A Wiley Halloween

It has finally come and gone...another Wiley Halloween. We ALWAYS do it up right here! In fact, I'm pretty sure we have more Halloween decor than Christmas. I have to admit, I never really liked Halloween...dressing up and acting foolish. But, Tim makes it tons of fun for our family. How can I resist?


We started early on Halloween morn. The kids love to be part of the action. This year, we bought a pop-up canopy for the haunted house because the 2-by-4's of years past finally bit the dust. It sure made set-up faster. Although, the box promises "7 seconds to set up." As Tim put it, "This sure took more than 7 seconds." So profound...





My dad and Cynthia also came to help with everything.







Ella is really into "scaring" people right now. So, she seized this amazing opportunity to surprise her brother...I mean: when else do you have a cemetery right in your front yard??












PopPop was put in charge of carving the pumpkin. He and Ella (with a little help) created a magnificent jack-o-lantern. Although I forgot to take a picture of it...you'll just have to take my word for it.



Seth wanted nothing to do with the guts from the pumpkin.









This is the final set-up...in the daylight.

My cemetery. I am very proud of it this year. Of course, it was much more impressive in the dark.






Thought I'd add some nighttime shots....



Yes...that is the Texas game playing on the garage door!




And now....for the COSTUMES!







Isn't he an intimidating "Godfather" with that cute, little monkey??!






And, just because we're a little twisted....these are some pics we took with one of our newest decorations.










Sunday, November 1, 10:42am. We joined these other losers in the line at the Halloween store. What??? Everything was 50% off!! Don't judge us.

You'll have to wait til next year to see our haul.....

Boo!

I neglected to take pictures of the event, but here's a blurb about our Satuday evening:
The whole family participated in the Boo Run 5K. It started with a Family Fun Run (about 1/3 mile) around the pond at Rivery Park. Ella ran her heart out with her daddy, while Seth chilled in the stroller pushed by ME. After the run, there were many businesses that gave out candy to all the kids. Quite an impressive set-up. After hot dogs and playing, we headed out for the 5K. Again, Ella tried to keep pace with Tim while I pushed the stroller. It got so straining on me that Tim took over the stroller. We definitely kept up a better pace that way! All said, we finished the race in 43 minutes. I think that's pretty dang impressive! We had a great time...Ella is ready for her next race!

Hook 'em!

Today was a big day at the Wiley house! We started the day with breakfast tacos. Man, my kids can tear those things up!



Ella's favorite part is the guacamole.

Next, the WAITING began...Ella loves to have company over!

FINALLY, Carole and Scott and the Turnipseed clan came to root on the Longhorns.

Of course, the game was entertaining, but the kids' shenannigans won over our attention. Ella and Kyle play so well together....Michelle and I are always amazed at how well the two of them get along. It's as though they just "get" each other. No bickering, no fussing, no wrestling...just plain old PLAYING together. Today, they decided to make mud cakes. Yes...you heard right. And, yes, we let them. They were so busy (and happy) that we figured whatever mess they made, we could clean up. Somehow, Makenna got caught up in the mess. I'm pretty sure she was an innocent bystander...but she's not ratting anyone out!

I tried to catch it on film, but I wasn't fast enough: Makenna wanted to be sure Seth was well-fed today, so she took it upon herself to keep him stocked up on potato chips. She must have made 20 trips from the chip bag to Seth and back again! Such a mother hen!

It was a close call, but the Longhorns pulled it off. Everyone left happy...and muddy!

Fonts!!

I have been trying for 2 days (actually 2 evenings) to get cute fonts for my blog. What a nightmare! I found a site that gives directions, but they are not quite step-by-step enough for me. It is so complicated! Why doesn't blogspot just offer more fonts??

I did, however, figure out how to set a cute background. I'm sure you noticed! It's hard to find GOOD sites even though there are endless choices. If the website offering the skins isn't appealing as soon as I get to it, forget it. I move on to the next site.

Here are a few of my favorites: shabbyblogs.com and thecutestblogontheblock.com

I am ready for mine to be all dolled-up and perfect RIGHT NOW...I don't have patience for the learning curve. Come to think of it, I've never really been known for my patience....

Chocolate Spiders

Inspired by the cool weather, I decided to make a spoooooky treat with my sweetie. Thanks for the idea, Casey! This snack required melted chocolate chips, chow mein noodles and M&M's. I'm sure you get the picture, but here are a few for your viewing pleasure.

For the record, there is nothing wrong with a 3-eyed spider...

Such concentration...

He helps by being cute :)

The finished product

The best part is licking the spatula. What a smile!

Ella is going to take her spiders to all of her friends at school tomorrow. I'm sure the teachers will LOOOOOOVE that!

Grandparents

Thank goodness for the grandparents in our kids' lives! KayKay and Grandpa live in Tulsa...which is waaaaayyy too far away. PopPop lives in Frisco...not as far, but still too far. We spend as much time with them as we can. Here are a few recent pics with our wonderful grandparents!

The blogging world..

OK. So here I go....

I have finally been convinced to start a blog. I'm not sure why I conceded...must be the chill in the air...or something like that. My sister has been hounding me for a while and a Facebook friend finally talked me into it. I love to post pics of the family, so I suppose this is the perfect place for everyone to keep up. We'll see if I can keep up...