Halloween

For Halloween this year we had Elsa, Minion Dave, and Dr. Ty. We started off our candy collecting at our church fall festival the night before Halloween. Much fun was had by all! Elsa and Dave enjoyed the games and festivities. Dr. Ty basically walked around and ate candy. That's what it's all about after all.

In true Crager fashion, we had to have a little drama thrown in the middle of it all though. Earlier in the week, I had taken Collin to the doctor for the "crud." He missed three days of school with fever and a horrendous cough. We had about decided it was the flu even though he tested negative for it.  I sent him back to school on Thursday. He attended the above festival for about 30 minutes. We knew he was sick if he wanted to leave early from something like that :( He seemed "okay" the next morning so I again sent him to school. I got a call at noon and had to go get him. We miraculously got him in at his regular doctor's office. And there they confirmed pneumonia. He was pitifully sick.

Two shots, a breathing treatment, a chest x-ray, and a large bag from the pharmacy and we were on with the weekend. The problem was that this was Halloween night, and this very sick little boy was having a mild stroke that he wasn't getting to trick or treat. He'd ONLY waited a year for this night. So, we did what any parent with any good sense would do. We threw on the costumes and jumped in the car. We made some quick stops and then one quick stroll down one street before the temperature began to drop. The things we do... But all was happy and eventually well.

Our Happy Halloween 2014

Brantlee turns 6

On October 9th, Sister became a 6 year old! She had literally been waiting for that moment since October 9th of the previous year. You see, Sister is all about a birthday. Hers in particular ;) We celebrated on the morning of her day with donuts and candles, a new bike, and then cupcakes at school.

She finally got the party of her dreams! She's always wanted a party at Kids Rule, and this year we made it happen. With a Frozen theme, of course!! I think her joy is pretty evident in every picture I took. I'm only sharing a few on the blog though.

This sassy thing got Isabelle from her Mee Maw and Nana & Papa. This was a huge hit and still is. It was such a happy day for a happy 6 year old girl!

Her class had Muffins with Mom the next week, and I got to visit with her in her classroom. She's doing so well in kindergarten and is once again the "mother hen" of the class. And I never want to forget her precious answers to these questions about her mama. Maybe it's because she thinks I weigh 80 lbs. Or that I laugh "when Daddy calls her names." HA! Everyone in this household has multiple names that we go by. Kyle is responsible for this. And yes, they are rather funny :)

Our Brantlee is turning into such a little lady. We mix like oil and water some days, but I love, love, love the special bond we have. I love that her sassiness is still there, but more and more we are seeing a sweet, sensitive little heart unfold that cares for others, wants to do the right thing, and hates to see someone mistreated or left out. Unless it's her brothers. We're still working on that. We love you sweet, beautiful Brantlee Grace and we couldn't be more thankful for who you are!

60 Years

Our wonderful Mimi and Paw Paw celebrated 60 years of marriage this year! The entire family (3 condos full of people) went down to the Caribe for the weekend back in October. It had to feel pretty amazing for them to look down that table at dinner one night to see all these faces that belong to them. And that they somehow were all able to make to the beach together in one weekend.  It was a blessing and a privilege to see them at the head of the table that night. It's something I won't forget.

We had a fun time with cousins, although it was really cold for the first weekend in October and we couldn't swim much. That didn't stop us from hitting the beach though. And the indoor hot tubs!

LOTS more to come...

Early Fall update

I wanted to document a few things from September since this month has practically evaporated before my eyes! Other than the weekly grind of work, karate, gymnastics, church, etc., we have had some other blog-worthy things occur.

In August, we hosted our church Back to School/Water Fun Day at our house. It was a pretty big success I think. Hot, but successful.

Here is Ty-man getting a little help from the ladies.

With school in full swing, we do have our fair share of homework. But nothing too terrible. Brantlee has accepted that school isn't going anywhere, she HAS to attend everyday, she can't get picked up early "just because," and homework is required.  Now that we are passed all that we can proceed with the rest of the school year :) She's doing wonderfully, by the way. And so is Collin. Great school year so far!

One Friday night, totally out of the blue and just for fun, we pulled out the fine china and table cloth and had the kids get dress up in "fancy" clothes. I have no idea why I thought of this, but the kids ate it up and thought it was awesome! We served them like they were in a restaurant and they were sort of in shock that their parents would do such a thing :) 

The first Sunday of September is promotion Sunday at church, so I wanted to get a picture. The big kids were on board for a photo. Ty didn't care what day it was. He wasn't having it.

On the subject of church, Collin was in a children's choir program, "Ark-eology," and he was a racoon... or a bear?? Very cute program!

Sister participated in a little dance performance as a "Junior Bravette" with the high school dance team. Here she is all bright-eyed for the dance clinic one Saturday morning.

Here she is at warm-up on performance night.

Walking out on the field she spotted us in the stadium and starting making funny faces and sticking her tongue out at us. So much for being nervous ;)

Brantlee LOVES the limelight so this was right up her alley. She said she would definitely be on the real dance team one day ;)

We've had some cool mornings this week, and I was so happy to finally put them in a sleeve and pants! This heat has been ridiculous!

The kids attended their 1st EVER USM game, and I was a little ashamed I hadn't yet taken them to my (and Poppy's) Alma mater! We went with Mom and Dad and had a really fun time. The kids LOVED it! We may just go back this season!