Who Ya Gonna Call?

Reed has been fully committed to his elf costume.

(Unlike JR and Kyle who have worn a different look to every function.)

 

 

I'm not sure if he's nothing like me, or so much like me he's ready for Christmas...NOW!

 

 

I felt bad he was wearing a red T-shirt and old hand-me-down pajama bottoms as major costume components.  So I invested a whopping $6.00 to spruce it up a bit.

($4.00 for fabric and $2.00 for socks.)

 

 

I wanted to make him a collar and a matching belt, so I ran by Hobby Lobby yesterday afternoon.

As I was leaving, I had a great idea (that I wouldn't know until later was a genius idea) and called my friend, Denise, for help.

 

 

I took her the fabric, told her what I wanted to do, and all of a sudden she was making patterns and cutting with fancy sharp tools!
(While I chatted, looked at her magazines, and drank her coffee.)

 

I told her I felt like I was on a episode of Martha Stewart.

I had to go pick up the kids before she was finished, so when she brought them over last night, there was another surprise. 
 

She also made...shoe covers.

 

Shoe covers!

So, here's the finished product, which I can take no credit for...except that I knew who to call!

Kyle's costume was quite a bit easier since he went "off the rack".

 

He finally made a decision....

Ninja Turtle

 

They were the only elf and Ninja Turtle in the school costume parade!

I'll have JR's final costume for you later!

The Sheriff is on the Scene

The Sheriff of Nottingham made his stage debut in Robin Hood last night, and we couldn't have been prouder!

 

 

He was one of the youngest kids in the show, but, of course, he was this mama's favoritey-favorite.

Everyone loves a good jazz hand!

 

 

 

Telling it like it is

 

 

 

Eavesdropping on the Merry Men

 

 

 

The Sheriff's corruption of power finally catches up with him!

 

 

 

Here are some of my favorite Sheriff monologues.

(Don't worry, nothing lasts longer than 30 seconds, so click away.)

 

 



Kyle cheered "Good job, JR!" after every scene, and I even overheard an audience member comment, "He's really good."

Which made me want to jump up and scream, "I know! He's MINE!"

Here's JR's 7 member fan club which filled up an entire row:

 

Ayi, friend Alex, and little brothers

Granny Sherry

 

 

and the proud parents.

Sunday Night Football

Lucky, lucky me!

I got to enjoy one of the perks of Jason's office last night.

They had a suite (for customers) at the Broncos game.

 

 

Some of those customers asked if they could bring their wives (Thank you, Customers!) and if customer wives are going...well, you need other wives to entertain them.

Which is how I found myself in possession of a ticket!

 

 

 

I'm gonna let you in on a little secret: Denver LOVES the Broncos.

Okay, so maybe that's not much of a secret, but yeah, there's some crazy kinda football love goin' on in these parts, which makes the games really fun.

 

 

 

The stadium is open-air, but the suites are all closed in (except the front part, which I actually think you could close up if you wanted too). 

 

 

This was my view for awhile last night.

 

 

 

The game wasn't much of a nail biter, so most of the stadium had cleared out before the pyrotechnic ending.

 

 

And if you're thinking: Aren't they from Houston? They shouldn't be wearing Denver shirts!

 

Hey, I'll wear any team's logo if it gets me in the suite!

Willie, but not Nelson

Our church (which we really, really love) had their Halloween party Friday night. It snowed here this week, so JR's shorts weren't going to cut it.

 

So he decided to be Willie from Duck Dynasty.

(And if you don't watch Duck Dynasty, you should.)

It was another easy costume, although I didn't have a beard in the prop closet, so I did have to go buy that.

 

-Jason's mullet wig

-My American Flag scarf (that helped me meet Mitt Romney)

-And all of JR's own camo (Of course, being an Ingersoll, he has plenty of that!)

 

And least you think we Ingersolls are the only Duck Dynasty fans out there, just look what one of the trunk-or-treat cars was decked out like:

 

Duck Dynasty with Uncle Si!

And if you're wondering about the other kids...Reed stayed with his elf costume and Kyle went as a "Chinese Waiter". 

Fashion Fabulous Friday

We still don't have our "real" Halloween costumes figured out yet.  The kids change their minds every five seconds, so I won't be purchasing anything until the absolute last minute.

(Which still doesn't guarantee they won't change their minds.)

JR had two Halloween parties last Saturday, so it was off to the prop closet to figure out what he could be. 

