Happy Halloween

Here are my boys.

I love how they all turned out.

Creepy, Scary and Cute

 Cody the Zombie
I love that Cody's costume was free, we just ruined three good pieces of clothing in the process but I didn't care because I really hate spending a lot of money on costumes.  It wasn't until we did the make up and the hair that it all came together but I think he looked quite creepy walking around.

 Luke the Grim Reaper
Luke originally wanted to be a zombie too but after not being able to decide on what he would or would not wear for his costume he wasn't too sure anymore.  Once Ryan found this in our dress up box and showed it to Luke, he was hooked and called himself a creeper, evil something or other.  It wasn't until today at school once he saw some other kids dressed in a similar costume that he decided he was going to call himself a grim reaper. Luke loved his look and really loved his hair being dyed (go figure), he didn't like that I was putting make-up on him because that was too girly sounding so asked that it be called man-up.  Luke definitely didn't have a problem pulling off the evil look.

 Ryan the Soldier or Marine (it just depends on when you ask him)
This was the best fifteen dollars that I've ever spent on ebay.  Ryan has already worn this costume so many times, he absolutely loves it.  I bought him his very own dog tags to go with it and he was all set. He looked so sweet and handsome all dressed up ready to protect our country, even though Heath did say that he needed to work on his salute.

The Friends

What a sweet group picture of them, I love it.

The girls were adorable dressed up as a cowgirl and Indian.

another Halloween has come and gone
thank goodness we survived it, I wasn't for sure that I would
the boys had a great day and like always
 loved trick or treating with the girls
now we just need a few normal days around here

double sticks

double sticks is what Papa told Cody this morning to tell everyone what his age was now

Cody along with his brothers were up first thing this morning for presents

the boy was so excited and he made out really good

eleven years old, really?

some of his loot

nerf gun from his brothers, Halo 4 Xbox game (coming soon), books, minecraft shirt

not to mention the one hundred and fifty dollars in cash, cha-ching

after school a celebration with the girls for more presents and ice cream bars

a picture of the five when their ages are 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10

Cody doesn't officially turn 11 until 10:28 pm so since we forgot to get a picture sooner

we are making this one count

heading out to Cody's birthday dinner stuck in the backseat helping him with his homework

Cody really wanted McDonald's or Wendy's for his dinner but Heath complained so

he decided on Red Robins

 Cody thought it was funny that their kids menu was for ten and under so he ordered off of ours

he really didn't want them to sing happy birthday to him but we told them to anyway

he was embarrassed and didn't even eat the sundae so Luke and Ryan scarfed it down, me too a little

I wanted a picture of Heath and I with Cody, this is the best that Luke did...embarrassing

 after dinner we headed to Target and Toys R Us because the boy had some money to spend

he got three new XBox games because they were buy two get one free

the new Skylanders Giants was one of them so Luke and Ryan were extremely happy too

after we got home we sang happy birthday and cut up the cheese cake 

it was Cody's request to have with chocolate chips and chocolate syrup but he didn't eat any, 

he was still full from dinner

so once again Luke scarfed his dessert down after I got Cody's picture at least

Happy Birthday Cody

we love you

the color run

 The Color Run was on Saturday

it was so so cold

and it didn't help that I was sick with a cold too.

It was an early morning leaving the house at 7:00 am.

Amanda and I met up with some of her friends 

and we headed to downtown Boise.

It was a fun group of girls.

Here we are before in our white clothes and our super cool headbands 

which made great ear warmers too.

We didn't quite go for the fashion look we were just trying to stay warm

but lots of people were decked out in tutu's, wigs,

spandex, leotards, and some even wearing their underwear on the outside 

of their clothes.

So even though it's called the color run don't let that mislead you,

it's not much of a run.  The funny thing is for the last two months I ran 3 miles three times a week

to get ready for this but it turns out there is nothing to get ready for.

There are so many people everywhere that you can hardly run unless you

want to constantly weave in and out of people and dodge strollers and wheel chairs, 

so we mostly walked and did a little jogging

which made it more fun to visit and talk and watch the crazy people that were out there.

As you run you go through four different color zones where colors get

thrown on you to slowly turn your whites into something more colorful.

They suggest for you to wear glasses to protect your eyes

and breathing in and tasting the stuff isn't that great either but

the atmosphere is so much fun

you can't help but smile, laugh and have a great time

even if you are sick.

At the end of the race they have a color party

where every ten minutes or so everyone throws their

color packs in the air and you dance around in the falling colors

until it turns into a thick smog and you can no longer breathe

and you have to lick your teeth clean because the powder

covers everything.

It was a fun and they are right

it really is the happiest 5K on the planet

 now I just need to run a real 5K.

thanks for the fun Amanda and girls.

bang bang

Saturday we went shooting.

Heath had to sight in his gun before he leaves for hunting

so we thought the boys could finally get a chance to shoot their .22 for the first time too.

This is the same gun that they got for Christmas in 2010, where did the time go?

The boys loved every second of being out there shooting (me too)

 and they really loved these cool zombie targets that Heath bought for them.

