November 9, 2009

A Little Cabin in the Woods

Brandon and his dad have wanted to buy a cabin on some land or find a good lease for hunting since we moved back to Texas. Brandon has said many times that some of his best memories as a young boy were made on the lease they shared with his grandfather and cousins. Early this Fall they found and PawPaw bought the perfect place. It's only about a 40 minute drive from our house which I love! The boys- especially Zachary- have been so excited and counting the days until we get to go spend the weekend there. What I've loved even more, though, has been seeing the excitement from the bigger 'boys'. I am so blessed to have a husband and father in law that adore my kids and spend so much time doing fun stuff with them.

Here we are all loaded up to head out for the weekend:
The perfect cabin. I want to come up with a good name for it...suggestions welcome.
The boys love to build a fire and sit by it. I do too!
Cooking their own dinner
Dinner by the light of a lantern
Gathering more wood Saturday morning. Zachary cut down 3 trees by himself for more firewood. He was in heaven!
Trent has the eye closing down when spraying the bug spray. Apparently he's gotten OFF in his eyes one too many times.
We rode 4 wheelers a lot over the weekend. This picture was taken at 8:30 on Saturday morning and I was the only person with him....so guess who got to get him unstuck!
We popped 4 bags of popcorn over the fire during the 2 days that we were there. My kids love it!
After an unsuccessful morning in the deer stand we decided to take a hike through the woods to see what we encountered.
Please note the duct tape on Brandon's boots...
Dear Santa, Need new boots.
Yes Trent is holding a machete. He was the official path clearer.
I love this picture
Surprisingly we saw nothing on our hike. Can't believe it...you could only hear us coming from a mile away! Trent reminded us to 'whisker' a hundred times. Not only can he not pronounce it, he can't do it either!
Best buddies

I enjoyed lots of relaxation. We had a great nap fireside after our hike.
What a fun weekend enjoying God's creation and spending family time. Brandon's parents joined us on Saturday evening and James cooked a delish meal of chicken fried deer steak and fried potatoes. I made an early exit that night and the big boys (including Zachary) stayed one more night. Trent and I went home to the comforts of our house.

There were no animal casualties at the cabin over the weekend, but I do have one to report on the home front. Bo, our old as dirt Lab, took our rabbit count from 3 to 2 on Sunday. Busted his old head right through the cage door and took Thumper to his/her death. Trent and I were home alone and it won't go down as one of my favorite parenting moments. He briefed KK on it this morning, "Bo deaded our rabbit." He also told me, "I'm so mad at that dog. We should take him to the pound!!" I am not real crazy about watching the helpless animal die, but I do have to admit that I'm OVER the rabbits. When I texted my friend to let her know about Thumper's death, she replied "I can't think of anything good that has ever come from a rabbit."

I'll have to agree.

November 4, 2009

Halloween 2009

Our family had a fun and busy Halloween this year. We took the kids to the festival at our church and then headed to The Price's house for their annual party. Teresa made the cutest snacks and decorations this year.

Trent dressed up as a pirate. We were planning to be an entire family of pirates, but....

Zachary decided to be a hunter (with IPOD)
Corey and Nicole as Mr. and Mrs. Clown. Corey's tie squirted water and he was very proud of it.
A Fairy, a Clown, a Pirate Momma, an Angel and PocahontasThe kids jumped in the bounce house, played on the giant slide, rode a hayride around the neighborhood to trick or treat, ate lots of junk and had a BLAST!
Teresa fixed goody bags for all the kids and Trent loved this disguise that was in his bag.
Another great Halloween!!

Hippity Hop

Our bunnies are still part of the family. We have gotten them out and given them a little more freedom. Luke is very interested in them, but hasn't attacked...yet

Halloween School Festivities

I helped with the Halloween rotation at Zachary's school last Friday. The kindergarten classes rotated between each class and did a fun activity with each teacher. The kids in our classroom made a mask. Here are some of the kids in Zachary's class:




Trent went with me for the afternoon. He loved making and modeling a mask, too.
Eventually he got his brother's nap mat out of his cubby and took a long nap.
These are the treats I sent for Z's Kindergarten buddies
I made these rice crispy treats for T's classmates. That is white chocolate with food coloring on the top of them.