No Goblins here

There were no goblins at our house this year. I was hoping that our family could go as a group and do "Phineas and Ferb" but the boys wanted to be different things... and well, that's the fun of Halloween.

So we had Anikin Skywalker

A Stormtrooper

And.... and.... Batman!

We went to a great party on Friday! It was a ward party and Trunk'r'Treat. There was great food, and lots of games for the boys to play. There was a bounce house, and a maze made out of cardboard boxes. James really like that, he went through it probably 5 or 6 times. {sadly I forgot my camera....}

Then Saturday, came a day of sleeping in {since we were all up late the night before} pancakes and cleaning. Then a trip to the Library for books for the next week. {Indians} We made a stop at Target to get Tim some new shoes, that boys feet grows so fast!!

The boys could hardly wait to go out to get candy.

Once we were actually out the boys couldn't wait to get back.... Strange I know but that's my boys.

We 'made' them walk around the neighborhood and boy oh boy they were happy with the loot they got. Keep in mind it was hot and by the time we got home we had sweaty boys {I was now the official mask carrier} that needed drinks.

We came home and watched a couple movies... Ichabod Crane and Garfield's Halloween. And put three little spooks to bed.

The tears were relatively few, and the company was good. Happy Halloween every one!

Nature in Florida

We are encountering all sorts of nature here in Florida... in all sorts. First off we have the man eating caterpillar.At first glance these things look pretty harmless, and dare I say it....cute and cuddly. But Tim found out the hard way that we should leave nature alone. The dang thing stung Tim's hand!!! It made his hand burn and turn red. It was a little puffy,and all Tim could say was that his hand hurt.

It's cool that we have real life science right out our door, but if you ask Tim he'll tell you that caterpillar hurt and that he won't touch them any more.

The other really cool thing that we have...

...An orange tree!!! And it's FULL with oranges!! I'm so excited for them to ripen.

I can almost taste the orange juice!

What grows in trees?

Tommy has been loving having trees that he can climb. We have a smaller one in the front yard and one in the back.

Tommy is still small enough to be able to climb up to the top with out breaking the limbs. He's learning that he can usually just hang down and drop to the ground

Tapped out!

Tim has been playing really hard....

He has been tapping out early, which has been making bed time.... interesting. But he is so dang cute when he sleeps, look at that last picture.

Look who's Potty Trained!!!!

It has been a whole week with NO diapers! Tim was actually pretty easy. I have changed diapers for 6 years, did you hear that..... SIX YEARS!!!!!! And now we are diaper free. {can you hear the joy in this house??? Well it's there.} I can't believe that my baby is no longer a baby anymore.

Thief!!

Most kids usually get caught snitching something from the store and then the parent finds a piece of candy, or gum or small toy in the pocket... Well Tommy was caught!As you can see, it's not the normal thing that most kids will take. But that's Tommy.

And today.... we stopped at the store to pick up a few things. Apparently Tommy wanted soda so he waited until some else had paid for the soda and took it. The poor kid {who Tommy stole from} was so confused at what was going on.

I guess now Tommy is on pocket check when we leave the store, not for candy, but for the sale tags...

Ready to Share

I have been working on another blog geared toward our homeschooling days. I really love homeschooling, and glad that we made the choice to do so. James is doing really well and we are having a good time. It's been nice having the boys around all day, and taking the time to do things. The other day we were getting ready to go and James wanted to read a book to Tim. It was really nice to stop and let James sit down next to Tim and read him Green Eggs and Ham.

Here is the link to my other blog "Socks & Shoes NOT Required" I'm still working on it but there are lots of links to really good homeschooling blogs as well as other educational links... most are FREE {I like free}.

167 weeks left

To count down the time we will be here and the time the husband has in school I decided to make a paper chain. Fabulous idea I know.... so each week he will take off one chain. It's a lot now but it will slowly it will become less and less. He just took one off for finishing the first week of school, so now there is 3 1/4 years left.... minus one week.

The Aftermath

After trying to conquer the toy box and ending up bloody and bruised. Tim decided that he didn't want anyone to see what happen so he went out in disguise... Yes he did. To the library and to Walmart. Do you want to see it when he takes the helmet off?

Look at that!!! At least he's still cute.

First day of school!

After years of wondering what he was going to be when he grew up the husband has found it.... And after a month of waiting to start... he finally did.

Here is the the husband with the boys on the first day of school. Palmer Chiropractic School. {look how cute all my boys look!!!}

And here is the husband walking out the door for his first day of school. Notice the Transformer lunch box. {hey, what ever helps ease the butterflies.... I'm not judging...}

Good luck these next three years, they are going to be rough, but we've been through worse. I love you and I'm proud of you.

