Happy Halloween...Saturday

I finished up my pumpkins and Eric and I took the kids to the Humane Society's Adopt or Treat event. The kids love the animals and it was a good time to show Eric where we go spend our time ( and introduce him to a few soon-to-be new members of our family). We painted the kids faces for the outing. Seemed fitting.

We got home in time to get dressed and trick or treat the neighbors before it go to late. Apparently, our neighbors aren't used to kids living on the street. One house was handing out candy. THat is okay, she loaded them down. I guess she didn't expect any more kids to come by. She was correct. We only had one trick or treater. We made the best of it and Eric got to see them dressed. Off to bed they still had another day of Halloween to celebrate.

Happy Halloween...Friday

I finally picked up our pumpkins.

Next step, cleaning them all out. I made the kids help with this step.

Every year i carve a pumpkin for each kid to match their costume. I keep telling myself i am not going to do it but yet another year comes and i carve pumpkins. I am OCD and the kids are not allowed to touch until i am done but they do love them. This year, a butterfly, Buzz Lightyear, Woody, and a tractor for the farmer. Yes, i do use templates or clip art to make a pattern. I make it as easy as possible. This is how they turned out.

After cleaning out the pumpkins we gave our face painting a test run. It is part of Ella's costume so i thought i better get the hang of it before Halloween got here. After the kids were in bed i picked Eric up from the airport. Yea!

The great armadillo hunt

Notice the pool in the background. Putting the pool in meant taking out all the grass in the backyard. Of course, when the pool was in Dad starting buying sod. I think we all feel like pro sod layers since we have laid a hundred palettes over the years. Anyway, it looked beautiful until the armadillo started digging holes in the brand new sod. Armadillo are nothing new. They have been harassing Mom and Dad for awhile. However, while we were away and Wes was home they ran across one and once it was...... extinguished, they found a second one. Somehow it ended up in the pool and after a few minutes they fished it out but it was too late. Two in one night. I think my Dad thought he had conquered the armadillo. Well, until the holes in the sod showed up. Side note: Wes's version of the armadillo massacre is hilarious. Sad but still funny.

Now that Dad realizes the armadillo are seeking revenge and the kids are here he makes it a teaching moment. How to catch an armadillo. My Mom had taken the kids out to the woods to look for the hole they live in. Mom and the kids googled information about armadillo and even looked up you tube videos. The only thing left for Dad to teach them was how to catch one in a trap. They set the trap.

We wait. Every morning Jack checks. No armadillo. We wait. More than a month goes by. Still nothing. Jack starts to lose interest and at the point only checks the trap occasionally. I guess he didn't like the disappointment.

Yesterday as we went through our daily routine i noticed Jack playing on PBSKids.com. I am not anti-computer at all especially when they are playing educational game. I do like to limit the time they spend so i kick him off. He hops out of the chair and says can o go check the trap. I say sure why not. All I hear is screaming "WE CAUGHT THE ARMADILLO (followed by John's "it's a armadiwa") WE DID! WE CAUGHT IT!" I go out and in the trap is a big armadillo. I can Dad and tell him to come get it. They are creepy looking things. While we waited we did what anyone does when they catch a wild animal took pictures

and of course we had to feed it. I would hate to send it to a new home hungry.

Dad arrived and told the boys they had caught the "Grandaddy" , meaning it was a big armadillo. The boys took it literally. We looked at him for a few more minutes and then Dad told the kids to tell Arnold the armadillo goodbye. Dad showed them the "big hunter" pose.

Jack didn't like the name Arnold though. So, he was named Clark the Grandaddy armadillo and bid farewell. He was released and we felt good about that.

Jack's first sleepover

While leaving at Mom and Dad's the kids have become great friends with the little boy next door, Cayden. They play almost daily. He is 5 which means he plays well with Ella, Jack, and John. this past Friday Jack and John were invited over for a camp out. It would be Cayden, D.J. from church and a two other boys they didn't know. They would be sleeping outside and having s'mores and everything else you do at a camp out. Mom loaned the fire pit and the plan was to let the boys go over for s'mores and then come home for bed. We just got rid of the runny noses so i didn't want the cold night air to make them sick again. I took Ella to Birmingham to get her Halloween costume and have a little girl time and when we got home John was already home and in bed and so was Ben. I went over to collect Jack and Cayden's Dad, Josh, met me in the road and wanted Jack to stay the night. I think Jack and the other boys wanted him to stay the night. Ha. I caved.

As i was getting him bundled i asked if he needed to go to the bathroom. He said, " well, i did a minute ago". I said " did you go over at Cayden's house". He said " Nooooo, you don't go in the house. That is part of camping, YOU DON"T GO IN THE HOUSE!" Obviously, Josh had laid out the rules. :) I told Jack i was sure they would let him in to go to the bathroom but hey none of mine have trouble going in the yard. He was ready to go. He made it through the night. John woke up and of course wanted to know where Jack was. Before we knew it John was gone. This is how i found him on the trampoline at Cayden's house.

