Neeley Family Blog

Costumes, candy, ghosts and goblins. What could be better? How about Lightening McQueen from "Cars" and Bob the Builder? Brayden wanted to be Mickey Mouse when I first started asking him what he would like to dress up as. However, when we went to the Disney store we discovered the Mickey costume they carry does not go up to his size. It was a bit of a disappointment to say the least. So we made our way to Target to find another costume. When we came to Lightening he immediately wanted to try it on and buy it. Brock loves Bob the Builder. He sings the song a lot throughout the day. We bought the costume 2 years ago for Mr. Brayden to wear at Halloween. It just happened to work out perfectly to let Brock wear it this year. We started our evening by heading to my mall and letting the boys do trick-or-treating in the mall for about an hour. There were hundreds of kids and parents in a line making our way from store to store gathering treats. The boys did pretty well. They got ton...

Let the race begin.... Since we were late in getting our pumpkins this year it only left us a couple days to get them carved in order to enjoy them. Brayden decided he wanted to do a happy face on his. Brad helped Brock with his (really did it for him). And I was going to do a ghost with a lantern in his hand, but after tracing it on, I decided this was going to be too much work and just did a face as well. Here we are getting ready to carve away: There were a few testy moments with Brayden wanting to carve by himself with the tools. I kept telling him that I had to help so he would not get cut. We battled a couple times, but in the end I helped him and I think they enjoyed it. Neither of the boys wanted to get their hands gooey and pull the guts out of the pumpkins. It was funny that it kind of weirded them out a little. Here are the final products: Brad did the witch in Brock's pumpkin. He did really well (always a show-off)! And I am sad to say that 2 days later, some teens came...

The same day that we went to the pumpkin patch, turned out to be the same day that we had purchased tickets for Disney on Ice. Needless to say it was a full day. The boys had seen the commercial on TV and said they wanted to go see the show. Brad and I found a coupon that gave us half off the tickets so we decided to go. Brock and Brayden were very excited when we got there. And once the show started, their eyes were glued to the action on the ice. It was really cute. They sat on the edge of their seats. The show was almost 2 hours long with a 15 minute intermission. They were great the whole time. They were rewarded with "Cars" cups that had slushies in them. Here are a few pictures from the show: Mickey and the gang were there. The Cars cast were the "stars", The Little Mermaid, The Lion King and Tinker Bell were all in the show. And just one video: Brad and I had been to these shows but not since the boys were born. We used to go as a date night when we were dat...

Here it is October all ready and we nearing closer to Halloween. Brad and I have had pretty crazy schedules. We were finally able to pick a weekend that we could get out and get some pumpkins. The boys were of course very excited. They have been seeing the pumpkins at the grocery store and wanting to get some. We usually go to the Original Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie's Island, but this year we decided to stay a little closer to home and try the Fir Point Farms in Aurora (where I used to live as a kid). It turned out to be a gorgeous day and we could not have asked for better weather. We packed up the boys, the Radio Flyer wagon, some boots and towels and headed off. Here are the boys picking out their pumpkins. They kept picking up multiple ones, then throwing them down when they saw a better one. But eventually the decision was made. Once we had the "chosen ones," it was time for the boys to play and explore. They had all kinds of play areas for kids. We bought some tickets ...

So, we thought we were done with all the birthday info, but we got a belated present from Uncle Eric and Aunt Jenn. It arrived this week. And part of the fun in getting it is just having a delivery truck drive up to the house and drop it off. I think the box could be empty and still the boys would be excited to have something delivered! So Uncle Eric picked this out as you can see. I just hope there will not be any blood shed from these toys. There has already been a little crying from the hitting inappropriately.... wish me luck :)

On Brayden's actual birthday, we decided to spend a little family time and celebrate the boys birthdays as the 4 of us. I had worked in the morning, but when I got home the boys had just finished their naps and were ready to go! Brayden informed me he would like to go bowling for his birthday. So off we went. It started off with all 4 us bowling, but about midway through Brad and I gave up our turns to let the boys take over. The bumpers were up and we also had access to a ramp which was handy for them to use. Brayden did not really need it, but thought it was cool to use anyway. Brock, on the other hand, did need it and did not take long for him to figure out what to do on his own. He then proceeded to push me and Brad backward away from him so that he could do it himself. It was pretty stinkin' cute to see him march his way up to the ramp with a 6 pound ball in his arms and roll it all by himself. He would stand there and watch it go all the way to the pins. Here are some pho...

September is a very busy month for us! Birthdays, birthdays, birthdays! On the 7th Brock turned 2 years old. I had to work that day and since Brad and I had gone to the Dave show the night before, his actual birthday was very low key. We sang to him and let him open a couple presents. The 12th is Brayden (and my mom's) birthday. He turned 4 this year. With everyone's schedules my family decided to get together mid-week to celebrate everyone's birthdays. We got pizza and Brad and I ordered a Mickey Mouse cake for the boys (per Brayden's request). It was a good time with family. Grandpa John had also been promising Brayden that he could ride one of the horses the next time he was over. They thought it would be fitting to do it for their birthday party. As you can see from the photos, they loved it! Getting Quincy saddled up: Brayden on his ride: Brock decided to join in: And then Dominic: The boys enjoyed the cake and presents they received. Here are a few photos from ou...