My LItTle InDIanS

I thought this was so cute...In Brandt's Kindergarten class they did a little Thanksgiving celebration. We were asked to get a white pillowcase and cut a hole at the top for a head opening, two holes on the side for arm openings and fringe at the bottom....and WHA-LA-..an instant Indian outfit/dress..We were asked for the kids to decorate it at home (to save valuable learning time at school)...AND since there are TWO pillowcases to a pack, with the left over one, Brandt spent and entire Saturday coloring a "back up" outfit...His class also made Indian hats, complete with feathers and an Indian style "Penne" noodle necklace...Both the big boys had a lot of fun playing Indians...cheap entertainment, gotta love it!!!

So this is Barrett modeling outfit #1.....

and Brandt modeling too, with his Christmas jammies on too!!!

and again...the outfit #2, has a total Indian battle scene, complete with tee-pees, a huge sun, and very colorful animals...I love how creative he is becoming...not sure wear he gets that?? :)..

ThAnKsGivInG HiGhliGhtS....

Hope ya all had a great Thanksgiving Holiday...We are all so extremely blessed, to me it seems somewhat sad to just attribute ONE day...I know Christmas gets all the hype..but I think Thanksgiving is right up there on the Holidays to really celebrate scale and a Holiday that is a great teaching lesson for our children...Just remind me NOT to go to the grocery store (HEV, as the boy's call it) ON Thanksgiving day with all the other 50 million people...I just ran out of time the day set aside for errands day, thinking there would of been 51 million people on THAT day, so I'd just wait, wrong,...well, a few million people does NOT make that big of difference...

These pics are somewhat out of order, as I always forget the way "blogger" downloads stuff, if only someone would invent a way to "sort your order of pictures", how genius...But anyway, here are is my darling sister Kelly and just as darling niece, Ryan, roasting marshmallows after we are stuffed to the exploding limit with turkey and all the fixins'.....just some s'mores to top it all off with...

Here are the boys out enjoying a little game of Putt Putt on Happpy's (Grandpa)..new putting green, complete with really cool mini sized putters and pretty golf balls that somehow were chucked mostly into the adjoining swimming pool...do they just need more practice?? Nawh..it's called Boys see water...balls go into pool, cause it's COOL when Happy has to rescue them with the net from the bottom of the pool....

Omie and Happy put a new addition onto their beautiful home this summer...it really makes Family gatherings even MORE fun as the SEVEN, all FIVE and under Grand kids have even more room to RUN around in...and that they do...rather fast and loudly I might add..

Sweet-Pea, Ryan...The oldest of the girls, keeping all the WILD boys in line..so glad she's so responsible as when all the boys get together, the loudness and naughtiness level goes WAY up on the Rector Scale....

Do-da-do....Roaming around Omie and Happy's backyard, Disneyland is what I call it..it's the MOST manicured yard I've ever seen, complete with LOTS of fun thing to play with and to do..hence, the nickname....

Before I had children, when I would dream about what they'd be like, I just knew from a feeling I'd have that I would have a left handed child (Brandt) and one with a dimple (Boden) and was hoping for an athletic one too!!!...here's the picture to show that lovable, squeezable little masterpiece in the cheek, little dimple...LOVE it....and then there is Barrett, with his little athletic muscles all defined, a little Micheal Phelps, is what I like to call him..and yes, he's a very fine swimmer!!!

Two of my little blessings...the 3rd middle one...is not only Micheal Phelps, but a Speedy Gonzales too..he won't sit still for a picture, you know he might miss 3 seconds of fun..In this Holiday season, let's all remember to count our blessings..we have so many to be thankful for.. from the simple and much overlooked: a warm place to sleep, a pillow to sleep on, blankets and clean sheets...to the complex and still overlooked: our families, friends, and freedom to pray and give thanks to the Giver of it All, Jesus Christ....

ARresT WarrAntS

(Click on pictures to make bigger!)

This just seems highly inappropriate posting Halloween pictures, while I spent most of the weekend putting up Christmas trees and Staircase garland..but here they are: Officer Brandt and Officer Barrett, with baby brother as the jailbird..

In the above pictures: Brandt arresting his friend Dorthy from the Wizard of Oz (Vienne)

Barrett partaking in the "Trunk or Treat..our subdivision is so large and on so many acres, that going door to door would be impossible, so basically they throw a huge party for the kids complete with a bouncy house and a cotton candy stand. If you ask me, the adults have just as much fun as everyone decorates their "trunk" and the kids go "trunk to trunk"..People go ALL out. For instance, our friends that were characters from The Wizard of Oz, decorated their trunk with a yellow brick road and a tornado, complete with debris stuck in it!! Also, there was a REAL hearse, complete with a coffin displaying one of their kiddos all dressed like he had been in a major accident, and the kids had to reach into the casket to get their candy! Yikes!!!

Brandt with a Pretty Witch (Georgia). She's in his Kindergarten class at school.

And our Mr. Jailbird, complete with ball and chain. I made his entire outfit. I ordered white children's scrubs. Used black duct tape (I did try fabric spray paint, but it bled all under the tape, a total mess). I ironed on the wings and numbers...The ball and chain was a Styrofoam ball that I just wrapped in the black duct tape and then I used a light chain and sewed it on a cuff. It was a huge hit, watching him run around dragging the ball with his Officer brothers right behind him!!
Officer Barrett, Boden's front view (I couldn't get a great picture of him to save my life!!) The front of his costume says "Playpen Penitentiary"...I used black puffy pant to draw the Bulldog..cuteness..Officer Brandt, and Mommy and her boys...(don't use just love how Texas cops wear flip-flops??!!).

We had a great Halloween. The big boys are getting so curious about everything, I guess they always have been, but it seems with the older ages, I get more questions which are getting a little bit more methodical.

For instance, On Friday Brandt came home and when I went to get him off of the bus, he seemed upset. I asked him if he had a bad day? He commented, "Mom, I'm a little made at you." Ut-O?..I had put a banana in his backpack on Monday in the side pocket, and by Friday, it had turned into a black, squishy mess, that got all over his hands at school, when he went to grab his show n tell, which was ALL over his show n tell as well!!...I explained it was an accident, that I could wash the back pack etc...And his response: "Mom, every time I get upset or sad about something a little piece of my heart falls off, (this is said while he is using his finger and thumb showing a "tiny" pinch)..it falls to the ground, it's just a small piece, like the size of a crumb, but Mom I just have one heart and it is slowly chipping away.."...Wow, drama!!! If he was saying this to make me feel terrible, it worked!!

Now they constantly ask me ALL these questions about Santa!! They are SO excited for Christmas already!! Did I mention it was CONSTANT?...Scott was gone all weekend hunting and I thought I was going to explode!!! It was like I was being interrogated the entire weekend about Santa!! Maybe their Policemen uniforms gave them some magical powers or something? As I felt like I had done something to Santa and they were going to hound me until they heard what they wanted to hear!!!

This is the first year they put up little Christmas trees in their rooms..They keep going to their rooms to check on them, it's so cute. They picked out their own ornaments which makes them even more proud of their OWN trees...I have a feeling it's going to be a GREAT Holiday season this year..and I'm so ready, bring it on....