I remember when Halloween was just one night. Not anymore and definitely not in Iowa. On Monday we went to a carnival at the Library and the girls dressed up as cheerleaders. I actually put effort into their hair and costumes.

Wednesday night was the trunk or treat and the girls didn't want to be cheerleaders again so I let them do whatever they wanted and we just kind of threw things together. The only one of us that could commit to just one costume was Brock, he was Yoda.

Thursday isn't actually Halloween but in Iowa they do their trick or treating the day before. Anyway, by Thursday I had lost my enthusiasm, I was just kind of throwing things together. McKenna told to do a good job on her hair, and not to do it sloppy like I did the night before when she was Cinderella. (where does she get her sass!) We went trick or treating with all our neighbors we see at the bus stop, and I have to admit I had a lot of fun. First of all it was warm outside, we barley needed jackets. We trick or treated up and down our neighborhood and I couldn't be happier with the place that we live. It was almost like a movie, there was hardly a car on the street and the streets where filled with trick or treaters. Most homes had someone sitting on the porch waiting to give out candy. It was so quaint and fun. I took lots of mental pictures because I knew Halloween was never going to be better than it was that night. My kids where adorable running door to door and it was nice walking along with John taking in the moment.

This is how Brock spends the most part of his days, trying to wear every bodies shoes. The problem is that it frustrates him to put them on and when he finally gets them on it frustrates him to walk in them. He spends a lot of time crying in frustration over shoes. John and I can even distinguish his shoe cry from a different room.

(this picture was taken this morning)

(this picture was taken later the same morning)

We had a lot of fun carving our pumpkins this year. Since the kids are still a little young to be handling knives we thought they might enjoy cleaning out the pumpkins and we might enjoy watching them clean out the pumpkins. As you can see they are a little disgusted and reluctant, luckily daddy was there to "encourage" that first squishy pumpkin experience.

McKenna was pretty fearless.

Finished product. John did E.T. and Shrek and I did the girly Straley one. John kept asking me which one was my favorite and I kept telling him "mine".

In memory of Murry Dickson

A Friend Like You

There's lots of things

With which I'm blessed,

Tho' my life's been both Sunny and Blue,

But of all my blessings, This one's the best:

To have a friend like you.

In times of trouble Friends will say,

"Just ask... I'll help you through it."

But you don't wait for me to ask,

You just get up And you do it!

And I can think Of nothing in life

That I could more wisely do,

Than know a friend,

And be a friend,

And love a friend... like you.

by Unknown

Last year’s pumpkins. The one on the left is Napoleon Dynamite, the one on the right is Elmo. It's hard to tell in this picture but they turned out great. We even displayed them at Emily's house in Preston Idaho where Napoleon Dynamite was filmed.

There are just certain things about John that I find adorable and pumpkin carving is one of them. Last year we both picked out a pumpkin to carve even though I would never actually get to mine. I told John he could carve pumpkins on condition that it didn't take him all night leaving me to handle the kids by myself. That night he spent probably an hour or two finding printable pumpkin patterns on the internet and was totally torn on which one to choose. I, on the other hand, didn't really care and was like "pick one already" after seriously whining about it and non-stop bugging me to help him choose I finally just picked some for him. The funny thing was I picked the hardest ones I could find just to torment him. He kept saying things like "you really think I should do that one?" and I would reply "absolutely". He didn't seem to be catching on that I picked them just to be a brat and I was really getting a kick out of the concerned look on his face. He waited until we went to bed and stayed up till 3 in the morning carving his pumpkins.
This year he does not seem to have lost his zest for carving pumpkins. In the picture above you can see by the serious look on his face that he is ready for the challenge. I'm going to have to search far and wide to find a more challenging pattern than Napoleon Dynamite.

I wonder where McKenna got her pumpkin hunting instincts from? She takes it almost as seriously as her daddy.

Karina, as usual, is just there for a good time.

We have had such a fun fall. October is full of little festivals and free things for the family. This was at Earl May, they had Pony rides. McKenna went on a pony ride a few years ago and can't stop talking about it so she was an old pro when we went this year.

