Our wild rumpus and jedi knight

 This year for Halloween Hunter wanted to be a Jedi knight.  He was a really cute Jedi knight, but he didn't then and still doesn't know now what a Jedi knight is really all about.  I think he could tell you that they are in Star Wars.  Anyway, it was a great costume and he had a blast trick or treating with all of his friends.  This year Halloween was the coldest night of the season so David and I were thankful the boys had warm costumes to wear.

 Our handsome Jedi knight.

 The crew getting ready to start trick or treating up and down the lovely street of Stonewall Heights.  Thanks again to the Pillions to opening up their home for all of us to share.

 Lucas was 'Max', King of the Wild Things!!  It was the greatest costume ever!!  At the time his favorite book to read was "Where the Wild Things Are."  (Later he moves on to dinosaurs, but more on that to come.)  It took a bit of convincing for him to actually put the costume on, but once he realized with the costume on you got candy he was hooked! Not to mention the wolf suit was warm!  He did a great job with please and thank you and didn't manage to eat all of his candy before bed.  This is one little costume that couldn't have been more fitting and adorable for our little 'wild rumpus.'

They melt my heart.

Halloween begins

 I love getting ready for fall.  It is a beautiful time of year in southwest Virginia.  Hunter and Lucas enjoyed all the excitement as well.  I had all the best intentions of letting the boys trample through a pumpkin patch to pick out and cut their very own pumpkin, but somehow we just never made it to the patch.  We found a perfect pile of pumpkins at the local grocery store and the boys had just as much fun  picking one out from there and I didn't have to endure an hour long drive the pumpkin patch.  I think this was a win win for us all!

Hunter loved carving the pumpkins into jack-o-laterns...Lucas was not at all into it.  Period.

 This was his attitude throughout the entire pumpkin carving experience.  Maybe next year will be better.  I wish I could remember what we had done leading up to the carving, he might of just been tired from a long day of activity.

 Hunter and his pumpkin!!  My sweet big boy!

 My spider pumpkin.  Hunter and Lucas gathered up the sticks from the woods, Hunter spray painted everything black, I drew the face and Lucas helped glue it on.  I think our spider was pretty cute.

This was our Halloween porch.  I was trying to take a picture of the ghosts the boys and I made.  Lucas's ghost was on the right and Hunter's was on the left.  We took old planters filled them with sand from the sandbox and stuck an old tomato cage in them.  Then we wrapped white Christmas lights around the cage and put a sheet over the lights.  The boys got to spray paint a face on the sheet to look like a ghost.  You can't really see how cute they were but they turned out great.  In fact, we have them stored in the basement to use again for next year.  

Farmer vs. Fireman

 Southwest Virginia is no stranger to farmers and livestock.  My boys are not strangers to all sorts of farm animals but it is always an adventure for them to really get down and explore all that a farm has to offer.  This fall we helped in the birthday celebration of Hayden at Fern Valley Farm.  We had tractor rides, animal petting/feeding, and authentic pizza cooking.  We all had a blast and I could hear the animals breathe a sigh of relief when it was time to go.

 Hunter taking his turn holding Peter, the bunny.

 Here is Lucas holding Peter.  He loved it so much that he waited in line to hold him twice.

 Tractor rides are the best and even more fun on Mrs. Kelly's lap....now on to feed and pet the sheep!

 The Abingdon fire department hosted a family day for folks to visit the station, learn some fire safety and check out the trucks and other fancy equipment.  It must be every kiddos dream to use that hose!  The guys out there were so sweet letting them all take a turn putting out the fires.  What you can't see in these pictures is that they are actually trying to put out fires in the windows of a little wooden house.  It was kind of like the game at the fair where you point your squirter and try to knock down some monkey.  In this case, it was a wooden house with wooden fire blazes in the windows.

 Hunter looked like a professional.

 This picture is out of order, but this was fun pizza making back at the farm.

 Lucas and his firman loot bag.

 Climbing aboard wings.

 Sweet Larkin donning her hat.

I wasn't so sure about giving Lucas control of that hose, but he did a wonderful job.

The perfect outfit

 Hunter does a great job getting dressed all by himself.  He asks if it will be a hot day or a cold day and then goes from there.  He was up getting ready for school and came out wearing this.  Enough said.  I sprinted for the camera and told him the colors were great but it was going to be a little too cool for shorts.  Poor guy, I guess he gets his fashion sense from his dad!

Soccer, Otis and Cheerleading..oh My!

 Hunter played soccer this summer for the first time and we all had a blast.  We had a super star coach and a great little team, the 'Fireballs.'  You have to appreciate that Hunter is the shy, reserved type and is not really into aggressive runs with ball, (I don't see football in his future, Lucas on the other hand may be a different story) yet he was a great soccer player and enjoyed his time on the field during games and at practice. He is a fast runner and caught on to the rules and goals of the game quickly.  We were very proud of him for working hard, listening to his coach and cooperation with team play.  The funniest thing is the one game we had to miss for a wedding was the game Hunter scored 5 goals!  It was unbelievable!!  I was getting one text after another from parents..."Hunter just scored, oh goodness he scored again and I am not kidding he just scored another goal!"  We were so proud and excited for him and so glad my parents were there to share the experience but David and I were devastated not to be there and see it.  And would you know that little stinker never scored another goal the rest of the season!!

 Proud little man with his first soccer medal!  End of season celebrations are the best!

Hello Otis, welcome to life among the Simmons and the Hunters.  Be brave and patient with these other old dogs!

 Lucas and Hunter love, love that little puppy....one day we will get another one.  My heart is still heavy missing Abby.

The cutest cheerleader ever. Period. 

Really sweet Picture

Thanks to our great friend, Kelly!  She took this amazing picture of Lucas and Larkin hanging out before dinner.  It was a beautiful evening and she was able to capture a totally innocent moment from our two mischief makers!

The fair part two, including Lucas!!!

This was trip number two to the fair for Hunter and I.  We had fun with the Turner girls and Dawson boys.  Lucas was all over the fair and might grow up to be a carney!  The rides were open for this trip (oh boy!) so we rode rides and petted animals and made all kinds of fair mischief until David couldn't take one more minute!!! (you can insert a sigh here when he reads this)  Then we completed the fun afternoon with a nice dinner out.

Hunter and sweet Emerson daydreaming on the Polaris.

Lucas playing at the Marble run.  This was such a creative idea!!  They put together a slide and obstacle of sorts for marbles.  The kids loved playing with this as much as riding the rides.  I wonder if I could craft something like this up at home!

 I must have told him a 1000000000000000 times, "Do not touch the displays!"  So here is the evidence...caught red handed, with his trusty sidekick...Larkin!

This was the sweetest little black baby goat. She would literally whine when the kids walked away from her.  They are all such big animal lovers they didn't want to leave her all alone.  I was finally able to pry them away when they realized she belonged to a little girl they all knew.

It is amazing to see how big Hunter is on these rides.  When I look back at posts of the fair 2 years ago, he was such a baby.  I don't know if next year the rides will be as fun for him and there is no way he is riding those big, rickety ole scary rides!

Our sweet Turner girls!