Halloween in photos

Halloween 2011 has come and gone for our house. Here it is for you in pictures. For starters, not a bad picture of the group in costume, so they may not all be looking at the camera but no one is crying!

Our sweet Brie Brie as a fairy, not her choice but daddy's. She was not humored but the hat and it did not last long! She is posing with her pumpkin Pete carved for her.

Maggie (aka Cinderella) giving me a quick cheese before a grumbled "can we go already!",posing with her Ghost pumpkin that says BOO.

Makayla getting a picture in her Belle costume beside her witch pumpkin.

PJ the dragon! Did I mention he has two pirate costumes, a fire fighter costume and then got the idea he wanted to be a Dragon and would not give up on it. So thanks to coupons he was able to get a Dragon costume that he LOVED!!

Let me tell you it did not take this little 20 month er to figure out trick or treating! She kept right up with the big guys and did not let any steps stand in her way.

As soon as we hit the next driveway she would start saying "trick or treat" and by the time she made it to the door she was on to "Thank you" very sweetly. By the end she was not only saying "Thank you" it was then quickly followed with a "welcome" as she would turn and start to run to the next house. The little ones and I did our street with everyone and then the big ones went on to more houses and we stayed home handing out candy. Brie did VERY well, she was shy of the dressed up adult goblins but she would just hug our leg until they were by and then proceed.

PJ and his haul.

Brie is so enjoying her collection.

Maggie was very proud of her stash!

Makayla was thrilled with the number of peanut butter cups she was able to collect.











We will see how many have sugar plum fairy dreams after eating their candy tonight. I am hoping for an uneventful and peaceful night! Good night my friends and family and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Carving pumpkins

Sunday was a afternoon of carving pumpkins. Each of the kids were quite impressed with the pumpkins insides. Pete and I helped them get all the insides out, something I thought as a child with my teaspoons was the most difficult part of the process. I rarely got help and I could not ever get it cleaned out very well. OK so funny story here in the second photo. I was trying very hard to get Kayla's cleaned out and had just told her not to wipe her hands on her pants. Well I hit a soft spot in the pumpkin and a pile of mush came shooting out and hit Kayla in the cheek and then landed right on her pants! click on the photo and look at Kayla's face, HILARIOUS! I almost peed my pants laughing so hard, she however did not find it as funny. I forgot to mention the junk flew out and not only hit Kayla but myself and the computer table behind me!

PJ's pumpkin wins unannounced "best pumpkin". Pete became creative with the gourds that we were given by friends for PJ's pumpkin. The little ones and I sat outside after their trick or treating and that pumpkin got a lot of comments and suddenly PJ became very proud and possessive.

Auntie treats

When were at my folks Auntie Jacie brought treats for the kids. They all love their puppies and books! Auntie Coke sent treats home and they enjoyed those last night. I love Brie's hair! She pulled out her piggy tails. At any rate thank you to the Aunties for thinking of the kids, they enjoyed the goodies!

Melody

So this story of Melody dates back to October 12th. My friend was in from out of town and this kitty usually does not like strangers! However Miss Laurie did not get the normal hissing, hair raising response from Melody, she received lots of rubs and sniffs. I explained this is not normal. Later Kayla came to me and stated that something happened and the cat could not sit down. I grabbed the cat and put her in the laundry room(her normal time out area) until later when I would have a chance to look at her better. After the kids were in bed I let her out and watch her, Makayla was right she would not sit. I pushed around on her bones and got no reaction, so back to the laundry room for the night and I will check on her tomorrow. The next day her behavior became even more bizarre, meowing funny, brushing against anyone and following us everywhere! A light bulb turned on in my head and I remembered the first "Heat Cycle" was to be between 5 and 6 months old. This kitty was 5 1/2 months old, so Laurie and I looked it up on google and read: heat cycles can last 7 to 10 days and will repeat every 2 to 3 weeks. WHAT??? oh I could not have this going on and so I called the vet straight away and they had an opening for a spaying surgery the next day!! yea for me, back to the laundry room for the feline for a few more hours. Dropping her off at the vet was a trip as well, she HATES them ( and that is a word I rarely use). By Sat. when I picked her up I think feelings were mutual between staff and my cat. She obviously got stitches from surgery and they would have to be removed. I asked, may I take them out and without any hesitation two staff looked right at me and in unison said "YES", and "Good Luck!" So my niece brings along her fearless 6 foot 5 inch husband who says "no problem!" ha I thought as I and Jill tried the night before and had NO LUCK! Let me tell you he grabbed that kitty and a few snips, growls, and bit attempts later they were out! THANK GOD! I owe Eric a HUGE THANK YOU for braving my kitty and helping me do what I thought was the impossible. Here is a picture of Melody not long after the removal just chilling out with her shaved belly exposed and the look of "no worries".

Visitors

So I have a fantastic niece who is also a photographer! She visited this weekend with her family and camera. Our guys went to the movies on Friday night. Then Jill and I shopped till we dropped on Saturday. On Sunday we went to a lake and park nearby for a photo session. God love Jill for her patience and flexibility! We I am sure were not the easiest to photograph between 4 kids and parental opinions, she was wonderful! We now have to decide what and how many to order! I have until midnight Nov. 14th!! At any rate we owe a HUGE THANK YOU to Miss Kristine and all her talents. We are very happy with our results and look forward to sharing them with all of you! This is a sneak peek of our fun. Jill and I have seven kids between us and my top three parallel hers with in 6 months or less. It was a very fun weekend for all the kids had a blast playing. I do not think we had one fight or problem with any of them the whole time. Here is a line up of the kiddos, except Brie who was asleep. I think we will have many more photos like this over the next 18 years!

