mirror mirror in the haze

Enjoy these pictures from a hazy day on the way to work. I have always liked the look of water when it appears to mirror landscape.

more sunsets

I don't want to bore the heck out of you with a bunch of pictures of sunsets, but lately, they have been amazing with the different colors of pinks, purples, oranges and reds. I love finding different places to take pictures.

Plus, Jayden hates having his picture taken. I try to get pictures of him looking at the camera and he gets so mad. I'm hoping to get some pictures of the kids this weekend.

Tonight, Joseph is in the field with his dad and Shaylee is spending the night at the church at a lock-in. She's pretty excited to go to that. I'll have to see what tomorrow brings.

thin ceilings

I don't know what to write as my mind is blank. Could be from all the sex I had to listen to today at work. Ya, you read that right. My office is in a house that has an apartment upstairs. Well the walls ceilings are beyond paper thin, so thin I can hear conversations. Except today, I didn't hear conversations, but something else. Aye yi yi. Any suggestions what to do next time? I thought about slipping a little note under their door with a link to my blog so they could read it, or pounding on the ceiling with a broom, or just flat out telling them to shut up. Anyhow, sure makes my work day interesting.

Onward.....how bout' this beautiful sunset? Taken from the driveway of a good friend.

I'm thrilled tomorrow is Friday and a shorter work day for me. I'm also very excited for the weekend, the following 3 day work week, and then another 4 day weekend. Something to look forward too! Although that 4 day weekend means I have to stuff my face with everything possible need to watch what I eat instead, which will be difficult. But I know with my mom being there, that she will set a good example for me, like I will her.

layouts

Playing around with some layouts for pictures.

Had I done this one different, I would have swapped places with these two pictures.

a deer or two

I have two squirrel friends outside my office who have been there since the day I got my job. It's fun to watch them run and fly from tree to tree, eat corn cobs, and play with each other. This little guy was having a tasty snack after work today.

Yesterday I took my camera with me to work in hopes of finding some interesting pictures along the way. Sometimes I think I'm bringing it to take pictures of the deer I might hit with my car...because I've never hit a deer before or another vehicle for that matter, at least not as a driver. So if that day should come, I'll want to document it...because that's what I do. Let's just hope you don't see pictures of something like that on here.

Ok, off that little bunny trail. Anyhow, on my way home I stopped to take a lot of pictures, but those will come in different posts. I did get some really neat pictures though. As I drove closer to Sinai, I was on the look out for deer because the sun was going down and I was in an area where I have seen deer before.

I drove to the cemetery on the west side of the road and thought to myself, "how clever to put deer decoys in a cemetery", but then they started to move. It was surreal. I drove past, but wondered if they might still be there. So I whipped a cookie on the road and went back.

Doesn't it look like a decoy?

And here is what I saw initially when I pulled to stop. Of course I was snapping lots of pictures, not of high quality, but more to use as proof of these amazing creatures that I rarely see alive. I was mesmerized by them and I think they were curious about me. They ran towards me, stopped, went around in circles, ran back, came towards me again and then started to take off.
I lurched forward and pulled into the entrance of the cemetery. By this time the deer were moving a bit faster and leaving the cemetery. With my zoom lens maxed out, I still managed to get a shot or two of them jumping over the fence.

Considering I am not a hunter, have never walked a field or sat quietly waiting for a deer, this was the highlight of my evening. I found precisely what I was looking for.

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I did not catch my daughter up on the roof wanting to help my husband hang Christmas lights. She, of course, did not ask to go up there and I would have certainly said No.

I did not find my 2 year old crawling under the back of my car to get his ball (and yes I was sitting right there to make sure all was well). I did not have a small talk with him about how that is unsafe. And he did not cry because he got mad.

I did not take off my nice, tighter fitting shirt, and put on a big comfy hooded sweatshirt when I found out we were eating at Applebee's, just to cover up my fat belly when I overate. Nope, not me!

I did not procrastinate on writing up my Not Me Monday because I am on top of everything all the time.

I did not sit here this morning and try to recall things that I did not do this week. That would be ridiculous!

I do not have a huge growing pile of laundry that accumulates daily. And my bathroom is not about completely covered with another pile of dirty laundry that I refuse to pick up. That would be so dumb of me to not pick those clothes up to just prove a point that I'm tired of picking up the bathroom.

beautiful day

What a beautiful day we had today. A fun day to be outside and enjoy the fresh air.

Running and playing outside.
Investigating intriguing things found.

Watching others.

