Happy Halloween!

Last night was trick or treating and we gathered up a group of friends and took over the neighborhood. The kids were all for it this year. Amelia was the first up to the door every time, no matter how scary it was decorated. After the first three houses where she knocked and then proceeded to open the door and yell trick or treat in the house, I had to go over some ground rules with her. Luke made it about halfway around the neighborhood and then got tired and hung out in the wagon eating Skittles. Not such a bad deal, I guess.

Amelia's school doesn't do a Halloween party but instead Fall de Rah. The kids are supposed to all dress "down on the farm." The school provides hay rides and lots of fall fun so she had a great day.

Luke had his first school Halloween party and enjoyed it thoroughly. What's not to like about cookies, cupcakes, and candy. We had the kids play games like "hot pumpkin" instead of hot potato and do some crafts.

It was a fun, sweet filled day and thankfully they slept great last night in a little sugar coma.

Busy Week!

Our recent trips to the beach have left us with a plethora of oyster shells so we decided to pretty them up by painting them. The kids were quite creative, we have a Mardi Gras shell, a Packer shell, pumpkin shell and of course lots of red shells because Luke thinks the whole world should be painted red. When we ran out of shells, we moved to pinecones which are covering our backyard right now.

The YMCA had a Halloween party for the kids with a costume contest, face painting, pumpkin painting, cake walk, etc. The kids had lots of fun, we threw together costumes 10 minutes before it started so no prizes for us:( They still looked cute. I especially like Amelia's biker boots with the cowgirl outfit.

With three of us in "our crew" having birthdays in October, we try to get us all together to celebrate. We dined at Al Fresco, an Italian restaurant downtown, this week. Thankfully we sat outside because I think we could be heard all over town with our laughter and naughty gossip. Oh well, girls will be girls at any age I guess. Happy Birthday Kristen, Marian and me!

Also this week, I had an ultrasound done early in the week and the midwife still saw girl parts so Addison is still Addison. The midwife kept saying, "Wow, this girl has long legs, wow she loves showing off her legs, etc." Addison would not cooperate with showing us the money shot until 20 minutes later when we finally were about to give up, she just kept flashing those long, lanky legs. It was fun to see her and great to hear her healthy heartbeat.

Funny observations: Luke was sitting on my lap while I was on the computer this week and on the screen was a picture of Obama. Luke pointed to him and said, "Mommy, look, is that Daddy?" I said, "Ah, no that is a man named Obama who is running for president." Luke responded, "Well, he has big ears like Daddy."

True, however, Daddy is not a black man. I guess Stephen has been gone long enough if our son can't remember if his Dad is black or white.

Lil soccer feet and Grandma visits!

Grandma Nancy came for a visit this past week and the kids had a great time playing with her and showing her all of our favorite hang outs.
Amelia and Luke both had their first soccer games this past weekend. For Luke, it was his first soccer game ever, an all three year old team. This picture is a misrepresentation of the actual events of Luke's first game because it looks like he is actually playing soccer. He was very excited to play soccer and lined up for the first kick and all the kids started screaming and yelling at once to go after the ball. In addition all the parents and coaches started shouting, "No, kick it this way, no this way, etc." Poor Luke took one look at all the commotion and started crying and running toward me. So he spent half the game sitting next to me. The picture above is him standing on the field about 4 feet from me. I told him he had to be on the field and participate with his team if he wanted the team snack at the end of the game. So he stood in that exact spot the whole second half, clapping for his team as they raced from one end of the field to the other. And he gladly gobbled up his snack with the team after it was all over. Whew, there is always next week to try again.
Amelia sandwiched between her friends and teammates Mckenzie and Hayden. They have a mostly girl team and do really well. Amelia has gotten the hang of soccer this year. Last year she spent her time running along the sideline waving to us but this year she is right in the pack, kicking, pushing and getting covered in mud and grass for her efforts. Stephen would be very proud to watch his little soccer protege. Although, I think she still plays just for the snack too.
Our friends had a great Halloween party this past weekend complete with a haunted maze in their back property. It was a fun time for the kids and adults, with lots of yummy food and fun activities for the kids. My mom and I dressed as doctors/nurses in scrubs. Basically, I took the comfy excuse for a costume and just wanted to wear whatever would cover this huge belly.

More Fall Fun

Luke learning how to hold a kitten gently.
While visiting Wisconsin we went to the pumpkin farm with all the cousins. The farm had a petting zoo which was a huge hit with all of our kids. Amelia loved the kitten house and so did cousin Annie. Aunt Amy was great about taking Amelia in there even though she has bad cat allergies.
The kids loved feeding all the goats and donkeys leaves. They played in the petting zoo forever and because we were there on a weekday we were the only kids there! It was great.
Cute cousins, Max (4), Annie(5), Amelia (5), Luke (3) and Evan (7).
Little turkeys!

Amelia and Luke had so much fun playing at Grandma and Grandpa's house and the weather was beautiful. Here they are rock jumping over the little creek and climbing trees in my parents backyard.


We were so lucky because our best friends from Indiana drove up to Wisconsin for the day to play together. Luke, Abby, Amelia and Sam, best buddies. It was so fun because Marcie and I did not tell the kids so when Abby and Sam rang my parents doorbell, my kids answered and just started squealing and jumping up and down. It was so cute! They had a great time at Stonefire Pizza climbing the jungle gym and playing in the water room for almost 4 hours. Fabulous for Marcie and I who just got to chat and laugh the whole time.

The trip was relaxing and so much fun. Thanks to my family all driving down to see us and Marcie for bringing the kids, we all had a blast. And thanks mom for all the yummy food and desserts although I seriously probably gained five pounds while I was there. Maybe if I'm lucky it all went to baby Addison and not to my butt!

Fall Frolic in Wisconsin

The kids and I flew to Wisconsin to fit in some fun in the Fall, cooler weather, pretty fall colored leaves and of course caramel apple sundaes. The cost of the flight was seriously worth it for our trip to Elegant Farmer. Elegant Farmer is a farm I have gone to since a kid near my parent's house. They have the most amazing apple pies in a brown bag, too good to even describe and also make your own caramel apple sundaes. Here are the kids playing at the farm with my parents, my dad and Luke named the horses Woody and Splinter.

Luke enjoying his apple sundae.
Amelia was covered in caramel but it was so yummy!

Footwear

The kids did a great job today cleaning up their playroom so they got to watch a movie this afternoon. I went up to check on them and they both had chosen some interesting footwear to wear while enjoying their movie time. Especially Amelia, it's 83 degrees today and those are furry Eskimo boots.
I had to redeem their goofiness from above with how cute they look in normal clothes. Well normal clothes is relative I guess. These are normal clothes for the south, smocked dresses, big bows for the hair, we would probably get beat up back upnorth.

Amelia and Luke with their good friends Ben and Sophie after Sunday school. The kids were very excited to tell us about the Tower of Babel and how nobody was listening and how we need to listen to God. After church and Sunday school we enjoyed some lunch with Ben and Sophie and Kristen and Rod.

On a funny side note: Amelia was talking into my belly button to Addison, just saying she will see her in January, etc and Luke was ignoring us and playing. All of a sudden he came over and whispered into my belly button, "Don't worry Addison, you'll get plenty of cookies when you come out." Made me laugh about what is on that little guy's mind.

Halfway!

The kids and I are very excited because we have reached the halfway point of Stephen's deployment! Only 3 more months! We have settled nicely into our routine of school and look forward to counting more months off the calendar until Daddy returns. Hang in there Daddy, we miss you so much!