He lost it! He finally lost it!

So I think Brayden is probably the LAST person in his 1st grade class to lose a tooth, but as of yesterday he FINALLY lost his first tooth.  We were all very excited.

The tooth had been hanging on by a thread for quite sometime, until yesterday during an assembly.  Brayden said, "It felt kinda wierd and so I started to wiggle it and twist it.  I just kept wiggling it and twisting it until all of a sudden it came out."  (in so many words)

 

Later on that day...

We were driving home from gymnastics and this is where Brayden usually likes to ask endless amounts of questions.  He was quiet for a moment which means he's probably thinking REALLY hard about something and then said, "Mom, are you SURE you don't wake up in the middle of the night, and sneak into our room and put money under our pillows?"

Me:  "What?" (responding like I had never heard of such an absurd thing)

Brayden:  "Are you sure you don't wake up in the middle of the night, and sneak into our room, and put money under our pillows?"

Me:  "Why would I do that?"

Brayden:  "I don't know." (with a little giggle)

 

Yes the tooth fairy showed up last night and left him 2 whole dollars for his tooth.  Is this the going rate nowadays?  I know I got $1 for my teeth, but with inflation I figured it must be $2 by now.  Anyway fun times!!!

'Tis the Season!

So I really liked seeing Julia's Christmas decorations that she posted, so I thought I would do the same.  I bought new ones at the end of the season last year for like 80% off at Hobby Lobby, so I had a fun time decorating with the new colors and ornaments.

 

Here's our tree with red and silver ornaments, instead of blue and silver, like we've had ever since we got married.

This is the train Andrew absolutely had to have, so he bought it with his own money from his piggy bank.

Just like Jacob, we must have our sporting teams represented on our Christmas tree.

Our stockings are hung by the chimney with care, or at least on our wall.

Here's the garland on my half wall by the stairs.

Just a few fun things.  (Notice the same Santa decoration as Julia-from Grandma Kelly as well-Love it!)

I picked up this cute window cling at Lowe's this year for 50% off.  I LOVE it!  It's my favorite find and I want to leave it up year round.  I would if it weren't for the snowflakes.

I hope everyone is loving the season.  I am!  Happy Holidays!

And the stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

if I can get them off Andrew's feet.

Children take things so literally!!!!

Did you see it? Did you see it?

                         

So, if you haven't seen the movie STOP reading NOW or else you may never want to see it.

Okay, so there were 21 of us all hyped up and ready to see the movie, 15 of us in matching Twilight Tee's (created by a friend of a friend), yes we are HUGE dorks, and maybe it was because of all the anticipation that caused the huge disappointment, but I left the movie theater completely unfulfilled.  I thought the acting in the movie left A LOT to be desired, and the special effects (I mean what special effects) were terrible.  Were we really suppose to think they were running through the forest at super human speeds?  I think what was most disappointing of all was the relationship between Edward and Bella.  I mean one minute he looked as if he were gonna vomit sitting next to her in biology class and the next time they were together they were friends and shortly after that they were madly in love?   I don't know, I think the best part of the books was the character development, and how into Edward and Bella you are by the end, that you never want them to be apart.  I just didn't get that in the movie.  Maybe my expectations were set too high.  I will say that the movie kept me entertained.  They did keep it fairly accurate as far as the plot.  I may give it another shot.  I WILL see future movies!!!  If you are one of the few who see the movie and haven't read the book, don't judge it from the movie.  You MUST read the books.  You will NOT be disappointed!

Halloween Festivities!

I have a lot of cute pictures of our halloween events that took place, so brace yourselves.

First we have the annual trip to the pumpkin patch.  We thought we'd try a new place this year, but the kids would have none of that, so back we went to the original spot.  We went with Brayden's BF from school Riley, and his siblings.  They had a blast!

The maze is their favorite part.  They probably went through it 20 or more times.

 

They have a not-so-haunted house as well.

