Tonight was my first band concert - ever - and it was pretty fun. We played two songs for our families and friends. It really wasn't too bad for only practicing those songs for two weeks. We only started using our instruments in September so, not too terrible.

The other night we heard a knock at the door, the dog went nuts, and the kids just looked at each other for a minute. It was after dark and they couldn't imagine who was at the door. When Dad answered the door, there was nothing but a basket of goodies. The treats had a note attached explaining that we'd been "Boo'ed"

I've seen posts on Pinterest and my favorites blogs about this new Halloween idea and I've always wanted to to be "Boo'ed". It just looked like so much fun so when it happened, I was elated.

I gathered up some items we had at home, printed out the adorable tags from TomKat, and ran to get more treats to add to the baskets we were going to leave on someones door step. Tonight we ran around town dropping off our treats and trying not to get caught. We almost had more fun dropping off the treats than we did the night we found our amazing boo basket.

The kids don't think that they will be able to make it through the day tomorrow without blabbing.

When the girl cousins come to visit, focusing on football gets a little tricky. We love football and watch a great deal of it, but we love our cousins more.

One of the gems of Lubbock is our First Friday Art Trail, a free, public art event centered around the Lubbock Cultural District, It was a great evening of art, music and fun. We popped from one center to a gallery, and into businesses for a wide variety of art.  The variety of beautiful things was overwhelming - painting, welding, photography, music of all kinds.

The kids really enjoyed themselves. Riding the trolley was a highlight and the little one was impressed with the art prices!

​Held from 6-9pm, rain or shine, on the first Friday of every month, this progressive art event is sure to delight visitors with a plethora of art experiences. Trail goers can grab a map and explore the trail on their own, or jump aboard one of five free First Friday Trolleys and ride to the galleries along the downtown route.

We made our own shirts for the cruise - for all 13 of us. Design your own. Everyone can create thier own special design! We used sharpies.

We used a few templates, put cardboard in the middle of the shirt, and got creative.

Family Games can get interesting with a large family. There are quite a few games that aren't fun for us - all 6 of us. Games like checkers, slap jack.. We (meaning our mom) likes games that are fast, keep everyone interested, and don't take too long. Preston love Monopoly and our mom has modified the game so that it's over before midnight.

Farkle is one of our favorites for a quick game after dinner.

Tonight we were playing and the youngest wanted to know who was winning and he kept yelling, "I'm in the head!" We tried to explain what in the head meant to Navy-men, but he persisted. And when you can't beat them, join them. So we did. All throughout the game someone would ask, "Who's in the head?" and everyone would die laughing.

Equipment

• 6 Dice
• Scratch Paper (or use farkle_score_sheet.pdf) and a pen

Number of Players
Two or more players. Our youngest enjoyed playing when he was 6 years old; younger than that might be tough to hold their attention.

The Object
To acquire points by a systematic rolling of the dice. First Player to 5,000 points wins the game.

How We Play
On your turn, place all six dice into the dice cup and roll them. If a die falls out of the play area, re-roll it. Take out any dice worth points after each roll. This forms your running score for the round. Roll the remaining dice, removing any dice worth points and adding them to your running total. If you are ever able to set aside all six dice, you may re-roll all of your dice and keep building your running total. If ever you are unable to set aside any dice (no dice are worth points), you have Farkled. You lose your running point total and your turn is over. If you don't like these rules, you can read the "real rules." 

Points
You cannot count any of your points until you reach at least 300 points in a single round. 
5’s = 50 point
1’s = 100 points
1,1,1 = 300 points
2,2,2 = 200 points
3,3,3 = 300 points
4,4,4 = 400 points
5,5,5 = 500 points
6,6,6 = 600 points
Four of a Kind = 1,000 points
Five of a Kind = 2,000 points
Six of a Kind = 3,000 points
A Straight of 1-6 = 1,500 points
Three Pairs = 1,500 points
Four of a Kind + a Pair = 1,500
Two sets of Three of a Kind = 2,500

So after watching this episode of Liv and Maddie on Disney, the kids have started apologizing like this.

Do you ask your kids to apologize? Do you insist they do it in a certain way? How do you teach them what it means to be sorry?

​Markets are Fun
We enjoy visiting with the vendors about their products. Often there are very unique stories about the products.

​Shop Local
Anytime I can buy local, I really make a point to do it. It feels good to know you're supporting a family and their small business rather than a huge corporation. I love to show my children there are so many things that people can choose to do to make money. With no middle man, the prices are terrific. 

Research shows that 80% of the retail goods Americans buy are from China.

​Learn New Things
I want our kids to know that meat and produce don't come from the supermarket.

We bit the bullet this weekend and went school supply shopping. The start of the school year is inevitable so we have started checking things off of the "before we go back to school" list. As we organized found backpacks and gym backs and checked them for signs of life, I noticed a familiar scent wafting through the air. 

There were times last year when I would pick the kids up from sports practice, roll the windows down, and hang my head out - and still hold my breath  - to make it home. The rule is that you put your clothes directly into the washer and immediately jump into the shower. Don't think that 
I didn't contemplate making them hose off in the yard first, I did. But this way I get their laundry started.

When we found scent boosters for the laundry, I should have bought stock that day. I love those tiny pellets and the way they make our clothes smell. I was standing in the middle of the office the other day and caught a whiff of myself and literally pulled my shirt up over my nose to smell. 

As the smell from the gym bags hit me today, I had an idea! We poured some of my beloved Unstopables into "wedding favor bags," tied them up, and told the kids to put them in their shoes and shoe cabinets, in their luggage and backpacks, and in their closets and dressers.

It won't stop the smell, but it might lessen the impact.