Halloween

The boys had so much fun running all over the neighborhood. We went and picked up Heather and Patrick and their 2 kids Brooke and Hunter. We opened the back of Chris car and the adults took turns sitting back there with the kids. It was really funny because at first everyone was afraid to go to the doors except Brooks. He was really into the trick or treating. He was the first one to the door and when the other 3 saw that the coast was clear they joined him. Brooks was the first one done though. He rode in the car with daddy for the last 30 minutes. We have WAY too much candy in this house. I am going running first thing in the morning!

My day of rest

Today was going to be mostly a resting day for me. What was I thinking? I was busy all day, but the laundry is all finished and put away...........until tomorrow. I got a lot done, and I had a lot of one on one time with Brooks too. I even got my exercise in. Ivy's sister wanted to start jogging with me, so we get the kids on their bikes and take off. It is fun. Jax had two bike wrecks, nothing major, only because he was running his mouth instead of making sure he stayed on the sidewalk.

There isn't anything really exciting going on around here, but I did want to tell those of you with young school age kids about a website my friend told me about. It is starfall.com and it is an awesome website to help them learn. There are things for Jax and Brooks on there and they love it. Check it out!

I SURVIVED

Well, Chris has been gone 16 days. The good news, I survived. I am tired but I survived. Okay, he is on a plane right now flying to XNA. He is staying the night at the farm and will head home tomorrow. The coast is clear for me to let you all in on the surprise projects I have done while he has been gone. He will not have any internet available until he gets home. I decided I was going to work out every day he was gone. By working out, I have an overflow of energy and decided to tackle some major projects. The first one was cleaning out the garage and putting a decorative and durable epoxy finish on the floor. Here are several pictures:

close up before:

close up after:

My other project was staining the back porch with a semi transparent concrete stain.

I hung some curtains and did some furniture rearranging too. I know he is going to be so shocked. The boys and I are so ready for him to get home. He has been gone way too long, but the good news is the long sales meeting is done until next year.

Also, today was my first parent teacher conference. It went great. She said his test shows him way above where they want them to be and he is one of her best students. I am glad that I got a good report, you never know. I have to start working more with Brooks. He is learning but really is not very interested. He just wants to watch hunting videos, act out the hunting videos, hunt the neighbor children, or play hunting on the wii. Hmmm, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Jax the videographer

Every once in a while Jax will ask me if he can get the video camera out and make a movie. I totally let him because I get the most precious things that way. He takes off with the camera and then we watch it later. It is so funny. He says "action" and "cut" and I don't know where he learned that, but it is cute. So anyway, I went outside to water and clean up the back patio. When I came back in they wanted to watch it on the big tv. I plugged it up and we started watching. It is so funny, Jax coaches Brooks and Ivy just like we do them. Jax was asking Ivy questions. One question was "who do you love?" She said my mom and my dad and your mom. It was so sweet. Anyway, Jax's movie was great until Brooks got completely naked. Typical. He was really, really shaking it for the camera. I tried not to laugh but couldn't help myself. They didn't notice my laughing because they were laughing so loud. I will be keeping that video for future blackmail. I did explain to him that that was very inappropriate and I hope he got the message. I really think that I keep a pretty close eye on them, but when we watch back Jax's video's each time I find them doing something I was unaware of. Kind of scary!!!

Neglect in the neighborhood!!!!

I am so upset. As most of you know, I am pretty much raising the little girl across the street. Everyone keeps telling me to put a stop to it, but I just can't. I feel so bad for her and her sister. Tonight, like most every night, it is 9:30 and their parents still aren't home. I don't get it. I am so mad at them, but I can't say anything. I guess if I thought it might make a difference I could bring myself to talk to their mom. It wouldn't make a difference though. All she cares about is having a good time with her friends. My heart breaks for those girls. I am being used, but maybe it won't be in vain. Maybe I can be some kind of good influence, that is why I do it. Although, every day that goes by, I become more irritated. I just might go off on her one day. If I do, it has been a long time coming. We'll see. I'll let you know if I do. Chris wanted to tell them just what he thought a long time ago, but I wouldn't let him. You know, they are our neighbors.

Anyway, it has been a busy week. I have told myself that I am going to exercise everyday until I lose 10 pounds. I started Monday and so far so good. I feel so great when I am exercising a lot. Brooks is really getting into it to. He rides his bike while I run. Tomorrow Jax has to go with us. We will see how that goes. It usually causes a fight because they fight over who is in front.

I have also been shopping the last 2 days. The deals out there are amazing right now. I bought 6 swimsuits today for 50.00. Seriously. I am not kidding. Dillards had their swimsuits marked way down. Like 9.99 and 4.99 then I got an extra 40% off of that. I bought a lot of clothes for the boys for next year too. After school I took the boys to Academy. Jax has been wanting another pair of tennis shoes. He wears the same pair to school every day. They had several styles on sale for 50% off. We bought 3 different sizes. He is set for quite a while.