November

It is hard to believe November is here! We have been just hanging out at home the past few weeks with a few visitors in between.

The past few weeks I have been trying to to do some fun activities with the boys at home. First, we tried a bubble bath toy car wash which the boys loved. Carter loved it because all of his precious cars got washed and Tucker loved it because of the bubbles. There was lots of water and bubbles everywhere, but thankfully it was an easy clean up. Tucker also thought it would be fun to eat the bubbles because he still to this day puts everything in his mouth. Next, we tried to make some edible finger paint. It was super easy and fun as well! Carter's favorite color right now is blue, so we got some food gel and dyed some plain yogurt blue and then they pretty much went to town. It started out so clean and really using just their fingers to paint, but then of course got a little crazy. Carter started clapping with the "paint" and taking whole handfuls of it, so of course little brother followed right along. We ended it after we ran out, oh and when Tucker decided to start painting his body. Nothing is really fun without a mess, so it was so fun to see them so excited about it. Oh and the best part was it was edible, so plenty was eaten as well! 

That first weekend in November we tried out the nature center in town. It was small, but lots of snakes, turtles, reptiles, and animals for the boys to see. They loved the big huge turtles the most! Bret got out of work early that Saturday, so it was so great for him to come with us. Right behind the nature center is a lake in town, so we walked over there after and the boys threw rocks and sticks in the water which is always so fun for them. 

This past week we have had lots of visitors come through which we LOVE! Our camp friends happened to be in town this week recruiting at San Angelo State, so we were able to host them while they were here Thursday night! Anna, Cole and Chief have been friends of ours since we started working at camp back in the day, so it was so fun to hang out and catch up with them! Our boys loved having friends over as well! We were sad to see them go after a night! 

This weekend my family came into town! My mom, my brother Frankie, and my sister Angie all drove in Friday night! Right away my mom had special surprises for the boys. They both got new spiderman pajamas which they wore all weekend long AND a new truck and motorcycle. Our boys are so loved that is for sure. Friday night we just had dinner here at the house and hung out and played all night. They came on such a perfect weekend because the weather was BEAUTIFUL. Earlier this week we had freezing temperatures, but this weekend was 75 degrees and beautiful so we spent so much time outside playing. Saturday morning we went to feed the ducks down by the river and walked around for a little bit. Carter also wanted to take off his training wheels and try to ride his bike without them, so we tried that as well. He did great for his first time! We went up to Bret's store for lunch and after that morning we ALL came home and crashed for nap time. That afternoon we played soccer outside and then all went to dinner that evening in town. The boys loved having Itsy and Aunt Angie and Uncle Frank here. Frank and Tucker had this funny "da" thing that they did all weekend which was hilarious. Carter was spiderman all weekend and our boys just keep us laughing with their funny sayings they come up with everyday. Tucker's newest words are "what you doing" or "my turn" or "give it back" or will say "mmm mmm mm" and pretend like he is eating your arm (ha) or our family favorite: I wubba! Which Bret was saying this week how he already says it better now:( sad day for sure.  He can pretty much just repeat anything now. It is so fun and awesome. Carter is just so smart and growing up way too fast. If you say something and he agrees now he will say "Si, Si, Si" in spanish which makes his daddy so happy because Bret wants him to learn spanish. Carter still loves going to school and loves his teacher Mrs. Amy. He also talks a lot about music class at school as well. He loves our church we go to here and always asks when school and church are. Well, he pretty much asks where we are going everyday. He is just Mr. Social and loves to go places and be around people. 

Thankful for where we are and for all we have. Bret's store here is always so busy as usual, but he has been able to hire some great people lately and it is going well. We will be heading to Grams house the week after next for Thanksgiving and can't wait to see all of our family there!

Cleaning our cars

….and eating the bubbles

Wanted to wear brother's PJ's

Whoa!

