Cowley carnival

Well halloween festivites for us started on Wednesday, when Stetson & Kandace were invited to the Cowley halloween carnival. It was a little crazy and crowded, but it was all worth it when Kandace got a purple kitty cat painted on her face (her specific request) and gpa Simmons helped Stetson win a donut at one of the booths. On Thursday, Stetson's preschool had a halloween party! More halloween hoopla to come...

picture day

Last Thursday Stetson had pictures at preschool. I gave him a bath, put on a nice sweater and combed his hair with gel and hairsprayed it even. :) I always think he looks a lot more like his dad when his hair is parted and combed. Funny because Michael hasn't parted his hair since his mission. Anyway, he was a handsome man and I sure love him. Later that day I took Kandace and Janelle to get pictures. Kandace was perfect--sat still like a little lady and smiled beautifuly. Janelle on the other hand was not having it. We didn't get any of her smiling which is a bummer because she has a beautiful smile. Oh well. Stetson and Kandace are VERY excited for halloween. Holidays are like magic at this age and I can't even begin to say how fun it is for me as a mom to watch them and be a part of it. Stetson is going to be a pirate again and Kandace as you can probably guess, is wanting to be a princess (right now at least, it could change).

sleepover

Last Friday, my brother Todd and his wife Emily had a dinner to go to in Cody, so we lucked out and got to have Zach & Ben come party wtih us! Stetson LOVES Zach & Ben and almost always plays awesome with them. This time was no exception--they had a ball running all over the house, having a slumber party in Stetson's room and making scotcharoos. Kandace humored us all when she decided she didn't want to be left out of the fun when she tried to snuggle in bed by Zach and sleep with all the boys. I thought I'd avoid a tantrum and just let her stay there and try it out, but she kept getting up, talking, turning the light on, etc. so she had to leave the room and boy was she not happy about it. Michael rocked her in the family room 'til she settled down then she went to bed in her room. Its always funny to me when Zach & Ben come because I always realize this is how it'd be if I had all my kids exactly 2 years apart, because Zach is 8, Ben 6, Stetson 4, Kandace 2, Janelle 4 mos. I'm happy I just have 3 for now. :) It was sweet to see what a good big brother (and big cousin) Zach is--always trying to help and be responsible. He was a great help with Janelle. It sure is nice to have extra hands around! :)

one of the last nice days

I'm always hanging onto the last days of nice weather. I always hate to see the green grass turn brown and for my flowers to die. :( If the weather is nice, we drop everything, load up the stroller and head to the park. I know that soon we'll be stuck inside so we're soaking up the sun. After the park, the kids enjoyed a little sidewalk chalk. Kandace drew daddy (her rendition was a blue blob of some sort) and Stetson drew Max & Ruby.

Happy birthday dad!!

"Sometimes the poorest man leaves his children the richest inheritance." -- Ruth E. Renkel

I didn't pick this quote because we were poor growing up (maybe a little ha ha) but because I've always had everything a little girl could ever need--lots of love. I LOVED my daddy (still do) as a little girl and always felt like a queen because of the unconditional love that my dad showed me. Can't you tell from the picture how much I loved him?
Hope you have a great birthday dad!

apple cider

We had another apple cider party for FHE last Monday. It made me think of this apple cider party we had a couple years ago when Jared was still here. We were potty training Stetson and he was running around naked because we were trying to get him to pee outside. Yikes. I'm so glad thats over. :) Kandace was just a little love bug, innocent and sweet. Those days are long gone jk.

already into my makeup

I was sitting at the computer and Kandace ran in (forgetting to hide the evidence) with this brown stuff all over her face. I asked her what it was and she immediately covered her face and said "nothing." I had to go to my room (where she'd been) to confiscate, and sure enough there was a thing of my eyeshadow she'd been hiding under the blanket. As Michael would say, "she's a silly."

dresser #2

Here's the 2nd dresser she did. I was a yardsale junkee this summer and got this little gem for like $10 I think. I found the flower pattern online and Kambrie replicated it for me just free hand, and then it was her idea to do the handles black. Is she talented, or what?
Now Kandace, dear sweet Kandace. As Kambrie was painting the dressers, Kandace would inch her way closer and closer to Kambrie and say things like (in her sweetest voice) "Kambrie, I LOVE painting." "Kambrie, I LOVE your pretty flowers." She was trying to get Kambrie to say something like, "Oh, would you like to help?" Lucky for Kandace, I found a fun jack-o-lantern painting craft a few days later so she could paint to her hearts content.

I made these way easy tissue ball things from left over tissue paper I had from Janelle's baby presents. Cute, huh? I want to make like a million of them now. They're so easy and fun.

dresser facelift

So I have always loved watching how other people restore old furniture and Michael and I even made an attempt at it when I was a pregnant with Kandace, but it was a major catastrophe, so I sort of gave up until I noticed that my very talented sis-in-law Kambrie had some way cute furniture in their house and when I asked her about it she said she painted it herself, so I thought it'd be AWESOME if she could come down some weekend and help me paint some of mine, so last weekend her and Joel came and this is what happened to dresser #1 (which I paid $10 for at the Hen House)

I love you Kambrie!! (more to come on dresser #2 and how helpful Kandace was :)