Soccer Finale

Soccer season is over for Fall 2011. To be quite honest it is a relief to look ahead this week and not have soccer at all. Kayla seemed to finally be getting it over the last few games, isn't that always the case. She did enjoy playing soccer with all her friends.

Kayla played goalie most this season and really did a good job with the title. She was not afraid to dive after balls or reach right in there between all the kicking to get the ball.

One of the parents had trophies made for the girls. Kayla was very proud of her trophy and herself this season. Way to go #8!!

a visit to the folks

Pete was asked to come and speak at a youth rally in my hometown. It was a perfect excuse to go visit the folks. I realize this is not the cutest picture of Brie but the story is sweet. She tried to get my dad's attention from the other side of him but he was in a conversation and not paying attention to her. She walked away, looked at him, huffed and walked right back over to him and stood right in front of him pleading for his attention. He got the hint, looked at her for a brief minute and that was all she needed, off she went and that was it! funny little thing that Brie!

Mom had collected bread again and we headed out to feed the geese at the lake. It was a bit windy and the geese were not easily accessible, though we did try several times without success.

I thought this picture was just to sweet to not include it. PJ was requesting Brie to hold his hand and they were trying hard together to figure out just how to hold hands. They were both delighted when the got it right and off they went.

Since the geese were not interested in our bread the kids made their own fun throwing rocks. Little Gabriellie could keep up with the best of them this weekend and was not going to miss out on the chance to throw something! I cannot count the number of times the kids went back and forth from the lake to the rocks!

Here is a quick picture with grandma and some monkeys in a tree!

Kayla is always up for striking a pose. She is just growing up so fast! Love that little lady!

Pirates

We had tickets to the theater and they were showing a Pirate musical, so at the end of a busy week we loaded everyone up Friday night and headed out! PJ dressed as a pirate as last weekend the girls dressed like princesses and he asked when it would be his turn! He was not the only one dressed like a pirate but seemed to be the cutest one! :~) It was a very entertaining little show, everyone enjoyed it.

Naughty Kitty

For anyone that doesn't know, the WII gaming system comes with a sensor that is on top of the TV ledge. Well over the last month or so I have had to get behind the TV and retrieve the fallen WII sensor. With each time I have kind of yelled at the kids, now I have to apologize!! It is not the kids but the darn kitty!! She has been full of mischief lately! She better behave or else! :~)

Miss Laurie

My very good friend Laurie and her little man came into town for a visit. We were fortunate to have them with us for 4 nights!! We all LOVE LOVE her! Laurie and I became friends in 2001 and it is one of those friendships that will last forever. I swear I know her from before 2001 but we have never been able to figure out a common factor. We are quite similar and we can just pick up where we left off, whether it has been 2 days or 2 months. At any rate it was a blast to have her in for an extended stay and we ALL enjoyed her and Mason's company! PJ is still walking around saying "I miss Miss Laurie, go to her house?, she come back tomorrow?". She was a huge help and wonderful listener. I am sure she was ready to return to her house of 4 but we appreciate her hubby and daughter letting us borrow her for a few days. Thanks Laurie!! Somehow we did not manage to get a photo taken together this time, so this one will have to do!

Princesses

"Cinderella and Belle" got ready for their special day with Miss Laurie's handy hair dos. Laurie did a fantastic job of making them look just perfect in their crowns.

We were all ready to go to our Disney show at the auditorium. Disney was in town doing 3 Fairy tales.

The girls were very excited to get inside to see the real live princesses.

It is so hard to be patient, the girls did a great job of sitting and enjoying the show.

It was because of a friend that we had AWESOME seats! The kids could see everything and we had no one sitting in front of us.

The stories included: Cinderella(Maggie), Snow White, and Beauty and the Beast - Belle(Makayla) as told be Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Donald. It was a nice show and the girls had a great time pretending to be princesses. The crowd were very complimentary of the girls' clothes and the girls with a "British like accent" would say thank you and bow, too cute!

Leaves verses Geese

So my very dear friend Laurie is in town for a visit. My mother had gathered bread for my kids so sometime when they visited they could feed the ducks. Well it never worked out for that to happen and so she sent it home with us. We finally managed to make it to the geese and they so enjoyed then bread! as did the fish that are in that very muddy pond!! Thanks Grandma! the kids loved it as well.

Then came the trip to the leaves! what a dirty good time those can be!

It was a great time to toss them to the sky and let them fall all around each other!

The picture did not fall in the order it should have but here are our sitting ducks feeding the geese.

(Kayla was at soccer practise during this so no Kayla in the photos)

Hawkeye Tailgate

So we had a Hawkeye Tailgate party at work today for Dr. Shawn's birthday. A clever co-worker turned this box into a truck with a tailgate! Very cute! We made sure to have Dr. Shawn's favorites which include bagel dogs and pumpkin bars! Everyone dressed in Hawkeye attire and I think a good time was had by all!

The famous and great Dr. Shawn, nurse Nicole and myself.

We totally surprised him and had custom Hawkeye shoes made for him through Nike! The shoes tracking record included China, Korea, Alaska, and several US stops before finally making it to him. Talk about some serious effort!