Halloween 2012!

Just gettin' started . . .

Oh yes, the "guts" are the best:)

The finished product!  Actually, there was a commendable amount of group effort
this year -- much more so than in the past where Bryan was the prime carver:)

Our church's Trunk or Treat

Just waiting for the candy . . .

Joshua and Mrs. Myers -- his teacher from school who goes to our church!

Down the slides!

In a princess costume, nonetheless:)

Halloween parade at school today -- Kayla concluded that it's no fun
walking long distances with high heel shoes:)

Mr. Batman himself:)

Enjoying the goodies at school!

Kindergarden fun!

Wrap the mummy -- 2nd grade style!

Tyler didn't get the memo that picture taking was supposed
to be fun . . . this is what the first 20 pics looked like . . .

. . .  and this too . . .

And finally we eeked out a good one!  And yes, Miss Kayla had a change of heart after school and decided to be a chef for the festivities tonight:)  It's ironic because MY mom always talks about how we
would get inspired after school to have  "second" outfit for trick or treating:)

On the move!

Baby Westin (aka Mr. Pirate) joined us -- Carly reminded me tonight that the first time she went trick or treating with us I was pregnant with Tyler . . .wowza:)

Cool Sunset!

By the end of the night, Tyler had ditched his Thomas hat, his Thomas
costume AND the pumpkin container:)

This and That

Last Wednesday was Crazy Hair Night at Sparks -- Kayla was "reading" to Tyler while I was getting stuff set up . . .

 Crazy Hair Mom and Daughter:)

 Joshua and friend -- J gets the biggest kick out of spraying his hair . . .

The next day was K's field trip to the pumpkin patch.  The weather was BEAUTIFUL!  I had a blast getting to hang with her!

After MUCH deliberation, she chose the PERFECT pumpkin:)

Climbing through the tire course at the patch . . .

 K and two neighbor friends on the hayride together -- we love being a 

street with so many kids her age!

Tyler with pretzel stick . .  aka Mr. Mustache Man:)  How does he think of things like that?

When mom's too busy to play Candy Land . . .you just play it yourself:)

Tyler got to go to his first birthday party several weeks ago -- he did great about "giving" his gift and not wanting to keep it for himself:)  

Way behind this Fall . . .

I am so desperately behind for this blog, so this will be a "catch up" post:)  (I think most of my post are actually "catch up" posts!)  Anyway . . . last weekend we made a super fast trip to St. Louis so celebrate my grandpa's (the kid's great grandpa's) 97th birthday.  I didn't mange to take enough pics -- ugh.  But, we stopped by on Friday night before going to the hotel and got to 

spend a bit of time with him!

 Joshua and grandma super cozy in the chair -- I believe Joshua was 

sending texts from Gma's phone . . .

Bryan and Westin

Tyler and Lena -- it was fun to not on see immediate cousins from Indiana, but my cousins and their kids as well . . . so crazy how the family just keeps getting bigger!

We were determined to get a picture with Grandpa and Grandma with all of the grandkids since we had somehow managed to forget that since Jordy had been born.  Here they are . . .all NINE of them, seven and under!

Grandpa and the three daughters . . . 

 Changing subjects . . . last night was the Fall Fest that our church gets to attend . . . and the kids just love it!  It was definitely on the cooler side, but lots of fun!  The kids were especially psyched about the jumping pits .  .

 Tyler just hopped right on -- it was nice to have one area for "big" kids, and one are for the little guys . . .Do you recognize the girl in the background in purple?  That would be Kayla running for help after she got hurt on the trampoline.  She ended up being fine, but I had no idea Bryan had captured that image:)

 Daddy and Tyler watching the pig races . . .

Aunt Bem joined us for a bit . . . not sure this will have a super huge impact on Jordy, but it was fun to have them there . . .

 Grandma and Tyler in the corn pit . . .

Kayla's grand exodus from the big slide . . .

 That's Joshua on top there . . .the kids definitely did not feel the need to have Mommy or Daddy at their side this year . . . we spent most of the time just trying to remember where they said they were going next:)

 Those are really tall tires for little guys!

The group swing . . .

 Grandma and Tyler checking out the old tractor . . .

This was my Monday morning discovery when cleaning up . . .not sure when Kayla wrote this note during the weekend, but it was cute:)

"I love Mom and Dad and Miss Patton (her Kind. teacher).  (yes, notice the period on the end of the sentence . . that's my girl!)  We went to Wendys.

Mom, Dad, Miss Patton, Wendys -- life is good!

Sparky Costume

So, last year, my mom and I decided that we should make a Sparky costume -- like a full-size kind of thing to use for our Sparks program.  After all, how hard can it be, right?  Well -- let's just say it has been pretty consuming the last several weeks but here was tonight's final try-on . . .

Still have several things that are "bugging" me -- but with 12 hours to go until Discovery Day tomorrow at TBC, it'll have to be GOOD ENOUGH.  And, it's pretty safe to assume at this point that I'm not planning on starting any kind of costume-making business!!!!!

First day of school!

 Well, after a summer with NO rain, we had a nice little shower this morning . . . which made getting "1st day of school pics" kind of interesting:)  Here is Joshua -- all ready for 2nd grade!

 And here is our Kindergartner . . .Kayla was SOOO excited this morning!  I couldn't get them to eat breakfast to save my life!

 Walking down to the bus stop . . .

 Part of the but stop crew . . .

 Kayla and Carter -- these two are buddies!  

 Tyler's never one to be left out at the bus stop . . .

There they go!  Praying for a great year for each of them!