Happy Birthday, Bella!

Bella through the years. . .

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012 

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

We have a FOURTEEN year old! We've survived our first full year of having a teenager. Fortunately for us, we have a pretty good one. There is the occasional moodiness that goes with the territory, but it hasn't been too bad. She's a super responsible girl. Her grades are awesome and she is really driven to do well. For example, even though she had an A in science, she decided to do the extra credit. Why settle for an A when you can get an A+! She's still keeps busy with sports and is at the beginning of basketball season. She's also involved in FFA and Hauser Historians. It seems that she always has some kind of activity going on after school. But she balances all her hard work with some down time at home. We've discovered this year that she is definitely an introvert and needs that unscheduled time off to relax. (She might get that from me!) During that down time, she likes to fill her journal with memories of events in her life and drawings or memorabilia that accompanies them. She's very creative and likes to make things pretty. I feel that she is really mature for her age. She's had her phone for over a year now but has decided against getting social media (with the exception of a Pinterest account) due to all the drama that occurs there. She's got a pretty good head on her shoulder and she makes us proud everyday just because of who she is: our beautiful, kind, hand-working daughter who we love so much.

Happy Birthday, Isabella! We are so thankful for you!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Halloween

We carved our pumpkins on a Tuesday evening. I turned on a Halloween playlist and the kids got to work.






While the kids designed their masterpieces, my job was to turn this into an edible snack.


When they were finished, we put candles inside and placed them on top of our TV cabinet.


Bella carved a mountain landscape with the moon and stars in the sky.


She even carved an owl in a tree!
Graydon carved a one-eyed monster. . .


. . . with the word BOO on the side of its head.


Curtis won the award for scariest pumpkin.


We ate our roasted pumpkin seeds and watched "The Great Pumpkin."


On Halloween, the kids and I wore costumes to school. Several of the staff members at school dressed as Toy Story characters, so I went as Jessie.


That day, the temperature dropped into the low 30s. None of us were super motivated to go trick-or-treating in that. We settled on an indoor trunk-or-treat and drove to Curtis's teacher's house for a quick stop. While the boys did that, Bella had a Halloween dance at school.


All three kiddos in their Halloween gear. Since we didn't plan to be out long, Graydon and Curtis didn't feel like getting their whole face painted again. Good thing we did that the week before!


When we came back, we got a fire going, ate some candy, and watched TV. It may have been a Halloween show. . . or it may have been an episode or two of "The Middle." I can't even remember now. But we were warm and cozy and after that chilly night, we were all content with that.


So was Mabel.


That weekend, Andy and Bella had a youth retreat a few hours away. It was just me and the boys for the weekend. They had their first basketball game of the season that morning and played their final flag football game that afternoon. It was still cold outside and the field was so windy. The team who won this game would go on to play the championship game right after. As much as I cheer for my boys and want them to win, I can't deny that I was hoping for a loss so I wouldn't have to sit through two freezing games. I sat next to a friend whose child was on the opposing team. Instead of cheering for our own kids/team, we were both cheering for the opposite because neither of us wanted to sit through two games! As it turns out, Graydon and Curtis's team lost. But as far as I'm concerned, we won!


Here is one pic of Bella at the retreat.


Next year, Graydon will be old enough to attend - which just blows my mind!

Uncle Tom Comes to Town!

We all enjoyed some bonus time with Uncle Tom in late October.


On the Friday of his visit, all three kids had various Halloween activities around town. Graydon had a school dance, Curtis had a Halloween party, and Bella was in "A Night at the Museum," which was one of the features at our town's Halloween on the Square.

Both boys wanted to be clowns for Halloween this year. Since this was more Andy's area of expertise (he and Tom were both clowns when they were younger), he went shopping with the boys for their costumes. Tom brought with him some face paint and together, Andy and Tom turned Graydon into this! I love it so much!




After Graydon got dropped off at the dance, it was time to turn Curtis into a clown.


Aren't these the BEST! I smile every time I look at these pictures!






We arrived at the Yellow Trail Museum just as the kids were finishing up. Thankfully, they did an encore performance for us. Bella's role in this drama was the Mad Scientist's Assistant. The kids in the production were slap happy at this point, which made the whole thing that much funnier.






Graydon's dance was over by the time we went, so he joined us.


Curtis was still at his party.


The next day rained and rained. The boys were supposed to play their final flag football game, but it was postponed. Our only outing was to Upland Brewery where we ate dinner.


The next day was beautiful again and all of the fall colors were showing off in our backyard. We decided to take some family photos.












Salty didn't want to be left out.


Our backyard is simply gorgeous in the fall.