Happy Halloween!

This year I had the joy of taking the kids to Lane's squadron's Halloween Party AND trick-or-treating…by myself! It was a challenge to keep up with both kids, and keep both entertained when they were into doing different things - Eden loves the bounce houses, Hunter hates them; Hunter wants to run, Eden wants to sit and paint pumpkins - but all in all it worked out just splendidly.

Hunter took it upon himself to pass out candy. 

Costume contest!

On Halloween night we were invited over to a friends house for dinner before heading out to trick-or-treat as a group. We had lots of little ones running around getting excited about the upcoming sugar they were about to ingest! It's always nice when you can share the excitement of your kids with other parents! 

All the kiddos {and our babysitters!}
Hunter - Peter Pan
Charlotte - Peacock
Grace - Flapper
David and Katie - Mickey and Minnie
Cael - Iron Man
Coen - Captain America
Eden - Tinkerbell
Wesley - Lion {and the rest of his family were other characters from the Wizard of Oz - notice the picture is taken upon the Yellow Brick Road}
Sarah - the Nerd

 All the kids had their own cupcake. Lauren - the hostess - has a friend who makes cakes. She made one decorated with each of the kids' costumes.

Hunter's first trick-or-treat!

Pumpkins

Before we left Georgia, Grandma and Grandpa wanted to treat the kids {and me} to a fun outing! We met up at one of the local churches to pick out a pumpkin for each kid to carve. Grandma made dinner for us, and we all worked at getting the pumpkins emptied, designed, and carved. 

She eventually dug right in all on her own!

After we got home from our trip we went to another pumpkin patch with our playgroup here in California. We enjoyed a hay-maze and a hay ride before picking out our pumpkins with our friends.

Of course since we had more pumpkins we had to carve them again. We used the same stencils that we did at Grandma and Grandpa's house, so we were pros when it came to carving this time. Eden enjoyed reaching in and being brave when she got the "guts" out all by herself this time. Hunter was willing to reach his hand in when he was being helped, but surprisingly, he still had no interest in just diving in and getting dirty!

Color Run

This year the kids and I ran the Color Run again {the weekend after we got back from Georgia.} Last year we ran it with Daddy, and this year we ran it with some friends. Just like last year we all showed up wearing head-to-toe-white so we could end up colorful in the end!

 During the run I told the kids to yell and wave their arms if they wanted to be sprayed with color. I don't think we went through a color area when the kids didn't want to have color on them.

Once everything was said and done we were all walking rainbows. We all had a blast, and it took forever to shower everything out. Eden had blue hair for days, but we wouldn't change it for anything! Having so much fun is always worth the mess!!!

Cups

Music is something that is very calming to me {most of the time...when it isn't "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" on loop in the car with screaming kids} Most of the time I can listen to a song and it can make the think of something. Throughout deployment there have been a few songs that have meant something to me for one reason or another. While I'm getting pictures up and organized I figured I'd take this opportunity to remember the past few months through music. 

When Lane shaved Boris, he did it with music in the background {and yes, he video'd the act so I could see it happen since our times are so different.} He shaved his first mustache {he still has Boris Jr. growing strong!} and now every time I hear this song I think of Boris. And I hear the song often because it happens to be one of the frequent requests of Eden's.

"Cups (You're Gonna Miss Me)"

I've got my ticket for the long way 'round
Two bottle whiskey for the way
And I sure would like some sweet company
Oh, I'm leaving tomorrow. What do you say?

When I'm gone (when I'm gone)
When I'm gone (when I'm gone)
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone

You're gonna miss me by my hair
You're gonna miss me everywhere,
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone

I've got my ticket for the long way 'round
The one with the prettiest view

It's got mountains, it's got rivers
It's got woods that give you shivers
But it sure would be prettier with you

When I'm gone (when I'm gone)
When I'm gone (when I'm gone)
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone

You're gonna miss me by my walk
You'll miss me by my talk
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone

I've got my ticket for the long way 'round
These feet weren't built to stay too long
And I'll go there on my own
But you'll miss me when you're home
It's for you, dear, that I sing this song

When I'm gone (when I'm gone)
When I'm gone (when I'm gone)
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone

You're gonna miss me by my hair
You're gonna miss me everywhere
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone

When I'm gone
When I'm gone
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone

You're gonna miss me by my walk
You'll miss me by my talk
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone

Updating

Since I've been home my computer has had to be at the apple store twice, and getting pictures updated and everything updated is taking time. Not to mention, I'm trying to get my house clean and ready for Lane to come home much sooner than we thought. Life is crazy around here, but I haven't forgotten to snap pictures, and I will be putting them up soon...it's just going to take a little bit.

