Halloween Night with Candy Delight!!!!!

We had a wonderful Halloween Season this year, despite Papa & Grandma delaying their usual Halloween trip to a family get together at Disney World in a week or so.

I had taken a few pictures of the kids a few weeks before Halloween in order to send to the family. The kids had also worn their old costumes (Raggedy Ann and Peter Pan) to school for their "dress as a literary character" day during Homecoming Week. Too cute.

We enjoyed our annual trip to the local pumpkin patch. It is always fun and we typically pick out a couple small pumpkins for the kids to take to their teachers. Cole's pumpkin present, however, made it's way back home as he appararently thought it was merely a show-and-tell item. HA!

The day before Halloween was full of Halloween parties at the school. Mike and I both helped with the 3 & 4 year olds halloween carnival (loads of fun). The kids started out with a parade for the older kids and met up with their 5th grade buddies. They then ventured onto their playground, which had been transformed with games that parents had thought of (some very creative people) and some fashion stations complete with orange and black nail polish. I ran the face painting station, which was quite popular as you can imagine. Loads of fun.

We capped off our Pre-Halloween Night by hosting dinner with our friends the Gendusas. We had the kids make their own "BODY PART PIZZAS" complete with blood (sauce) and other assorted toppings appropriately labeled. Our dessert, compliments of Amy's famous triffle bowl, was an eerie dirt-dessert with gummie bugs and chocolate rats. The kids LOVED it all....... especially the mini-sodas that were covered in Frankensteins, Mummies, etc. We always enjoy our time with the Gendusa family!!!!

Halloween night brought a first for us --- WE LEFT THE HOUSE. We typically have a full-time job Halloween night just handing out candy (we buy nearly 70 pounds of it). This year we were invited to a lovely Halloween party hosted by 4 families, two of which have children that attend school with Avery & Cole. They had a blow-up haunted house, a permanent play fort in the shape of a pirate ship and loads of goodies for the kids. After eating, the parents had arranged 3 separate trailers with hay bales to pull the kids around through the VERY quiet neighborhood for trick or treating. It was a beautiful night complete with a full-moon. We are very blessed to have such thoughtful friends.

We hope you had a SPOOKtacular Halloween too!

Fall! Finally!

Well we've been wanting Fall to arrive and boy did she this weekend. We went from temps in the upper 80s last week to not even in the 60s today. While I realize our family up North may still find this nothing to cause alarm, our kids were "chilled to the boney" as Cole noted.

Despite the cooler temps and a strong wind, we headed out to enjoy one of the many fall festivals in the small, quaint towns around us. The Pumpkin Festival is one of our favorites as there is so many different things to do and all the merchants decorate their stories with some fun fall & Halloween decor.

This year had all the traditional fair items: fair food, face painting, kiddie rides, an International Fire Truck and of course pumpkin painting. The committee also added a costume pet for your pet ---- 3 dogs dressed as Wizard of Oz characters won --- and a stage for children to dance upon for free entertainment. There was even a fortune teller --- Avery is apparently very smart, going to be a cheerleader in high-school and invent a smear-free lipstick that makes millions. We shall see!

It was fun to do all the activities, eat some "healthy food" (note deep fried oreos were being offered as well as homemade potato chips from a guy that rigged up the potato-corer to a drill) and see the very unique merchanise offered in this quaint little town. We capped off the afternoon with a hay ride pulled by an old tractor and an even older gentleman.

We hope you too are enjoying fall!

Yee Haw Ya'll...

Fall is definitely upon us, despite the mid 80 degree temperatures. You know it is fall when the nightly topic swirls around school --- the homework, the report of the day, the who-did-what-to-whom on the playground and of course the "EVENTS"! Last Friday was Grandparent's Day --- a nice Hallmark Holiday that has made it's way into our school's fall line up of activities. I volunteered to assist with Cole's room and attended Avery's program as well.

Both were very nice, with Western adornment on the children and classrooms alike. There were many smiles and all-and-all it was a nice event....

This week is 'HOMECOMING' week, which Avery quickly pointed out made no sense as they were not going home but rather going to school --- too smart for her own good. That puzzle quickly fled her mind when she found out that she could wear her PJs to school (Monday) and her Purdue cheerleading outfit (Tuesday) and Western wear today. I broke out my glue gun, fabric paint, and special printer paper that allows you to create custom iron-on transfers to create some Western day gear --- capped off (literally) with some hats that my cousin Joe and his wife Heidi had sent our kids a few years ago!

Ah, to be a kid again...... although I don't think my PJs are in any shape to wear to work ;)

BFF (Best Friends Forever)

We took the plunge, literally, this Labor Day Weekend to celebrate the kids birthday and spend some quality time with Ed & Amy's family. Our group of 9 ventured to DisneyWorld's Blizzard Beach water park for 2 days of swimming, climbing and lounging around the pool. We had a great time. The weather was great and the crowds were fairly light.

Mike & Ed took the Summit Plummet challenge and lived to tell their story, which seems to increase in 'near-death' scariness each time it is told.

We stayed at a rental home about 5 minutes from the parks. It was very nice -- 5 bedrooms, its own pool & spa and about half the cost of a hotel (even better these days).

We ended the weekend with a trip to the T-REX restaurant which has a prehistoric theme and animated creatures. It was a great deal of fun and the kids especially enjoyed the lava cake & ice cream (complete with dry ice smoke) that stood in for the traditional birthday cake.

Avery Jane Turns 6!!

Birthdays are a big deal when you are under 10!!! Balloons, the cake, notification to every living soul that today is your special day, etc.... this tradition is only heightened when it involves Avery for she knows no stranger. Avery, again, is the youngest in her class turning 6 only a few days after school started. She enjoyed her school celebration (the other little girl is Larsen who was in her Kindergarten class) as well as the small family celebration we had.

She received many wonderful things --- THANK YOU --- and especially enjoyed her magic kit, Ariel doll and whatcha-ma-call-it where you make a shape by depressing these soft pins (see the pictures).

We had a great time although --- just think our first-born was turning 6!!