October Halloween, Parties and Elara's hair

I taught joy school the week of Halloween and it's all about food and presentation! 

It was so so fun! The kids had a blast and we did a parade for the parents to hand out candy.

Elara and I have been so blessed to be a part of this joy school group this year. These ladies and kiddos have been a complete joy to be around and have totally lifted our spirits each week and Elara has learned and grown so much this year.

 Joy school friends: Left to right: Adam, JJ, Betsy, Elara, Maeve, and Jack

We had a ward trunk or treat a couple days before Halloween we were able to go to.

Elara "Elsa", Kael "Mario", Connor "Superman", and Eden "Cinderella".

 Sydney and Elara the best of friends!

There was face painting and games and lots of treats.

Derek got back from Corpus Christi and just 3 short weeks later left for a conference in Chicago. He came home and went straight to Houston. He was home long enough for one quick photo, but he sent us tons of fun photos from his trip!

The night before Halloween Elara decided she was bored in the bathroom and took my nail trimming scissors and trimmed herself some bangs.

She felt sad about it and wanted that hair back...

But, we got into a stylist first thing in the morning and she got some cute bangs and a trim to help even it out.

Woke up to a beautiful Texas foggy morning that was perfect for Halloween!

Our usual of chili, and biscuits for dinner followed by way too much candy! Lots of Garfield's Halloween, and other spooky movies.

 Eden decided to be Pikachoo for Halloween instead of Cinderella. 

 The loot! There was so much!

 Connor discovered suckers and is now a sucker addict.

October parties and random stuff

We had lots of friends parties and Halloween parties all month.

This was the neighborhood Halloween party. The kids played games, ate pizza and cupcakes and won prizes.

Their friends Will and Halston had a birthday party.

Elara's eczema and bug bites that made her poor legs so red and inflamed and swollen.

Kael was crafty.

Kael is loving cub scouts and we had a family activity where we had a fire pit and roasted hot dogs and marshmellows with all the other families.

Elara taught Connor how to make mischief in the backyard. So, I encouraged it and kept bringing them water to make more mud.

I entered a mud run with my friends Nancy Maxwell and Jaime Lowe. We had the best time!

 We were the DC Divas. I was super girl.

 Riding a bull while soaking wet is rather difficult.

Pinkston's came to visit! They were buying property about 1 hour from our house! We are so thrilled to have family living so close!!!

Connor learned to climb on anything and everything and it has only gotten worse in time.

October

This month had a lot of crazy hair and sleepy people!

Bloopy only last a week before we got Princess Vanilla. Derek took Elara tear faced and all to go pick out a new fish as promised as soon as he got home. Then, to help her feel a little better he took her to get a vanilla ice cream cone. They went over probably 100 names and Elara looked at her cone and decided to call her "Princess Vanilla". The kid likes to pick names. This one is actually a boy, but we call him a her because Elara really wanted a girl, but boys seem to live a little longer... So far, she is still alive and well!