Happy Halloween {2013}

Happy Halloween 2013!  Today has been such a fun day for our little family.  Addi had her first party of the school year this morning.  Every year on this day, her school has an orange party.  All the students got to bring treats for their friends and they played a lot of games.  Here she is ready for some fun!



Addi ready to party orange style.  Like her new camera smile?

For the third day this week, we had to keep Evan home from school. Daddy was off work, so he stayed home with Evan while I took Karsyn to Tot Gym class.  I really wish I had brought my camera to Karsyn's class.  She got to jump in a bouncy house for the very first time.  She didn't know what to think about it at first, but then she really started to enjoy it.  She also got to play some really fun games with candy. 

It was time to pick Addi up right after Karsyn's class.  We had just enough time to eat lunch before Addi had Speech Therapy.  Ms. Susan had some really fun festive exercises for Addi to do today.  Ms. Susan left Addi with one exercise to finish.  Evan was more than happy to help her out.

Evan & Addi

Before we knew it, it was time to pick Payton up from school.  After we got Pay, we ate dinner and then got ready for some Halloween fun!  We decided that if Evan felt up to go trick-or-treating, we would let him go.  We just hated for the little guy to miss out.  He said that he did and dressed up like Harry Potter.

Harry Potter/ Evan



My sweet honey bee - Payton

My sweet genie and her camera smile.

Addi was trying to show me what genies do.

The best picture I got of my pirate girl was a little blurry. 




Karsyn's smiling here...kind of. 

Our first stop of the evening was Uncle Billy's house.  We like to to have our Halloween fun with his little family.  We always start by taking a few family pictures.  Here's our little family of 6.

Our Little Family of 6 - Halloween 2013




Uncle Billy, Aunt Kary, Natalie, Emily, & Stephen

We made our usual first stop at the church where the kiddos play basketball.  They host a Trunk-or-Treat each year.  Then, we made our way out to Nana and Papa's neighborhood.  Most years, it's pretty hopping, but it was rather slow this year.  We still had a lot of fun though.



Payton loves spending time with her big cousins.



Batman & Harry Potter (I didn't think Evan's robe was supposed to open.)

Trick-or-Treating....I love the pretty fall trees.



Addi and Uncle Billy were best friends.

Daddy & Karsyn

Since Nana and Papa's neighborhood was a little slow, we decided to go to another town favorite.  It was the exact opposite.  It was so busy we decided not to stay.  We went to another church's Trunk-or-Treat.  They were wrapping up, so we didn't stay for very long.  After that, we stopped by Aunt Kary's mom and dad's house.  

The Kiddos

Uncle Billy and his family decided to stay for a while.  Our little family parted ways with them and stopped by Uncle Brian and Aunt Stephanie's house.  We came back home and visited our neighbor and then called it a night.  It was so much fun!!!

Hope you all had a great Halloween too!

Neon, A Halloween Sneak Peak, & Wiggin' Out

This week is Red Ribbon Week at Evan and Payton's school. Every day this week has a theme and the kiddos are supposed to dress accordingly. Today's theme was I'm too bright to do drugs. All the students were supposed to dress up in neon colors. Here's Payton and Stephen this morning. (I take Stephen to school on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.) Evan is still under the weather, so I kept him at home to rest up.



Stephen & Payton

I'll do a post when Red Ribbon Week wraps up showing off what all the kiddos had to wear.  This evening, Payton and Addi got to wear their Halloween costumes to dance class.  Here's a little sneak peak at their costumes.  I need to find time before Halloween to make Addi a new genie head piece and Payton a better headband.

I dream of Addi.

 

My Honey Bee

I got a lot of sweet comments on my Halloween post about the kiddos costumes.  I feel like  I should tell you,  I go to Target or Wal-Mart a few days after Halloween and get all the kids' costumes for the next year when they are 75% off.  I usually spend about $20 for all 4 kids.   To be honest, that's all I really feel store bought costumes are worth.  They are made so cheaply!  Here's a wig Nana found last year at one of the sales.  Payton and I had some fun with it tonight.

Me

Payton

Lastly, I just want to say, if you are a mommy or hope to become one some day, read this.  It is so good and something that I really needed to read today. Hope you all had a great day!