 

 

I got the 70's gym-shorts idea from my friend, Caroline.  When I remembered we had an afro wig, I figured JR could go as Jackie Moon (Will Ferrell's character in Semi Pro). 

Of course JR has never seen Semi Pro, but he knows Will Ferrell from Elf, so he was all for it. 

 

 

Costume:

-Jason's white socks

-JR's old shorts (that are now Kyle and Reed's) size 2T  (It pays to be crazy skinny.)

-Flint Tropics logo printed off the Internet and glued to a grey T-shirt

-Afro wig

-Sweat band from the Color Run turned inside out.

 

Total Cost: $0

 

 

Reed (with only 1 Halloween party to attend) went through the prop closet and spotted a Santa Claus hat.  He decided he would be an elf.

 

 

Costume:

-Santa hat

-Red T-shirt

-Cat in the Hat costume bow tie

-Yellow belt from last year's Popeye costume

Red pajama bottoms.

 

Total Cost: $0

 

 

Kyle decided he would wear JR's old Power Rangers costume, and though he stifled my creativity, it couldn't have been easier.

His only request was some face paint.

It's That Time of Year

So the word "Colorado" supposedly means "colored red". 

 

But I think the real translation is "snows before Halloween", cause that's what it's done every year since we moved to this state.

We'll Just Continue

Well since I love a theme, groupings of 3, and the kids aren't doing anything to write home about, I guess I'll write about me again.

 

 

And keeping with my love of a theme, let's continue to discuss my coolness:

First it was my fall, then my storage locker bike, and today I'll show you what I ride to school on Wednesdays.

 

 

The kids' school starts late on Wednesdays for teacher planning, but JR goes at the same time since he takes Chinese during that hour.  He likes me to drive him on Wednesdays because his bike riding partner, Alex, goes in late. 

But being driven in the morning means he'd have to be driven (or walk) home in the afternoon, which doesn't work in his social schedule, so JR volunteered me to ride his bike to school when I bring Kyle and Reed.

 

Then I get to walk home, and ride my own bike back at the end of the day for pick-up.

(It's a very complex process.)

 

 

Needless to say, I look like a complete dork riding a 9 year old boy's BMX bike. 

Even Ayi falls into a fit of laughter when she sees me on it.

 

 

Sorry, I don't have an action shot. This was the best I could come up with.

(Even Kyle's laughing at me, and he loves me best!)

Welcome To a New Episode of Hoarders

When I was picking up the boys today, one of the teachers commented that she liked my bike.

I thanked her, and proudly looked over at my cutie-cute bike.

 

 

It was in that moment I realized my bike isn't as much cutie-cute as it is storage locker.

(And not the kind the Storage Wars guys would be excited to bid on.)

 

 

 Don't get me wrong, I'm perfectly fine with my mom duties that fall under the 'pack mule' category.

But I'm starting to worry that my little mules might be on the verge of turning into hoarders.

So what exactly am I packing these days?

• 1 bike lock
• 1 tube of sunscreen
• 2 red folders (Kyle and Reed's from school, so totally legit.)
• 2 pairs of sunglasses
• 3 knit hats
• 3 pairs of gloves, plus 1 extra lone glove
• 6 baseball caps (six!)

 

No wonder I have trouble riding uphill!

Sidewalk Smackdown

I've just started back running after taking waaayyyy too long of a break.

It was slightly chilly this morning, so I was wearing pants and gloves.

 

Now you might be wondering why I'm telling you about my running attire.

Oh no reason...just that my accessory choices saved my life.

 

 

Okay, so maybe they didn't save my life, but they did keep me from crying.

 

 

I had just turned on to the street behind ours, and was looking ahead at a car pulling out of a driveway (and, let's be honest, thinking about Christmas decorations).

 

 

I guess I tripped on a crack in the sidewalk because all of sudden I was airborne.

 

Yep, I had one of those falls:

Face first, spread eagle, wonder I didn't knock all my teeth out, cell phone hit the ground and flew into a million pieces fall.

 

 

After I gathered myself back up, it literally took me a minute to figure out what to do next. 

It happened right in front of my friend, Debbie's, house, so I gave serious thought to barging in on her and making her feel sorry for me.

 

 

But, I figured I make my own kids get up and shake it off when they fall down, so I better do the same.

My hands still hurt, but the gloves kept them from loosing any skin.

My right knee also came out fairly unscathed. (Thank you, pants!)

 

 

But the left knee didn't fair as well.

I can only imagine how sore I'm going to be tomorrow!

