Pumpkin Carving

I love Halloween. It is the best holiday. So many fun things to do, and no one to buy gifts for. I get so stressed about what to buy people for Christmas, but this holiday we can just have parties, play together, and not have to worry about gifts (the costume thing may be worse for some people, but it is alright for me). It also remindes me of how great it is to be a kid, they just light up at all the fun things to do this time of year. Braxton did his pumpkin on both sides, one with a regular Jack-o-Lantern, and the other side with a bat.

Dakota would hardly touch his, but Brent helped him and he pulled out the pieces as Grandpa went.

We had a Family Home evening with some of Shane's family on Monday (Brent, Rebecca, Lisa, Neil, Weston, Paige, Chelsea, and Landon) at our house. It was so much fun. We carved pumpkins, made carmel apples, and ate delicious homemade donuts. A few of us went for the fancy pumpkin carving, but me and Cam stuck to the regualr square eyes, traingle nose pumpkin. All of my boys love this time of year almost as much as I do. They get very into the trick-or-treating, and parties, and especially the pumpkin selling. They all especially love using knives to cut up all sorts of things, and this is one occasion when it is alright with thier mom and dad.

Shark teeth (ooo aa aa)

(Its off of finding nemo in case you wondered)
Braxton had 2 teeth growing in behind all of his baby teeth in the front so I took him to the Orthodontist and he said to get rid of them so the others can move into place, so we were off to the dentist. He was a champion, no gas, just some serious shots in front of and behind all the teeth, then some pliers just like the ones Shane uses, only fancier, and about 2 minutes later they were all out. I was shocked at how long the roots were. Two of them were beginning to dissolve, but the other two would have stayed there forever. None of them were even loose.

And this is the final product. He looks like a vampire, with four holes in his gums. He is a little concerned that it will look like that forever, but I assured him that soon it will look like they never got pulled in the first place.

The other tooth fairy at our house (aka Dad) thought $10 was a good amount for loosing 4 teeth at once. I will say that is a bit steep for a gal like me, but whatever. I read online that the going rate used to be $1, but due to inflation that will not cut it anymore :) $2 is much more common these days--it is all up to which tooth fairy you have I guess.

The best part of it was that I found a $1 bill on Cameron and Dakota's beds later that day, Braxton has such a kind heart. I asked him about it and he said, I was just sharing. What a sweetheart.

Halloween Party

This is our annual Halloween party with some of our friends. We had a Vegas theme this year, and they rented a craps and roulette table. It was a blast. Shane mostly played craps while I played Texas Hold 'em. We had some great food and mostly great company. We never get to see half of these people, so it is a great excuse to get together. We were to go as our favorite couple, so we went as Gilligan and MaryAnn. Most of the party goers did not really know who we were and I really never watched the show as a kid either, but it was an easy costume and a fun idea.

Lessons from sickness

I have had a sick Braxton this week. I suspect the swine flu, due to the symptoms, but haven't taken him in because the doctor said we could treat it at home. Since he is now in school full time I have learned a lot these past three days.

1-If that is the swine flu than it is not that bad. He had a fever for two days of about 102, and threw up one time. He laid around and slept really long at night, but felt fine in the afternoons (not himself, but fine). In fact, I would be sending him to school today, but the doc said that he cant have a fever for 24 hours, so tomorrow he will be there.

2-I don't spend near enough time playing with my children. We have had so much fun playing puzzles, games, reading, watching movies together instead of me just turning it on and getting my stuff done.

3-I miss him. As much as I like the freedom of school I miss seeing him all day everyday.

4-I don't like staying home this much. It is so confining. We haven't left the house for 3 days, and as much as I like to clean, I would rather not be alone in the house with just the kids for this long. Even Dakota said at dinner last night to Shane "We cant go anywhere!"

5-When Braxton is feeling better, he is just his old self. Tormenting his brothers, running and jumping everywhere, getting in trouble every few minutes, and quite frankly making me miss the sick Brax ;)

Here is to feeling much better and hoping no one else is carrying this sickness around just waiting for me to have to stay home for even longer.

Its Pumpkin Time

We are excited for another fun year of pumpkining (if that is a word). We look forward to this every year. We spent the past 4 months, planting, weeding and weeding, preparing, picking, weeding one last time, and last but not least selling. We love to meet new families that come, to see the joy on the kids faces, to recognize regular customers, and to see our children get so excited each time there is a knock at the door that there are "pumpkin customers". Everyone gets on their jackets and heads out to help. I am sure it is slightly overwhelming for some people, but my kids love it!!! My kids also insist on being the first to pick out their pumpkins and put them on the porch. I think it is becoming a contest of who can get the biggest one. Sorry Dakota's picture isn't turned, but you can see the pumpkin is large.

Cameron loves to ride on the tractor, and eat the candy. I have to tell him he can only have one each time, or else he would have turned into a sucker by now :)

This is it--the biggest one in the patch. Braxton had to have it, and he couldn't even lift it. We started out with 12 of these big guys, and now have 5 left after being open now for 5 days. They are popular.

This is Cameron, me, Kiley, and Dakota (Braxton is turning into a monster to get to agree to a photo). We loved getting our picture taken with "the great pumpkin." The whole opening night was so fun and we had a lot of support.

This is the family who was there opening night (we missed Tara who was partying in New York

:(, but we will catch her next year I am sure. Shane and Dad were off doing what men do I guess, but they were here somewhere.

All in all I am very happy that 4 years ago I came up with this idea and look forward to doing it for many years to come. Every dollar goes toward the boys mission/college fund and they and we appreciate it very much. It is also good to have a family project that we work on together and hopefully instill a little work ethic in these three boys.

Pumpkin Patch

Well this is year #4 of the Weston's Pumpkins, and we are excited for another great year. I had a fun opening night party with my family and some friends, and due to the fact that I am a slacker on the picture taking, I will get them from my wonderful sister, but until then my awesome cousin posted on her blog all about it so check it out. http://www.wwjdbergstrom.blogspot.com/

It was a great night with tons of supporters. My sister, Kiley, was a great sport and dressed up to give the kids candy in the patch after watching "It's a great pumpkin, Charlie Brown". It was a big hit, we may just have to do it again.

We hope to have another great year bringing many families out for a visit to pick your own pumpkin :)