Halloween 2011

This year, Halloween was much easier than in previous years.

We ate on time. We got dressed on time. We left on time.

Everything went smooth.

Not that it was terrible years before, but we always seemed to leave so late that by the time we got to the other side of the neighborhood, everyone would be out of candy.

Not this year..

and Joshua loved Trick or Treating this year.

He wanted to go up to the houses all by himself. He knocked or rang the doorbell and when someone would answer the door.. sometimes he said Trick or Treat.. sometimes he just held out his bucket, but I always made sure that he told everyone thank you.

At one point, I could tell his candy bucket was getting heavy, so I asked him if he wanted to empty it into the wagon we brought. He obliged and dumped his treasures out.   Funny thing happened then... the next two houses we went to, he would take the candy straight from the bucket and put it into his wagon.

then.. we really started to giggle.

It was later in the night and I guess people were thinking we got a late start, so every time Joshua emptied his candy into the wagon, the next house we went to would exclaim "You don't have any candy???"  and then they would fill half his bucket.  The kid is smart I tell you... we came home with so much candy that I recycled it right there and started passing it out to people who were trick or treating at our house. Sounds horrible right?  But really.. we didn't need that much candy and it shouldn't go to waste.. I would probably have just thrown it in the trash... so we let other kids have it.. we shared.

We must have had over 1000 pieces of candy to pass out... and we passed out every single one of them.. turned all the lights out and hid in the back of the house.   and.. people still rang our doorbell.  Didn't their mama's teach them not to go up to dark houses??  Guess not. I had to put a sign on the door to let the kids know that the candy factory was now closed.

It was a great night though and we are so happy that Meema went door to door with us... while Granna and Grandpa passed out candy. We love that we got to spend the holiday with everyone and thank them all for helping us out.

The Mummy Dogs

I saw these in a magazine and thought they were adorable and easy to make...

Joshua asked me for hot dogs the night before, so this was perfect.

I made them for him as a snack when he got home from school. He liked them so much that he ate 3 of them before we headed out to Trick or Treat.

Aren't they cute? Just hot dogs and I took crescent rolls and cut them into small strips and just wrapped them around the hot dog to look like a mummy. The eyes are Nerd candy and the mouth is a piece of red licorice.

I think they would of been cuter if I had icing and could pipe on the face.. but when in a bind.. Improvise.

Mummy dogs were a hit at our house!

Fighting Fire at Preschool

With his Meema finally here, this little boy could not be more excited... except.. its Halloween!!!

Who isn't excited about Halloween??  I know we are ready!

Today he gets to wear a costume to school. He is wearing his pirate get up tonight... so to school, he chose to wear his firefighter costume. He giggled and laughed as he and Meema talked about how much fun he was going to have at school today. (They were making candy apples.)

He says he is going to have a great day at school, but he can't wait to get home and go Trick or Treating!!

Watching Airplanes

Waiting for his Meema to get off the plane...

He was so excited to drive to the airport. I think he must of asked me 1,200,046 times if we were there yet. And then when he saw it... and saw the planes overhead.. he gasped.. and whispered.. "oh my gosh!"

Loving the planes... he could of sat there for hours and hours just watching them.

When Meema finally did get off the plane, she walked right past us.

We followed her down the escalator and all the way to baggage claim before Joshua ran past her and giggled when he turned around. It still took her a few minutes to process who he was.

We were all excited though.

For an entire week he asked when his Meema would be here.

... she's finally here and we couldn't be happier.

Visiting With Daddy

The boat that John is working on docks in Galveston Bay, so when he came in this last time, Joshua and I took advantage and drove down to the island to see him. We had a great time with Daddy although it was a very short visit, we made the most of it by taking Joshua to eat at the Rainforest Cafe.

He played a game and won the 'Duckie' he is holding.

He misses his Daddy.

The wooden train he picked out.

Joshua was upset when we had to take John back to the docks, but got over it quickly as he was tired and drifted off to sleep on the way home. He knows that his Dad works hard to provide us with everything we have.. and as Joshua says.. "he works to buy me toys" ... but that doesn't mean we don't miss him like crazy.

