Christmas Lights

I've heard it said that you can tell a lot about a man by the way he handles Christmas lights...I really hate to guess what that says about Brandon. Now Brykn, on the other hand, is easy to pinpoint: so excited!

Brykn was ecstatic when we decided to hang the Christmas lights outside. Brandon muttered under his breath, but after he saw Brykn's excitement, he came around and not a single curse word was said while he climbed the latter (after that I couldn't hear...). Brykn handled the lights on the bushes, helped us with the lights on our pillars, and was more than enough help managing the lighted candy canes. And, when it was all said and done, Brykn was SO proud of our house. He asked me why people hang Christmas lights and the best answer I could come up with was "So Santa will know where they live." From there forward, we don't pass a lighted house without Brykn saying, "Santa's gonna know where they live, huh mom?!"

1 Dog + 1 Boy = True Friendship

After lots and lots of begging, we got Bandit the dog just a few months ago...but, he's now a part of the family. Bandit and Brykn play like brothers and Bandit is getting more and more protective of Brykn. They race each other, jump on the trampoline (and I do mean the dog jumps), and they even play baseball (Brykn hits the ball and Bandit retrieves it). I'll admit there have been times I have swore and cussed the dog, but all in all I am so glad he's ours--and, so is Brykn!

More Halloween Photos

So Fun it was Scary!

This Halloween was filled with party after party! And, since Brykn absolutely LOVES a good party, we celebrated at all of them! Brykn knew exactly what he wanted to be for Halloween from the first time we talked about it--a skunk. He did not waiver! So, after looking at all the costume shops from here to Timbucktoo, I finally found a really cute one on the Internet (good thing because he was convinced that I could sew him one).

Our first party was at a house just up the street. We didn't actually know the people hosting it, but some friends of our did, so we tagged along. It was a lot of fun! They had a huge shed/shop that they set up a bunch of food, made a haunted house inside a duck blind, and made tables for pumpkin painting. Then, they had hay rides on a wagon with a horse team, ponies for the kids to ride, and even a bunny to hold. Brykn thought the bunny was the best--they were fuzzy friends!

Our second party was Grandma Sally's party and Brykn had a great time "carting" the pumpkins. He even made one for the baby! Grandma Sally even made a cake--because every good party has cake!

Finally, our third party was the offical Halloween day trick-or-treating and party at Jeannie's house. Complete in our costumes (I was an angel...but, since my belly is sticking out, I hung a sign around my neck that said, "The DEVIL made me DO IT!") Brykn and I made it to a grand total of 4 houses in our neighborhood before he had had 100% enough of trick-or-treating. Geez!

Jeannie's house was a lot of fun, as always. Decorated to the 9's and food galore, there were 2 real highlights of the night. First, was Grandma. Dressed in her "Oldest Survivor of Woodstock...Peace Baby!" costume, she made us all laugh and laugh! Second, was when my mom knocked on the door dressed as Frankenstein with mask and all. The kids really didn't know what to think. Brykn just kept looking at her and holding on around my neck as tight as he could!