Observing nature's finest creations.

People watching.
Hanging Christmas lights (or starting to).

Stopping to smile for the camera.

Everyone enjoyed the weather today. We put Stewie on his 30 foot cable and played. He went for walks. The kids ran. The adults worked and took pictures. The kids played ball. The adults worked and took pictures. The kids played with the dog. Well, you get the picture. We were all outside having a glorious day!

tonights tidbits

First day of a 3 weekend is completed already and it sure was a busy one. We started out the day with Jayden's speech therapy session. It went ok, other than his tantrums he threw during it.

Then the retired guy from Slumberland came to look at our bedroom furniture. It's only a month old and two of the drawers are broke. The screws are stripped out and the boards broke. They claim this has never happened before. Anyhow a few quick minutes later and he said we need to order new drawers. Duh.

After that, I received a phone call from the clinic letting me know that they had gotten a very limited supply of flu shots in and to call and make an appointment. That was the biggest fiasco. I pulled the kids out of school and took all 6 kids in. Happy to say, that all of my kids are now up to date on both shots. Jayden will have to get one more H1N1, but it was too soon today to get him one.

I came home and got the kids back in school and continued on with the day around here. The girls went roller-skating tonight. Shaylee said she was going to hold Dillan's hand tonight. Oh my gosh. I am not ready for this to begin.

Not sure what tomorrow will bring. Hopefully something fun.

so excited

If you follow me on Twitter, then you may have seen a tweet I sent out earlier today stating how excited I am.

Early Head Start applied for an expansion grant back in July. We were told we would hear in September, then the end of September, then October, then the middle of October, and then in December.

Today we heard. And we got that grant. Why does this mean I am so excited? Well, there is a very very high probability that my job will be moving to Brookings. Not so much my job. But EHS would add another position to Brookings, making it possible for me to transfer over.

So yes, I am excited. Had we not gotten that grant, then there would have been no hope for me to transfer and I would continue commuting 35 miles one way to work.

I do not know the time frame when I will find out, but it should be soon. First step was being awarded the grant, second step is figuring out how exactly to use the money and where the needs are highest. There is a large waiting list in Brookings, so chances are very good.

turkey

I've seen 2 turkey's like this that are made out of a hay bale this week. They are super cute and sit along the side of the road or near a driveway. From what I could see, the back feathers are made from 2x4's. I'm assuming that's what the feet and head are made of too. The other turkey I've seen is cuter than this one, but I didn't have a camera with me at the time.

he did it again

I love driving to work in the mornings when I can catch the sunrise. I never have to fight the sun in my eyes because of the directions I travel. Yesterday, the sky was lit up in so many colors making it absolutely amazing. Then I came over a hill a few miles later and the huge orange sun was peeking up over the horizon.

Onto a different topic, can I just tell you that he did it again? You know. Pooped in the tub. Yep, second night in a row and once again my husband was gone so I got to deal with it again tonight. I'm off duty tomorrow though as work calls me late on Thursdays. (smile) Never thought I'd be so happy to work late! But yay me, it's a break!!

which way is up

Tonight feels like another night where I can't tell which way is up and if I'm even heading in the right direction. I'm doing it alone, again, which seems like it's happening more often than not lately because my husband is in the field helping his dad. Not that I'm bothered by that, however, the part that bothers me is not being able to keep my head above water with our six kids.

By the time I get them picked up from daycare, pick up supper (Papa Murphy's), get home, unload the kids, turn the oven on, it's after 5pm and then I realize I have forgotten to pick up the boys at BASE. And I'm alone. No older children to watch the younger two while I run to get them. Ugh. On the contrary, as I was getting ready to leave, Shawndra came home with the dog and I was able to leave her in charge for the 10 minutes it took me to get them.

I finally get home, throw the pizza in the oven, run downstairs and measure Devin's room to see if the bed will fit a different way, and then start moving the furniture back into her room. We finished carpeting it last night around 11pm, thanks to my wonderful husband who can accomplish anything.

Back upstairs to pull a pizza out of the oven and put another one in. A large family eats lots of food, so yes, 2 family size pizzas were cooked. I get everyone fed, in between the phone ringing, the dog barking, the cat hissing, and me about going insane.

I throw the younger two kids in the bath, leave the bath water running a bit too long, and before long it's up to their chest. Holy smokes, that's a lot of water. They liked it. 10 minutes later, Devin screams out, "Vaaaalllll, Jayden pooped in the tub!" Oh great. Mike is always always the one that deals with that job and here I am. So I start scooping the turds into the cup, dump them into the toilet, watch the kids squirm to get away from the ones that act like they are alive, scoop some more, turn on the shower, clean them up, and get them out. Wowzers.

