T.J.'s Football Shirt

T.J.'s football shirt. He looks so good in it. Looks old.

Has all the kids names from his team as well as the coaches on back.

I had to get one, too. So did Cody and Hunter. Good team spirit at the games.

Still can't believe how old he is. He's doing great at football. Running faster, hitting harder, and lovin' it. He was built for this sport. So happy to see him so happy.

Poor Henry

So sad to report that our friend Henry, the tarantula, died. I found him today when Cody, Bill Drury and I went to feed him a preying mantis. Poor Henry. He'd been shrinking some since we caught him. Heard that was normal. We'd fed him grasshoppers, and saw he'd eaten them. But I think what got him was Cody forgot to put some water out for him a few days ago. Cody felt so bad.
Even though we were pretty creeped out by him at first, we all grew to like him. He was fascinating! We'd stay out there and just stare at him as we'd feed him and such. Friends would come over to see him. It was fun to have this sort of "pet". Hope we find another one up at my parents house soon.
So long Henry.

Learning To Drive a Stick Shift....

Jared's Dad is borrowing this little Daihatsu truck. And when I say little, I mean little! I'm as tall as this truck. I can't believe Jared can even fit in this thing. It looks like a little European truck of some sorts. Plus, it's so ugly, it's kinda cute. Anyways, it's a good little truck to learn a stick shift on. Very basic shifting. So Jared got T.J. and Cody out driving this past weekend. (So weird to think they are already learning a stick! Feelin' old right now.)

T.J's up....   Friday night fun before Pizza Night....

T.J. did SO good. Didn't kill it once. They drove it all around Grandpa Morse's place. He got up to 2nd gear. Didn't even grind the gears as he shifted. I'm not surprised. This kid catches onto this kinda stuff really fast.

The boys all think it's funny they are learning how to drive a stick when I can't even drive one. In my defense... I was learning on Jared's '70 Chev when we quit driving it because of all the repairs it needed. So technically I can't drive one as of yet, BUT, I was learning.

The little stinker pulls up next to me and says, "Hey mom, want me to teach you how to drive a stick?" Then immediately says, "Dad told me to say that," to avoid getting in trouble!  Love that cheeser grin on his face!

Taking a ride together before it got too dark. Sorry these aren't the best pictures. Had to use my phone.

Driving around Grandpa's place.

Cody's turn.... Sunday evening before dinner....                                                          

Jared took Cody around first to show him the brake, clutch, and gas pedal. Cody hasn't had any experience in driving a truck yet like T.J. has so we thought for safety reasons, we should probably do that first!

Don't ya love the sun rays coming down in this picture?! Again I used my phone so I thought it turned out pretty cool. Cody did really good at driving!!! He didn't kill it once either. He payed more attention to driving then T.J.. Cody hardly looked over at me as he'd pass. He took it nice and slow and didn't hit anything! (This is huge for Cody! When he cuts the grass, he usually hits the picnic table, haha!)

T.J. jumped on back.

Looking at this picture makes me feel really old right now. So cute though!

My cute boys. All growing up so fast. Not sure if Hunter is going to learn this. We're not sure if Grandpa's place can handle that wild child's driving yet.

Hunter's Valiant Warrior

Every week in primary 2 kids are chosen to be Valiant Warriors. There are clues given about this child, and then other kids have a chance to guess who it is. After they guess right, that child comes up, dresses in the warrior costume, and has nice things said about him from the kids in primary. Today was Hunter's turn to be the Valiant Warrior. My cute friend Tobie Kent is in primary as a teacher so she said something abut Hunter, too. She said "Hunter is a really good singer. He knows all the words to all the primary songs." That is so true. One of Hunter's favorite parts of primary is singing time. He's a good little singer, too.

Isn't he so cute!

This is the page I had to fill out about him. I love that he said his hero is Mickey Mouse. That is so Hunter!

They give each child a card with this picture on it of a Valiant Warrior. And on the back it has the scripture Ephesians 6:11-17

To summarize, it says, "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."

