Late September/Early October little things

 The Miamaids wanted to go walk the dogs at the shelter.  We had a lot of fun.

 Braxton being the great cousin. He played cars with James and peek-a-boo with Dresden.

 Becky had a girls night that was a blast.  She bought all the supplies for us to create our own Halloween wreaths.  Mine looks so good on my door.  We laughed and chatted and had a great evening. Alisha, Katie, Shannon, and Me.

 We took the kids to Frightmares at Lagoon.  It was a lot of fun, but way too crowded for my liking.  The lines for the haunted houses were 2 hours long. We just did the kid stuff while Braxton and Shane went on some rides that didn't have long lines.

 It was the walk-a-thon at the Elementary and unfortunately I had a preschool at the patch so I missed Dakota, but he did great and doubled the amount of laps he was supposed to run.  He also got to carry the flag for his class, which he thought was extra special. Cam also did great and I even got to help hand out water bottles for a little while. 

We had Parent Teacher Conference for Elementary last night and I just need to record how proud I am of my boys.  They are both so smart and try their very best everyday at school.  They have very math oriented minds like their dad.  One thing that Mrs. Breeding said about Dakota is that he is kind, is a hard worker, and tries his hardest in everything he does and that matters much more than getting good grades.  I am really impressed with her.  She wants to make them into good people just as much as good students and that is much needed in today's world.

 Just needed to click a picture of Cam in his awesome beanie that he wears for Lacrosse to keep that wild hair in check with his helmet on.

 Celebratory dinner for the end of Lacrosse at Noodles and Co.  Dakota and I were at a soccer game and taking care of the Pumpkin Patch.

 Cameron had to make a robot out of recycled materiel for scouts.  I think it turned out great!

 Cameron had a bike wreck on the way to school.  He got his gum pretty bad, but the dentist says the tooth should be ok. Thank goodness.

 Dakota has the pleasure of wearing a headgear every night at bedtime.  He is doing great with it and of course following every rule as he is a rule follower.  I wore one of these when I was young too.  Mine had pads on it unlike his, it keeps snagging his hair.

 Our favorite time of the whole week.  Every Sunday we make dinner together as a family.  We try new recipes and work together to make a fun meal.  This week we did homemade mac and cheese with ranch potatoes. Two new recipes with a new dessert, pumpkin cheesecake.  We took it over to Grandpa Russ for his 60th birthday.  All of it turned out delicious.

Opening Day Pumpkin Party

The pumpkin patch was thick,thick this year.  It is our big 10 year anniversary.  We were really excited about this.  We bought new signs thanking everyone for supporting us for 10 years and we made an alfalfa maze out of my dad's alfalfa.  It was really fun and mostly enjoyed by those on the opening parties.  We have a party for the family on Saturday and for friends/ward members on the Monday after.  This year we decided to do a pot luck soup lunch for the family party and that was really fun.  Then on Monday we did our traditional donuts and hot cocoa and decided to have my mom pass them out to control the kids from eating like 10.  I bought 12 dozen and there were about 40 left, so 10 doz would have been good.  

I love to take photos of our crop and my children helping and working hard on our family project.  I love all the family and friends that come out every year and I love fall.  It is so beautiful and fun to help people and take kids on rides every evening when we are home.  A lot of corn mazes/pumpkin patches are popping up around us and I sure hope people still support the good old "Weston pumpkin patch" for years to come.  We originally thought we were a bit slow because of those other places, but we are heading into a record breaking year for the boys money for their missions.

This one was a twin.  One stem, two gourds. Super cool!

Gourd tunnel was chuck loaded this year.

 Dakota found a pink pumpkin for our porch.

 All the kiddos at the family opening party. 

 We played a game called guess the weight, win the pumpkin.  The first day one weighed 60 lbs and the second day weighed 67.  Big pumpkins.

Of course my good sport sister Kiley dressed up like the great pumpkin again this year.  The kids ask about this for weeks in advance.  "Is she coming this year"?  They love it, and so does she.

Braxton's birthday party

Breakfast in bed looks like this when you are 14.  He was not too thrilled, but I know deep down he appreciated it.  It was just me and him since he gets up at the crack of dawn and we had a very nice chat about life.  I sure love that kiddo.

We sang to him at the opening party for the pumpkin patch. One less party to have that way since he was having a friend party.

He chose to take Dalton, Andersen, and Coit to IRock.  I can not believe the stamina those 4 boys had.  They just kept going up an up and up.  Shane timed them to see who got to the top the fastest in the middle and they did it over and over.  Such good friends Braxton has.  Many people came and left the IRock and they continued to climb.  Shane and I had to belay because you had to be 16, and man it was hard on the arms.  I suppose we call them Monkeys for a reason.

Braxton Turns 14!!

My sweet little boy is not so little anymore.  I am starting to freak out a bit because he is getting so big too fast.  He is in the 8th grade now, and that makes only 5 more years of school left.  Wow, life flashes before us in the blinking of an eye.

14 things I love about Braxton:

1-He flashes his braces smile all the time.  He has a handsome smile and uses it to show people he loves them.
2-He loves Lacrosse.  He has his stick in his hand 24-7 and even throws the ball in the house a little too much.
3-He is very kind hearted.
4-He loves, loves the little ones.  He will play with his 3-4 yr. old cousins all day.
5-He is the master entertainer.  He keeps Dakota and Cameron busy playing games and kicking balls around all day long.
6-He loves yougart and cheese sticks.  Those are his staple meals every.single.day.
7-He is very fast.  He can run really fast.  His body is built for speed and when he puts his heart into it can beat most kids in a race.
8-He loves to listen to books on CD.  He doesn't really love to read, but could sit and listen to someone read to him for hours.  He will follow along in the book as it reads also.
9-He loves scouts.  He is getting very close to his eagle and is excited to do a project.
10-Braxton is very active.  He can not sit still for even a couple of minutes.  He just loves to be moving and going.
11-He loves to create.  He can sit in the garage for hours and just screw, nail, cut anything and everything until he has created something marvelous.
12-He is getting so big that when I need something fixed or a project done I can pretty much rely on him to complete it.  Tires on bikes can easily be taken care of by Braxton, anything not starting he can figure it out.  Smart I tell you, very smart.
13-He loves to learn.  He would not agree with this because he hates homework, but everything his teachers say he just soaks it in like a sponge.  He retains amazing amounts of information and constantly amazes me.
14-Last but not least he is a great big brother.  He sets such a great example for the other boys.  He likes to go to church and serve in his calling, he loves to go to mutual and does so without complaint, he loves to camp and fish and hunt.  He has a very positive attitude and his brothers are watching his every move.  They look up to him so much and I do not think there is a better (almost) man for the job.
I love you Braxton and am so proud of the strong young man you are becoming. Thanks for your positive attitude and for the helpful person you are.