Happy Halloween

I took Pax for pictures in his costume and he was completely "in character."  

We are so fortunate to have great weather today so trick-or-treating is on!

Boo at the Zoo

Sunday night Josh and I took Pax to his first Halloween outing - Boo at the Zoo.  The weather was gorgeous and we had so much fun!

 

 

The escapee and myself.  Everyone loved his costume, especially the tatoos. 

 

Ready to go!  We both had an idea of what we thought he might do (be shy, be scared, not want to stay close to us, or fight with us to eat all of the candy),  but he proved us both wrong.  He was so excited, happy to see everyone, and was a pleasure to be with!

We saw a lot of these faces.  You would have thought that he'd never been to the zoo!

 



 

Pax and I making the rounds.

 

See what I mean about the faces?  What a hoot!

 

He did not meet a stranger.  We were able to do the entire thing except for the haunted house.  He would not cross the threshold when we tried to enter, he just peeked around and shook his head no.

 

The end to a perfect night. 



My morning indulgence

I love coffee and my last coffeemaker was ready for retirement.  Josh got me this one and I could not be happier.  The coffee is great and the boys are loving the hot water function on the right side.  After heating the water for about a minute they can add boiling water to their cocoa, apple cider, ramen, and their instant oatmeal.  Pretty cool!

My little update - I'm really proud to say that I've lost 10 pounds.  I'm not really dieting at all, just being conscious of how much I eat.  I did cut out sodas, haven't had one in three months.  I'm still going to the gym, just not as often as I'd like.  Twice a week would be great but with our busy schedule and how tired I normally am when I put Pax to bed, I sometimes only make it once.  So, I think I could lose more if I was selfish and put myself before the boys but that's not going to happen :)

Say no to crack

A little something funny to brighten your day. 

 

 

Josh could not help himself from snapping this in our backyard.  We had to have some fencework done (the wind in Colorado can be brutal) and he said that everytime he looked outside, this is what he saw.  I'd love to know what Josh looked like trying to sneak the picture!

Aidan's update

This has got to be one of my favorite pictures of Aidan.  He picked the background and I love how it came out!  How about those teeth - our first round of braces have truly paid off.

Aidan is doing so well, he got all A's and only 2 B's for his first report card this year.  His soccer team has really improved, they are currently 3rd in the state.  He's in the middle of the tryout process to make the State of Colorado's soccer team for his birthyear.  Everyone who was born in the year 2000 (if you received an invitation) can attend the 3 tryouts to try to make the top 18 to form the team.  We've got one more tryout and then we should know something shortly after that, will keep you posted.

Aidan also tried out for the school's basketball team and he made it!  First practice is tomorrow.  What a size difference there must be between the 7th and 8th graders - Aidan and the two other boys that I know who made it are small.  Where as Tristan did not make his team due to his size.  Hmmm, I can't wait to see how this basketball season goes.  Aidan had his yearly physical and he's also running pretty small, 69 lbs and 4'8.  Our doctor said we could start his testing too but I've decided to wait until we get all of Tristan's results.  (I have a pretty good feeling they are perfectly normal, just tiny.)

A new way to do dinner

Like every other working mom, I struggle with making dinner for the family.  Having no time, my lack of energy, no ideas for what to cook, not having certain ingrediants on hand - these are all of the reasons that normally stop me from cooking a well-balanced meal for us.  Not anymore!!!  I ran across this awesome offer in an email that I got and gave it a try. 

 

 

 

Suppers for your family made easy. Save time & money. Just hit reply for the package below. Let us know, (size wise or full size) or visit our web site for your own selections, side dishes and desserts.

www.suppersolutionsinc.com

Colorado Springs

FREE delivery, Fri. Oct. l9th at 12:30

 

OCTOBER PACKAGE Braised Steak in Vaquero Sauce Buffalo Chicken Wraps Cortez Enchilada Bake Cranberry Chicken Hearty BBQ Beef & Beans Honey Flaked Chicken Lasagna Soup Mediterranean Beef in Flatbread Peruvian Whitefish Potato Baked Chicken Spicy Italian Pasta Sweet & Sour Chicken Size Wise (in session) $181.22 Full Size (in session) $238.22     I've ordered it twice now, each month they have different recipes.  What a lifesaver!  It's so easy, all I have to do is pull out the ziplock bag for that meal and defrost it.  Follow the directions and in 15-20 minutes you have your dinner.  I add 1-2 sides and "poof" dinner is ready.  Tristan and I are having a lot of fun trying the new stuff, Josh and Aidan suffer through them, ha!  

Update on Tristan

 

Here's my handsome boy in this year's school picture.  I thought it turned out well and he was excited to incorporate his two favorite colors, red and black.  (That's pretty much all that exists in his closet except for some gray and white.)

 

We had a great time yesterday celebrating the big 14!  I'm glad it turned out to be a good day for him because the day before he found out that he did not make his school basketball team again.  Second year in a row that he's tried but no luck.  This time around the coach told him that the skill level is right on, it's his size that is holding him back.  Ugh, it's so frustrating.

 

So, earlier this week we had his yearly physical.  Everything was ok except for his growth charts.  Tristan weighs 81 pounds (3%), he's 5'0 tall (8%), and his BMI equals to 3% on the curve.  Over the past 14 months he's only grown an inch and hasn't gained much weight so our pediatrician wanted to run some bloodwork and do a bone scan to check his bone age.  It was a first for him to have blood drawn (6 tubes of it).  The blood work came back normal and the bone age came back as 13 years old so that's relatively normal.  We are still going to see the endocrinologist in a few weeks to see if they want to check his hormone levels.  It is so difficult for a young boy to be so much smaller than all of his friends.  We've been comparing and he's a good 25-35 pounds behind everyone.  But he's still a force to reckon with on the soccer field.  (His team is going to finish in 2nd place for the State of Colorado!)

 

 

Last night at his birthday dinner.

14

I can not believe that Tristan is 14!!!  Busy day with our normal practice schedule, scouting out two high school soccer teams tonight (yes, high school - we are trying to decide where he will go next year), and a dinner out to celebrate his big day. 

Lots to post about, just not enough time!  It's a priority for me this weekend so check back soon.

Fall

I

 

I love the colors of Fall, the red trees are my favorite.  Too bad we only got a week of Fall weather and now it seems that we have snow coming our way Friday night!  Will keep you updated!