Carving Pumpkins

I really didn't think this was going to happen this year! Levi has been on cross country the past three weekends. And I don't typically like carving pumpkins....well, I don't like the guts part. The carving itself is fun, but not the guts. Especially doing it alone. But since we did our trick-or-treating early, we came home and did our carving!! Wyatt wanted a half happy-half scary pumpkin. Grant wanted "as creepy as you can make it!" pumpkin. I think it they were both successful. And I did them all by myself!! 

Trick or Treat!!

Happy Halloween!! We've been looking forward to this day ever since mid-September when we pulled out our Halloween decorations! We've been doing Halloween crafts, snacks, school, movies, music ALL MONTH LONG!! We just kind of love Halloween around here! We celebrated by having our Celebration of Autumn party at school (post to come!), then came home to relax and watch a few episodes of Halloween Wars (Grant's newest thing!! He loves watching cooking shows!), and then costumed-up!! 

We did a non-traditional (for most people) trick-or-treating, but now seemingly a tradition to us. We went trick-or-treating at Levi's squadron on base. Each squadron is broken up into different flights and each flight has a flight room that they decorate and pass out candy. Some flights go all out and have real "haunted house" effect. Levi's flight probably had the best this year! Other flights just have a bowl of candy sitting on a table. Either way, its fun to walk around and see all of our friends and TONS of candy! Plus this way, Levi was actually able to join us!! The best part- it was inside (which was great on this cool, windy day!) and we were out of there by 4:30 with two heaping buckets of candy!!

We finished our Halloween evening by sorting all of our candy and finally carving our pumpkins!! It was a wonderful fun-filled day with my fellas!

 Grant, my knight in shinging armor!!

 Happy to be in Daddy's office!

 Grant thinks this is what Daddy does all day :-)  He may have seen him do that a time or two!!

 Wyatt, the Transformer Rescue Bot, Heatwave the Firetruck!

 De-robed and checking out the stash!

Mommy Moments

My boys are truly at a stage where I wish I could bottle up everything- well, most things- they say and keep it forever. I try my best to remember certain stories, or write them down. I often feel bad for Levi in that he misses so much of their day to day interaction and conversations. Although I'm not sure he could stand to hear the incessant chatter from these kid's mouths ALL DAY LONG. Sometimes, we just have to play the quite game! But I'm so thankful to be able to witness these sweet moments!

-While visiting in Kansas City the other weekend, I took the boys to the mall because they love the play place there. Outside the play area are .25 machines. Well, actually, they are .50 machines now! Anyway, I told them I'd give them a quarter (well, two!) to buy a treat. Grant picked out chewy sprees. But Wyatt insisted that he wanted to buy me a ring. I told him that was very sweet, but he could pick out some candy. He kept insisting on a ring. So after I put in my .50 and nothing came out, I told him that I was so happy he wanted to get me that ring, but it was ok if I didn't get one.  He kept insisting on that ring, so after another .50 I finally got my ring! And the look of joy and pride on his face was just too much to handle! It was the sweetest little moment! He is my little softie, sensitive boy!! After Grant had stuffed all his candy in his mouth, he said, "Shoot mom, I was going to give you one of mine...but I wanted to taste all their flavors. Maybe next time." He's my not-quite-as-sensitive boy, but I love them just the same! (The next day, my mom took them to the Dollar Tree and they spotted a .25 machine with rings in them and they BOTH insisted on buying one for my mom!)

- I took Grant to get his haircut last week. Levi usually does it at home, but he's been working for the last 20 days straight. I couldn't stand Grant's messy hair any longer, so we headed to SuperCuts. Grant threw a HUGE fit about going in to get his haircut. We actually had to leave SuperCuts before he even sat in the chair to go home and discipline. After some talking and comforting, we headed back and he rocked his haircut like a champ. That was such a Grant move. Anyway, once we got home, the boys wanted to give me a "haircut." So they found all my brushes and combs and their play scissors and we had an all out beauty shop going on. We took a break and headed outside to play. While outside, Grant asked me if I wanted to get my hair done again, so I said sure. He ran inside and Wyatt and I finished up outside. When I came back in, sitting at the foot of Levi's recliner was a towel with two bowls of water sitting on it. Grant was standing next to them and said, "You're pedicure is ready and waiting! I even put soap in the water!" He was so proud of his good deed and idea!! I was too! The water was FREEZING but it warmed my heart to see him be so thoughtful!!! Since then, we not only do "haircuts" but Wyatt likes to put my make up on me and Grant likes me to soak my toes for pedicures. I guess maybe this is what my life would be like if I had daughters??

- Grant builds with Legos about 90% of the time he's at home. He still LOVES building all sorts of airplanes. He made a fleet of planes and was playing with his Imaginext Air Craft Carrier. He rolled it out into the living room and had each of his planes land on the carrier. A little while later, I told him to bring all his toys back into the playroom and he said, "I can't do it for a few more months." I asked why, and he said, "Because they're on deployment." Oh the innocence!!

I am so thankful for these moments. I wish I could write one of these posts each day and that would keep me accountable for soaking up all the sweet moments I can each day. Because, Lord knows, those moments are often shadowed by the less pleasing moments. But if I kept these sweet moments in the forefront, maybe the less pleasing ones won't be as noticeable...

