Smal Group Fun =)

Our small group got together for some Frito Chili Pie and some fun=)








The kids all dressed up.





Even the babies had cute costumes =)

Some of the games were planned and they told the kids what to do.

Some of the games were not planned.

The old "throw the candy corn into your partner's bucket"

We had to do bobbing for apples . . . . okay, well we didn't "have" to, because Ryan and Amber didn't do this game.. . . too wet I guess



We had a book walk . . . instead of a cake walk =) Everyone went home with a book that was new . . . to them =)


Having fun with the potato sack races




It was a great time!

Fall Break

Amber went on a field trip at school and came home with two pumpkins. So, Mike took Ryan out and got him two. They both have a big one and a small one. Even though Mike is working nights the kids got up early so they could carve their pumpkins before he went to sleep (7am) =) He is such a good Dad! They all had fun and the pumpkins look great. Ryan did an owl pumpkin.



Ryan had a rough Fall Break . . . 2 shots on Wed, 3 teeth pulled on Thur, and an orthodontist apt. on Fri. He is already back to his normal self! He was soooo brave (especially about getting the teeth pulled) and we are sooooo proud of him. Here he is showing off how high he can climb in our tree!


The kids are big on making their own food now . . . breakfast, lunch and helping me cook dinner. Amber made herself a waffle jam sandwich =)

The kids are reading 12 minutes a day for their 1,000 minutes of reading challenge at school. Ryan and Amber are both trying to keep on track, even over Fall Break =)

Amber went to a sleepover birthday party over Fall break. I was missing her the next day at work, wondering how things went, and I got these two e-mail photo's =) How cool is that! What a great idea too. Amber had a great time of course!


So, we didn't do anything super special or fun over Fall Break . . . but it was still good =)

Ryan and Dad - Scout Camping

This is the camp set up, Mike and Ryan's tent is the little yellow one (one of the smallest), when Amber and I go with them our tent is one of the biggest (hee hee).

They had to hike in to where they ended up setting up camp.

There were a lot of Scouts there.



The boys won some gummy worms, as you can see they all have their mouth full in this picture.

Ryan's pack won first place on shooting this giant sling shot. Ryan did really good in this event! They also got first place in a quest for fire event too.

No Pictures - Just update note about priorities

It has been a pretty busy week! About half way through I was trying to be Super Mom, Super Wife, Super Worker, Super Christian and as I pulled into the WalMart parking lot on my lunch break from work; to buy Milk (because Mike said we were out), camping supplies for their weekend trip (although I didn't have a list and was just guessing what they would need) and the perfect dinner which would be ready for the kids and I at 6pm and still good for Mike at 7pm, I honestly said to myself "if I put one more thing on my plate I'm going to lose it"! And I had a serious conversation with God. I knew that all these balls I was trying to juggle were really not a priority because they were not His priority, but mine . . . then the phone rang. It was the Principal (not a good sign), Amber had fallen at school and he thought I should look at it. So, I finally threw all the balls I had been juggling out the window and gladly headed for the school. Seriously, it didn't even take one minute, as I was talking to God he answered me by putting priorities in order for me.

Amber was shaken up, but okay. She had a big goose egg on her head with a scratch that caused it to bleed until the next morning. She had scrapes on one knee, but the other knee was the problem. She had a chunk of skin that was hanging on by a little bit and the nurse thought we should go the Dr. to see if he wanted to clip it off (yuck). Well, my day was on a new track anyway, no going back to work or get the shopping done during lunch. Amber and I headed home for chicken noodle soup (okay she wasn't sick but it's what I eat when I'm not 100%, and she was not 100%). When the Dr. finally got us in he said "since she was not an ugly boy" he didn't want to clip it off but would hope that it might heal. Okay, so he didn't do anything and I wanted to get my money's worth since we have a $30 co-pay, so I had Amber get three shots (I'm so kind). She was due her 2nd Hep A and I found out while I was there she was due her 2nd Chicken Pox shot, and while we are at it the flu shots were in so go ahead and do that too. Amber was awesome. She was being sooo silly with the Dr. I knew a few shots were not going to push her over the edge even if she was banged up.

So, now it's Saturday, her knee is still bandaged and cleaned twice a day, her other bumps are going away but her eye still looks swollen and now it is black. Three days after the accident she just now gets the black eye. I remember that happened a lot when she was little and learning to walk. She would hit her head and get a bump, then a few days later have a black eye.

No pictures (although I really wanted to take a picture of her eye). My Man is camping with the boy for Scouts and has the camera. For our girls weekend Amber and I will go to the Chihuahua movie and dinner at Red Robin (we have certificates). I think we will all have a great time. I told Amber her eye looked like she had some heavy eye shadow on and I offered to do mine to match . . . she just shook her head.

Okay, so they are back from camping and I did get a picture of her eye. Couldn't resist. She is has been sooo good about it! I'm proud of her =)

My Parents 50th Anniversary

We had some pictures taken at my parents 50th Anniversary
I love the two of these together now =)



















They celebrated with all the trimmings!

We had pictures taken of just our family


And pictures of all of our family

Amber did such an awesome job serving punch for most of the party

My sister helped put this all together

I finally got a picture with my best friend from high school

It was an awesome party, a memorable week, and great time with family and friends