Homeowner's association Halloween Festival

Yes, Jason is still in Lubbock, and I felt compelled, yet again to get them all dressed up in their costumes and take them down to the green area in our neighborhood for the Halloween Festival. They had a costume parade, a bounce house, bounce slides, a magic show, and a bake sale. They all paraded in the costume parade, then watched the magic show where they all got balloon swords :-). Then on to the bounce slides and bounce house.

I had an altercation with one of the boys in the bounce house, and I was all ready on edge from the monsoon halloween festival the night before. He (about 7) was pushing other children down. I warned him that he would have to get out if he pushed another child down, after the 3rd. He chose to push someone else down, so I told him to get out. Thank goodness he did, or I would have gone in there and gotten him out! then another little boy about 4, was pushing other children down too, including Kaden and Colin. He pulled Colin down the 3rd time, and Colin kicked him in the nose! The kid got out crying, and I checked to make sure he wasn't bleeding. He wasn't. Colin was devastated that he had hurt him. I told him he shouldn't hurt a boy smaller than him, but that the little boy should have not been pushing him down. Poor Colin :-(.

Overall, everyone had a great time! Kaden said his favorite part was the magic show. He was enthralled. Katharine said her favorite part was the bounce house. Colin said his favorite was buying a piece of cake, all by himself, from the bake sale. He was very proud :-).

Halloween at Safety Town during a Monsoon

Jason is out of town, but I knew the kids would have a great time at Frisco's Safety Town Halloween fest! It's a miniature town with child size buildings, streets, etc that teaches biking, driving, fire, etc safety. Anyway, I decided to get all the children ready and take them to this function. It started at 6pm and my goal was to be there at 545. We got there at 605, and apparently, were late :-). We had to park a few blocks away, and met a woman on the way back to her car that said they opened the doors at 4! That would have been nice to know.

While getting out of the car, I saw that the sky was overcast. I checked the weather map on my phone, but it didn't show anything, so I hoped it was just clouds. The kids said they still wanted to go, even if it did rain. I went to all the effort of getting us there, so I took their word for it and grabbed the two umbrellas, and my raincoat from the bus.

We got there and the line did not look that long, until we made it around the building and saw that it wrapped around the building a few times! Yikes!! You can guess what happened next. Yes. We are standing outside in the horrendous line when a monsoon erupted! The kids were squeezed underneath the ginormous umbrella, and I tried to cover myself and Victoria in the stroller with the other umbrella. We were doing well, but then the line started moving. Kaden, Colin, and Katharine were having a hard time moving in unison while staying under the umbrella. I was getting soaked as I kept the umbrella over Victoria. Poor Katharine was upset, and then she tripped and fell down :-(. The people behind us helped me get her up and back under the umbrella, though I had to leave Victoria to help Katharine. Poor Katharine! Thank goodness I had thrown my rain coat on top of Victoria, so she wasn't wet at all. I was miserable and the kids were damp and a little upset. The organizers opened the Fire Station bay, and let us line up in there. Thank goodness! That was awful! I asked the kids, even Katharine, if they wanted to go home, but they all wanted to stay and get candy. Wow, candy, what the motivator :-). Aunt Stephanie met up with us in the bay, and she was a great help! Victoria was thrilled to be held!

Needless to say, we made it through the town, got candy, and only got a little sprinkled on :-). The kids were so happy! They had a blast, even damp! They kept thanking me for taking them. They were so happy and had so much fun, it was worth taking them, even wet :-) Victoria even got a little candy :-). They were playing rock music through the sound system, and Victoria was baby head banging in my arms! So cute! She wanted to get her groove on!

Aunt Stephanie stayed with the kids, and I went to go get the car, as it was still raining periodically. We all made it home safely, though still damp. Candy has amazing power :-)

I called Jason to tell him about our ordeal. He said he wouldn't have taken them even if he were here! Yes, I should get mom of the year, or crazy person of the year one :-). They all had so much fun, that it was worth it :-)

Kaden on Prednisone

Kaden's asthma has been acting up. We went to the MD and got a prednisone pack. Poor Kaden doesn't fair well on oral prednisone :-(. Zero coping skills :-(. He goes around saying, "I'm so mad! I'm so mad!!" He isn't aggressive. He just states that he feels angry. Poor guy. Kaden, Katharine, and I went to Pottery Barn after a MD appt. Kaden, being the good big brother, was keeping an eye on Katharine. She was not cooperating with his efforts. As we were leaving, Kaden said emphatically, "Mommy, I love you, and I love Daddy, but I DO NOT LOVE BABY RIGHT NOW!!!" So funny! Poor Kaden on prednisone :-(. Only a few more days!

Legacy Homecoming

Legacy, their school, had their homecoming football game tonight. So we all went :-). We all had a good time! Kaden and Colin were watching the game and commenting on the score. Katharine was jumping around and cheering with the cheerleaders, "Go Legacy Eagles!!" She was beyond cute. Victoria did really well considering she was tired :-). It was their first football game to witness in person, though we watch a lot of Tech football on TV. Great fun! I haven't been to a high school football game since I was in high school! We are so old!! :-)

Kaden gets the Character award for Respect!

Kaden won the character award for respect for his class! He was recognized during Chapel, and as his reward, he got to have ice cream with me and Ms. Tucker, his principle :-). It's funny because I usually tell him at home that he is being disrespectful! Oh well, at least he is respectful at school! We are really proud of him :-)

The Winter Family Goes to the State Fair!!

Lord help us, we took ALL of the children to the fair! Kaden and Colin had a short school day and got out at 11, so we thought it would be a good day to go to the fair. It wasn't crazy busy. We went to the Petting Zoo that is sponsored by Children's, and they pet everything they possibly could, including the giraffe and the zebra :-). We then went and got airbrushed tattoos :-). Kaden got an eagle for school. Colin and Katharine both got a Lady bug. Colin still loves lady bugs :-). We then went and rode all of the rides we could possibly fit in during our time frame aka before Victoria lost it :-). I rode the small conquestador ship with the boys. Katharine wasn't tall enough :-(. I sat in between them, and they cracked me up! They held on and kept their heads down with their eyes closed, as they were scared :-). I kept telling them how brave they were! I was really proud! They rode every roller coaster they met the height requirements for and had a blast! They also had to see every snake or alligator on display :-). They rode the log ride twice with Daddy :-). They wanted to stay longer, but we had spent 300 dollars and Victoria was done! Good grief! We all had a wonderful day, but thank goodness the state fair is only once a year!