Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Carving

Mom getting her hands dirty. SHOCKING!

Riley supervising Dad.

Reece supervising the goo.

The finished product.

Monkey Bizness

Here is Reece and his friend, Logan, at Monkey Bizness. It's an inflatable play place in our mall. It was hard getting a good picture, because they wouldn't stay still.

Happy 4th Birthday Jackson!

Today is my nephew, Jack's, birthday! If he looks ornery in this picture, that is because he is. He is the little brother that isn't intimidated by the older siblings. He is so cute. This is my sister, Joanna's, 3rd. For anyone keeping count, this concludes her 4 kids birthdays for the year. Now she gets to turn around and do Christmas for them. Lucky her! Have a great day Jack, we are thinking of you!

Riley's 1st grade picture

Here is Riley's school picture. I was debating on whether to do retakes or not. I chose a different background (that they didn't use) and now he really blends in. I decided not to take my chances. Riley is in this phase (ever since he has lost all of his teeth) where he doesn't give the best smile. Although, this isn't his best, I know it is so much cuter than it could have been. Everyday, I love the picture a little bit more and to me it is the "real" Riley.
I just had his parent-teacher conferences earlier this month. It was a very good report. Riley is in a higher reading class, but now we have to make sure he comprehends what he is reading. We read almost daily, and when we are done, I will ask what the book is about. He responds by telling me the title of the book. Clever. I ask how the book made him feel. It's always, "Good." It's like pulling teeth. So, the other day, we read a book about a square pumpkin named, Spookley. Spookley got teased, because he was different, then he saved the day and everyone liked him. When I was trying to get Riley to talk about the book I got the same answers. Finally, I had to tell Riley that no matter what people look like, you should always be nice to everyone. He then interrupted me to say that, "Everyone is unique." I was so proud. He quickly added that if everyone looked like me (mom), it would be boring. You heard it... MOM=BORING! :(

My newest nephew...

...Owen R. Scott.

Halloween/Birthday Bash

Today we went down to Wichita to celebrate 7 of my nieces and nephews birthdays. My crazy sister, Joanna, thought it would be fun to have all four of her kid's birthdays in less than a 6 week period. Halloween just happens to be in the same time frame, so she was clever enough, to have an annual Halloween/Birthday party. So, then we just added a few others that belong to my brother, Aaron. For anyone who has paid attention to my blog, you've noticed I have a niece or nephew who is turning another year older almost every other day. Joanna's parties make it so much easier to get together, and we also get to have all the kids get dressed in their costumes to show off. We played several fun games, and we couldn't have asked for better weather, considering it is mid-October.

Riley trying to eat a donut spider, without using his hands.

Riley trying to wrap Brenic up like a mummy.

Owen

Riley as Optimus Prime...Reece as Buzz Lightyear

Aidan as Indiana Jones...Owen as a Pumpkin

Hannah is a "nice" Witch...Will is Optimus Prime...Jack is Bumblebee...Alex is a Panda

Breanna as Miss America...Brylee as a Wood Fairy...Brenic as a Soldier...Brevin as a Fireman

Pumpkin Days

Today, we went to "Pumpkin Days at Prairie Pines." This is all put on by my sister, Jody, and her husband, Kip. They do an amazing job, and in the process, get no sleep between now and Christmas. When "Pumpkin Days" end they turn around and do the "Field of Screams," a haunted, walk through, field. And when all of this Halloween stuff is over, they clean up and decorate for Christmas. I don't know how they survive during this long stretch, but I am so proud of how well they have done. Each year, the crowds get bigger and bigger. It has been very exciting for them.

Posing with the pumpkins.

The boys trying to pick up our pumpkin.

Reece is about 3 1/2 feet tall this fall.

Riley and Reece standing in line to go through a blow-up, haunted house.

It's the Best Time of Year!!!

Last night was "Late Night" in the Allen Fieldhouse. This means the KU basketball team can officially start practicing, and the first game is November 4th. I LOVE IT! I love college basketball season, and here is a tribute to the 2008 National Champions! Although, it is obvious this will be a big time, rebuilding year for us (since most of our starters went to the pros), I still, will never get enough of KU basketball. Here's to the Jayhawks, and hopefully it won't be another 20 years before we do it all over again.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-84943128594505667

Congratulations Ken and Sally!!!

On Friday, October 10th, Ken and Sally were married. The boys gained a grandma, and you can say Jake gained siblings that aren't related to me. Sally has 2 children. Kevin is her oldest who is married to Megan. They have 2 children. A 14 month old boy, Jayden, and a 3 month old girl, Mika. They are adorable.

