Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween Everyone!  

This has been a very busy day for our family, from parent teacher conferences, to 7 month Baby Brown checkups (yeah - only TWO more months!) to our Halloween romp around the neighborhood...somehow, even after all that, I still have the energy to post this blog (partially because I know my parents are dying to see our little man all dressed up!)

And here he is (along with Billy's pumpkin masterpiece)!  

There was never any doubt what Will was going to choose to be for Halloween...

a T-Rex!  

 And boy did he make a cute one (oops - I mean scary one!)

 Fabulously ferocious!

 This is my favorite family picture we take every year...this year Will looks extra cute, I look extra large and Billy looks, well, he looks great :)

 Thanks for such a great pumpkin daddy!

 Poor Will, at this point he is getting sick and tired of all the pictures, but not to worry...

I have "chocolate bars" to bribe him!

Before too long, it was time to hit the streets...

 We ran into Will's neighborhood bestie, John Patrick (can you believe he is only 4 months older than Will? He is T.A.L.L.!)

 And then we marched on to meet up with Will's ultimate bestie...

 Our favorite little old man, Dylan!

And then they were off!  

They raced through the streets squealing, shrieking and laughing, all the while carrying on a random conversation only two adorable three year old boys could have...

 They very politely knocked on all the doors, saying "trick or treat" and "thank you"...

 Had some fun with some neighborhood yard art...

 Even some spooky yard art...(notice Dylan's wonderfully protruding old man belly haha!)

 And then got distracted, deciding it was time to wrestle a bit...

Old man versus T-Rex - not sure the outcome here...

 And finally it was time to race back to the house...

What a great day!  Can't wait until next year, but for now, it is time to eat candy!

It's the Great Pumpkin Will Brown!

Every Halloween, Billy, the best dad in the world, has very patiently carved a pumpkin to correspond with Will's costume.  We've had a Charlie Brown, Thomas the Train, Skeleton and now.... (well, more on that later).

Sunday after church we all got together to carve...Billy had his hands full with this year's design and I had Will design one for me to carve (old school style).  He drew out the pattern for me on his spiderman notepad...oval eyes, circle nose and zig zag mouth.

Here we are in action!

Oh What a Beautiful Morning...

We woke up this morning for our final soccer game of the season (those 8 weeks went fast!) to find that it was 40 degrees!
What this meant to me:  This immediately brought me back to memories of playing softball in Ohio with snowflakes falling, long johns under my uniform, an extra glove under my mit to take the sting away from my wicked third baseman when she threw to me on first, and earmuffs over a baseball hat (nothing could be sexier on a high schooler haha!)
What this meant to Will:  Not much.  He refused to wear pants so we put him in shorts.  He was agreeable to a couple extra shirts though (which helped hold his shorts up :) )

The chill in the air put a spring in Will's step though!  He warmed up with the team, winning the race around the goal!  Notice the enthusiasm in his face as he rushes in for a high five from his coach.

He may be small, but he's adorable!

His bestie Dylan was excited for the game too...these guys are such a joy to watch!

 Warm ups continued with a couple of dribbling drills...Will showed perfect form :)

 And before the game started, we all got together for a group picture...

 Then it was show time!  Will started in the sweeper position, successfully kicking the ball away from the goal/goalie...

 And later got in some kicks on offense!  I couldn't believe it!  Keep in mind my little man is not much for confrontation/competition so to see him really get involved during this last game was awesome!

 After the game, everyone got their medals...

 Will is my little champion!  

Now it is on to either basketball or swimming...stay tuned!

Halloween Prep

I just love Halloween...it may be my favorite holiday.  When else is it appropriate to eat all the candy you want, carve a giant orange vegetable and dress your kids up in some ridiculous costume?

Speaking of eating...this week, Nana Rosie came over and we made Halloween cupcakes together.  Will is a very good baker...he broke the eggs, measured out the oil and water and helped mix it all together.

 Then he prepared the cupcake pan with Halloween cupcake wrappers...

 And somewhat "evenly" distributed the batter...

Then, it was off to the couch while they baked to watch one of my favorite holiday movies, "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown".  I remember watching this every year when I was little and enjoying every bit of it.  Will loves it too.  Especially the part where Snoopy is flying his doghouse after the REd Barron; however, just like with all other shows we watch, he makes sure we are all aware when a "bad word" is said.  In this movie, the "bad word" is "stupid".  (I think that is so cute)

Once the movie was done, the cupcakes were cooled and it was time to ice them...

Add some decorations...

And eat some decorations...

Does this guy take after me or what???

When it was all over, Will was a bit messy and I was a bit annoyed because I couldn't eat any raw batter, but we had a ton of fun and they were delicious!

Dewberry Farms

It is that time of the year again...time to head out to the pumpkin patch!  This year we decided instead of going to the Old Christmas Tree Farm, we would head out (WAY out) past Katy to Dewberry Farms and it was definitely worth it!  Will had a great time checking out all the pumpkins!

 Maybe a little too much fun...check out the next series of photos...

 

 The we took the time for a family photo...yes, I strategically placed myself behind everyone :)

Will is just too cute for words!

Then it was time to pick out THE pumpkin...requirements?  

1)No bad spots 

2)Must have a stem and 

3)Will must be able to carry it himself

Before long though, Papa Max was carrying the pumpkin and Will was back to his antics...

On our way to the sunflowers we discovered teeny tiny pumpkins...and Will just had to have a couple...

Check out the absolute joy in his face!  There were a hundred butterflies swarming around the sunflowers...

And here he is with Nana Rosie and Papa Max who graciously drove us all the way there and marched for hours around the farm...

Next we were off to the corn maze....there was one moment of mommy panic when Will darted through what he called "a shortcut" but we all made it out ok!

This was my ultimate moment of jealousy during our trip ("mommy can't do that because she is pregnant").  The Slide Mountain!

Billy and Will scooted down it at warp speed!

And then we were off to the tractor train...I don't know if it gets anymore Texan than this...this brought tears to my eyes I was laughing so hard.  Where else can you ride in 50 gallon drums, being pulled by a tractor? Haha!

Billy and I always joke that Will is more than a kid, he is somewhat of our "toy" because we get to toss him around, tickle him, wrestle with him etc...so we thoroughly enjoyed rolling him around in this thing (I have no idea what it was or what it is used for on the farm)

But then Will had HIS turn!

His energy level not fading at all, we then headed off to the Little Farmers section where we "rode horses"...

And played in the Corn Crib...this was REALLY cool...it was a little playhouse filled about one foot full of corn kernels...

It...was...awesome!

Lastly we headed to "find some treasure" (aka marbles).  Will sifted through about a pound of sand and rocks, finding about 15 marbles...

We had a great time!  

Now we have to plan out how we are going to carve our jack-o-lanterns!