Halloween

I just realized I never posted anything about Halloween. I was coming down with the flu that night and Powell was with his mom and dad until later in the evening so I didn't get hardly any pictures. It was all I could do to get them dressed and make my chile for the trunk or treat.

Cheetah, crying skunk and a rocker

Vampire Girl

It's FINALLY here!

As a parent, you think that you can steer your kids in certain areas. It works some times and other times, no matter what you say or do, your children are passionate about something you would NEVER choose for them. Well, here is my little musician with his electric guitar that he bought with his own money. I never thought he would earn enough but he won $50 in the talent show this summer and he makes $10 a month taking out the neighbors trash. I thought once he bought it he wouldn't be able to learn how to play because I wasn't about to sign him up with some rocker electric guitar teacher. Well, he has spent every day on youtube watching videos of various teachers teaching "how to play the electric guitar". I can't stop him and I don't know that I really want to stop him at this point....he loves the guitar and he loves rock and roll and honestly......I love the guy!  P.S. No....I'm not letting him quit violin.

Powell caught him looking at himself in our mirror with his guitar.....lol!

Duck Tape!!!

I must say that all of my kids (Mckenna I don't know about yet) are very artistic. All day every day there is some kind of art project going on. I have to admit that I get really tired of the scraps, the sticky glue, the finished projects that I don't know what to do with. With that being said, I'm really impressed by the latest projects that are being mass produced by Savannah. She has a company she has started called "Duck Depot". This isn't the ugly gray "duct tape" we grew up with. This is much more and if you'd like to order something, give Savannah a call. Her prices are very reasonable!

The colors!

Headband

Expo marker

Projects in Progress

Savannah working hard!

My personal favorite....the duck tape pen

The other Savannah working hard!

Cousins!

We invited my niece Sarah Freeman and her girls over for a play date and it was tons of fun! Bella is Brinleys age and Violet is a little older than Mckenna. They have another little sister on the way so we are really excited for them. Thanks for coming all the way from Day Break to see us!

 

Get a Melissa & Doug 25% Off Coupon When You Take the North "Poll"

Melissa & Doug want you to tell them which of their educational toys you think is the best! Just click on the image below to place your vote in the North "Poll!" You'll Get a Melissa & Doug 25% Off Coupon** to use at MelissaAndDoug.com just for voting!

 

Funny Girls!

 The girls were playing in my closet in my Cub Scout stuff and they found the Hawaiian Lei's. I could hear Mckenna yelling, squealing and laughing and found these two monkeys!

Mckenna's Friend Annie

We got to babysit Annie while her mom was doing therapy on her knee. Even though she is 9 months older, she is just about the same size as Mckenna. They were so cute crawling around together all day.

Our Friend Annie

Mckenna has to touch her every second!

Giving Loves

Fall Break in Sacramento

Powell told me he had 2 overnights in a hotel in Sacramento during the kids Fall Break. I had really been wanting to go somewhere so I asked him if we could come along. Of course he wanted me to come along without the kids but he compromised! The hotel was a really nice Embassy Suites and was across the street from "Old Town Sacramento". It is basically an old gold rush town that has been restored. Most of the buildings are original. There are now lots of fun shops in the old buildings. It isn't a huge area but was perfect for 2 days. The kids had a great time and I was just relieved to make it flying stand-by with the 4 kids by myself!

When you don't get on the first flight, you buy donuts to make up for it!

The sign outside River City Saloon. It is an old brothel which is now a restaurant/bar. We took the kids for lunch and enjoyed the 25 cent sarsaparilla.

At the mall while waiting to check in.....we had to kill time for about 7 hours. We were so tired! We saw Lion King in 3D while we were waiting and I drank a lot of Diet Coke.

Out on the street we found a jail to pose in

Doesn't he fit perfectly?

Visitor's Center.....posing in front of an original carriage.

What's a trip without ice cream?

Horse play anyone?

One of our favorite shops was Candy Heaven. There was any kind of candy you could imagine. I couldn't believe it all. There were plenty of samples to try too. The kids got a kick out of some of the old-fashioned candy.

Carriage Ride

We spent almost 2 hours in a 3 story shop called Evangelines. They had sections with themes.....like pickle stuff, bacon stuff, John Wayne stuff, Hippie stuff, Wizard of Oz stuff, etc. It was amazing. I could have spent all day there.

Look how tall the doors are! They were this tall all throughout Old Town.

Playing with a ring because the pool was  a little too cold

Enjoying his Sarsparilla

Milk Mouth

We went to a Rail Road museum the 2nd day before we went to the airport. It was well worth it. We learned all about the Transcontinental Railroad.

Picture of some of the buildings in Old Town

The Embassy Suites room came with a full breakfast.....Omelet Station was the best.

Enjoying breakfast.

The first time for the kids to have their dad actually fly them home.....priceless. We took about 5 pictures and this was the best one. Ha Ha....I kept telling Hunter to move in and look at Brin!

Picture Surprise for Powell!

I had been wanting to do pictures so I could do frames of my kids on one of my walls. Picture's are so overwhelming, stressful, and difficult every time we have done them so I was dreading it. To top it off, I decided to do it as a surprise for Powell for our Anniversary (he always says he wishes he had a cool picture of his kids to show his crews at work). Well, low and behold, the picture's went perfectly. The kids acted nice and we got some great shots. A big thanks goes out to Rachel for coming to be my assistant (even Hansen was nice). I'm so excited to print my pictures now and I bought my frames yesterday! Yee Haw!

 We also did a little photo shoot for Mckenna's First Birthday.....I love her Gap outfit (I have to love it because in my stress of finding the outfits I paid top dollar for it......and I'm still sick about it.....no coupon or anything.....ugg)