Love this. Hope these kids realize what this truly means. They are going to need it to live in this world we have today. Good thing we have such valiant kids being born these days. There's no doubt they've been saved to live in this time.

It's so cute to see these kids dressed up in the armor. Can't wait for Cody and T.J. to have their turn.

Shopping with Jared

Jared took the boys shopping this morning for my birthday. They had this little plan that Jared would pretend to take the boys to school but would sneak to Walmart first so the boys could buy me a present, and then check them in. I knew what they were doing, but the kids didn't know. And neither did Hunter, cause he'd tell me. So this morning I was playing with them a little, asking if they were riding their bikes to school. Hunter immediately said, "I am!" and Cody looked at him and said very strictly, "No you are not!" Hunter didn't end up going shopping with them anyways, he didn't want to miss school. I think it's because Oaklie came over to go to school with him. But he already has a present ready for me anyways... a Sugarland concert performed by him after school. Can't wait!

Jared said it was so much fun shopping with the boys for me. When they got there Cody said, "Let's check out the book section and see if they have an Erica Mopfield book". Jared looked confused and said, "Who?" Cody said, "Well, it's something Field." He meant Anita Stansfield. Haha! She's my favorite author. But Cody decided on something else. He wanted to look at the cameras to buy me a new one. He said, "I have a $150 dollars so I'll buy her a new camera." Ya, Cody brought all his money with him! Jared told him no so he looked at getting me a tripod for my camera. T.J. immediately said, "Oh no, you are not getting that. She'll take a ton more pictures. Well, she already does. But then she'll take even more." Haha, he knows me too well!
As they were looking around Cody found something was that a hundred dollars but Jared told him he can't spend that much money. So then he found me something for $20. Jared asked if he wanted to spend that much, and Cody said, "What, isn't mom worth it?!" How cute. So he bought it.
T.J. looked around for a while before he decided on the perfect thing for me. Jared said they were there forever cause T.J. couldn't decide. T.J. puts a lot of thought into presents. When he was 4 he picked out a chicken table runner, a chicken floor mat to stand on while doing dishes, and a hot pad all by himself. I was shocked that he could tune into me so much to know what I would need. I can't wait to see what these boys got me. They are so cute!!
Then they hit the Halloween section and Jared text me these pictures. Made my morning. Trust Jared to take time out of school to play in the Halloween section.

T.J.

Cody

Hunter a.k.a. Jennifer Nettles

Hunter was listening to Sugarland this morning on my ipod as he ate breakfast. (This is a typical morning with him. Actually, a common thing everyday, all day, with him.) He stopped eating long enough to tell me in a matter of fact voice, "If her ever dies, I'm taking her place". Oh my gosh, I couldn't stop laughing. First of all, that just shows how much Hunter loves Sugarland. And second, he could easily take her place. He can sing all their songs and has studied and memorized how she dances in her music videos. He'd have no trouble at all steppin' in.


One of those moments when my kid becomes even cuter in my eyes. Made my morning.

Halloween Pillow

It's finished!!! Finally! I started this last year. Got all the hand stitching done, which I absolutely love! And then it sat. I'm still somewhat new to this sewing thing, so figuring out this pattern was a little more tricky for me. Turns out what I was making was a pillow case, and the pillow inside. So once I got this figured out, it was time to finish it for this year's Halloween.

It's huge! Roughly just longer than 3 feet by about 18 inches tall.

The witch and her sign were all hand stitched. These are my favorite kinds of projects. I love hand stitching something first then putting it all together afterwards. One of my favorite things to do at night to relax.

It's hard to tell but the black circles one the corners of the squares are tiny beads.

Isn't it so cute! I love the fringe at the ends. And I LOVE that orange material with the purple. Oh, I love Halloween!

The back of the pillow case. I love that material, too. Although the flash on the camera made it look a little lighter than it really is.

As soon as the boys saw it finished, they immediately started shouting, "I get to lay on it first!" Um, sorry boys. This thing is mine! So Hunter settled for a picture with it instead.

I love Halloween projects!!! Probably my very favorite holiday projects to create!