Blessed are the Peacemakers

So, for the most part Jackson and Sebastian get along great. They are playing together from the time they get up to the time they crash at bedtime. There is, however, a little territorial problem when it comes to the art supplies. They both LOVE to play with markers, the unwashable ones, of course! Bryan and I thought we had tossed every one of them away, low and behold 4 magically appeared this morning. THAT'S why they call them Magic Markers!!! So, while I was laying down I could hear them fussing and wrestling over what I was sure would be a manageable mess. Well, the carpet is embellished with green and pink now and no about of Shout will be getting the colors off of Sebastian's white shirt. So, I took them both, messy hands, messy faces and bedazzled shirts to some retail therapy.

So, at Target I bought 2 notebooks, 2 boxes (separate brands) of 64 crayons, 2 boxes of WASHABLE markers. Then we hoofed it to Hobby Lobby where I got 2 white photo boxes and whatever stickers the boys chose. We went home and they crafted their own art boxes. Behold their new custom-made treasures:

Bryan...the Dad

Any man can be a father,
but it takes a special person to be a dad.

It was a Spooktacular Halloween!

Well, Halloween has come and gone. It's been a crazy, busy weekend and it's been memorable. I think it's a little nuts that Halloween seems more fun with the kids than I can remember. Here are some pictures to sum up our weekend.


We visited Bryan's grandparents after Trick or Treating. I thought this was such a sweet picture of Great Grandma Adkins with two of the great-grandkids.

Yep. This is a huge pumkin. It's called the Great Pumpkin, in fact. Bryan's bosses, the Hubers, had this giant pumpkin custom made by a hot air balloon company. They loan it to the governor's mansion every year for the downtown halloween event. Then, on Halloween night, the Great Pumpkin inflates and glows in their front yard. They have a speaker inside and everything so they can greet the children by name. It's a hoot every year to visit.

The next few pictures are from the Huber & Associates party they had for their employees and their families. They went all out this year with a bounce house, pumpkin painting, hay mazes, treasure hunts and, of course, the Great Pumpkin.

I love this "Are you serious?" face he's giving me here!

The next couple of pics are from the Kindergarten class party. It's a sickness, really, but I LOVED throwing this party! We had a photo spot area, a funny book read by another mother, bead your own candy necklace station and a pumpkin toss. I made ghosts from helium balloons and tulle that floated around the room during the party. What a blast!

Lastly, Jackson and Sebastian were dancing up a storm on Friday morning. They wanted me to witness their "Awesome Dancing Moves."

Halloween Playlist

So, I'm trying to come up with a Kindergarten Friendly playlist for the party on Thursday. Here's what I have so far:

Purple People Eater
Werewolves of London-Warren Zevon
Monster Mash
I Want Candy-Bow Wow Wow
This Is Halloween-from Nightmare Before Christmas
I Put A Spell On You- Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Weird Science-Oingo Boingo
Munsters Theme
Addams Family Theme
Ghostbusters
Love Potion No. 9
Little Red Riding Hood---Sam the Sham & the Pharoahs
Witch Doctor

Also, the activity list at this point is as follows:

Stations:
Party Picture Taking

Frame Decorating
Snacks
Pumpkin Toss
Halloween Ring Toss or Pumpkin Bowling - 35 minutes total

Group Game: Mummy Race – Dulce
For this game you divide the class up in to teams. Then you choose one child from every team to be the mummy. Each team has to wrap up their mummy in a set amount of time, making sure to leave the nose and eye area open. After each team has finished wrapping their mummy then the mummy has to hop (with out braking any of the wrapping) down to the finish line. Then winning team gets a prize. Make sure to have plenty of paper and to play some devilish music like monster mash while the game is being played.
10 minutes

Book: Halloween by Jerry Seinfeld
10 minutes

Hand out Goodie Bags

5 minutes

Okay, so what are your thoughts?? Will it work? Are there other songs you can think of??

It's almost Halloween!!!

So, we finally bought Jackson's costume last night. I decided to drag my feet a little more than usual since he has changed his mind an average of twice a day. We have gone from Lego Batman to Ironman to Optimus Prime and (my favorite) a Native American. That's right, a blonde hair, blue eyed, creamy white skinned Native American. I really think it was just the appeal of a mohawk that did it for him. So, I let him wear a mohawk to school a couple of days and got rid of that little urge. All that to say, Jackson is going to be...drumroll please....a Ninja. Yep, he never mentioned a desire to be a Ninja at all but fell in love with the costume at the store last night.

Sebastian will be dressed up as a soccer player. I know, it's a stretch. The boy sleeps with two soccer balls every night and wakes up to dribble a ball out of his room and through the house every morning. I wore a necklace yesterday that had a silver circle and he kept chanting "ball, ball, ball." This boy loves soccer so it's a safe bet that he'll love his costume.

So, stay posted because I'll have pics of them in their costumes this weekend from our Fall Fun for Families at our church. Also, I am room mom for Jackson's Kindgergarten class. HOORAY!!! I am getting things ready for their Halloween party. I'll keep you posted.

We're Getting a New Member in the Vargas Family!

Little Cito is growing up! He proposed to his girlfriend, now fiancée, Abby Fulton on Friday evening. Cito's roommate, Seth and Abby's brother, Caleb served as accomplices and faked a radiator problem in the pouring rain along the side of the highway. Cito had flowers and their new family Bible, to be used in the wedding, hidden in the front seat.

Abby is an Early Childhood Education major. She comes from a large family of brothers and sisters and her father serves as a multi-lingual church planter in Fayetteville, Arkansas. She lived in Guatemala for 8 years while her parents worked in the mission field and is she is very fluent in Spanish. She has a very sweet and beautiful spirit about her and our family loves her already. She and Cito met at Williams Baptist College, which happens to be where Mom & Dad Vargas met 41 years ago. I think the Lord definitely placed them together at just the right time.

No word yet on the date of the wedding.

No Rest for the Weary

Poor Bryan had hoped to take a late Saturday afternoon nap...the boys had other plans.