The Taylor Family: October 2011

Happy Halloween

Well we made it through the weekend. I was really hoping I would get to ate the children trick or treating but with the twins coming at any moment I was afraid to get too excited. My friend, Kelli, told me about a special that Cici's Pizza was having for Halloween and how kids ate free if they were in costume. After

I got home from work the kids got their costumes on without my prompting and prepared to leave. Peter and I made sure everything was in order and we lit our pumpkins and were off. I had talked with a few other friends, Cindy and Lisa, and we all decided to meet Kelli there to eat dinner.

We all had our fill at Cici's, and maybe a little more and then after some good conversing we all headed over to Kelli's neighborhood (one of the few in Volusia County that has sidewalks) to go trick-or-treating. It was probably just after 6 when we started going door to door and we had quite the group characters with us. Everyone was really concerned for me walking but I assured them I was fine and that walking in late pregnancy is good for you and could even help bring on labor if your body is ready. Every year we go out we seem to go farther and farther and get more houses done before calling it quits. We walked a good 2

hours before we were all exhausted. Javan was quite the trooper though and wanted to keep going. He didn't want to be carried or have help with his bag. He was dripping sweat but wouldn't let us take off his hat or unzip his jacket. Abbi on the other hand was tired about half way through. She didn't really want to go on but when I said she didn't have to go up to all the houses she wouldn't stay back either. She persevered through the night with a little carrying and help but was relieved when we made it back to Kelli's house. Bresa did really well with getting to each house and for the most part lead the group to the doors. She did have one incident where she fell down and got a very tiny scrape on her hand but you have thought from her screaming and crying her entire arm fell off.

I told her that if she was that hurt she needed to rest and we could sit down and wait for the rest of the group to continue trick-or-treating before they came back for us to go home. she didn't like that idea and pretty soon the drama ended but not without her holding her hand up all night because she "couldn't use it." After all was said and done we had way too much candy and three exhausted children to take home.

Never too much fun

As Halloween nears many churches are putting on Fall Festivals for the children to enjoy. I had a list of ones that were local to us and had planned on taking the children to one yesterday but Peter wanted to take me on a date and I couldn’t refuse such an offer.

So, rather than go out last night we all went out tonight to get in some fun. Peter played at both services this morning so we had to go to an evening festival and we found one that sounded very promising in Daytona. The kids got all dressed up and off we went. There was face painting, trunk-or-treating, bounce houses, balloons, games, crafts, food and

more. I think the children did just about everything. There were a couple inflatable things that had a long line so we skipped a few of those and then a few games that didn’t look too exciting so we skipped those too. The children all had a great time and couldn’t get enough.

They weren’t ready to leave but Peter and I sure were. Since the kids have school tomorrow we knew couldn’t be out too late and Javan didn’t get a nap so we knew we would be battling two-year old crankiness if we were out too long. The festival was a lot of fun and I enjoyed seeing the children get all excited about every little thing.

I am pretty sure I am all festivaled out though for the year. We have our trick-or-treating tomorrow and after that I will be happy to call it quits.

Sharing Traditions

When I was growing up I remember every year around Halloween my mom would get Apple Cider and Donuts. Sometimes we would sit to eat and drink together and other times we would have it on our own but it was always available once Fall came around. Now, every year when Halloween comes around, I always have a craving for Apple Cider and donuts. Tonight when we stopped at the

store I picked up these special goodies and after Javan got a bath and went to bed I shared my tradition with the girls. They were very excited to be having a donut (not something they are usually aloud to have) and they really liked the apple cider. I will have to make sure that in the years to come I make time to stop and share this tradition with them so they can share it with their children when they grow up.

Pumpkin Carving and Festival

We had picked up a couple pumpkins last weekend but everyday this week was filled with something after work and school and our first chance to carve them was this evening. When I got home from my doctor's appointment and had a moment to rest I asked the girls if they wanted to do the pumpkins. Of course they said yes so I woke up little man from his nap so he wouldn't miss out on the fun. We got everything together and I cut the tops off all the melons so they could get cleaned out. Bresa asked if we could cook the seeds to which I agreed. Both she and Abbi did a good job of separating the seeds from the pulp and cleaning out the all the goo from the pumpkins. I worked on Javan's and the entire time he made sure that I knew it was his.

