Pumpin Carving Night

We saved the pumpkin carving for the first day of fall break. It was a gloomy, drizzly, perfect fallish type of day.  We waited for the sprinkling to stop, then decided to do our carving out on the patio table on the back deck. Tay got it all set up and ready, she has been so excited to do this! Honestly, Blake didn't have any ideas as to what to carve this year, and didn't seem much into getting creative on a pumpkin...he hung out with us, helped a bit, but mostly did "the water bottle challenge" all over the deck..lol. Sophie was right in the middle of it, as usual...trying to sneak licks of the pumpkin. She is so weird, she loves raw pumpkin...silly dog.  Anyways, we ended up doing one creepy pumpkin with big eyes and a stitch-looking mouth and Taylor decided on one with big front teeth that we might even put braces on! Another fall tradition to check off our list...

Parent Teacher Day

So today is Parent Teacher Conference Day...we scheduled Taylor's first, immediately followed by Blake's. It's nice to get them over with first thing and then still have a full day of fall break ahead. Ms. Dye asked us to bring Tay along (even dressed as a fox..lol), but since Blake wasn't needed at his conference, we left him home to chill by himself, which he really enjoys.  Ms. Dye had nothing but good things to say about Tay. She said she is a sweet girl and she just loves her to pieces. She said she helps others in class and is always an excellent listener who tries really hard to always do her best! I am so proud of this little gal, she truly is such a sweetie heart. We learned a bit more about their rigorous curriculum for 3rd grade and then Tay got to read us her book about Cheetahs, which was packed full of really cool facts and interesting tidbits! Her conference was all good :)

When we got over to the middle school, we walked toward Mr. Haskin's room and happen to see him speaking with  Mr. Oden, who Blake is very fond of as well. I stuck my head in and asked if they were both available because Blake hoped we could speak to them both (because he knew they would both have good things to say about him...lol) Anyways, they were both happy to join together for the conference. Blake is such a great kid...his teachers always say how he is a fun kid, polite, easy going kid. They both said that everyone likes him, but he doesn't get sucked into wanting to be like anyone else, he seems happy in his own skin and has good friends to hang around, like Nico and Nick. Mr. Haskins complimented us by saying that he can tell he has very good values shown to him at home, I could have cried, that is so sweet. I can only hope that we are giving him the proper foundation. I love this boy and even though he's a big 7th grader, he will always be my little fella. His grades are great, he forgets stuff from time to time, but hey...he's just a kid. I am so blessed to have such an awesome son. He truly melts my heart!

Afterwards, we treated the kids to breakfast at IHOP...they were thrilled and we figured this was a perfect opportunity to reward them. They deserve it!

PSE Monster Bash

Taylor has been begging to go to the monster bash for years and it has never worked out with our schedules, so this year I made sure to work it in. She dressed up like a skeleton cat and actually got to meet up with all of her friends from school! She got a temp tatoo, she got a palm reading, she got to play some games, but most importantly to her...just play and dance and walk around with her girlfriends. Me, on the other hand, mostly just followed her around, trying not to completely lose her in the dark...lol. I'm glad I took her and I'm glad she had fun.

Eagle's Fork Hayride

We decided to return to Eagle's Fork for a hayride, early Sunday morning. We went last year and loved the place, but since we did ALL of the activities last year, except for the hayride, we thought it was the perfect thing to do on a beautiful, warm fall day. It was fun, we walked around their farm, then ended with a funnel cake and some kettle corn to share. I sure do love fall!

September Moments

Billy's 50th

Billy has been dreading the big 5-0...he's been bumming. I try telling him that it's just another number , not sure that's helping but it is his 50th bday, so we decided to do some special stuff for him. We talked to Allison months ago and had planned on having a big family surprise party but as the months went on, so much happened and schedules got changed etc...anyways, extended family wasn't able to make it but Allison still got to, so we planned around that. I knew he would love nothing more than getting to see her on his special day! I wanted to keep it a surprise, so the kids and I told him that we were just gonna make a special bday dinner and watch a movie. We bought steak, his favorite beer, wine, and a German chocolate cake to finish the meal off...at the last minute, when I got a heads up that Allison was near, I told Billy that a lady wanted to buy some bowls off Craigslist. I asked him if he would take them out to the driveway and meet with her because I had to get ready to go pick up the movie from the rental place. He was okay with that, so as Allison pulled up, I pushed him out the door with the bowls...as she got out of her car, he started to say, "here are the bowls", then Allison walked closer and he realized!!!  It literally took him a second glance to really get it through his head that it was really her...lol!!  It was hilarious and he was so happy to see her! It made for a great surprise for him! We gave him some gifts: wine we labeled "aged to perfection", the Sam Adams we labeled, "cheers to being 50!", an air freshener labeled, "for an old fart", golden wrapped candy as "for the golden years", hot sauce as " still hot at 50!" and for the hazard that 50 candles can cause while being lit on a cake....a fire extinguisher! lol! The kids and I also put together a jar of "50 memories & reasons we love you". we all really enjoyed that one.

The following night, we invited his music buddies and their wives over for some chili and music playing. Loved having them over, topped off his birthday weekend! We have such wonderful caring friends. Blessed that it all worked out!