Happy Halloween

We had a great Halloween.  The weather couldn't have been better!  The kids got plenty of candy for both them and us!!  We had my sister's and brother's family over for dinner then trick or treating!  It was my new nephew's, Oliver's, first Halloween!

Everson - Venom, Canon - brown bear, Bridger - Ghost

My nieces were cupcakes and Oliver was a parrot!

Carving Pumpkins

We actually carved pumpkins this year.  I think the last time we did it Everson was a baby.  We have gone to the pumpkin patch every year, but didn't get around to carving them.  The boys have been too little and uninterested.   This year we thought we would give it a shot to see how much the boys would participate.  They didn't like touching the inside stuff and carving it was a little tough for them.  What they did like was drawing the scary face onto their pumpkin with marker and having Todd and I carve it into a scary Jack-o-latern!  We had a good time pumpking carving with Burke, Mishelle and family!

Everson's Soccer

Everson had his last soccer in the pouring rain.  He started off the season refusing to go in the game, then slowly warmed up to being on the field, then actually going for the ball and then he scored a goal.  Overall he really enjoyed his soccer season and having his Dad as his coach.  

After his last game Everson got a trophy which he is so excited about!  His very first trophy!

Pumpkin patch

We headed to the Rolloff Farms pumpkin patch so Everson could get a pumpkin.  We went soon after it opened.  The boys loved the giant tires, hay pyramid, and seeing the farm animals.  They also had an exotic animal exhibit which had a baby lion, porcupine, cheetah, and a serval.  Everson found the pumpkin he wanted just before the rain came!  Perfect timing!

Canon's Preschool field trip

Canon's preschool class took a field trip to the Lakeview Farms pumpkin patch.  Canon and Bridger loved the boat ride that takes you to the pumpkin patch and the train ride back to the beginning.  The weather was perfect for us and the boys loved running around, seeing animals, climbing up on hay stacks and finding their perfect pumpkins!

Wedding Day!

 Saturday morning was pretty relaxed.  Brian and his guy friends got together before the wedding for a guy party to hang out and play games.  I just hung out with Brian's sister and mom and just relaxed!  Around 1pm the boys got all dressed up and headed to the wedding site to get pictures taken, I still was able to just sit around and do nothing!  Yay me!  After a couple more hours of just hanging out, those not in the wedding party got ready and off we drove to the wedding.  Brian's friend Ismar performed the ceremony, and did a great job and Brian's brother, Eric,was the best man, and Todd was the groomsman.  Marissa had her sister and cousin as her maid of honor and bridesmaid.
After the wedding their was a cocktail hour for the wedding guests while the wedding party got more pictures taken!  The food was yummy and we got to meet a lot more of Brian and Marissa's family!
The reception followed with a sit down dinner, dancing, toasts from immediate family members, more dancing, dessert, more dancing, and more mingling trying to get to know everyone.  Marissa is greek so her family got on the dance floor and did some greek dances and they were also so nice to let us, who had no idea what we were doing join them and teach us.  I have to say, it made me wish I was greek so I would know all the dances.  The reception was over and people headed over to the after party, which Todd and I skipped out on because sleep seemed more of what we needed.  We treasured the uninterrupted nights and the option to sleep in in the mornings.  The weekend came and gone so quickly, but we were so glad we were able to share such a wonderful day with Brian and Marissa!

                                      Todd, Brian, Ismar, Eric

                                    Brian & Marissa's first dance!   

Todd and I at the reception!

Thank you to my parents, Todd's parents and Todd's sister who took great care of our boys while we were gone for the weekend.  Our boys didn't even care we were gone for the most part, but they did say they were happy we were back!  The weekend came 

Rhode Island here we come

Todd and I left all three boys overnight for the first time ever!  We flew to Rhode Island for Brian and Marissa's wedding.  Brian and Todd have been friends since grade school and have stayed best friends since.  It was a fun, busy and quick trip!  Our schedule consisted of, red eye flight out on Thursday, arrive Friday morning, take a two hour nap, thank goodness, then off to wedding rehearsal.  After that was the cocktail party then home for the night!  Todd gave a wonderful toast at the cocktail party.  It had some humor and yes, even some tears!  He got a lot of people coming up to him afterwards saying what a great job he did!

              Me, Marissa, Brian & Todd at the Cocktail party!       Todd & I in our rental car

A bridger we drove over a lot!      Brian & Todd at the cocktail party.   Brian & Marissa at rehearsal!

Oliver visits!

The boys were so excited to have their new cousin Oliver come to our house for the first time!  They were a little too excited and had to be right next to him.  Canon and Everson were able to make him smile which they thought was pretty cool!

1st day of Preschool - Canon

Canon has been excited about his first day of preschool on and off for a while.  He was excited to see his "nice teachers" as he calls them and play with all the fun toys!  We dropped Everson off at his school and came back home to get Canon all ready for his big first day.  Canon proceeded to wear his backpack around the house for 30 minutes prior to his school starting.  As we walked to his preschool he started to ask me if I was staying with him and how long he would be at school.  I could feel him getting nervous so I answered his questions like it was no big deal.  We got to the preschool and he did exactly as he knew, put his backpack in his cubby, put his show and tell in the bin and his snack in the basket, find his name on the board and wash his hands.  He nerves seemed to have disappeared so Bridger and I got him involved in playing with one of his teachers and other kids, said goodbye and left.  Canon said bye really fast and just kept playing!  Yay!!!

What were Bridger and I going to do with it being just the two of us for the next hour and a half before Everson gets home?  Definitely a weird feeling just having one kid again, but so happy that I knew Everson and Canon were in school having a good time!  We couldn't be happier for our two school going boys!

Canon, so excited to be going to "his" school!

Everson's 2nd day of school

I just wanted to put on record that Everson did not cry even a little bit his second day of school.  He was still a little nervous but with a smile said goodbye!  Everson has now told us he loves school!

1st Day of Kindergarten - Everson

The day has come that we have a kid in elementary school!  Everson's first day of Kindergarten was today.  He was excited on and off throughout the summer.  This morning came and all seem to go well. We followed him as he marched down the couple blocks to the school.  He hung up his backpack, met his teach, put away the school supplies, started playing with the toys and then it was time for Mom and Dad to leave, which led to him crying/sobbing.  Two attempts of leaving him in the classroom ended up with Everson running out the door and grabbing onto me. The third and final time I only made it to the door before he caught me.  It was time for some tough love, so I told him to stand against the wall and not to follow me, then Todd and I and his brothers left.  We could hear him sobbing as we walked down the hall.

A couple friends called a little later in the day to let me know that they saw Everson in his classroom.  He was still standing by the door, probably exactly where we had left him, but was no longer crying.

As Everson's bus came to a stop to drop him off I saw a big smile on his face through the window.  When off the bus Everson had the face of, I'm trying not to smile so you don't know how much fun I had at school today.  He was not forthcoming with information, but did say he liked riding the bus home and his favorite part of the day was when they got to dance around the classroom!

In the big picture holding the sign he does not look excited at all.  The small picture holding the sign he told me he was trying not to blink.  I tried to get him to look at me while getting off the bus but of course he did not want to lead on that he was having or had any fun!

Even though he had a rough start in his day, we know he eventually gave in and had some fun and he will love his kindergarten year of school!