He tried to help a bit and did a little of the seed separating too but he was quickly distracted by just about everything else. After the pumpkins were clean we went in the house to figure out what type of design we wanted for them all. The girls drew their pictures and Peter printed a cool Lightning McQueen template for Javan's. I started with Javan's but Peter took over for me so I carved our Abbi's. Bresa had a hard time drawing her design she had chosen on the pumpkin itself but eventually she finished it up and I carved it out. It was too early to light them and we didn't have any candles anyhow so we quickly cleaned all up and then

we drove down the road to local church which was having a festival. We brought canned goods for admission and then had a hot dog dinner and did some crafts. Peter had to meet a client at the house so he took off for a little bit but the kids and I hung around to have some fun. When it was time I gave the children their Halloween bags and we went through the parking lot Trunk-or-Treating. They got all sorts of yummy candy and they got to pet a horse on the way.

When we had hit every car we went back in for a couple more crafts and then grabbed a cupcake for dessert. Daddy came back just as we were finishing up so we headed to the store to grab a couple things and then went home to light our pumpkins.

Journey Kids Costume Night

Tonight the kids were supposed to wear their Halloween costumes to church for groups. Javan didn't have to wear his but I had just borrowed it from the Sanford Fire Department (the PD and FD share a building) today and was just trying it on him to see the fit (way too big) and he refused to take it off. No problem he can dress up too. He looks really cute in it and the hat and boots fit well enough. The jacket is really big on him but the arms stay up so he can use his hands and I just won't use the pants (which is fine because he would probably get way too hot). The girls were excited about showing off their costumes a bit early. Bresa decided she wanted to be a Ninja this year. Not sure

where she got that idea but it was easy enough to come up with an outfit for it. We just dressed her all in black and then Daddy designed the hood and face part and cut it out of some black material we picked up and I sewed it all together. It came our really great! Abbi wanted to be a bride and wear a dress she already had in her dress-up clothes. Doesn't get much easier than that. She had a real veil that our friend gave her after her wedding and pretty silver shoes to go with it. She even had some fake flowers to use as a

bouquet and I wrapped some white ribbon around the stems and she was done. I think this years Halloween may be the easiest and cheapest yet. There are some festivals this weekend so maybe the kids can use their costumes a few more times before the actually Halloween night. I will be taking more and better pictures of them when we have more time to get everything just right and aren't rushing out the door.

It’s Fall!

This morning Peter and I had a Life Group Leader meeting at the church but it was also another Lowes Workshop Day. I had wanted to take the kids but the times conflicted with our meeting. Our friend, Cindy, was going to be taking her son so she offered to take our children too. I knew

they would have a great time because they were so excited about the last two that they went to so Peter and I dropped them off before our meeting and then picked them up when we were through. All the children were very eager and excited to show us their “Monster Trucks” that they had built and of course Javan wanted to show us the wheels and the cool green light on top. Once we got home and had some lunch we did a couple quick things around the house and then I had the kids get ready for a Fall Festival that was being held out in Port Orange. It was a bit of a drive but it was going on until 6 and all the other ones that were closer were ending within a ½ hour of when we left the house. I figured this way the kids could have some outdoor fun and Peter could get some quiet time at home and be able to concentrate on some work. When we got to the festival we purchased some tickets for the games and then went around and decided what we wanted to do. The children each had

6 tickets to spend so they had to be wise with their decisions. Javan played a couple games just for littler kids and had fun flipping a froggy into a bucket of water. The girls went through an inflatable obstacle course and then decided to spend another ticket on cotton candy. I took a little piece off of each for Javan. At first he didn’t like it but after watching the girls he decided he would try again. There was a bounce house there that didn’t cost any tickets and all the children played in that for a good while. Eventually I

had them come out so we could take a look at the pumpkin patch. They had really nice pumpkins but the prices were a little too steep for me so we just took a few pictures and pointed out the big ones and then went to play more games. The girls really wanted to paint little pumpkins but between the three of them they were shy just one ticket. I gave Bresa the money and she got one more ticket and then all the children got to sit and paint pumpkins.

