Spooky Oooky Halloween

Halloween is here again! Its been a long week for us filled with lots of Fall Festivals and Halloween fun (and its only Wednesday - we've still got half a week to go! :).










We had a little pre-Halloween saga when it came to choosing what the kids wanted to be this year, the moral of the story is....never buy a Halloween costume too early! Marshall started out the month wanting to be the hero from the Sleeping Beauty story (this is a favorite bedtime book - there is a big, evil dragon name Maleficient that is slayed at the end of the story by the brave hero, Prince Phillip) so I got on ebay and found a costume complete with dragon-slaying sword and shield. I also found a similar costume for Jack (since his main motto these days is, "Me too!").









Then as Halloween week got closer and the kids at school started talking about what they were going to be, Marshall decided he really, really wanted to be Batman. Well, after about a week of him answering Batman after anyone asked what he was going to be for Halloween, I melted and got out the Batman masks and costumes I had bought at a children's resale to give him and Jack at Christmas. With a little help from Granny, we made a new cape to go with it and our little Batman has never been happier. :)




Once we got through the costume saga, we started Halloweening on Saturday with a Birthday/Halloween party for Marshall's friend, Carson. The kids were asked to wear their costumes and Carson's house was decorated with spooky oooky Halloween decorations (Marshall picked up the phrase "spooky ooky" from the Disney channel and uses it all the time lately to describe anything Halloween-related :). Carson had a giant bounce house for the kiddos to play in and his parents even did a hay ride around the neighborhood (minus the actual hay - I guess it was more a trailer ride than a hay ride but the kids had fun never-the-less ;).






They also had a costume contest in which Marshall won the prize for "Best Boy Costume" and very appropriately, the prize bucket included a plastic bat toy which Marshall absolutely loved (he literally played with it until it fell apart! :). It was a great party!






Then on Tuesday night we went trick-or-treating with some friends that live in the best trick-or-treating neighborhood I have ever seen! Last year we went with them on Halloween night and it was pure chaos! Everyone in our small town trick-or-treats there - there were so many kids. The city even stations cops all over the place to direct traffic and generally keep things safe. The one downside last year was that since there were so many kids everywhere, homeowners just sat on their front porches and handed candy out of big buckets so none of the kids got to ring the doorbells and wait to yell "Trick-or-Treat!".

So this year we went on Tuesday night which is only for kids who live in the neighborhood (or, in our case, those kids trick-or-treating with someone who lives in the neighborhood). It was definitely much calmer this way and Marshall and Michael had a great time (not sure about Jack and Lauren - they were good sports, no complaints at all but "fun" as a descripter might be stretching it a little.... ;)






Wednesday night we went to the Fall Festival at the church. We played lots of games, won lots of prizes, rode on another hay ride and ate waaaay too much popcorn and cotton candy.








And to think, this is only the halfway point of our Halloween week! :)

Peek-A-Boo

Here are some pictures of Jack playing his own version of Peek-A-Boo at the park.

He cheats! :)

Funny Things Kids Say

Ok, I know its not the New Year yet, but I have made a resolution all the same. I am going to try to write down the funny things my kids say so that when I am old I will remember them! Here's the first of what will probably be a long list (if I can stick to it :).

"Mom, I asked God to come into my heart and He did. He said my stomach is a cave." - Addison Marshall

Marshall's First Field Trip: Landmark Park

Last week Granny, Jack and I went with Addison Marshall on his first school field trip to Landmark Park. They had been studying farm animals all week so the kids were really excited to go see some up close. They got to see goats, pigs, sheep, chickens, cows, and mules and they were even allowed to pet them (if the animals came close enough to the fence).

They explained some of the mule-driven farm equipment and had grown some crops for the kids to learn about, like sugar cane, cotton and peanuts. Marshall even got to pick a few peanuts himself since its peanut harvest time right now.

They also had lots of really old buildings (100+ years) for the kids to walk through. Marshall was really fascinated with the out-house. Thankfully, it is no longer a "working" out-house...

After snack-time the kids got to play at the park part of Landmark Park. There was a really cool rope swing that kind of worked like a zip-cord (thanks to my mom and Sam's mom for helping the kids with this one - they were probably both sore the next day!) and an old-fashioned tire swing (this is a picture of Marshall and his friend Galvin swinging on it).

The kids had a great time. In case you needed evidence, this is a picture of Marshall walking with his teacher, Mrs LeighAnn after the tour. He was telling her all about the stuff he had just seen and learned. It was very cute. :)

This is a picture of Mrs. LeighAnn's class. I am still amazed that she was able to get all the kids to stand together long enough for the parents to get a picture!

Should I Be Worried About Where This Is Leading...?

I don't think I like the glint I see in Jack's eyes!

Fortunately, I don't think William can legally ride him on the bike for a while!

A Day at Grandaddy's Farm

Here are some fun pictures of Marshall, cousin Bella and Grandaddy from our trip to Grandaddy's farm this summer. The kids had a great time feeding the horses and riding the Gator with Grandaddy.

Jack didn't get to do all the outside stuff this trip (he was too little ride in the Gator with the big kids) but Grandaddy made sure he had a good time learning about tractors with the help of the legos set!

Gone Fishin!

William and Marshall got up this morning and decided they wanted to go fishing. Now, they have gone fishing a couple of times but have never actually brought anything home, so you can imagine my surprise when they came home pulling a bucket-full of fish behind them! Apparently the key to it all was simply to keep Meg (our dog) away from the shore long enough for the fish to bite. :)

William got out his fillet knife and went to work (I'll bet Nana and Pap-paw never imagined the cute little bistro set they got us for Christmas would be used quite in this way...and I must admit, I never imagined it either! :) and the result was some yummy grilled bass and brim for lunch.

I did try to get a picture of Marshall holding up the big bass but he got poked and dropped it back down in the bucket before I could snap the picture. After that, I couldn't convince him it was worth the risk to try it again just so mom could get a picture....

Boy, I cannot think of a better way to spend a beautiful fall day!