Thankful for Halloween

uh, yea, thanksgiving is this week, but when I realized I hadn't even posted Halloween, I figured I'd better share this first.
Then, I started thinking about being thankful and these people are who I am thankful for. They are our extended family and we spend A LOT of time with them!!!

We had a BIG party at our house for Halloween. Our house just seems to be "that house". 

I don't have many pictures because I made 70+ of these all night! They were a hit, before AND after trick or treating and for both kids and adults!!!

Mummy Dogs 

Witches Brew 

These are not trick or treaters, these kids belong here!!! 

Ryan and Omar 

Uh, I think that is Jack.

Cooper

Hamilton and Jonah in the background 

Hollister

We actually had the whole turtle gang!

 The whole gang! Yes, we actually do know some girls. (they are sisters of our boy friends!) 

Not sure how to caption this picture. I was busy all day and didn't have time to do my hair, so the rollers worked. 

And for some reason, after trick or treating, Hamilton decided he didn't want to be a turtle any longer, so he put on Hollister's Bumblebee costume from last Halloween. 

Like always, the party was F-U-N!

Halloween and Science

At Hollister's school, they use Halloween to incorporate Science Vocabulary. I think its a very good idea. I call it homework for the parents.

Trevor made last year's. Click here for a reminder.

This year, it was my turn.

Hollister wanted to be gravity. Uh... seriously? How do you create gravity?

His second choice was bones. DONE! I can handle  that!

I luckily found a child size skeleton online and printed it. I laminated it and cut out all the pieces, dressed him in all black and safety pinned everything to him that morning!

My school on the other had, we DO dress up 

and if I can find an excuse to wear pajamas to school, I WILL !!!! 

 Hamilton choose to be Bumblebee which was last year's costume for both boys. 

He wore Hollister's from last year. 

Yes, this is actually how we left the house that morning.

 And no, I couldn't drive with that on my head. 

Baseball and Birthdays

Every weekend for the past 3 months, we have had baseball and soccer. Sometimes we are gone ALL day when we play out of town and especially when we are in tournaments.

Hamilton's birthday falls right in the mess of it all! 

He gets slighted a little. 

On his actual birthday, we celebrated with Hollister's team. Hamilton is practically another coach for them. They all love him and he chose to have a cake with them after practice. 

When we got home, he opened presents from the family. 

Then, the following weekend we had a few friends over after day 1 of our baseball tournament here in Elgin. (more on that soon) 

You would think he would have wanted a Ninja Turtle party, but he chose Legos. 

So, off I went to create a Lego Themed Party for him. 

A Lego Door (It was too cold to do the outside door, so the back door worked)

Lego coloring books. 

Didn't get a picture of the inside, but of course, they are lego characters. 

 Lego juice 

Lego candy in the cupcakes. 

(no time for a fancy cake with a baseball tournament going on)  

Yes, that says "Lego Man Poop". Hollister said that was "inappropriate". I thought it was funny. 

 The table

The "heads" on the table have each kids' name on them for "pin the head" on the lego man.  

I planned this simple game. I think they had fun. Except Hamilton. he was not keen on the blindfold or not getting the face exactly perfect. Oh silly boy! 

This was the final after each person had a chance. 

Hamilton and Cameron, the winner! 

Prize: candy lego blocks

Then, after all the other faces were off, Hamilton let Tony be his blindfold and he added his head. 

Next was present time! 

 They enjoyed building with the Lego candy too! 

Build it and then EAT IT!!!!

It was way fun. We squeezed it in between baseball and I am glad we did. 

Hamilton turning 5 is worth a party!!! 

Current Events- Hollister's Surgery

Trevor asked me a few days okay if I gave up blogging. NO WAY!!! I LOVE blogging. We are just busy in this household. 

But, finally I will have some time to blog. I am home for the entire week!!! Be prepared for updates. 

I want to start with current events instead of trying to go in order though. 

On Friday, November 21st, Hollister had another ear surgery. This is the second with his doctor in San Antonio. this surgery was targeted at the left ear which we know has cholesteatomas. 

Recently he has been more vocal about his dislike for having surgeries. We know its hard on him and we wish we could tell him this was it, but it probably isn't. 

Here he is before the surgery. 

Dr. Syms tagged the correct ear so there is no confusion in the operating room. 

His biggest fear is the smell of the anesthesia. We have tried everything, but nothing makes it better. With his loss of hearing, his sense of smell is elevated. 

He went back around 9:30am. The surgery was well over 3 hours again. When we spoke with the doctor he said it went well, but there was a lot of it. (the cholesteaotomas) It had spread everywhere. He cleaned out and did his thing. Like those technical terms? They had developed on his facial nerve and near his brain. This of course is frightening to hear. Remember, this is Hollister's non hearing ear. That meant no reconstruction was necessary, but all of this mess has to be taken out. After talking with him the odds of him having to do another surgery seemed high. It's waiting game now though. Dr. Syms waits a minimum of 9 months between surgeries. For now, we let this one heal. 

In recovery. 

Watching TV at the hotel while Daddy went and got food for everyone. 

Playing checkers while waiting at Cracker Barrel. This was the day after the surgery. 

Such good spirits! 

Saturday night Trevor took the bandage off. This is always an ordeal because of the tape. It hurts coming off and Hollister remebers that every time. 

 We change out the cotton ball and install drops daily. It keeps the packing inside his ear moist. 

The bandage behind his ear is over the stitches and in about a week, they will fall out. 

 Hollister will wear this protective ear cup until we see the doctor for the first post op appointment. 

All in all, Hollister is doing really well. 

He never complains of pain. 

We sometimes have to catch him because he hates the pain medicine so much, 

he'd rather deal with the pain. 

 We will see the doctor next week, I will keep you updated. (at least I will try to)