Halloween 2011 (only 5 days late, not 7 1/2 months)

I decided that I needed to make our house look more festive for the holidays this year, so I have been working on getting some Halloween, Fall, and Christmas decorations. Many of our walls are empty from every day decor, so getting seasonal decorations to put up was not on my list of priorities. However, the kids are at the perfect age to get excited about simple decorations like window stickies, so we have made a few purchases at the dollar store, Target's dollar section, and Hobby Lobby. Here is what we came up with for Halloween on the mantle. Not great, but better than nothing right? And yes, after 2 1/2 years there is still no picture above the fire place. Someday, someday . . .

We also found some cute little pumpkin socks that the boys went crazy over.
After seeing them roll in the dirt while camping, I was a little surprised that they did not dive into pumpkin carving.
Peter just enjoyed being his normal goofy self and refused to put his hand in the pumpkin; but he did like to dump the seeds back into the pumpkin after all of my hard work of getting them out!

Rigby was fine getting a little dirty after I grabbed his hand and made him pull out some pumpkin guts.

They loved seeing our "scary face" and "ghost" pumpkins lit up at night and they absolutely LOVE their glow in the dark "bones shirts."
Since the kids got plenty of candy at our ward Halloween party on Saturday, they just stayed home and helped us hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters on Monday. Peter LOVED giving the kids handfuls of dum-dums (yup, I'm cheap; I gave the good stuff away at the ward party). The kids were so wound up after all the trick-or-treaters coming by that it took them until 11 pm to settle down enough to sleep.

And the GRAND FINALE of Halloween. My handsome little knights.

Here is Peter as a "dragon knight" (as he calls it).

Here is Rigby as a "lion knight."

And the greatest part of being a knight is sword fighting with daddy!

Camping at Pedernales Falls

We have not had a family trip with all four of us yet this year, so we decided to go camping with my friend Shauna and her family. Pedernales Falls State Park is west of Austin and about four hours from our house. It was strange to be in more of a desert environment with cactus and scrubby cedar trees because we get so use to the more humid loving vegetation in Houston (which is all dead because of the drought now!). I had the boys touch the end of the cactus, so they would understand to STAY AWAY! They stayed clear of the cactus, but Rigby managed to fall and get 20 to 30 tiny barbs stuck in his hand. It took us a good 15 minutes with tweezers to pull them all out; I guess he is my accident prone child!

The boys LOVED running around with their flashlights in the dark. It was great because we could keep track of them better. Also, Rigby could not stay away from the stove. Do not worry, we made sure to turn off the propane.

There was A LOT of playing in the dirt. The boys became one with the dirt and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. I put away my OCD clean side and actually enjoyed seeing them get filthy; although, I confess that I had to give them a quick shower before they stepped into the tent for bedtime. (Peter is fairly clean in this picture, but we do not have a picture of him at his worst)

They also LOVED playing in the water and throwing rocks.
They both had fun playing with "the girls" as Peter called Clara and Moriah (Shauna's girls).
The men enjoyed a little cat nap.
Peter tried to snore and take a nap, but it only lasted for a mere 10 seconds
(enough for me to get a cute picture!).
I LOVE Rigby's serious faces.
I do not remember exactly what Peter was telling us, but this is what his bossy stance looks like.
My wonderful hubby and I at Pedernales Falls or should I call it Pedernales Puddles because of the drought.
My handsome boys at Pedernales Falls.
This picture shows the Falls a little better.
I love this picture of Shauna, Trevor and their girls.
Camping is not complete without a messy s'more. Fires were banned, so we had to do s'mores over our propane stove; not quite the same, but the boys thought it was great!
Our tent was a little cozier than we would like, so I think a larger one is in order for our next trip. The boys slept WONDERFULLY once we actually got them to fall asleep (which took about TWO HOURS each night)!
Another picture of my cute baby:),

. . . but not for long because baby #3 is coming in April. Most people know, but I figured I should document it on our blog. Here I am at 16 1/2 weeks. I look like crap, but this is the only picture I have for now.

It was a great trip. I love spending time with my boys doing what we enjoy!
P.S. Rigby was really tired, so we tried to get him to take a nap inside the tent. He fussed for 10 minutes in the tent and then it was quiet, so both Scott and I figured he had passed out. However, he actually figured out how to unzip the tent and walked out in his socks for about a few minutes before my friend happened to see him wandering about. We should have known better than to think he could not escape; Peter has taught him well!