Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween everyone! I can't believe I am staying up on Halloween evening and posting these pics and blogging...perhaps it is the Dr. B (HEB's version of Dr. Pepper) and chocolate that I downed once we got back from trick-or-treating? Whatever, the reason...I wanted to go ahead and post so that I wouldn't let 3 weeks go by. That seems to be my m.o. these days -- if I let too much time pass I just put off writing about all the things that I really do want to share with you.

I was REALLY missing the Friendship Harvest Festival today -- we hadn't EVER taken the kids door to door trick-or-treating before and I was DREADING it! Let me explain - each year at the Harvest Festival we would participate in trunk-or-treating and have a pumpkin FULL of candy in maybe 15 minutes. This also means that in less than 15 minutes you hand out candy to over 200 kids...a little hectic, but over and done with quickly. Living in the 'holler' we hardly ever had a trick-or-treater...although we were ALWAYS prepared...even if that meant robbing from our pumpkins from the Harvest Festival (ha!...seriously!)...so we just never participated in Halloween trick-or-treating.....until now.

Tonight the kids put on their costumes and we hit the pavement with our cousins - Caitlin and Taylor...as two adorable Cinderellas....props to Gram who made the costumes! - Aunt Lisa, Uncle Dustin, Granny Gerry, and PopPop. Our street is only about half complete...there is A LOT of construction still to come and ongoing...however, the street over from us has been finished for several months and they were READY for trick-or-treaters. We joined up with some of our neighbors and had a posse of kids on a great sugar hunt....often ignoring the general 'if the light isn't on don't go up to the door' rule - oops!

Luke rode in his Radio Flyer wagon with Taylor...and the 'big' girls went from door to door to door. This year - Luke was a red M&M - thanks to my mom....and the Marshall's dept store where she spotted the costume. It had the funniest plastic hands that went with it...but you can imagine what it might have been like to try to get a 16 month old to keep them on! In case you can't imagine...you will notice that he ISN'T wearing them in the picture!

You will also see Summer as an adorable 50s girl - she was very accomodating to both me and my check book and was willing to revisit this costume from her Preschool sockhop days. It is finally a good length...it was always too long before! She had her Granny Gerry show her some 50s moves...I guess she is a method actress and had to truly get into character with some jitterbuggin'!

Then, there was my PopStar Diva. Kyla was ready to rock and roll! It took me a while to find a costume that was BOTH worthy of a PopStar Diva and what I deemed appropriate for an 8 year old, but I feel like we reached a GREAT compromise...all the nooks and crannies were covered! ha! She already had a wireless microphone from a previous trip to Libby Lu...it even matched the outfit! So we were Set!!

In less than an hour we had pumpkins FULL of candy and were ready to go home and begin to eat our stash. I love how I am calling it 'our' stash...but come on - if we are being honest then we ALL know that once the candy enters the house it is as much ours - the parent's - as it is theirs. Am I right here people? You KNOW I am! Well, the effects of the sugar/caffeine are beginning to wear off - hard! I am having trouble completing my thoughts...so instead of eating something else sweet - I better say, "Goodbye!"

The trip to Sea World

First -- let me say brrrr! Ok-Jess, I know that you are laughing....you know the REAL meaning of the word brrrr!, but we went from 90 degree weather to a high only in the 50s yesterday...so I'll say it again - BRRR!

Thankfully, the weather last week was georgeous w/above average temperatures - that made our trip to Sea World soooo enjoyable!! We were able to get soaking wet and be comfortable! I thought I would include a few of the pics....especially this one of the the kids waiting to get splashed by the Journey to Atlantis ride. You can just barely see Kyla due to the wall of water that is drenching the kids! They stood there and were pelted with water over and over again - the force of the water was nearly strong enough to knock the breath out of you! Oh to be young (and dumb ha!) again!

We were able to catch two different whale shows - due to the Hall-0-scream celebration that they are currently having at the park. The later show was FAR better, but my pics didn't turn out as well. I have yet to master the digital camera because I like the results from my 35mm sooo much more. I probably should have used a night mode of some sort - who knows - but I was able to get this awesome pick of this whale coming up out of the water from the early show. In reality, the whale was even further out of the water - he/she was going back down when this pic was "snapped."

Not only was Sea World a blast (we went ahead and purchased season passes so we can go back an unlimited number of times until the END of NEXT year!), but it was wonderful to spend it with our good friends from Alabama - Isaac, Rebekah, and Kim. I can't tell you how nice it was to spend time with a 'girlfriend' who has known me for sooo many years - I have really missed that sort of fellowship! It is quite a process making friends like that ... but so worth it! I know that the Lord will have friends like that for me (all of us) here too - it just takes time....and effort!

I'll write later and include pictures of the couch downstairs....ya'll probably feel like I left you with a cliffhanger - for so long that was a HOT topic of conversation for us! ha! The synopsis is - we have had a downstairs couch...for only about 3 weeks now...and it hasn't broken (miracle of miracles). If you recall the last one we had down there only lasted about 36 hours and we had three delivered for the upstairs that were broken -- so I am a little "gun shy" about couch purchases - it took me a while to make a 'new' one.

Well - Luke has lost all patience with this post this am. He is trying to get into all sorts of trouble just so I'll get up from the computer - remember those toddler days? I'll write more later! Love to all!

I should be ashamed!

Yes, I should be ashamed! My posts are becoming farther and farther apart! I need to get busy and post some pics, don't I? Ok - I will....but not tonight. I just wanted all of you out there who check this blog regularly, semi-regularly, or even once in a blue moon, to know that we haven't fallen off the face of the earth! The kids continue to adjust well - Kyla received the Panther Pride student of the week....AGAIN...last week. We are sooo proud of her! However, if Summer doesn't get some recognition soon she may be facing some serious jealousy issues! That middle child syndrome! ha!

We had Kim, Isaac, and Rebekah Evans here last week for their Fall Break. What a wonderful time it was! A little piece of Alabama here in Texas - a true treat!

Anyways, I'll post some pics this week (I hope). I have digital pics of soccer, the visit with the Evans - especially Sea World (that will be a WHOLE post all by itself!), and even the conclusion of the "Great Couch Search" saga. ha! Later!