Saturday, October 29, 2011

Hello!

I feel like I am finally emerging from under some sort of rock.  We have been busy around here since the end of fall break. School has been keeping me busy. We had our fall carnival last night. I wish I had some pictures of the kids. I had to work the whole thing and of course the camera was the furthest thing from my mind.  I can say that the boys had a blast. I am so happy that now Connor is old enough to stay the whole time and have lots of fun.  The past two years he had to leave early because he would run away and we were so afraid of losing him!  (He is FAST!)  Now he knows his boundaries (he only ran away once...we quickly found him at the basketball area... phew) and has enough stamina to last the whole night. Several times I caught him chasing girls around... he was being a Tyrannosaurus Rex... his favorite dinosaur!  I can only imagine what stories I am going to hear on Monday, lol!

I can't believe Halloween is just around the corner!  We have our pumpkins, costumes, decorations in and out of the house, plenty of candy to hand out and our best "Trick or Treat" voices ready to go.  I am not a fan of having Halloween on a Monday, but, oh well, what can you do? Daryle loves Halloween. Today he went out and bought a fog machine to go with his strobe light he got last year. He also bought a tarp to enclose our porch so that he and Travis can sit behind it and scare people as they hand out candy.  He is already downloading "scary" music to go with it. Tomorrow we will carve our pumpkins and finish the outside decorating.  As for me, I am just content sitting outside and handing out candy.  I prefer to relax a bit.

I haven't taken many pictures but I did come across these that I forgot about. Here are my boys, all snugly.  You can see how Travis and Connor really love Rock.  I think the feeling is mutual though!
 A few weeks ago Daryle brought home these Darth Vader suckers from work for the boys. I had put them up high.  Out of sight, out of mind, right?  Well, last weekend Connor found his. I think it is as big as his own head!
 As he was munching, licking and getting sticky and black all over he started making his dinosaur impersonations.  Look at that claw!  lol
 A little more sugar please?? Oh. My. Gosh. This kid cracks me up!  You should hear the growl and snarls that goes with this look.
So, this year Connor is going to be a dinosaur for Halloween. I can't wait to see it all put together! Travis wants to be a zombie.  So much for the cute little kid costumes. I guess 8 year old boys are ready for some blood and guts.  Daryle is going to be a zombie with him. He is in charge of their costumes. I can't wait to see what they come up with, Daryle is pretty clever with costumes so they should turn out pretty good.  Hopefully this will make for some great pictures! Stay tuned..... unless of course, I get eaten up by that dinosaur...

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Relaxed, Refreshed, and Exhausted!

This was it. It's all over.  Fall Break has come to an end.  Tomorrow morning we hit the deck running.  It all starts at 5:30 am. We had such a nice time relaxing and enjoying the beautiful outdoor weather.  Sleeping in, no set schedule, eating out for lunch (some days), picnics, hikes, and going to lots of parks.  Starting school at the end of July is all worth it just for these two weeks off. The last two nights my boys have fallen asleep in our bed.  They have been wearing themselves out with all of the fresh air. Riding bikes, taking walks, running, running, running, playing, playing, playing. You get the picture. They never sit still.  Except for when they are asleep.  I love to watch them sleep. They are so peaceful and the craziness from the day just seems to melt away instantly.

Yes, Connor even had some chocolate from his ice cream left on his little mouth. Midnight snack?? 

This morning Daryle took the boys to his dad's to watch football. I started to pick up a bit when I noticed this dinosaur in a compromising position. It made me laugh.   
What on earth is going through their minds??!! Gotta love those boys!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

The Great Outdoors

This is our second week of fall break. I love this time of the year, especially when we have such beautiful weather.  This morning my neighbor and I took the kids to San Tan Regional Park for a hike.  This was Connor's first experience with this type of outdoor activity. I would say it was a huge success.  (Before we went Connor asked me, "Mom, can I really climb a mountain?  Will you teach me how?")  lol  Here are the kids as we prepared for our hike. 
 This was the view the two mom's had.... watching the kids run off ahead of us!  I caught Travis and Connor holding hands for a few minutes. 
 Stopping for some water and enjoying the view.
 Here I am with my boys, checking out the great view.
 Towards the end of the trail the kids found this bench under a palo verde tree.  It was hard to get a good picture because they all kept moving around!
 As you can see, non stop action!
 When we got home the kids still wanted to play and hang out. Some other neighbors on the street came out to play too. They have five adorable puppies.  Travis has been in heaven ever since he found out about them.  They will only be around for five more days and then they get to go to their new homes. I am not sure that Travis knows this.  The good news is that the family is keeping one of the puppies so he can visit with that one when he needs to!  Here are Travis and Kylie enjoying some "puppy love".
 Travis was trying to line them up for a picture. They were not cooperating.
 Yes, he actually got all five to sit on his lap! Look at that smile on his face, he is such an animal lover!
 Here are the kids sitting in a circle loving on all of the puppies.  Where is Connor you might ask?  Well, he ran home and was playing Candy land and Hi Ho Cheerio in our house. By himself.  He had a blast.  I kept telling him to come out and see the puppies and play with the kids.  Nope, he had better things to do I guess! He can be such a character at times. My little independent guy.  (Daryle asked if I locked up the Vaseline... haha!)
 Look at the boys holding up those doggies for the picture!
 Today was also special because it was Grammy and Red Truck Grandpa's birthdays.  (I have always found it funny that Daryle's dad and my mom have the same birthday!)  My kids are so lucky to have the best grandparents in the world.  They loved giving them their birthday presents, having lunch, lighting candles, singing Happy Birthday, and eating cake and ice cream with them.  Of course they all enjoyed the visiting and countless games of Candy land too!