A Flip House & A Fire House

Our Saturday morning started off like most do for our little family.  It was our plans for Addi, Karsyn, and I to take Payton to her basketball game and Daddy to take Evan to his soccer game.  Both games were scheduled at the same time.  Shortly after Evan woke up, Daddy and I made the call that Evan wasn't going to be able to play.  He's having some allergy issues and it's making his asthma act up.  The poor little guy is coughing his head off.

Daddy was nice enough to stay home with Evan, Karsyn, and Addi, so I could go watch Payton's game. Nana and Papa joined me. I think Nana missed having her grands there, because she bought candy for about 10 of the kiddos in the stands. Payton's team played very well against the pink team. They only lost by one basket. It's a great improvement, since last time, the pink team handed their tails to them.

After Payton and I got home from her game, we all headed out to Grandma and Papa's flip house.  A very special Papa had a birthday recently and we wanted to make sure we celebrated him.  All four kiddos made birthday cards for Papa and we got him this cute little cake.


Papa's Birthday Cake

Daddy lit the candle and we all sang Happy Birthday.  Then, Papa made a wish.

Papa

The cake was not only cute, it was really yummy!  The kiddos really dug into it. =)


Payton & Evan



Addi

Karsyn

We left shortly after we finished up the cake.  Grandma and Papa needed to get back to work and the flip house isn't the safest place for the kiddos to be.  Papa had a big smile on his face.  I think we made him feel special.  Our next stop was the Fire Station.  Payton brought home a stack of fliers from school this week.  There are all kinds of fall festivals going on in our area.  We thought it would be the funnest to go to the Fire Department's open house.

The firefighters were doing a demonstration when we got there.  We didn't get to see all of it, but it sure took a lot of work for them to cut someone out of a car.  We made our way inside and enjoyed a hot dog.  Our friend Pablo from our favorite Mexican Restaurant walked by and put a plastic fire hat on Evan.  Pablo loves to do silly things to make us laugh.  Later, Pablo told Evan that he owed him $5 for the hat. ha! (And yes, Evan's OU face paint from the night before was still on, even after a bath.  I think it was a little intentional on his part. ha!  We agreed to let him keep in on until after the OU game. Boys and football!)

Evan

After we ate, we checked out a few exhibits.  There was a lot of safety information. A sweet lady from the Red Cross was giving out smoke detectors.  We bought two new detectors earlier this week, so we were good to go!

Daddy, Payton, & Addi learning how to be safe.

As neat at all of the displays, exhibits, and fire trucks were, a couple of little girls had their eyes set to one thing only - the balloons!  They were so happy when a firefighter handed them each their favorite color.

Payton & Addi

Karsyn did not want a balloon or hat.  She made that very clear.  Daddy got her an orange balloon, just in case she changed her mind later.  It's a good thing, because she did.   We stepped outside and checked out the fire trucks.  All of the kiddos really enjoyed that!

My little family checking out a fire truck.

My Payton Firefighter

It was a very fun morning and afternoon.  I'm so glad that we got to share it together.  Hope you all had a great weekend too!

Of Halloween Past {2013 Edition}

Are you ready for some spooky good fun?  As Halloween gets closer, I thought it would be fun to take a look back.  I was a little late to the digital age of photography (and had a computer crash), so I don't have pictures for every year.  Boo!  I'll start with a run down of what you won't get to see.

2004 - It was Evan's first Halloween.  He was a super adorable big blue-eyed red chili pepper. 2005 - It was Payton's first Halloween. She was an adorable jack-o-lantern. Evan was a giraffe. He was so cute that people kept asking if he was a girl. 2006- Payton was a little black cat and Evan was a scarecrow. They were both so excited for candy!!!! 2007 - We were a little family of four that all dressed up as pumpkins. 2008 - Evan and Payton were both cops...just like my pop.

That brings us to 2009. It was Addi's first Halloween. And here she is in all of her cuteness.

Addi was a flower baby on her first Halloween. 2009

Payton had just got over the flu.  She was a cutie kitten once again. 

