Happy Halloween!

Last year Ethan was very disappointed with our Halloween decorations, so this year we decided to step it up a little.  We added a witch for the front door, spiders, webs, spooky orange lights and a ghost.  Ethan is now very satisfied with our house.  Yesterday Eric carved up their pumpkins for them.  Lauren's is Mickey Mouse, Austin's is a scary vampire and Ethan's is Snivy from Pokemon.  Pretty spooky, huh?

We are all ready for some fun Trick or Treating tonight!

Halloween fun at school

Friday the kids got to dress up at school!  The kindergartners had a big parade around the school.  Aren't they cute?

 

Lauren waived to all the big kids.

Luke Skywalker

After the parade, I volunteered in Austin's class while they had some spooky centers to learn about the five senses.  They made some yummy witches brew to taste and loved it.

They also had to smell some mystery items and guess what was in the cup.  Of course, our stinker Austin is peeking in this picture.

Then I had to say goodbye to Austin and head over to Ethan's classroom to volunteer for their Halloween centers.  I was in charge of Bingo and it was great to get to know all the kids.  Isn't our Ash Ketchum so cute?

It was a great morning and we are looking forward to more Halloween fun!

Enchanted Rock

 

Saturday we loaded up the truck and headed to Enchanted Rock for some tent camping.  Yep, you read that right!  Tent camping is a big change for us camper people, so we were excited to give it a try. 

The campground was gorgeous!  There was a fun playground for the kids.  Unfortunately, the bathroom facilities were under construction, so we were forced to use porta potties.  Thanks to my dear friend Erica's efforts, we at least had one semi clean porta potty to use. 

When we heard that the restrooms were out of order, my prankster husband decided to bring his own.

I took this picture from our campsite.  Isn't the view amazing?!  The boys are watching a couple deer running behind the bush.

Lauren loved feeding this fat squirell potato chips and peanuts.

Erica also had a fun craft for the kids.  They painted the cutest Angry Birds out of acorns and had so much fun.

The kids and Dads went on a hike in search for a Geocache.  Even though they aren't smiling in this picture, they were so excited when they found it! 

Lauren was voted MVP of the hike. 

While everyone else climbed Enchanted Rock later that afternoon, Lauren and I took a nap in our tent.

Crazy girl woke up halfway through her nap and moved to the hard tent floor.  

Woo hoo!  The top of Enchanted Rock!

Scenes from our campground

The wildlife were amazing!  The deer almost ate out of the kids' hands!

Camping mommas

The kids had fun running around in the dark with flashlights, glow sticks and headlamps. 

Ray popped up some Jiffy Pop and everyone got a big kick out of it.

Who knew glow sticks could be so much fun?

 

The kids did great in the tent. 

After the kids went to bed, we sat outside to enjoy the stars and conversation. That's when all the critters started coming out...

This grey fox, a raccoon, a deer, a squirrel and an armadillo all came up within 10 feet of us. It was crazy!

Despite a migraine, questionable porta potties and cactus spikes stuck in little hands, it was a wonderful weekend spent with dear friends.  I love making special memories for our kids and will always remember our family's first tent camping experience!

Today I'm enjoying...

my sweet little girl

She is getting so big and is so much fun.  I love that she can communicate now!  She always makes me laugh.

Organizing

Today I took full advantage of my 5 hours of kid free time.  I cleaned and organized important things like Legos and Star Wars figurines.

Happy kids

I was so happy to see the kids reading together nicely, even if it is a Pokemon book.

Cold front & warm chilli

Enough said after our scorching summer!

Sherry's San Antonio Birthday

Thursday night my mom and I drove to San Antonio to meet up with my sister, Trevor and Tatum to celebrate Sherry's birthday.  We had a great time walking down the Riverwalk and eating yummy Mexican food together.  We ended the night watching the kids swim in the indoor/outdoor pool at the Marriot Rivercenter.

Friday Sherry and I went to the Women of Faith Conference at the Alamodome.  Patsy Clairmont and Andy Andrews were hilarious!  The music was inspiring and I'm so glad I got to go.  I enjoyed every minute of it.  Even though we got yelled at by our cab driver, the Alamodome only served Pepsi products and we didn't get to meet Amy Grant in person, Sherry had a great birthday. 

Happy Birthday Sherry!  I love you and I'm so thankful to have you as my big sister and friend.

Fall Fest 2011

This year our school had their Halloween Fall Fest a couple weeks before Halloween.  I bought Lauren's peacock costume last year after Halloween and Austin picked out his Luke Skywalker costume.  Ethan insisted on being Ash Ketchum, Pokemon trainer extraordinaire.  Since his costume wasn't ready yet, we borrowed this awesome skeleton costume from Luke.

The kids were very excited to go to their very first Fall Fest.  We had a great time Trunk or Treating.  Constanze had a pirate trunk and it was so cool!

 

jib jab fun

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Soccer Saturday

We started off our Saturday morning with Ethan's soccer game.

Ethan had a great game!  He is a pro at staying with the ball and anticipating where it's going to go next. 

The cheering section.

Check out that kick!

Then it was Austin's game.  I just love back to back soccer games!

Lauren and Eric kicked the ball around during half time.

Then the whole family got in on the fun.

Lauren was actually in the goal too!

Austin scored 6 goals! He did great at passing this game too! 

We are so proud of our soccer players!