Louisburg Cider Mill

The boys and I took an impromptu trip to Kansas City last weekend while Levi went on yet another cross country. I had an good excuse to see some friends, visit with my family, and enjoy some fall fun!! It's been a long time since I've been to Kansas City in the fall, let alone do any of the fall festivities! I have such fond memories of fall time in my childhood. The second the air turns crisp and leaves start to change, I'm immediately flooded with memories of volleyball games, craft shows, pumpkin picking, leaf raking, Halloween decorating!! What can I say, I'm a sucker for nostalgia!

And one of the things on that list is Louisburg Cider Mill. I know for a fact the last time I went there was my first year teaching when we took our kiddos for a field trip. I was excited to take my boys as we haven't really done many things like that before! We got lucky that Mason and Luke got to tag along with us as well, so it made it that much more special!! 

It was a beautiful day, which means it was VERY crowded, but we all had a great time...and go to get a taste of their delicious cider donuts!! YUMM!! We enjoyed the corn maze, hayrack ride, the humongous bouncy pillow, seeing apples turned to cider, and even a real live pumpkin patch!! 

It was a beautiful afternoon, and I hope that someday these will be the memories that my boys reflect on and remember just as fondly as my own memories!!

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, Pumpkins!!

There is something about pumpkins that makes me want to take pictures everytime I see one!! I don't normally gravitate towards anything orange, but put me in a pumpkin patch and I couldn't think of a prettier color! We've had a few opportunities to surround ourselves with pumpkins this fall! While the "pumpkin patch" in Enid is nothing more than the backyard of a church, I can't help but feel giddy each time we drive by and I see the hundreds of pumpkins scattered about! Heck, we even went there the other day just to "play" with friends. And we did so for a good two hours!

So, because its fall, and I love pumpkins, and this is my blog, here are my fall pictures of pumpkins....

My Little Family

It's very rare that all four of us are home together. Very rare. Sunday's are always a wonderful day (when Levi is home) because we get our mornings at home, Church together, and the rest of the day is ours as a family!! Its sometimes spent running errands, but its mostly fun activities done as a family!! And because it is such a rare thing, we embrace every moment!!!

This morning, after we all got ready for church and had a few extra minutes to spare, we took out our tripod to capture our little family all together! Capturing the four of us in a picture happens maybe three times a year, if we're lucky!! Thanks to our trusty tripod (Thanks Barb!), we can hopefully capture our family a little more often!!

Wyatt and that darned lovey....it will be with us for life...

 I'm amazed at how old Grant looks anymore..seriously...too old...

 Grants little monkey friend had to join us for a picture, and lovey too..

I love my little family!!!

T-6 Testers

Levi had to fly all weekend...poo. And even more of a bummer, thanks to the ridiculous government shutdown, instead of going somewhere cool like Nashville and Pensacola, like they were supposed to go to, they had to fly local. But the bright side was got to see him in the mornings! We had to drop him off at the airport they were flying out of, and we got there a bit early, so we all headed out to check out the T-6 up close and personal. The kids have been up close to one, in a hangar or on the flight line, but I don't think they've ever actually sat in one! They thought it was pretty darn neat! 

They have a pretty cool dad, I must say!

Daze in the Maze

Yesterday, we met a bunch of our squadron friends at Daze in the Maze in nowheresville, OK. We heard about it last year but never had time to make it there, so I was happy we had the chance this year! Unfortunately, Levi was flying all weekend so he didn't get to join us. But luckily, the weather was BEAUTIFUL and I was so excited to be outside and let my wild ones run wild! And they did just that!! 

We did the corn maze together, Grant leading the way of course! They did the hay bail maze about a dozen times too! Inside a barn, there was a small tot maze and then goats, for feeding of course. Why is it those things are CRAZY about eating?!? There was a big playset and sand box that all the kids spent alot of time at as well!! We got to go on a few hayrides around the farm, which was always a big hit! At one point, we got dropped off in the Dinosaur Dig to dig up "Cowasaurus" bones! That was pretty neat! Except all the bones had already been dug up, so instead of digging for bones, they used bones for digging!! Of course, there were lots of yummy treats, including roasting marshmallows by the fire! Or in my boys case, putting a marshmallow on the stick and just eating it! Silly boys!

It was a great Sunday afternoon, spent outside in the beautiful weather with wonderful friends! 

The Bridge

I've seen this bridge off the "highway" ever since we've lived here. It's on the highway that takes you out of Enid. Dreamy, right?!? Well, the whole landscape behind this bridge is tree lined and I always imagined this being the PERFECT spot for fall family portraits. Well, by the time we got to fall family portraits last year, most of the leaves were dead and crispy and it just didn't look good. So we never went.

But today, I took the boys over there after the pumpkin patch to check it out in person. Heck, maybe we will actually get to fall family portraits BEFORE the leaves are dead and crispy. Then again...maybe not! But at least I have these pictures of the bridge I've been dreaming about! And I have to say, for an impromptu little photo shoot, they aren't half bad!! We will definitely return in a few weeks as the colors change!

 Not sure what Wyatt is doing here, but I think that's what Tyra Banks calls a "Booty Tooch." Either way, he's stinking cute!

 It is Halloween time afterall!

 That sky!! Wish I could bottle it up!

 Can you just imagine the leaves being red, orange, and yellow?! See, perfect spot for fall family portraits!

I'm not sure how, but he gets more photogenic year after year!! My handsome little man!