Halloween Happenings

It's primarily a picture post as I have lots of pictures to share. We are having a great month, but I just haven't had time to keep up with my blog this month the way I would like to. Both Levi's soccer season and Jaidyn's volleyball season which I was coaching have come to an end, so that lessens the amount of "on the go" by 4 activities per week. So maybe next month will be better for me. We are all dressed up ready to participate in the Trunk or Treat event at church! A friendly witch and a hippie go together like peas and carrots! Levi showing me his most fierce Power Ranger move! Yes, we are hoping to perfect by Halloween night as it needs some work! Friendly Witch Duo Taking a break for a picture from getting our trunks all jazzed up with some fellow St. Anne's Guild members! Trunk or Treat time! Mask Making! Levi primarily hung out at the Pumpkin Bowling game as he enjoyed continually rolling the plastic Jack-O-Lantern down the lane knocking down rolls of toilet paper. Friends! Love this group of girls! It's always a fun time when we are together! Fr. Savior joined in on the Trunk or Treat festivities! My efforts of trunk decorating with cobwebs, strings of lights and light up ghost and pumpkins didn't win a 1st prize, but I'm thinking next year if I include a bunch of cute little kids in the trunk it might help my chances. :) Poor Reid had enough of the Halloween festivities and just wanted to be home and in his warm cozy bed. Last night the kids and I carved the porch pumpkin (from Papa & Nana) and had some friendly banter going on between my sister on Facebook and through texting. Normally our jack-o-lantern consists of triangle eyes, nose and a jagged mouth, but this year with the help of actual pumpkin cutting tools and a pattern book that I bought on clearance last year, we were able to step our pumpkin carving up a notch! So it probably didn't beat out my sister's "Angry Birds" carving, but it was a step in the right direction and my kids are super impressed with our "Friendly Ghost" so I guess that is all that matters. In efforts to build awareness for Drug Free week at school, the girls participated in spirit days all week long. Here they are on "Dress for Success" day showing of the Halloween treat baskets for their teachers. The boys wanted in on the action and squeezed in for a picture. For "Career Day" Jaidyn was a Veterinarian and really worked hard putting together her outfit as she made a name tag for herself, had a sign-in checklist on her clip board and doctored up "Cookie" her stuffed animal dog with bandage wrappings. Addy dressed up as a dancer which fits her perfectly as she is constantly dancing around the house with every step. Wes and I love watching Levi play soccer. While he is such a nice kid on the field and it takes away from him being as aggressive as he could be, he is still one of the few at the 3-4 age level that truly gets the idea of the game. Even with short little legs he is still pretty fast and was usually good for scoring a couple goals each game. I hope he continues to excel at it as is something that he truly enjoys doing. Over the weekend we attended a birthday party at the bowling alley for a friend and with the exception of the Wii game bowling it was the first time they have ever bowled. Dinner with friends! We have tried to make this a bi-weekly event, but with the business of everyone's schedules we are lucky to get together once a month. Addy and one her classmates from school enjoyed hanging out with each other when we would go to watch the high school volleyball team play. They look so much alike, especially since they are both missing some teeth. I think that's about it for now. I am sure I will have more pictures to share from Halloween night and hopefully it won't be mid November before I have a chance to share them.

Fall Fun

We continue to enjoy the Fall season and the kids keep us as busy as ever. Levi expressed earlier in the month that he wanted to be a red Power Ranger for Halloween. I have no idea what made him decide on that costume as he doesn't have any Power Ranger action figures or DVD's, but I was determined to get him that costume since he rarely asks for anything and is pretty easy to please. After searching several area Wal-Marts and Target for the costume with no luck and ready to start searching online retailers, I was extremely excited to find one at the local thrift store. And the $2.98 price tag made it an even better score. Levi seems to be thrilled with it and had to stand up on the bathroom sink to get a good look in the mirror and do some Power Ranger poses! This little vintage light-up ghost has been a special edition added to my love of Halloween decor as it was my Grandma's. Reid likes to touch it saying "Ooooohh". Last weekend while Wes and Levi enjoyed a "guys getaway" to KC to watch a Kansas City Chiefs football game the rest of us met up with Nana for a day in Mansfield visiting and touring the Laura Ingalls Wilder museum and homes that she lived in. We also went to an evening theater production called Laura's Memories which we all really enjoyed. It was a perfect follow-up to all the Laura Ingalls books on tapes that we listened to all summer long. Bundled up heading to the stadium with the guys for some early morning tailgating. All day Friday was spent preparing for the evening's big Hula Luau Bunco event at church. Four of us girls pulled off a successful fundraising event including decorating the entire church basement and cooking enough food to feed almost 100 people. Thankfully we had many more people, including our husbands stick around and make the clean-up afterwards go a lot faster. I'm pretty sure that everyone had a great time! And I enjoyed the extra special adult luau pineapple drink as it was a nice needed treat by the time the actual event rolled around!! The two of us spent most of the day in the kitchen cooking up a feast. For those that know me well and know the extent of my cooking skills, don't worry as she was the mastermind behind the food and I was her right hand grunt worker side kick. Wes helped serve food and he had many people through out the night tell him he should really think about getting a "lift". Papa & Lala joined us for the evening and were also a huge help in helping us out with the kids so they didn't have to hang out at the church until midnight for cleanup. For a while we though Lauretta had a chance to get a prize for "the most losses" aka The Biggest Loser, but her dice rolling skills sadly improved and she became average. :) Yes, Reid can be lovey dovey, but it just doesn't happen very often! Jaidyn spent the afternoon at a neighbor girls house and brought home a plate of cupcakes to share! It made my efforts of cookie baking with Levi and Addy while she was gone look pretty measly! Levi loves playing soccer! And I think he has a crush on these two girls as he is always trying to get beside them in line. He's too funny! Wes and Reid just hanging out waiting for our lunch to arrive. When Dad's around, Reid could care less about me. :( He's a Daddy's Boy for sure! Okay this blog update is done as the Cardinals are about to start their 1st game in the National League Series! Go Cards! Woot! Woot! (And good luck to my boyfriend David Freese!)