Happy Halloween!

Our boys all dressed like army guys for Halloween. They each wanted camo, but notice how all three of them have a slightly different pattern and color. And Cody's wearing a flight suit. Awesome!

They were so excited to get into their costumes, finally get to try out their toy guns (I wouldn't let them play with them until tonight for fear they'd break...and a good thing, too, as Luke's fell apart soon after its removal from the box but luckily Anthony was able to fix it with duct tape), and head out for some trick or treating.

Wait, what? What do you mean it's not time yet for trick or treating?

Listen lady, we didn't get all dolled up like this for nothing. Say it's time for trick or treating. SAY IT!

 

 

So it *IS* time for trick or treating? That's what we thought. Hooray!

We stopped to visit Luke's preschool teacher (who also taught Cody for 2 years) who lives just down the street from us. The boys look forward to trick or treating at her house every year, and it's always such a fun visit.

We stayed out for about 45 minutes but the boys got tired quickly and really wanted to get home to take stock of all their loot. But it was a great night, and our little army was a big hit!

Happy Halloween! 

Hey Rangers! Need a Pitcher?

If our hometown team (and hopefully, after tonight, World Series Champs), the Texas Rangers, are ever looking for a pitcher...I know someone who might be willing to step in! ;)

Cakeballs

A friend in Jackson's class brought cake balls as a birthday treat last week, and Jackson suggested we try making our own over the weekend. He looked up the recipe online and couldn't wait to get started!

He followed the instructions on the cake box and made the cake all on his own. Then we cut the edges off, because the recipe suggested that the edges don't crumble very well.

Next, he dumped the cake into a bowl and crumbled it all with his hands.

Then, we added chocolate frosting, and he mixed that in by hand, too! 

This smile is well-worth the mess!

Once everything was all mixed up, Jackson used an ice-cream scoop to make the balls.

Then we refrigerated the balls overnight so they were pretty solid. We melted almond bark in a glass bowl, and used toothpicks to dip the balls in and cover them with the chocolate.

Our first attempt doesn't look very pretty, but take a look at these satisfied customers!

What a fun project! And now to decide what flavor to try next time...

Swing Batter Batter Batter!

We have been all about baseball at our house lately! Between the Rangers in the World Series and Jackson's practices and games, we just can't get enough. 

Here are a few pics of Jacks from a game 3 weeks ago...a couple of action shots at bat, and then one of him looking a bit bored in the outfield.

And then, 2 weeks later, you can see we had some different weather because Jacks is wearing long sleeves under his jersey! But these are fun because you can actually see the baseball in a few of them (he hit them, but they went foul). He looks so big and tough here! 

Here's Jacks, AKA "Slugger," Dodgers #26.

Jacks and one of his good friends and teammates, Stephen.

And I just had to share this....Anthony has been an assistant coach on Jackson's teams for the last few years, but he coached at the last game because our head coach couldn't make it. And guess what? Under Coach Anthony's leadership, the Dodgers got their first win of the season!!!!

He looks so big and tough here, doesn't he? ;)

Go Dodgers! Go Jackson! 

Cody = Student of the Month!

Cody's teacher picked him to be the September Student of the Month for his class. The SOTMs are those who best demonstrate their school motto of being respectful, responsible, life-long learners. Yay Cody!

The Students of the Month from all the classes around the school come and stand in the hallway before the Spirit Assembly (which celebrates the SOTMs), and they cheer and wave pompoms and signs as the classes all walk into the gym.  

Here's Cody waving his clapper....

Cody was nice enough to let Luke stand next to him and cheer, although he doesn't exactly look thrilled about it, does he?

Do you see how much bigger Cody is than the other First Grade SOTMs standing next to him?

Our school mascot is a tiger.

So at the Spirit Assemblies, all the kids have Tiger Paws that they wave around. Paws up!

Here's the VIP section where the SOTMs sit. Cody's in the front row, 3rd from the right. Again, he looks kind of underwhelmed about it all, don't you think?

Cody really doesn't enjoy all the attention. He's proud of himself, but he doesn't like everyone looking at him and he feels really uncomfortable about it all. Whereas Luke, if he ever is chosen for something like this, will be leading a freakin' conga line of SOTMs across the stage. LOL It never ceases to amaze me how different siblings can be! 

Cody has just been wowing us all in First Grade. Not only was he chosen as his class' first SOTM, his teacher also sent us "Tiger Mail." It's an email to parents celebrating a kiddo's accomplishments, and the teacher cc's the principal on the message. Then the principal calls the student down to the office for a more personal recognition and a little prize (a tiger pencil). 

Cody certainly is Tigerific, and we're very proud of him!