They had a really good time and Javan sat for a long time and worked on his. When all the pumpkins were pretty we set them out in the sun to dry before we went home. We were headed back over to the bounce house when a lady stopped me and gave me 12 extra tickets that they weren’t going to use. The girls were very excited about this and after each of the children had a snow cone we went and played a few more games. We didn’t use the rest of the tickets up but it was about time to be heading home for dinner so we passed the remainder of the

tickets on to someone else and then started our drive back. Daddy had hot dogs all grilled up for us when we returned and then later our friends Janna and Joe came over for some adult conversation while the little ones played a bit and went to bed.

Firetruck

This afternoon Bresa had a doctor appointment and in the waiting room there were some toys for the little ones to play with. Javan found a set of wooden blocks and quickly went to work building things.

When I looked over I saw a little structure and asked Javan about it. He said, "That's firetruck Mommy!" I asked Peter who made it and he said Javan did. I may be bias but I think that's pretty ingenious for a two year old. I was quite impressed.

Play Time

Peter and I have a lot of friends from church that we like to hang out with and, like us, some of them are very busy and we have to schedule things quite a bit in advance. Our worship Pastor Jason and his wife are a couple of those people. When Peter had Worship Team practice Friday nights I would go to Jason and Karen's house and all our 8 children would play together while Karen and I got to talk and hang out. Since Peter's practices have been on Tuesdays I haven't had that opportunity so we needed to schedule a new time to get together. Jason knew about a cool park in Deltona that had a huge playground so we decided we

would meet up in the morning so the kids could run while us adults could talk. When we got to the park there was no one there at all and all the kids had a blast running around and exploring everything. As time went by other families and a party showed up which made it a bit more difficult to locate all our children from time to time but everyone was good. Peter and I were able to have a nice conversation with Jason and Karen and

the kids were able to get some Vitamin D and exercise. Around lunch time the sun was warming up and one by one little children came up to complain of empty tummies. We said farewell until next time and went our own ways. After a quick stop at McDonald's for lunch the kids each got showers at home and I tried to rest a bit before we had to head to church for our designated hour for the 24 hours of prayer the church was having.

Halloween Setup

Over the years we have gathered a few Halloween decorations here and there. Nothing really elaborate or out there but just a couple things. We don't usually get them out for the holidays, mostly because they are up in the attic and it is such a chore to get anything in and out of there especially in the FL heat. However, this year we had to put our stuff away from our last beach trip and since I knew we would be getting out things out of Christmas I decided we should go ahead and pull the Halloween stuff down. The girls were very excited about this and really wanted to put up the inflatable globe that goes in the yard that lights up and has bats flying inside of it. While Daddy was at church one night we put all the indoor decorations out and I told the girls about how Grandma had painted a couple of them and how I had painted some of them also. There was a story for each one.

Finally we went outside and the girls helped me stake up the globe and then plug it in to be inflated. Both the girls and Javan were very excited about it. At first Javan wasn't sure what to think. He was playing around in the yard and when the globe started getting bigger he just stood back and watched with caution. Eventually, when he saw how excited his sisters were, he came up to the globe and told me all the things inside of it and what colors he saw. When we came back inside he was happy to just sit on the couch and look out the window at it even though from the backside you can't see a thing.

Girls will be girls

What to do on a Rainy Day

I had planned on taking the kids to a Fall Festival that a local church was having but the weather for the day called for rain with no end in sight. Peter had to be at our church to judge Worship Team Auditions so it was just me and kiddos for the better part of the day. We knew the farmers market was out but we still had to go to the grocery store so we all got ready and headed out in the rain to do our shopping. I was hoping we could make it in the out of the store during the very little windows of dryness but no such luck. We all got wet but we also got food so we accomplished our goal. When we got home and put everything away it was lunch time and I had picked up a special treat for me and the girls; sushi (cooked of course, no raw fish for these babies I am growing). Since I had really wanted to get the kids outside today I decided we should have a nice outdoor picnic. Sure the weather was not the prettiest but I have always enjoyed the

rain so I set up a little eating area on the front porch, under cover, and we ate our food while enjoying the sound of the rain fall. Abbi decided she didn't like sushi but was a good sport about it. Javan ate his normal PB&J and Bresa decided she liked the crab out of the sushi but not the rice (so really she didn't like the sushi either). I had gotten a Hawaiian Roll for myself and was happy with my selection. After we all ate our meals the kids went and played in the rain with their umbrellas. The girls each had their own

umbrellas but Javan doesn't have one so I let him use mine which he thought was hilarious. It is rare that we have rain storms without thunder and lightning so I wanted the kids to take advantage of this occurrence. Once we were back inside and Javan was down for his nap (which he actually took) the girls worked on cleaning their rooms so they could help me make cookies. Bresa decided that was not enough incentive so while she continued to "clean" Abbi and I started baking.

