"Spooktacular Fun"

Today was Halloween, and it was a beautiful Sunday that we shared with our neighbors here on Cressmont. We started out this morning just hanging outside and enjoying the cool air and warm sunshine. We've been waiting so long for fall weather. Miss Jodie and I decided she would make her chili and I would make mummy dogs for dinner. So we laid that plan. Later that afternoon we started carving pumpkins. Bella and Grace and their mom and dad, Dolly and Matt joined us for this tradition. They usually do fake pumpkins, so Bella was excited to get her hands dirty and carve a real one. Landon, you chose your pattern and I showed you how to score it. You did a good job, until your attention span ran out. Shelby, you wanted nothing to do with the pumpkins at first; then you got into playing with the pulp in a bucket. Hey, whatever! When it was all said and done, it was me, Miss Dolly and Mr. Matt that carved the pumpkins. Well, they carved their plastic pumpkins, since Miss Dolly wasn't into the gooey pumpkins! It took us a little longer than expected, so we worked down to the wire, and then went down to Miss Jodie's for dinner. While we were there, trick-or-treaters started coming, so we raced home to get in our costumes. Then the excitement really kicked in! Landon, you looked awesome in your Batman suit with those big muscles. You'll have muscles like those when you grow up! (You're very concerned with being strong and growing big!) Shelby, you made a great Foofa from your favorite show, Yo Gabba Gabba. We had to alter the headpiece a little. You won't wear hats, including Foofa hats, so I made you a little flower clip to go in your hair, and you were fine with that. Then we loaded up in the wagon to start collecting our loot. Bella, Chloe, Grace, and Landon were all seasoned trick or treaters, but it didn't take you long to get in the swing of things, Shel! You looked so cute waddling up, dressed like a pink marshmallow, with your bucket. You knew exactly what to do. We made the loop through our neighborhood, and then headed back to Miss Jodie's. Shelby, when you went in with your bucket, you plopped in down on the table, as if to say, 'whew, that was fun, but a lot of work too.' You big kids took turns scaring each other. Mommy got in on the fun too, and let out her evil laugh when y'all were unsuspecting, sitting in the dark in Chloe's room. After several episodes of screaming and laughing, we decided to call it a night. We have school tomorrow, after all.

"Pirates A Plenty!"

Landon, today was your preschool Pirate Party. This is the big celebration that the PTL puts on for you kiddos instead of a Halloween party. It's a great party filled with all things pirate. You all dress up in full pirate garb, and first have a pirate snack. This year it was peanut butter and jelly 'sail' sandwiches, a cache of 'rubies' (red grapes), breadstick 'bones,' goldfish crackers, and the cutest cupcakes that I made to look like pirates. Then we all proceeded down to the fellowship hall for all the games. There was Pin the Treasure on the Map, Walk the Plank, Exploring the Dark Cave, and Go Fish, just to name a few (I made the boat backdrop!). And Shelby, you dressed up too and thought you were one of the big kids. You all had a great time, even though it seemed like mass chaos!

"Trunk or Treat Time!"

This afternoon we went to Trunk or Treat at our church. Landon, you wore your batman costume, but Shelby's Foofa was a little temperature inappropriate. It was 80 something degrees! First we did the cake walk, and then that got pretty boring, since we never won anything. So, we moved on to the trunk or treating. Landon, you've done this a couple of times, so you knew what to do, and it didn't take long for Shelby to catch on. She would go straight for tootsie rolls, which seem to be her favorite, anytime she was given the choice. We played a few games, played on the wooden "ark," and went on the hayride. It was a great prelude to the rest of our upcoming Halloween activities.

"Welcome Miss Nola La Vie"

We have decided to get a puppy for you two to grow up with. Daddy wanted a dog that would hunt, and Mommy wanted a dog that wasn't a beast, since it would live inside. One of Daddy's friends has a Boykin Spaniel, and after doing some research, we decided this would be a great smallish family dog and hunting dog. Daddy found a breeder in Greenbriar, Arkansas that had some pups to be ready this month. Today, Daddy and I drove over four hours to pick up our new "baby." She is really precious! We decided on "Nola La Vie" as her name for a couple of reasons. Nola for our love of New Orleans, and La Vie means the life in French. I threw it out there only because we were getting her close to Me-Me's birthday, and we sometimes call her 'LaVie' due to the crazy misspellings of her name on junk mail! So, Nola La Vie it is! Landon, you couldn't wait for us to get back, and you and Shel, Poppie and JuJu were waiting in the driveway for us when we returned. You two were so excited. It was love at first sight! We know she will grow up to be a great addition to our family!

"No More Monkeys Jumping Off the Couch"

Ok Landon. We made your fourth trip to the Emergency Room in your short four years of life: 1st with pneumonia, 2nd with Rotavirus, 3rd with the bunk bed concussion, and now 4th with an extremely busted lip and displaced teeth.

