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Halloween Costumes!

Here are some of my favorite costumes from years past....well, the ones I have pictures of anyway! Thanks to Kelly for hosting this!!

This is from a "Halloween parade" that Tyler had at his school one year. They were asked to come as a character from a storybook so Kirby got to work and MADE this for him!! Good thing he can create all these ideas that I have floating around in my head!!





That year, Charley was a little Indian girl....those were my moccasins from when I was little!




And these are from last year. Tyler was a vampire, Charley was a spider princess and Ruby was barely 24 hours old!! Once again, my husband gets all the credit for Tyler's makeup. I think he did a GREAT job!!!






This years costumes will be posted at a later date....Halloween isn't until tomorrow and I'm busy celebrating my big 1 year old today!!! Can't wait to check everyone else's costumes out to get some great ideas for next year!!

Fall

I haven't participated in a "show us your life blog" from Kelly's Korner (I FINALLY figured out how to add the link....don't I feel goofy now, lol!!!)in a while but I LOVE fall time!! I wish I had more decorations but this is it for now!! Nothing fancy but I like it!

This is walking up to our house. There is a story behind the rock in the picture. My daddy came carrying that home one day and said to my mom, "Linda, look at this rock. It looks just like a boot!" And he proudly propped it up beside their house. We laughed and laughed at him about this. Well, my mom moved from that house in Tx to NM (where we were living at time). It always bothered me that we left the rock behind. A few years later we moved to Ok and one of our visits back to Tx, I made Kirby stop and the old house to see if the rock was still there. It was, so I knock on the door and explained to this lady that my parents use to live there and asked if I could have that rock. She said sure but was looking at me like I was a crazy lady the whole time!!!! If no one was home, I was still going to get that rock. It isn't stealing if it was your's in the first place, right?!?! HAHAHA!!!


This is a shot of the ghosts that the kids made yesterday. Charley was SO proud of them that she just HAD to be in the picture with them. And no, she doesn't match but she dressed herself, lol!!


This is a shot of the mantel....my favorite!!! It was Kirby's idea to put the pumpkins on the candle holder (isn't he so creative?). I loved the idea and think it looks great but it will be even cuter when we get them carved. We better hurry up, huh?!?


That's it folk....my fall decorations!! Quick update on what we've been up too:
Charley had her first mini dance recitial (I'll post a video and some pics soon).
Tyler scored his first baskets this season
Kirby and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary
Tyler and Charley both had strep
2 weeks after strep, Tyler had H1N1 and missed a week of school
I made homemade pumpkin puree and roasted pumpkin seeds for the first time
I'm off to make some pumpkin chocolate chip muffins...YUMMY!!!

My son thinks he is sooo funny!

So, Tyler has really been on a roll lately. He is in this OBNOXIOUS almost 10 year old phase and I really hope he outgrows it soon or I'm afraid that one of us isn't going to make it, lol!! The other day we pull into a cafe on Route 66 named "Gar Wooly's Food and Fun". There is a team of high school softball girls gathered around outside. Kirby asks, "What is the name of this place?" So I repeat it and about that time, Tyler says, "Looks like I'm gonna be havin' some fun" as he is checkin' out all the girls!!!! Then the next day we were on our way home and I announce that the entire day has been devoted to the kids, from a basketball game to a princess tea party and that when we get home they are going to get on jammies, watch some toons and NOT GET UP cause mom and dad are gonna have some momma and daddy time. To which Tyler responds: "Sooo, what are you gonna name your next baby?" Yea...he's a real character, that kid! Charley is typical Charley....always making us laugh. As I'm brushing my teeth this morning, Charley tells me...."The girr on t.v. says you're pose to turn the water off when you brush your teef or you will waste water. Turn off the water, Mom." Nothing like being lectured by your 3 year old first thing in the morning!!! I can't wait to see what Miss Ruby's personality will be like! And, I'd just like to say that I am quite proud of myself....I've been trying lots of new recipes lately. All 3 dishes I made tonite were new and let me just say.....DELISH!! We had grilled balsamic chicken, chili-garlic roasted broccoli and individual scalloped potatoes!! They will all be new favorites in our house! Tomorrow I'm trying a baked frito pie!! Well...I'm going to hop in the shower and I'm pretty sure I hear the sounds of my darling hubby cleaning up the kitchen, doesn't get any better than that!!!

Is it really the end of August, ALREADY?!?

So, I'm not as good at this blogging thing as I hoped to be! I was hoping to use this as a way to document the funny things that my kids do and say but I can never seem to find the time to get it done!!! This will be a bunch of rambling but this is what we have been up to since my last post:

I'm still in a funk and find myself missing Daddy more than ever. Why has this been such a hard year?!?

