Trick or Treat!

Darling Eli as a scarecrow! (Another great costume borrowed from another great neighbor! :) He looked so cute and little in this outfit... I just can't express the way my heart felt when I saw him in it. I was in love! My lil' E-diddy!

Connor and Eli ready to go trick or treating! (Eli trying to do what the ninja is doing! :)

Our awesome neighbors hooked up their tractor to their 4 wheeler and pulled all the kids on their own private hayride as they trick-or-treated! We felt like Halloween royalty! :)

Rylan and Connor... best buds.

Mom and Dallin

Unlike last year where Eli pooped out after three houses.. he was psyched and ready to go all night long! His bucket got so heavy and he never asked me to carry it once.

Dallin and Dad stayed home and passed out candy to the trick-or-treaters. (We had a ton! The streets were filled!!) Seth said Dallin got so excited every time the doorbell rang and would make a mad dash for the door (crawling of course)! He also loved to help pick out the candy for the trick-or-treaters! So cute!

Well, I blew my diet today BIG-TIME and pigged out on candy and pizza until I was SICK! Such a fun night! :) Now we get to wait a whole year until next time! Happy Haunting!

Trunk or Treat!

Tiff with her ninja, pirate, and monkey all in tow. (This is the only visible picture I have of Connor... every time I took his picture he thought he had to move like a ninja! :)

My cute Seth and his cute pet monkey.

Arggggh Matey!

Mmmm... the monkey really liked the M&M's I gave him... but he did not like it when they ran out! :(

Pumpkin Heads

Well, it is that time of year again when we carve pumpkins. I felt like a very good mom today because I did this with the boys on my own when I don't particularly care for carving pumpkins. Usually I watch while Seth takes charge and does it with the boys. Or let me rephrase that. Usually Eli and I watch while Seth takes charge and carves pumpkins with Connor. Eli again this year would not touch the "guts" for the life of him! This year Connor drew his own design (complete with three eyes) as well as carved and de-gutted his pumpkin by himself. We missed Dad, but we all had a great time. Right before bedtime (when it was dark) we went back outside for the first jack-o-lantern lighting. They were so excited and it ended with Connor exclaiming, "This was the most fun day ever!" :) I love my boys!

Meet Tim.

This is Tim working away... the kids played around him while he built this play structure from the very first board. It made me so nervous with the drills, screws/nails, hammers, etc laying around everywhere. Not to mention long heavy boards that were being swung every which way by little boys. Lets just day I did a lot of yelling! :)

I have an awesome husband! He spent every free minute of day light that he had over the last two weeks to build this play structure for the boys. I mean he would come straight home from work (even a little early), change his clothes, head to the back yard and stay out there through dinner (while the rest of us ate) and until it was dark-dark! Literally no visibility what so ever. In fact, Seth has spent so much time out there lately that our neighbor has nick-named him, Tim. As in "Tim the Tool Man". :)

Seth is finally almost finished. The only thing he has left to do is to attach the slide. He worked on the play structure again today literally up until the minute he had to leave to catch his flight to New Jersey. He was hoping to have it finished for the boys before he left. He did a pretty great job! These 5 hoodlums spent the ENTIRE day out there. (And no, I never even bothered to put clothes on Eli. He was out there from the minute he woke up almost until dinner time. And if it is my own backyard... it's my prerogative, right?) Dallin made several appearances out there too. He loves to crawl freely around on the grass and to watch the big boys play. However, I had to bring Dallin inside once I realized that the big boys were initiating him into their club by taking him up to the top of the "club house". After that a sad Dallin then stood at the back door and shouted, squealed and banged on the glass as he watched enviously.

We had wanted to get a play structure after the trampoline was crushed in the hurricane last year. But it was not until now (a little over a year later) that we finally saved up the money to get it! It has swings, a slide, a club house, a rock wall, monkey bars, a picnic table, and a sandbox (which I think I have convinced Seth NOT to install). I know that sounds mean, but I do not need sand all over my house 24-7! The boys don't know anything about it. :) I love that the boys have a place to run and play and get out their energy! And the boys seem to love it too! Thanks for all your hard work, babe! XO

Polar Bears Win Again!

Are you ready for me to stop bragging about my 7-year old's soccer abilities yet? ;) Lets just say this pic says it all. (That is Connor #6 with the ball) And they conveniently came up with a rule this game (after Connor scored three goals) that said one person is not allowed to score more than three goals. Not a bad idea... it gets them to pass more.... and no one likes a ball hog. But the problem is... Connor gets the ball and heads to the goal and then no one is there for him to pass it to. So he has to kick it backwards or take it back down the field to pass it off to someone. :) Not very effective, but he still had fun! :)

What do you think?

I have done mo-hawks for Dallin a lot, but I have never done it with his hair this long. Yesterday I took Dallin to the mall like this and got some very interesting reactions. Some were very rude with their open looks of disgust and outrage. There was some finger pointing followed by polite laughing. And then there were some compliments and hi-fives. I personally think he looked pretty sweet! :)

Watch Out World. . .

Dallin just took his first three steps!!! YAY! And only at 14 months, 2 weeks and 1 day old! :) Now, if only I could get him to do it again! Hmmm. . .