Let me back up. This Thursday evening, we were winding down for the night watching a little tv, waiting for Daddy to get home from work. Shelby was getting fussy, so I decided to get her bottle ready and put her to bed. I was in the kitchen doing just that, when I hear a scream. I didn't really think much of it; you've been "screamy" lately, when Shelby touches your toy, or is in your way, or has something of yours. I did not realize what kind of situation we were dealing with until you rounded the corner, and there was blood EVERYWHERE! I didn't know what had happened, but immediately saw that it was coming from your mouth. I checked your teeth which were still there, just shifted a little. It was your lip that was so bad. It was completely torn and jagged. I felt weak. I knew this was going to require stitches. Once we got the bleeding under control, JuJu came to get Shelby, who was very concerned with the drops of blood on the floor and Daddy and I took you to the emergency room.

We had the greatest doctor, a mother four times over herself, who was so kind and "kid-friendly." She really made the whole thing much less scary. The worst part were the injections to numb before the stitches. You screamed bloody murder, all wrapped up in the papoose board, with Mommy under the drape holding your hand and trying to talk you down. It was a horrible experience and nine stitches later, it was over; until the next day when we saw the dentist. They did x-rays and your top, front three teeth were displaced into a crossbite, so they were going to have to be removed. Dr. Crawford thought it would be best to wait through the weekend to let the lip heal some before we did the procedure. This meant I had an entire weekend to worry about the heavy sedation with verset, the pain of the extractions and healing, and how your beautiful smile would be prematurely affected by "snaggletoothedness." It was a LONG weekend for me, needless to say. You were a champ though.

So, on Monday morning we went back to Dr. Crawford's office for the "procedure." They are so great there; you were not at all concerned. You drank your medicine (Verset), and it wasn't long before you started acting a little loopy. Dr. Shannon did the dirty work. She popped those little pearls right out. I tried to be strong and not look because teeth pulling is not my thing. There was lots of blood and crying, but it was over. You didn't wail for long and were eager to get back home to recouperate with lots of jello, ice cream, and pudding. We picked out your prizes and loaded up in the car. And the greatest part? You didn't remember a thing!

You in your silly glasses waaay under the influence still

Healing up well a few days later

"The Great Pumpkin..Unloading"

Every year, our church sells pumpkins to raise money for missions. They are driven in on an eighteen-wheeler all the way from New Mexico. This year, because they arrived late and on a weekday afternoon, the church needed all the volunteers possible to help unload the many pumpkins. We decided that they could certainly use our brawn and brute strength to get this job done. All the volunteers formed a line in 'bucket brigade' fashion to pass the pumpkins from the truck down to the pallets, where they would wait for someone to pick them to buy. Landon, you were a great help. You were right there in the line, receiving and passing pumpkins. Unloading the small ones from the pickup truck was a better job for you; those others were so big! Shelby, you helped a little, but mostly just ran around amongst the pumpkins. It took all of us working together about two hours to unload just under a ton of pumpkins. Just goes to show you that with a little teamwork and God as our leader, we can do anything!

"Revel Days Are Here Again"

Growing up here in the Shreveport Bossier area, Mush and I always enjoyed going to the Red River Revel in October. It's an art festival with live music and plenty of activities for kids. This was y'all's second Revel experience. One of the great things about the Revel is the delicious food. Smoked turkey legs, muffaletta pizza, shrimp skewers, and meat pies are just a few selections of the fare offered. Having you two kiddos, we dined on roasted corn, chicken tenders, corn dogs, funnel cakes, and sweet potato fries (over the course of several hours, mind you). Another is all the beautiful art done with all kinds of media by artists from all over the country. We didn't have too much time for that kind of thing, however! After we noshed a little, we made a beeline to the children's area. First up was bottle sand art. Landon, you were eager to make a "friend" for your bottle that you made at last year's Revel. Next up: face painting. Now, face painting has come a long way since my days at the Revel; where once there was the measly selection of a butterfly, sunshine, or some other pretty basic picture, there is now whole face painting complete with glitter by an artist. You chose the dalmation, and the transformation began! You were still as a stone as she worked her magic. It was amazing once she had finished; and the "tongue" that she painted hanging out of your mouth was too much! We didn't do your's, Shelby, because we knew you would never sit still. From there, we headed next door to the Brookshire's grocery store exhibit. You both loved this: pushing the little shopping carts around, gathering groceries and then checking out. Then it was on to the archaeologist's mock dig. I didn't think you, Shelby were going to have anything to do with it, seeing how she despises sand so much. But once you saw that you could, in fact, stand up and it wasn't going to kill you, you had a great time! You both sifted and poured searching for the "hidden" crystals, shark teeth, and gemstones. Landon, you did a couple of art activities: you painted a clay pot and made a fish out of model magic. On our way out, you spotted the ferris wheel and wanted to ride. It was 50 feet tall, and you were certain that you wanted to ride. We hopped on, and right off the bat, we were zoomed to the top where we stopped. I had fully prepared myself for a complete meltdown, but you were exhilerated with excitement. You smiled the entire time! Shelby, you were not real thrilled with us being way up there though; you cried and waited with JuJu. By that time, we were all getting tired and reveled out. So we picked up a couple of funnel cakes "to-go" and headed back home. Another great Revel experience!

"Card Carrying"

Today after school we went to the Bossier Parish Public Library to get your official library card. We just had to fill out a little paper work, and then you tried to sign your name. It ended up just being an 'L,' so I wrote the rest. Then we all made some great book selections. You thought it was so cool that we didn't have to pay for anything! You are a card carrying, library using, pre-reader!