They did an awesome job and were great shots

and already can't wait to go back again 

but Ryan said for sure next time he was wearing his soldier costume.

and just when you think that somebody can't really be that dumb

someone comes along and surprises you....

This guy decided to take a little stroll right in our line of fire,

we have no idea what he was thinking but

thankfully Heath saw him right before one of the boys was getting ready to shoot.

leaf me alone

Once there was a little boy buried in the leaves

with some help from his momma.

He wanted to be completely covered up so she did it.

 Then the little boy and his momma decided it would be fun to see
 if the little boys dad would be able to find him
so we called to have him come outside.
The little boy had a hard time not moving and holding his giggles inside.

 The dad called for his little boy but there was no answer
but then the dad happened to see a big pile of leaves in his yard
so he loudly said, "I better mow up those leaves".
The little boy heard his dad say this but couldn't see anything
so he didn't know that his dad really had brought out the lawn mower.

The lawn mower started

and the little boy came flying out of those leaves so fast

with a panicked looked on his face.

Then the little boy's momma and dad laughed

and so did the little boy.

fall family time

 Saturday we had our fall family get together.

I love getting together before the craziness of the holidays start

where we can just go and hang out, just relax.

We all helped out with the lunch, more than enough food like usual

lamb & beans (for grandpa & grandma, something they loved)

chili & corn bread and chicken noodle soup & bread bowls

sugar cookies, crock pot apple crisp, pumpkin cream cheese muffins

brownies and Halloween candy.

We ate the whole day.

It was also time to draw Christmas names.

Kimberly got to draw for the first time, she got her big cousin Tucker.

All the boys wanted to get Kimberly so bad 

they always see so many toys that would be so perfect for her,

but Cody was the lucky one that drew her.

With Brooke now engaged we added Ricky to the mix but are keeping them as a couple,

so Ryan picked  "Bricky or Brocky", there new together name. 

My dad surprised all the grand kids with pumpkins to carve.

We all got in the action to help out.

It was so much easier and faster when Matt brought out the saw,

we all took turns using it.

Cody wanted help from no one until the very end he was so focused.

Between help from Heath and Matt, Luke was able to get his pumpkin done

and finally had a smile on his face.

Ryan's favorite part was the spray painting.

Brooke is not only the slowest eater in the family but also the slowest pumpkin carver, 

Grammy had to help out at the end and it still didn't even get finished.

Matt made sure Kimber had an awesome first pumpkin.

Heath and Ryan worked together to come up with a scary face.

Even though it was dad's idea he didn't really participate

he was too busy supervising, holding Kimber, eating dessert and catching the score of the football game.

Brooke, Luke, Tucker, Ryan, Kimber, Cody and Hailey's masterpieces.

We all got out to enjoy the beautiful fall weather and took a long walk along the ditch bank.

Of course we stopped for a few family pictures along the way, which thrilled no one.

Oops, you can see that dad is missing again from the family picture, 

he opted to stay back at the house and eat dessert again and watch more football.

Can someone say party pooper?

I can.

PARTY POOPER DAD.

It was a great day to spend with the family.

It feels good when we are all together.

 Love ya family.

the weeks wrap up

our week looked a little something like this

Heath at union meetings

waiting to see if they will be going on strike

it's a day to day thing right now

I read these two books

both really good

I only wish they wouldn't of ended so quickly

there is always more to the story that I want to know 

setting out fall and halloween decorations

the kids aren't sure on costumes yet

right now it's looking like a soldier and zombies

 the leaves are starting to change colors now

everything is looking so beautiful

I sent a letter to my surrogate grandma Elva,  a friend to my grandparents

I call her my surrogate since all of my grandparents have passed

since my grandma died we've been writing back and forth

Saturday was my grandpa's 96th birthday

maybe there was a little celebration for him up in heaven

the weather was so beautiful at the beginning of the week

and then it cooled off a little

but that didn't stop these two from spending time outside

swinging, playing basketball, and tossing a football around

they've been playing together a lot

it's nice

the kids were out of school on thursday and friday 

so we had a long weekend together

we went to some thrift stores trying to look for costume parts and pieces

but didn't find any 

I couldn't believe it though when I found this

a toy/calculator I had as a kid

I love the memories it brings back

once I saw these treats I had to make them for Ryan

since a PB & J sandwich is part of his diet

morning, noon or night  

 the kids were not looking forward to flu shots 

so I sent a note in their lunch saying

"ice cream with mom and dad after school"

little did they know flu shots would be happening first

we let the kids pick the order of how they wanted to do it

Ryan said he would go first because he just wanted to get it over with (smart kid),

Cody didn't care when he went so he went second

Luke insisted that he went third even though I told him the waiting was the worst part (he had himself completely freaked out by the time it was his turn, it was a little bit funny)

the really funny thing was that you had to be seven years old there for a flu shot so we had to take Ryan (my brave boy) to the doctors where he was just given the flu mist 

of course Luke was not happy about that and didn't think it was fair at all

 this kid has been talking non stop (even more so than usual)

about his up and coming birthday

he already is trying to figure out what to spend

his birthday money and gift cards on

and he hasn't even gotten them yet

this could turn out to be a very long month

for us all 

happy october!