Halloween leftovers

We had a great Halloween. Brianna decorated a pumpkin for 2nd grade. Our traditional pumpkin contest we enter at Pirrung Elementary with whoever in our family is in 2nd grade. Mikayla did Mickey Mouse, Andrew did Batman, which I believe is shown in an older post from last Halloween and now Brianna decided this year to create Alvin the chipmunk. It was a very Heavy pumpkin and a lot of work. She won first place, which is also a tradition in our family.

Trunk or Treating was fun this year and we had a family picture taken by a sister in the ward. Wayne had been gone all week to Minnesota and we enjoyed spending Halloween with him. All in all it was a great night. Since then, we have been eating a lot of Halloween leftovers and enjoying the candy!

Football Season is almost over. I look forward to having more free time as a family, but we are a big football familyand enjoy watching our boys play as well as the girls cheering. Wayne and I loved watching the game last night against Texas and Texas Tech. What a game!

The Kids in their Saints Jerseys

Gabby and I took a quick trip last week to American Girl Place. We had reservations for Bitty Fun Day and our little date consisted of playing with Bitty Bear and all her friends, coloring a Bitty Bear Picture, playing a few games, a yummy little luncheon and Gabby Oooohing over everything at American Girl Place. She was in HEAVEN to say the least. It was a great memory that she and I made.

This past week, we had Homecoming for the Saints organization and Brianna was crowned Homecoming Princess. She was so excited and loved getting a bunch of extra "Stuff". I say, Football in Texas is like NFL Football. It can be really fun, but also very extreme. We are going a million miles an hour these days. Both Mikayla and Brianna are practicing for their Drill competition and the boys continue to practice super hard. David's little flag team have only won 1 game, but Andrew's team have only lost 2 the entire season. I think little Dave's team are just too cute and adorable for words. They are so little out there playing. It is so fun to watch. Andrew's team is just all tough and tumble. Andrew sure likes to sack when he plays defense or offense. He is a big guy for his age and loves to use his size to his advantage. His coaches have all told us that they wish every player was like Andrew, willing to work hard, listens and follows through with everything he is told to do. He delivers for sure! He plays Center, Tight End and Running Back positions, depending upon the play.

Wayne is in St. Paul Minnesota this week learning about products for his company. We miss him dreadfully. It will be a long week. We have a sister in the ward living with us right now. She had a stroke about seven weeks ago and is staying with us for a while. That has been pretty crazy, but we're adjusting, I think.

We had our Primary Program today and I am so glad it is over. It went really well. Those Saturday practices sometimes stress us leaders out more because we hope and pray the children act better on Sunday than they did on Saturday. All works out for the best though and the spirit was strongly felt during Sacrament Meeting.

I am Really Not With It!

You Know, I never wanted to be the kind of mom that lets things go, but I find that I am so overwhelmed some days that I let things slide. Writing on my blog would have to be the top of my list of sliding. I feel so guilty when I don't write, but feel that FHE, Church, Scripture study, callings, seminary, primary, high grades for each of the four kids in school, sports, scouts, meals, achievement, well things are getting a little nuts around here.

We are busy, but wanted to post to let you all know what is going on! Both Andrew and David are in Football again and Brianna and Mikayla are trying their hand at Cheerleading this year. It has been A LOT of work, but they are so happy. Mikayla, Andrew and I get up every morning and go running at 5:30 a.m. This is during the time when Wayne teaches Seminary! This has been very good for my old body and sore muscles and great for the kids.

I am tutoring two days a week and keeping busy during the school day with our two littlest ones at home. Gabrielle and Amelia are good friends and play together really well.

Wayne is working hard at his new job with Roma/Vistar and campaigning in the evenings for Mike Anderson, (Running for House of Rep. Republican - side)

Finally Home!

We just returned from a long vacation from the northwest. We, me and the kids, went to Idaho to be with Grandpa and Grandma Hawkes. Wayne stayed in Texas. We missed him, but not the Texas weather! We mostly played around G & G's house and swam in their pool! We did take a few turns around the valley to the Sanddunes, canoeing, and zoo, but mostly just relaxed with nowhere to go. It was a very nice change of pace compared to the busy hectic lifestyle of Dallas!

While we were gone, we had a few major changes to our lives. We sold our pizza store, brought on two business partners with us at The Bow Wow Wash and Wayne got a new job. Needless to say, our family lifestyle changed quite dramatically in the last month! It was an amazing experience. The Lord is always mindful of us. Wayne and I have been patiently learning faith over the past 9 months or so and things happened all at once! We should never doubt that the Lord loves us so much, but teaches us a great many things along the way that stretches us to our full capacity!

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

I took the Challenge! Which Jane Austen heroine are you?

Take the Quiz here!

Happenings in a paragraph!

It has been some time since my last blog. I guess I've been busy enough that I fail in many endeavors. On a brighter note, Mikayla made Honor Choir at her school and then went on to make All-city choir. Andrew has been in his first PineWood Derby and got fourth place. Not bad for a first year scout. He is planning on attending twilight camp and getting lots of belt loops and arrow points while there. Maybe they made Twilight camp name after Twilight. I am really a pathetic fan! How droll my life must sound to outsiders. Brianna, the tomboy, had such a compassionate heart, gave a bunch of her pairs of socks to a girl in her class that had no socks and Brianna was so praised by the act of compassion that the principal even wrote a letter to us thanking us for raising such a sweet girl. The next day Brianna ended up visiting the principal's office for punching a boy in the face. Talk about bi-polar, even though she isn't, she can be very extreme. She is a perfect example of Dr. Jeckyle and Mr. Hyde. David is just David and thinks that boys rule the world. Gabby is now potty-trained and "No Binkies" trained. She was Very unhappy with her Dad about this binkie move, but she seems to be more grown up for the loss off binkies. Mia is just Mia. SWEET AS PIE and my little piece of heaven. Wayne stays busy between the Pizza store and the Bow Wow Wash. He works so hard! I am staying busy with the kids and am in charge of the children's choir for Stake Conference coming up in three weeks! We are excited about that !

Miss Mikayla and her artwork

Time has gone quickly as of late. We had spring break and my parents came out to spend time with us. The kids loved it and we were able to spend time fixing things up around the house! Wayne worked both the Bow Wow Wash all day until 8 p.m. and then went to work at the Pizza Store each night until close. This lasted for a week and he was completely exhausted each night. Bless his heart! I think I saw him at the house a time or two!

Mikayla and her talent in art is beginning to show! Her artwork done with the art teacher at Pirrung Elementary was selected to be placed at show at the Professional Building in the City of Mesquite. We attended a reception in her honor and I was very amazed to see something so abstract come from little Mikayla! It was Very Good! Then, within a week of that reception, she was notified that her Reflections art piece placed as Third in the District. This is amazing simply because there are something like 32 elementary schools in the district. She loves art and loves to write, Maybe she'll be an illustrator/author! She definitely has the talent for it!

Included are two pictures of Mikayla's B-Ball team at playoffs. They went in undefeated, but lost to a team from inner-city Dallas. I have never seen girls play so mean! Yikes!