Super Fall Fun, Super huge post

We recently attended a birthday party at a local skating rink. Amelia and Luke had never been skating and the sound of bone crashing against the floor was abundant. Here is Amelia when she first got on the floor. She clung to that pole as if her life depended on it. She made it around and around the rink like that though, clinging, slide the skates, clinging, slide the skates.

Luke relied on Daddy to cling to for is help. After about an hour, they both kind of got it and were able to get themselves around the floor.

They managed so well, they even did the limbo game. How low can you go?

This brings back so many memories of growing up. Skating parties have not changed much in 25 years, kind of comforting.

Look at those eyes!

Fall Festival at Children's house (Luke's preschool). The festival is really cute, it is set up as an old fashioned festival. The children did crafts, above Luke is making a pine cone bird feeder, did leaf rubbings, painted pumpkins and enjoyed lots of yummy food.

Addison enjoying the nice fall weather.

Luke bobbing for apples. Days before the festival, Luke was so excited about the festival, it was all he talked about. He told me, "And mom, we get to bob for apples!" I said, "Luke, do you know what bobbing for apples is?" He said, "I don't know, I guess, you like have a paddle and you bob the apple back and forth to each other?" Umm, not exactly. So, when he got to the festival and found out what bobbing for apples really was, he was pumped to dive right in. He even successfully grabbed an apple with his teeth.

Got it!

The result of Fall Festival. Luke's words, "Mom, I just need a little rest."

We are super proud of our Mimi! On Friday, Amelia reached 100 Accelerated Reader points. The children read books at school and home, then they must complete a computer test on the book, usually 5-10 questions. They get half a point for each book they test on. Our little, first grader has been hitting the books hard. She is one of only a handful of kids in the whole school to reach this benchmark in October. We are so proud of all her hard work.

On Friday afternoon, our local YMCA had a Fall Festival. Stephen was in Chicago for a conference, so we kept super busy while he was gone. This was the best shot I could get of the three of them. The Y did a really cute job for the kids. Make your own trick or treat bag, candy stations, crafts, football throw, dunk tank, etc. The kids had a blast running around with their friends, only coming to find me when they had to unload more treats and prizes into the stroller.

Andrea, Katie and I with our youngest kiddos. All ready for the costume contest.

And the grand prize winner of the costume contest : OUR LITTLE LADYBUG!!!!

Hooray for Addison Kate! Addison really hammed it up for the judges. She smiled and giggled and cooed, she really knew how to turn it on. Do we have a future pageant girl on our hands??

Look at that love.

Alexandrea, Addison and Carter. Best of buddies, these cuties were all born within a couple of months of each other.

2009 Making Strides Breast Cancer Walk. Amelia and Luke and I once again did the 5K walk to raise money and awareness for cancer research. Thanks so much to everyone who supported us. It is always a very emotional day but filled with lots of joy and celebrations for survivors. We were glad to do our part.

Addison stayed with a friend since Daddy was out of town. But here are my little walkers. Luke really, really, really wanted to wear his Commander Coty helmet.

Luke received many compliments for his manly shirt.

Our team! Notice Jay in the background. He is the man in the dress and the wig. Jay is an awesome sport and he raised $5300 by himself by wearing the dress, high heels (which he wore for the entire walk, I was a witness), the wig, shaved his legs and painted his nails. All for a great cause!

Amelia and Vienna sold earrings that Vienna had made. They were the best, little saleswomen and did not let up until every pair was sold. They were very persistent and who could say no to those cute faces trying to raise more money for cancer research?

Julie, Vienna and Amelia skipping down the street. Poor Jay couldn't skip to well. We were bringing up the rear of the walk but we were having lots of fun.

Hooray, we finished! Good job kiddos!

After the walk, we had just enough time for a nap and a change of costume. Time to go to a Halloween Party . Addison decided to put the ladybug to rest for one night and wore everything else she owned Halloween. This included, ghost socks, witch tights, witch dress, pumpkin onesie and candy corn hair bow. We think we included every Halloween icon in her outfit.

Gotta love a baby and a pumpkin!

The party at our friends, The Petersons, was awesome. They have a great outdoor space, with lots of property for the children to run around and ride 4 wheelers in. Hold on Amelia!

The kids got to go on a hayride too which they thought was the coolest thing ever. Some of the dads hid around the property to "scare" the kids and it was a whole lot of fun. Whew, it was a busy weekend but lots of fall fun!

Well, it is still October so my birthday celebration rolls on. I mean, really, why not live it up and celebrate the whole month right? Kristen and I both have October birthdays so we had a great birthday breakfast last week. It was lots of fun and Phoencia makes a great breakfast, thanks everyone who made it a special day for us.

