Family Halloween Party 2011

"The Circus": Bob & Becky with Grant, Carter, Wilson, Pierce, Truman, Dorothy Jo & Lincoln

"Grease": Donny & Stacy with Elly, Max & Sam

"The Angry Birds": Jolene & Terry with Josie, Karley, Tessa, Emma & Connor

"The Artist & Canvas": Grandpa & Grandma B

"A Fairy Tale Story": Matt & Natalie with Aloysius & Willa

"Princess Kate & Prince William", "Rapunzel" and "Batman"

Grandma Carol provided quite the surprise in her scary costume.  John kept backing away as he first saw this creature approach him... he didn't know what to think.  Brielle said, "That's Grandma... I see her shoes!"  John was relieved to know it was Grandma. :)  The next day when we were asking John what everyone dressed up like, when we got to Grandma Carol, John answered after a long pause ....... "A bad guy."

John and Brielle

Grandpa & Grandma B with their grandkids (minus Dorothy Jo)

and Happy 1st Birthday to Aloysius!!! 

Our canoe days are numbered...

The air & water are getting a lot cooler, but we squeezed in another weekend that included a canoe ride! :)

John & Connor played at the water's edge, looking to nab fish in their nets.  

Karley, Emma & Josie showing their new monkeys that Terry brought home from San Francisco :)

Recognize this hat, Alexia?   It's John's new favorite :)

Leaving the dock...

and returning home :)

Homecoming Pep Rally

We visited Tim & attended the Homecoming Pep Rally at his school.  That day I bought John & Brielle their own official school apparel... new sweatshirts.  They were very excited to show their dad!

Brielle enjoyed watching the cheerleaders dance & perform.  She kept asking... "When are they going to tell who the Queen is?"   That morning I had given her the choice of going to preschool or coming to the pep rally... where we'd see Dad, some funny skits, some of his 'track girls', and they would name one of the girls the (homecoming) "Queen."  She chose the pep rally, probably because how could you pass up seeing a queen? :)  

John enjoyed the pep rally too... and playing with his cousins Willa & Lincoln in the bleachers.  Later that night, we got bundled up for the football game.  

Just a couple great photos :)

Brielle brought her puppy, Pebbles, back into "circulation" of favorite toys as she found some big batteries at home that would allow Pebbles to start breathing again :)

"Fishing" on a gorgeous fall day

In early October, we took the kids to an area where we planned to go bike riding and fishing.  Once they saw the pond, they didn't want to ride bikes; but we did manage to get about 10 minutes of bike riding in :).  

Brielle learned how to ride without her training wheels about one week before this!!  I didn't get a picture of her on this day since her bike chain was falling off.  I thought I knew how to get her training wheels back off on my own, but I didn't tighten everything up correctly!   So Tim took her bike back to the car to fix it. 

 Then it was time to fish.  Brielle is not timid about picking up these earthworms!  And John follows her lead :)

So we didn't catch anything... no bites at all, but they still enjoyed picking out their worms and casting their lines.  Tim told Brielle sometimes the fish don't bite when there are no clouds in the sky :)

A Fun Fall Friday

A couple weeks ago, it was a beautiful Friday (and a non-school day) so we decided to pick up a few cousins and spend the day doing some fun things.  We went to a pumpkin barn where the kids enjoyed seeing the animals: roosters, chickens, goats, and rabbits.  Emma, Brielle & Josie fed fresh lettuce to the rabbits.

 Then the kids ran through the corn maze.  My one "direction" to them was to stay together as a group.     They did a great job following that instruction, so we didn't have to search for anyone later :)  

Inside the pumpkin barn, we bought a bag of Empire apples (yum!) and each kid picked out a small pumpkin. 

Lincoln & John:

Josie, Brielle, & Emma:

Emma said, "You should take a picture of all our apples when we are done and type a story about this on the computer.  That's what my mom does.  That's what a lot of people do." :)

Then we headed to a park that the kids don't go to as often since it's on a different side of town.  They enjoyed the crunchy leaves, finding all the fallen acorns, and playing on equipment that was new to them.

 On our way home, we dropped Lincoln off and picked up Karley who was just waking up from a nap.  Back home, we got out our supplies and painted our little pumpkins. 

While our pumpkins were drying, we played outside.  It was so warm (over 80 degrees!) and Brielle asked if we could get out the Slip & Slide.  Brielle shared her 2 extra swim suits with Josie & Karley, while we decided that Emma could get her clothes wet...  and we'd find extra clothes later.

Then they ran around with their towels flying behind them... drying off...

...and we headed back in for a "Strawberry Shortcake" themed tea party.  We raided Brielle's closet trying to dress each girl in their respective color.  Karley was "Plum," Emma was "Blueberry", Josie was "Lemon", Brielle was "Raspberry"...

 ... and John was "Cupcake" their puppy.

We are so lucky to have so many wonderful cousins to play with!