Abbi did a great job and in the end we had a couple dozen peanut-butter oatmeal chocolate chip coconut cookies. Just as they finished baking Daddy came home and we cleaned up the house a little bit while the rain still came down outside. This evening my brother, Brian, and his girlfriend, Rachael, are coming over for dinner and to just hang out. I hope the rain doesn't make their ride out here difficult.

Abbi's School Project

Abbi brought home her first assignment for a project a few days ago. She had to make a building that belongs in a community for the class. All the students were responsible for different buildings and Abbi chose the Library. Bresa had to do the same thing when she was in first grade in Mrs. Wright's class but she made a church. Since Grandma loves projects I had Abbi call her and tell her what she needed. Grandma came over this weekend and helped Abbi with the inside and outside of the building. Abbi came up with all the ideas and after church today I helped Abbi with the landscaping to finish off the project. Really I was just in charge of the hot glue gun and a bit of cutting. Abbi worked really hard all weekend on her

project and it really paid off. Everything looks really great and it is obvious that this is going to be the best Library ever! Abbi is really excited to go to school tomorrow and take it in to show all the other kids. I am really proud of her she was very diligent and would work on her project without being told from the second she got up in the morning until it was time to go out or to bed at night.

Last Beach Day

Our friends, Machelle and Larry, have been trying to arrange a beach day for all of us to go out with the kids and have some fun. We had scheduled this trip a couple times but for this reason or another we had to move the dates further and further back. Finally we made the date and it stuck but wouldn't you know it was the first cool day (you know under 90 degrees) we have had since March. It didn't matter though we were determined to go. So after some morning work and errands with some house cleaning things we headed out to Ormond

Beach to meet up with our friends. They have three boys (I don't know Machelle does it) that are all the same ages as our kids. Machelle and Larry have a time share in Ormond and although they didn't have the room right now they do have access to the pool and beach year round. We got to the beach and it was really windy. I had brought my suit but figured I wouldn't be into swimming and I was glad that I had made that decision when I felt the wind and the cooler air. After the kids played in the ocean a bit they came up and played in the sand for a little while. The ocean water was pretty warm but once they came out of it all the kids were freezing.

After a bit of sand playing they wanted to go up to the pool. The adults cleaned up the chairs and such as the kids rinsed off and jumped in the pool. There was a nice hot tub too but I can't enjoy that with the babies I am growing so I just sat at the edge and put my feet in. The kids played in the pool a long while but eventually everyone ended up in the hot tub. We had a good time with Machelle and Larry and were grateful we all got to hang out even if the weather wasn't totally beach appropriate. We even made it home with no sun burn! After we got home, my mom was over and was spending the night again so she was closer

for church in the morning. Peter and I dropped off the kids with her and made them a quick dinner and than he and I went to Five Guys to enjoy a nice simple date with no children. After we were filled with burgers and fries we went to our friend's Kathy and Jay's house for a board game party they were having. We hadn't planned on going since we knew we were doing the beach thing

and possibly a date but it was still early so we stopped in. After all whole days events I was ready for bed by the time we got home.

Monday, October 31

Happy Halloween

Sunday, October 30

Never too much fun

Friday, October 28

Sharing Traditions

Pumpkin Carving and Festival

Wednesday, October 26

Journey Kids Costume Night

Saturday, October 22

It’s Fall!

Tuesday, October 18

Firetruck

Saturday, October 15

Play Time

Friday, October 14

Halloween Setup

Sunday, October 9

Girls will be girls

Saturday, October 8

What to do on a Rainy Day

Sunday, October 2

Abbi's School Project

Saturday, October 1

Last Beach Day

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