Taj Mahal

Well, the hubby has gotten back into deer hunting full boar and as of last week had checked everything off the list except for the deer blind.  After scouring Craigslist day in and day out and not wanting to spend the money that most people were asking (eye roll), he finally decided to head to Home Depot Wednesday night to purchase the material needed to build his blind.

I pretty well left him in the garage all night (it was freezing) to do his thing and occasionally when he absolutely needed me he would call me out to hold something straight while he nailed in the initial structure.  Seeing him take a pile of lumber and turn it into something like this was pretty impressive but not enough to sit out there and freeze with him all night.  Sorry honey.

Christian snuck out of bed and some point in the night and went to help dad.

On Friday night the boys and I came home from the football game to find the somewhat finished masterpiece.  I call it the Taj Mahal because when Chad was MIA building this thing during the week and someone would ask where Chad was, my response would be "oh, he's home building the Taj Mahal of deer blinds."  

Trick or Treat

The crew all gathered for trick-or-treating at the Kennemers this year.  The boys are always very eager to trick or treat with their friends so this was sure to be a great night!  

GG's in the house

I took mummy dogs (minus eyes) for the kids and they were a huge hit!  I started dabbing on some mustard but quickly gave up knowing the kids would never know the difference.

After dinner we all gathered in the front yard to take pictures

and off we went.  Can you imagine opening your door to find this?

Jedd, Carson and Christian

Christian and Carson aka Bones and Robin

I asked and asked and asked Christian what he wanted to be for Halloween and every time he said he wanted to be a bobcat football player.  At first I was a little surprised and thought he was just being difficult but nope, he really wanted to be a bobcat football player just like he is every Saturday.  I told myself not to worry with the idea of people thinking I wouldn't get my son a costume and go with the fact that his costume cost me an additional zero dollars and zero cents.  When we got the 7:00 am call from the Ubes that morning confirming football jerseys, Christian was even happier and I have to admit so was I.

Merritt and Carson

The kids had a spooktacular night that ended with a hay ride on the polaris.

A bat or a spider monkey

It would not be a strange occurrence  for us to walk into a room and find Carson upside down watching cartoons and or talking to himself.  I am not sure why but he loves to do a headstand and be upside down.  His favorite place is on the couch in the living room or at the foot of our bed like so...

However, the other day I picked him up from school and as we sat in line at the intermediate school waiting to get Christian, I looked back to find him like this.  What a goof ball!

Red Ribbon Week

The kids schools both celebrated Red Ribbon Week last week for drug prevention.  Each day was a different theme and the kids got to dress up accordingly.  I forgot to take a picture every morning but here are a couple throughout the week.

Monday was pajama day for Christian

At the elementary on Monday the kids wore red to kick off the week and bandanas.  Carson chose to wear his Ross is Here bandana.....sweet boy.

Here he is posing with his robot pumpkin we made for the contest at school

Thursday was crazy day at the elementary.  Carson spiked up his hair, sprayed it white, wore one of Chad's old ties and red baseball pants.

Thursday was camo day for Christian

Aren't they sweet?

The boys also had western, black and orange days.

Fall Festival

After many hours spent in preparation of the Fall Festival, I took some time to enjoy the evening with Carson and friends.  Here is Robin so excited to finally be in costume.

Carson and Ben, otherwise known as Batman and Robin 

(Carson has been anxiously planning their matching costumes for several months)

Christian decided to volunteer for Coach Howes the first half of the evening and work the football booth.  For an hour and a half, he and Jake collected tickets and gathered footballs for kids to throw.  I was very proud of him for wanting to help first and not complain about missing out on the fun and candy.

Superhero Moves

This picture is priceless

Carson decided to throw chickens instead of footballs (for extra points) and hit the target every time!  Christian was very impressed!

They found Batgirl!

Team Jenny

Earlier this year the sister of one our good friends was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 34.  She lives in Celina and with nephews Christian and Carson's age, she has been coming to the kids games for years.  Her husband is a fireman in Celina and she is a basketball coach at Wakeland.  Unfortunately with insurance changes, she did not have the coverage she needed to immediately begin the right chemotherapy treatments.  Her family and FD family began Team Jenny to support her fight against breast cancer and to help raise funds for medical expenses.

A few weeks ago we went to Cane's for dinner as they were donating a portion of sales all day to her cause and it was truly amazing to see the support.  The place was packed and lines of cars and people wrapped around the building several times.  On the day of our only pee wee game of the season our team and several others pee wee teams showed their support by wearing pink and Team Jenny shirts.

Here is a picture I snapped of Justin and Christian right before they ran on the field to start the game.

Christian and Coach Frank

Jenny we all stand in support of you and your family as you fight like a girl!

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Carson brought home a note one day that said he would be receiving an award at the six weeks assembly that coming Friday morning and inviting us to attend and to keep it a surprise. Upon reading this I could not help but feel pride for his school as this is something they had never done before, and then the obvious pride as a parent and wondering what award he would be receiving.  The year has gotten off to an incredible start and our new principal and assistant principal have done an amazing job thus far. 

Chad and I got to the kindergarten awards assembly and watched the kids pile in.  I always love to see my kids in this environment around their peers.  

First up they announced the perfect attendance awards.  We already blew that since he had been home one day with pink eye already.  Here is his friend Holt though receiving his attendance award.

Next they announced Bobcat Pride awards and explained the attributes of each.  Carson received the award for Most Respectful.

Carson, Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you!  That's our boy!