Cake Lure

I think I told you Granny Sherry is our new neighbor.

We are loving having her just down the road, and today we got to celebrate her birthday.

 

 

Kyle and Reed worked extra hard on her cake, though only one was in the mood for picture taking.

 

It was actually very easy to get Kyle (and the rest of the crew) in the mood for pictures a little later.

 

I just withheld the aforementioned cake!

 

Fashion Fabulous Friday

 

 

So it isn't our family starring in Fashion Fabulous Friday today, it's these guys.

 

Those are real people dressed as zombies! (Seriously scary costuming, btw.)

 

 And if you're wondering why they're the same size as JR and his friend, well, the kids were in a hay wagon, and the zombies had just been running around a corn field while JR and Alex shot paintballs at them.

 

(Can you imagine a worse job than being a literal paintball target?!)

 

 

Of course, the kids loved it, and loved it all the more when the zombies came over at the end to tell them how badly they'd gotten hit!

I Thought This Was My Thing

I found it extremely amusing that Jason's office was going to a canvas and cocktails type place for their team building.

Even the instructor commented that she'd never had such a large group of guys!

 

 

Don't get me wrong, I find nothing wrong with guys being artistic.  The funny part is Jason trying to be artistic.

 

 

We have firmly established husband and wife strengths in this house:

Jason: math, engineering, and culinary skills.

Me: language arts, dramatic arts, decorative arts.

 

Notice Jason's areas of expertise do not include the word "art".

 

 

 

Here's the instructor's version of the picture.

And Jason's version.

When I saw it I said, "Well, it's better than I thought it'd be.  But not as good as Reed could do."

(I know it might seem negative to compare him to a 4 year old, but it was actually quite complimentary.  Reed's artwork is good.)

 

Okay, so maybe I was a little too hard on him, since JR and Reed said, "Wow Daddy! Did you paint that? That's really good! I didn't know you were an artist!"

 

 

Kyle wasn't passing out the compliments as much as trying to figure out what time Daddy has "arts and crafts" at his office.

Back to the 4th

After we left my parents' this summer, my mom called to tell me there was a nice color picture of Kyle (from 4th of July) in the paper (in an advertisement).

 

I think we both forgot all about the picture, so it was a nice surprise to have this show up in the mail last week.

 

Kyle's "float" was definitely my favorite.

I may or may not still be bitter it didn't place.

Feelin' The Love

I think this is my new favorite picture.

 

It makes it seem (some of) my kids might actually like each other.

 

 

In reality, these two do like each other.

 

 

Plus, Kyle likes Reed.  And Reed likes Kyle.

 

 

Notice a theme? Everyone likes Reed. 

 (All part of his master plan, I'm sure.)

 

 

JR and Kyle acknowledge they are brothers only because they sometimes notice the other lives in their house.

Summit Fail

Well, I tried.  But I didn't make it to the top of my first fourteener.

(And if you think I'm talking about hiking a fourteener, bless your heart, that's so sweet.)

 

Even driving we only made it to 11,450 ft.

 

 We were trying to make it to the top of the second most visited mountain in the world (Pike's Peak in Manitou Springs), but the road was closed due to snow.

 

(And in case you're wondering, Japan's Mt. Fuji is #1.)

 

 

Snow in early October.

Ah yes, brings back those wonderful *cough, cough* Durango memories.

 

 

Looks like a second Pike's Peak trip is in order.

Next time we'll definitely have to make it to the top...and take more than two pictures.

Hats and Chinese: What a bonus!

My parents were here this week, and since we enjoyed the Coors brewery tour so much the first time around, we decided to go again.

 

 

Little did we know two fun surprise bonuses were waiting for us:

 

 

1. New cool Coors logo cowboy hats for our photo op!

(They ran out of headware so my parents had to go hatless.)

 

 

 

2. The audio tour comes in a variety of languages, including Chinese!

(Ayi's modeling the Chinese audio tour in her left hand.)

And a little FYI:

I chose Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin Ale for my free sample.

It doesn't taste pumpkiny at all.

 

Though, to be fair, I was probably hoping more for a pumpkin spice latte taste than a beer taste.

Fashion Fabulous Friday

So while Reed was working his way around his giant hot chocolate, JR was busy go-karting with Jason.

 

I remember going go-karting as a kid, and I certainly don't remember costumes!

(Kids are so lucky these days.)

I mean, I probably would have volunteered for this gig had I known super cool outfits were part of the deal.

I guess the boys are a little different that me.  They found the driving way more exciting than the fashion.