I'm a little late in posting things from October but here are some pictures of Halloween night! We went over to Drea's neighborhood and we hadn't planned it but our kids' costumes really went well together! Liam was a knight, Sydney a princess, Scarlett a witch and Jonas a dragon! Worked well! Then Uncle Ian was an executioner. Now, Tessa, Brian and I were nerds and Tessa asked how we went along. I said that we were nerds playing Dungeons and Dragons and the kids were our role-playing characters. I think that works!!
Some hilarious pumpkins we saw
Even Drea's dog Eva was all dressed up for Halloween! But poor puppy, no one was handing out doggy treats.
The stash! Jonas' bucket was filled to capacity more than once and we would dump some in Sydney's bag to make more room! When Sydney and Liam complained of having to carry their heavy trick or treat bags, we knew it was time to go home!
Jonas was pretty slow moving. I think he and Scarlett found the decorations more interesting than the idea of candy. We got him to say at least "Candy please" wherever we went.
A very fun Halloween! I know the kids had a blast!
Each year, Shreveport has this great fesitval called the Red River Revel. It's an arts and music festival and includes great food, activities for everyone in the family and amazing musical peformances. Last year we went to celebrate Sydney's birthday and happened to be there for an amazing performance by The Hunt Family Fiddlers. We bought their cd that night and when I saw they were back this year, we made sure to go on the night they were performing. They had all new music and I was so thrilled! Ever hear of Mumford & Sons? Their stuff is like that. So amazing!
Tessa enjoying some turkey leg!
Brian dancing with Sydney
The kids having fun with a pretend shopping center.
Some face-painting. So funny, Jonas wanted a bat, and this girl's "bat" looks more like a flying squirrel
A sand pit dig. The kids didn't care about finding anything, they just wanted to play in the sand!
And this is that Hunt Family fiddler group I was talking about. 5 brothers and 2 sisters, all musically talented with amazing voices and know how to play SEVERAL instruments each! Amazing!
I told myself I wouldn't make my posts monthly yet again I have!
At the beginning of the month, we went to Alabama and visited Brian's parents. The kids had a blast and Sydney keeps saying, "I want to go back to Grandma's house!" She had so much fun.
We splashed in Grandma and Grandpa's blow-up pool:
We went to a fun local library with lots of fun play centers for the kids:
Aww, Sydney saw this photo as I was posting and said, "Grandma Tuck! I really love Grandma Tuck!" Awww
We went blueberry-picking and got a whole bunch of them! We had blueberry waffles with blueberry syrup there in Alabama, brought some home and had blueberry pancakes for days!
We went to a fun water park:
And of course, celebrated July 4th! I know we are so blessed with our freedom in this country and that there are many dedicated men and women who have given their lives for that freedom. I feel very patriotic to this beautiful country when our Independence Day rolls around and I think of the history we have, of fighters, of those who hoped for a better world. It's not a perfect country, and I am still hoping for a better world, but there are traditions and past events to honor and respect and the lives of those who put the needs of others above their own is definitely one.
Once we got back from Alabama, it was back to the usual routine for us. I watched a friend's 3 children, 9 months, 7, and 9 Mon-Thurs in the morning. Sydney and Jonas had a blast with them. Always a lot going on when they were over!
My last day with them over was Wed and I have been slacking off since. When they were coming over I made sure the house was clean every day and I'm afraid I have let it go since! But I plan on getting out and about a bit more as with the 5 kids, I couldn't go places with our car. So I have plans to keep Sydney and Jonas busy!
Jonas has started showing interest in the potty. I still wouldn't say I am ready to potty-train him but he likes to sit on the training potty and have me hand him toilet paper to "wipe" himself even though he hasn't gone. He actually has done #2 on the potty twice now though so there's definite promise there! He loves this potty book we have, too so I'm hoping it means it won't be too difficult when we do decide to train him!
More. Jonas loves signing this when eating. Sorry this video is in the bath tub but I was snacking while watching them bathe and Sydney and Jonas of course wanted some so we thought we would record him signing it.
My nephew Brendon also had his birthday last Friday. He's 6 now and we got some fun shots of the kids singing and playing.
Brendon likes Spider-Man. Can you tell? He's wearing the Spider-Man gloves we got him that make webbing sounds as you flick your wrists.
Singing some Disney karaoke.
Birthday Cake! Happy Birthday Brendon!
Yummy!
I love Jonas' curly hair but there are some curls right above his ears that give him a kind of Bozo the clown look that I am not a fan of. So, I thought for his first cut! I would trim those pieces of hair just a little. Brian took video when I would have preferred photos, and then the camera turned off while he was filming but this is what we got:
Jonas wasn't too bad and then I was cutting Sydney's hair afterwards but he wanted me to keep cutting his hair!
I MESSED UP big time on Sydney's bangs I was trying to trim and I don't really want to take a picture of them. I just hope they grow back quickly!! She was so good-natured about it though. She just looked in the mirror and said, "I look silly!" and laughed. Too funny. And graciously, no one at church today said anything.
Brian starts school next month! I can't tell if he's excited or not but he is ready for the work and knows he's leisure time will be limited. He turned 31 on the 14th but we didn't do anything special for his birthday. He had just had tooth surgery a few days before and was drugged up still on his birthday so we just had a cake and watched a movie at home. But we'll make it up to him!
I am having a really hard time getting hours to tutor this summer so the babysitting income has been a lifesaver for us but also my digital-scrapbooking income! Last month I made a little bit more from tutoring than I did from my business but this month, I'm going to make twice as much from my scrapbooking at tutoring and this month I have also made the most I ever have in 1 month from scrapbooking! I am really excited! I'm opening up a new store at a bigger online scrapbooking site and am very hopeful it will open up more opportunities and am just really feeling better about all the time I devote to this love of mine.
Sydney and I are already talking about her birthday (like mother, like daughter) and she's getting pretty excited. Pretty much anything Rapunzel will make her happy! :) We're looking at a bunch of stuff and I'm hoping it helps her stay happy as she again got sad because it was Dad's birthday and not hers!
I'll try to post more often and not these once-a-month marathons! but enjoy!
Brian and I met at BYU-Idaho. We were married in August 2005 in the Las Vegas Temple and we now have a beautiful daughter, Sydney and son, Jonas! We are now located in Louisiana.
