2013 Halloween

The Green's came over for the 7th year in a row to go trick or treating.  I officially declare it a tradition. The older boys are finally old enough to get the scary part of Halloween. They didn't hesitate to go up to the scary houses while Cam clung to her momma's leg. She made it the whole way though and only conned Ron into carrying her one time.

Jenna was slightly disturbed Noah wanted to be the Grim Reaper but at least it wasn't a zombie.  I'm sick of zombies. Campbell was Doc McStuffins and she made sure everyone knew she wasn't the "real" Doc McStuffins. It was only a costume and she can't really fix toys.

Buffalo River-Fall 2011

Buffalo River Photo Gallery

Ron and I have decided we want to get the boys involved in backpacking.  To get from point A to point B is going to require a lot of babysteps  We've done a lot of hiking the past few months. We've slowly been collecting gear when we find good sales.  Noah and I even spent the night a few times camping in the backyard (on the trampoline which is surprisingly comfortable). Our next step was to go camping but we missed that window this year.

Or so we thought. On Tuesday the weekend forecast stared to creep up to lows in the mid-50s.  So with a little trepidation from us and a lot of understanding from our wives we charted a course for the Buffalo River National Forest. We roughed it a little more than typical camping calls for but it was a learning experience for us and what works when camping with little kids.

Saturday was spent hiking to Hawksbill Crag and Sunday we explored the riverbed. We had rain come in Saturday night but the equipment held up to task. The boys had a blast and the dad's returned them safely to their mom's. Bring on the Spring!

Happy Birthday Noah-Happy Mother's Day!

Noah's birthday fell on Mother's Day this year. Kind of neat they got to celebrate together. Jenna didn't seem to mind sharing her day and Noah was oblivious to anything other than him being 5 years old. He had a pretty big birthday weekend. Hayden spent the night Friday and they slept in a tent in his room. Saturday we went and watched the Miracle League and then Noah had a soccer game. Sunday brought church and singing in the sanctuary for Mother's Day followed, a trip to ToysR'Us, baking a cake and getting a gazillion phone calls from people singing happy birthday.

As people who haven't been parents for too terribly long, we messed up one area. This is the first year Noah's party will be after his actual birthday and although we prepped him, he was upset he didn't have a lot of presents to open. We fixed it by that night and he was never bratty about it. Just one of those things where we forget he's only 5.

Monday morning was hilarious. He woke up and exclaimed "Yes! My first day of kindergarten!" Sometimes all the explaining in the world just can't undo what you previously told a kid. "When you're 5, you'll go to kindergarten," has probably been said a bazillion times to him. He took it with good grace that he was headed back to his preschool that morning, but I'm still not sure he truly understood why. Live and learn I guess :)

His birthday party was actually the next weekend so it was kind of a week long celebration. All his grandparents went out to eat with him the night before and he cheesed up from everyone singing 'Happy Birthday' to him. His party was at FAC and most of his friends were able to make it. Of course we paid for the slides/jungle gym/blow-up/etc. and they spent half the time in the 14X15 foot padded room. His friends enjoyed the Ben-10 theme and he totally loved being the 'expert' they all came running to for the superpowers of their alien party mask. He had another party of a classmate we were going to attend after his but the boy was pretty wired and and was a whiny mess. We went home and let him jump a little on his trampoline (his birthday present) and then bedtime came easy for all of us.

Boys day

Yesterday I found myself in the position of school being out and a lot of paperwork to catch up on.  I had good intentions but Ron called me on the way to taking Noah to preschool and said he had his boys and they were going to Boingy Bounce.  So we took a detour to Denny's, Boingy Bounce, and then to the Oklahoma Aquarium.  Unbelievably, my procrastination has improved over the years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Halloween 2010

Noah really got into the 'scary' part of Halloween this year.  He was much more curious about the mummy's, skeletons, and ghosts than last year where he didn't sleep alone for a week following.  The Green's came over and went trick-or-treating with us again this year.  Noah wanted to be "black Spiderman" and Hayden wanted to be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.  Since each was the other last year, we saved about $25 and switched costumes.  The downside is the pictures are going to be difficult to figure out which year they are from because they look the same.  Luckily, Campbell is in most of these so we can figure it out that way.

Campbell went with us on our street and we showed her off to our friends.  She was so cute but she really wouldn't wear the hood of her costume for long.  Ron and I took the boys over to Thornbury while Jenna and Valerie handed out candy.  Annie and Pops came over too.

The best story of the night was a house with a teenage boy laying in the yard wearing a creepy clown mask. As the boys came up to the door, the kid started slowly commando crawling towards them.  It was a little creepy but clown masks are always creepy to me. Hayden and Noah steered clear but after getting their candy Noah walked up to the boy and asked "Are you a good clown or a bad clown?"  The kid didn't answer but the way Noah approached him had me concerned.  I shouted to Noah, "He's a good clown, DON'T KICK HIM!"  I don't know how I knew what he was planning but my mind could see it play out.  Noah retreated to us at the road while the kid's mom laughed from the front porch.  It got better because we went to the next house and the kid started crawling towards the next group of trick-or-treaters at his house.  He was laying perfectly away from me so my considerable ninja skills took over and I snuck up on him.  I pounced on him and yelled-the blood curdling scream from him sounded like a 1st grade girl with her hair caught in something.  I thought his mom was going to have a stroke she was laughing so hard.  Of course, she saw me coming and I could tell from her reaction she was okay with me giving her son a good scare. 

Noah's first sleep over

Noah had his first sleep over last night.  At least, his first friend to spend the night he wasn't related to.  They were really good kids. I was fully prepared to bring out my Daddy voice if they were over silly and wouldn't go to bed.  But they were perfect.  I read them a book and told them goodnight and never heard a peep from them all night.  This morning they watched Mickey Mouse, ate donuts, and played video games.  Hayden went to church with us this morning and then we took him home.  I guess you are always surprised when you expect the worse.