Halloween

Brandon decided to be an Army man this year and Jessie an indian because I found an Indian costume to wear and she said that Scott and I had to dress up also. Scott went as a fireman, big stretch. We took the to the zoo for the boo zoo trick or treating and then the rides that night on Sat. They had their Halloween parties at school which was kind of disappointing because Brandon's class didn't even make a full circle so I didn't get good pictures of him. They still had fun though. That night we went to Chris' for dinner and then to GG's and trick or treating. They had a lot of fun.

Brandon's story

Brandon submitted this story for the Pueblo library's scary story contest. He was one of 12 winners. He gets a certificate, copy of all the stories, an award ceremony and a gift certificate to a book store. I am trying to convince him to give me the book certificate since I helped him type it but so far no luck.

Getting a scary package

 

 I got a package in the mail one night. It was a large package. My great grandfather sent it to me. It was covered in slime and had skull signs on it and a picture of a pirate. When I opened it, there was a cage in the box.  There was a furry ball in the cage. I opened the cage and out comes a big, black monster with raging eyes and razor sharp teeth. The teeth looked strong enough to bite through a semi-truck. It had giant feet kind of like Godzilla. He had giant claws on his furry hands. He had spikes down his back and on his long tail.  The monster started to chase me all around the neighborhood. I ran through the woods into the cemetery, jumping over open graves. The fall leaves were crunching under feet as I ran. The monster’s large feet made him jump higher than ever.  He chases me into a lake. I swam as fast as I could to get away. He chased me back to my house.  I ran into my room as fast as I could. The monster knocked the door down and I ran out the window. I got on my dirt bike and I went out into the forest. The monster started an animal roundup. He got all the animals to start chasing me. I was being surrounded by animals, so I jumped off my dirt bike and climbed a tree to safety. I jumped onto the monster’s back and I was able to control him by holding onto his big, long ears and kicking him with my feet like a horse. I was able to get him out of the forest and I thought if I drove him into the ocean that he would drown. But he didn’t. He swam all the way to an island. I thought I was safe so I went back home. Some time later, there was a knock on the door. When I opened it there was the monster. I screamed and he put his hands over his ears. I realized he was sensitive to loud noises, so I grabbed my trumpet and started playing loudly. He couldn’t take it anymore, and he crawled back into his cage where it was quieter. I ran over there really fast and shut it. I threw the cage back into the box. I took the box outside and burned it. The monster was finally gone.

CWFS

We have started to make changes to the business to hopefully start bringing in more money. One of our firefighters got us in touch with a man who initially was just going to get us in on the 9/11 ceremony in Pueblo. When Scott met with him and explained the problems we are having, he decided to help us out. This guy does everything and knows everyone. Not only did he get us on the ceremony, we got to do an opening for a new VA clinic and Scott got to present an award to Congressman Scott Tipton. He is also getting us in touch with other people and got us turned into a nonprofit company. Now we can accept donations and eventually receive grants. We are also getting publicity and "networking". It is almost overwhelming. Right now none of this is paying but hopefully that will start changing and we will bring in work that does pay. As a nonprofit, we are now considered a volunteer fire department and can raise money to start the training facility we always wanted to. I am praying that this is the answer to our prayers and things will start changing for the better for us. I kept saying that this was our year because Scott and I have been married 13 years and while that would be unlucky for most, that should bring us luck. We haven't had a lot of good things happen to us in these past years. I was starting to give up hope that this wasn't going to be our year after all. Better late than never. Please keep praying for us that nothing happens to mess this up, we really need some miracles.

