Fall Pics

We didn't do school pictures again this year, so it forced me to get out the real camera to attempt some pictures of the boys. It was quite the ordeal (isn't it always with these 3?!) but we got a few decent pics. And Ender even cooperated for one!

We also had our first Hallowern party, which we were super unprepared for...but we managed costumes for everyone, and Preston & Archer managed to get 1st & 3rd place for their costumes! They were super excited.

Oh yeah, we also carved pumpkins for the first year in a loooong time. We usually just decorate them due to John's allergy, but carved with friends this year. That will probably not be repeated though, considering the rash on John's arms that lasted for days! The pumpkins turned out cute though.

And last, but not least, Bryton has the cutest toothless smile these days!

I seriously hope it takes a long time for his teeth to grow in because he is just so stinkin' adorable like this!

Halloween

We had a very eventful Halloween this year...starting with a kid puking non-stop starting early Halloween morning. He was able to get in on the pumpkin "carving" fun the night before at least!

Poor B had to miss the Halloween party & costume parade at school, and trick-or-treating. He was devastated. He watched the other boys get ready in the morning, and I could tell he was so sad, but he didn't even feel good enough to complain. 

Thankfully he was fully recovered by Sunday (and no one else got it!!), when we had a Cub Scout Halloween party, so he at least got to wear his costume once!

And I even had to dress up for that one:

John went as Danny Zuko, but somehow he managed to evade the camera...

John and I got to have a little bit of fun this weekend too! You know...besides changing sheets and washing everything in the entire house. We got to go watch the George Fox vs. Whitworth football game. This is Fox's first year with a football team, and we had fun watching, despite the rain. And despite the fact that they lost! 

After that, we headed to our friend's surprise birthday party - we stayed a nice long time and ate our full of sushi thanks to the boys spending the night with Grandma. A pretty good weekend! But so packed that of course I felt more tired after the weekend than going into it...

Halloween

2 Ninjas, and Jake (the Neverland pirate!).

I only made 1/3 this year and ended up buying the ninja costumes due to "time constraints" - or procrastination then panic. Whatever. It was hard to not feel disappointed during the school costume parade when my boys had generic costumes, but it's okay. Next year will be better. And Jake was still pretty cute!

We had a super fun Halloween. The boys attempted to trick-or-treat in our neighborhood, but we only had success at one house (and the other neighbor had given the boys their Halloween treats earlier in the week...so sweet of them to think of our boys)! The one house where someone answered the door, they told us that they were hoping we'd stop by since they bought candy just for the boys. Our neighbors are very thoughtful, but sadly we don't live in a popular T-o-T neighborhood. 

But that's okay! Because we have friends who do. We headed over to a friends house for chili, hot drinks, and lots of trick-or-treating. The boys had so much fun running around with their friends. They ended up doing way more trick-or-treating than our customary 10 houses or so. I was cold and tired, but we took shifts - out with the kids or warming up by the fire. Plus we had adult time as well when the kids were gorging on candy. All in all, a great night!

B in the costume parade at school (so hard to get a good picture!)

The big ninja!

My cute little Jake

Striking a pose before heading out for candy!

The boys with their pumpkins. With John's pumpkin seed allergy, this is our version of "carving" pumpkins.

John made us some pretty awesome vampire fangs!

Exhaustion x3!

Wow. I can't believe it's already getting towards the end of October! And I only have 1 out of 3 Halloween costumes done, yikes. I need to get on that! Isn't Arch so cute as Jake though? His was fun to make...P & B both want to be ninjagos which should be interesting...

John has been out of town all week so I've been single-parenting. It is EXHAUSTING. Seriously. Soccer practices (x3), soccer games (x4), cub scouts (x1, but I had to take all 3 and it was a nightmare!), swimming lessons (x3). And I skipped out on a basketball meeting (Preston will be playing, the other two won't). 

Thankfully the weather has been beautiful the past couple of days (sunny & around 60 degrees!). We have been riding bike to school most days, but we walked one day last week and I realized that maybe I don't actually despise Fall as much as I thought. I'm pretty sure I just don't like the fact that winter is coming. Fall itself is beautiful, and it's not unbearably cold...maybe we could just skip winter? Because really, it's hard to hate a season that looks like this:

There has been serious progress in swimming lessons, despite us taking 2 weeks off. Preston can now swim totally independently, taking breaths, for the entire length of the pool. Considering the extent of his swimming abilities when we started consisted of putting his head under water, and floundering around a bit, this is huge! And he LOVES it. Really truly loves it. B can do about half the width of the pool, which is awesome too. He's working on taking breaths. Archer is still working on getting comfortable being under the water, but he's getting there. Getting them in GOOD swimming lessons has made all the difference. I only wish we had started them here earlier instead of wasting our time on group swim lessons at the community center.

Here you can see Preston (middle) swimming the length of the pool while Archer's lesson was going on (and that's B with his pool noodle to the left).

The boys all won their soccer games today, and my two little guys both scored goals. Next weekend they all have their last games, and I have to say I'm ready for it to be done. Preston will start basketball right away, but we won't have to juggle all their schedules at least!

B is definitely our most serious soccer player. He is INTO it. He loves it. I have no doubt that this kid will be playing soccer again in the Spring. He's so fun to watch too! 

Superheroes!

This was the first year that the boys picked their own Halloween costumes (yes, I really enjoy coordinating costumes...). And let me just say, they were so predictable! Preston: Spiderman. Bryton: Batman. Archer: SuperWhy. So cute. I apparently have issues with polyester jumpsuits, so I made their costumes, but honestly, I'm not sure it was worth the effort. B & Arch loved their costumes, and Preston did too...until he saw the other Spiderman costumes at school. Apparently polyester jumpsuits are preferable to unique cotton. This will serve as my reminder for next year! Preston totally did not appreciate the time & effort a handmade Spiderman costume entails!

Happy Halloween

I made the boys' Halloween costumes this year and it was definitely A LOT of work. Peter Pan was pretty simple, but the other two were a little complicated. I need to remember that for next year! It was fun though, and the boys loved them so I guess that made up for all the effort.

We went trick-or-treating with some friends, and we made it exactly 2 houses without incident...then B face-planted on our neighbor's front step and got a bloody nose. He managed to continue on for a little while, but it just wasn't as much fun after that!


Peter Pan, Captain Hook, and the crocodile


Arrrrrrrrrrr! Preston thought it was pretty funny that Captain Hook wore tights and ruffles on his shirt. He said "this is girl's stuff right mom? Why would Captain Hook wear girl's stuff?!" I guess the hook and sword made up for it though.


B made the BEST Peter Pan. He was a little distraught that we forgot pixie dust so John sprinkled salt on his head...it seemed to do the trick!


And my little crocodile. He loved chasing his brothers around and smacking them with his tail.

Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

It has been way too long since I blogged. We had a small computer issue (Archer pulled the cord out crooked so it doesn't want to charge properly), so I sent John to Best Buy to see if they could fix it and he came back with an iPad. Blogging from the iPad = a little bit cumbersome. The other computer still works on occasion, but it's no longer convenient since it has to stay in one place.

Anyway...the formatting on this might be a little wonky, but here are some pictures from the boys' field trip to the pumpkin patch.



Archer, on my back during the hayride


Preston racing around with his friends


B and Carter


Contemplating which pumpkin to get


The search for the perfect pumpkin