The boys go downstairs and before to long one comes back up to tell me the pumpkin fell off the window and broke on their floor and it stinks. Well, I'm still in the middle of eating, so I tell him to clean it up and I'll be down in a bit. About an hour goes by and I finally drag myself downstairs to start some clothes and I about puke at the smell. What on earth could it be? Oh man, it was the worst smell ever.

That's when it happens. Dalton tells me it's the pumpkin and it was rotten. So here I go again, dejavu from Saturday. I pull out the vacuum, vacuum their floor, clean out the carpet cleaner because it's packed full of rotten orange carpet from Devin's room, then start scrubbing the heck out of it with the carpet cleaner. In the meantime, I'm delegating other tasks to other kids. I feel like I'm not gaining any ground. But I am thankful that it was someones chore to clean the kitchen.

I go to take a picture of Devin's room, but my zoom lens is the only lens here because my car is at the farm with my smaller lens. I manage to stand back kind of in the girls room with my head hanging out the door as far as I can possibly be to snap a picture.

Oh it's been quite a night. And I only hope it gets better from here.

Happy Birthday Joseph

A small birthday celebration for Joseph was held tonight after supper. He turned 9 today! While blowing out his candles, two were still lit. I was told this means he has "two girlfriends". I don't think I'm ready for that day.

Opening one of his presents. This one had to be one of his favorites.
Happy Birthday Joseph!

another spontaneous decision

I had another day today that led me into a very spontaneous decision. Do you remember several months ago when I posted on my issues about those decisions? So, here's the deal, when we bought the house, we transformed a very small room into a bedroom perfect for a 3 (now 4 year old) by adding a window to it. This room had very ugly, orange shag carpet, that had a slight scent to it. Off and on for the past year, I've noticed that smell and I've really hated it, but lately, the smell seems to have gotten worse, so today I pulled out the carpet cleaner and scrubbed the heck out of it. I put the fan in the door way, opened the window and let it dry for hours, except the smell was worse.

So.....I decided heck with this, I'm ripping this carpet out. And I did. I yanked and pulled, heaved and hoed, until the carpet was out.

One problem, almost all of the padding stayed on the floor.
I started scrapping and pulling. The padding was only coming off in little tiny pieces. At this rate it was going to take forever. Then, Shawndra came in and asked if I wanted help, so she started pushing and pulling.

I ended up going to town for the third time today and get some new blades for the scrapper and I picked up some chemical stripper. When I got home, Jayden had decided he was going to help too. He's such a good helper.

I put some of the stripper down and worked in a different area. Then I went back to that are where the chemical stuff was at work and realized that it wasn't coming off much easier. In the meantime, I started feeling burned. Here I had gotten myself into the wet chemical stripper in my capri's and flip flops. I tried wiping it off with my gloves, which I think had the stripper on it too, spreading it into more areas. I went into the bathroom and ran some water on it and man did that hurt!

So that was it. I told Shawndra to get out of there because she was in shorts and no shoes. I'll deal with the mess tomorrow. Besides, my hands are extremely sore from the pliers, putty knives, and scrapers. Maybe I've even got blisters forming.

The status of the room? Well, we have maybe 1/4 of the padding up. I did buy a remnant for us to lay down once we get the padding up. Then we'll decide if we're going to cut into the wall to make a closet or not.

All in all, another very spontaneous decision has left my house awry. Considering I spent the entire morning getting after the kids to help clean, you can't even tell we did anything. There's a bed, box spring, frame, headboard, dresser and clutter all over every where. Wow. What a crazy day! I'll post more pictures tomorrow of the progress. I'm just glad that ugly orange carpet is gone.

101 Ways To Get Kicked Out of Walmart

1.Ask to get kicked out/banned.

2.Walk in wearing a chicken costume and harass people

3.Walk up to any one in the store, and say “Your a wizard Harry.”

4.Stand up on a clerk counter and sing Freebird

5.get a friend to stand on the clerk counter and sing a song while you chant “Freebird!

6. Run around nude.

7. Bomb threat.

8. Re-dress the mannequins as you see fit.

9. When there are people behind you, walk REALLY SLOW, especially thin narrow aisles.

10. Walk up to an employee and tell him in an official tone, “I think we’ve got a Code 3 in Housewares,” and see what happens.

