We Were Just Missing the Batmobile

I was quite pleased with the boys' selection of costumes this year. I've always loved a themed family and this one worked out quite well!

Grant was Batman and he couldn't have been more happy that he and Elaina were matching.
Elaina had waited her entire life to be Batgirl so, needless to say, she was pumped about my crafty outfit. You can do lots of things with a few pieces of felt and a friend named Ashley that knows how to make tutus! Much to my surprise Lanie actually wore the mask with no fuss....and no smile whatsoever.
Batman's trusty sidekick was played by Rhett this year. He was pretty tough looking. It was his little Robin bootie that gave me the most smiles this year watching him sprint from house to house in the neighborhood. It's days like this I would wish for time to stand still.....sigh.
Last, but not least, creepy Cade as the Joker. His costume came with a mask that was ultra yucko scary so I decided to paint him up and do his hair myself. I'm keeping that mask though. I've already worn it once and jumped out of our hall closet only to watch Cade nearly cry and pee his pants all at the same time. It doesn't get better than that, people. It's a great feeling to get a good laugh at the expense of others.
This is just a small sample of the antics that went on throughout the afternoon and evening as everyone was in character.
We spent most of the evening at our friend's place, eating dinner and what not. Then we met more friends and headed out into their hood to get some loot.
The kids made out well with overflowing bags of candy. Elaina loves butterfingers and that is why there aren't any left in the candy box. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Happy Halloween!

Season Close

After several weekends spent at the fields in the middle of nowhere I was pretty glad to have all three of our seasons come to a close. We lucked out with lots of great weather. Not a cold day to speak of the entire season. That worked out great for us this year being that for the first time ever I was lugging a baby and all the paraphernalia that goes along with said baby.

Grant tried his hand at flag football this year in lieu of soccer and I'm happy to say that he was quite pleased! I'm pretty certain that he does not have the build to have much of a career in football, unless maybe he's a quarterback (which generally includes being able to throw the football and right now that is still questionable). I won't count him out yet being that he's only 6. He did like playing quarterback for his team some but was best at being a mean flag puller.

They had a not-so-secret secret pass off play. Cavin was his sneaky counterpart this go around. I'm not sure their sneakiness gained much yardage.
Grant did have one nice little run this season. He didn't score on this one but having his hair blow in the wind from the sheer speed from those legs did his spirit good.
The best part about the whole season was getting to hang with his buds every Saturday. Life doesn't get much better than that!
Lanie Bug was a trooper. She hung in there every single Saturday from morning until afternoon and hardly did any complaining.
In fact, she had a lot to keep her occupied. All the boys loved playing with her, making googly noises and making her smile.
This is pretty much how it was between games each day.
Little play time, little bottle, little nappy nap.
Cade completed his third season of flag football. He had a few good runs for some yardage and if my memory serves me correctly he had one touchdown.

Our coaching trio was back in the saddle again- Jason, Bobby, and Brian. Thankfully flag football's record proved much more fruitful than their last coaching experience in baseball this summer. Cade's team was undefeated this year!
He also had a blast hanging with his pals and running wild in the field between games.
Here's to some free Saturdays!

Oh, Five!

After what seemed like a century, Rhett finally made it from 4 and 3/4 all the way to age 5!! And, as with yearly tradition, I got up a few minutes early and scissored away until I had crafted his birthday crown. I think he's grown several inches since standing on last years chair!
Obviously cake is not going to hurt this child. I can see his ribs protruding. I wish I had the same problem. Sigh.
This year's party was a week early at Let It Shine Gymnastics. Bobby almost croaked when I said the word "gymnastics" for fear of leotards and fairy boys but I assured him it would be nothing but fun for a bunch of rambunctious kids. Here is most of the crew:
The big hit of the party was the rope swing into the foam pit. Everyone tried it at least 10 times.

Kids waited patiently for their turn to Tarzan through the air.
I'm pretty sure the dads had more fun than the kids!
What in the world? I tried to convince Bobby that he was no Paul Hamm but that didn't keep him from trying. Ummmm, yeah baby, that looks.....good. Real good.
As the Birthday Boy, Rhett got to get harnessed into the jumpy thing and be catapulted to the ceiling of the gym. He was loving it!
Silly face after silly face!
It's extremely hard to capture a bouncing object in low lighting for a good picture. Oh well. My motto always has been, "I'm no professional".

He tried to give me a wave but with that face and that blurred out hand it looks more like I was trying to cover up the fact that he was giving me the universal peace sign.
His request for cake was as follows: "Chocolate cake with chocolate icing. A star wars picture and sprinkles of all colors". I think my mom did an awesome job creating his wish!
He could hardly contain the excitement of the goodness to come.
Big breath!
BLOW!
The party was a sucess complete with all of his greatest buds and some spectacular gifts to keep him busy for the next couple weeks. I crack up because, since we had his party a week early, when his actual birthday day rolled around he decided that he was canceling his other party (that we already had) and he was instead having a slumber birthday party. I wish he would've filled me in on his plans before he verbally invited at least 3 children. Needless to say, that didn't quite happen. We can save the slumbering for next year.

Happy Birthday, Rhett!

In Touch With Nature

The boys had a whopping two days of fall break this week and being that that's really not enough time to make a vacation, we decided to head up the interstate to good ol' Radnor Lake. Short drive, nature hike, picnic lunch, tired kids.

Elaina rode with her daddy in her baby bjorn. She loves that thing. She loves it so much she eats it. It's always nice and slobbery when she gets out of it. Yum.
The only indication that it is actually "fall" is that the leaves are changing and falling off of the trees. If I had to gauge by temperature alone my guess would've been that it was June-ish.
Lanie's bow didn't last long in her slick hair. I picked it up numerous times on the trail and then finally gave up. I guess it's not necessary to have a bow while hiking.
We had some pictures made here last year with Photography Matt and the boys remembered right away that there was a great area to throw rocks into the lake.
Three of my favorite people:
We met up with our best buds, The Ashman's. It's always fun to share nature with your friends!

We spotted Bambi not far from the trail. There were about 6 more bounding through the woods on the other side. This one, however, just stayed close by and didn't seem to mind all the noise our monkeys were making.

I'm sure Mr. Deer was rolling his eyes listening to these three with their fake gun sounds. "Seriously, humans. I'm fully aware that sticks cannot turn me into venison, and second, there's a no gun policy at Radnor.....hence the reason I'm standing here letting you taunt me."
We then poked Mrs. Turtle with a stick. Sticks. Boys. What's with them?
After we determined it was NOT a snapper, Grant picked it up.
The girls were quiet but I'm sure deep down inside they were jealous about being stuck to the sweaty men while the boys got to play with wildlife.
Everyone was fascinated by the turtle. You'd think we live in the city or something.
We had finally made the loop around the lake and pretty much everyone was tired of walking and ready for some lunch. Cade gave his sis some kissin' and we headed to the car to call it a day.
On the way out we all suddenly felt a hankering for a big cheeseburger. It could've been this:
Well, gross. I have never in my life seen such a big, dead, cow on the back of a flatbed. This was, however, the highlight of the day for the boys.
The circle of life, kids. One minute you're a deer frolicking in the brush.....the next thing you know you're a dead cow on a flatbed. And, if you're lucky, you'll have a whole lot of great things happen in between.

Happy fall everyone!