Later in the week, Kristen and I continued our celebration by taking a Spa Day. Ahhhh, very relaxing and lovely. We both had facials and massages and spent lots of time in the hot tub and outside lounging by the pool. I have to say, I love massages, I wish I could have one everyday. The facial though, ouch! It was about 70% relaxing and 30% excruciating. Seriously, ouch, I had to ask my facialist a few times to give me a break so I could breathe. I was desperately trying to remember my breathing I used to get me through labor and then I remembered, crap, I didn't take the birthing classes and I got epidurals. So I asked my facialist if they gave out epidurals, apparently the answer is no. She just told me to focus on the music (oh, is that what that banging on wood chimes is??) and breathe as she continued to squeeze my face into submission. Anyhow, I digress. The day was wonderful, thank you Stephen for watching the babies so I could be a 'woman of leisure.'

Big night around here on Friday night. Amelia was playing upstairs when she started crying and laughing all at once and said mom, "I lost my tooth." I started cheering and hugging her because the thing has been hanging there for like three months now. She said, 'NO, mom, I mean I really lost it." So Amelia and Luke and I crawled around on our hands and knees searching for the missing tooth. FYI, there are a lot of things on our playroom floor that look like a tooth. We picked up little baby crackers, bits of cheerios, fuzzies, but still no tooth. Finally, Amelia found it in the bunny she was carrying around in her mouth while playing (don't ask). She was very excited to put it in her new tooth fairy pillow and wait for the tooth fairy to arrive. Mommy and Daddy got a very early wake up call at 5:30 am from Amelia telling us that indeed the tooth fairy did give her a visit last night.

On Saturday our family walked the bridge from Ocean Springs to Biloxi to raise money for Sophia Mohler. Sophia is a little, seven year old girl from our town who was recently diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. It was great to see the whole town out walking in support of Sophia.

Supper Club night and it was Oktoberfest theme. Somehow, our supper club has turned into a costume club. Regardless, it was a fun night with all German food. I am German but I don't think I have ever had so much German food, it was great. We all joked that German's are definitely of hearty stock. Lots of heavy potatoes, sausage and things cooked in grease. But it was g-o-o-d.

Kristen and Rod were our wonderful hosts this month. Thanks guys! Err, I mean ya'll!

Okay, I don't have a good picture of it but Stephen had the funniest hair. Everytime I looked at him I started chuckling. It was parted on the side and greased so much, he must have used half a tub of gel. It was so funny. He played a German well.

More Squash?

Addison's response to Jenni offering her more baby squash... Already not looking forward to the teenage years.

October on the Coast

October is always a fun month with lots of fun activities to keep us busy. This week was homecoming week for The Greyhounds and Amelia didn't want to miss a thing. Stephen took the kids to the homecoming parade earlier in the week. They get so excited about parades and come home with bagfuls of 'stuff.' I kind of loathe parades because they come home with bagfuls of 'stuff.' Oh well, they are only young once, my OCD will just have to stay in check I guess. Last night, we all went to the Homecoming Football game and it was a blast! I had so much fun, errrr, I mean the kids had so much fun. Believe it or not, this was my first night time football game, my little high school played all of our games on Saturday afternoon because we did not have a lighted football field. We had fun cheering on the greyhounds and dancing with the band, until a huge storm came and we ran as fast as we could for the car. We all got drenched, actually I think we were laughing the most during that part of the night.

The littlest Greyhound fan!

Today we went to the Pumpkin farm, Mississippi style. We had a cool front so it was a beautiful day but I am still getting used to the idea of wearing shorts to pick out our pumpkins. I have some really cute pics of Addison with the pumpkins but this one is just so her, it makes me laugh every time I look at it. She's like, "Seriously mom, why do you make me do this stuff?"

Fall fun!

There's my cutie in the pumpkin patch.

Happy Fall Ya'll!

Another October festival this week is Cruisin' the Coast. It is a week long event that brings car fans from all over the country. It runs up and down all of the coast cities and is pretty fun to watch all the cars driving around town. The cars were parked all over our downtown so we walked around today to take a look. Amelia and Luke both picked out their favorites. Don't quote me but I think Luke's fave is a 1934 Plymouth Sedan. But really, we all just know it's a fave because it's red.

Amelia was torn between a pink car with rainbows and this purple beauty. The winner: a 1938 Chevy Coup (I think).

After all that pumpkin picking and car watching, we were hungry. Time for a picnic but everyone was too hungry to let me take a picture except Amelia, thanks Mimi! The boys both have their mouths full of lunch and Addison has a graham cracker in one hand and is making a move for Daddy's grapes. She's sneaky, that little baby.

Finally breathing

Fall finally hit Mississippi and we feel relieved we made it through another summer. It is so nice to be able to step outside and be able to breathe again. We have had some beautiful days and cool nights. Friday night we took advantage of the nice weather and took the kids to Al Fresco, an Italian restaurant downtown. We eat outside so it is a nice atmosphere for the children and Addison Kate loved watching the people walk by.

Can you see her two teeth poking through?

After we ate we decided to walk down by the beach to watch the sunset. Everyone was in a good mood so we stayed and played in the sand and on the boardwalk.

Amelia and Luke climbing on the boardwalk.

She is too cute for words sometimes. This dress, by the way, is a dress I wore when I was a baby. See mom, I do save things!