Turtles at the nature center

Finger painting fun

getting a little crazy

and both hands now

and now painting our body

Nap time with Itsy

Spiderman and Tucker's "da"

Sweet boys

New PJ's and motorcycle

T wanted to ride the bike too

Feeding the ducks

walking with Angie and Frank

Throwing rocks in the lake

End of October

These last few weeks in October have been really fun with all the fall festivals and activities going on at Carter's school. They had a festival across the street from our house at the Concho River Park with a bunch of bounce houses, games and a petting zoo I took the boys to one weekend. Bret met us there after he got off of work and he had so much fun pulling Carter in the slingshot one and Carter never wanted to leave. He probably said something like "I very want to stay here." Since he hasn't learned the word really yet he says,"I very miss you" or "I very want to____" all the time. It is pretty cute though.

The next week Tucker and I got to go with Carter to his field trip to the pumpkin patch. It is fun to watch him in "school" and how we interacts with his teacher and classmates. I am so proud of him and how well he is doing in school. The pumpin patch was fun for the boys and we ended up getting a pumpkin later that day because the boys loved them. Bret carved us our "monkey Jack-O-Lantern" as Carter called it and I will have to say it was a pretty great pumpkin!

This past week was Halloween and Carter had a Peek-a-boo path at school that he walked around and got tons of candy from. He definitely caught on very fast that everyone was passing out candy. He was one of the first ones through the whole path:) That boy loves him some candy. Thursday was actually Halloween and a church in town had a big fall festival that I took the boys to. It was perfect for them. Not too big and overwhelming, but fun games, bounce houses, and lots of candy to win! Carter was buzz lightyear this year and Tucker was our little fireman. Tucker, oh I cannot believe how much that kid is growing up. He is talking so much. Our favorite thing he says right now is "I wubba" When we say "I love you" to him that is what he says back. It is so great. We make him say it all the time. He can say so many words now and phrases like "give it back", "I want to see", "toothbrush", "watch a show", "chocolate milk or regular milk", "apple and Juice", I just can't believe how big he is getting. He will get his buddies and say "get in bed" when he is tired. He LOVES doing puzzles so much right and still loves to read his books. Carter and him have been playing together so much more lately. They love jumping on anything or off anything together. Pushing dump trucks around together or digging in the dirt, but its just so fun to see them interact and play with one another so much.

Grams also came in this past week which was so fun for everyone to have her here. The boys love it so much when she comes to visit. She played and played with the boys and Bret and I even got to go out on a date night. She helped me so much this week because I had hair cut appt, dentist, and dr. appt. We have a new doctor here in San Angelo and I got to meet her last week for my first appointment and everything sounded great at the doctor. The baby's heartbeat was around 140-150. It is hard to believe I will be starting the third trimester this week! Only 12 more weeks till we get to meet this little one. We cannot wait!

This past weekend was so much fun! Bret had to go pick up something in Abilene(about an hour and a half away) for his store, so the boys and I went with him and made a day of it at the Abilene zoo! It was  a gorgeous day for the zoo and such a fun zoo to visit! We loved seeing the giraffes, monkeys, fish, jaguars, lions, and cougars. The boys loved the raccoon and hawk too! It was a blast! Carter had the map the whole time so he navigated our way around the park for us which was fun! We got to go eat at Jason's Deli afterwards which I have most definitely missed! Love that place!

Today was Sunday and that is always our favorite day because we know Bret is home all day! Bret took the boys to the train park this morning and to get donuts! Kinda a family tradition here now to get donuts and go see the trains. I got to have the house to myself for a little while so got to clean which was great! During naps I went and ran some errands and got to just go around town by myself! We go to church here on Sunday evenings which we have really enjoyed and are so grateful we got plugged in with the 456. It has been such a blessing to be apart of that church.

Bret has had a lot of turnover these past few weeks at the store so we are praying God would bring some great workers and quickly for him during these busy holiday months! It is crazy to me that it is November now and we are starting month 8 of this process! November 1st marked four years for us in this CFA journey. We have been so blessed these past four years to have met the most incredible people and in the ways God has provided for us. I cannot wait to see what year five brings!

Our Monkey jack-o-lantern

Buzz and Our fireman

Fall Festival fun

Abilene Zoo

Looking at the fish

Tucker and Daddy

Family Pic at the zo

Checking out the jaguar

Abilene Zoo

Train park

Train park

Field trip to pumpkin patch