Thankgsgiving

For Thanksgiving this year we went to Trav's Sister's house for dinner.

 Rose has a nice house for this type of event.....

 She had a room set up for just the kids, with toys and video games and movies that they could watch.

 I made these two shirts that morning, so we could all match in our Turkey Tshirts! Although the day got away from us before we could take a family picture with them on.

 

Brittney

 Then Rose had bought some cool little toys for each of the kids to play with, although I think they got some help playing with them as well.

 Then us "women" were in the kitchen cooking. I must say I did VERY LITTLE, but was willing to help wherever I was needed. But April and Cindy had everything under control.

 Rose (Trav's sister)

 Derek (Rose's husband) he had some drink mix, although I forget the name now...

 April (Trav's sister)

 

The only picture of me from that day, as the camera woman....I am willing to make that sacrifice! 

 

Rose and Derek's dining room is the PERFECT size for all of us! We had a kid's table set up and an Adult table, then off in the other corner a buffet of all the yummy food! 

 While we women were in the kitchen, the men were suppose to help "watch" the kids! I must say that they did a good job! No fighting and no one got hurt!

 While waiting for dinner I helped the kiddos make "placement" cards for their spots.

 Brandon was mostly concerned with eating and playing....Brandon, Sierra (April's daughter) and Nathan

 Kimball, Brittney (April's Daughter) and James.

 After dinner we all retired to the living room to watch a movie, I believed we watched the Sorcerer's Apprentice. It worked out good, the kids played in their room and we chilled on the couch and floor.

 After the movie we had our YUMMY pies and then retired for the evening. It was another wonderful holiday! I do hope that we continue to have Thanksgiving at Rose and Derek's place, it was a lot of fun!

James

 

So here is Mr. James. 

He is officially my second Cousin on my Mom's side, and Trav and I are offically his Foster Parents. 

We started off by watching him daily for a month then he started to stay with full time. 

 I can't say it's been WONDERFUL - I think the hardest of everything is getting all the boys to get along. Take a child where he was the only one and had his own toys to a house full of boys and having to share everything. The worst is James and Kimball fighting. Since Kimball is only 4  months older, they are constantly competing with each other.

 So we have been together for about 2 months now and I think  James is starting to get the hang of our rules and how things go. But I am pleased with his progress.

I am not 100% sure how long James will be with us, it will depend on how much process his parents make and how long it takes them to do everything the courts want them to do. It could be as little as 6 months to a year. Regardless we are happy to have James with us.

Halloween

Still back in October....

 Nathan was invited to his first friend's birthday party! It was a Halloween themed mask party. I rushed to finish his costume and we got a small mask to go with his costume so he had a mask.

The poor guy fell asleep before the party! I was busy working on the other kids' costumes but was able to get a few snap shots of him! He had a lot of fun there, which makes me VERY happy!

 I had to share this, the boys wanted to decorate our front door, so took a trash bag that I had cut up for another party and put it on our front door. Nathan was very proud of his decorating.

 As we do every year, we went to Grandma Walker's house to do her ward's Trunk-r-Treat. So before we went I tried to get some pictures of the boys before it got dark. 

 Yes I made all three of the boy's costumes. It wasn't took hard but the feet! Holy cow, I couldn't understand the instructions worth beans! Then when I bought the fabric they didn't have enough so I had to be a little frugal and cut some corners in areas.

 

Here are the boys "acting as dinosaurs for me".

 

They were good sports for me as I took pictures....I think they are getting used to the fact that Mommy wants "lots" of pictures. 

 We then did the trunk- r- treat, there were TONS of people there and unfortunately we didn't get very much candy. With the economy no one can afford to spend $$ on candy to hand out.

When we got home we went to a few houses in our area, not many but enough. Since we weren't home most of the night, we didn't get a since trick - r- treater! Oh well, Trav took the candy we bought to work and shared it. Overall a good Halloween!

Playing Catch Up

I don't know about many people, but I like to consider my blog as a type of Journal. So I try to put everything that has gone on, whether with me or my family. Since the last 3 months have been busy and out of control I am now trying to play catch up! So let's step back in time and go back to October again!

Brandon's 3rd grade class was able to go to a local pumpkin patch. I was able to go (which made me so happy) and was in charge of 3 other kids during the field trip. It wouldn't have been so bad but another Mom was there and I got to listen to her complain about her "love life" the whole time. (Seriously, to a total stranger!)

Spiderman!

I love his tongue sticking out!

Overall we all had a great time. I was glad when it was time to go home, for being the in the mid- October range it was sure hot!