Halloween

We had a freezing and wet Halloween. But the kids still got all dressed up and walked the neighborhood on a mission to get as much candy as possible before turning into icicles.

Brandon was excited to transform into a very realistic ninja. No glitz or glamor, strictly all black with nun chucks and some daggers. You know, like real live ninjas.
And Nathan wanted to be a sugar skull/day of the dead dude. Brian did his face pain and we pieced together an outfit so he could look as amazing as possible.
After about an hour of trick or treating, they wondered back home, bags loaded with sweet treats to last them a good 4-5 months.

Fall fun

I have the hardest time getting a serious picture if Brandon is in it. He is either crossing his eyes, sticking out his tongue, giving someone bunny ears or just cracking up. And if it isn't him acting goofy, it's Nathan or my dad. So most of my pictures have someone acting like a fool. But that's our family, a bunch of nuts.
The boys and I met up with Nana and Papaw at the apple orchard the other day. We pet and fed the goats, played, ate apple dumplings and rolled the kids down a hill in a tube. The only thing we didn't do at the apple orchard was pick some apples...go figure. It was a great time nonetheless. 

Here kitty kitty

 We took the boys to an exotic feline rescue center a couple days ago and were blown away. These beautiful cats come from all over the US and have some amazing stories. Some of the stories are heartbreaking and I wonder how anyone could treat a living creature the way some of these babies were treated. But all of their stories have a happy ending. Now they lounge away their days eating and playing and being loved.

I can guarantee if I worked there I wouldn't have any fingers left and I'm pretty sure my half my face would be gone. It took every ounce of my self control not to stick my fingers through the fence to pet once of these cuties. They look cute and sweet but most of them are 600lbs of wild animal that thinks I look like a juicy pork chop. I'm better off just visiting. And I'll keep my hands to myself!

Learning is so much fun!

 Besides video games and sleeping in late, we had to fit some educational excursions in during fall break. So we headed to the Children's Museum and we got to see the Terra Cotta Warriors exhibit. It was beyond words. Can you believe these were the idea of a 13yr old? He had these built to protect over him after he died. Do you know what I was thinking about when I was 13yrs old? Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, or if I was going to get the wave in my bangs high enough. Definitely not anything too deep. Obviously.

So, I'm hoping that taking the kids to see stuff like this, they
turn out so much smarter than me. I'm very thankful they like history and science and learning about different cultures.
We had an amazing time, learned a lot and would go see it again if we had the time.

May the force be with you

Look who we saw hanging out at the library the other day!

 

Our library is so awesome! 

I know nothing about Star Wars, so I thank my lucky stars for the cool librarians here. They have amazing Star Wars events for the kids. They get as excited as the boys do about the movies and books, and they always have fun crafts for them to try. But this exceeded all of our expectations! These guys not only looked the part, but they talked, walked and spoke the part too. I can't tell you who or what they are but they even impressed me!

Time for a break

  It's fall break time. Two whole weeks of no school, sleeping in late and little adventures.

 We plan on hanging out with daddy, visiting the local children's museum, maybe taking a train ride, going to see some big cats at the exotic feline rescue center near by and taking in a movie or two.

Two whole weeks of fun! Fun, fun, fun!

Keeping busy

We've been keeping pretty busy around here lately. School is going really well for the boys so far. Nathan loves band and actually feels challenged by his classes this year. He isn't going to be able to skate by without studying this year. The teachers expect a lot more from this kids, they are 6th graders after all. Practically adults!
Brandon is doing well too. He just got his midterms today and is exceeding in all areas. His teacher is amazing and he's having so much fun.
We are trying to squeeze every ounce of fun out of the rest of the summer. Hopefully time will slow down a little so we can enjoy a few more ice cream cones and late nights watching the stars shine. The boys are already brain storming about their Halloween costumes and I've heard everything from ninjas to zombies. I'm sure they will change their minds a few times before it's all said and done.