Halloween FUN

Planning for this Halloween began way back in January when the kids fell in love with Star Wars. At the time, I wondered if all three would still agree once October rolled around, but they were 100 percent locked in. This made my job super easy and although I am obviously biased, I think they make a pretty cute Star Wars crew.

Our Halloween fun festivities began last Sunday with the annual Good Guy Carnival at church. It's so fun to see everyone all dressed up in their costumes and the kids enjoy the games.Tonight, some friends came over and we had a nice chili dinner and then went Trick-or-Treating. After a dreary October, it certainly went out with a bang and blessed us with a beautiful mild evening. We hit a couple of Trunk-or-Treats and then headed to a neighborhood that typically goes all out for Halloween. Once again, they had a garage haunted house. The kids remembered it from last year and were pretty psyched to go again. Of course as we approached, they almost changed their minds, but with a firm grip on our hands, we made our way through. This year, I can say they really enjoyed it.

Baylor seemed a little sluggish all evening, but I thought he was just being Baylor. However, towards the end of the evening, he began to complain that he wanted to go home because his head hurt. As soon as I began taking him out of his costume, I realized he was really warm and sure enough he had a 101 temperature. Ahhh....

The End

We ended our fall baseball season today with victory, but more importantly it seemed that everyone had grown throughout the season. Our fall season consisted of Sunday afternoon games and a few practices. The games were more like scrimmages, in that the coaches were really able to take the kids aside and teach them when a moment presented itself. I have to admit that it will be nice to have our Sunday afternoons back, but I was a little sad today as I knew this would be the last time they would all three play together.

Delaney has inherited Rick's competitive genes. Her skills are improving each game, but more importantly the girl always gives 100%. She loves being in a position to make plays and takes direction very well. In fact she is so determined that half the time she tags a kid who is already safe. Somehow she always manages to entertain the crowd.

Jax is gaining confidence and he really wants to be a good ball player. His fear of the ball sometimes gets the best of him and he struggles to keep his eyes open as he hits. When he does get a hit, it is very entertaining to watch him run from base to base. He runs with great determination, just moving his little legs as fast as he can and pumping his arms. It's a very unique style, but it works for him.

Hitting the ball for Baylor comes quite easy and natural... when he's motivated. Motivation seems to be the key and as we all know, only Baylor motivates Baylor! It's pretty easy to tell when he's going to get a hit, just by the way he walks up to the plate. When he's in his zone, he has a great batting stance and can look like a pro.

Pumpkin Patch

I absolutely love fall and the month of October. However, this year mother nature has given us a big dose of cold, rainy, gloomy weather. Visiting the pumpkin patch is one of our favorite yearly traditions and I was beginning to think we may not make it this year. The clouds finally parted and the sun began to peek out, so on Saturday we made a trip to a near by pumpkin patch. As luck would have it, about the time we arrived the clouds moved in and it was a little chilly but the kids managed to have a wonderful time. For whatever reason, my camera did not like the lighting and my pictures turned out horrible.

The kids chose some rather large pumpkins this year. I always forget how difficult it is to manage all three kids with their pumpkins.

Break from Routine

This year the kids fall break and mine did not coincide. I was a little bummed at first but it actually worked out great. I was able to take them to school and pick them up each day, not to mention actually get a few major tasks accomplished. While we weren't able to spend fall break doing our typical fall traditions, we managed to enjoy each day with simple things. It was nice to do the ordinary little things with them that I don't always get to do when I am working. I even went to their school one day and had lunch with them. It was nice to concentrate on just being a mom.

One evening the kids decided to put on a concert. Typically they dance to music but this was all about singing their new favorite song, "Livin' on a Prayer," with a few added rock star moves. Sometimes moments like these are simply the best.

Dancing Diva

This year, Delaney joined Miss Tirita's Dance Studio, where her older cousin Brookelyn has been dancing for the past few years. Delaney takes one hour of ballet each week, followed by an hour of Jazz, which is a special performance class. This is an invitation only class, and Delaney is one of three new girls to join the Dancing Diva group, not to mention one of the youngest. She is absolutely loving it and has worked really hard to learn this routine in less than a month.

Today they performed at the Soap Box Derby festival in Sand Springs. It was a very chilly morning, but she didn't complain. They are only performing this routine with these costumes a few more times, so we had to make do with a costume from a girl who dropped out last year. However, even with some alterations it was still quite big. We are going to have to work on it a little more. Delaney did very well and we are very proud of her.

The girls have already started learning two Christmas routines, which they will be performing in November and December at various Tulsa locations. We will also travel to Branson in November, where she will open up for a show and perform at Silver Dollar City. Our little Dancing Diva is going to keep us busy.

Rodeo

I am way behind in making this post. A couple of Fridays ago the kids took a field trip to a Rodeo. This was the week of our return from vacation and we had so much going on that I really didn't have time to think about their field trip and wasn't even sure if they would get to attend. It worked out that they could go for a bit in the morning. The kids insisted on dressing the part. They pulled out their t-shirts and found their cowboy hats from VBS. That morning I was throwing together their outfit and trying to find some jeans which they hadn't out grown. We made a quick trip to Wal-Mart that morning to purchase some bandannas. I guess you can say we made do.