Actual Halloween!!

No more of this Trunk or Treat nonsense! Lets do some REAL Trick-orTreating!!! But first things first...we need to carve the punkins.

Grammy had to show them how to stick their hands in to scoop out the seeds... you can tell from the look on Pnut's face up there that he was not exactly thrilled about it.

This is how they turned out:

This was Pop's punkin...it was rotten, smelly and gross on Halloween night because he carved it way too early and he used a power tool to carve it.

Spud went upstairs to take a nap so that he wouldn't be crabby later in the evening but when I went up to check on him he was not in his bed? I checked his brother's bed, my bed...no Spud!? I was beginning to panic (just a little bit) so I went in to double check his room and notice a little foot in the closet...and found my little Spud fast asleep on the floor of his closet along with his pillow and blankets.

Halloween night is finally here! I was proud of the boys...I think we made it to 8 houses? Thats a new record for us!! Spud was totally into it and could barely carry his pumpkin he had so much candy..it helps that he is super cute and charming and every house gave him 3 or 4 handfuls of candy. Pnut was too cool to beg for candy but still ended up with a pretty good stash.

The "cool tool guy" neighbor telling the boys to come back for their "Best Costume" prizes..huh?

A fish tank?? Really? Who gives out fishtanks on Halloween?

Cillin' with Pop and a lollipop on the porchswing.

I LOVE this little face SO much!!

Pnut quote: "I'm done"

Trunk or Treat..Smell my Feet!

What is up with this TRUNK-or-treat phenomenon? Is this one more way to make Halloween a bigger event than it already is? As someone who spends hours creating costumes from scratch I will admit that it is nice to have more than just one night to show them off. (All of the "OMG They are SO cute!?" comments from strangers make all of the second degree burns from the glue gun worth it!!)

This year we decided to participate in two (very different) Trunk or Treats. The first (on Oct 20? just a little early don'tcha think?) was at Grammy's High School and it was an interesting experience. Lots and lots of scary teenagers everywhere! The boys were totally overwhelmed and made it to maybe 6 or 7 trunks before they shut down. Pnut went mute after the third trunk and let Spud get all the candy. Let's talk about the candy... lots of blow pops, pixie sticks and sweet tarts. In other words, NOTHING I would allow my children to consume. Luckily the two trunks with the good candy (M&Ms and dumdum pops) really liked the boys and gave them extra helpings so they didn't notice when Mom confiscated and disposed of most of what was in their pumpkins.  Grammy had to work the gate at the JV football game so she missed the festivities but we did walk allllllll the way around the school to find her so she at least got to see her two little rescue swimmers.

Fast forward to tonight...there is a children's interactive museum on the island called The Sandbox and we LOVE it! (It has a pirate ship, an airplane cockpit, two craft rooms, etc.) It was a LOT smaller than the high schools and much more creative (with fewer scary teenagers! and lots of good candy!) Grammy got to go this time and the boys were excited to show her their favorite play place.

Easy Riders

After a few heated sibling fights over big brothers bike helmet I finally went out and purchased a helmet for my second born. I guess his brains are worth protecting too even though the baby books say he won't be as smart as his first born brother. (HA! We shall see about THAT!)

Anyway, they have had a blast cruising the 'hood with their helmets and "goggles" lol!

Terrible Tuesdays

I know I posted once before about "daddy Hangover days" when he reluctantly goes back to work and I am left with two sad little boys. Unfortunately it has progressed into what I now refer to as TERRIBLE TUESDAY! (cue horror music for effect NOW!)

Yesterday it went so far that I was honestly questioning my value as a mother and wondering if my children would be better raised by strangers in a day care setting so at least then I could go back to work and provide some sort of benefit to my family. Pnut told me " I  don't like you. I am going to cast a fishing line at you with a hook with no bait on it." Ooooh that hurt. Actually it did hurt.

Luckily this was also one of those days that I realized how truly blessed I am to have the support of family. Grammie took Pnut off my hands long enough that I could gain a little perspective, have a little chat with the Lord and spend some quality time with my Spud, the son that still likes his mother.

There are no photos to support this post. Be thankful of that.

Bluffton Fest Part 2

After checking out the art along Calhoun Street (and falling in love with the encaustic fine art of Danita Cole http://danitacole.com/) we went home, gathered lawn chairs and warm clothes and headed back to the Bluffton Oyster Factory for food and fireworks and a gorgeous sunset on the May River. We really are blessed to live in this beautiful place with an awesome family!!

Bluffton Fest Part 1

Bluffton's Seafood and Art Festival was all this week and Saturday was a BIG day starting with a "Little Guy Fishing Tournament" as we called it. The weather was cooooool, like in the 50's, but we were excited to participate and got all bundled up to go out on the boat and FISH!

Once we got to the sign up at the Oyster Factory we heard the rules (No boats...must fish from land) and the winning categories (Prettiest Fish and Ugliest Fish.) After returning the boat back to the house we headed out to FISH! We also removed most of our clothing since by 10am it had warmed up to a perfect 70 degrees. Pnut lost interest pretty quickly and moped around with an attitude (I swear he is 4 going on 14 this week!?! I thought I had a few years before the hormonal moodiness?) but Spud was a fishin' fool!! He LOVES fishing with his Dad and his Pop and I LOVE watching him... you can see the joy in his little soul beaming through the grin on his face!

At 2o'clock we headed back to the Oyster Factory for the "awards." The guy that hosted the tournament is the owner of  Marshgrass Adventures, a local kayak eco adventure company. He said that this years tournament has been the best ever with 12 participants!? Wow! twelve? Do people not read the paper? It was advertised for 3 weeks in every section? Oh well, WE had a blast and will definitely be participating in the years to come. The boys won little goody bags for participating, and Spud got an honorable mention for being the youngest guy, but the big prizes (two cool "ugly stick" fishing poles) went to two other boys much to Pnut's dismay.  

Still smiling...before he realized he didn't win the BIG prize!

The two cuties that won... the lil guy on the right was SO proud of his
lizard fish, winner of "ugliest fish"