Thanksgiving.

(it always cracks me up to see these two standing next to each other. Aunt stef is 25. Bray is 10) (also apparently this is her "gym" look. Who wears David Bowie to the gym?) 

Thanksgiving was different this year. Normally we go to my Mom's the night before, then go to the Figgins at noon, on Thanksgiving, and then my dad's later that day. This year the Figgins decided to have theirs the following Sunday and so we had the whole day to do whatever. We trespassed into our favorite school playground and brought some toys. Apparently, the kids (& jer) thought I couldn't hop a fence??? and I guess jer thought the event was picture worthy, he snapped like 50. And they thought it was hilarious that jer pulled up onto the sidewalk. It was a really nice day. Also to note: Jer was able to go to Kosty's Thanksgiving feast at school and you would have thought he was eating with Spongebob himself, this kid was SO HAPPY about it. And he made a turkey in class and gave him a "T" initial necklace. Love him!

more happy things.

-a good quote I came across in institute

-glittery gold polka dotted pajamas

-jer's first visit to the Christmas candy aisle for the year

-the boys now request homemade pizza every friday night instead of take out. This is both good and bad. Bad because I loved having Fri nights "off" in the kitchen. But mostly good because it warms my heart that they like their momma's pizzeria better. 

-we went to feed my sister's dogs and crashed on her hammock for a while. One of my favorite memories with just Brayden and I. 

-my little sister came to church with us dressed embarrassingly similar in our spotted skirts. 

-Kosty watching Bray play piano.

-chicken and dumplings has always been and will always be my ultimate comfort meal.

-wondering how much longer I have with a boy who cuddles up next to me at a yogurt shop. 

a few happy things.

-Field trip with Brayden to Tumbleweed Park of all places. Um, we go there regularly. It was a water conservation event with an assembly & some stations with experiments. Still fun to be able to be there with him. 

-There are few things as lovely as winter grass! I love the color & how soft it feels. 

-Date night. Something we've been trying much harder to do. I am quite obsessed with Brio. And this is one of my favorite things. I'm not even a steak lover but this steak salad is so good. Jer ordered the "small" at the new hawaiian shaved ice place. The thing could have fed a family of 8. 

-Celebrating my dad's birthday.

-Kosty making "old man jenkins" faces in the mirror.

-Always a good time when daddy is home.

-Brayden was super excited for the start of running club this year and begged for a "running outfit"...so he bought the shirt and I bought the shorts. He swears it makes him faster. I can't argue, I feel the same way in a new workout outfit. 

halloween.

(we had our cousins over for family night and made ghosts and popcorn balls)

I think this may have been our best Halloween yet. Every year these boys choose difficult costumes so I was hoping we'd have easier choices this time. Kosty chose to be a mummy which I was thrilled about--cheap, easy, and cute. Brayden on the other hand didn't know what he wanted to be up until the last minute. So we went to Party City to get some ideas and he refused to leave without this 'boy riding and ostrich' inflatable costume. I realllly tried to convince him otherwise. And I mean REALLY tried. I think I was mad about it for a few days even :) But he was thrilled, so oh well. We had the trunk or treat at the church a few days prior and I was super stressed and frazzled trying to dress the mummy, make chili and cornbread, and get it over to the church in time. Also I was supposed to get there early for set up. Every time we were about to load in the car, mummy started coming unwound somewhere. I thought a mummy costume was so easy, and whoa was I wrong. I tied in knots, and used staples wound him so tightly but it was a mess. Finally jer got there, and all was well. He fixed him up, took them around, we ran out of candy in about 10 minutes, but we had fun. 

Halloween night had to be better so I decided to forget about making dinner, and grabbed a Papa Murphy's jack o lantern. Also, jer was home early so it was already off to a better start. This time I had about 100 safety pins ready to go for the mummy. We ate dinner, squeezed in some pics at sunset, and headed out the door to catch up with friends. Brayden asked me about a million times if we were going with friends. This kid is so social and he was so relieved when we all caught up. I hope he is always happy with going around as families (with friends) and I will be so sad the day he wants to ditch us. Usually one of us will stay behind and pass out candy, but this year we decided to leave out a bowl (im sure didn't last long) and all go together. This neighborhood is super festive and there were tons of kids and families out and we stayed out until the bitter end. I learned I need take it easy, simplify, and don't stress the small stuff. As with every holiday. Oh, and start prepping earlier than I think I need to. 

Brayden's 10th

Bless his heart, Brayden has wanted a plasma car for the past several years. I always just ignored his request thinking that he surpassed the weight limit long ago. Little did I know that the limit is 220 pounds. So, I figured better late than never. And his face shows his excitement so well! We started the day with presents and then let him choose his favorite place for lunch, Fuddruckers. Then we went back to our house and had our family come celebrate with us. He was so cute opening his gifts, I mean if there were ever a more grateful reaction, it is hilarious to watch him. His facial expressions are amazing and then he proceeds to oooh and ahh over each and every gift with and then says about 10 "thank you so much's" to each person and then runs over and squeezes that person tight, before moving on to the next gift. Wow. It is something else to watch. He did not get that from me. Or jer for that matter. I've always hated opening gifts in front of people and thought everyone did. NOT HIM. He cracks me up. And the best part is that its totally genuine. It doesn't matter if its a $1 gift or a $100 gift, he shows the same excitement and makes everyone feel so good. Later that night, our neighborhood had their semi annual "shin dig" at the park and they always do pizza, bounce houses, rock wall, dj, etc. So Brayden was able to hang with his neighborhood and church friends and also invited a friend from our old neighborhood. He said as he says every year, "this was the best birthday EVER!"