Trick-or-Treating

After having a great birthday party with Daddy, we got all of the kids dressed up in their costumes and got ready to go Trick-or-Treating. They were having Trunk-or-Treating and games over in Hughes Springs at the city park that night, so we thought that would be the perfect venue for all of our crew of goons!

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Sydni was a little kitty cat this year, and Dane was Mr. Monkey. For those who don't remember, Dane's favorite toy and constant play partner is Mr. Monkey, a little stuffed Ty beanie baby monkey. Last year after Halloween, I found both of their costumes on clearance sale at Old Navy for $5 each, so Dane decided way back then that he wanted to be Mr. Monkey this year.

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Sydni just makes a cute little kitty, don't you agree?

This picture just cracks me up - he just looks like a sneaky little monkey! I love it!

Posing for a few pictures.

Before leaving for Trick-or-Treating, all the kids took turns getting tractor rides with their Pa. Here's Sydni keeping an eye on her brother during his ride.

Dane and I laugh about how weird it is for a monkey to ride on a tractor.

I wish I knew what Dane was telling Daddy. I'm sure it was something about how the tractor works. He loves to learn about how things are put together and work.

Sydni finally got her turn for a ride with Pa. This was her first tractor ride, and she really enjoyed it, I think. Of course, everything's OK as long as she can suck her thumb.

Robyn did an amazing job making all three of her kids' costumes. Mary Nan was Wonder Woman, Laura was the Queen of Hearts, and J.J. was Woody, of course.

Here's Dane, showing off his tail and banana.

Jed was so cute dressed up as Cookie Monster, and it was so cute to watch he and Sydni enjoy all of their candy and explore the playground at the park.

This girl is a serious Dum Dums eater.

A monkey playing on monkey bars - ironic, I thought.

Relaxing with Uncle Joe David and Granna, as they enjoyed their suckers together.

This is one fantastic Granna, and from the look on her face, I think she was in heaven that night with everybody together. It was such a great day and such a great weekend! I love my family!

Dane's 4th Birthday Party!

It's hard to believe that Dane is already 4 years old. Sure doesn't seem that long ago to me. I am so proud of him for so many reasons. He is my only son, and I tell him all the time how glad I am that God gave him to me, and that is so, so true. He is one of the neatest people I know, and he is going to be such a wonderfully talented, caring and special man someday, just like he is now. Four years old is such a special age for a little boy, I think. Four year old boys don't hide their feelings, at least mine doesn't. Of course, that goes for all of his feelings, but more and more, I see him expressing his excitement for whatever he's doing, as well as showing his love. We have always told each other "I love you" frequently, but it has always been initiated by me...until now. In the last few months, just about every time Dane walks through the room I am in, busy doing whatever he's got going, he will stop and say, "Mom, I love you." This happens countless times a day, and I never get tired of it. I sure hope he never stops doing that. He's growing and learning at such a crazy rate, too, which is so neat to see and experience with him.

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Alan Dane Brown, I love you so much, and I'm so glad that God gave you to me! Your dad and I are so very proud of you and the fantastic young man you are growing to be.

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My nephew, J.J.'s birthday is two days after Dane's, so this year, Robyn and I decided to have a joint party for them at our parents' house the night before Halloween. Joe David, Stefany and Jed came in from San Antonio, so we had their party, followed by our annual Cousin Campout. Dane and J.J. both love Toy Story, so they had a Toy Story cake, courtesy of their Granna, and we had a great time!

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All six grandkids together, enjoying a string cheese snack and milk.

The birthday cake!

And the handsome birthday boys!

Getting ready to blow out the candle

First, a team blow!

Then, each of them had their own turn.

This guy got his very first big boy bicycle, and surprise, surprise, it's a Transformers bike! He was so surprised and so excited!

Little sister had fun pushing this little chair around the carport while all of the big kids rode their bikes. She and Jed would take turns doing this.

Fun times at the party!

After hanging out in the tent for a while, the kids headed back in to enjoy watching Charlotte's Web together. Someday, they will actually spend the night in the tent for Cousin Campout. For now, they just play around for a while until they're ready to come in and go to bed.

It was a really good day, and the next day was a good one, too. We surprised Daddy and helped him celebrate his 60th birthday. It was a great weekend to celebrate birthdays, and we topped it off with Trick-or-Treating that night in Hughes Springs. I will post those pictures in the next post.

A Weekend in Iola

For Dane's birthday weekend back at the end of October, we headed down to Torri & Roger's house to spend some time with the Brown side of the family. Of course, we were super excited to get to see the newest Brown cousin, Colton. He is growing so fast and is so cute! Aunt Torri, as usual, went out of her way to make Dane feel special, and she made a wonderful supper and also made Dane a birthday cake. Nana and Papa got to come, too, and they got Dane his first scooter for his birthday, and he absolutely loves it. In his own words, he loves to "scooter around". And he's actually pretty good at it. We "scooter" over to the corner store near our house, which is lots of fun.

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Here's my proud 4 year old boy with his new scooter!

We took a stroll down the road to the store.

The next day, before we had to head back home, we went to a Farm Patch in Bryan and got some more cute pictures of the kids. We took a sweet one of all three kids together, but I still need to get it from Torri. The kids got to wear their Halloween costumes a little early, which was fun, but we ended up taking them off before we left because it was so hot that day.

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Here's Torri and her sweet little man. Dane and Colton were both monkeys this year for Halloween, so they got to wear their monkey suits together.

Sydni and Aunt Torri sharing secrets.

Here's a few pictures of Little Miss Kitty.

And a few of our crazy Mr. Monkey!

Digging in the corn kernels searching for baby pumpkins.