Fall Pictures - Sports & School

I just had to scan in and show off my cute little Braden...okay okay, so he isn't so little anymore :( But he sure is CUTE! Here is his Fall 2008-2009 school picture, and his Lees Summit Football Association Flag Football 2009 picture. He is just getting so big so fast, I cannot believe he is already seven years old! I just love the picture, it is the perfect 1st grade shots with those missing and half grown in teeth! Anyway, enough of me going on and on about how absolutely adorable my boy is...I hope you enjoy the pics as much as I do :)

Pumpkin Carving - I love Fall!!!

I was hoping he would hold off a couple more days, but Braden just couldn't stand it...he just HAD to carve his pumpkin tonight. Not that I don't enjoy pumpkin carving, I am just not so sure it is going to hold up to last until this Saturday. Whether or not it does was irrelevant, I just couldn't tell my excited little boy "no" when he asked if he could as soon as his foot hit the inside of the house this evening. Aunt Dana was home tonight and available to help out in this crafty project. --side note here, for those who didn't know, my little sister, Dana, moved in with us last weekend :) After the intense process of picking out the perfect pattern, the kids got to work. Braden was hesitant at first to stick his hands into the pumpkin, but soon he was an old pro at it, and they both got their hands dirty making sure the pumpkin was spic-and-span to start the carving process. It was too funny watching them have so much fun! See the pics below of their gooey good time!

The fun has began - cleaning out the guts of the pumpkin

I just love Dana's facial expression in this picture - ha!

Braden's turn!

Time to set the pattern, this is the tedious part, and Braden does such a great job with it, so patient!

Pattern is on, now it is carving time. He was getting tired of me taking pictures...that is what this facial expression was for - if you need translation, it is basically saying "really mom, ANOTHER picture!?!" hehehehehe!!!!!

Ohhhh, spooky! The final product, and a VERY proud creator!!!!

Okay, so Braden was feeling very Halloween festive this evening, and wanted to hang up our orange Halloween lights (which are for the camper when we go on our fall camping trip - gotta decorate for the seasons!) in his room. I caved because I didn't want to smoother his individuality. We grabbed some tacks and made him the happiest boy in the world this evening! He wouldn't let me unplug them when he went to bed tonight...they served as a night light this evening, too funny!

Lights up and plugged in...hard to see with the bedroom light on....

Lights up and plugged in...hard to see Braden with the lights out, but I am pretty sure you can tell by the body language how proud he is of his Halloween decorations! :)

Cousin Time!

Last weekend my sister, Angie, and my nephew, Kyle, came to Missouri to visit the Allee clan. We had a blast playing and visiting. When they got into town Friday night, the boys played all over the house, while Angie, Terri, and I drank a bottle of wine and played Yahtzee...one of our favorite past times I might add here ;) On Saturday we had a fun filled day. The boys were just begging to go to ChuckECheese for lunch...I am pretty sure it WASN'T the lunch part they were after. Anywho, we loaded up Braden and Kyle and drove to ChuckECheese, after all...their wish is our command, right - or something like that - ha! We ordered our pizza, got both of the boys to eat a single slice before they took off with the bucket of tokens in hand. The played for a couple of hours and just had a blast, sometimes together and sometimes we would find them on complete opposite sides of the game room. Angie and I enjoyed each other's company as well as watching the boys play and interact, it is so awesome to see them together since they haven't seen each other for two years. I was able to snap a couple pictures of them playing away at the arcade at ChuckECheese.

Look at those smiles, I love putting them there on their faces!!!!

Fun times!

Braden and Kyle are less than a day apart in age...you would never know that by the difference in their sizes - ha!

Next we were off to the Halloween store. The boys were going to go together to pick out their costumes for this year. Braden kept telling me he wanted to be something scary this year for Halloween, but he couldn't decide what it was exactly he wanted to be, he said he needed to scope out the store to figure it out. We didn't end up with anything scary...cool won over scary in his book...but we sure had fun with all the hats and sunglasses while looking for a costume! This is my all time favorite picture of Braden so far too date I think...he thinks he is so cool and suave, such a lady-killer -hehehehehe! They both loved the hats, and were right at home posing for their pics...it was like a fashion show! He was willing to put on whatever I handed him - too funny!

Now he picked out all of his sunglasses he tried on, these were his favorite ones! Another pair of MUST try on sunglasses - too cute! Fun with all the creatures in the store, these two kiddos have such great imaginations! Nothing scary about this costume, but it was super SWEET according to Braden :)

Kyle loved his costume, and Braden loved his! Kyle is going to be a tooth fairy and Braden is going to be a black ninja - we had a blast with them in this store while trying to find the perfect costume for the two of them!

Caroline Cousin's Pumpkin Patch 2009

I am very behind on updating the blog with posts, but better late than never, aye! :) A couple of weeks ago Terri and I piled up the kiddos and headed North to Caroline Cousin's Pumpkin Patch. Diana joined Braden and I, and Terri and her two sweetie pies joined along in the fun as well. We filled our tummies with warm soup and grilled cheese and then off we went to find fabulous pumpkins for this Halloween season. It was a COLD day...cold is saying it mildly really, it was FREEZING, especially when you figure it was the beginning of October and last year we went in shorts and t-shirts (definitely not the case this year, as you will see below in the pics). The kids had a blast playing on all of the playsets, tricycles, feeding the animals, playing in the maze, going on a train ride, and getting to pick their very own pumpkin. We did have to take a break in all that fun to go inside and warm up with a cup of hot chocolate and a pumpkin donut for a snack - yummo! We had a blast, and this day ended as most days do when we take Braden out for a day full of fun - he was asleep before we even made it to our drive way - that is how I know that we had a great day out! I hope you enjoy the pics as much as we enjoyed the day, even if we were a tad-bit cold!

Braden, Terri, Ethan, Olivia & Diana posing for a fun picture while enjoying the afternoon at the pumpkin patch, look at all of those smiles. It is true...you can still have fun outside, even when it is cold!

I had to go potty really bad, and they had this little picture spot set up right beside the port-a-potties...Braden thought it would be hilarious if he made me pose in the photo-op location before I got to use the real deal...so to please him I complied...he thinks this picture is as funny as he thought it would be - little snot - ha! Getting ready for our train ride...do they look frost bit at all? ;) Braden and I on the train ride, we snuggled up together to stay warm. On to the pumpkin patch, they are excited to go and see all the pumpkins and pick their very own!

They each have the pumpkin of their choice. The rule was, you pick it, you carry it! This eliminated them picking out a 40 pound pumpkin expecting their moms to carry it around the pumpkin patch the rest of the day! Braden is very proud of his pumpkins...even cold he still beams with pride ;) On our way back to the park portion of the pumpkin patch, the day is almost over :( One last activity...Braden wanted to give it a whirl to rope a calf...he wasn't all that great with actually roping the calf, but he sure looked good twirling that rope :) CRASHED OUT - he got warmed up, and then he was out like a light!