Halloween Crafts

Holden's preschool class made these really cute ghosts

out of their feet print and the owls out of their hand prints.  

I think they are adorable!

Who's My Favorite Now?

This guy!

Not only did he coordinate the clean up of the toilet paper 

and insist that I get him a stool so that he could 

reach the stuff high up in the trees,

he picked flowers for me too!

Rolled

We came out this morning to see that we were rolled last night

after the Homecoming game.  Turns out that it was some

of Tristan's friends from swim and band.

I thought they did a really nice job!

The kids thought it was so fun!  

I wanted it to stay for a bit, but they also insisted on cleaning it up right away.

Jackson, Holden, and Ethan worked all morning cleaning it up.

It was probably for the best because it was pretty windy and our neighbors 

are kind of stingy when it comes to things like toilet paper blowing around their yards.

Homecoming Game

My friend, RaeAnn and I went to the Homecoming game to watch the band play and to see the festivities. It was so cold and the wind was blowing so hard, we ended up leaving at the beginning of the third quarter. We left and went to McDonald's for hot chocolate. The Broncos were losing, which was not such a big surprise, especially since we were playing Lafayette High School and because our quarterback got hurt in last week's game.

~ The Homecoming Court ~

A girl from the color guard was voted Homecoming Queen.

Homecoming Parade

Yesterday was the Moss Bluff High School Homecoming Parade. Our schools got out at noon so that we could all go and enjoy the parade.  

Tristan was marching with the band, Savannah rode with the high school's Republican Club, and Ethan was on the trailer with the Gillis Elementary Student Council.   

The little boys and I went out onto Sam Houston Jones Parkway to watch the parade and wait for our friends and Allen to join us. Allen never made it because a wreck in front of the high school that backed traffic up really far and it was never cleared up in time for the parade to start so they turned him away.   

Here comes the band!

We are always so excited to see them and look for Tristan.

Our friends, the Hilliards, came and hung out with us. We walked to Sonic to get kids meals and drinks and then got ready for the fun and goodies. There were so many people, much more than in years past, that I made Holden stay in his stroller. Olivia and Trevor helped the boys collect beads and candy and throws. We even caught two Bronco t-shirts! Holden's bag filled up so fast.  

Jackson got tired of watching so we moved his chair from the grass to the middle of the road so that he could sit by us and eat his corn dog and apples. We were still waiting for Ethan and Savannah to come by, but apparently they were at the end of the parade.  

A little boy near us ended up getting his foot run over by a truck that was pulling a float. The firetruck made its way to where we were and took care of everything. They had to stop the parade for a little bit. The people driving the truck were our friends from the Marlins swim team, Allie May's parents. Turns out the boy was the grandson of Mr. Ricky, the custodian at Gillis. I think the little boy was okay in the end, but it was pretty scary there for a minute.

Ethan's float finally made it by us.  The little girl with her arms sticking out is Caroline.
She and Ethan are their class representatives for Student Council.
Ethan is right behind her.

This is the look I got when I called his name.

Apparently pretty embarrassed at my attempts to get his picture. Haha!!

Savannah on the Republican Club float with Mrs. DeFelice and Annee. It was a fun parade. 

Tomorrow night the Broncos play Lafayette High School. Go Big Sam!

Boys Day Out

 Ethan invited some friends to go bowling at Petro Bowl on Saturday.  He has been feeling left out when the older kids hang out with friends, so we planned a day for him and his buddies.

~ Landon, Logan, Owen, Ethan, and Joseph ~

We bowled a game, ate some pizza, and got an ice cream cone from McDonald's on the ride home. It was a huge success. Ethan wants to play putt-putt next time he and his posse go out.

Go For the Gold

This past weekend Ethan and I went to the Cub Scout Mom & Me "Go For the Gold" Camp Out.

We went on Friday night and pitched our tent. We had to buy a new one because the one we used last year was a tiny bit small. We were in a camp site with people we did not know but that did not stop us from having fun!   

