We decided to change things up this year and not go trick-or-treating Halloween night. Brie and Nate are getting a little old for it and we received so much candy the night before at trunk-or-treat. Instead, since Halloween is Sam's mom's birthday, we made her an entire spooky dinner with Sam's sisters and celebrated Barbara's birthday. This year was more special, too, because we have a new little cousin to celebrate the holidays with us now. (It is no longer just our kids at our family gatherings! :) )
Our little Monster
The little Chick
Scream
Double Trouble!!!
The Cat Witch
We had a blast. The kids even did sneak out to trick-or-treat at a few houses.
Halloween 2010
Leading Up to Halloween Night
This year, Halloween has been very exciting for us. We have been very busy with activities, but still have had time to fit in festivities. We have been watching "spooky" shows that Sam and I grew up watching at Halloween time, like "It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown", "The Addams Family", "Hocus Pocus", & "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." The kids think they are great! On Wednesday, we went to the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch. The kids really enjoy going every year, even the big kids! The best thing is it's free!
On Thursday night, I took the kids and Carson to Boo on Ballard, in downtown Wylie. What a crazy mess! We got word that there were 4,000 people down there. I believe it too! It was so crowded it took 10 minutes to go from one trick-or-treating table to the next. We will most likely by-pass this event from here on out.
Saturday before Halloween, we went to our church's Trunk-or-Treat. This year they had the cars parked normally in the parking lot, instead of the usual circle, which allowed more cars to participate. It was so much fun. Brianna dressed up like a witch. Nate was a soldier, since he could not wear a mask, Natalie was a "Bat Princess," William was a spooky skeleton, and Alex was a monster.
Natalie Learns to Tie Her Shoes! (Finally!!!)
Some things are better left alone. Teaching Natalie how to tie her shoes has been one of those things for us. Natalie is very stubborn at times, and when she does not get it right the first time, she gets down right ornery! We have tried for the past year to tie shoes with Natalie but it would always end in a huge argument. Today, however, I think she realized that almost everyone else she knows already can tie their own shoes. So, she sat with me at William's therapy this morning practicing on Alex's baby shoes. She was still getting very frustrated so we put them away. This afternoon, she came to me and told me that she could do it. And... she proceeded to tie her shoe right in front of me. I have to say I was so--- proud of her. I think this is a huge step for her: Realizing that some things she is going to have to work at to achieve.
Natalie Loses Her First Tooth
We thought for sure that we were in for big dentist bills as a few weeks ago we noticed that Natalie had sprouted a permanent tooth behind her lower baby teeth. Her lower two front bottom teeth had been the tiniest bit loose for a while, but never loosened anymore, no matter how hard you wiggled them. After the permanent tooth came out, we realized why. Then, they were no longer loose at all. I was going to call the dentist next week for the dreaded appointment of telling us how many teeth they were going to have to extract. However, Natalie came running into my room last night crying, saying that her mouth really hurt. As soon as I looked in there, I could tell one tooth was very loose. I wiggled it a little bit and could tell it was coming out very soon. After some coaxing and reassuring, it finally loosened enough and came out. Natalie was so excited. Now we have noticed that 3 other bottom teeth are going to be falling out soon too! Hooray! Now the thoughts of massive dentist and orthodontist bills can be pushed aside. (At least for a little while.) :)
What?!?!? A Teenager!!!!???!!!
Yes! We have a teenager now. Brianna is officially 13! I cannot believe how quickly it has gone from the day she came into this world until now. When your parents tell you time flies...They are exactly right! Brianna is such a beautiful young woman. She is kind, loving, very helpful, and SUPER Smart! She brings so much joy into our family. For her special day, Sam bought Brianna her first dozen roses, since no one is suppose to do that but dad. :) At least at this point, Brie still loves us and thinks we are cool. I hope as she gets older that that lasts.
At 13:
Brie's best friends are Bailee, Alexa, Amy, & Emma.
She loves working every week at the Zoo.
Brianna's favorite pastime is, of course, READING!
She also loves rollerblading, making movies, camping, helping animals, and playing spies.
Happy 13th Birthday to our Beautiful Girl! We Love You!
Applelicious!
After 6 really long months of trying to be patient as wind, water, and critters of ALL sorts played havoc, we have finally harvested our FIRST apple off our apple tree.
I never knew how much went into growing an apple until now. When our tree was covered in blossoms this spring, we were so excited. Then came.... The Birds! Waxwings! They began eating our blossoms like they were going out of style. We thought for sure it would be another fruitless season. However, the birds managed to leave the very bases of the blossoms, so they were able to pollinate and form fruit. We started with over 100 teeny apples on our tree at the beginning of the season. Then, Texas' famous spring winds began to blow. We watched sadly as our tree was blown and twisted all over in the wind. When all was said and done, and the winds began to calm, we were left with about 30 apples, still holding strong to their branches. Next came... the bugs. I do not think anything grows well in Texas because of the bugs. Our apples were sizing up so well. But, you would see a perfect apple one day, the next it would have one small hole, then the next it would be brown, shriveled, and mush! Yuck! We treated our remaining apples for bugs, then came the Mocking Birds. We tried everything to get rid of the darn things. Foil, Loud Noises, Brie running out there all day to scare them off. They were bound and determined to finish off our apples. When we went on vacation, we were pretty sure there would be nothing left. However, when we came home, it was a splendid sight. Only a few were left, but they looked AMAZING! In all, we harvested 6 apples. Not even enough for each of us to get our own, but we still had pure joy! What a feat we had accomplished. Maybe next year we will have that large harvest we were hoping for. Apple pies, Applesauce, Baked Apples. Yum! Just maybe.
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