The Bates Family
Allen, Leah, Brookelyn, & Braedyn

Saturday, October 29, 2011

School Fun!

We have had a busy week of FUN with Brookelyn's kindergarten class! First, we made a trip to the pumpkin patch. They were all adorable!
Of course, Braedyn came too and thought he was every bit as big as the kindergarteners! (Like the shorts with the sweater? That wasn't a battle I wanted to fight that morning.)
On Friday we went trick-or-treating on the Square with Brookelyn's kindergarten class. They were all dressed up, and we walked around for about an hour and a half. It was so much fun! Here is our "posse":
B-man showed the kindergarteners how it was done!
My Little Red Riding Hood and Big Bad Wolf (minus his head) were SO cute!
Like the new mohawk? I figured since it is getting colder, it just isn't fair to shave his head anymore. So, we are going back to the faux-hawk look.
This shot tells the story of the whole morning:
Braedyn kept falling behind and we would have to RUN to catch up with everyone. Why? Not because his little wolf paws were tired, but because the businesses would have huge buckets of candy and tell the kids to pick out one piece. Well, deciding which piece he wanted was a life changing decision at each and every ONE of the TWENTY businesses we visited!
Here is one last shot of the class and Brookelyn's kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Scott (the witch). She is amazing and Brookelyn absolutely adores her!
I don't have pictures of trick-or-treating at Daddy's office, or of us setting up our school carnival booth, or of us staying at the carnival until the very END to help clean up. It was a CRAZY day. But, it was SO much fun!

Thursday, October 20, 2011

My Beautiful "Babies"

A friend of a friend asked if she could take pictures of the kids for her new website. So, last week we headed out to the Metropark for the photo shoot. I was beyond THRILLED with her work--thank you to Personal Paparazzi!
She set up a graffiti scene for Brookelyn.
And, got some SUPER cute close up shots!
Braedyn got to throw rocks into the stream. Can you tell he hated every minute? :)
We finished up with some shots of both kids together. I think this one is my favorite!But, I also love, love, loved this one.
My "babies" are getting so big and I am enjoying EVERY minute of it (or at least 99.9% of those minutes)!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Tailgating for the Auburn Game

We set out on Saturday morning (after Braedyn's soccer practice) for Fayetteville and some tailgating FUN! Yes--we were there before 11am and the game didn't even start until 6pm, but we loved every minute of the absolutely beautiful weather and electric atmosphere!

Here is my little "Boss Hog" all ready for the game:
And, here is Sashi and Allen leaned back with the kids, watching the football games (you can't see the TV--it is in the back of the car)!
Brookelyn took a little cat nap on Honey--and no, she wasn't sick. She was just exhausted!
Our tailgating neighbors deserve some sort of award for the spread they set up every game. They even brought a huge blow up hog this time. Of course, the kids loved him!
We had a wonderful time tailgating and and even better time at the game, since we put those "mean tigers" as Braedyn calls them in their place! GO HOGS!

Friday, October 7, 2011

Kindergarten Art Auction--Melted Crayon Artwork

One of the duties of Homeroom Mom is to come up with a piece of art (that every child in the class helps make) to sell at the school's art auction. I had NO idea what we were going to make, so one of my friends suggested I join Pinterest for ideas. Now I am hooked! But, it was on that site that I found this idea!

Thursday afternoon (with both kids in school) I sat and peeled 151 crayons and then glued them to a huge canvas I bought from Hobby Lobby. I lugged it to school and we put newspaper all around it to protect the teacher's walls and floors.
I brought two hairdryers and then, let the kids get to WORK! For 20 kindergarteners, they were so well behaved! The kids came up in pairs and took turns heating up the crayons and letting the wax drip down the canvas.
About halfway through we blew the outlet and then we had a fire drill, so we had to relocate to finish it up! And then, of course we blew that outlet and had to move again!
But, in the end it turned out great!
All the kiddos were so proud!!