Carving out the good times

I'm trying to decide when it all started. What began my love for fall?  Was it going to football games in high school and college and that chill in the air and sitting in the stands with a blanket? Was it just being a native Texan and being so ridiculously thankful that for the first time in 5 months that I didn't have back sweat from checking the mail? Or even something as simple as my love for all things green, red, and orange?

I can't really pinpoint it but I know that all those feelings have just been building up every so softly without me really noticing. But since I've had the boys, I can't help but notice it. I'm not sure if I love it so much because they love it so much or if they love fall because they see their hyper hypo mom going nuts for it, so they just follow suit. It's that whole, "What came first...the chicken or the egg?" question.

But more than anything I think it's knowing that my favorite memories of my childhood all seemed to revolve around the holidays and there's such a desire within me to fill my boys' hearts with those same memories.

What better fall memory than to carve us some pumpkins? It was decided that Nolan would sketch out what exactly our pumpkin would look like this year.

In years past, we start the pumpkin carving but then we all realize how much work it is and let Daddy finish it...that's me. I have all the ideas, but Justin gets it done. But last year on a whim, I bought one of the pumpkin carving kits for $1.00. Let me tell ya, those suckers really do work! I'm talking it saved at least 45 minutes off our carving time instead of having to use a spoon. Best dollar spent. The boys actually stayed interested in it...well except for Campbell off and on, but c'mon he's 2 after all.



If there's one thing that really gets me going, it's a good excited. There's nothing worse than telling a hilarious story or giving an awesome present and watching ZERO reaction. Ugh...pet peeve, sorry. But if there's one thing that my children have got down, it's a good excited. What's a good excited you ask?

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:



Who knew a gourd could keep them so entranced.

Who knew it could keep them so entertained? The pumpkin hat joke just never gets old in this house.

And neither does chasing them with pumpkin guts...
 

I think the transformation just blew their minds.



My favorite photo of the pumpkin carving didn't even have a pumpkin...well, unless you count the one on Cam's head.

I think Justin did a great job following the sketch. I did realize that Nolan is growing up. Hard to believe that it was just a couple of years ago when he screamed with terror when we put a candle inside our jack-o-lantern.

Fall, you gotta love it.

Trunk or Treat squared

Remember the days of putting on your costume Halloween night going trick-or-treating THAT night and that pretty much summed up the holiday? Yea, not so much these days. Now by the time Halloween actually rolls around, you're missing parts of your costume, it's filthy with chocolate stains and there are remnants of pixie stick dust found in the tiniest crevices of the seams of your costumes. That's because Halloween has now turned into at least 3 days of festivities especially when it falls on a weekend.

School costume parade...check. Next up? Trunk or Treat at church.

And no I didn't go as a Playboy bunny to church! See my duster? Yep, I was a dust bunny! Don't be jealous that I spent $5 on my costume and won the costume contest for the adults.

Guess who won the costume contest for the toddlers?



But there was so some serious competition.



Guess who DIDN'T win the trunk decorating contest? Hey, we were pretty worn out with all the effort put in to make our costumes. How do you like our "ghost?"

Times like this remind me why I love going to a smaller church. It's one those kind of churches that says, "Hey I missed you last Sunday, hope you're feeling better." But one of the top reasons I love my church? Because who can say that they're minister looks identical to Where's Waldo and who's wife looks like her day job just might actually be a gypsy.



I'm savoring every exhausting minute of this time. It's one of those can-I-bottle-this-up-in-a-jar-and-keep-it-forever moments.

Grand total of times costumes were worn this weekend? Two? Not even close...try FOUR!

Next up? Trunk or Treat at Grandma and Granddad's church, of course!

More candy and in this case, more sweating!



Guess we know why the kids say, "Trick or treat, smell my feet," at least in Texas when it's 83 on Halloween!



Best news this week? Tonya's scans came back and her lungs are clear after 12 long grueling weeks of chemo. Mastectomy is scheduled in a couple of weeks. Praise God!

Ok, if you can stand it, there's one more post for Halloween and then after that I'll stop...well, until next year.

Halloween theme: Under the sea

I'm a sucker for coordinating outfits and themes. It must come from my obsession with scrapbook paper and coordinating ribbons. I need more scrapbook paper like I need a hole in my head but I just keep buying the stuff. I know, it's a sickness. But I digress...

Back to coordinating...I'm milking this for as.long.possible. Yes I'm quite aware that they will grow up and ask me, "Mooooooooommm, why did you have us coordinating in every Easter outfit, Christmas photo and Halloween costume?" And my answer will most definitely be, "Because I'm a mama of two boys and about the only thing us boy moms can get excited about when it comes to boy outfits is...well, matching them!"