11. Get several of those frogs (that croak when somebody walks by) from the Garden Dept. and place in strategic locations throughout store.

12. Play with the automatic doors.

13. Walk up to complete strangers and say, “Hi! I haven’t seen you in so long,” etc. See if they play along to avoid embarrassment.

14. While walking through the clothing department, ask yourself loud enough for all to hear, “Who BUYS this junk, anyway?”

15. Repeat Number 14 in the jewelry department.

16. Ride a display bicycle through the store; claim you’re taking it for a test drive.

17. Follow people through the aisles, always staying about five feet away. Continue to do this until they leave the department.

18. Play soccer with a group of friends, using the entire store as your playing field.

19. As the cashier runs your purchases over the scanner, look mesmerized and say, “Wow. Magic!”

20. Put M&M’s on layaway.

21. Move “Caution: Wet Floor” signs to carpeted areas.

22. Set up a tent in the camping department; tell others you’ll only invite them in if they bring pillows from Bed and Bath.

23. Test the fishing rods and see what you can “catch” from the other aisles.

24. Ask other customers if they have any Grey Poupon.

25. Drape a blanket around your shoulders and run around saying,”I’m Batman. Come, Robin, to the Batcave!”

26. TP as much of the store as possible.

27. Randomly throw things over into neighboring aisles.

28. Play with the calculators so that they all spell “hello” upside down.

29. When someone asks if you need help, begin to cry and ask, “Why won’t you people just leave
me alone?”

30. Make up nonsense products and ask newly hired employees if there are any in stock, i.e., “Do you have any Shnerples here?”

31. Take up an entire aisle in Toys by setting up a full scale battlefield with G.I. Joes vs. the X-Men.

32. Take bets on the battle described above.

33. Hold indoor shopping cart races.

34. Dart around suspiciously while humming the theme from “Mission: Impossible.”

35. Run up to an employee (preferably a male) while squeezing your legs together and practically yell at him ” I need some tampons!!”

36. Try on bras in the sewing/fabric department.

37. Try on bras over top of your clothes.

38. Attempt to fit into very large gym bags.

39. Attempt to fit others into very large gym bags.

40. Say things like, “Would you be so kind as to direct me to your Twinkies?”

41. Set up a “Valet Parking” sign in front of the store.

42. Two words: “Marco Polo.”

43. Leave Cheerios in Lawn and Garden, pillows in the pet food aisle, etc.

44. “Re-alphabetize” the CD’s in Electronics, while headbanging & playing air guitar to Willie Nelson demos. (Bonus: Braid hair & tie bandanna around head).

45. Make a trail of orange juice on the ground, leading to the restrooms.

46. When someone steps away from their cart to look at something, quickly make off with it without saying a word.

47. Relax in the patio furniture until you get kicked out.

48. When an announcement comes over the loudspeaker, assume the fetal position and scream, “No, no! It’s those voices again!”

49. Pay off layaways fifty cents at a time.

50. Drag a lounge chair on display over to the magazines and relax. If the store has a food court, buy a soft drink; explain that you don’t get out much, and ask if they can put a little umbrella in it.

51. Try putting different pairs of women’s panties on your head and walk around the store casually.

52. Turn on toys that make noise or talk at random intervals, and leave them in strategic locations.

53. Leave small sacrifices or gifts in the hands of the mannequins.

54. Nonchalantly “test” the brushes and combs in Cosmetics.

55. When two or three people are walking ahead of you, run between them, yelling, “Red Rover!”

56. Look right into the security camera, and use it as a mirror while you pick your nose.

57. Set up another battlefield with GI Joes vs. Barbies. (Red lipstick might give an interesting effect!!!)

58. While handling guns in the hunting department, ask the clerk if he knows where the anti-depressants are.

59. While no one’s watching quickly switch the men’s and women’s signs on the doors of the rest room.

60. Fill your cart with boxes of condoms, and watch everyone’s jaws drop when you attempt to buy them.

61. In the auto department, practice your “Madonna” look with various funnels.

62. Hide in the clothing racks and when people browse through, say things like “the fat man walks alone,” and scare them into believing that the clothes are talking to them.

63. Beg the greeter for those happy-face stickers. Stick them on your face, then stand next to him and copy whatever he says when customers walk in.

64. Go to an empty checkout stand and try to check people out.

65. Get a stuffed animal and go to the front of the store and begin stroking it lovingly, saying “Good girl, good bessie.”