We moved into a different house. Been here just over a month and still have not unpacked everything or managed to get stuff hung on the walls. We have been really busy though and hardly home since we moved. Kirby has been having to work out of town (in Texas) A LOT. He has been gone one to two nights a week (sometimes more) every week for the past nine weeks. We have gone with him some so that has been nice. We went to Arbuckle Wilderness during one of these trips. It was just me and the kids in my car....what was I thinking?!? As we were driving into the gates, some ducks got in front of the car and WOULD NOT MOVE, this should have been my first hint that going in my car was not a great idea!!! Ruby was in her seat, rear facing of course and I let Charley out of her seat and up in the front seat with Tyler so she could feed the animals also. She was all good until the camels tried comming into the car with us. She FREAKED out. I swear she was trying to climb onto my head to get away from them. In the process of climbing up me she managed to turn the volume up on the radio, turn it to static, make my windsheild wipers go on high and hit the hazards button. All the while screaming, "ROLL UP THE NINDOWS, ROLL UP THE NINDOWS"!!! So, I am trying to turn all my controls off, get the windows up, tell her that she is ok while I am laughing so hard I am about to pee my pants!!! Tyler and I laughed until our belly's hurt!! Oh....and while all this was going on the camel made its way to Ruby's window and SHE starts screaming!! We ended the excursion with the "girappes" and Charley LOVED them. So all in all, I'd say Arbuckle Wilderness was a success!!! Also during one of these trips the two big kids got to go stay a couple of nights with Kirby's mom. I think they had a good time. Tyler got to meet a Superbowl winner and try on his Superbowl ring, they went to "the beach" at Granbury Lake and went to the Ommi Theater. While they were with Grammy, I was at the Youth Bullriders World Finals where my 11 year old cousin was riding in the junior steer division. He ended up placing 8th in the world!!! During the finals, he was carried out of the areana on a streatcher but thankfully he was fine. Tyler has started 4th grade and I think we got a good teacher!! He is also playing in his first ever competitive basketball league. I don't know who is more excited....him or us!!! Charley has started a combo gymnastics/ballet class and she thinks she is HOT stuff!! Well, that is about it in a nutshell. I'll close with a funny Charley story.

She was swinging between the couch and loveseat and I told her to stop that she might hurt her legs, or bottom or head, to which she responded "and you'll have to go to the doctor and get a new Charley?"

Funk.....

I'm in a funk and have been for several weeks now. I couldn't figure out why and today it hit me (and I can't believe that it didn't dawn on me before that this is what is wrong with me), but Sat. will be 8 years since my Daddy died. The "anniversary" has never really bothered me because I think of him and miss him EVERY SINGLE DAY. But for some reason, I think I am taking it especially hard this year. We are going to Weatherford this weekend for a baby shower that I am helping to throw for one of my best friends from high school. It is going to do my heart good to be around all of them on Saturday. They knew and loved Daddy and for some reason it is comforting to be around that. People always say that it gets easier and I don't buy that for a second. There is nothing "easy" about not having my Daddy here to see his grandchildren, to ask advice from, to laugh with, to get a hug from. There is nothing "easy" about seeing that your mom is a completely different person than she was before. There is nothing "easy" about thinking of him several times a day and missing him so much that you can't catch your breath sometimes. It has gotten "better" because I can get through the days without sobbing, but it is most definitely NOT easy. Daddy, I love you and miss you and think of you every day and I so wish that I could have a big ole "Charley Hug" right about now!!! I am so thankful that I haven't forgotten the sound of your voice, the joy of your belly laugh, the crinkles around your eyes when you smiled, your jet black hair or your yucky feet!! What I wouldn't give to rub lotion all over them now or to "help out an old Vietnam War Vet-ron" and pull off your stinky boots!! Hugs and kisses......smooch,smooch,smooch and grunt,grunt,grunt!!!!

Late AGAIN!!!

Maybe someday I will do things on time.....hey, one can dream, right?!? This is my second week to participate in this: http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/2009/05/show-us-where-you-live-friday-living.html (I don't know how to do those fancy links yet!!) So here goes my living room!!



This is what you see when you walk in the front door....yes, those are SEVERAL vertical blinds missing that my kids have pulled down and broke, pathetic I know!!

This is my fireplace. I really need to finish putting pictures of our family in the big frame but it is SUCH a pain.....

If you look to the left this is what you see:

And if you look to the right:

The box next to my wet bar is my shadow box of my Daddy's things. May 23rd will be 8 years since he died in a car wreck on his way home from work. I had a smaller version of this and for Christmas one year, my Momma had this big one done for me. It has his favorite fishing hook, his toothpicks that were on his bedside table(he was NEVER without a toothpick and in fact a very dear friend of mine remembered to bring one to the viewing and he put it in Daddy's pocket saying, "Charley would be pissed off if he didn't have a toothpick" and indeed he would have!!!) his chapstick that he would smear from under his nose all the way to his chin, his favorite pocket knives, his wallet (with all of his stuff still in there, including a five dollar bill that his granny had given him for Christmas a few days before she passed away), a dollar bill that my son had given him,a picture of him on my wedding day (complete with a toothpick in his mouth!!) and the letter looking thing in the big frame is something my sister wrote and I read at his funeral. Needless to say, this shadow box is very special to me and is the 2nd thing I grab when we go to the cellar (after my kids of course!!).

Here is my entertainment center that I actually thought looked good until seeing these photos, ha!! It looks really cluttered to me now!!!

And here is my collection of hoot owls. Why hoot owls? My Daddy could hoot and sound like a real owl. It is something he always did when I was growing up. When he was up in the mountains with his nephews hunting, he would hoot until they found him. When he would come visit us after my son was born, instead of knocking on the door, he would go to a window and hoot. Tyler would drop what he was doing and run to the window!! If Tyler was getting into something he shouldn't be, Daddy would hoot and Tyler would go running to him! And he has used owls several times since he has died as signs to show us that he is still close by and watching over us! Needless to say, hoot owls are special to my family. Notice the bigger ones on top of the entertainment center. The flag was from his casket.

One last view from the hallway:
Oh and here is my plain jane entry way (I really want a sofa table to put under my "live, laugh, love" sign but haven't found one that I like at a price that I can afford!!

This was one long tour!!! I have lots of empty wall space and lots of things that I would like to do but it works for us now and I think I need to wait a bit longer before getting nice things. My kiddo's are HARD on our stuff!!! Hope you guys are enjoying these tours as much as me!!