---->>>> speed bump

full disclosure:

Halloween is just a speed bump to me. 

just slows you down when really you just want to get to the really good holidays like thanksgiving & christmas.

But, with that said. we have a HUGE halloween fan in our family! Britt talks about halloween all year round. the kid loves dress up & pretend & candy. lots of candy. He is our sweet tooth.

& so...I do what I can to make a big ta-dah out of the month of October. Decorations up & costumes prepared. This week has been fun & busy busy busy. Lots of excuses to wear costumes. 

among 2 events...Trunk or treat at church & then a neighbor threw their annual  halloween bash. The kids loved both! Which is why I do find enough pleasure in the holiday...

because the kids just love it. 

---->>>>carving

It was an all hands on deck kind-a evening. Rod & I were both covered in pumpkin goo about 5 seconds into the task of carving funny faces. Each boy had a design in mind & we made sure to honor those ideas of round mouths, triangle noses, 

& crazy eye brows.

We thought it would be a more successful evening if we put Presley to bed first. I know she would have loved watching & participating...but the thought of knives & slippery surfaces & our littlest dancing around...just did not seem like a recipe for success.

The boys insisted on lighting those candles right away & were rather upset when we left for school this morning to find that the candles had burnt out.

Maddox tells me that the pumpkins need to stay on the front porch "all the way to christmas time."

That could get a bit gruesome with the texas heat & sun in the fall.

I wish I had taken more pictures.

The boys were excited & Britt kept chanting "this is the best day ever!"

but like I said...all hands were needed and so the camera was put down & the carving knife replaced it. I think I rushed the evening because it was a school night. I was busy thinking about lunch boxes, teeth brushing, & school spirit week shirts. Sort-a regret that. 

I need to slow down. I need to let them slow down.

---->>>> new outfits

Tonight the 4 tried on their costumes for a test drive at our church Trunk or treat. 

Madd's pants need to be tightened (string bean) 

Presley's collar needs a makeover.

but other than that all were happy to sport their new outfits.

Presley is a babe of few words. 

Dada, more, right there, no no no, yes.

& after tonight she now says 

"trick or treat." 

Pretty cute/funny if you ask her momma.

Here they are for 2012...

a pirate

a moose

Foofa 

& clark kent.

--->>>Pillow fight

Bedtime was creeping up on us. It is a school night & I should have been knee deep in schedule keeping, but instead we had a pillow fight. which mostly consisted of Rod being attacked by 8 little hands filled with pillows. These are some of my favorite moments to capture. The at home doing our thing moments. Messy pig tails, grubby faces from sunday dinner, & the sun setting outside making our family room gold. This is us. 

---->>>>>pretend

When I was growing up I was busy with pretend play with my brother & cousins. we had pretend forts, pretend radio shows, pretend school houses, pretend bands, pretend you name it. We would dress up or make things that might look like a pile of sticks and rocks to anyone else, but to us it was a roaring campfire or maybe a hat. who knows.

T has always been the feet on the ground time of boy. So when Britt our imaginative one began to talk & play the two were not sure what to make of each other. But soon T was participating in sword fights or boat trips, or restaraunt openings. I love the way each boy adds something to the dynamics of the group. T is the logical academic scholar, Britt is the one with his head in the clouds day dreaming about dragons & ninjas, & Maddox is the one who gets them excited about what ever pretend scenario is being played out. 

Tonight Rod brought home (& I won't try to use medical terminology here.) tubes used in air ways. It took the 3 only 1 minute before they were fisherman on a boat out at sea catching whales & sharks & fish bigger than our house. 

I love the idea of these little kids looking back at their childhood in pictures. & maybe being able to pull forward the feeling of love & friendship. 

tonight...

our rag a muffin crew in mis matched jammies & crazy hair. 

---->>>>Conference weekend

With ear drums bursting & fevers raging we had a pretty low key weekend. We stayed close to beds so when second winds died off there was a cozy place to land. Maybe its because the boys are getting older, & maybe its because some were ill, or maybe because we watched conference in the room where we hold family scripture study....but the children were all calm & respectful of the special weekend. Tre never once wandered off & was asking questions of clarification. He was ecstatic to hear that he is now even closer to serving as a missionary. (I sorta teared up if we are being honest.)  I walked away from this weekend feeling an increase in gratitude. Rod & I try so hard to make this life perfect...but ya know? Its not. Cars have problems & kids cry because they do not like kinder, & mommas become overwhelmed & sometimes scared of the responsibility to raise 5 children into well...all things great.  This conference let those little burdens and concerns slip away & left me with a heart full of excitement for the happiness we have been blessed with. My husband is amazing. no really. He works his tail off & he never complains. he comes home to us & plays, reads, wrestles. You would never know the guy was up at 4am to get to the hospital early.  He is what I hope the boys to be.  Our boys are turkeys...extremly smart turkeys. They are growing into friends (which I doubted would ever occur.)  Presley is lovely. As Rod says..."I just want to give her little kisses all day long."  She is such a peach. Baby 5 is on his way & although I am terrified I won't be able to be everything all these beautiful little faces need me to be....I know he will fit in here as if he has always been.  I have nothing to fuss over. The things that matter are well. Conference seems to refocus us. It certainly did this time. 

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want to watch? go HERE.