Harvest Hoedown

Instead of trick or treating in the very chilly weather, we opted for our church's annual Harvest Hoedown event.  They do such a great job of making a fun night for the kids.  They have tons of yummy treats, bounce houses and other inflatables, carnival games, face painting, and much more.  This year's theme was Heroes, so Ryker dressed as Batman fit right in.  Originally, Aunt Kate, Uncle Dave, and Hudson were going to come along too, but Hudson was sick, so he rested at home instead.  We did get a few pictures of them all dressed up before we left though.

First up was the costume judging area.  Grandma and Grandpa Sheepie have been judges for the past several years.  Camden saw Grandma and took off around the table to see her. :-)

Next up, per Ryker's request, was the face painting.  He was so excited to get a Batman mask painted on.  He kept asking throughout the night if it still looked good.  He was afraid of smudging it or sweating it off. 

Complete and oh so happy!

Next up, was creating some sand art.  He loved this and had a great time with it.

Robert was in class tonight so I had both boys by myself. Trying to keep Camden entertained that whole time was no walk in the park.  He was less than enthused with having to stay in one spot.

So the preschool bounce house was exactly what he wanted!

Then it was time for a few games.

Ryker loved this frog flinging one.

Then, he wanted some cotton candy.  They line was pretty long and I asked him if he was sure he wanted some.  He responded, "Ummm, yeah, I've never tasted it before because you dropped it on the floor last time."  I suddenly remembered getting some of the last of the cotton candy at the end of the night last year and dropping it on the ground before he could eat it.  I couldn't believe he remembered and asked, "How do you remember that?!!?"  He quickly said, "Because I know how to rememeber things!"  I should've known!  This kid can tell you specific events from over 2 years ago.  It's a little scary actually.  I'm afraid he'll never forget all the times I do him wrong...uh oh!

Since most of the activities were geared more for Ryker, Cam didn't get down much.  I was trying to make it more fun for him...he wasn't feeling it.

Tasting cotton candy for the first time ever ;-)

Then he got a balloon animal.  This bumblebee is pretty cool!

Grandma and Grandpa shared a few snacks with us before they headed home for the night.

Ryker played in one of the bounce houses for a bit and then we headed home sweaty and tired. Overall, I'd say it was a great Halloween.

Brown Family Pictures

We recently had family pictures done with Robert's family.  Robert's parents are celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary this coming March and we thought this was a perfect Christmas/anniversary present.  They turned out great and I wanted to share a few of them here.  The pictures were done by Jessica Dingledy Photography at Ft. Harrison State Park.

LOVE this great group shot.  The trees were beautiful!

There is an even better family shot in the ones she put in the gallery, but this is the one she put on Facebook.  I say that because I don't love this image of me, but my boys look super handsome. ;-)

LOVE this picture of Camden.  His beautiful blue eyes look amazing with that shirt.  Ryker is a complete goofball, but he's pretty stinkin' cute too!

Robert and I both agree that we look tired in this picture, but it's still sweet. :-)

To see her blog post, click here. You can even see all the pictures in the gallery.  (Hint: The password is my hubby' name. :-))

Preschool Halloween Party

Today was Ryker's Fall party at school.  I signed up to help out.  Jessie over at This is the Day! headed everything up.  All I had to do was bring drinks and show up to assist.  She had some great games prepared for everyone.  I had Camden and Hudson with me and Jessie had her newest addition, Sawyer, and one of the other mom's Meghann, has a little guy, Zach, who is just two days younger than Cam all there too.  Needless to say, with 24 preschoolers, 2 toddlers,and 2 babies it was a bit hectic.  The kids seemed to have a great time though!  I didn't get many pictures though.

They had to dress up as a community helper or what they wanted to be when they grow up.  No surprise, Ryker wanted to be a vet.  I borrowed the lab coat from my cousin and made him a name tag that said, Ryker A. Brown, D.V.M. :-)

Here they are getting ready to pray before snack.

