Cotton-pickin time and other random adventures

It's that time of year when most of the cotton fields get plowed and picked. The kids were pretty excited to see and touch the cotton, but they couldn't understand why they couldn't eat it. They figured if it came from a pod, they could open it and eat it.

I took the kids to an air and car show. It was really a lot of fun and they enjoyed it. We'll have to try this more often! Darci wasn't sure where to look because there were so many things for her to look at.

This yellow one is like the one I took a "ride" in as a teenager.

We had a memorial for my Grandpa Tom, who passed away this last March. We had it at my Aunt's beautiful house in Tucson. Grandpa Tom would've loved that car show!

The water was freezing, but it couldn't stop them.

Cousins!

I've tried several chore charts through the years and have somewhat narrowed it down to these. Now I just have to laminate them, because stickers for 3 kids times 10 or so chores each day is too many. I think a dry-erase marker would be better. Basically they get a sticker for doing their chores and when they break the rules, they lose one of their stickers. At the end of the week, they get a penny for each sticker they have left. It's not much, but it works for them.

Other random things... Derek came home the other day with green ink all over him under his shirt and had no idea how it got there. He has lost another tooth and there's another one thats close.

I signed up to volunteer to teach Derek's art class every few weeks (didn't really know what I was getting into) and this time we made Dragon faces.

I finally got them all established at a new doctor (one that Tad grew up with, so Yay!) and got their updates weights.

Derek (7yrs) 48lbs
Kevin (4 1/2) 38lbs

Paige (4 1/2) 33lbs

Darci (22 months) 23lbs

Other random sayings....

Derek while trying to explain why Tad is not as tall as his brothers says, "daddy is not tall because he was born sideways"

We had chili one night for dinner, and during breakfast the next morning, Kevin has to run to the bathroom. I then hear him yell, :Mommy come here. Look.. my dinner just came out of my butt!". Yes, it's true... corn does not digest very well.

A few minutes later Paige left the table. I asked her where she was going and she said that she was going to the bathroom because she wanted to see the dinner come out of her butt too.

Oh, what fun.

Candy, candy and more candy

We got this big pumpkin and Tad carved it and I completely forgot to get a picture of it before it rotted out.

Everyone else got their own pumpkin to color on with markers. Carving one is enough for me!

Since Derek is obsessed with How to train your dragon, that's what he drew on his.

Nana had 3 cute chefs outfits that she was nice enough to let us use this year for Halloween. So Paige and Kevin were chefs. Darci was going to be the 3rd one, but we couldn't find the costume, so I had to dress her up as a pumpkin again. I think she was a cuter pumpkin this year than last year!

Derek insisted on being his dragon for the 3rd, yes 3rd, year in a row! The outfit was definitely smaller on him this year, but he says he's going to wear it again next year too! We'll see about that. Kevin really wants to wear it too! It's so great, these kids are saving me money!!

Paige also wore her wig for one of the nights and was a pretty girl chef.

Darci was such a cute little stinker and kept sneaking suckers when I wasn't looking.

Darci absolutely loved getting candy. In fact, that's her new favorite word. She loves suckers the most but will eat anything if she thinks its candy. I offered to carry her pumpkin a few times, but she refused to let it out of her sight.

Since I had 2 costumes that fit Darci, she was also Whinnie the Pooh disguised as a bumble bee.