Fenway even got in on the fun!

Here are the boys picking out their pumpkins!

Roasting yummy marshmallowy goodness!

Carving Punk-mens!

Here we are practicing our artistic skills.  We painted and carved pumpkins this year.  The kids really enjoyed themselves.

Look at that concentration! 

Sometimes I think Andrew had more fun painting the plate.

         

Here they are doing the nasty part.  Check out Andrew's face in the next pic.  He was so disgusted at first and then he got into it.

 

The final product!

 

Trick-or Treating!

In all of my MANY, MANY, MANY years living in Colorado there has never been a Halloween that we didn't have to bundle up from head to toe, and completely cover up our cute costumes to go trick or treating.  Well, miracle of all miracles this was the warmest halloween I can remember (aside probably from the few years I lived in Hawaii).  It was gorgeous!  We trick-or-treated for 2 hours, without coats, and no one ever complained of being cold!

Aren't my Jedi's the cutest!

Trick-or-treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat!  (The kids probably chanted this a hundred times walking from house to house.)

 

The trick-or-treating posse!

 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

Matt had changed into a black faceless costume, brought out the fog machine, strobe light, and scary music onto the porch, and waited for victims (children) in the complete pitch black house (mind you all by himself) for the doorbell to ring, so he could scare poor, young, innocent children who just wanted some chocolate!  I don't think I will ever leave him home again for 2 hours all by himself.  Who knows what I may come home to.

Welcome home, Fenway!

 

Yup, we named him Fenway.  Did I ever doubt that Matt would get his way on this one?  Anyway, the first couple of days we brought him home were sheer bliss.  He was soooo cuddly and cute.  He never made a peep, and at night he didn't even cry in his kennel.  Oh how a couple days can change things.  He now has let his inner puppy out.  He has discovered his voice, although still quiet, he likes to growl and bark while he plays.  He's also quite rough when he plays, he's constantly attacking our feet and pant legs while we walk.  He wants to chew on EVERYTHING and potty training, that's a whole other store completely.  He still is tons of fun and still so cute.  The boys love playing with him, as do Matt and I, he's definitely full of energy and spunk.  We love having him as a new addition to the fam!  All 2 pounds of him!

  

               

He's getting older...which means so am I!

  Happy 7th Birthday Brayden!!!

I cannot believe how quickly they grow, and how fast time flies.  It seems like yesterday that I was bringing him home from the hospital with his dark curly hair and his yellow jaundice skin.  No more curls and only pink skin left.  He's growing into an amazing person.

Here are 7 of my fondest memories...so far:

1.  Of course, the day you were born, and the first time I was able to finally hold you in my arms.

2.  The day we were driving in the car, when you were 3 years old, and you looked out the window at a man walking in an empty field wearing overalls and said, "Hey look mom, there's old McDonald!"  You've always said some of the funniest things.

3.  I love how you used to suck your thumb.  You always looked so cute doing it.  But I loved even more when we took you to the dentist for the first time, and he told you that you couldn't suck your thumb anymore because it was ruining your teeth, and all the other bad things it was causing, and you stopped just like that.

4.  I love how cuddly you were when you were little and you still are.  I love our Brayden and mommy times together, and when daddy is out of town how you still like sleeping in bed with me.

5.  I love how you sing songs with me in the car.  You have always learned the lyrics so easily, starting from the moment you learned to talk.

6.  I've loved all our intellectual talks while driving in the car about continents, cities, states, Greeley, clouds, tornadoes, rain, water, calories, just to name a few.  Believe me the list goes on and on and on.  Sometimes I find that you are just too smart for your own good.

7.  I love how much you love me and want to take care of me.  The day of the tornado when I finally got to pick you up from school and your teacher told me how worried you were about me, and how you had said, "I really hope my mom is okay.  I just love her sooo much and I don't want anything bad to happen to her."

 

You are the BEST, kiddo and I wish you a Happy Birthday!