Halloween Fun

This year for Halloween we decided to have Bentley use the turtle costume that Kolton used on his first Halloween.  Bentley wasn't too much of a fan of wearing it (especially at first) but I got him to sit for a couple of pictures.  :)

 Kolton went back and forth this year (as all kids do) trying to decide what he wanted to be for Halloween.  Some of the things he wanted to be was a ninja turtle, vampire, and Optimus Prime.  He ended up picking Bumblebee when we got to the store.  :)

 He looks so freaky in his mask!

 Him and his poses crack me up! I just love them! This one especially...he even has his nostrils flared! :)

 BROTHERS!

 Saturday night was the Balkman's annual Halloween party.  There weren't as many people there as in years past but there were still plenty of cars to trunk or treat at. 

 Brady sat at the car and passed out candy and I took the boys around trunk or treating.  One of the first cars we went to the lady put a sucker in Bentley's bucket.  When he saw it he wanted it.  I opened it up and he went to town!! He LOVED the thing and was so happy after that! :)

 Cousins!

 Once the boys had gone to all the cars they stopped and started digging in to their candy. 

 Monday night for FHE we carved our pumpkin. 

 Bentley was pretty intrigued with what was in there.  I love this picture.  I think it is so sweet!

 I scraped it out and then made Kolton pick up all the gunk and throw it away.  :) He then drew the face on the pumpkin and I cut it out.  I think it turned out pretty cool!

 At first we were not successful with getting Bentley to smile for a picture with the finished pumpkin but we did finally get a half smile out of him.  :)



Weekend

Thursday afternoon, right after school, I had parent/teacher conference with Kolton's teacher.  She went on and on about how much she just LOVED having Kolton in her class.  She said he is the one who is written down in the sub folder as the kid to ask questions to and that she will put him in charge of the class when she has to step out.  She said he is smart, sweet, obedient, and kind.  She said she can always trust him to do the right thing.  He is reading at a 1.2 to 2.2 reading level so he is right on track.  He does amazing when we read the scriptures every morning! Sometimes I can't believe some of the words he figures out! It is quite impressive.  It was great to hear from his teacher that he is doing so well.  He is one of 5 kids that is allowed to take A.R. tests starting this week.  She said the rest of the class will start doing those after Christmas break.  Right after the conference Jaycee and Adam came over and Jaycee stayed with Brady and the kids while I went with Adam and bought a bunch of food storage.  And I mean a BUNCH! Haha.  We got some for us, Jaycee and Adam, and Brady's mom.  She alone ordered 30 boxes of wheat!  We ended up buying an entire pallet worth of wheat! It was pretty funny to see us loading that in to our cars!  

After we loaded them in our cars then we had to go unload them.  It took a long time and I was tired by the time we were done.  :) Some friends came and picked Kolton up for soccer practice for us and then another friend brought him home.  After we got home we ate pizza and watched Survivor.  Bentley and Kolton had fun hanging out with Landon and Carter. 

I was super excited that I had bought stuff for our shelves that I had finished putting together! Brady's dad came and helped set up the main part of the frame and then a row of shelves the weekend before and then I finished the rest.  We have this one shelf reliance shelving system and then two utility shelf systems in our food storage room.  I'm starting to fill it all up and it makes me so excited! It just feels so good knowing we will have food if/when we need it.  

Before fall break Kolton made this ship for school that he was supposed to bring on Monday.  You were supposed to use things around your house so we used a take-out box and a straw, tape, stickers, and construction paper.  He did awesome and loved it! He named it "Captain Fearless."  



Friday night Kolton convinced us to take him to the Thunder court.  He had a blast! He ended up playing a pick up game with 3 other people.  The youngest was 10 years old. 

It was a fun Friday night! And of course, in true Brammer fashion, it was finished with dessert from DQ.  :) 

Thunder Court Dedication at Briarwood Elementary

Wednesday, October 22nd, the basketball court that the Thunder built at Kolton's school was dedicated.  at 3:25 the players were supposed to come and cut the ribbon and play with the kids.  Each class got to pick two kids (a boy and a girl) to be able to play with the players.  In Kolton's class they drew names out of a hat.  The first name pulled was a boy named Deshawn.  Then Kolton's name was pulled out.  He was devastated when his teacher told him he couldn't do it because it had to be a girl.  She told him that if Deshawn didn't come then he could do it.  I told Kolton not to get his hopes up.  I felt so bad for him though! To get your named pulled out and get so excited and then to be told you couldn't do it...I just thought that was cruel.  Haha.  Anyway, I guess the next day Deshawn was late to school so Kolton thought he was going to be able to do it but then he showed up.  Anyway, Bentley and I walked over to the school at 3:10.  The kids came out at about 3:20.  You could just tell Kolton was super excited to see the players.  He got to wear his Thunder hat to school that day too because he had earned a coupon for good behavior and he chose to be able to wear a hat and had saved it for Thursday. 

 The players ended up being late and so sadly all the daycare kids had to leave at 3:55.  I felt so so bad for them!! But, Kolton then got to move up to the front row and you could tell he was pretty psyched about that!

 At about 4:10 I think it was the players and Thunder girls and staff got there.  As they walked by the kids they gave them hi-fives and Kolton was one of the kids that they gave hi-fives to! I was so happy for him that he was able to do that!!

 One of the announcers from the Thunder games was there and talked for a bit. 

 The players were all super nice. Ibaka was the only one I recognized.  The others were Telfair, Jenkins, Solomon, Zanna, and Thomas. 

 I took this picture to show just how close Kolton was to the players but wasn't allowed to talk to them.  Haha. 

 Once all the players left they said all the kids could play basketball and try out the new court.  Kolton was chomping at the bit to get out there and play.  As soon as they were allowed to he ran out there and was able to get a ball and shoot it.  No sooner had he shot it did his principal come around with a bag and made the kids give her the balls.  I couldn't believe it! She said "I have to go home." What?! Come on lady...let the kids play! It was such a bummer the way the event ended.  But, I'm still super happy Kolton got to experience that!

 If you look closely in the picture below you can see Kolton's hat and part of his face giving the players hi-fives. 

Kolton is so grateful the Thunder did that for their school and loves playing on the court any chance he gets!