GOOD MORNING GORILLAS

It's Reading Fair time for our school and Trent chose the Magic Tree House book, Good Morning Gorillas. This is his 3rd project and is required for the 3rd graders as a test score. In first grade Trent won 3rd place in our school, and then went on to get 3rd place again at the City Reading Fair. This year, he got 2nd place. WOOT WOOT! He worked really hard on his board and had specific ideas of what he wanted and how he wanted to do it, lol. He used spider webs for the clouds, crinkled up card stock for the tree trunks, twisted brown paper bags for the vines, and indoor moss for the grass. He even gave me a blister when he was using the hot glue gun, and then told his whole class about it. Trent is so proud of his work and loves what he has accomplished. He is excited to go to the City Reading Fair in January and is expecting to take 2nd place there, ha ha ha ha. He also expressed that he thinks when he is in 5th grade he will take 1'st place at the school as well as in the City. I guess only time will tell.

Trent's favorite touch that he was completely insistent about was having little Bo-Bo in the tree holding onto a vine. I think it is the perfect little "extra" for his board. Well done Trent!

The New Do!

So I have been planning for about a year now, to get my hair cut short. Yesterday was finally the day. I took in a picture of exactly what I wanted, color and cut. Everything was going great . . . . until I finally saw myself in the mirror at the end. OY, it was NOT what I was expecting, it was shorter, not an A line cut, and well, frankly, I did not like it. I will admit, I was rather disappointed and wanted to cry. The front was rounded rather than cut down into an edgy A line and about 2 inches SHORTER than what was in the picture I brought in. The back was really short - the shortest I have ever had it. He even had to bring out the electric clippers to do the very bottom of my hair line.

Today I swallowed hair and braced society with a cut that I felt made me look like a little girl or an old lady. It has started to grow on me - HECK, I can either embrace it or hate it right, lol?

The kids aren't too thrilled with it. Kolby kept asking me why I cut all my hair off and how long it will take to grow back. Trent Asked me if it will be grown out enough by Thursday (he has a field trip I am going on with his Explorer group). He also told me I should try wearing a hat to hide my hair - loving and kind, don't cha think, lol. Brooklyne just stared at me a bit, like I was a stranger. Tanner, Tanner has been my rock star. He told me I was pretty and he liked my hair. I told him he was my favorite kid ever! Donald says he thinks it is sexy - and he doesn't even like short hair, lol.

BEFORE

AFTER (and over 6 inches shorter)

Halloween 2009

This year was hands down an awesome Halloween, dare I even say - the best ever?

We started the day off slow because we were able to sleep in - THANK GOODNESS!

Don and I put together a fun Halloween breakfast and we all jammed to some spooky tunes. We all chowed down on pumpkin bread with pumpkin spice icing, goblin teeth, bloody eggs, scarecrow meat, candy, and washed it all down with some rotten orange juice.

Originally the weather was suppose to be pretty crappy all day long, but thankfully the weather men were WRONG and the day was PERFECT! Trent had a soccer game at 1:30p.m. and knowing how full our day was, we went ahead and got a sitter for the 3 younger kids so they could all take naps. Is it bad of me to day that was one of the most enjoyable soccer game watching days ever, lol. Trent's team lost (the boys seriously were a "mess" not working as a team at all) but man oh man, I didn't have to entertain 3 other little children and try and watch the game - so it was rather blissful. lol. These are the only pictures I managed to get from this half of the season. Trent is number 11 and he usually plays one of the forward wings.

After the peaceful game we headed home and I got started making mummy dogs for our neighborhood chili bash. Once 4 p.m. rolled around it was time to get everyone dressing in their costumes. This year we did a Peter Pan theme. Trent was Pan, Kolby and Tanner were Lost Boys, Brooklyne was Tinkerbell, Donald was Hook, and I was sweet little Wendy. What made our weekend even greater was our good friends came down from Memphis just to trick or treat and party with our clan - LOVE THE OGDEN CLAN! :) Once everyone was ready we headed over to my neighbors house with caramel corn and mummy dogs. After we were all filled with yummy food we set off to trick or treat with the Ogden family and Lucas family. We ended up just hanging in our "hood" because honestly, do the kids need THAT much candy? After trick or treating, we headed back over to my neighbors house while all the neighborhood kids played ghosts in the graveyard and the grown ups sat around the fire. It was the perfect end to a perfect day.

Trent posing in front of your carved pumpkins.

Our Peter Pan family in front of our house. Check out the

shadow of your skeleton.

Hook and Pan are at it again!

My little Tinkerbell at the neighborhood chili bash.

Sarah and I. I totally miss her!

Isn't she just sooo cute?!?

Trent and Will. Can you believe they are only a year apart?

Mummy dog time!

The neighborhood crew at the chili bash.

I've been "hooked"!

So Sexy!

Double take Tinker time. Brooklyne and our neighbor's little girl Madalyn.

Will, Casey, and Trent on our way to trick or treat.

Trick or treating!

Tanner is 4!

So I know I am over a month late on this, but I figure better late then never, right?!?!? Nonetheless, Tanner had a great birthday extravaganza. On his actual birthday we kept it simple, just the family, cake, and presents.

Saturday was his party. He wanted a CARS birthday party and insisted on having a bounce house. The party was lots of fun and the rain held out until the very end so we were very thankful for that.