Enjoying a pumpkin cookie.

Ryker's buddy, Cooper, was a vet too and I tried to get a picture of them today with no success.  They were chasing each other around running away from me.  It was pretty funny. :-)

Trick or Treating

We typically do our trick or treating before Halloween.  We take the kids around to see the grandparents, great grandparents, and usually an aunt or uncle or two.  We had a full day slated for today.  First up was Grandma Thacker's.

This is the one and only picture I got with my camera before my battery died...oops!

I switched over to my phone and was fine.  Playing the piano is always a favorite at Grandma Thacker's

Camden's 1st Kit Kat...he was a big fan!

Ryker found a flashlight and was pretending to be a dentist.  Grandma was a great sport.

Next up was Aunt Karen's. Cam was sound asleep so he shared his hat with Daddy. :-)

Aunt Karen and Batman

We finally laid Cam down after a bit so Robert could see something in Karen's garage. He tried to return the hat...

He finally woke up for a photo opp.

Aunt Karen had treat bags ready for the boys.  They were filled with candy, snacks, and toys.  Camden loved the balls and Ryker was super excited about the dinosaurs.

Then, it was time to recharge our batteries.  Ryker wanted to wear his costume in to the restaurant.  I think the other patrons got a kick out of seeing Batman eating at Qdoba with them.

Last, but not least, was Grandma and Grandpa Sheepie's.  Robert went for a combo costume at this point.

Grandma was excited we stopped by.  Ryker raided her stash of toys and was super into the Etch a Sketch.  Believe it or not, we don't have one....guess we can add that to his Christmas list this year.

Leaves

We had amazing weather here today.  Robert made dinner and then we went for a walk.  After returning, I decided to rake up a huge pile of leaves and let the kids play in it.  Of course, we all got in on the action eventually. :-)

Ryker absolutely LOVED it!

We had a great time!

Cam wasn't in to jumping in the leaves, but he did like throwing them. ;-)

He kept having us bury him and then he would pop out of the leaves...so fun!

Tucker was running around like crazy.  He had a blast!

We found out some disappointing and frustrating news on the house earlier in the day and this fun evening was just what I needed.  Love these moments with my boys the remind me of what's really important in life.  Feeling very blessed! :-)

Zoo Boo

After Cooper's party we ran home to change clothes and then we were off to experience our first Zoo Boo!  It was a ton of fun and I think it will become an annual event for us from now on.  We met Aunt Chelle, Uncle Robert, Little Robert, and Nathan and had a great time!

Robert and Cam checking out the penguins (clearly Cam found them more interesting than me)

As did my little Batman

How cute is his little cape!?!

The 4 of us.

The Spangler's

All the boys....the series of pictures we took on this rock cracked me up!

Ryker with Big Robert.  Our boys are very blessed with some amazing aunts and uncles that love them dearly.

This little activity run in the splash park was fun.

Camden was as active as ever.

This was our first time in the Flights of Fancy.  We stayed there for nearly 20 minutes and really enjoyed it.

Ryker had a hard time getting the birds to stay with him for long, so he was pretty proud when they did.

Camden isn't afraid of anything!  He was not the slightest bit hesitant with the birds.  In fact, he just reached out and tried to grab them.  Made me nervous! lol

Last year, Nathan was a dragon and Robert threw him up for a flying picture.  It was only fitting that we do it again this year with his Superman cape.  So sweet!

Speaking of flying capes, the Dark Knight was super fast racing the cheetahs. ;-)

Nathan was adorable running!

We tried to get a picture of our superheroes together all night.  This was the only time they held still long enough.

The guys with the big boys on the train.

Michelle and I with the littles.  This was our first time on the train too.  It was all done according to the Wizard of Oz theme.  They played music and dialogue from the movie and we went past all the characters, etc. that Dorothy encountered in the movie.  It was very cool and lots of fun.

In the Emerald City, they passed out treats to the kids.  Ryker got these vampire teeth.  This picture Robert took makes me laugh every time I see it!