 
As you can see, we just had to use some random candles we had in the house.  Grammy's candles are more reflective of her true age... grandpa's.. well, not so much! Connor blew them all out, so I guess it didn't matter much anyway! Happy Birthday to you both, we love you so much!

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Who Are These People??!

Last night was game 3 of the series that the Diamondback's are playing.  The first two were played in Milwaukee so last night was the first home game in the series. Of course Daryle had tickets for the game.  He was so excited, it was the first playoff game he has ever been to.  I guess the occasion warranted hair and face painting. Here they were when the left the house....
 This is what happened when they got to Chase Field...
 Travis requested "stripes"... I guess he was satisfied!
 Here they are, father and son for sure!
 Today was a BEAUTIFUL day outside. Finally we can go to the park and play without sweating up a storm or being afraid to touch the toys for fear of them being so hot your skin might burn right off.  Both of my boys love to swing. Connor could have stayed on the swing all day. I had to keep telling him to share because others were waiting for a turn.
 "Look Mom, no hands!!"
 I finally got Connor off the swings and over to the slide for a bit.
 Eventually some older boys showed up and were kicking the football around. Travis was just dying to play with them. He sort of horned his way in by running after the ball for them a few times. They were pretty nice and let him have a few turns.  This is how I kept an eye on him.
 This afternoon we were at grandpa's house. For a good 45 minutes Connor was entertained by a pile of coins and Bob the Builder.  (And why do we spend money on toys for these kids??) While he played with that Travis and Grandpa played a mean game of War. 
This week I am going to help Grandpa do some decorating in his house. He has been moved in for over a year now. It is time for a few curtains on the windows and some pictures on the walls.  Travis was wearing one of grandpa's t-shirts because he fell in the mud while he was at the park and I had to run a few errands.   I am not completely convinced this "fall" was an "accident".  Ahh, to be a boy!! 

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Yes, I Should Be Taking More Pictures!

Often times we go somewhere and I suddenly think, "Oh man, I should have brought my camera!"  Like yesterday when I took the boys to the dentist.  It was Connor's first official dentist visit.  He did an awesome job by the way. He was nervous, but did everything they asked him to do.  He even got a ticket for the No Cavities Club!  The dentist office took his picture, since it was his first time visiting. Now why didn't I think of that??  (Of course my scanner is broken so this will be a very cute picture hanging on the refrigerator for now.)  Travis did a super job at the dentist too. Yesterday morning I was asked if he could go in by himself... sigh... I told him he would have to since I had to be with Connor.  Sometimes I think Travis is growing up too fast. Thank goodness for me I had to take care of  Connor so it didn't hurt my ego or feelings so much when he said that to me.   If I didn't have Connor I think I would have been crushed.  I am shocked that Travis got in the No Cavities Club as well...  I mean that in the nicest way!  I am hoping and praying we won't have to do braces, but only time will tell with Travis.  He might be facing some crowding on the top.  For right now we are just in the "wait and see" stage. 

This past weekend Home Depot had the usual Saturday craft. However, this time they also had a safety fair with it.  I brought my camera this time!  As you can see, they had a lot of fun.  Here they are "fishing" for prizes.


 Connor made out with this black Halloween balloon. 
 I would say the fire truck was the hit of the morning.  When Connor got up close he was soooo darned excited! He said, "OH WOW MOM LOOK AT THAT HUGE FIRE TRUCK!!"   Of course that made the firefighters day. It was pretty cute.
 Here they are, all seat belted in (thanks to Travis.. the safety conscious child) ready to fight a fire.
 Here are all three of my boys, posing with the big truck. Such manly men they are!  LOL
 This weekend the boys also went through a painting stage. It is only watercolors so I figured why not. They actually did pretty well with them.  Connor had a really good picture at one point... then he kept going and going... thus the big black spot on his page!
 Future Picasso??!
We are finally on our two week Fall Break. It couldn't have come at a better time.  School has been rough for me this quarter.  I love my class, no problems there. Just other "stuff" going on with my job that can be quite stressful. It took me the entire weekend to "recover", put things behind me and move on.  Thank goodness for my boys, they have helped me to forget some of the craziness that has been going on lately.  We have some fun things planned for the break, so check back in with us and see what we are up to. The weather is also cooling off, which means we can spend more time outside.  We are also busy planning Halloween costumes because that will be here before we know it. Until next time...