Another successful and seriously fun party at the Field-Bennetts despite having to deal with the first year of nasty weather.  I did get the “this is like a college party” compliment (and yes, I take that as a compliment)  If you know is, we have fun, we get it done…red Solo cups, outdoor tent and heater, kids running amok all add up to an evening of fun.
Here are some highlight pictures – there really are no words.  Thanks to our amazing friends for celebrating with us.

 Halloween, no matter how much I love it, brings drama in our house.  There is candy (which we don’t usually have much of except around holidays) and 1 boy who binges the minute he gets it, one boy who selectively eats his and one boy who stores it away.  The binger, after eating all of his candy the first hour he got it, can’t control himself and ends up stealing candy from the other two.  Stolen candy = drama.  We have tried the usual punishments (talking about it, writing sentences “I will not steal candy”, time outs with apologies, etc) but the lesson hasn’t seem to sink in.  Tonight that changed.
I was in the living room dealing with the babies, went into the kitchen to make dinner and I noticed that the bowl of candy corn was significantly lower than earlier in the day.  I asked if anyone knew anything about it…nope, it was a mystery!  I gave a second chance for the culprit to come forward, still nothing.  Time for the “candy corn in the teeth” test.  Trey failed the test.
Since the typical consequences were obviously not  working, we had to go another direction.  Trey was excited to learn that he was about to have CANDY FOR DINNER!!!  It was an exciting moment, the other boys begged for the same punishment….that is, until Trey had eaten a bunch and was clearly not enjoying his awesome punishment as much as he thought he would.   The pictures tell the story better than I ever could…I do believe my young son has learned a lesson.

Erin is an avid reader!  Any book, any time, anywhere.

I was on Pinterest the other day and saw this:

Here is our attempt at this…another fail.

Carlos gives a How To on how to dress a baby.  Epic Fail.

Ok, so it’s like this…our boys listen to the music we like (don’t judge – sometimes there is some inappropriate language but we have had the “art and artists and expression and just because you hear it in a song doesn’t mean you get to repeat it” talk)  They are old enough to get it and appreciate music. 
They also don’t get a lot of the words right or listen closely enough so when they wanted to “sing” on video, I jumped at the chance.  Pretty funny stuff.
Here is the official “Some Nights” by Fun. video and a link to the lyrics

And the Erin jumps into the mix.  The girl has moves and LOVES to dance!

The boys LOVE this song (the BHS cheerleaders use it for their hand jive cheer at halftime) and want me to play it over and over and over again in the car.  Love they they busted out the Dance Party on Monday night.  When they get goofy like this, it is my absolute favorite.

So, I have been going to this mom’s group for many years now (www.momsmorningretreat.com)…and throughout the years, the topic of mindfulness and how we can be more present in our lives seems to take center stage.  I always think about mindfulness as someone taking the time for themselves, doing yoga, meditation or amazing self-centered (not in a bad way) things.m  I never have fit that mold.  I am looking forward but not necessarily rushing through something so I can be moving forward to the next activity.   I feel fairly present when I am doing things, although I know my phone is a major distraction – chalk that one up to my self-diagnosed ADHD.  I don’t like time to myself because I get bored.  I soul is nurtured by interactions with other people.  This is a tough one, as I feel like I should want to have time to myself, to just BE and get deep. 
I brought all this up in my mom’s group today, pegging myself as the most shallow person in the group because I don’t want to do all the “mindful” things and would rather be with others.  Tuns out, I AM being mindful – thanks Jenny, for pointing out this blog.  Not only are we having the experiences, my cup is being filled…but I’m reliving them through this blog!  Go figure!

 We made the annual trek to the pumpkin patch this morning – spur of the moment decision after seeing the weather forecast calling for a week of rain.  Guess the sunshine couldn’t last forever, but we sure were enjoying it.
Loaded up the short ones, drove to the pumpkin patch and made our picks.  I guess I should feel badly that it only took 15 minutes, but I’m really ok with it.  Got the pictures (except for Carlos’ individual, but we will recreate that out in the yard) I wanted and the kids found their keepers.  Now for the carving and seed roasting.
Today has been a whirlwind of cleaning, tidying and getting ready to put all of the Halloween decorations out.  Love this holiday!