66. Try on every pair of shoes in the shoe department. Take the paper from the boxes and throw it in various aisles.

67. Ask other customers if they have any Grey Poupon.

68. If you’re female: Take some men’s clothes to the mens fitting room and ask to try them on. Act shocked and insist “But I AM a man” if the attendant says anything. If you’re a man, vice versa.

69. Get boxes of condoms and randomly put them in peoples carts when they aren’t looking.

70. Lurk in the cosmetics department and spray people with a bottle of strong perfume as they walk by. Lean in and sniff the, then wave your hand in front of your nose and saying “P-eeew! That perfume stinks!”

71. Plastic fake-vomit and fake-dog doo can be utilized effectively here.

72. Go outside to the payphones, call the store and ask them to page customer “Mike Hunt” (or “Harry Butz”, etc.)

73. Stand in front of the Preparation H. Ask everyone who walks by which hemmorhoid remedy they prefer, then launch into a detailed description of your own problem.

74. While you’re doing that, have white-out & markers handy. Modify the boxes of “Anusol” by covering up the “OL” on the logo.

75. Crawl around on the ground and pretend that your a cat. Meow when people walk by, rub up against their legs, etc.

76. Take a chair to Electronics, tune in all the TV’s to Young & the Restless, and watch while sobbing loudly.

77. Chase your friends up and down aisles with those electric cars. Make sure to tell your friends to act like they don’t know you.

78. Ride the little rides for toddlers. Fit the character; if on a horse, act like a cowboy, etc. If a little kid comes over wanting to use it, start crying.

79. One word: STREAK!

80. Excesively use anything thing that says “Try Me”.

81. Start pocketing any and all free samples.

82. Walk up to the customer service and say “Hello, I’ll have a Quarter Pounder with cheese, large fries and a diet coke.” Then go to Mc Donald’s and try to return a toaster.

83. Start to madly scratch yourself and walk up to people asking where the rash cream and lice remedies are.

84. When alone, have loud conversations with your “multiple personalities”.

85. Tune all the radios to a polka station; then turn them all off and turn the volumes to “10″.

86. Try on crazy costumes and walk casually through the store.

87. Act suspicious and stick your arm in your jacket when leaving store. As you’re walking through the doors act like you’re expecting the alarms to go off. Then quickly look around you to see who’s watching and run away as fast as your can.

88. Balance EVERYTHING you see on the tips of your finger, your nose, your forehead, and the top of your head while singing the circus song.

89. Put jockstraps in the lingerie department.

90. Put lingerie in the men’s department.

91. Put super sexy women’s lingerie in old men’s carts when they turn around.

92. Stand in the sock aisle, and give each package a stern lecture.

93. Spend hours staring at a little blinking light and say “blink” each time it blinks. Don’t look away, just stay mesmerized.

94. Put condoms in the mannequin’s hands, and cigarettes in their mouths.(Safety warning: Leave cigarettes unlit.)

95. In the Garden Dept., skip through the flowers while holding your arms out and “buzzing”.

96. With friends, stage a “sit-in” in all the bean-bag chairs in Furniture Dept.

97. Walk up to a guy and say “It’s YOU!!! I haven’t seen you in so long!!!!” and kiss him, then say “Why didn’t you ever call me?” and walk away. Much more effective if you’re also a guy.

98. Stand next to a mannequin and pretend to be a mannequin too. Try to hold the same position for as long as possible.

99. Start singing oldies songs in the megaphone.

100. Ask everyone in “Electronics” “Do you know what CD this song is on? I don’t know the name but it goes like this:”. Then sing loudly, and don’t stop until somebody throws you out.

101. Bark while trying on dog collars. Have a friend lead you around on a leash. Better yet, whinny while trying on horse tack and a friend holds the reins.

friday night

At some point over the last few years, I have crossed the threshold into becoming old. I swore it would never happen to me, but it did. I mean I'm not grey (yet), but my favorite thing to do is to be home.

Here it is, Friday night, and my hubby is in the field and I would rather be here, sitting in my pajamas like I am, instead of out doing anything else. I looked at the clock and it was only 7:30 and all I could think about is going to bed. But I can't because there are still kids up who have a later bedtime than me.

Tomorrow will be a day to brush the dust off the camera and put it to use. I hope it's as nice as today!