Karina seemed less impressed but it was all an act, she really loved it.

This weekend was very exciting, McKenna got to cheer at a football game. It was just as exciting for me. For the first time I was at a game to see one of my own children perform. She was sooo cute! After every cheer she would do a little kick and yell and clap.

For as long as we have been married John was waiting for Brock to come on the scene so that he would have someone to share his love of football with. These two boys couldn't be happier sitting in the stands watching football. Nobody's questioning their fanhood.

Brock thought he would just try this on for size. I should have taken a picture from the back because with the helmet on his head is the same size as the rest of his body.

Got carrot juice.

I am very lucky, my kids love carrot juice. It leaves quit the mustache though.

These are just some pictures I took of John and the kids.

Blog me mom.

Since I have started blogging McKenna likes to remind me of every picture opportunity possible. She likes being blogged.

So much to do, so little time.

McKenna is so adorable. She loves to craft. Her favorite thing to make is cards for people. I have been the recipient of many beautiful and heartfelt cards telling me all sorts of sweet things like..."I will always take care of you and Daddy and Karina and Brock," but my favorite card said "dear mom, I'm sorry for being naughty, I want a new baby." In this picture she is busy making a card for every kid in her class at school and attaching a treat. She does it for fun but we have to keep reminder her of that. Sometimes she starts big projects and gets overwhelmed and forgets she is doing it for fun. I love my little stress case.

This is Karina helping McKenna make her cards.

Brock didn't even offer to help he just wanted the goods.

Thank you grandma!

Grandma gave this dress to Karina for her birthday and she looked too cute in it. Thanks Grandma!

Brock and his taxi cab.

Brock is 16 months old now and taking his sweet time walking. That's not to say he doesn't have the coordination because he does. It's funny because he prefers to make his attemtps for the most part in private. I think the reason for that is he doesn't want us knowing what he is capable of or we will expect him to do it all the time and there goes his free transportation service. Typical man for ya. Its like when men pretend they don't know how to cook, clean, change a diaper ect...just so it won't be required of them on a regular basis.

Old Farts.

It's true, John and I are getting older. We may look like the picture of youth (ha, ha) but lately I feel like John and I should be hanging out in a nursing home in our spare time complaining about our ailments. John, at this very moment is propped very carefully on the couch with his ankle raised and iced. He has been limping around like a cripple lately and I think he may have some form of arthritis in his ankles. I can't say I am any better off. Most people know I have pretty significant hearing loss in my left ear that is now throwing off my balance and at times I am very dizzy (more than usual). We've been racing full speed towards old age, we're so competative who's to say who will win.

Happy birthday my sweet princess.

Karina's birthday lasted about 3 days this year. Friday was her actual birthday, we didn't celebrate that day but made a big deal over her being 3 years old. Saturday we opened presents and Sunday we baked her cake. I think by doing it that way we've caused a little confusion, she thinks everyday is her birthday now.

I have a longstanding tradition of buying birthday cakes instead of making them myself but this year I failed to order it in advance and all they had left were overpriced ugly cakes so I decided to brake down and make it myself with Karina's help. This was a risky move and after cupcake decorating a few weeks earlier all I could bring myself to let her help with was poring the water and oil in the mix and putting the candles on the cake.

How you doin?

Brock hardly ever gets new clothes and was in serious need of something to wear to church so I went all out and bought the cutest thing I could find and tried not to think about how much I was spending. On Sunday I could tell Brock was feeling terribly cute by the way he strutted around in his new duds. He even willingly posed for some pictures.

Dog pile!

McKenna is often on the bottom of the dog pile. She is a pretty good sport about it, she doesn't get too upset unless she gets deprived of oxygen.

Pick me up please.

This is how Brock asks to be picked up. Seriously, who can resist that.

That waskely wabbit!

The other day McKenna came in and with serious intensity in her voice asked for some big carrots, when I asked what whe wanted them for she said there was a rabbit that she wanted to trap. Des Moines is full of wild rabbits and the kids really get a thrill out of seeing them hopping through our yard. John was outside barbequing at the time, when I came out and didn't see the girls I asked John if he had seen them and he pointed at the pool. Our little back yard pool was tipped upside down with two carrots attached to a string about two feet away. The girls were hiding under the pool. In an effort to outsmart the rabbit.

