Playing catch-up

It's been a crazy time around our household.  There's much that has occurred yet I haven't blogged about any of it.  So, this post will be a major catch-up post.

So, last November we had family portraits taken by my old college room mate who is now a photographer.  Here's some of the pictures:

We also went to Kevin's parents house for Thanksgiving dinner in November.  It was nice to have a great dinner with the extended family. The boys always love playing with their cousins. We even spent the night there and then we went to a movie with the cousins -- Megamind. I wasn't fond of the movie, but the boys loved it.

Then, of course came Christmas. It was a very busy time of the year. I sing in our church's choir, so I was busy with practices for that. It was a beautiful Christmas choir program this year. The songs really brought the Spirit to the meeting. Brandon and Edward also had a little Christmas program at their school.  Brandon's class recited their rendition of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. It was pretty cute and involved the school instead of a house. Edward's class sang Jingle Bells and they had cute little bell costumes on that they'd shake every time the sang the chorus.

We have a tradition of going Christmas caroling and delivering baked treats to those we carol to. This year we ended up putting off going until Christmas Eve. We ended up leaving a lot of plates of goodies on doorsteps since so many people weren't at home. We did actually get to carol at one house and everyone else who wasn't home later thanked us for the goodies.  These are the baked goods that I made:

Meringue Snowflakes and Names

Sugar Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

Thumbprint Cookies

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

Brigadeiros

Chocolate Crackle Cookies

Peanut Butter Blossoms

On Christmas Eve, Brandon and Ed get to open up their Christmas jammies.   normally buy them, but this year I decided to try my hand at sewing them. They absolutely loved them.

Then the Sunday after Christmas I played my flute with a couple other women at church. We played O Holy Night. It had been years since any of us had played so it was interesting to get back into it. It turned out nice.

Now we are almost done with January. I can hardly believe where the time has gone. With the new year comes resolutions, of course. Kevin and I are both trying to exercise more, while not stressing too much if we miss days. Eating healthier and reading our scriptures are also on the list. Kevin decided he wants to learn how to use throwing stars. He's starting with some throwing knives, but needs to wait until it's a bit warmer and can practice outside.

I recently ran across a blog for birth mothers. The birth mother who created the blog is collecting blankets so she can donate them to local adoption agencies to make sure the birth mothers don't leave with empty arms after placing their baby for adoption. I though this was wonderful, especially since she's been there. I have a ton of fabric, so I think I'll be sewing some blankets up for this special cause. I am awed by the strength birth mothers have and I respect all birth mothers greatly.

Halloween Fun!

Okay, so I know it's technically the day before Halloween, but around here, if Halloween falls on a Sunday, it's celebrated on the Saturday before.  We also were celebrating yesterday as well with school parties and Kevin and a work party for the whole family as well.  Brandon and Ed got to trick or treat around Kevin's office and then we had chili.  Since Kevin's work is making the new Monopoly video game, they have a giant Monopoly car in the office that the boys just had to have their picture taken in.

Darth Vadar and Bumblebee in the Monopoly Car

Then today, we went to our church's trunk or treat and Halloween party.  It started at 11am and we got to have chili or soup with corn bread for lunch while we chatted with everyone.  We also had a little costume parade for the kids before the lunch. 

Edward was the Transformer, Bumblebee

Brandon as Darth Vadar

Then all the parents that had volunteered to have a candy trunk went out to prepare their cars.  We didn't decorate our trunk,  but a lot of others did.  I sat in the back and handed out treats to the little kids while Kevin took the boys around to the other trunks.  Kevin and I even got dressed up for the occasion. 

Tami was a 50's Hop Girl

Kevin was everyone's favorite sparkly vampire!

Carving Pumpkins

Brandon and Edward went to two different pumpkin patches on school field trips this past Friday.  I was able to go with Edward and he just loved being able to choose his own pumpkin and go through the hay bale maze. 

Edward in the hay bale maze

Mom, I think I want this one.

Never mind, Mom.  This is the one I want!

Okay, actually, this is the absolutely best pumpkin ever. 

Today was finally the day that we carved the pumpkins.  I had bought a couple extra at the store so Kevin and I could join in the fun.  It sure is a messy endeavor to clean out those pumpkins and a lot of work actually carving them, but it was well worth it.  The boys loved poking the holes along the pattern lines so that I could carve the design that had chosen or drawn.

Cleaning out the pumpkins.

Look, Mom!  It has a lid!

Yep, it has a lid.  Kevin is so goofy!

Kevin and Brandon

Brandon and Edward

I think our carved pumpkins turned out quite well, if I do say so myself.  Kevin chose a howling wolf, I chose a spider in a web, Edward chose a bat on a gravestone, and since Brandon's pumpkin was a bit too small for the patterns, he drew a funny face for his.  Next time, I think I'll choose a less complicated design for my pumpkin as it took a long time to cut every little piece out.

Pumpkins after being carved

All lit up

Kevin's howling wolf

Tami's spider

Edward's bat

Brandon's face

A Rescued Kitten

Several weeks ago, we noticed two kittens on the trail by our house.  There was no mama cat around and they hadn't been there prior to this.  It led us to believe that these poor little kittens were dumped.  I took them food several times before deciding to try to catch one of them.  He was kinda leery of the kitty carrier, but the want of food outweighed it.  The other kitten was about to get in the kitty carrier as well, but the first one started growling at it, so it backed off.  I was able to shut the door of the kitty carrier and we rescued the one that got in.  A neighbor of ours caught the other one a couple weeks later, so they are both being well taken care of. 

Our boys loved helping me catch this little guy and just adore him.  We named him, Bandit, since his face markings look kind of like a mask as well as the fact that he stole our hearts.  He has the loudest purr I've ever heard.  Of course that might just be because our full grown cat, Oscar,  has the absolutely quietest purr I've ever heard from a cat. 

Our little Bandit

At first we weren't sure we were going to be able to keep Bandit, because Oscar wasn't very happy with another cat being in the house.  It took less than a week for Oscar to get used to Bandit and now they are best of friends.

Bandit and Oscar taking a nap by each other.

Edward holding Oscar and Bandit

Soccer!

Soccer is a big thing in our house.  Both of our boys play in a local recreation soccer league and we love attending REAL soccer games as a family.  As part of the recreation soccer fee, we could opt in to purchase discount tickets for the boys.  We decided to do so and this past Saturday was the night of the game.

Our family at the game.  It's hard to take a picture yourself and try to get everyone in.

The actual REAL soccer game.

Tami and Kevin at the game. 

Brandon cheesing it for the camera.

Ed wanted to draw while watching the soccer game.

The REAL soccer team seemed to be having a harder time this game.  They ended up tying the game during the added minutes at the end.  We all had a fun time together and hope to be able to go to another game soon.

Here's a couple pics of Brandon and Edward playing in their soccer games.

Brandon's ready to jump in if his teammate needs him.

Brandon trying to keep the ball away from the other team.

Brandon kicking the ball.

Edward kicking the ball.

Edward running to get the ball away.

Family Game Night

We love to play games as a family.  On Sundays, we usually spend the afternoon and evening playing various games with each other. 

Brandon, Tami, Edward, and Kevin playing Sequence for Kids

Brandon, Tami, Edward, and Kevin playing Sorry!

And since it's almost impossible to take photos of us doing things as a family, here are some out takes since we had the camera on a tripod and the boys are goofballs.

Edward, Brandon, and Kevin being goofy in between games.

Kevin caught Tami pulling a weird face as we played Sequence for Kids

Edward couldn't resist posing for the camera.

Kevin is so silly and also couldn't resist posing for the camera.  So very silly.