Happy Birthday to Grandma Coleman!

Today is Dave's moms birthday!  Happy birthday Grandma!  WE are so thankful that you are in our lives (especially now that there is a kitty at your house to play with!).  ;)  Thank you for all that you have done for us and our kids for the last 11 years!  We love you!

Piglets, and princesses, transformers and goblins oh my!

As usual the kids were excited to go trick or treating!  For the past few years I have been trying to talk Carter into going with some friends in the neighborhood - this year I succeeded!  I am sure that the reason he did not want to go with his friends is because he just did not want to miss out on hanging out with us!  ;)  He was going with his buddy Ben - their first year going all by themselves!  Wahoo!

Got the kids ready to go after dinner.  There is usually not too much prep for us to get candy ready - the most kids that we have ever had is about 25 but on any other year maybe 10 to 15 kids.  I guess that it saves us money but I miss not seeing all the kiddos in their costumes.  We typically just get the neighbor kids and a few kids that get dropped off in the area to trick or treat.

 The kiddos were rushing me this night and I ALWAYS take more than one photo of them...but I did not tonight and look what happened.  Reese and Kendall's photos are blurry and I don't have another one of them.  ARGH! 

The kids had a lot of fun and collected lots of candy.  Reese even stayed out the whole time - daddy did not have to come and pick her up.  I cannot believe how many kids were out in the neighborhood!  Kids were EVERYWHERE, just not down at our house.  Ben's mom said that they usually get about 200 kids.  WHAT!? 

More fall leaf fun!

The leaf pile is a lot bigger this week then it was last week!  The kids had some fun jumping in it and burying the neighbors and themselves.  CArter was a little bummed (well, a lot bummed) that he didn't make it out to jump in the leaf pile.  You snooze, you lose, I guess!  :(

 All the photos that I took of Dawson jumping were either blurry or I cut his head off!  Nothing like a big jump into the leaf pile!  That is what fall is all about!

The Maple tree in our front yard seriously was full of leaves one day, then a few days later the ground was full of the leaves.  But, this one little branch had some "survivors" on it.  Guess they were not ready to be jumped on and eventually made into compost dirt!

Creating works of pumpkin art!

I remember a point in my younger years where I was done carving pumpkins...I just got tired of trying to think of a different face to put on my pumpkin.  How many faces can you make just suing some triangles, some ovals, a circle or 2 and a mouth with some teeth in it!?  Nowadays, there are so many pumpkin faces out there - every year I do a search on-line, print them up, punch them out on the pumpkin, cut them out and "tada!" lovely pumpkins!

This year did not go without and problems though.  Carter's lovely pumpkin from the patch did not have a soft spot or a bad mark on it anywhere, but when he cut the top off, it was all modly inside.  I did not even want him to touch it!  Luckily, before we left the patch last week I grabbed an extra smaller pumpkin - don't know why, just did!  So, I promised an extremely upset CArter that I would go to the store for him tomorrow but he could carve this little one for the night.

One of these years, the kids will not be afraid to touch the pumpkin "guts!"  Kendall touched it a little bit, but for the most part, Daddy and I had to clean out the 3 little kids pumpkins.  Carter has been pretty self-sufficient these last few years!  Thank goodness.  It takes us at least 1.5 hours to get the pumpkins carved!  But, the kids love it and have fun so we plug along!  Some day they won't have any interest so we enjoy it for now!

 Dawson was determined to carve his face all by himself.  I think that it must have taken him ATLEAST 45 minutes once he was done cleaning it out.  But, he did a great job!

Pumpkin # @ for Carter...re-do pumpkin from Target!

Another year of Zoo Boo!

Pretty sure that it has been 11 years of going to Zoo Boo at the Como Zoo.  What started off as a little trip of Nana and Pop-Pop taking Evan and Teagan over for the fun of it, has turned into a yearly event, often times with a new cousin attending!  Over the years a few people have stopped going, kids have gotten older, but whoever can go still goes.  The weather has been one extreme to the next - don't think there has even been snow, but there has been cold, rain/sleet mix, and HOT (think one year the kids were actually sweating in their costumes)!  I love it.  I love seeing the kids and their excitement.  I love seeing all the volunteers dressed up in their costumes and all the kids that are roaming around.  I also love that it supports the zoo since we are frequent visitors throughout the year!  Next year's Zoo Boo trip will have a new addition - can't wait to meet him...or her (my guess is a him, but will be excited no matter what baby Holmes is!).