Peaceful Confrence Weekend {yeah right!}

I love this time of year. Not only is it fall {except in Florida} but it's Conference. I really love watching the prophet, and hearing them speak. The weekend started off with a trip to the Orlando Temple on Friday. Conference is four general sessions over two days. We were able to watch it the sessions on the internet so that meant we were able to stay at home.

Being in Florida means that Conference doesn't start until 12:00 {and goes until 2:00} so that morning we did some yard work. The husband mowed the yard, and cut down branches and I cleaned out the garage. The boys helped pile branches on the side of the road for pick up, and rode bikes. It was nice to get out and get a few things done.

The first session was wonderful Henry B. Eyring conducted, and he always has a smile on his face. I loved Elder Bednar talk on family. Even if the kids are irritable and are "breathing each other's air" it's the experience of Family Home Evening that is important. It's nice knowing that Elder Bednar's family had FHE that was not spiritual all the time. But it's doing it that counts.

During the second session {conveniently} Tim fell asleep. The time.... 4:00 pm!!! That made for an interesting evening. The husband left to the Priesthood session. I fed the boys and got them ready for bed, or so I thought.

James and Tommy went right to bed. Oh, they are so cute when they sleep. Tommy talks every now and then, and even giggles. James like to sleep walk. Tim on the other hand. Well.... remember this? He was wide awake!! I told him that if he waited until his brothers fell asleep he could play with his Geo-Tracks. That boy is patient when he wants to be. He was quiet and waited, his waiting paid off, and in less than 30 minutes the brothers were asleep and the Geo-Tracks were out. I checked on him at 10:00pm and he was still awake.... and HAPPY. So he came down stairs with me for a bit. Finally at 10:45 he started yawning.

That brings us to today.... Sunday. Waking up to Tim {yes, Tim} at 7:00am turning on the lights and telling {screaming at} his brothers that it's time to wake up.

Fast forward a couple hours. Tim and James decide to climb to the top of the toy box. James is able to jump down fine. Tim tumbled down and ended up bloody. For those that get squeamish skip the next part. He wasn't a little blood, it was a lot! There was blood gushing out his nose, and a little from his mouth. The husband was in the shower, and jumped out when he heard me screaming for him. There was blood on me and on Tim.

I sat down at the bottom of the stairs, got him cleaned up a bit at first look we thought we had to take him to the ER. So I did what any other mom would do.... I started laughing. You see, I don't like blood. I mean really don't like blood. I started feeling light headed and dizzy from the blood that was everywhere, so I started laughing.

After further look we decided that his nose was just swollen and there probably wasn't anything that could be done. And he wasn't screaming when his nose was touched.

While I was getting ice James said a prayer asking Heavenly Father to "help his brother get better really fast and to help his nose stop hurting." Tim was giggling within the hour. Oh, the faith of children.

Look how sad. His left side is all swollen and bruised.

Here is a really cute picture of the husband and James.

Our Sunday ended peacefully {mostly}. Tim decided to defy the odds and try his hand again on top of the toy box. {his mom seriously came unglued!!!} And then he got his leg stuck in Tommy's bed. Yeah, don't ask.

They are all {finally} asleep and looking like angels.

Tommy's new hobby

Tommy has found a new found passion for photography.... or at least the he enjoys the idea of playing with something he usually doesn't get too.

So without further adue.... here are his photographs...
Here we have the stairs.... if you look really close you can see the dog hair {but hey... don't look to close....}

more stairs
Here is one from the bottom of the stairs {curtains where there when we moved in}

Here we have the ceiling fan. The extra lines by the fan blades are not on your computer, it's part of the picture but I'm not sure where they came from.

Here is Grrrr. Yes, that is his name. We have two of them. James has one and when Tommy was 1 he decided that he needed a Grrrr too. So his name for the first while was in fact... Grrr 2. The Grrr's are pretty much a part of the family, and the boys fight to get them into the family pictures. We all love the Grrr's.
Ok, I promise that this was a commercial, the only thing with Tyra Banks that I watch is America's Next Top Model. Yes, yes, I am a fan of ANTM.... the Tyra Banks show... not so much.

Here is the last picture, and the most flattering I must say.... I think after this one, I think I need to teach Tommy how to hold the camera and aim better, he was trying to take a picture of my head, and this is what came out....

I think I need to get Tommy {and James too} a camera of there own. The pictures are funny to look at.