{ Halloween }

The kids had fun making and sharing these little monster treats at school.

They are just Rice Krispies Treats (don't worry Dad, they were the store bought ones!) dipped in Wilton Candy melts and topped with sprinkles and monster eyes.  Easy!

 My sweet pumpkins before school!  Emma Taylor was dressed for "What Not To Wear" Day.  She was wearing as many patterns as possible.  So fun!

It rained absolutely all day long on Halloween. We planned to trick-o-treat, like usual, at Granna and Papa D's but didn't think we'd get to.  We planned to go over and eat anyway and hang out with them and Ben's family.  Mom made ziti, so we had a great dinner.

Emma Taylor and Harrison were the first trick-or-treaters!

By the time dinner was over the rain had stopped completely, so we decided to hop in the truck and trick-or treat.  The kids were so excited!  Lori and I rode in the back with the kids and Ben and Lee were in charge of driving us around.

Our friends, Bo and Heidi, met us a little later and hopped in the truck with us.  Their daughter, Lyla, was the cutest Little Mermaid ever! Heidi made the cutest costume for her, but she was tired of the tail by the time we were finished.  The kids got tons of loot!

We all love our Halloween tradition.  Such fun!

{ carving pumpkins! }

It's that time of year again....pumpkin carving time!  Last year we painted pumpkins, so it was fun to get back to carving this year.  Well I guess it was anyway, Lee did the actual carving!

Anna Grace didn't like touching the insides AT ALL.  She's a touch dramatic! :)

 Harrison loved it!

We all got busy digging out the seeds.

These two are serious!

Harrison made a scary pumpkin (it's saying grrrrr!), Emma Taylor created her own version of Frankenstein, Sarah's is a spooky ghost and Anna Grace did a traditional jack-o-lantern.

I love them all!  Now I need to find some candles.  :)

{ Back Patio Improvement! }

Lee and I have wanted an outdoor space to enjoy for a long time, but we just couldn't decide what to do.  We have a large backyard and patio, but didn't have shade AT ALL, so we never spent any time outside.  We finally decided that we'd (Lee and his friends!) would build a deck and cover it, so we'd have some shade, but we'd also have lots of usable space below the deck on the patio too.  I love the results!

Here's the before picture, just before the guys started working!  Jay, Biggs and Kevin were a big help to Lee during this process.

And here's the step-by-step process.  

We finally have a roof!  

And this is what it looks like today!

We still have work to do, but it's at a point where we can finally enjoy it!

Lots of the work that needs to be finished can't be completed for awhile.  The treated wood will have to dry awhile and then we'll stain the deck floor and paint the railings.  We'll also run electricity outside so can can have additional lighting and a ceiling fan.  The bottom of the deck will also we sealed off so we can store things underneath.  I'm also in the process of looking for some additional patio furniture and decor.  Even though more work needs to be done, we're able to really enjoy it now that the weather has cooled off.  Football Saturdays are more fun out back!  

{ Homecoming Parade }

Emma Taylor's cheer squad participated in the Homecoming parade this afternoon.  She and her friends had a ball!

Good times!

{ Eagles & Pumpkins }

Lee and I joined some friends in Memphis for The Eagles concert Monday night.  It was such a great time!

They sounded great and I just loved it!  Our friends, Jay and Belle, came with us and they are huge Eagles fans too.  Lee thought it was less than exciting!  Ha!  :) 

While Lee and I were gone to the concert, Emma Taylor and Harrison stayed with Granna and Papa D.  Since all the kids were out of school for Columbus Day and staff development day (and Ben was working), Cameron stayed with them too.  The kids talked Granna into taking them to the Pumpkin Patch, so I decided to join them on Tuesday.  We had gorgeous weather and a fun day!

Playing on the spiderweb

Harrison loved the bouncy horses.

The boys loved the duck races. 

Emma Taylor loved the zip-line.

We all loved the hayride...

 and picking out our pumpkins!

I love October!

{ Scarecrow Fest }

Saltillo had its second annual Scarecrow Festival this weekend, so we stopped over after Emma Taylor's game Saturday to check it out.  It was a cute little festival with arts and crafts, live music, lots of fried food and kids personal favorite, a dunking booth.

Kids posing with the firetruck.  Harrison has the hose!

Each classroom at Saltillo Elementary created a scarecrow for the festival.  I helped Emma Taylor's class with this one.  One of the other parents made that cute dog out of straw!  

After we checked things out, we stopped for lunch...fried catfish and BBQ ribs.

 Harrison decided on a snow cone while the girls ate funnel cakes for dessert!

The very favorite part of the festival was the dunking booth.  The girls were dying to dunk their principal, but we missed her.  Each of the kids dunked the guy in the booth anyway though.  They thought it was awesome!

Notice the lovely Taurus in the background.  One of the activities was to beat up the car with a sledgehammer.  I thought it was a pretty weird activity for kids, but plenty of kids seemed to love it.  Our kids skipped that one.  :)

We enjoyed another great fall day!