Layton's Fall Party

Layton's preschool, Miz Carol's, had their Fall Party yesterday.  As you can tell Layton had a great time!  I was very surprised how quiet he was, though.  Maybe it is true that our children do act better at school than at home.

He was so quiet and bashful!

The class singing a song about a pumpkin. 

They had to cover their face during the song until they shouted...

BOO!

Layton passing out the treat he brought for his classmates.

Rainy Weekend

Well, it rained almost all day Saturday, so we caught up on a lot of sleep!  Mama Chris and Dennis came down to watch the boys play soccer, but Kade only played a little bit before lightning caused the game to be called.  He was soaking wet.  Layton's game never even started.  I also didn't get any pictures--it rained the entire time, so I didn't get my camera out.

Mama Chris came with Halloween goodies for the boys.  Kade had to put his Harry Potter costume on to show her what he was going to be.

Saturday evening we were treated to gumbo and steak by A, K and B.  That makes two weekends in a row that we get to eat their good food!  Here we are weekend before last at an event in Seymour.

Sunday we got up and finished the goat pen.  Kade is going to show two goats in the county show this year, so we built them a pen and went to pick them up all in the same day.  He has a boy and a girl, so he named them Mickey & Minnie.  Of course, Layton thinks one of them is his.

Kade's Reading Award

Kade's elementary school had their 1st Six Weeks Academic Pep Rally this past week.  Kade is in the 3rd grade this year and is doing a great job.  In 3rd grade they give a departmental award each six weeks for a student who is working hard and always improving.  Kade was the recipient of the Reading department award.  The teacher that announced it also added that he is extremely knowledgable about books, probably thanks to his mother (thanks, Mrs. L).  I hope he doesn't bother you with what I suggest for him and all the books we talk about and read at home (for those that read this blog and don't know it, I'm the librarian at the jr. high and high school in our town--quite the book nerd!).  He also received trinkets for being on the A-Honor Roll and for having Perfect Attendance the first six weeks.  Keep up the good work Kade!

Weekend with Papa Steve & Kay

Two weekends ago, Clint's dad, Steve, and his wife, Kay, came to visit us.  They could only stay for one night and part of a day, but we had a great visit.  They came down to watch the boys play soccer.

Steve always bring the boys gifts and candy.  This time was no different, plus he brought them a lot of Halloween items that we had lots of fun with.  Here are some pics from that weekend.

Layton and Kay.  Layton is sporting one of the Halloween gifts.

Kay, Layton & Steve posing during Kade's soccer game.

Kade

Kade throwing the soccer ball after it went out of bounds.

Kade is the boy in the white shirt.

Layton played goalie for one quarter of his soccer game.  He loved it and was like an animal after the ball!

Layton is in the black shirt.

Monster Mash Video

Check out this video that Layton and I created tonight.  The video includes Kade, Layton, Clint, myself and our dog, Ace.  Hope you enjoy watching it as much as we did creating it!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Yard of the Month

Clint and I, along with my sister, Sommer, own a lot in town.  We have a large lot that was COMPLETELY dirt and weeds when we started in June.  We now have grass growing on the lawn part and a beautiful flower bed in a corner area of the lot that runs along the main highway.  We were awarded for our efforts by the Seymour Garden Club.  We received Yard of the Month for October.

Show Us Your Life - Kitchen

This past week at Kelly's Korner you were asked to show your kitchen.  The boys and I spend almost all of our time in the kitchen after school.  I am blessed with a large kitchen. It is a long, rectangular shaped kitchen with LOTS of cabinet space.  The cabinets are 30+ years old, but are in excellent condition.  I would love to have dark stained cabinets, but I don't even have it in me to tackle that.

Most all people who come to our house enter through the kitchen.  So, here is the door they enter underneath our porch in the backyard.

Here is the "big picture".

This is the view you see when you first walk in the kitchen.  I usually use this desk as an office type area, but am using it for Halloween decorations right now.

One section of countertop.  I have a digital picture frame on this section. 

Here is another section, that I have a Halloween pumpkin sitting on.

Another section of counter space.  Notice the white oven/stove.  I've slowly switched out my appliances to black, but I still have this appliance left.  I also want to change my sink out--it is almond colored right now.

We have a nook in our kitchen that at one time had a cafe style booth.  It was so narrow, though!  So, we took out the booth seating and replaced it with chairs.  I tiled the countertop and now this is where my boys hang out when they are in the kitchen.  Plus, the table holds our tv.  Who could cook all those meals without a tv in the kitchen?!

Close up of the tabletop.  I love the look at Chili's, so that's where I got the inspiration from.

This is the view from the tabletop.  You can see all the say down into the wheat field, which sometimes has wildlife in it.  This is actually our front porch.

I am starting to collect plates to hang above my cabinets.  These plates belonged to my great-grandmother and Clint's grandmother.

I painted a saying above my cabinets.  It says "Home is Where Your Story Begins."

My canisters--I love color, if you can't tell!  Clint tiled our backsplash.  My countertops are laminate, but have the granite look.  I had burnt orange counters and just had to get rid of them.  I really wish I would have saved my money a little longer and installed real granite.

We had this island custom built to fit the empty space, plus we prefer to sit at a bar type area, than a table.  The red you see is old ceiling tins.

We had four barstools made, too.  They have our cattle and horse brands carved in them.

 This is the area above my sink.  The columns are from the old fireplace mantle that hangs above my bed.   I had to take this picture at night, so you could see it clearly.  The view is great, though.