Pre-Halloween Fun

We kind of live out in the boonies so the door to door trick or treating thing doesn't work so well. Instead there are a lot of community things going on starting the week before the 31. Thursday the High School had one and we went. The kids got yet more candy before the actual holiday even gets here but more fun was the face painting and dragon moon bouncing (which at first the girls were terrified of). My reason for going was the one more excuse to get the kids dressed in their cute costumes. Bryan was a bike racer, the boys were Jedis and the girls were Halloween ballerinas. And let me just add...is Spence awesome at the pumpkin carving thing or what? This Dora the Explorer was the first request of several more to come before November1. Your're so cool Daddy. Happy Halloween everyone.

One down, hopefully A LOT to go.

Pretties For My Princess had our first craft show on Saturday and we brought in Just about $300. We think it was a success but since it was our first one, we don't have much to compare it to. We did better than a lot of people around us, some of them not selling anything all day. That would really suck! We sold mostly tutus and bandana dresses which is good because they bring us the most returns. Mix that in with quite a few bows and bow holder plaques and we did good. As you can see, having the owners of Pretties For My Princess as your mothers comes with benefits. The back of my partner's daughter's door looks the same! Thank you to everyone who helped Sandra and I get ready. Special thanks to Nina, Crystal, my Mom and our dear husbands. We couldn't do it without you.

Booger Boy

So I was walking down the hall to put some laundry away in the boy's room where Brayden has been laying around with a sore throat and some sniffles. I haven't heard much from him all day cause it hurts to talk so it really caught my attention when he called my name. I thought for sure he had something important to tell me. He says "Mom. I had a fly go right up my nose so I had to teach him a lesson. I just blew him right out and I'm sure he got snot stuck all over him! That'll teach him right?" Ahhh...the brilliance of a five year old.

Rylan's a Star

This past Thursday Rylan's third grade class had a music concert at their school. Those things are always a lot of fun to sit back and enjoy how cute your own kids are. We even got to snap a picture with his favorite teacher ever. Rylan's class taught us about the planets and stars and sang a song teaching us the order of them. Rylan is great at remembering everything. He was mouthing every line through the whole thing whether it was his or not. His memory amazes us all the time. He has been picked on for his love of singing but we were happy on Thursday to find out that a lot of the kids wanted to be close to him because they knew he could help them through it all. Way to stand tall Rylan. You did a great job and we love you and your singing!

It's so pretty

I am pleased to announce that the Draper home is now crib free! The girls were waking up in the same toddler bed or my bed every morning and I knew it was time for a makeover. I had been buying stuff for months to decorate their room when the time came and was very happy to have it when the time was here. For those of you who know me, you know I'm a bargain shopper so with the help of my gifted and talented husband we put together a gorgeous little girl's room for about $100. Spencer has now made 7 shelving units, 5 beds, a storage bench combined with a plant box and has more honey dos on the way. (I'm wanting an entertainment center built in the family room but that can only happen after he builds the movie shelves in the toy room!) Anyways... Haven and Payten love their bedroom and are more than happy to share it. When people come over Haven is quick to pull them back and show it off. She especially loves her lamp! Weirdo:-) Payten is happy to have someone to cuddle up to at night and Mommy is glad it's not me! I love my night time cuddles but prefer them before 3 a.m. My favorite part is their names on the wall. They are decorated so girly in a not over the top frilly way. It was a struggle to find all the letters but found success getting the last one from a Hobby Lobby about two and a half hours from here. Very very very thankfully, I had one of my best friends taking a trip so she picked one up for me on her way home. Thanks Nina! The letters each have little spots for pictures in them so it's cute to walk in and see pictures of my baby girls. I can't believe they are all so big. All of them including the boys. Their time with me is passing so quickly and some times my heart aches thinking of how much I will miss them just a few short years from now. So now is the part that I admit that I shed a few tears as I passed my babies' crib on to another family who will hopefully use it to cradle precious ones of their own.

Silly Head

I'm not going to say anything about this one. Just smile.

Go Bryan!

Last Saturday was region choir auditions and we are excited to let you all know that Bryan placed ninth in the region and is moving on to the area try outs. Yeah Bryan! We are very proud of you and all the great things you do. I love seeing him sing. He's really got a niche for it. Last year his competitions ended with him placing one chair out of the All-State choir. If you place top ten in region you are eligible for area and then if you place top five at area you are eligible for state. He started singing in the high school choir the last half of his sophomore year where he lettered that same year. Then last year he was so close. Hey, maybe we'll get to see an All-State choir concert this year:~}. That would be fun. Whatever happens, we are proud of B and look forward to seeing him sing in his region choir in November. Way to go Bry.

For me?

At the parade this weekend everyone that went by threw candy. I mean everyone. A lot of candy. It wasn't until the last five minutes that Payten believed me when I said she could pick it up off of the ground. It took the whole parade for her to understand it really was for her. Walkers in the parade saw her standing there ever so politely so they would come up to her and hand her handfuls of the stuff. I'm glad it took her so long to figure it out though because once she did I couldn't keep her still. All the "politeness" was out the window and it became a brawl between my baby and 30 other kids to chase down the thrown candy. She's always been our "treats girl" so once she figured it out this was her kind of gig. Her and her brothers filled Brayden's backpack so now we don't have to do the trick or treating thing right?

Wave like a princess

This weekend we had a little local parade and Haven's dance class was on a float. She was adorable. She told me she was "just like a ballerina princess". They had candy to throw out to the kids and they each got only one handful. We were at the end of the parade route so we would be closer to picking her up and she waited the whole time and threw everything she got to her brothers and sister. Thanks sis. You're a sweetheart.

Thanks Baby

Every now and then I just really need one of these "kindnesses" from my man. And this has already been one of those weeks. So...let me just say again...Thanks Baby.

Here kitty kitty

Four months ago our cat Sophia had a litter of five kittens. When she was pregnant, the kids were begging me to keep them but there was a firm "no" on my part. They persisted and I wound up telling them that if our midnight black cat had an all white one they could keep it. Would you believe that all five of her babies were 100% white! When I expressed my "joy" at the situation Brayden happily exclaimed, "Ya, I'm a good prayer!" Our Haven loves dressing up. I thought this was a cute one of her with one of the little kittens. It's such a classic girly moment. By the way, all of the kittens have since found homes and we are more than content to be left with our 3 dogs Rex, Roxy and Ally, our two cats Sophia and Smokey, our two turtles Josh and Mola, all of our fish and the intermittent stray critters the boys bring home which inevitably find an eternal home more quickly than they would have liked! I think that's enough to make any family pet happpy right?

Tooth down

Brayden learned quickly how to flash a gorgeous toothy grin and we are now reporting that his toothy grin is one less toothy. This is actually his second loss. He tells me one day that it's loose and the next day he comes holding it in his hand to show it to me. Independent little guy. So hopefully the tooth fairy won't be "on vacation" tonight like she was last night and he'll be happpier tomorrow morning than he was this morning!

Do not touch without Rylan watching

When you are the oldest of the younger ones you do what you gotta do to look out for what's yours'. Rylan made this and wanted to share the drumroll experience with everyone. I dare say he knew what would probably happen! Too bad his little sisters can't read. We're happy to report that everyone looked out for his "domino surprise" and all went well. Way to know who you live with and think ahead Jakie!