Labor Day weekend.

We had a lot of fun over Labor Day weekend. We got a hotel package deal that included a hotel stay, tickets to the living history center, tickets to the science center and tickets to the zoo. We spent Friday night at the hotel swimming in the pool. After we put the kids to bed John and I ordered a movie (no, not that kind) "Get Smart" it was so funny. It was every bit as fun as being in the movie theatre. On Saturday we took the kids to the living history farms. We walked through a bunch of little buildings and later went on a surprisingly strenuous hike to see some cabins and farm animals. The whole thing took about 3 hours which was not what we were expecting so we weren't prepared at all. We have discovered that the second time around, when trying new things, seems to be funer than the first because you know what to expect and what to bring. So anyone lucky enough or crazy enough to come visit us will have the benefit of all of our experience.

Karina and McKenna's first response after learning about how people lived in the 1800's was "movie please."

While John was putting Brock in the car to go home he asked him if he had fun, Brock shook his head no. We thought that was funny so we asked him a couple more times and his response was the same, just a flat out no. We didn't think too much of it because we weren't sure he knew his yes's and no's yet but when we got home I asked him if he wanted a juice bottle and he shook his head yes! So there ya have it, he hated the tour. I have to admit that when we got in the car and saw the time our first response was "It's only 12:00 o'clock."

I win!

On Labor Day we went to the science center. They have a place you can make your own rocket and a little air launch pad that shoots them. Karina and I worked on one together and John and McKenna worked on one together. Before I finish my story I have to preface it with a little John history. He loves air planes and pretty much anything that flies and considers himself to be somewhat educated on the subject. I could tell he was enjoying making his rocket. Karina and I were a little more casual about the whole thing. We finished our rocket in just a few minutes and took it to the launch pad. It flew so far that it got caught in the netting at the end of the launch area. I couldn't believe my eye (neither could John even though he was pretending he didn't see it). Another mother was standing there and said "that was awesome!" I rubbed it in John's face almost to the point of embarrassing myself in public but I seriously couldn't help myself. John at this point was feeling more than just a little bit of pressure to make his rocket better. After about 10 minutes and half a roll of tape John's was done and they took it to the launch pad. It didn't catch a lot of height or speed and only made it about three quarters of the way to the end, this only added to my elation. So John did what any man would do in that situation. He quickly moved on to a different activity.

Don't worry, be happy!

Brock is a pretty happy kid. One morning we were out playing in the yard and I looked over at him and he was clapping and laughing and bouncing up and down for no apparent reason, must be good to be Brock.

Roughing it.

This was our camping trip this year. As you can see it's in the middle of the wilderness. In Iowa the state park service puts up fences and keeps the lawn trimed nicely.

New jammies.

Our girls just love being girls, everything is a ball gown to them. They were really excited about these new "so pretty" pajamas.

First grade.

McKenna started first grade this week. She woke up so nervous I really thought she might throw-up. She is riding the bus this year and going to a whole new school, she had a lot to be nervous about. She was a trouper though and got threw it just fine. She looked so cute, she had picked out her outfit the day before and had a high school musical backpack. Sadly the morning was so crazy that I forgot to take a picture so this is a different picture of her.

NOT PEAW!!!

Karina does not like being left out so she pouted all morning the first couple days of school. She kept saying "that's not peaw!", which means that's not fare. She really wanted to get on that big yellow school bus too.

Safety first!

It's been a while since McKenna has gone swimming...she wanted to be prepared for that 2 feet of water she would encounter in the kiddy pool.

I convinced her it was safe to take off the goggles just long enough to take this picture, I couldn't get the life jacket off her though.

There's a first time for everything.

Brock is just the kind of kid that soaks up life. He is such a happy, sweet boy, I love this picture of him.

Like father, like son.

This picture reminds me of that seen in Forest Gump where Forest just meets his son and they sit down and watch TV together and tilt there heads the same way.