Daylight Savings, Bonfires and Banquets - It's FALL Y'all

 Last Wednesday night all the kids dressed up in their Halloween attire, and we did our annual trick or treating next door at Grant Village.  The residents there always look forward to seeing our youngsters and are so welcoming.  They also loved giving them lots of treats as well.  I love having them as church neighbors!

Karson wasn't "feeling" Halloween this year and struggled about selecting a costume.  We went to Party 1 and looked and found zilch.  She did finnd some festive shirts at Old Navy that she liked (Ghostbusters and a Black Cat).  For the church event, we opted for a ghostly look - nothing major.  Isaac knew early on that he was going to Bart Simpson.  I think I ordered his costume before Fall Break.  He's a planner.

 Fall Parties at Plano are always a good time, especially in the primary end of the school where the kids still dress up.  Miles resurrected an old costume from the Halloween stash - wolf Ninja.  I didn't realize it was about 2 sizes too small until he put it on for the church event.  He was unscathed by the Steve Urkel look and rocked it with some extra long black Nike socks.  That's just how he rolls.

2nd Grade Group picture!  Crack me up!  The kids were making those stuffed popcorn gloves.  I was helping Miles's table fill their gloves.  Once I got his (girl) friend's glove filled, she turned around and smacked Miles with it.  It was hilarious but I quickly reminded her that we didn't need to hit our friends with the gloves - only high-five them or pat them on the back.  Miles probably deserved the smack - HAH.  Thankfully, the gloves are soft and didn't hurt at all.

Halloween night was on Friday this year which made it easy on everyone (especially teachers).  It's nice having some flexibility on the weekend.  We decided to do our trick or treating this year in town on Pumpkin Alley (in the Briarwood subdivision).  We made a pit-stop to Granny and Grandads to visit with them.  When we walked in all dressed up, Granny had a funny look on her face and kind of swatted at me.  I'm sure she was confused by all these "characters" walking into her house.  She continues her struggle with dementia and has good days and bad.  We were fortunate to catch her on a good day and while she was awake.

 

We headed over to Karen Lou's around 4:45/5 to meet up with all the cousins and GET.THE.CANDY!  It was super chilly that night, and Karson decided early on that she was not going to dress up and go out this year which was fine by me. She and I hung back at Karen's and stayed warm.  Matt (Tommy, Brad & Hayley) braved the cold with our group and headed to pumpkin alley.

 

It's been a while since the kids trick or treated in Briarwood.  Matt said pumpkin alley was packed, and they even had to wait in line at some houses for candy.  Bless those people and the amount of candy that must've been purchased to host all those kids.

Isaac's costume was a hit!  Matt said he heard different people saying "Look, it's Bart Simpson."  If Isaac had his way, our entire family would have been The Simpson's.  He loves the show and his costume was complete, even with a padded belly.

I love Miles's excitement in this picture - he's getting some serious hangtime!

 Saturday was an eventful day.  Matt and I hosted the monthly church breakfast.  We served over 50+ people and were able to hand out 30 Thanksgiving food bags.  I love that our church has such wonderful outreach efforts.  Servanthood.  

We spent Saturday evening with some of our favorite people in the world - Erick and Melissa DeVries.  They live on a nice piece of property out Matlock Road.  They hosted a fall party and invited everyone out to participate in a Haunted Woods adventure.

 We grabbed some two-liters, I made my traditional witches hat cookies, we bundled up and headed out to their house.  This family knows how to throw a party.  There were tons of people, tons of food, and tons of scares - I'm not sure who had more fun, the adults or the kids?!?  Miles was tickled when he saw that his teacher was one of the "ghouls" (above) in the woods.  After the kids and some brave adults went through the woods, the kids got a turn to hide and scare all the adults.  I hope this becomes an annual event.  We loved it (even the Headless Horseman, who made his appearance towards the end of the trail).

November = Hybrid Fishing Season = Happy Deaton Boys

 Matt, Isaac and Colvin did some fishing at Barren River on Sunday afternoon.  A beautiful day on the lake!

Last night we celebrated with South Warren Middle School's volleyball team with our season-end banquet.  It was nice seeing all their faces again! I know Karson misses all of her friends from the team.  They are all such sweet girls.  The banquet was at the middle school in the cafeteria and catered by Olive Garden.  Coach Jackson took the time to recognize each and every player and awarded them with a nice, monogrammed pullover.  I loved what he said about Karson and wish I had it on video - he basically said he knows an athlete when he sees one (she is quick, can jump, always gives it her best effort).  I have always thought that about her, but it's nice hearing that from someone else.  Karson has a knack for sports and is very determined to do her best.  She was recently axed cut from the SWMS basketball team try-outs.  I know she felt defeated in that moment, but it's definitely made her work hard at improving her game.  She has been working fervently on her left-handed lay-up.  I'm looking forward to seeing her shine in rec. basketball.

Love this group - looking forward to next season when K's 7th grade team this year  becomes her 8th grade competitors next year =).