For just a few hours though.. we were together again.. and we enjoyed every minute of it.

The School's Trunk or Treat

Joshua school has a school carnival every year. Normally they have it inside at the school, but this year they decided to try a Trunk or Treat. We had a lot of fun, but it was less organized from the year before. There were about 10 cars set up passing out candy, so we went through those very fast. They had a mini carnival set up in one of the playgrounds, but it was crowded and everything was so close together.

It was defiantly different from the year before, but never less we had a good time and all Joshua was interested in was the candy.... in which he came home with a good amount. So, he was very happy.

They also had some chairs set up to play musical chairs, but Joshua proclaimed that they were "scary" and that he couldn't play them.

There was also a pumpkin carving contest. We turned in our pumpkin on Wednesday... by the time Friday came around, our little book worm had collapsed. It lost its legs and its book... all that was left was the worm itself. Needless to say... we didn't win.

After the carnival, Joshua  and I grabbed some food, laid out a blanket and had a picnic in the living room while watching 'The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown."  He loved the movie.. of course, he loves Snoopy, which was coincidentally my Pawpaw's favorite character.

Finishing up dinner meant we got to dig into the treats... and he have a stash of candy!! He was so excited.. His favorite candy were the Dots and Skittles.

We had a great time... just wish Daddy were home!

The Big Toys R Us Book

Yes.. it showed up in the mail today.. the BIG Toys R Us book. Joshua was so excited that his 'magazine' finally came in. He spent probably 45 minutes looking at it before he asked me for a pen.

Once he got his pen.. he went back through the catalog and starting circling..... and circling.. and circling.

I think he wants everything in the catalog.. even girl stuff.

He's not greedy... *cough cough.

He's not spoiled... *cough cough.

As Granna says, "He is just very loved!!"

I love that Joshua does this though. I remember when Ryan and I were little, we would wait every year for the JCPenney toy book to come in and we would get our pens and circle the things we wanted.

Traditions live on.

The Chore Chart

Remember the chore chart I wanted to make??  Yea... I got this far and my glue gun blew up on me.

Yes.. Sparks flew out.

Smoke smells came out.

It tripped half my house.

The glue gun is dead, and I have a busy week next week.. guess the chore chart will have to wait a bit longer.

The Chore Chart

For Joshua's 3 year old check up,  the stand in doctor (his doctor had a family emergency) told us that we needed to think about giving him more responsibilities and creating a chore chart for Joshua.

Give him about 6 chores... and choose a reward a week like...

... going to chick fil a
... getting a small toy
... going to the zoo
etc....

after looking through a lot of websites and pinterest... I am going to attempt to make my own..


But.. look how cute...  which one do you like?

The Pumpkin for School

Joshua school holds a pumpkin carving contest every year in which the prize is $50 to Toys R Us.

We got 2nd place last year...  ugh!!

So we are trying again this year. Daddy isn't home, so its all up to me to carve the pumpkin.

This year, I am trying to carve a Bookworm.

He had so much fun trying to get all the guts out.  Although the whole time he kept saying.. "Yucky Mama, this spaghetti is yuck!!"

Finally the worm...

Seriously, its being held together by toothpicks. I forgot that it needed to be attached to the wall at some point.. and yea.. it wasn't.  So there are toothpicks in the feet, in the book and in his head holding it inside the hole and keeping it from falling over.

Not bad..though... I think....

Breast Cancer: Post 6

Genetic testing today.

We did a road map of my mothers family to see how the cancer could possibly effect her sisters or my brother and I. They asked us a whole bunch of questions.....  however the conclusion the genetic tester came to was that there is a low percentage that any of us will actually get breast cancer.

Never impossible...   but it doesn't seem to be in our genetics.

She is going through with the blood test though just to make sure. We will find out in about 3 weeks.

Seven On Sunday's

1. Supporting his Granna.

2. Hugging Rocky.

3. He loves this cat.

4. He tries to squish into the car.. the door wont even close.

5. He goes to push Granna.

6. and Granna ends up swinging back and hitting him causing him to fall down.

7. Finally... his turn to swing!