Costumes from Halloweens Past

Here are pictures of Truett from his first 2 Halloweens...Enjoy!

Our Cajun Crawfish...

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

After looking at these pictures, I realized that he WAS a spider amputee! The weather was too hot for him to wear a long sleeved shirt (for the last 2 of 8 legs of the spider) so he wore a short sleeved shirt instead! :)

Nugs got in on the action, too!

Lions and Tigers and Bears...OH MY!

This year for Halloween, I decided to dress Truett and Emma as the Scarecrow and Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz (of course, Nugs was to be Toto). I thought a scarecrow costume would be pretty easy to do and would be a 'weather friendly' costume (last year, Truett was a spider and almost had to go as an amputee spider because the warm weather ALMOST wasn't condusive for a long-sleeved black shirt!)

Anyway, I want to start by saying that whoever created the tie-on, 'scarecrow straw' is my new best friend and I think $6.99 is WAY too cheap for such a convenient item! I went to Party City weeks ago to try to find a grass skirt that I could doctor up and sew into Truett's costume to make him appear to be stuffed with straw. I almost started crying tears of joy in the store when I saw this perfectly packaged bag of tie-on pieces that go around the neck, the wrists and the ankles...I LOVE YOU, WHOEVER YOU ARE! :)

Back to Halloween night...When John and Sarah were 'trick-or-treating' age, my parents would walk around the neighborhood with them and Emily and I would stay at my mom's to pass out candy. A few years ago, it changed slightly and now it seems that my parents' house is the "one-stop-shopping" house on the block. All of the neighbors come over with their buckets of candy, lawn chairs, appetizers, and drinks and we all sit in the yard visiting while the rest of the neighborhood kiddos come by and get their candy.

A group shot of my mom's yard with all the neighbors...

The 102nd Dalmatian and Dorothy...There's no place like LeeLa's!

So, the afternoon of Halloween, I loaded up all (and I mean ALL) of Truett and Emma's "stuff" (for the G-rated version) and head to my mom's house. I got Truett and Emma dressed and ready in their costumes and we headed to a neighbor's house for a Halloweenie Roast before trick-or-treating began. Truett had so much fun running around with the other kids and it was all we could do to try to get a picture of him! Emma on the other hand...never moved an inch!

Truett is already showing signs of following in Jay's footsteps. Here he is using the bottled water to water the flowers in the the flower bed of the playhouse.

Here is my sorry attempt to try to get a picture of Truett while he was standing still. He caught on quickly and this is the shot I got!

Another failed attempt on my part to get a good picture of Truett in his costume! :)

Unfortunately, the Halloweenie Roast was the end of Halloween for Emma and I. Once we got back to my mom's, it was time for me to feed Emma (which takes about an hour from start to finish) so Jay and Truett went out trick-or-treating without Emma and I (no pictures!). When they came back, Truett could hardly stand it! He was so excited about the candy he had gotten and couldn't wait to show it to me. He spent the rest of the night running around the yard, playing with the neighborhood kids and eating candy. I'm already looking forward to next year so that Emma and I can join in on the fun, too!

Truett taking inventory of his candy!

We Are Family

On Saturday, we went to see Jay's family in Alvarado. His grandmother (MaMaw) is in a nursing home and we spent a little time visiting her. Of course, you can imagin what THAT WAS like. Let me just give you a visual...Truett plus wheel chairs plus oxygen tanks...NOT a good combination! We stayed just long enough to get some pics with MaMaw and make our presence known.

We then headed over to Jay's aunt and uncle's house (Aunt P & Uncle Danny). They have a huge piece of land out there with cows. Truett had a blast running around in the wide open space and loved being outside with his Papa. Emma and I stayed inside and visited with Aunt P.

While we were there, Uncle Danny and Aunt P gave Truett a rocking horse that they had purchased at an auction some time last year. Truett loved it and kept getting on saying, "YeeHa, Cowboy!"

Aunt Cathy and Brandi stopped by to visit with Truett and Emma, too. I forgot to take pictures, so you'll just have to take my word that we were there! :)

Oldie but Goodie!

Jay is 38 today! He isn't one to make a fuss over many things and his birthday goes right along with that. For those of you who REALLY know me, know that this COMPLETELY goes against how I feel about birthdays! :) Although, he has started claiming 'birthday weekends' as opposed to just the single day!

Yesterday morning, we took Truett to my mom's house so she could keep him while Jay and I went to mass. We took Emma with us and Uncle John came, too, so Truett and LeeLa' had some time together...just the two of them! We ended up spending the rest of the day at my mom's house, just hanging out. Being that it was Jay's 'birthday weekend', he spent most of the day fulfilling his birthday wish...to get more sleep!

Last night, we celebrated Jay's birthday with my family. My mom made dinner and we ended the night with cards, gifts and a yummy pumpkin bread birthday cake.

