Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! We had a great weekend (really a great month) gearing up for tonight. Originally, Colton was going to be a puppy for the past 3 weeks. We had even bought his costume. However; last week I unwittingly took a stroll through the candy aisle which is next to the costume aisle at Target and Colton saw a Thomas costume. He decided right then that he must be Thomas the train. I told him to think about it becuase he had wanted to be a puppy forever! Well he thought about it and could not put Thomas out of his mind. We bought it a few days later but when we tried it on - it was just silly looking and way too big. So I looked online for other options and saw a tutorial on how to make a Thomas costume from a box. So, Thursday night I fully committed myself to the loony bin and started making his costume. It actually turned out to be quite enjoyable. I spent about $14 on supplies so it was cheaper than the $20 store costume (which we returned). Colton loved "helping" and really made it worthwhile. He kept thanking me for making it and told me how excited he was.

Tonight we had so much fun eating dinner and then trick or treating with our friends Jenilee, Javi, Jazmin and Natalyn and Laine, Dana, Jackson and Ryan.

 Caden enjoyed his first experience trick or treating. Last year, he hung out with Daddy and helped give out candy. I'll have to get his might lion roar on video. He spent most of the time in the stroller, but got out a few times to collect a little candy.

 Original puppy costume and cute lion practicing for the big day a few weeks ago!

 Here's Jackson the gorilla and Thomas making the rounds.

Jackson enjoying a little pre-trick or treating playtime!

 Colton made it about half of the way with his costume on - it got a little heavy :) After about 5 houses, he told us he had enough candy, but then he found a second wind.

 Sweet friends. Scream-boy, Minnie Mouse, and Cave-girl :)

 Our Trick-or-treat train :)

 On Saturday afternoon we spent a fun day with Bunny getting haircuts and then heading to a pumpkin patch. Unfortunately, the pumpkins were picked over but we found a "knucklehead" pumpkin to carve with Colton. He was so excited to carve a pumpkin and wanted to make sure we made a happy jack-o-lantern instead of a scary one. :)

 I forgot how yucky it is to clean out the innards.

Thanks Bunny for a fun memory! Hope everyone had a happy Halloween!

What happens while the parents are away...

We are so blessed to have grandparents nearby! This past weekend, Jack was able to

go to a Texas Longhorn game with 3 of his college buddies. I had already made plans to go on a day long "scrapbooking" retreat with some friends. (I don't really scrabook with paper, but I did get all my pictures organized on my computer and backed up!) So, Grandma and Grandad agreed to watch BOTH kiddos while we enjoyed a Saturday without kids. I think they had a GREAT time!

At Grandma and Grandad's house, you can...

 eat popsicles after lunch in the house.

They both finished off two popsicles!

 Get a little exercise on Grandma's bike! He was very interested in the chains and how it worked.

 drive Grandad's cool truck!

 Caden was just plain excited to be there!

 Jump on the bed.

 Caden worked off those lunch popsicles.

 Nap with Grandad!

 Play in the rain!

 Give a little concert.

And watch a little TV in Grandad's favorite chair. I don't think they missed us one bit! Thank you Grandad for the wonderful pictures!  On Sunday we went to church with Grandma and Grandad and got to see Grandad installed as an elder! It was a special day and we are so proud of him.

More Pumpkin Pictures

Recently, our sweet friend, Tianay, organized a get-together at the Arboretum. It was so much fun. I had never been to the Arboretum in the fall. I was amazed at the amount of pumpkins and the variety. They boys loved patting the pumpkins and running all over the park. Colton kept calling it the "Ar-Burrito" :)

 Caden practicing his GQ look.

 Colton in a rare moment of stillness.

 Caden stealing a kiss from sweet Makena. She is six weeks older than Caden.

 This is a new expression. It looks like he's whistling a tune :)

 EEE-nough pictures, Mom!