Halloween

 We started Halloween week with Trunk-or-Treat at church.  I was pretty low key about Halloween this year.  I was pregnant, tired from Homecoming, and leaving town November 1st so I did not do much.  The kids had a blast even without me turning into Super Mom.  So costumes pretty much came from the costume box in the closet.  Sawyer did want to be a vampire and he turned out a little creepier than I intended.

Sawyer had his class party.  He got to be the mummy!

After school we carved our pumpkins and ate Thai food takeout.  Then it was off to Trick-or-Treat.  This was the first year ever that Sawyer and I made the whole block!

Isabelle had the cutest costume!

Homecoming 2014

Once again we had a full week at Homecoming. Clint took the boys to the Harvest Carnival.  They had a blast.  We didn't make it last year, but when we went two years ago Beau ended up on the front page of the Stillwater News Press.  This year, a picture from Sawyer at the carnival in 2012 ended up on the home page for OSU homecoming.

On Friday afternoon, the Faughts showed up, including newborn baby Savannah.  We all headed to walk around and met up with the Stark family.  It was packed, but still a lot of fun.  And it was a completely gorgeous night.  When we got home the Campbells arrived.  Ashley was 30 weeks pregnant and a trooper to make the trip.  That night the Johannes brothers showed up and all the guys including neighbor Will hung out around the fire until long after I went to bed.

Saturday was 90 degrees!  Clint decided everyone needed to tailgate.  He dragged Taylor, Ashley (very pregnant), and Shawn all the way across campus dragging all their gear.  I think they had fun and learned some tailgating tips.  They had a great time tailgating on Old Central lawn. They bought tickets and enjoyed a disappointing game.

Julie and I watched all the kiddos.  Truthfully they entertained themselves and we just sat around.  It was so nice and it gave us hope that someday we will have more and more relaxing time.  I had bought a ton of Halloween and fall crafts.  Shepherd worked all day long and completed about 20 of them.  He is such a determined kid.  Clint, Taylor, Ashely and Shawn showed up at 7:00 with a ton of fried chicken.  Ashley was such a sport to be a DD and hang with the guys all day long.  We watched the Kansas City Royals in the World Series then went to bed pretty early (6 kids, a newborn, a postpartum mama, and two pregnant ladies will do that to you).

Fall Break 2014

Clint was out of town for work over Fall Break.  I convinced my mom to meet us in Tulsa for a little overnight get-away.  She brought Shepherd, Summit, and Julianna along to give Julie a little time at home with her newborn.  We took the kiddos to the zoo Friday afternoon.  The weather was gorgeous.  Then we got two adjoining rooms at the Wyndham in Tulsa.  They had a little water park that is perfect for the kids this age.  We spent all evening swimming and watching TV in the room.  The kids were hilarious.  On Saturday morning my mom took the Faught kids back.

After we departed ways, I decided to be the super-hero mom and take my boys to Chuck-E-Cheese.  We just stayed for a little over an hour which was the perfect amount of time for a 3 and 1 yr old.  Poor Beau got scared and stuck in the not-so ''fun house''.  This pregnant mama with a baby on her hip had to crawl through to rescue him.  But otherwise we had a blast.  I do enjoy arcade games.  I was not about to eat pizza from Chuck-E-Cheese for lunch so I packed up the kids and took them all to Whole Foods for lunch.  They had all kinds of free kid activities that day and the boys thought it was even better than Chuck-E-Cheese.

These two were waiting for Daddy to finally get home from his trip.

Fall Soccer

 This fall Sawyer played 6 and under soccer.  Which meant this fall Clint (and I as his proxy) coached 6 and under soccer.  It was everyone in the entire family's first time to play soccer.  It ended up being a lot of fun.  Clint was a great coach, Sawyer was a great soccer player, Beau and Paul were great sideline soccer players, and I was a great cheerleader, and little kid wrangler.

One of the most memorable things about soccer was Sawyer's defense.  He would run up to the goal, inevitably trip, and next thing there would be 3 or 4 kids on the ground on top of him.  I don't think he did it on purpose but he stopped the opponents from scoring many times this way (this happened at least once a game). 

Savannah Grace Taylor's Birth

I never had a vaginal delivery or even a real contraction for that matter, so Julie let me come be a part of Savannah's.  Savannah was getting induced on October 9th.  My mom was diagnosed with another tumor and was going to Europe to have it treated.  Julie's OB is my mother's.  He's been with my mom throughout her entire cancer journey.  He was kind enough to induce Savannah early so my mom could be there for her birth.

I made it to Siloam around 9:00 in the morning.   They had broken Julie's water around 7, but never gave her pitocin.  At 11:00 my mom, dad, and I decided to grab lunch because things were starting to pick up, but Julz was still doing great.  At 11:20 we got a call that baby was coming.  We ran back to the room, she pushed twice, and Savannah was here.  It was amazing and I watched it all.  And took pictures.  I don't thing Julie or the doctor appreciated me.  I do understand that this was not a typical deliver, but I'll pretend they are all so easy.

Savannah is gorgeous!