The REST of October!! {Part I}

I can't believe I have to do this again...  sigh!  BUT... I've definitely learned my lesson!!  We'll be doing this ONE day at a time!

Here goes!!  It cut me off right before Red Ribbon Week at school, so...

With Red Ribbon Week comes Crazy Hair Day!  So, the morning of 24 October, we got up and started "doing" HAIR!!  Yikes!

Braeden and his neighbor friend, Cody.  Let's just say that as hard as Braeden plays all the time, he came home bleeding red and black hair paint all down his face.  Ick.

DRAMA!!!  Lexi-Lou asked for her hair to be a certain way.  She was struggling to do it herself, so she asked me for help.  I ended up having to do it at the counter while she was eating, being CAREFUL to follow her instructions.  It still took me almost half an hour to do it... partly because she was trying to eat and moving around, but... still that's a long time.  THEN... after it was all done, she decided that it was NOT what she wanted and started to take it out.  Um... NOOOOO!  No way!  Sorry, but when you ask for my help and I do EXACTLY what you say, and it takes me that long on a Monday morning when we DO NOT have time to mess around like this, you are NOT, let me repeat...  
NOT taking it out!!!
So..., this is where her drama/tantrum begins.  It ends with a lecture all the way to school.  Boo.

I LOVE it!  I love her hair!!  Even like this!  I did EXACTLY what she asked me for.  Some regular ponytails, some with braids, and some with braided and twisted pipe cleaners.  {And as she stands here and watches as I add captions, she says... "well... I like it now.  I thought it looked bad, but I guess not."  REALLY?????}

Poor Lexi.  What can I say?  I warned her that it was going on the blog, and so it is.  Not everything is picture perfect... as you well know!  :o(  Lexi, Alyssa, Tristin, Braeden, and Ella!

Have I mentioned that their school theme/motto is the FISH Philosophy this year??  They are a big school of fish and along with that goes:  Choose your attitude, Make their day, Be there, and Play!

Lexi and her teacher, Mrs. Strosnider!

I don't know what the face is for, but I was trying to get a picture of all the GLITTER that was in her hair.  She was VERY sparkly, but the sun wasn't out, so it obviously didn't show up in the picture.  Boo.  Glitter spray is one of Ella's favorite things.

Braeden and his teacher!  Love her wig!  ;o)

All the kids with crazy hair in Braeden's class... AND his teacher!

 That afternoon we got an invitation from one of my friends to join her and a couple of other moms with their kids out in Wine Country at the home of one of the couples that live in our ward.  Bro. and Sis. Pulsipher gladly hosted us for a wild afternoon... well... like an hour and a half... before we had to rush off to get Lexi to soccer practice!  They have a giant house and property out there... and Lexi mentioned that she wanted to live there... forever!  :o)  They have a playhouse, horses, goats, a ZIPLINE... (which is being redone), a giant slide, swings, etc.  Anything you can imagine that would be great for hosting all their grandchildren and friends!  They were very gracious to let us come!  In our short time there we only got to do the slide, the swings, and the pumpkins, and we did SEE the horses!

The perfect little pumpkin patch.

Perfect!  Every once in a while we still get a glimpse of her scrunchy nose!  Remember that?

My friend, Chelsea!  Jack is behind her in the hat picking out his pumpkin... he's in my afternoon carpool every day but Wednesday!  We have some very wild afternoons in the mommy van... Ella, Alyssa, Jack, Braeden, and Lexi.  Let's just say that the wild part usually comes from Braeden and Jack.  Boys.

Hmmm...  bet you just can't guess who this is!  Maybe it's the Headless Horseman!

I'm aware that I should not have been snapping pictures still at this point... my friend, April, is struggling to get all 4 of the pumpkins she and her kids have picked out the gate...  and had been for a few minutes, but instead of just asking one of us for help... this is how we find her.  Dropping one as she picks up another... over and over!  Sorry, April... I just couldn't help myself!  ASK sooner!  {I did help her... right after this picture was safely stored away!  Ha!}

STILL love all those freckles!

Now all we need is the kids to go with them!  They were set here for safe keeping while they played on swings and slide!

WHOA, Nellie!  That is a fast slide!!

Lexi stayed in the garden for a few to help Sister Pulsipher pick tomatoes.

This face was very common among the little ones... It really is a scary ride!

:o)

It's even scary for the bigger kids!

Especially when you forget to slow yourself down before hitting the landing!

Ready???

Nope!  Be aware... It's much faster than you might expect!

Lexi and Alyssa deciding whether or not it's worth it to go again... and again!

Oh, my!!!  Getting BRAVE now!  Hands in the air for Ella about half way down!

That is, until she has to QUICKLY catch herself at the bottom!  Love the hair!  We should do crazy hair every day... just so I can laugh when I go through the pictures!

Hahahaha!  I just couldn't resist putting this one on here!  It's always good to have some humility and know that we ALL look silly sometimes!

Classic Braeden.

He who can NEVER come home clean must find new and improved ways to get down and DIRTY!

Notice the hill behind them!  There's the swings, the slide, and not much room to catch yourself before you slide the rest of the way DOWN if you're going too fast on the slide!  :o)

Our little pumpkin patch!  The Pumpkins are:  {L to R}  Reid, Jack holding Dane, Lucy, Braeden, Lexi, Alyssa, Ella, Graham (who is VERY unhappy!), Owen, and Keagan!

LOVE IT!!  Love it!  Braeden, Lexi, Alyssa (who was mine for the afternoon!), and Ella!