Our October...

Well, the Halloween decorations are all put away and my Fall Scarecrows are out...a telltale sign in our house that November is here and Thanksgiving is almost upon us. It's hard to believe that the holidays are right around the corner. The day after Halloween I was in Wal-Mart and "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" was playing....craziness.

The first of October we went on our yearly trip to McCall's Pumpkin Patch. It's definitely become a Fall family tradition for us as we've gone every year for a decade now. We started going when Kyler was one and it's amazing how much it's grown and changed in 10 years. It's just not Halloween until we've gone to McCalls and picked out pumpkins for the kids' jack o' lanterns. Tim, Shayla and the girls met us there and we had a great time or as the kids put it, "One of the BEST days of the year".

The kids had their Fall Break from school this month. Mike had to work and so we didn't do much. I ended up taking the kids to lunch and the movies which we all love. We all get to watch a movie and I get a couple hours of peace. Everyone wins.

Both boys wrapped up their Fall baseball season. Kyler's team almost ended the season undefeated but ending up losing their last game. It was a TOUGH game, too. Kyler was catcher for most of the game and he got hit in the mask twice and his cleat once from batter's throwing the bat. The team handled the loss really well. In fact, I don't think you would have been able to tell they lost at the end of the game. Of course, their team party was right after the game so maybe that had something to do with it. Kyler limped for a few days after the game, but was back to his crazy 10 year old self in no time.

Kamden had a fun first season of T-Ball. He had the same coach as Kyler did for both Spring and Fall which was nice and worked out really well. At the last game Kamden was last batter which is USUALLY a cool thing in T-Ball because it's like they hit a home run as they get to run all the bases at once. I thought he'd love it, especially since he likes to slide home "like Kyler". Well, we forgot to tell Kamden it was a fun thing because he freaked out and got embarrassed when everyone started cheering for him and barely made it around all the bases and then didn't want to bat again even when the coaches told him he didn't have to bat last. So....Kamden sat the bench for the rest of the game...by his choice....little TOOT! Ahhhh...the joys of the strong willed child. He did love his first team party and trophy so it still ended on a good note.

Mikaela is still dancing away. She would never admit it but she loves a challenge. I've learned that the minute dance gets redundant or "boring" as she puts it, she wants to quit. Her tap class is always challenging because she's with older girls so she never complains about it. She goes back and forth with ballet. When they're learning something new, she loves it. When they're reviewing to make it perfect before they move on, she wants to quit. I'm just glad we finally figured out why she has this love/hate relationship with ballet. Both are good for her though...the challenge and reviewing to make it perfect...so she'll be staying in ballet, even when it's not as fun.

All three kiddos got to go to Payten's birthday party this month. It was a lot of fun as we got to see a ton of family and the kids got to ride to the party in a hummer limo and then play AND sleep in two bounce houses. Mike and I stayed at the party until after dinner and then since we were kid free for the night we went to the late show. It's not every day the kids get to play with tons of cousins, ride in a limo, have a party and a sleepover. Mike and I got to do that (with the exception of the limo ride) PLUS get a kid free evening! Can't beat that!

Halloween was so much fun this year! The night before Halloween we had friends over for dinner and pumpkin carving. On Halloween morning, Kamden and I went to the school for the kids' Story Book Parade. Kamden lucked out...he got to watch and walk in the parade with both Kyler and Mikaela and then go back for Kyler's class party. Lucky little boy! When they got home from school we got them all dressed up and went to the Schimke's and trick or treated with them for a little bit and then came home and trick or treated around our neighborhood for hours. Kyler was the Faceless Phantom again, Mikaela a Princess and Kyler was Spiderman.

Halloween is always the beginning of the madness for us because we have Kyler's and Mikaela's birthday parties before Thanksgiving. Definitely makes for a busy start to the holidays. We hope you're all enjoying the cooler weather and all the beautiful fall colors! We wish you all a happy and blessed Thanksgiving surrounded by friends and family that you love! As always, keep us posted!

Sending Out Lots of Love and Hugs,
The Glade's

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Love little ones imaginations.....

I love my little guy's imagination and how his mind works! We really do lose the "magic" of the world as we get older which is kinda sad. If only we could see things like they do.
Kamden is always saying the cutest little things and is constantly pretending SOMETHING. I love it!
The other day we were driving home from dropping the older two off at school and I came to a stop sign and stopped.

Kamden: "MOMMY!"

Me: "Hm?"

Kamden: "That red sign has magic powers!"

Me: "Really? What kind of powers?"

Kamden: "It makes you stop, cuz you always stop when it's there!"

Totally love how they think and see things! Only a four year old could give a regular boring old stop sign magic powers. They definitely make things a whole lot more interesting and we could all use a little more magic in our lives....;)

Are we cat people????

I would definitely consider our whole family to be animal lovers. But I've found that even animal lovers fall into one of three categories....dog people, cat people, or dog AND cat people. Mike and I fall into the dog people category. I like cats. I think they're cute and I'll pet them...BUT I'm NOT a cat person. Cats have lots of good qualities. I just prefer cats to belong to someone else. I know I'm opening up a whole can of worms with all the cat people but I'm just not a fan of the litter boxes, the smug attitudes, how they climb on everything and to be honest...they just don't mind like dogs. When I call them, I want them to come now...not when they "feel" like it. This all being said, Mike and I find ourselves in a position where we have to decide if we could be cat people.
Our boys have both followed Mom and Dad and are dog people through and through. Now Mikaela on the other hand is a cat person and has been since she knew what a cat was. She likes Kelsey because Kelsey is old and just sits there...Hailey on the other hand she barely tolerates with all her obnoxiousness. She much prefers the prim and proper prissiness of cats hands down. She's been begging us to let her get a cat for years to which she always got an emphatic no response....which leads us to our predicament.
There has been a beautiful siamese cat wandering our neighborhood for about a week now. Mikaela noticed her right away but we told her to leave the cat alone. I originally thought she belonged to our new neighbors but sadly she does not and is either lost or abandoned and no one in our neighborhood knows where she belongs. I still made Mikaela leave her alone. I could tell she wanted to make friends and I didn't want to encourage that...I wanted her to go back home...or for SOMEONE ELSE to take pity on her and take her in. No such luck. For 3 days she would follow me to the mailbox and I stood firm and ignored her. I did good until our first really cold night where our low was supposed to be 26 degrees and she was meowing outside at the top of her lungs. I SWEAR that cat knew we were suckers from the beginning and we would eventually cave because I did and brought her in to Mike's horror. The kids quickly were in chorus to keep her which we immediately shot down and took her to the vet to see if she's microchipped. No such luck. I've called vets, the pound, the paper, driven around Ventana Ranch looking for lost cat signs...it doesn't seem like anyone is missing this darn cat.
In the meantime...the kids, especially Mikaela are quickly falling madly in love with her and it's mutual. They're getting attached faster than I know what to do with her. Mikaela carries that cat around with her EVERYWHERE. They're quickly becoming inseparable.
So now Mike and I are deciding if we let Mikaela keep her or if we find her a home elsewhere. We've gotten a few offers because she's such a good cat and she's absolutely gorgeous. I've always teased that if I ever got a cat it would have to act like a dog and she almost does.
So...the question is....can we become cat people??? We're still not sure. I don't know if I can get past the litter box and Hailey is obnoxious enough all on her own...with this cat in the house we might need to straightjacket her.
We must love Mikaela a lot to even consider this....but as you can see by the picture...we'd better decide quick. ;)