Not much new in this house. I'll find some pictures tomorrow to post about. :)

finding my sanity

Is it bad when I try to find my sanity sitting on the toilet with the door locked? And then I can hear the craziness going on outside the locked door. The dog chasing the cat, the cat howling in prissiness at the dog, Jayden chasing the dog who's chasing the cat, Devin who's chasing Jayden who's chasing the dog who's chasing the cat, Shaylee practicing on her flute, the boys playing cars, the TV talking, dishwasher humming, and there I sit. On the toilet, praying for peace and a little sanity.

I just want to sit there and hide, bury my head in my hands, turn on the shower, and pretend I don't hear anything. And then I hear it. "It's hard taking care of all of us, isn't it?" My response was, "It's hard when everything is messy, everything is loud, otherwise, no, it's not that hard." Was that considered lying through my teeth? No.

My husband has turned into a farmer during all the hours when he's not at his full-time job, which has led me to being a single mom to 6 kids. Working full-time during the day and working full-time at night, alone, is hard.

I also find my sanity with my blog. It's a place for me to type my thoughts as fast as my fingers can type (which is pretty fast I've been told). There's no proofreading, just honest thoughts. As I type now, I hear nothing, except the dishwasher humming. For a split second I think, oh no quiet is bad, it always means they're getting into something. However, this evening, I have many small children in bed. Quiet. Peace and quiet.

I haven't even had time to take any pictures since Halloween. 3 full days my camera has gone untouched. I do plan to get the big guy out again soon, maybe tomorrow.

For that brief second all was quiet. Things have changed. The dog is chasing the cat, again. Can you see where this goes from here? What do you do to capture your sanity?

issues with private blog

Making my blog private has created issues for people getting logged on to read. It was never my intention to make it harder for you to read this. I've opened it up again until I can figure something else out.

It looks like each reader is supposed to have a Google account to log in and if you don't have one, then you'd have to sign up for one. Sounds like additional heart ache that isn't needed.

Maybe I can try moderating the comments....hmmm....food for thought.

Oh, on a wonderful note, our house is healthy! No more fevers, no missing work, no missing school, and no more trying to keep certain sick kids away from certain healthy kids! This is exciting. We still have some coughing, but hey, I can handle that!!

Stewie

At the Hobo Day parade, our family noticed a dog in the parade that was part of the Brookings Regional Humane Society and found out he was up for adoption. We didn't have time to go meet him last weekend, so Mike and I headed there yesterday to see him. I really didn't have intentions on getting him (beforehand). Then we met him and we both fell in love.

He is a puggle, which is a pug and beagle mix. He is about 2 years old and is the most affectionate, well behaved dog we could ask for. They told us he has a lot of energy, but I think having 6 kids, he is the one who is worn out. He has his own little quirks, like his tooth that catches his lips more times than not...
and the way he lays down is quite cute. He always has his back legs spread apart.

As much as we love him, our cats are not so sure about him. In fact, we had quite the chorus going on yesterday with all the different sounds of the hissing and howling. Poor cats, they've been in hiding most of the day. I hope they can become friends because Stewie doesn't want or try to hurt them.

Our kids could not be more excited with Stewie. Of course, they've wanted a dog for a long time and we kept saying maybe some day when we have a house. It will be a long winter without having a fenced in yard, but we do have a leash that can stay in the yard. Next spring, that's the first thing on our agenda...fencing in the yard.

Stewie is his name that he came with. We don't plan on changing it because he knows it.

Happy Halloween!

Shawndra and Shaylee ready to go trick or treating.

(Look at the height difference between them...hard to believe there is only 4 months difference in age.)

Vampire Shawndra. She said she wanted to be a vampire or a witch. She made a great vampire. I asked her if she ever wondered what she would look like with black hair and she said no. Well, that's her real hair. Looks good!
Cat woman Shaylee is what we decided to call her. It was tricky this year to explain to Shaylee that she didn't have to "be" somebody in particular, but that we could "make up" a costume. This was what I suggested and she really liked it, except for the itchy eye mask.
Jayden was a dragon again. While we were home, he liked wearing the skeleton mask with his costume. He cruised around from house to house in his car. That sure made the night go better. He would get up and walk to most doors, unless there was something scary. Jayden would take his candy and then I would tell him to say thank you. He said it, "ank oo". It was the cutest thing. He said it every time he was told.

We made a trip into town to grandma and grandpa's house. Dalton was Darth Vader. Jayden didn't care to have his picture taken, so he just roamed in and out of pictures.

Unfortunately, the other two kids were home with fevers. Sure was a bummer that they came down with the fevers before Halloween. We weren't even sure if Shaylee was going to go because she still has a bad cough, but her fever has been gone for several days.