Two years ago...



One year ago...

 Under the sea was our theme this year. It all started with Nolan wanting to be a deep sea explorer and the fish costume seemed like the least amount of work. Obviously, I'm not a good judge for budgeting time. Well it took some effort and I mean a lot of effort. Please remind me next year how much work and stress homemade costumes take.

No, really, don't let me forget.

Grandma made the fish costume. I swear she could make costumes for movies. And I finished up hand-stitching the scales. Yep, lost count after about 60. But dude, tell me my kid isn't CRAZY cute?!

 

It was actually a high of 70 today but supposed to be 80 on Halloween night. Poor kid will be drenched with sweat. Hopefully the sugar will be a good distraction. Today was a pretty big deal at school...costume parade day. 

We'll see if he'll actually keep this hood on all of Halloween night. Once again, candy and bribes work wonders for distraction. 

But I have to give all the credit for the next costume to my wonderfully talented husband. Grandma made the hood but the tank contraption was definitely all done by Justin. It's a wonder what a trip to Home Depot and a 2-liter coke bottle can do! 

It's like this kid was born for Halloween. What can I say? It's part of our genetic code. There's a long family history of holiday love.

Unlike Campbell, who wanted to take off his costume seconds after his parade, I think Nolan would sleep in his if I let him.

Grandma and Granddad made to the parade too and the boys were so excited to have them watch.



All the work, all the stress of these costumes was worth it. And that is why I put myself through it.

 
But seriously, don't ever let me do that again.

Sneak Peek

Here's two clues about the boys' costumes:

Nolan's costume involves all of the following materials and it's being created by Daddy:

Here's a preview of Campbell's costume. Once again, grandma the seamstress does NOT disappoint.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Forced Family Baking and Crafting

I don't know when exactly this cupcake fascination started of mine. But today I found myself at the grocery store looking to make Frankenstein cupcakes. I had both boys with me so there's nothing like preventing them from squishing the bread, breaking the eggs, and looking for ingredients for cupcakes that are WAY too complicated. It's then that I decided to heck with the Frankenstein cupcakes, this mama was going to take the easy road. We went to my sister's house this weekend and I really wanted to decorate some cupcakes with the kids. How about some really simple skeleton cupcakes? Ok, so even if it's a really far stretch, just tell me that they look like skeletons even if it's a lie.



I think I might have made about 6 of these "skeletons" and then I just let the kids go crazy with the decorations and icing. You know what I mean, so-many-sprinkles-you're-not-sure-if-there's-any-icing-under-there kind of cupcakes.

Frankenstein, skeleton, witch or just a mound of cake a icing, these kids had no preference for the decoration. It all tasted the same going down.


Notice the cupcake in front of Nolan with only the icing eaten. I might as well have just given him a spoon and a tub of icing.



And it wouldn't be a holiday without some crafting. We had fun decorating these little finger puppets and Campbell especially had fun ripping the heads off of them. 100% boy right there for you.

We ran out of time to make caramel apples but I'd say that we definitely got bit by the Halloween bug. I can't wait to take pictures of them in their costumes. Now let's just hope my very stubborn 2 year old cooperates wearing his. I see bribery in my future next weekend.

906 miles

906 miles. That's what separates us from "Deep in the heart of Texas" from "My old Kentucky home."  My in-laws made the trek down for a visit for a little over a week from Bluegrass country. They're both officially retired!  And let me tell you, there are some definite perks to having retired grandparents.

1. My mother-in-law made us dinner more times than I can count. And I'm talking barely any leftovers kind of dinners.

2. Campbell spiked a fever at school while they were here and they picked him up for me from school and gave him a full dose of grandparent lovin' to help him heal quicker than he's ever healed before.

3. My father-in-law is equally magnetic to children as playgrounds are. It's in his aura. Good news for me after a long day of work to have a much-needed break, but exhausting news for him.



When grandparents are around, the backyard is officially a playground...more so than any other day. Rocks are suddenly amazing...

 
Birdfeeders are meticulously checked...

And even a little taste testing. What? Oh, like your kid hasn't eaten birdseed.



And there's nothing like a good ol' game of Ring around the Rosy.



4. Last but certainly not least, my mother-in-law not only cooked us dinner, she rolled out dozens of sugar cookies for me for Nolan's party. She really did do all the hard work.

But enough about how their stay affected ME, what it did for the boys was just solidify their relationship with them that even 906 miles can't sever. I wish that money, time and geography would allow us to see them more, but it really does confirm quality versus quantity is what truly matters to our boys.



What would I do without Gram and Pop? Well, I think Campbell's face says it all...I just don't know!


Thanks for such a wonderful trip Gram and Pop! We love you!