Here Comes the Bride

Parker and Sara have been newly-weds for almost a month already! He's back on ship - and even out to sea again - and she's waiting to move up there with him. I'm still excited for them! Being married is a lot of fun. Their wedding was beautiful and the day was perfect. The sky was blue, it wasn't too hot or too cold, it was perfect.

Parker and me at the end of the rehearsal dinner.

The day of the wedding started early at Sara's parents house. The bridesmaids were getting hair done and drinking mimosas and just laughing together.

Sara's "something blue" from the inside of her dress. It was a name tape from one of Parker's uniforms - and Sara's new last name!

As the wedding time approached, I was getting more and more anxious about how Eden and Hunter were going to participate. Hunter didn't get a good nap that day, and Eden can be hit or miss when it comes to being the center of attention. Sometimes she loves it, but sometimes she plays shy. Needless to say, they were both awesome - and they looked good too!

When the time came, Hunter walked me down the aisle. Lane was supposed to walk me down the aisle, but since he's gone for now Hunter stepped up and filled his Daddy's shoes. He got to be the "man of the house" for the first time. After walking me down the aisle, Hunter laid on Pop's shoulder through the entire ceremony.

After Hunter and I walked down the aisle, it was Eden's turn. She very peacefully walked with her basket of petals and placed one petal at a time on the runner. Once she made it to the end, she turned to face the guests at the ceremony and she gave her best pageant wave. She walked over to me and she said that she wanted to go sit with her cousins so I told her to go ahead and sit with them. What I didn't realize was that in order to sit with them she was going to walk back up the aisle, placing one petal at a time.

The reception was filled with good food, good drinks, and lots of dancing! We had a blast and we enjoyed celebrating Mr. and Mrs. James Parker Travis!

Hunter's World

Hunter is starting to speak more and more every day. Most of the time you have to be in the situation to know what it is he's talking about, but I love that he's talking. At his 18 month well baby visit last week {a month late} one of the questions was if he says 50 words. I very quickly thought, "heck no! He hardly talks at all!" because Eden was an early talker and I think I compare them {even when I try my hardest not to} I decided to really pay attention to him throughout his day and see how many words he really does say and I discovered that he talks more than I thought.

Mommy/mama

Cap - clap {standing on the wall outside dancing with Eden}

Woah

Daddy

Phone

Dah - dog

Hep - help

Pea - please

Ta tu - thank you

Ta tu mama

Hi

Bye bye

Hee-ah - here

Wa-er - water

No

Nigh nigh

Sue - shoe

Cah - car

Bike {and he knows that daddy's bike says vrooooom}

Owie

Gi-ger - Ginger {to him, both dogs are Ginger}

Ah dah - all done

Nack - snack {accompanied by trying to get in the pantry} 

Why - white {requesting a "Daddy kids" because Eden asks for the white ones}

By - asking for a bite of something

Ti-er - tiger

Uh oh

Mimi

Bob - Pop

Go

Bah - ball

Dah - up 

Dah - down

Ih hurr - it hurt 

Co-yur - color

Hay-ah - hair {he mostly says this when the wind blows his hair}

Bah - bath

Mir - more

Ligh - light

Bo - bowl

Shhh

Mok - milk

I love you - this one is one that no matter how hard I try to sound out the phonics, it doesn't work!

Dah - that

Pah-ee - paci

Uh huh

Ha - hot

Ear

Feet

K? - this is asked after anyone coughs or sneezes

Mine

Ho - hold {most often talking about the phone when we get to FaceTime with Lane}

Grandma/grandpa - the other ones that phonics can't be figured out. But they heard it when we were in Grorgia and that's what counts!

Eee - Eden