In search of Fall Foilage

My friend Doris was looking for some beautiful Fall foilage. We tried down by the lake. Unfortunately, mostly evergreens were planted around the lake.

Almost immediately, Aussie fell into the mud. I had planned to go to the Y, but at that point I knew I would have to go home first. The boys played in the water getting very muddy. I think I washed Aussie's shirt 3x to get the mud off of it.

I guess since he already was muddy- he had NO FEAR.

Abby called Ashley.

Ashley was sweet for the first bit and posed for a few pictures. But it wasn't long and she started to feel sick. I had been sick and she was feeling the same way I had.

I snapped a few more pictures and then we had to go home, she was just too sick.

Halloween Night

I can not even believe it has been this long since I have blogged here.
This is Halloween night. We went to another trunk or treat at a local church.
It was not as good as ours, but they did have one really fun thing and that was a train ride.

Mason was Robin from Teen Titans again this year.

What a cutie patootie!

Ashley was Princess Zelda. Daddy made her a crown.

Aussie was Catlink. I was able to make him some ears this time. He is so creative! (Just like his Mommy)
And I just wanted to dress up too. Who knows what I am. I was just having fun!















It was chilly that night. We spent a little bit of our time inside the church, just trying to warm up.

I guess I should have showed them how to hold a golf club at least.

After trunk or treating we stopped by Dana's house for a quick stop. I wanted to see her boys in costume and my kids wanted them to see them dressed up. They had these cute pumpkins on their porch.

Her boys dressed up like Mario and Luigi.

I wanted to get the kids pictures on this cute bench Dana had set up.













Dalton insisted on getting a picture with Ashley. He re-arranged the bench and had Ashley sit in the middle. I don't think Ashley was too happy about it.

Then I got a picture of all of them. Or at least tried!

The next day Ashley got and email from Braxton. It said, "Dalton is in love with you and wants to go on a date with you."

Ashley just replied back, "No thanks."

Poor poor Dalton!

Bobcat Badge!

The first step in cub scouts is to get your bobcat badge. The boys earned their badges Thursday. It had been a really Topsy Turvy day Thursday, a real Murphy's Law kind of day. I ran out the door to get them there on time with no make up on not knowing that I would have to participate in the ceremony and be in any pictures. I'm sure I was a real site to see driving down the street holding Aussie's boy scout shirt out the window hoping it would dry on the way there.

But hey this isn't about me. I'm really proud of my boys!

Each color of paint on their faces represent something.

BLUE is from the sky. The paw print of the Bobcat on your forehead is the spirit of the bobcat. This reminds you to do your best on the Cub Scout Trail.

YELLOW is from the sun. The marks under your eyes will help you see the light of the Cub Scout trail and they symbolize the bright spirit of Cub Scouting.

WHITE is for purity. The mark on your nose helps you know right from wrong as you go along the Cub Scout trail.

RED is for courage. The mark on your chin reminds you to always speak the truth.

GREEN stands for the spirit of nature. The marks on each cheek will guide you to live in harmony with the great outdoors.

Then the boys painted MY nose.

WHITE is for Love and guidance, your parents are always with you in your heart and in your spirit. They will always do the right thing and will help you achieve all your Scout goals and keep you on the track of life until you are a man and can soar with the Eagles.

Then they had some "ceremonial punch", which the boys did not drink, since they don't like juice or punch of any kind.

Then they were awarded their camping badge. They were very tickled about getting these badges, especially Aussie. He strives to be the best at everything.

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They are given the bobcat badge upside down. Then they have to do something helpful for their parent. Then the parent will turn it right side up and sew it on the pocket. Mwahahaha! I've got them cleaning MY room. :)

Meet Mongo

Meet Mongo...
This is Mongo. He was created quickly for a birthday party with a Monster Mash theme.
This is actually the original Mongo. He was updated slightly for the second party. Greg wrote this book and we (Greg, Ashley and I) worked hard to color and bind it in time.

Greg here: Mongo is not an evil monster, he's really very friendly and optimistic, but he's not very bright. Before Mongo reads his story to the kids, he says, "Mongo has to make decisions. Sometimes, Mongo makes good decisions. Sometimes, Mongo makes bad decisions. When Mongo makes a good decision in the story, you say 'Good job, Mongo.' When Mongo makes a bad decision, you say 'Bad idea, Mongo.' Now, here's the story Mongo wrote and drew called Mongo's Day." As you'll see, there were a lot of kids saying "Bad idea, Mongo!"