Katie is her daughter and married to Greg. They are expecting their first sometime early next year. Katie was the Matron of Honor and is so cute pregnant. She could not have looked any cuter in the wedding.

They had a very small, intimate wedding on their back patio. Sally did most of the work, and did a great job. After the wedding and cake, there was a lot of dancing. Ken and Sally are great country dancers and she eventually traded her heels for some cowgirl boots.

Welcome to the family, Sally!!

Jake and boys hanging around while waiting for the wedding to start.

Riley and Reece were asked to be last minute Ring Bearers. They both made it half way down the aisle. That is when Reece came to sit with me. Riley was a trooper and made it through the entire ceremony. Here is the Groom and Ring Bearer.

I couldn't resist. Reece praying during the ceremony.

Reece gave Sally a big hug to welcome her into the family.

Mommy and Riley.

We decided to let Riley take some pictures during the reception. Let's face it, this is the only way for me to make it in more pictures. Maybe after some practice, he will have a career in photography. After he took the one of us, he said, "I got the Pepsi can in that one!" He was pretty excited. Maybe the career will be in advertising...

Time to cut the cake. Reece was most excited about this. He had to look at the cake all day, and he couldn't touch it. We decided to get out of the house for lunch and he was worried he was going to miss the cake. Sally made the cake herself and did a great job. It was delicious!

After a long day, and a night full of dancing, this is how it ended for Reece. Reece also stayed busy asking all of the guests if they wanted a Pepsi. Most of the time he got it right, sometimes they ended up with a Coke.

Arizona

We survived our first big trip with the boys. The boys had so much fun, and are already asking to go back to Arizona. I can't count how many times Reece told us he wished he could live there. Luckily, the weather in Kansas has been abnormally mild for mid October, and I hadn't put our summer clothes away. The temperature stayed in the 90's the entire trip. It was very hot, but not too unbearable.

Overall, the boys traveled well. To Arizona they couldn't have been better. On the way home, Reece was a little stubborn. We woke up a 3:30 in the morning to head off to the airport. I was so tired, it was so hard for me to be patient with him. He wanted to have the window seat. He wanted to be loud and eat non stop. He just let his defiant side come out when all he really needed was to fall back asleep. It could have been worse.

It seemed like a long trip to Jake and I. I think it is because we were waking up to Kansas time and going to bed to Arizona time. (It is a 2 hour difference this time of year.) This made our days a little longer than we are used to. I know we are all looking forward to bed time tonight. =)

On Tuesday, woke up and left the house by 7:00 am, to make it to the airport on time. Here is Reece in the car, not quite ready to wake up.

Here, we are at the Kansas City Airport. The boys are anxiously awaiting the boarding of their first plane ride. Reece is checking out our plane.

Just me and my boys. We originally had a 2 hour layover in Dallas, but due to some plane issues it turned into a 3 hour delay. Thank goodness for video games. The boys were so good for us and very preoccupied. It really didn't seem like 3 hours. Anyone who has ever been to the Dallas Airport, knows that it is so big it usually takes awhile to get from one terminal to another. By then it was a good time to sit and have lunch. I couldn't have been happier with how good the boys were.

Reece and "white teddy" buckled in. Super Mario and sucker. I think we're ready...

When we finally made it to Grandpa's house, the boys went outside to play on the small park behind there house. They stopped to pose by a cactus. The boys were in awe of all cacti.

On Wednesday, we got to go see Grandma McMillan.

Reece got an "almost not there" owie at Grandma's. This was the manliest band aid she had. (If you can't tell, it is a rainbow heart.)

Testing out Grandma's pool.

Andrea lives about 1 1/2 to 2 hours away from where Jake's parents live. She was so nice to drive down with the kids to see us. It's been too long and I hope it isn't that long before we get to see each other again. Riley took the picture of us. It took us a while to get a semi-decent picture of the two of us.

Before Andrea went back home on Thursday, she brought her kids, Landon and Ava, to play with the boys. They entertained themselves pretty well. They played with cars and raced each other many times on the back patio. The boys needed this to release a lot of energy they built up while in Arizona. I hadn't seen Landon since he was 6 months old and this was the first time I'd seen Ava. They are so cute. Andrea, thanks for making the trip to come see us!!!

Friday was the big day! Here's Riley and Reece posing before the wedding.

Riley and Reece on the shuttle to the Phoenix Airport.

Within minutes of getting home, Reece is passed out on our dining room floor.

Thank you Ken and Sally, for letting us share this special time with you, and sharing your home with us. We love you and can't wait to see you again!