Halloween

Now that our costumes are really broken in, it's time to celebrate Halloween! Our neighborhood has a Halloween party at the little restaurant on the lake each year followed by a hay ride for trick or treating. Mommy was in charge of the event this year and we all had a great time. Between the pinatas and buckets of candy we each took home, I would say it was a successful evening all around.

The Ninja and his princess

Sorting our candy

Bring a Friend

Today at Awanas it was 'bring a friend day' AND 'paint your face'. How fun! We brought Caroline and Parrish as our guests and mommy painted our faces in the parking lot.

Carving Pumpkins

It's been a busy few weeks and we almost forgot to carve our pumpkins! Fortunately, daddy remembered our fun tradition and we helped transform our sweet pumpkin patch pumpkins into fun and festive jack o lanterns. Levi was too little to help but he did get to participate in his own little way.

The Farm

After the Aggie games, we always stay with Mama in College Station. While Bubba and I were cruising around the farm finding things to get into this weekend, Levi hung out very contently in Mama's arms. Weekends at the farm rank close to the top of our 'favorites' list!

The Hoot

At the Cake Walk

Tate and her win from the stuffed animal walk......

....and her win at the cake walk! Pink, My Little Pony and Fairies? Imagine that!

Meet Lucy! Bubba's new goldfish he won.

Pumpkin "Butt" Cake

Each year, Bubba's school has a HUGE Halloween fundraiser called 'The Hoot'. Although this is his first year at the school, we're no stranger to the Hoot and have gone for the past 3 years. It is super fun with games, slides, prizes, cake walks, stuffed animal walks, haunted houses.....you name it. All of the classrooms are assigned a 'booth' and parent involvement is highly encouraged. Mommy signed up to help with the ticket sales but Bubba also signed mommy up to make a cake for the cake walk! We thought we'd be a little creative and make a Pumpkin Bundt Cake with a spice cake in the shape of a pumpkin. Great idea except that the bottom bundt cake collapsed and the other cake stuck in the pan. And then, once we started icing it, the cake split in the back and now we were stuck with a flat pumpkin "butt" cake. Oh well, Bubba and I thought it was fun and that's really all that matters.

Hip Hop - we don't stop!

Check out Bubba's dance moves in his hip hop class!

Tate's Halloween Parade

We had our Halloween parade today at school and I was so excited to get to wear my costume - Cinderella of course! We took pictures in our class and then we all paraded around the chapel for the other classes and families to see. I made sure to let everyone know that I was a beautiful princess with my beautiful dress, shoes and tiara (I wore the birthday tiara that our friend Missy gave me once she was finished celebrating her 40th birthday). I'm so excited because of the many opportunities for me to wear my Halloween costume this year. I may never take it off!

Getting our money's worth......

I've been able to wear my costume so many times so far and we haven't even made it to Halloween yet! How fun is that? After school, I had to put my costume back on for ballet and as you can tell, I was very upset by this.

Bus Stop Tripp-isms

Bus stop conversations/rationales in the morning can be entertaining.

Conversation 1:
"Mom - hurry and close the front door because we don't want to let the bats in. They can smell my lucky charms"

Conversation 2:
"Tripp, No more collecting rocks. They're going to ruin my washer and dryer"
"Mom, Mrs. Olson says I'm a geologist because I like rocks, so it's ok"

How many cooks in the kitchen?

We love to help mommy cook. This morning, we made orange cinnamon streusel muffins as a surprise for daddy from scratch and they were de-lish!

Eat, Drink and Be Scary Ball

Mommy and Daddy (aka Cleopatra and Hercules) attended the Eat, Drink and Be Scary Ball benefiting Sammy's House this evening along with some of their good friends. Ms. Angie (aka Priscilla Presley) was the chair and I don't know about you, but to me it looks like they had a great time while raising a lot of money for a very good cause.

Quality Time

There's nothing better than a netflix movie streaming on the ipad for baby Levi and I to enjoy together.

Meeting Von Miller

This weekend,we played the Baylor Bears and won! Our Aggie, Von Miller, now plays for the Denver Broncos and was the honorary team captain for this game. When we were walking to our car after the game, we saw him and he took a picture with us. Gig 'Em, Von!

The Pumpkin Patch

One of the churches here has a great pumpkin patch each year as a fundraiser. We love to go and play in the pumpkins, touch the pumpkins, take pictures in the pumpkins and then pick out special ones to bring home with us to carve. This year, I didn't want to cooperate because I was tired so this is what mommy was able to capture on 'film' to commemorate Levi's first pumpkin patch experience.

Happy Birthday, Sofia and Bella!

Our sweet friends, Sofia and Bella, had a joint birthday party today because their mommy is expecting twin girls in a couple of weeks and she didn't want to miss a party! So, we had a fun day at the park complete with a petting zoo and train. We were supposed to have the party last weekend but get this - after all summer with no rain and 105+ degree weather - it rained!! Bittersweet I suppose because we need the rain in a bad way but the party had to be postponed. It was a much better weekend for it though so I think it worked out for the best.

Levi's big boy crib

Well, it's official. Levi is in his big boy crib and no longer in mommy and daddy's room. The cradle he's been sleeping in is getting too small and so mommy thought she'd transition him to his room upstairs over the next week or so. No transition needed! He went to bed straight away and never made a peep. Truth be told, mommy would have put him up here a week or so ago but she's been really afraid of what I might do. She's had monitors for us when we were little but for Levi, she went out and bought a video monitor to not really watch Levi, but to watch me and make sure I left him alone. He he - I'm sure I'll figure out a way around that one. Welcome to your new room, Levi Love.

Levi is 5 months old

Today you're 5 months old and each day, you get to be more fun. You're starting to find your voice and we can tell you're going to be a talker. Maybe not as much as Tatie, but you'll definitely be able to hold your own. You're getting more control with your head and body and aren't as wobbly as you were even a week or so ago. Hands! Wow - you've discovered them and they're becoming very useful when you want to reach out for a toy or pull the pacifier from your mouth 100 times. You haven't yet discovered your feet but will soon enough. Tate and Tripp are a bit more entertaining to you and they've been able to get you to laugh on more than one occasion. Tate still tends to be a little rough but little man, I promise we're working on that. She just loves you so much! She always wants to hold you and kiss you and feed you and just love on you. You're a lucky little boy. Drool is constant and you're always chewing on your hands. I don't see any teeth budding yet but maybe it's coming sooner than I expect. I feel like I've lost a battle with a water fountain most days with you but I'll take the slobbery 'kiss' any day of the week. You're sleeping through the night from 7 to 7 for the most part and do pretty well with your naps - unless Ms. Connie has you. She doesn't make you take naps because she says you're 'not tired'. Ah, we love Ms. Connie. Overall, you're a laid back little fellow and I love seeing your happy little face each day. I look forward to watching you grow and figure out this world around you - all while loving you with all of my heart. It's been a great 5 months!
Love,
Mommy.