Klay Family: A little bit of this, A little bit of that!

Fall Greetings! We haven't posted in a while, so we will back way up to Halloween so that you can see what the boys dressed as this year. About two months before Halloween, the boys walked past a display of costumes while shopping. It was at that point, I had to let go of my annual theme/duo costume idea because they were so excited about their Halloween choices. They truly picked out costumes that reflect what they are into.... Caden is fascinated by space and Cooper idolizes soldiers. Our old girl, Liberty, once again was forced into a Halloween accessory for the picture. What a good sport she is!

Here is the neighborhood crew for the annual loop. Military seemed to be a popular theme. We lazily rode in the cold/damp night in 3 golf carts. Our neighbors are so generous as we have not caved in yet and purchased our own golf cart.

I emailed this photo to our pediatric dentist who is also a good friend of ours. My caption was, "job security!" The boys still have quite the stash of candy. Our neighbors spoil the kids rotten with full sized candy bars, juice boxes, party bags full of candy and even money!?! We attended a Halloween party following trick or treating and once again, had a successful year!

Chris was in Georgia preparing for his board exam, so we literally carved our pumpkins the day of Halloween. The boys were independent with their pumpkin designs and somehow, Chris and I managed to not cut our fingers off carving.

Open up, YUM :)

The finished results.... I carved the Minion and the cookie cutter pumpkin (stars and heart) which totally trashed my cookie cutters, but I think that pumpkin is super simple/cute. The last two pumpkins are the boys... one was supposed to be silly and the other scary~ Chris carved those, LOL.

Our little Cooper lost his FIRST tooth! It was dangling from his mouth and while Chris was in Georgia, I decided to just get it out. Cooper was begging for me to pull it, so I did. Even if Chris was home, he always makes me do the dirty work! I find that interesting since he loves wound care, ick.

Here is Cooper's tooth fairly pillow courtesy of Etsy. The tooth is a little pocket for his treasured tooth.

And now, his whole look will change as he grows in those adult teeth :(, sniff, sniff!

The tooth fairy ("Flossy") brought him TWO silver dollars and told him she would return with a toothbrush as she ran out that night. Ah, the joys of being a single Mom in an emergency situation as the tooth came out at 7:30 p.m. Cooper was SO thrilled about his special coins.

He is even more excited as he has discovered a second wiggly tooth next to that little hole.

The hospital hosted their annual Wonderland on the River, which is a fun luncheon, raffle, and style show. Dana, Erin and I designed two tables for the event. We decided to go with a his and hers golf theme. We had names (something putters and something birdies... can't even recall the exact wording). It was a fun theme~ we used artificial turf, a horn with a lantern for a golf ball and tee, clubs with flowers intertwined, golf ball cake pops, tees, golf balls, you get the picture :) Here is our finished product for the tablescape designs...

We had a great day, awesome turnout and many positive comments about our tables. The best part is the proceeds benefited the new birth center at the hospital.

Speaking of the hospital, I completed my Physical Therapy! It has been a long 6 months, but hard work has paid off. My knee has full range and I am getting back into my "everyday" routines. I can start attending fitness classes but am required to wear my sports brace with all fitness activities for one year. My PT's are pictured above, they are both awesome and both are named Mike! Thankfully, they put up with me for as long as they did. I do have one last step in this process which is to have the screw removed from knee which will happen the Monday of Christmas week. I am required to take a full week off, so I figured that the forced vacation would be nice during the holidays.

Caden decided he wanted to join the swim team this season. He has always taken swim lessons, but this is the first time he has expressed interest in racing. We were hesitant at first because the swim season overlaps with the hockey season, but then again, it is crazy to think we would ask a 7 year old to chose his sport. We decided to "suck it up" and deal with two sports at the same time. It has been crazy! Anyhow, his first home swim meet was yesterday and he was excited, nervous and not sure what to expect!

Caden's coaches placed him in 4 races. Swimmers can enter up to 5 races, so I was a little worried about this since he has never raced. He swam the 25 free, 25 back, 50 free and 100 free relay. To keep things straight, all the swimmers are asked to have their events written on their arms/legs, wherever, so I had to tattoo him with this information. He loved it!

His first event was the 25 free and a majority of those he raced were 8 years old. Caden swims in the 8 and under group. He was the only 7 year old (a few were 5-6). He SO badly wanted a ribbon~ this all came from seeing our babysitter's collection since she was a National Swimmer. Caden took 9th place overall in the free style... he swam his heart out!

Caden had an awesome back start for his back stroke and he took 8th place overall....

Here is one tired kid after his 50 free style event (down and back)... he took 3rd place (out of 4 kids, since this is a tough race for kids his age to complete).

And finally, his last event was his last hope for a ribbon and his relay team WON! He was so proud (as was I). It was a FULL, long day at the meet, but well worth the long wait for his ribbon. Caden worked so hard all day and was very brave and confident in his swimming ability!

In family news, we celebrated 5 birthdays on my side in the past few months. Chris, Stefanie (my sister), and Bruce (my brother-in-law) all turned 40 years old. Karri also celebrated her birthday (she is not 40!) We decided to have one big celebration (minus my Mom who just returned from Africa for a few months). It was so great to see everyone and celebrate together!

And a final picture as it just was taken moments ago... the deer slayer strikes again! Chris shot a big 6-point buck and Matt and Ben (Chris' brothers) also shot bucks. When Chris returned home, the boys just had to see the deer before they went off to the meat processor. Cooper jumped right on top of Chris' buck and proudly held up his horns. Caden was more tentative, but humored me in my photo op attempt. Some day, all three of these boys will be bringing home deer.