 

                                              Scott and Dad taking the wreath

                                               Coming back

                                           Scott Tipton receiving the award

                                            Marines, City fire, Scott Tipton and us

 

 

                                                The city fire guard

                                           our wreath is the pretty one on the far left

                                           CWFS crew

 

Scott with Congressman Scott Tipton

Brandon

So Brandon decided that he wanted to try out for a speaking part in the 5th grade Scrooge play. He also wanted to try for student council president. I was worried about him not getting the president because he is not a straight A student and not the most popular kid in his class. Not that he doesn't have his share of friends and the teachers love him but you know what I mean. Any way we had to make posters for him and he had to write a speech and say it in front of the 3-5 grades. Here was his speech. Good morning students and staff. My name is Brandon Atterberry and I am in Mrs. Hanratty’s class. Some things you might not know about me is that I really love to learn and try new things. I have always wanted to help people. I want to be a firefighter when I grow up and I love animals and want to open a shelter someday. I am determined and hard working. I am a great listener which will benefit me in the president’s position. As someone who has struggled with school and dealt with teasing I know what it is like and want to help fellow students make sure that no one is left out. I want to promote recycling and picking up trash. I will do my best to make sure that your voices are heard and I am open to ideas. I want to make sure that the school continues to be a great place to learn and have fun. Thank you

He didn't get it but I am so proud of him for even trying. He did however get the part of Marley in the Scrooge play. That is something I never thought he would do either. He also volunteered to help with props once his part is finished. I never could have got up the nerve to do that so I am so proud of him for putting himself out there.

Frusturated

I used to have faith that everything was going to be all right no matter what was happening in my life. After I lost Kimmie, it shook me faith that bad things could happen to my family. I have long since come to terms with losing a child and am thankful that at least she died before I really got to know her but I have never been able to completely get back the feeling of calm that would surround me and let me know that God was near and everything would be okay. There's no little voice telling me what I should do or that it will be alright. When I pray, I feel desperate instead of peaceful. Every time I start to feel that things are starting to work out, everything falls apart again. I am trying to stay positive and I know things could be much worse. It's hard when I see people who seem like everything goes so easy for them and everything is a struggle for us. I have to great kids who are questioning why God hasn't answered our prayers yet. They say it's not like we are asking for anything huge, so why aren't we getting it. It is hard to keep telling them to just have faith, that our prayers will be answered in the right time, when it is always such a tight crunch. I know that God has been helping us and it's not like I have no faith left but I don't understand why we have to constantly be right down to losing everything before something happens. Scott and have had major trials throughout our marriage and have I have tried to keep the faith throughout it but when does something finally good come of it? When do my dreams get to be realized? Why is it that when something good starts to fall into place, it suddenly fall apart? If it wasn't meant to happen they why hasn't what was supposed to happen happened yet? Everything is changing and I can't control the changes but I feel like it is spinning out of control and I can't feel God there to help stop it.

School starts again

Another school year starting. The kids just finished their first week. Brandon is in 5th grade this year and Jessie in 2nd. It is depressing to think this is his last year in elementary school. The school is doing upgrades and the main entrance is still not open so everyone has to go through one door which makes it interesting to say the least. The attendance has also almost doubled so at the last minute they added another 5th grade and 3rd grade class. They already added another kindergarten class to make three. I don't know what it is about school starting but the kids immediately start talking about Halloween and donating money to places. They always hit me up with the donations when I have the least money after buying all their school supplies. Do charities start promoting more at school time so the kid's see more commercials? I don't know. We are still planning to go to the State Fair next weekend and the Denver Aquarium in Sept and hopefully a few mountain trips before it gets too cold so they still have things to look forward to.

Brandon birthday

So Brandon turned 11. As usual Mom took the week of his birthday off for vacation so we did lots of stuff. We had his party on the Sat before and Scott's family came out on Sunday. On his actual birthday we went to the zoo. Dad even took the day off so it was a real family event. It was kind of cool because they changed some things around so it was like seeing it new. It was also cooler so the animals were out more than usual. We also went to the children's museum. It was okay but I wouldn't take the kids if they didn't have free tickets for themselves, they still had fun though. We went swimming although not as much as we would have liked to because of the weather. Brandon still had his baseball practice and game. Friday we took the dogs and kids to the park for lunch. It was a good week. Only two and a half weeks left before school starts. Also did I mention Jessie is taking summer tap classes? She likes them but doesn't think she is progressing fast enough so will be happy when they are over.

                                             Jess just loves her brother

                                               new pitching machine

                                             the fire station

                                        a police station to go with the fire station he already has like that
He also got some science experiments, and a few other things. My baby boy is growing up but he still likes enough kid like things to make it easier. More pics will be posted to shutterfly soon.