Just clowning around

Don't you just love Peytons new look. This wig is one of her favorite things to play with right now. She's starting to figure out that she can do silly things to make people laugh. She especially likes it when Drew wears the matching wig with her.

Another year older and Wiser too

Today is Drews 38th Birthday. We let him sleep in, made pictures for him, made him breakfast, and sang. Hudson and Camryn cleaned their room as a surprise for him then asked if they could be paid for doing such a good job. After Church we went to his parents house for his birthday dinner. His sister and her family was there also to help celebrate. Pati-sue (being the great mom that she is)made his favorites for dinner. Ribs, german potato salad, asparagus, and green salad.

The kids and I got him a Cleveland 60 degree wedge that he had asked for. A special thanks to the nice guy at Rodger Dunn for walking me through the store and finding the club for me.Who knows what I would have come home with on my own.

This is Drews way of showing his friends how old he is (with Rylees help).

American Pride

This last Friday,Drew and I took the kids to a ceremony honoring the Veterans of the Greater Long Beach area. It was a touching tribute to the wonderful, giving, and brave men and women who served and are serving in the US military. We heard some amazing stories of bravery, strength, faith, and determination. There was art work by children in the area and memorabilia displayed, Patriotic music, civic leaders, a keynote speaker, and a reception. I'm really glad the kids got to hear and see what Veterans Day means instead of it just being a day off of school.


WE are very proud to recognize our Fathers as Veterans of the United States Military. My dad, David Hardey, served in the United States Army as a helicopter mechanic in the 101st airborn division during the Vietnam War. He served from 1968-1971. Drews dad, Bob Ashcraft, served in the United States Navy as a medic during the Korean War. He served from Jan. 1951 - Nov. 1954. Truely, a force to be reckoned with.

Certificates they recieved

Don't be scared... It's just us

I just love halloween.I love decorating the house, the costumes, and the spooky stories that go along with halloween. As for the halloween night rush to get homework done, get costumes on, make-up done, eat, trick-or-treat, get home, and try to get kids in bed at a reasonable time because there's school in the morning, is not the highlight for me. Anyways, spending the evening watching the kids have so much fun makes it almost worth it.
Devyn quit pretty early on. How many scary costumes does it take to make a 4 year old stop asking for candy? Answer 3. She went back with Drew to Nana and Papas to hide in the corner. She sure was a cute Miney Mouse though.


Peyton LOVED trick-or-treating. She walked to almost every house and left each doorstep with a "BYE" and blowing a kiss. We call her monkey girl so this costume was perfect for her.


Rylee (like me) loves to dress up for halloween. She had fun walking Peyton and Tabitha to the houses. She definatly is a lot of help.


Cassidy, Hudson and Camryn the spookiest spooks around. I got to do their make-up and think they turned out pretty well. Especially since I can bearly draw a stick figure. Camryn looked great as she glided across the sidewalk on her heelys. She looked like she was floating.


Then of coarse there's us.


We were greeted at the door by this fun gorilla. The kids favorite costume of the night. They giggled for quite a few houses after that surprise.

Hope you all had a Spooktacular Halloween!

What color crayon am I?

You Are a Blue Crayon

Your world is colored in calm, understated, deep colors. You are a loyal person, and the truest friend anyone could hope to find. On the inside, you tend to be emotional and even a bit moody. However, you know that people depend on you. So you put on a strong front. Your color wheel opposite is orange. Orange people may be opinionated, but you feel they lack the depth to truly understand what they're saying.

What Color Crayon Are You?

Try the test and see if it matches you. Go to blogthings.com and search What color crayon are you?

Thunder and Lightening Strike the Ashcraft Home

We were deeply saddened this past week due to the lose of Linus ( our pet tortoise). He had been sick for quite awhile but actually lived longer than we expected. The kids ,especially Camryn, are really going to miss him.
We really loved having a tortoise for a pet and hoped we might be able to find another one. Due to the fact that they are only born between Sept. and Oct. and usually have a waiting list, we were doubtful we would find one this year.
Fortunately, we got very lucky and not only found one but two Sulcata Tortoises (AKA African Spurred Tortoise). They are more durable than the Cal. Desert Tortoise Linus was. They are four weeks old right now and can live up to 100 years. Camryn and Hudson have already called dibs on them .
During family home evening last night, we had a family vote to decide their names. After a lot of deliberation and voting to eliminate the runner-ups, they were named Lightening and Thunder by a 5-2 vote. The runner-up names were King and Kong, Sparky and Scout, and my favorite Frank and Beans.
Here are some pictures to show you how small they are right now. It's hard to believe they can get up to three feet in diameter.

Lightening sitting on Devyns hand (4 years old) and next to a quarter


Next to a small apple.


Devyn in the front yard with Thunder


They have to live indoors the first 2 years. They have a large 50x18 inch aquarium that we keep at 90-100 degrees. They do enjoy going on a field trip with Camryn to the front yard for their 20-30 minutes of sunlight each day.

We LOVE the new additions to our family.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

Camryn asked at the beginning of the summer if she could cut her hair short like her cousin Sabrina. She was tired of long hair and all the brushing it involved. Rylee has been growing her hair out to donate to Locks of Love for a second time. When Camryn said she wanted to cut it, we thought she might also have enough to donate.(10 inches is the min. length accepted). I measured her hair and 10 inches would have put her hair at about her ears. A little shorter than she wanted. Rylee and I talked to her about what Locks of Love was and how they make wigs for kids who have lost their hair from cancer. I told her if she wanted to wait 'till the end of summer, her hair might be long enough to donate and still be the length she wanted. She was excited to donate and looked forward to it all summer. The day finally came and I took her to Cool Cuts 4 Kids. They do the paperwork and send off the hair for you. So much easier than doing it myself like I did with Rylee. Here are some pictures of her day.

Camryn is so excited


She gets a little pampering


The measuring, looks like there's enough


11 inches ready to give


Isn't she so cute? Some child will have a beautiful wig made from this hair.I'm so proud of her for making the choice to help some else. I think she will always remember this day.