Halloween Happiness

Halloween is always super-busy but ALWAYS super-fun as well.  This year we were able to celebrate lots.  Our good friends April & Tommy invited a group of us out to their farm for a fun Halloween party and campfire.  We just couldn't resist.

Our little ladybug was on-the-go during the whole party.  It sure made for a lot of work for Mommy just trying to keep up with her and keep her from falling down the deck stairs.  Oh well, it was worth it for such a cutie!

Jonas spent most of his time on this motorcycle (or trying to get back on it).  He was a huge fan.  Just look at that smile!

This year, I decided we would do a "practice-run" in preparation for the real trick-or-treat night.  After all, when you have such young little kiddos you REALLY have to amp up the excitement of wearing their costume.  Or else, they will reject you when the big night comes.  Even if candy is used as bribery.  It wasn't long after we started our test-run that a lady drove by in a panic asking if that was the night of Trick-or-Treat.  Nope!  Just practicing our skills maam!

Costume-clad kids and they are raring to go!

Prepping the pumpkins for a fun night of carving!

Addison gets braver every year.  She was anxious to get started.

Jonas got a little help from Daddy this year.  

Reaching in for the gooey guts.  He didn't mind!

Grandpa Bell was able to join us for a quick visit and was lucky enough to enjoy our pumpkin carving as well.

Addison had no fear either!  Much better from when she was a little baby and wouldn't touch that stuff to save her life.

Jonas took a little time out to give us his biggest cheesy grin!

Kindy Field Trip

I may or may not have been more excited than Addison when it was time for her first kindergarten field trip.  We were headed off to the Right Choices corn maze!  I was lucky enough to leave the youngest two kiddos with my friend April so I could give my undivided attention to Addison and help out with her classroom friends.  It was such a fun (albeit LONG) day and I was so glad I went.  It was great seeing how she interacts with her classmates.  It was fun seeing how good her teacher was with making the kids listen and obey with her fun personality.  And it was of course always fun to have Addison all to myself.  My Mom spent most of her time at my class parties/school and it was always a fun memory of mine.  I'm happy to return the favor to Addison as she grows up.  Even if it's a small miracle to find places to farm out her siblings while I do it.

My cute little girly waiting patiently in line for the cow train ride.

She finally got saddled up on her cow!

Her whole kindy class with her awesome teacher Mrs. Bush.

Taking a ride down the slide!

Posing with her little pumpkin she got to take home.

Overall, it was a FUN but very exhausting and long day.  I got to sign Addison out and take her home with me afterward.  She was in the car for less than five minutes before she zonked out from all the fun.  So glad I'm able to go and do these fun field-trips with her.  And so grateful for her fun teacher and many friends she has at school.

Pumpkin Patch Fun

Every year I look forward to our tradition of going to a pumpkin patch and spending ridiculous amounts of money making awesome memories.  Okay, so technically it's not so much fun to dump the money but it's par for the course right?  And the memories are priceless.  The kiddos are ALWAYS a fan of this tradition.

This year we decided to venture out and try a new pumpkin patch.  We drove a good little ways to get to the Farmland Adventures patch all the way in Springdale.  I had heard such good things about it and it definitely did not disappoint.  We all had a blast!

Addison taking a turn riding & roping on the pretend horses.

Jonas riding his pretend pony.

Brooklyn was not a fan of the fake pony.

Jonas and his bucking bronco!

Addison was apparently skilled enough on her test run that she got to advance to a real pony ride!

Brooklyn spent all of her time walking (and falling) in this cool tube in the play area.  She's easy to please.

Jonas and Addison hanging out in the corn box.

Jonas found his perfect pumpkin!

This pumpkin patch had super cool animals of all kinds and most of them were able to be pet by the kiddos.  Here's Jonas scaling the fence to give Mr. Camel a good rub.

Addison's turn to love on the camel!

September Randomness

I'm noticing more and more that any "adventures" we have that are worth documenting are very sporadic and random in nature.  Most of them aren't grand enough to warrant their own blog post so they get thrown into my "randomness" posts for the month.  However, I'm reminding myself they must still be journal'd for memory's sake.  Especially for MY memory's sake.  Life with three kiddos can be crazy but is still so fun.  Here's what we did in September!

Jonas got overloaded with any/all things superhero for his birthday presents this year.  Here he is sporting one of many fun toys he got.  My own little Iron-Man.  Even cuter than the real one!

"What's that?"  "Ohhhhh, just taking the chair for it's nightly walk."  This girly is slowly getting more and more mobile lately.  This is her latest trick to maneuvering around the living room.  Whatever works!

Ahhhhh, this is the life.  Don't feel bad for them, they owed me after the crazy and chaotic day the gave me.  I love when I get pampered by these cute kiddos.  I'm a lucky lady.

Eating lunch with our favorite kindergartner.  We may or may not be taking total advantage of this lunch-school-kindergarten-eating tradition.  It's not only an excuse to see our favorite girl but also to eat Chick-fil-a!!  Woohoo!  So glad she loves it too.....for now.

Raising a ruckus....or at least kids who like to ride on them.  This year, Aunt Sarah was selling her house and before she did she requested that we have ONE more Thanksgiving celebration in it....early...as in September.  So of course, we didn't need much excuse to chow down on turkey and fixings.  It quickly got nicknamed "Fakesgiving".  So Happy Fakesgiving to you!  It's now officially a thing.

My two ruckus-loving kiddos...and their Daddy.  They actually got a trip around the neighborhood.  Brooklyn just got to keep the seat warm in the driveway...parked.  Hehehe.

Apple-sharing 101.  Take a bite and pass it down.  I've decided this is the new way we eat apples around here.  Totally cuts down on apple waste and finding the random half-eaten ones in mysterious places around the house.

