Cousins last day

Yesterday was the last day Reese was able to spend time with her cousins. Annagrace was leaving the next day to spend time with other family down in Utah. So we headed back down to Downey after Todd was finished with school that day and let the girls play one last time. I'm not quite sure what to say about these two girls - it's definitely a love/hate relationship. They are either screaming and hitting each other or playing nicely together.
The other day I found these cute little haunted house kits and picked up one for each of the girls. They had fun putting them together. Mom's put the walls and roof on and then the girls got to decorate them with pumpkins, ghosts, spiders and bats.
Grandma Z helping Annagrace.
Reese showing off her house. Mom helped a little bit when it came to putting on her creatures. The backs were really sticky and Reese had a hard time getting them to not stick to her hand. So I would let her pick the spot and then attach it a little at the bottom and then she would push it on the rest of the way.
Reese wanted to make sure you saw the bats she put on the inside.
Sitting in Grandpa's chair. They thought it was pretty funny when they hurry and jumped in it after he got up and left the room.
Goodbye hugs. This little charade of hugs and kisses was quite wild and lasted forever. They were tackling, squeezing - you name it for a good 20 minutes. We'll miss playing with them and we hope to see them again soon.

Busy Weekend

Sunday we were down at my mom's house most of the afternoon having Sunday dinner to send off my little brother. My brother Tyler joined the Army and left for basic training camp today. He'll be at Fort Benning, Georgia. We enjoyed some yummy NFC (Nan fried chicken), dutch oven potatoes, and lime cheesecake. We'll miss seeing Tyler but we're proud of the decision he's made to be apart of something and we know it will provide him some excellent opportunities.
I know my children don't look too thrilled. Reese is over smiling cute for pictures anymore.

Bowling with the Welch's

Todd's brother Tyler and his family are were here visiting from Georgia for a few days. Saturday everybody went bowling.
Reese hanging out with her ball. Her favorite thing is to organize the balls once they come back through the hole.
Todd's 4 strikes in a row. By the 5th frame he was already 114! I'm glad I documented this when I did because it didn't go too well after that. I think he ended in the 160's.
Grandma and the 2 babies.

Ward Halloween Party

Friday family came up to go with us to our ward's Halloween party.
Boston and his cousin Emmalee. Such cute kiddos.

All dressed up and ready to go to the part. Princess Reese and Little Bo Annagrace.

So I don't remember what I let Reese eat that day (probably some cheetos) but she has a ring of orange around her mouth in all these pictures. Not very princess like.
Our cute little lion.

At the Halloween party. Grandpa and Grandma and the kids.
Aunt Candi and Boston.
There was even a bounce house.
Uncle Tim and the kids.


Decorating her treat bag with grandma.
Face Painting. Reese requested a spider.


Bean bag toss.


2 content little babies.

They also had a spook alley set up at the party but the little girls didn't want to go through it. In one room they had a backdrop set up for family pictures - which I'll post when ever we get those back. We all had lots of fun at the party. We had some good soup and chili and the girls were all over the place doing different activities.

Cookie Party

I'm falling behind on my posts... but a week or so ago some friends and I got together to decorate some Halloween cookies. Reese had lots of fun - she loves to decorate cookies. I iced them for her and she handled all the toppings.
All the (little) girls. Addi, Braylee, and Reese.
Jo mixing some icing. Boston and Bray waiting for a taste.
The beautiful cookies I decorated.

Nothing new... just a couple pics

So we haven't really been up to much lately. Haven't really gone anywhere and done anything. Todd's busy with student teaching so we're pretty home bound. We have a few things coming up this next week - including family visiting from Georgia and my little brother leaves for Boot Camp.
The kids are doing good... Boston is as happy as ever. He has been standing for a few weeks now. He pulls himself up on everything and even walks along the couch while holding on. He still does the army crawl on occasion he'll crawl on his knees - so he can crawl - but for some reason prefers to do it the other way. I'm sure Uncle Thomas will be delighted to hear that I think he's probably going to be left handed.
Hanging out in the bathroom. Not sure what is up with Reese's expression. Scary story the other day... I put Reese in the tub and Boston was just hanging out by the tub and I was going to put a load of laundry in (our washing machine is just right next to our bathroom) and I decided against it and wait until bath time was over -- well not 10 seconds later did Boston try and reach for a toy in the tub and fell in! I was right there to immediately grab him, but he still went in all the way. He was completely drenched and pretty traumatized. I was so scared of what could have happened if I had put a load of laundry in. So that's my bad mom story.

A little bath time entertainment.

Nemo 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

Reese loves walking past the fish in Wal-Mart. Imagine how excited she was when we told her she could pick a couple out and we could take them home. We didn't go to the store that day with the intention of getting any fish. However, we left with 1 fantail goldfish, and 4 regular goldfish. Reese cleverly named them all Nemo. We figured we would start out with some goldfish - I'm afraid of how long they probably won't last. Except when I was a kid my little brother had a goldfish and it lived for years and got really big until it eventually just started to molt and finally died.
Here's her Nemo's. She loves them and gets really excited when it's time to feed them. Mom will not be excited though when she has to clean out the tank - the worst part in owning fish.

Just a couple pics...

Here's just a couple pics... we haven't really been doing much lately. Above: Boston playing the guitar with daddy.
We've been going to the library every week and Reese loves it. We go and listen to story time and then check out a few books. They even let you check out puppets. Last week Reese had an elephant that she named Ellie and loved her dearly. We seriously took her everywhere - including the grocery store. Well her week was up and it was time to take Ellie back home to the library. Reese was pretty heartbroken, until she saw Rex. So This giant dinosaur (which also goes with her everywhere) is here at our house this week. Above: Reese and Rex watching a movie (probably Toy Story).

My cute little boy loves being in the tub. He is such a splasher. You have to keep your distance in the bathroom or you will be drenched in a matter of minutes. I'm surprised there is any water left in the tub after we're done. Bos is now 8 months! He is everywhere! He still doesn't crawl on his knees but he is so quick regardless. He's starting pull himself to standing now. He loves his walker. He loves to rip all the magnets off the fridge. He's one busy boy.

Today my mom came up and helped me with Reese's Halloween costume. I found a princess dress pattern and some fabric, but I needed some assistance. This is my first time using a pattern, well my first time sewing something besides a rag quilt. So grateful for my mom - she was a huge help. Ok she pretty much took over and sewed the whole thing. However, I did sew one of the sleeves. I had to at least do something so I could still claim some of the project. I did make a petticoat for the dress too - to give it a little poof. I had no pattern to work with and just kind of put it together, but it didn't turn out too bad. Naturally you'll see pictures when it's done.