Happy Halloween

My favorite part of Halloween this year and last year is the kids get to truck or treat with cousins.  It's so fun watching them dash house to house and giggly the entire time. The evening was a perfect 68 degrees with a slight breeze.

And he's off to pre-school...

The last eleven years, it has been and at least one of my munchkins home with me....as of this morning, I am alone during the school days now.
Christopher was approved for pre-school at Altruria. At first, I thought this was great but now that it is setting in and I dropped him off this morning,, I have very mixed feelings and have cried a lot about it. A part of me thinks I am so selfish for letting him go, he is only 3 and so small. How will he communicate with me if  he doesn’t like it? And I should be cherishing mommy and Christopher time.  Yet, I know he needs help with speech and this opens more opportunities for me to possibly teach next year and eliminating the need for a baby sitter when I student teach this spring. A part of me feels like it is a tender mercy from the Lord yet I am sad. He was adorably cute this morning though.

Fall festivities...

Fall happens to my favorite time of the year...I love the changing of leaves, cool, brisk nights, and that the holidays are upon us to start decorating.  We took the kids to the Bartlett carnival this year, decorated for Halloween, and carved pumpkins too.  Also, Ginny got an early Christmas present, a cell phone. I took her out of school early to go get one, she had no idea what were doing, even when we pulled up to AT&T. Now, I believe that eleven is too young for a phone but I dislike not seeing her catch the bus or knowing exactly when school activities are over. It is also nice since we are leaving her home alone some now. Aubree and Jacob William are playing fall basketball through the county and they have the best coach ever...their Dad. Jake thought coaching would be a fun way to spend time with them and it is a memory in the making.

Fall Break

We had a wonderful fall break this year. We went to Odessa for a couple of days and then to the mountains in Cloud Croft, NM with Grammy and Papa Farrell for a few days. We flew for the first time in years and the kids did great!  I got home from work about 4:00 a.m on Saturday morning and we were in Odessa by 9:30 a.m. Charity picked us up at 4:30 a.m and off we were.  It was nice to relax and be off of work. The following weekend, we ventured to Paris TN to see the new home and Sandra and Brent.

Boys will be boys.

There are some days where I think my boys are such a handful and then there are others where I love that they are such boys. Today is one if those days, they are playing great together.  School is out for teacher in service and I think the boys are just totally loving each other!

Let's play catch up!

Summer was great for our little family and we had loads of fun.
 We made several home improvements and just spent time together. Life is great for our family.

This summer, Jake beautified the exterior of our house by doing the flower beds and we purchased new windows and doors.
School started back the first week of August. For me, it was mixed emotions because I love having my little family here together. This year I am the membership chair for the PTA and it has proven to be more work than I realized. Jacob William entered kindergarten, Aubree is now a 4th grader (and as an added bonus has Seth in her class), and Ginny entered middle school (6th grade). It is hard to believe that I have one in middle school.
 
 Ginny tried out for cheer leading and made the team, however after a couple of weeks, she decided not to do it. I am very proud of her because before she ever tried out, she confirmed that there were no Sunday practices and asked about modesty. She was thrilled when she discovered she made the team but after seeing all the practices involved 5-6 days a week, she decided it was too much time away after praying about it.  Although I was super excited for her, maybe because I was not afforded those opportunities, I am very supported of her decision. She assures me that the money was not a factor.

We absolutely love being around so much family right now and we know it is a blessing. James and Kara sponsered a fun little snail race after school started this year. Who would've ever thought it would have been fun, but it was totally a fun memory. Aubree's snail came in first. The school fundraiser this year was a Tiger 2K and it was a success. It was exciting for the kids to pull up to the balloons and eye of the tiger playing.  Family happens to bring me incredible joy!