like an egg hunt and the kids loved it! We're so happy she stays home now, we have lots of fun doing things with the kids!

My little cowgirl. She is missing her bandana and would NOT

keep that hat on....still adorable, though!

Little Bunny Fu Fu...isn't this the CUTEST?!?
Cousin Haven



I can't believe and I didn't get a single picture of me and Brinlee together. I was too worried about getting a good one of her...that always happens! Oh well, I was dressed as a witch...I'll get around to posting pictures from Halloween night soon!

Creepy Critter

this little guy kept the kids entertained for some time today after school. We were surprised to see that he was still alive (sad to say he was neglected while we were on vacation)....and as an added bonus- he moved over to a bigger shell that we purchased for him :-) Oh, the little things in life!!!

Brinlee was right in the middle of it all!!

The "scary man" that Brayton made has made his way to our front lawn....NICE! He is now sportin' a plastic knife in his chest. The kids are lovin' him, too! HA!

In other news, Brayton has a new principal that we are very excited about. He also got his report card today and it was excellent! It's Red Ribbon Spirit Week at school and each day has a theme. We've had fun with that....tomorrow is going to be extra special, so check back to see what my boy looks like :-) It's guaranteed to make you laugh!!

Brinlee has started something new. It goes along with her dirty looks. She'll look at you and point that little finger and say "stop". It's cute and funny now, but not so much when she gets a little older. She has also found her nose holes, and well...her fingers seems to stay in them. Let's hope this is just something new for her that will soon pass :-)

Pumpkin Patch

I took the kids to the pumpkin patch yesterday after I picked Brayton up from school. We go to the Methodist Church down the road, it's a tradition that we've been doing since Brayton was 2. His class went there on a field trip and as part of their "Ho Down" on Friday, but we were in Tennessee, so we missed it! Tennessee was much better, I think Brayton will agree! I'll do a separate post for that later. I let them each pick out a pumpkin, then they came home and decorated them with stickers...Brinlee even enjoyed doing this!

Fall Happenings

I love fall and all that comes with it! I especially have been loving this COLD weather! I'm ready for the fair, Halloween and all the festivities!

The scarecrows are out...so we went for a visit. Brayton was ready to get out of the house and fever free for 3 days, so why not? Ge Ge and Pa Pa met us there!

this is supposed to be Micheal Jackson...you know this was one of Brayton's favorites :-)

I also LOOOOOOOOVE decorating for fall. It's almost as bad as Christmas decorating, almost! I love gourds, pumpkins, scarecrows, mums and all the colors fall brings. I've had my stuff out since the end of September, but Brayton felt the need to add his touch to things.

This is my style.....

And on our front porch I have mums, some pumpkins, and a little scarecrow sitting in my rocking chair.

Brayton thought we needed some of this.....

complete with play dough eyes and snakes coming from his mouth!



and he just HAD to have a tomb stone...and just HAD to add those skeleton hands to it!

YIKES! Not a fan of the "scary" stuff, but boy did this make his day! Nana came over today and helped us put this little guy together. He scares poor little Brinlee to death. Trick or Treating should be interesting with her this year!

Next up, the pumpkin' patch and corn maze...after our Tennessee trip and cabin stay, of course :-)

The FLU!

That nasty flu bug has been visiting our house! We took Brayton in to Doctors Care Thursday night because he was running a fever and not acting himself. We pretty much knew to be on the look out because cousin Chase had it, and well....you know how it is when the family gets together :-) We thought little Chase just had an ear infection, but...we were wrong!

We were surprised, however, when the doctor came in and told us Brayton was the "first case of positive H1N1 AND seasonal flu, and first case of seasonal flu this season." I think she scared him to death, bless his heart, he just started crying when she said that! And Frank tried to be a smart butt by asking, "are we gonna be on the news?!" I can't bring him anywhere! (He was only KIDDING, by the way!)

Anyway, Brayton is doing much better. He just doesn't have much of an appetite. That Tamiflu is a miracle drug! We were told to keep him out of school all week, so I am enjoying him being home with me. I'm giving him all kinds of love and attention. I really miss him being home all day with us...I could get a little sad about it (until he starts driving me crazy and being super hyper, then I'm ready to send him back to school, ha! ha). On Friday, I had Frank and Brayton home all day!

We also had our parent/teacher conference on Friday. I won't go into all the details, but I will say....we couldn't be PROUDER! She told us Brayton was her model student. They are keeping him challenged, but in a nut shell...he already knows what he needs to know for Kindergarten! There is a new test that they just came out with (BenchMark?) and he will hopefully be tested in December for that. He is all in to writing his own books right now. It's too cute. He wrote a book and brought it in to show his teacher and she ended up reading it to the class. I've been saving all this stuff, but I tell you...it gets out of control after a while!

Brinlee is as funny and adorable as ever. She is talking more and more everyday. She is obsessed with "dogs" and "babies". When she's ready to go night-night she starts waving to her Daddy and Bubby. Her little appetite is really picking up, too. She's been picking up where Brayton has left off. She luckily, did NOT have the flu. At least, as far as we know. She wasn't showing any symptoms and I didn't have her tested. They did give us all Tamiflu, so if she had it, we didn't know....thankfully! Her hair is really growing fast, too! I'm wondering when I should cut it. Seems like once you get their hair cut they really lose the baby look. I want to keep the baby look!

And, one more thing....HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HAVEN ANN! Today my precious little niece is 2 years old. I witnessed her birth and it was the most AMAZING thing ever. I can't believe it has been 2 years! I feel so sad that we missed her "Dora" party, but we didn't want to get anyone else sick!

OK, this post was supposed to be short and sweet...that NEVER happens. I always have too much to say :-)