My Payton Kitty

Payton was feeling much better, but poor Evan came down with the flu and felt terrible.  He stayed home with Daddy, while the girls and I went to a downtown festival.  When we went trick-or-treating with Papa Gene after the festival, Payton brought Evan's pumpkin bucket and got candy for him too.  She is so caring!

Poor Evan!!!

In 2010, all the kiddos were feeling better, but Daddy had to work.  We went trick-or-treating with friends and Uncle Billy's family.  Evan was Buzz Lightyear.  Payton was Snow White.  Addi was a lady bug.



This is one of my favorite pictures from the days of having 3 kiddos. 



Fun trick-or-treating with family and friends.

2011 was Karsyn's first Halloween. Daddy was off - yay!!! We went to a church carnival and had a lot of fun! Here's me and the kiddos right before we left for a fun night. You can read all about that night here. As a side note, I mentioned being under a lot of stress then, but I have no idea why now. LOL!

Evan was a police officer.  Payton was Dorothy. Addi was a witch.  Karsyn was a cutie skeleton.

Last year, in 2012, was another really fun year.  Daddy was off again.  We started at the church where the kiddos play basketball at for trunk-or-treat and then went trick-or-treating with Uncle Billy's family.  Uncle Billy took this picture of our little family of 6.  I do say, I think it's one of the best pictures of our little family ever.  Thank you again Billy!!!! You can read all about that Halloween here.



Daddy was a clown.  Evan was Spiderman.  Payton was Batgirl.  Addi was a pirate.  Karsyn was a sailor girl.



We're really looking forward to all the fun this year.  And yay for us, Daddy has the night off.  What are your plans for Halloween this year?

Tailgate Party {2013}

Every year in October, Evan and Payton's school hosts a Tailgate Party before one of the high school football games. We were super excited when we found out that Daddy had the day off, so we could all go together. We invited Stephen to come along with us, so we parked and walked from Uncle Billy's house. As we were walking there, we heard a Phil Collins song being played at the high school stadium. I'm sure the kiddos thought it was really cool to be walking down the street with their parents singing "I can feel it coming in the air tonight. Hold on." Ha! As we made our way to the school, the kids were all really excited to see a Life Flight Helicopter that was out for display.

Life Flight

We got to the Tailgate Party and we were ready to have some fun.  I got a quick picture of the boys, while we were standing in line to buy tickets.

Evan & Stephen

After Daddy got our tickets, we split into two groups.  Daddy took Stephen and Karsyn to play a few games.  I took Addi, Payton, and Evan to get their faces painted. 



Addi went first.  She wanted a rainbow.  I really love this picture.  It just shows how much Payton loves and cares for Addi.

Payton went next.  She picked a rainbow too!

My rainbow girls

Pretty Rainbow Payton

Evan got OU, because he's a big Sooner fan!

The girls couldn't wait to get a feather in their hair, so that was our next stop.  I love Addi's long strand of blue hair. ha!

My little blue hair. And yes, the face paint was already smeared.

Pay's blue streak.

Daddy, Stephen, and Karsyn met us right as Payton was getting her feather.  All 5 kiddos really wanted to do the inflatable slide next.  They couldn't wait!

Payton went down first to show everyone how it's done.

Addi went down next.



Karsyn got a little scared.  Evan was such a good brother and went down the slide with her.

Right as I was taking a picture of Stephen going down the slide, the silly guy did a flip.  So, the picture was all blurry. Boo!  He's always doing stuff to crack us up.  The kids got done sliding just in time to see Life Flight take off. 

Life Flight

By this time, all the kids decided that they were starving!!! Evan, Payton, Addi, and Karsyn all wanted popcorn. Mr. Stephen wanted a hot dog.

Evan, Addi, Karsyn, & Payton

Mr. Stephen

Daddy took Evan to play another game, while the girls and Stephen finished up their food. Karsyn unknowingly entertained a few teachers as she started busting a move. ha!

Karsyn

Karsyn

It was starting to get a little dark as the party was wrapping up.  We decided it was time to start walking home.  I felt a little emotional as we did, because I realized that it was the last time Evan and Stephen would go to the Tailgate Party as elementary students. Wow!  Knowing that makes me extra happy that we went.