I took him clothes. Ha. I asked Josh how it went and turns out Josh moved them in at 11:30. The story he tells makes it sound like there was a bear outside the tents but i think there was a bunny in the bushes on the other side of the fence. He moved all the sleeping boys in "just in case". HA! Maybe they can have a camp out with Eric and stay outside all night. This was a great starter experience and I can't thank Josh and Amy enough for letting them come over!

Farmers...for a day

We enjoyed spending our weekend with Eric and our visit to the pumpkin patch. As we were sitting in church it dawned on Mom that Dad would be finishing up harvest and if the kids didn't go over that day they wouldn't get to ride the combines until next year. So change of plans. Mom took the kids and left church early to go to the farm. This left Eric, Ben and I to enjoy the roast and potatoes she had already cooked. We enjoyed lunch and then put Ben down for his nap and took a nap too. Totally weird, going from 4 kids to 1, eating dinner with one and then getting to nap. It was almost like a vacation. :) We didn't nap for long before it was time to take him back to the airport.

The kids spent the afternoon being farmers. Mom drove them the almost 3 hours over to Mississippi and Ella, Jack and John hopped in the combine with my Uncle Keith.

He shared lots of good information with them. Like when they saw a hawk swoop down and grab a rabbit, he told them hawks have cameras in the eyes. When they saw a cotton plant, he told them that when a rabbits tail gets dirty they go over to the cotton plant and get a new one. Maybe that is where Peter Cottontail got his name from. Lastly and my favorite, he taught them how to check the soybeans. See you open the shell, toss a bean in your mouth, bite it in half and then spit it out. Not sure what that does but i am sure it is akin to thumping a watermelon to find a ripe one. Since i wasn't there they showed me this technique when they got home. I ended up with soybeans and spit all over the floor. They were so proud they knew how to check the soybeans.

After the ride with Uncle Keith, they hopped in with Grandpa.

I am sure told them all about the buttons and farming. He let them drive and before long they had to say goodbye and start the long drive home.

Well, Grandma took them to GiGi's (we call her Mawmaw but i guess she is feeling hip and told the kids to call her Gigi because she is their great grandmother) to wash off all the dust and dirt and then get on the road. They were late getting in but Ella and John were asleep. Jack would not stop talking about the day. He had so much fun. It was a great last minute plan. Thanks Grandma!

My Boys

The Grand Ole Pumpkin Patch

When you are in Clanton in the month of October you can't miss The Grand Ole Pumpkin Patch. I haven't been in years but it has grown every year and is always busy. Wes came down to go with us. I am sure it was because i needed a photographer for a family picture

and someone to walk Ben. He has been confined to the leash until he stops running away.

:) We went mid-day, the worst time, and it was packed. Then i realized you had to pay for tickets for the activities. $1 here, $3 there, $5 for this and $4 for that, $7 if you wanted a pumpkin. Add that times the family of six plus Wes and you have spent a small fortune. We allowed the kids one activity a piece and passed on the half hour or longer wait (plus the money) to ride the wagon to the pumpkin patch and get a baby pumpkin. Ella, Ben, Wes and I took the petting zoo. I think calling it a petting zoo is a stretch. It is more like look at the animals that are at the back of their cages and pet a goat. It should have been called goat petting zoo.

They did move a cow in so they petted him until he backed out of arms reach

and they petted a potbelly pig.

Eric, Jack and John played in the bounce houses. Jack and John loved the slide.

They were ready for the games so we headed home.

Fun with the Grands

The kids have been having a blast living with Grandma and Grandpa. Well, Grandpa hasn't been here much. He has been busy at the farm. The kids haven't had more than a few days at a time with their Grandparents because we have never lived close enough to visit often. They have been catching up with Grandma and Grandpa since we are living here and Nana and Papa have a trip to the Peanut Festival planned for them in a few weeks. Until then here are a few pictures of what they have been up to.

Decorating Grandma's office after our parent teacher conference. ( Ella is doing great. 99s and 100s on her report cards. Ben decided he might head to the car and then headed to the office, where i found him. In my defense the teacher had me facing her and the corner. She had a clear shot of the classroom and door and she missed him walking out. Nothing else exciting from the meeting.)

Grandpa was home from the farm for a night so he took us for ice cream.

He let Ben drive home. HA! Only down the street and I guess this Ben's face when he realized he was actually steering. I wish you could have seen mine. :)

And an afternoon movie with Grandma. We saw Nanny McPhee Returns and then rode over to the school Ella and the boys will attend once we get moved. They tested out the playground, they approved. I was trying to keep myself from driving by the house and sitting in the driveway. Mom was trying to find out how to reach Nanny McPhee. HA!