Happy Halloween

Halloween was so much fun this year. The kids spend a lot of time figuring out what they will be and putting together just the right costume.

Josh decided he would be a ninja. He has all the moves too!



I decided Lexi would be a Dragonfly Fairy (I saw it on a website and knew I could do that!). Here's our little garden fairy - she loved her tutu and wings.


And Sam decided that he wanted to be a Paratrooper - complete with extended parachute! Now, that was an engineering feat, but it was a lot of fun.

An umbrella, two curtain rods, and lots of duct tape later, we had an open chute.

The whole set up was pretty heavy, but he was a real "trooper" and wore that costume most of the day with a big smile on his face.


We met a mean green witch, a scary zombie, an adorable little monkey, and a very sweet Hershey Kiss for lots of fun at "Boo at the Zoo."






The monkey and the fairy had lots of fun in their pretty tutus.


They were even cute from the back.


After the zoo, we went home to go trick-or-treating and found a scary biker couple had taken up residence on our front porch. Crissi and Aaron have really gone "bad" since being in Arizona!


Of course the boys came back with pillowcases of candy! Yipes. What will we do with all that sugar...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Tribal Dance

Thanks to National Geographic, you have the opportunity for a rare glimpse of the natives welcoming Fall in this never-before-caught-on-film ancient ritual dance, from deep in the suburban jungle. In case you are wondering, the musicians are using real Chilean flutes, thanks to a friend of ours. I bet you wish you had these nice musical instruments at your house... Let the show begin!

Circus Fun

We took the kids to the circus a couple of weeks ago and we all had a great time. All the acts were fun, and the kids especially loved that they got to ride on an elephant - the hit of the day!

Cooking up a Mess

Lexi loves to cook. She walks around stirring her pot with her spoon and says "mmmm... mmmm...". Today we put some cereal in the bowl so she could really eat it. And she did a nice job on the floor too!

All dressed up...

At just over a year old, our little girl already like to play dress up.
(She likes to pose for the camera, too!)

What to wear? The sparkley flips?

Mommy's tall shoes? (she puts all these by on herself!)

Brother's sandals?

Or, do you like my flipper?


Now, that I have my shoes, how about a hat?

I am so very stylish.

Ok, Mommy, I've got my shoes, my hat and my purse. Now I'm ready to go!

Back to School

School has been in session for a couple of weeks now, but Mommy is still getting used to being back on a schedule. Two boys were not very happy about the first "PHOTO OP" of school, although they actually love school. They both have great teachers and were lucky that their best friends are in their same classes again this year. Mommy will just have to get used to those early mornings once again.

Missing my brothers...

Now that the boys are off at school, it's just Mommy and Lexi. We are having fun together, but we sure miss our brothers!

A Very Boring Volcano

So, we thought this would be a fun project to do over the summer.... you know, like that nice explosion on the Brady Bunch. Well, watch and be amazed, sort of. And check out those safety glasses.

Summer is almost over

Before it all fades away, here are a few more pics of summer...

A Little More Cake, but not on the Lake

For David's birthday this year, we went camping at Blue Ridge Reservoir.
(It was also for Aaron's birthday, so Crissi and Aaron came along,
and we met Nat, Roland and crew there too.)

The boys loved hiking down to the beautiful lake.

Josh found a new stick.

The whole family

Another shot of the boys

Sam & his new pocketknife. (Josh got one too.)

Lexi enjoyed her first camping trip.

Do you like her pinecone hat?

When we got back home, we had a birthday cake.
Not something I can cook over the open fire.

Happy Birthday David!