It is so hard to believe that my baby boy is already 4 years old. Part of me is happy and wanting him to get older (mostly so I can understand him and so he can go to school) but it makes me sad because time is slipping by way too fast.

I have a very important question that needs an answer

Well, I must hang my proud little head just a a smidgen lower than usual and confess that my beloved laptop computer is being held together by DUCT TAPE. YES, you read that correct, my computer is LITERALLY pieced together by DUCT TAPE. So the question I have is: does this new computer fashion statement make it

"ghetto" or "redneck"?

tid bits

I must hang my head low because I have neglected this darn blog. I must confess that face book has sucked in my spare time not leaving much left for blogging let alone following my favorite blogs. Not only that, but DARN YOU JOLENE for being RIGHT, lol.

Nonetheless, my new goal is to post something at least once a week - even if it is boring, lame, pathetic, or wildly entertaining. I still need to post about Tanner's birthday (I can't believe his is already 4 years old) but I have not taken the time to upload the pictures yet. So today, today I am going to post a few random tid bits of the "goings on" here at the Lowe Pad.

RANDOM: A little song that Kolby, Trent, and I came up with - to the tune of Paradise City by Guns n Roses: "Take me down to the loony bin city, where the kids crazy and oh so goofy. - OH please take me home!" Kolby likes to change the word from "crazy" to "cool" so sometimes our versions vary a bit, lol.

RANDOM: This summer I decided I wanted a little Shih Tzu to which Donald is extremely apposed. The children however, are on my side and are constantly encouraging Don to change his mind. A couple months ago we had a dinner conversation on what mom should name her little dog. Trent suggested the name Lulu. This became an instant hit once we realized that Lulu fit perfectly - especially since both my older sisters have Shih Tzu's and they are named Coco and Kiki. I digress, In this same dinner conversation we also came up with much more about Lulu, so now we make random comments about "Lulu wears a little pink tutu then steps in green pooh pooh and goods boo who." Our little imaginary Lulu has become quite the comical piece of randomness in our home.

RANDOM: Monday night Donald ended up ripping a huge hole in a pair of his jean shorts. A few minutes later he intentionally ripped another hole in his jeans, this time ripping it down to the hem. We decided to see how long it would be before the kids noticed Don's "creative" shorts. Kolby was the first to see it and was speechless. Minutes later we were all ripping Don's shorts into shredded strips of fabric that was unidentifiable as actually being an actual article of clothing. We had a blast as we laughed and goofed off together - now I am just crossing my fingers that Tanner doesn't think this means he can rip anyone and everyones clothes, lol.

Tanner may need a new name

. . . TAN-ZMANIAN DEVIL!

I know I have mentioned a few times before that Tanner is a fully loaded pistol with a loose trigger that can go off at any time. As much as this is SOOOO TRUE, he is also so sweet, kind, funny, thoughtful, playful, sensitive, caring, and the list can go on and on. Sadly oh so sadly, Those traits of his get over shadowed by his firey spark of defiance, adventure, stubbornness, passion, temper, strength, and his overall "out there" mannerisms. Some might claim he is just "all boy" or even a "typical" 3 year old - however, I know better than that. There is something completely special about him that sets him apart from the rest of the pack, and although it riddles me to tears more times than I would like to admit, I know that he has something amazing to offer this world. Nonetheless the fact remains that I am bewildered by his complex passion for life. I want to just list a few of the things that have left me baffled and at a loss of words that Tanner has added to his repertoire of perplexing behavior just in the past week.

- Flinging strawberry yogurt across the dining room table - splattering all over the table, the floor, and his brother. (I was in the bedroom getting dressed while the kids were eating breakfast before school.)

- Spitting toothpaste in Brooklyne's hair, not once, not twice, but three time. He also spit toothpaste on her face.

- Using a plastic fork to scrape/scratch off the finished surface on our dining room table.

- painting the playroom wall (using the left over paint from our painting the room a few days earlier) as well as the blue sofa and his clothes.

- Flooding the upstairs bathroom while Don and I were putting the playroom back together.

YUP,,, all of that in just 6 short days.

-

1st day of School

Trent and Kolby had a great first day of school. Trent is in 3rd grade this year and his English and Reading teacher is Mrs. Goldman and his Math and Science teacher is Mrs. Moore. Kolby is in 1st grade and is in Mrs. Sharplings class. They both love their classes and have a few friends from last year to get to hang with. Oh, and no surprise at all that recess and lunch are their favorite things of the day.

FINALLY vacation pictures

Since we had sick kiddo's we were not able to do too much.

But here are some pictures from Down Town Disney.

the kids climbing on the Lego people

- which they of course are NOT suppose to do, lol.

Brooklyne dressed as Belle. You know, we call her our southern B.E.L.

Donald and the boys in from of the dinosaurs.

The kids jumping on the bed at the resort.

Donald, Trent, and Kolby were able to head down to the arcade during

nap time and have some "guy" fun.

water basketball at one of the resort pools. Kolby could barely stand in the

water without it being over his head.

Water slide fun! Brook loved going down the slide and just look at

"smooth and cool" Kolby.

Waterfall fun at the pool. Brook wasn't lov'n it all that much, lol.

Kolby being thrown in the air by Don.

Trent is really "flip'n out".

It's Brooklyne's turn for a nice straight legged flip.