countdown to candy!

This year for Halloween

 he says he doesn't want to trick or treat

anymore

and I'm just a little sad

he changes his mind

and

we encounter a true zombie

{I know it's a little gross, but he loves all things Zombie, right now
 and HE loves how he can really look like one}

...

Things are in full swing

and I am happy and excited

First we stop by to see our wonderful neighbors

Ray and Paulette

{who love Sam to pieces}

look at Ray pretending to be a zombie

cute.cute.

Then we head on over to my sisters

for our traditional Halloween night out!

She has all the fixings for chili and potato soup

to fill our bellies before heading out on a cool night

Brad gets all the kids faces/makeup ready

Not the cute.sweet.costumes. 

they wore when they were young

but I'm okay with all the blood and gore

they loved it


After the traditional trick or treat route ...

{minus Logan & Dalton, they were out with friends}

where we get to see some of our old friends

that we usually only get to see on this one night

every year

... we headed home to 

count/dump/trade their loot

Everyone had a  fangtastic time

I love this Halloween tradition

I love that our entire family comes together, to see the boys

I love how all the adults walk together, while the boys run from house to house

I love

every.single.bit.

I am so not ready for this trick or treating tradition to come to an end

Makin' Waves

This is one of our favorite parts of 

summer

... swimming with the boys ...

 Plenty of:

laughing

splashing

jumping

dunking
racing

Oh so much noise

and i love every. single. minute.

Peyton was doing his own thing today

He doesn't want in on 

who can make the biggest splash

and

he doesn't want to see 
who can swim the fastest to the end of the pool


He is into his new snorkeling gear ...
{he cracked me up all day long}

We are trying to
keep it cool by the pool

Gardening with Grandma

My mom had this great idea,

she wanted to help the boys start

their very own garden

She set up a little area in her yard

and asked the boys what they would like to grow

maybe some things that they would really like to eat

They decided on strawberries,

cauliflower, jalapeno peppers

squash and bell peppers

They all were surprisingly excited

talking about how they can't wait to watch it all grow

and to be able to pick and eat their own food.

I love this for so many reasons:

such sweet time spent learning with Grandma

so good for them to weed, water & take care of their own plants

it's super cool for them to learn to be resourceful

It's what memories are made of
Thanks for being so awesome, Mom!

Grandpa even got in on a little of the action!



Easter

One of my very favorite holidays ...

this year held even a little bit closer

to my heart

I wasn't sure how big our celebration would be

since Grandpa is not feeling so great

{he just finished another round of chemo}

We went to Grandma & Grandpa's

and to my surprise

he looked and felt great!

We all ate a big lunch and then

 we headed outside for the Easter Egg Hunt!

What a gorgeous day!

We all opened a few gifts and read cards

 had a few emotional moments

and relaxed and just enjoyed hanging out

with family

Happy Easter to All

Always Remembering ...

Our daily lives can be so busy

work, school, sports, appointments, etc

sometimes it's hard to make time to get together

but today, we make time

for our families to be together and

celebrate Grandpa/Dad ... together.

It's so important to me and to Shannon

and I think it is really important for the boys

they all miss him so much

Red.Blue.Yellow to represent KU

of course

Purple to represent Pancreatic Cancer

for shannon and i

little notes attached

we release them to ... Heaven

Then we're off for a delicious dinner at Stroud's
Daddy's favorite place for all of us to eat together

I know that he is there with us

We all enjoy this little ritual so much
the remembering and the together-ness

I hope we are never to busy

to remember

Rock It Sam

{sam/kayla ~ we love this girl}

We heard about an open jam session at The Office

so we thought we'd check it out

.

we weren't sure what to expect but,

Sam was really excited

.

he talked about it all week

that Tuesday morning and

as soon as he got home from school
.

we texted Kayla to see if she wanted to meet us too

some of her band was going to be there

.

The band played a set then took a break

and the open jam session began ...

.

Sam went right up there and played the first song!

.

A song that he had never even heard before

they told him what they were going to play

Tracy Chapman's Give Me One Reason

.

he listened to it on the ipod

over and over

until he felt that he had it

.

Brad was nervous

.

he rocked it!

.

we were so proud

bursting at the seams proud

.

he loved it and wanted to keep playing

.

I think we will be trying to make it to those open jam sessions

a little more often!

Spring Break

we are so excited for spring break

and having nothing to do
well ...

not anything that we have to do

we did pack many fun activies into the week
.

The Bounce House at Zona Rosa
with Taylor and Grant
.

I love these kids and it makes my heart happy
at how much they all love each other
{lots of laughter & giggling going on}
.

First time at Yogurtini

deee-lish

it's a self serve, lots of flavors, lots of toppings

kind of yogurt place

.

We will be hitting this hot spot all summer long

We even did some community service ...

.

Logan/Peyton/Sam/Dalton/Mason

all sorted food at Harvesters for 4 hours

.

dirty work and lots of fun

makes my heart swell

.

such good kids

Sam did a lot of rip sticking

We all went to see Kayla's big debut ...
Unlimited Blues Band

WOW, were they amazing!

12 on the drums,

15 on the guitar

15 singing

16 on the bass
{just kids}

.

seriously incredible

We still managed to stay up late and sleep in

every. single. day.

now we are ready for summer break

... can't wait ...