Halloween

We went trick-or-treating last year and the boys got scared at a couple of houses. The houses looked fine but the adults came to the door in scary costumes and my 3 & 4 year-old boys were not into scary...and still aren't. So, they didn't want to trick-or-treat this year. We did dress up and went to visit Gigi and a few of her neighbors, then we went to Wendy's to use our free frosty coupons. Now that was a treat!

The fairy princess, a couple of cowboys and a pretty little flower - I just love it!

Close up - I put a little bit of makeup on her and she definitely felt beautiful! She twirled and flitted everywhere she went.

My mighty men were cowboys. At the three houses we went to (my Grandma's neighbors who are all about her age) the boy took off their hats and said, "yippee-ky-a" instead of trick-or-treat, and gave hugs after they got their candy. It was pretty sweet.

My happy little flower chewed on her petals and showed off her pretty smile all night.

Three big kids practicing their smiles.

Enjoying a sucker and Veggie Tales after a fun night. When we left Wendy's we decided to go for a drive. Once we got out about 10 minutes from town (or bathrooms) Alayna said, "My belly hurts." A few seconds later Hudson said, "I don't think my frosty is digesting very well." We all made it home in time to get everyone taken care of. Those drive will have to be reserved for date night. :)

My living room this morning. Alayna and Pierce are under the other blanket.

My sweet girl.

Peace Making

Do everything without arguing and complaining so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God.

Alayna is in a disagreeable stage. She loves to argue, especially with her brothers. This morning all was peaceful around the school table. Hudson and Pierce were having a discussion about Batman and Robin. Alayna joined in with, "Well, I like my pink Batman and Robin." Hudson countered, "Alayna, there are no pink super heroes." Yes there are. No there aren't. Yes there are. No there aren't. Until Hudson said, "Alayna, you don't own the world." She burst into tears, "Mom," she wailed, "Hudson said I don't own the world!"

Arguing, wailing, and me refereeing are all regular occurrences at this house. Sometimes I correct Hudson with this great bit of wisdom, "Hudson, she's two. Just tell her, 'okay' and go on." But most of the time I try to use scripture to correct the kids. They have the scripture at the top of this post memorized. We're still learning to put it into practice. :)

Fully recovered from the realization that she doesn't own the world.

Pierce and Alayna working on their letters.

Beautiful Blue Eyes and her pretty little fish face!

Orange Power

For my dad's birthday this year David got tickets to the OSU Nebraska football game in Stillwater. The kids all dressed in orange-ish outfits for game day and we had to snap a few pictures before daddy left for Stillwater.

Daddy and Ellie ready for the game - this smiley girl has won our hearts!

Pierce and daddy have been working on the camera smile. Isn't he doing well?!

I just love Alayna's face in this one and I love the way Adelle is looking at her.

The whole crew - what a lucky daddy!

Being silly, as usual. They're so fun!

S'more Coffee, Please.

The kids went over to mom and dad's the other night for s'mores and driveway bike riding. Hudson and Pierce asked Papa lots of questions about heroes and villains. How did Mr. Freeze become Mr. Freeze. Why does Joker look like a mean clown? etc. Then Hudson said, "Papa, now you ask us a questions about your favorite super hero. Or you could just say something about one and we could agree with you." He cracks me up. So they got to watch an old black and white episode about Flash Gordon while Alayna colored a princess picture with Mimi. So fun. Love having my parents so close and involved in my family life.

This morning is filled with the kind of humor that requires a second cup of coffee (my kind of morning!). Pierce broke down when I told him, "No, we cannot buy the lego Death Star today." As I left the room to refill my cup, him wailing in the background, I heard Hudson say, "Pierce, the magazine says it's hard to find and it costs $400. It would take a boy like fifty days to earn that much money." Smile to myself as I walk into the kitchen where Alayna has two balloons that she's "whacking" with (her words). Her hair is all wild from the balloons and she announced, "This one is Dora and this one is Diego and they're having a whacking fight." Of course they are. In the meantime, Adelle is jumping like mad in the doorway jumper screaming and squealing. Yes, we know you're there.

On another WAY EXCITING note, I'm trading personal training with one of my favorite people who has agreed to watch the kids for me once a week and maybe come over and do some cleaning if I want her to!!! For real?! That's like gold! So, while she's watching the kids next week, I'm headed to Hobby Lobby to fulfill one of my goals for the next decade of my life. I will be purchasing paints and experimenting with a little art. I may never post any pictures of this venture, but I'm excited to try something new anyway.

Teeth, coming and going

Hudson lost his first tooth Monday night. He was SO excited. David negotiated me pulling it vs. him just waiting for it to fall out by upping the tooth fairy fee. He decided to share the money with Pierce so they could choose a toy together. Pierce didn't lose any teeth, but I love that he's opening his mouth so wide in this picture!

Fall pictures - I need some picture taking tips for these kiddos. They never all look at the camera and smile at the same time. I think I need an assistant or a professional :)

Sweet girls - I love this one.

It is wild to have a child losing teeth and getting teeth at the same time. And I'm 30. Really feeling older these days - like a full-fledged adult. Yeah, it's wild.

We're working on some major fall projects that I've stolen from other blogger mommies. We're having lots of fun. I'll take pictures as we go. We're having fun over here!

Big things are happening

My 30th birthday party at Mom & Dad's

Angela, Me holding Adelle, Amanda holding Lola

Pierce turned 4

Adelle is 5 months with two little chicklet teeth.

We went to a great pumpkin patch with our homeschool group.

We made a Pierce-size scarecrow, that I have yet to make a head for.

Lots of big things are happening, I just have very little time to write about them. As I speak the baby is sleeping and the big kids are eating lunch and I inhaled some leftover sweet potato fries before I tackle this house ... again. I read another blog of a homeschool mom with four kids (a little bit older than mine). She's super artistic and creative. Her kids do all kinds of special projects and experiments. She paints. Right now she's on a coffee cup kick and they're so cute. I want to paint some and hang them all over my kitchen and dining room. But I don't paint. I know we all have different gifts and talents. I'm not usually big on comparing myself to others. But I do always think other people have it all together and must be doing everything way better than me. Yes, I do have four children under the age of 5. And this week after all the lovely hay at the pumpkin patch my allergies have taken a turn for the worst. Being under the weather always leads to lack of motivation.

Anyway, the kids are done eating lunch and are now all pretending to be puppies. The volume in this house just went way up. I think I'll send them out to the yard for a while. :)

They were in trouble...

(Pierce and Hudson are both mid/pre-sneeze.)

We've been enjoying our lovely evening by the fire-pit lately. The kids KNOW they're not supposed to touch it. "But there was no fire in it," ... "We were just moving the lid a little bit," ..."We didn't touch the ashes." All legitimate answers/excuses, except for the part where I said, DO NOT TOUCH THE FIRE PIT! Anyway I took their picture and washed their hands and faces and that was that.

Sweet Adelle is 5 months old in a couple of days. She's every bit as sweet and delightful as these pictures portray. Happy, smiley, and super kissable cheeks. Precious!