Halloween Goodies

We had the cutest Transformer, Alice, Hulk, and Snow Leopard we've ever seen! We loved our ward's Halloween party.

• The Hulk was so strong he was busting out of Claire's old pants. His feet must have grown too, because his feet were hanging out of his shoes. The green paint, oh the green paint. It was such a good idea that got the best of me. His wig got a haircut from Preston's Esqueleto costume. 
• I found Preston's costume at Goodwill and thought he would be so excited. Nope, he wanted to be a Glowing Wolverine. He had a clever idea to put glow sticks in between his knuckles. He is very creative. Next year I will help him come up with something.
• Claire was a really sweet Alice. She was very excited to for the chance to dress up.
• I quickly made Tessa's leopard ears out of felt and a old hairband that night. It was hard to paint her little nose. I couldn't get enough of her.

On Halloween Preston and Rhett decided to wear old costumes. I was okay skipping the face paint. Rhett was a sweaty mess in the sweat suit disguised as a Buzz Lightyear costume. The kids ran door to door this year. I think they would have ran away from us if we hadn't kept calling them back. We have to get more candy!

Pre-Christmas

Before we headed up to Idaho, we decided to have part of our Christmas at home.

• We enjoyed cookies and Santa Clause at the Frost Fest. 
• We went to Lowes and picked out the best tree we could find. This year our goal was to get a tree with a stronger pine scent. When we got it home we realized it was a little droopy.
• It was Claire's turn to put the star on the tree. She rocked it.
• We enjoyed our tradition of putting up ornaments and sipping hot chocolate. 
• Grandma King made pajamas again. They all love them.  Claire cherishes her new nightgown. 
• David gave me a Texas Longhorn pajama set. 
• David loved to keep the kids in suspense on our stairs. He had them close their eyes before they walked into the living room.
• David stayed up late assembling a homemade tetherball stand. We put their first initial in the wet cement. We also put together a basketball hoop. We decided to skip out on all the little gifts and got them big group gifts they could share. 
• Preston was thrilled about his Harry Potter book.
• Claire got the Pogo Stick she wanted.
• Rhett got a Toy Story action figure playset.
• We loved our first Christmas with Tessa.
• We decided this would be our last pre-Christmas. 

                            

Tessa's Baby Blessing

We shared an exciting day with our baby girl. She looked so sweet in her white gown that Grandma King sent in the mail. All of her girl cousins have been blessed in it.  It was a good thing we had her blessed when we did or she wouldn't have fit in it. The bonnet was pretty snug. We were happy to have Nana and Papa come all the way to Texas to support us. I asked Nana to take notes of the blessing. Claire decided to take her own notes as well. She caught little tidbits of everything. It also made the occasion more special for her. She is very nurturing to her little sister. I tried to time everything right, but Tessa ended up being fussy during the blessing. The sweet men in the circle were able to keep her calm enough for David to continue the prayer. Our little Tessa is such a blessing in our lives. She has a tender spirit. She is going to do so much good in the world.

Fantastic Four

Preston never ceases to surprise us. He came home from school begging to be in the Step Club. It sounded strange to me and I told him I would think about it. At that point, he knew I was probably going to say no and so he made a desperate plea. I talked to David about it and he suggested we offer him Karate instead. Although Preston had wanted to do Karate before, he turned it down without hesitation. David and I made the effort to look up Elementary School Step Teams on Utube. We had a good laugh as we realized Preston might not fit the mold.  Well that shows how much Mom and Dad know. I reluctantly signed his permission form and watched the end of his first practice. To my surprise, Step Club is the coolest club at his school. I think the gym had at least 50 kids in there, from kindergartners to 5th graders. They were all different and thats what made it so great. We are very proud of our Step Club kids(Claire joined too). Preston shows great determination and focus when he is passionate about something. He has been working on a behavior(cheerfully cooperating) to earn super hero comics. He works hard each day for his check mark. I do not have to remind him, he is constantly reminding me.

Claire received the "Respect" award at school. Every month the school focuses on a positive character trait. At the end of the month each teacher picks a student in their class that has displayed that trait. The school has a Knight come to give the students their awards.  They think it is pretty awesome to have a real knight there! The ceremony is very grand. It is a secret until the parents meet them on the stage and call their name. I awkwardly went up on the stage with Rhett and the baby. Claire stood as they read an enthusiastic letter from her teacher and then had her sit on the stage.  We're very happy with Claire's efforts because she received the same award last year. Claire is always generous and kind.  She is very sensitive to others feelings. She wants to do her best and shows great self discipline.

Rhett has regressed with his bathroom habits since Tessa came around. Although, he has learned "bathroom talk" and what is "not appropriate". He says words like pee pee and then laughs at himself. "Is that bathroom talk Mom?" Wet pants, pull ups during the day, pants on without underwear, and underwear put on backwards, is the new normal. Rhett is so sweet with Tessa and loves to give her kisses. He likes to squeeze her cheeks too, but that is more scary than cute! Rhett likes to tease Preston until he get a reaction from him. I can tell he is not trying to be mean, he just wants to make Preston laugh. He is definitely our little comedian. We are just trying to teach him what is funny and what is not(hiding in the back of the car when Mommy is trying to buckle you in is not funny)! Rhett is the best soccer fan . He yells his little heart out for Pres and Clairebear.

Tessa is growing rapidly. She weighed 14 pounds at two months. We love her chubby cheeks. She smiles easily and loves to talk to all of us. She is such a happy girl. There is pure sweetness in her eyes and expressions. She wakes up once at night and occasionally sleeps all the way through. Getting settled for naps during the day takes some time. When we think she is asleep or close to it we lay her down and then her eyes open. She has a very short wake cycle. By the end of two months she could be up for an hour without getting fussy. She has always liked being swaddled, but didn't like the swing until she was two months. The swing was our extra special friend after that!

Too bad I chopped the top of her head off, but I love this picture of my baby doll.

This face always melts us.

Four Square Rules around here.

Tessa started getting Excema. After reading about it online, I treated it with coconut oil. It went away without anything else.

The kids are often carted with me to the church on Tuesday nights for Mutual. One night we made Ice Cream Sculptures. Daddy took them home and they were very sad they couldn't participate. It was fun to surprise them with the leftovers the next day. David gave an excellent spiritual message for the youth on sculpting their lives to make a masterpiece.

Skyscraper

House

Christmas Tree