Girl's Trip 2008!

Here is just one of the pictures I took on our awesome Girl's Trip to Seattle and Forks, Washington. This is right before we jumped in the car and headed to Forks. Top Row: Kristen Baker, Lauren Bradshaw, Jolinn Meier, Amanda, Leah Walker, Kayla Dildine. Bottom Row: Tina Jones, Trina Brough, Me, Amanda Stevens, Brooklyn.

What Great Memories! More pictures to come...

Happy Halloween!

Here are the finished Pumpkins. All of the kids had a big say in how they each turned out artistically. Well, except for Lydia and I designed hers. (I do have to say I think the bow was a cute touch!)

And at Running Back..LaDainian Tomlinson

"Hau!" Me Chief Danny D.

Hey there Batman!

Little Lyddie Lindy Hop

Pumpkin Carving

Mike is usually the Mastermind behind the pumpkin carving project. He helps the kids design their pumpkins. This year he actually had an iphone application that gave ideas for pumpkin face designs. While the kids are drawing and he is carving, I am usually diligently collecting pumpkins seeds...and taking pictures.

These are the pumpkins that we used this year for carving. We just planted one little seedling in our garden and it went crazy, without any attention. (My kind of gardening!) The kids had a great time watching them grow and turn orange. Some of them didn't have a chance to turn orange before the first frost, but I think they still make great fall decorations.

Nathan and Danny were a lot of help in cleaning out the pumpkins, and sorting out all of the pumpkin seeds. They have been begging me to finish the pumpkin seeds ever since. We did finally get the seeds done last night. The recipe is a family favorite from Martha Stewart: Sweet and Spicy Pumpkins Seeds

Ryan wanted to make sure that his pumpkin was scary. He was the most excited to put the candles inside and light them.

Lydia was quite intested in what she found in her "apple." These days, pretty much everything that is round and has a stem is called an apple. She wasn't too sure about putting her hands in the goop, but got quite good at it in the end.

Good Old Fashioned School Carnival

After not having one for 15 years, our Elementary PTO brought back the School Carnival. The kids had so much fun. You could purchase chili and scones for dinner, watch the principal get hit with a cream pie, or try your luck at the Cake Walk. I've heard of other schools doing more "hip" carnivals with climbing walls, and bounce castles, but this was all about the fishing ponds and the face painting--in my opinion, Fabulous! The boys were all too nervous to go in the Spook Alley, but here are some of the things that they tried:

Doughnuts on a string...



Plinko...





and spooky bowling.