This little girl takes after her Daddy and is constantly on the move.  I decided to soak up this rare moment wherein she actually HELD STILL and let me cuddle on her this afternoon.  It was lovely.

Addison sharing her after-school snack.  She is such a great big-sister....and a great Mommy helper as well!  So beyond grateful for her.

She wants nothing to do with what's inside.  She just wants to hold it like a big girl.  She loves to copy her siblings.  Such a cutie.

Jonas and Mommy sneaking in some cuddles.  You have to act quick with this one too - and hold him down long enough to snag a quick snuggle.  This day I was lucky.  Other days not so much.

Daddy is the "fun-parent" around here.  Three kids....riding one Daddy.  A very fun bedtime tradition.

It's a happy day when the family "mess-maker" learns how to clean up after himself.  Saves me some work that's for sure!

And now we come full-circle.  The "imitator" has now become the "imitatee".  

She's a speed-walker when she has something to push.  And the library is definitely her speed-walking location of choice.  Libraries aren't relaxing for me at all anymore.

I love when she finds a friend to walk-in to school with.  And I love that they hold hands when they do.

I love when my babies master the straw....makes my life easier!

Addison was lucky enough to get one of the first award's at this year's first Colt Stampede.  Her teacher wanted to recognize her for her tender heart.  She said she's so helpful to not only the teacher but to her friends as well.  We are grateful for such a special little girly.  

It's official!  She now officially walks more than she crawls.  On wood-chips no less!  I can barely master those!

The number one sign that you've had a long day....you fall out of bed and keep on sleeping.  I believe John and I are both guilty of doing this exact same thing when we were his age....but mine was the top bunk.

Jonas Turns Three!

Jonas was a lucky boy for his 3rd birthday....kinda sorta.  We got to spend his birthday on the road for vacation.  We enjoyed a quick trip to visit Grandma Parr and Aunt Ann & Uncle Roger.  We were literally in the van and driving during his special day. However, that didn't stop us from celebrating while we were in Illinois with family.  And they were all SO sweet and celebrating our special guy.  They each snuck out before our dinner celebrations and bought him presents and surprises for his big day.  Such sweet family....we are grateful for their kindness.  I'm sure Jonas is as well since he scored some extra love and gifts!  He didn't seem to mind a traveling birthday.  Interestingly enough, his namesake...Daddy...spent his birthdays growing up in a similar fashion.  Except he was in the back of a suburban and Jonas was in the back of a minivan.  ;)

Unfortunately, since we did spend his day on vacation and on the road, we didn't get to take advantage of too many picture opportunities.  I was only able to scramble up a few here and there.  But believe me when I said we had quite a grand time celebrating our little big boy.  We are SO grateful for Jonas and the role he plays in our family. 

Happy 3rd Birthday Jonas!!

August Randomness

August was our "last hurrah" month for the summer of 2014.  We had plenty to fill our days up with before we sent our big girl Addison off to school.  Here's just a few things we enjoyed during August...

Jump Zone!  The older two kiddos were running around like crazy monkeys.  This monkey wanted to stay by me and the little kid playground.  I was totally fine with it since it meant I didn't have to crawl inside a huge bounce house.  She's my little buddy and I love it.

A Daddy & Jonas selfie while picking blueberries.  I believe with was a "pre-sweat" picture instead of a post-sweat pic.

Jonas and Daddy went Blackberry picking.  As you can see it was a pretty hot day but they still had a blast.  I think they should have recorded Jonas' starting weight and ending weight and charged us for the difference.  From the looks of those lips he looks like he may have sampled a few-hundred while he picked.

A nice reflective moment whilst picking the berries.  I'm guessing his thought was "Which one do I want in my belly?!"  99% sure that's where those little berries ended up.

"C'mon puppy.....go!" Says Jonas as he pulls Brooklyn by her binky chain.  So fun watching these two bond while Addison is in school.

Addison was lucky enough to go on a "Mommy-Date" with me as we went to a Young Women's activity.  This activity happened to be a fun swim in a friend's pool.  Here she is getting brave (with the help of the YW cheering section) as she chose to slide down the fun slide.  After she conquered it she went down it again about a billion more times.

And of course, after the pool fun she was able to sit on a horse with my YW Avery.  What could get more fun in one night than a pool AND a horse ride!?  She's a happy little girl.

This was the Sunday I realized that I dressed my child up as "Pebbles" from "The Flintstones."  It was a total accident (albeit a funny one) and never occurred to me until after church was over.  Such a cute Pebbles she is! 

One of our many trips to the "Poppy Store" (aka: Target).  This is what happens when Hufford children get the sniff of the corn.  They LOVE them some popcorn.  It's in their DNA after all.

A friendly neighborhood bike-ride....er wagon ride.  Apparently, Jonas wanted to protect that noggin even while riding in the wagon.

My Sunday morning "Twinners".

Again, Jonas and Brooklyn bonding over cookies & giggles while Addison is in school.  I'm always fascinated with what they choose to do with their time but I'm quickly learning that their little minds are more similar than I originally thought.  Two peas in a pod.

While I'm mopping the floors, he asks me in his deep manly voice.... "Want me to sing 'Let it Go' Mom?  Yes please!  After finishing he says "Amen."

Nothing like a last-minute stay-cation to make our Monday exciting.  It's the only good thing to come from a broken AC unit at home.  The kiddos loved it.  I did too....until we had to go back to a hot house and wait another day for a working/replaced unit.  Merry Christmas in August to us!

Hanging out with this nugget, in the driveway, in the van, with AC blowing at max, as we wait on AC replacement quotes on the house.