Here are the presents that Truett and Emma gave to Jay.

We went to Jay's mom and dad's house (Gramma and PaPaw) tonight for another birthday dinner/celebration. Gramma made chicken potpie, fruit and salad. It was delicious! We had birthday cake afterwards and Truett was more than happy to assist Jay in blowing out the candles.

Happy Birthday, Jay! We love you so much and are so blessed to have you in our lives. You work so hard for our family and we couldn't have asked for a better husband or Papa. You're the best! We love you more today than we did yesterday and we'll love you even more tomorrow!

Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater

Jay and I took Truett and Emma to the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch yesterday. The past couple of years, we've just gone to the smaller pumpkin patch in Coppell, but decided that Truett was old enough to really enjoy the big pumpkin patch. So, we loaded up the truck and headed out. When we pulled up, we were almost immediately overwhelmed because apparently EVERYBODY's kids were 'old enough to enjoy the big pumpkin patch'! Jay and I took a deep breath and went in with guns blazin'! :) Actually, once we found a parking spot and started walking around, we realized it wasn't NEARLY as chaotic as it appeared. The people who put this shindig on have it down to a science and despite the massive crowds, things ran pretty smoothly.

I noticed right away that the Pumpkin Patch was nothing but anticipatory parents hoping to get the perfect shot of their little Halloween 'treats' all dolled up in either sweet little costumes or pumpkin outfits. Of course, Jay and I were no exception! Here is the "perfect shot" we managed to get...the best one out of 10 shots!

Here was Emma in true "Emma fashion"...sound asleep through the whole thing!

We started at the bounce houses and giant slide...always favorites of Truett's. Jay and I were cracking up because as I was nervously looking around to make sure Truett was in the "4 and under" aged bounce house (don't want him getting trampled by the big kids!), and the whole time, Truett was in there tackling all of the little kids. I guess the past 2 years of tackling and playing with his Uncle John has led Truett to believe that he is a 13 year old boy! :)

After the bounce houses and giant slides, we headed to the pumpkin patch to find the perfect pumpkin. I thought the pumpkin right in the middle of this picture was it, but Jay and Truett had other ideas. I can't wait until Emma is old enough to get a vote because 2 boys against 1 girl just doesn't get me the results I'm usually looking for.

Truett finally decided on a big pumpkin for our house, in addition to a small pumpkin for himself and a smaller one for Emma. Jay goes to the cashier to pay for the pumpkins and she tells him that the big pumpkin that we chose costs $36... A PUMPKIN!

So, here are Truett and Emma with their little pumpkins. :) We'll be going to the grocery store today to purchase our "$4.99 with Reward Card" pumpkin at Tom Thumb!


As we wrapped up our pumpkin purchase, we headed over to the other side of the patch where all of the wooden characters are. By this time, Truett was thirsty and worn out, and pretty much over it. He did manage to hug his favorite Backyardigan buddies and climb in and out of a fire truck, but other than that, he was pumpkinned out!

Fireman Truett

Bob the Builder...Yes we can!

Truett showing some love to the Backyardigans...Uniqua, Austin & Tyrone

Papa and Truett...witch and scarecrow

All-in-all, the pumpkin patch was pretty successful and we will definitely head out there again next year. Hopefully I'll get better pics next year, but to end this blog, I'll post one last 'perfect picture' that was taken by some lady at the 'patch'. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my husband for telling me how cute I look, despite the obvious truth! He could have at least told me to do something with my hair! :) hahahahah!


Happy Halloween!

Short and Sweet

My grandma (MawMaw) came for a quick visit last weekend. My parents had gone to Louisiana for a wedding and my grandma flew back with them so she could see Truett and Emma. She flew back home the following day, but it was great to see her and visit with her. Truett was excited to see her and Emma was happy to sleep in her arms!

MawMaw and Emma meet for the first time.

My mom and MawMaw

Four generations of ladies...

Thank you, MawMaw, for making the trip to see us. We love you very much and hope to visit with you again SOON!

6th in 6th

A friend of mine (who also has a blog) had someone pass on to her, the idea to post the 6th picture that was in the 6th folder of her picture files on the computer. I was curious to see what that picture was for me, and this is the picture that was there.

It's a picture of Truett from March of THIS year. Some of you may not be able to tell, but to me, he looks so much like a little baby in this picture. If I had not had the date on the file folder, I would have thought this was a picture from last year. It's crazy just how much they change and grow in a short period of time!

This picture was taken at the playground at the elementary school where I was teaching at the time. Jay and Truett had come up to the school with me on a Saturday so I could work in my classroom. Obviously, a 1 and a half-year-old and a 2nd grade classroom don't go well together, so Jay took Truett outside to play while I worked.

Have I mentioned that I LOVE the fact that I'm not teaching this year????