October Festivities

Our computer got a NASTY virus that eventually won and we had to rebuild and start over from scratch. Needless to say, I'm a little behind on my posts. We had several fun days celebrating the Halloween season. The first was our "Spook-tacular Saturday" with Brookie. I love to have Brooke over because she will joyfully participate in my crafts, all day long. We started the morning off with Halloween shaped pancakes (sorry I don't have a picture). The kids got to pick which cookie cutters they wanted to use to turn their breakfast from ordinary to extraordinary. Next on our list, pumpkin decorating. We painted and colored small pumpkins and even a few large squash.

Brooke's black cat

Holden was in heaven shaking the paint pens.
He even tried to help Elic decorate his squash.
Activity #3- sticker stories. Everyone was so creative in using the stickers to make pictures.


And what kind of "spook-tacular" day would it be without a little spider hide and seek? They each took turns hiding this scary guy outside and trying to be the first to find him.
After all that running around it was time to have a little "Hocus Pocus Potion"! This was really good. What's not to love about orange sherbet, vanilla ice cream and blueberries? And when we layered it, it actually looked like the sample in the recipe picture! Halloween cheers!
As if that wasn't enough sugar, we had candy pizza for a snack- yes a snack not lunch.

Can you say SUGAR RUSH?!

We ended our time together with more playing outside, reading Halloween stories and even a hot-dog for lunch. Thanks Brooke for a "Boo-tiful" time!

Nana wanted to join in the Halloween spirit and invited us over for a fun-filled afternoon. They boys were greeted with goodie bags.

Isn't that a great haul?

Mom and Papaw worked hard to get their house decorated for our time together.
The bats hanging in front of the house might have rabies- they just have that mangy look about them.
This was Holden's favorite toy. The ghost lights up, moves up and down and sings- perfect for my dancing prince.

Nana and all her lil' pumpkins!

There were treats like Frankenstein cookies for the big boys. . .

and pumpkin shaped mac-n-cheese for the littlest one.
Nana even had a pinata. Darren was the brave one who held it since it was raining outside and we couldn't find a place to hang it inside.

Holden gave it his best shot.

Bubba was able to break it open

and the older two were in heaven gathering up all the goodies.

Holden had more fun wearing the pinata than partaking in it's treats. Thank you, Nana, for a wonderful evening of all treats and no tricks!

Soccer Tots- oh what fun!

Elic just finished his first season of Soccer Tots and LOVED every minute of it! I am so glad that he is now old enough to try a few classes and not just have to watch Bubba do everything. The whole family watched his last lesson. It's neat to see him be with kids his own age. He really listened to the coach, tried hard and had a great time.


It was an added perk that his friend Carter was in class with him.
Holden attended every class with me and never really understood why he couldn't play the games the older kids were playing.

SCORE!

I thought all the fine motor drills were so fun that we purchased cones and hula hoops so we can do them in our own backyard. We learned that Elic is left footed- kinda different. He hasn't chosen a dominate hand yet, so we're waiting to see if we could possibly have a left handed pitcher in the family.
For being 3, he really has great ball control (gets it from his daddy who played soccer for ACU).
Nana came to cheer on Elic, too.
What kid doesn't love to be told to kick cones down? Each class was so age appropriate and fun that we just had to sign him up for another session.
We closed the class with an awards ceremony. Each kid ran to the podium and received their medal.


I think this is just the beginning of Elic's athletic career. We can already tell he has a passion for sports. He'd much rather be outside kicking the ball or throwing around a baseball then inside playing with action figures or watching TV. That's fine with us because we're gonna need all the scholarships we can get by the time college comes around!

Carenow Picnic at the Ft. Worth Zoo

A few weeks ago we took the boys to the Fort Worth zoo where Carenow was having their company picnic. It's been over a year since we've been there and this was Holden's first time to go. I love that the first thing the boys wanted to do was use the map to plan out our visit.

We were there around noon and it seemed to be nap time for the animals. I did think this gorilla looked so sad just laying down looking at us.
This fellow had a little towel that he kept putting on his head. The boys thought it was so funny.

Look at that baby monkey! I mean, they just don't get cuter than that! He would get up from the group (who were all napping) and try to hang on the rope, but momma would come get his hand and lead him back. Then he'd make his way back over to the rope and they'd start all over again. I could have stayed right there watching them the whole afternoon- so adorable!

I'm not sure how much Holden really understood- if he could see the animals or knew they were alive, but he sure enjoyed being out of the stroller.
We heard the lion roar so many times- and it was LOUD! I thought it was the zoo playing the roar over the intercom, but no he was really doing it himself- amazing.
The zoo had just opened up a new aquarium exhibit and here are a few animals I'll never let my boys have as pets:
Really, why does a snake need to be that large?
Darren had to take this picture because it seriously gives me the hibbie-jibbies to see real spiders up close. The handler was even opening the mouth to show it's fangs- GROSS!
I was a happy camper to be leaving the world of snakes and spiders.
The boys begged to ride the train and we had a little time before the picnic began so we hopped on and rode to Wild West Texas.



We made it to the Carenow picnic right as the food line opened- the perfect time to get there. We had delicious BBQ and then they put on an educational program with some neat little animals.
It took six children to stretch out and hold this snake- YUCK!
A waddling penguin makes me smile. After all the walking and a big meal, we had some tired boys on our hands.
Everyone slept on the drive home. I wish "Boo at the Zoo" had been going on but it didn't start until late October. Little did the boys know, but this trip to the zoo was just the beginning of our October fun!