It was quite the haul from the parking lot to our camp site and it was still pretty hot, so we were drenched by the time we got everything out there. We did not plan on showering while there, but we had to call Allen to meet us back in the parking lot with some toiletries so that we could clean up and put on dry clothes.  

After pitching our tent, we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and made s'mores. Ethan was pretty tired after that so we crashed early.  The next morning, we were ready to go!   

We were given a card with eight squares on it. After participating in each activity, the Scout received a sticker. If you completed your entire sticker chart, you got to put your name in a drawing at the closing camp fire.

After we attended the opening flag ceremony, we started out at the rock wall, which is one of Ethan's favorite things to do!  While at the rock wall, we found our friends Erin and Matthew Aucoin, and decided to hang out with them for the day.  They had not spent the night, but came for the activities.  We were glad to see them because we did not really know anyone else there.

After that, we went canoeing. I'm so glad Erin was there because canoeing is not my favorite thing to do and since Ethan is already scared to go, I am not the best one to take him. She was more than happy to put Ethan in with her and paddle him around for a bit. I think he was a bit nervous at first, but he finally seemed to settle in and even paddled for a while.  Since there was no one in line they were able to stay out for a while.  She was nice enough not to tip them over!

After canoeing, we stopped by the craft station and made flag pins out of safety pins and beads.  We also did an obstacle course and participated in some competitions, like a javelin throw using a pool noodle, a discus throw with a frisbee, a softball throw, and a standing long jump.  Another station was the basketball free throw.  Ethan made seven baskets in thirty seconds.    

After lunch, we hiked out to the shooting sports area and did archery and BB guns.  Ethan did awesome in both.  He shoots like a pro!

There were not as many people there as I had anticipated so we did not have to stand in line as much as we had last year. Ethan was so glad that he brought his football and so were lots of the other boys. He got lots of playing time in made tons of new friends. We were constantly hearing, "Hey man! Throw me the ball!"

We attended the outdoor religious ceremony and met our other friend, Matthew, who we know from summer day camp at the closing flag ceremony. We sat with both Matthews at dinner and Matthew from day camp and his Grandma shared their glow sticks and necklaces with all the boys.

After dinner we went to the closing camp fire. Lots of awards were given out including one with Ethan's name on it.  He won the Frisbee toss for the Bears. He was so surprised and excited to hear that he won! He even got to stand on top of the stand with the other boys who won and received a gold medal. My camera was dying by this point, so I did not get a picture of all the boys together, but it allowed me to take one more inside before we left.

We had a great time. I love to go on this camp out with Ethan and I am so glad that he wants to go with me. Can't wait til next year!

My Louisiana Sky

On the Gillis Cut Off, taking Ethan to school.

Savannah's Room

Savannah has been working on designing her room more to her liking.

She got a new desk, a vanity table, and a lamp.

She got a mirror and a bulletin board.

She's been wanting to make this makeup holder for a while, but her friend made it for her birthday.

Savannah loves that her makeup is now all organized and off the vanity table so that she has more room for her other things.  It turned out really cute.  Way cuter than if I had tried to make it for her myself.

Sassy

Ethan has been asking for a dog for a long time. Well, over the weekend, his dream came true!  

A couple of weeks ago, Savannah and I were in Market Basket and saw an ad for Sassy, a three year-old, female Rhodesian Ridgeback that was free to a good home. This is the kind of dog that Allen has wanted. And she was an outside dog, which is what I wanted.

After talking about it for several weeks and going over to see her, we decided to go ahead and take her. We picked her up on Sunday afternoon. The kids were so excited.  

She barked a little bit after we put her in the kennel, but settled down soon after. The kids love her and she is so good with them. I think she's going to make a great addition to our family.

Our New Home

Welcome to our new blog.  I am trying out a new format for this blog.  Blogger has changed so many things that I can not simply recreate  my old blog.  I can't use the same black background, which I loved the simplicity of.  The one "simple" one I can use is the white.  I'm learning to like it.

The new format allows me to make the blog larger on the screen.  It looks great on my screen, but I have a large flat screen.  Let me know how it looks on your screen with the larger pictures.  Thanks!