 Love this girls hair...someday maybe she will have a portion of this amount of hair!  :)

 Scary jokester Teagan, scary no face Carter, and the transformer Dawson!

 Auntie Jamie and adorable monkey, Cooper!

Auntie Jen, baby Holmes (as pictured on Jen's costume) and Nana!  Nana and piglet Reese (Kendall was supposed to be Tigger or Pooh, but being a Princess won out!)

 Seems to be like one of the only family photos we get every year and someone usually has their mask on - this year it was Carter!

The annual picture with the Star Wars gang at the end of Zoo Boo!

Fall Beauty

I am not a fan of fall.  I know what is to come...WINTER.  I know that when I was little I loved to play in the snow.  I remember the boulevard was covered in snow many years.  We would make forts, and slides in that deep, deep snow.  One of the beautiful things about fall is sunrises and sunsets.  We have a perfect view every morning to sunrises.  I would love to be able to take some more serious photos of them (minus the houses in the back and so on) but this sunrise was truly beautiful!  I know that it gets a little redundant posting them, but they are all different, so why not remember how truly beautiful this day was!

Cousin-ly love!

We were watching Boston and Cooper so that Drew & Jamie could go to the Vikings game tonight.  Often times when the boys are over, they play with the "littler" cousins.  Carter is often off doing something else.  He loves these boys, but given the age difference he just doesn't "play" with them as much.  These photos do NOTHING for how Cooper was actually acting - he was giggling so much it was just adorable.  Our kids have always thought Bos n Coop were cute, but this was SOOOO cute between Carter and Cooper!

 Reese and Cooper - this girl loves Cooper...too. MUCH!  He often cries because she is just stuck on him and grabs him, etc!  But could they get any cuter?!

 Kendall & Boston - Kendall has been into "reading" lately so she was reading a story to Boston!  Cheese!

 Dawson & Cooper!  Awww...such cutie-patooties!

Child-proof locks...or not!

For months, Reese has known how to get this lovely locks off the door knobs.  I noticed that they were always "coming off" and asked Kendall & Dawson one day who kept taking them off.   I was assuming that it was one of them.  They told me that Reese was the one taking them off.  Seriously, it was right about the time that she had turned 2.  Thought these things were supposed to deter them - not our girls.  Reese can get them off and Kendally (when she was about 2) had figured out just how to open the door with them on!  Determined little girls.
This is what happens when little girls get into the bathroom!  Yuck!  I wasn't sure if someone forgot to flush or if the coloring on the box was running off in the water.  I am really about to super glue these things on - Reese literally gets into everything!

Happy Birthday to Grandpa!

Another year of being thankful - got to wish my dad ANOTHER birthday today!  It was just under 2 years ago that we were first told that he had an unusual cancer in his parotid gland on the right side of his face (originally they were thinking that he had Bell's palsy) & 2.5 months later we were told that it actually was metastatic thyroid cancer and that he would only be around for a few more months.  So being able to tell him "Happy birthday" today was even more special! 

It has not always been the best of terms between my dad and I but over the last 4 years or so, things really have turned, and turned for the better. 

Happy birthday to Grandpa - heres to hoping there are lots more!

 From a few years ago...know that there is more recent ones but this will do!  A few people are missing in this photo! 

Finished project!

What a lovely new mailbox we have - thanks to neighbor David and hubby Dave!   Hopefully this one lasts more than 4 years...or maybe we will be lucky enough to move before it gets knocked down again!  Will have to take a photo of the "finished" project!

While the daddies were hard at work the kiddos were playing!  Love the neighbor kids!  These girls are the sweetest!

 I just love this photo of Reese!  She happened to be laying in the leaves and I happened to get the perfect photo of her!