Halloween Costume Contest

It was time for the traditional costume contest at the Zion Park District. This year Connor and Megan took first place in their categories. They each got a 1st place ribbon and a $20 gift card to Walmart. Now its time to start thinking about next year and how to be bigger and better.

Keira and Connor were supposed to be a pair, but I think the judges didnt make the connection with their costumes. Max was a great vampire, but not quite good enough for the podium finish.

Trick-or-Treat, Part 2

It was a beautiful fall day today ( mid 70's), very unusual for a northern Illinois Halloween. After I got the kids home from school, we applied layers and layers of makeup and off to trick-or-treating we went again. Grandma Pam assisted us in our treating adventures and of course keeping a sucker in the twins hands at all times. We started off with all 4 children, but Megan went off with her friends..

Halloween Class Parties

I decided to volunteer and chaperone Max's kindergarten Halloween party today. Wow, it takes a lot of patience to keep 30 5-6 year olds under control, but it was fun. They all got dressed up in their costumes and paraded around the school. Next we played games and had lots of cupcakes to eat. I snuck out for a little bit to go get pictures of Megan's class and see what they were up to.

Trick-or-Treat, Take 1

Tonight we had trick-or-treating at our local mall. After I picked up the "real" children from school at 3:10, I had approximately 45 minutes to get all four children dressed, make-up'd, and loaded in the car. That didn't happen. :) Once I got out the door, I had to pick up two more kids and away we went to the mall. Keira is Snow White and Connor is Dopey and the other Six Dwarfs (A great big THANK YOU to Mingma for helping with the costume), Max is a vampire and Megan is some kind of dead gothy bride thingy. All the kids had a good time and everyone loved the costumes, especially all my buddies at the Disney Store. They couldn't get enough of them.

Future Cheerleaders

The twins were running around with these pom poms from when we went to Megan's homecoming football game a few weeks ago. This went on for over 20 minutes. Back and forth down the hallway.

Pumpkin Carving

Well, since Halloween is less than a week away, we better get these pumpkins carved. I am also like little Claire, and do not like the pumpkin goo on my hands, but somehow its always me that has my hands in it. Connor didnt mind it, so I guess I will start working on him now to be my "goo" remover.

Pumpkin Farm

Is this the twins, or Jack and Jill.

It was a typical fall day and the wind was whipping around leaves and small children. We decided to pack up the brood and head up to the Jerry Smith's pumpkin farm. The children had fun feeding the animals and running through the numerous pumpkin displays.

Halloween party

Since the Halloween season is fully upon us, the first Halloween party of the year was tonight for Megan. Megan's costume is kind of a homemade creation of things. She wanted to be a sort of a corpse gothy bride of sorts. So I searched the thrift stores finding pieces for her costume. I don't think we did to bad either.. I got all her pieces for her costume for under $20. Since I had to work, Bill got to put together her costume and apply her makeup for this frightful event. Not too shabby. She also won 2nd place for the costume at the party too.

Bill took this pic on his phone and sent it to me at work.

A day at the farm

We packed up the fam in the grandparents' van, and off to Indiana we went. Grandma was planting flowers, Papa was mowing the grass and Bill and I were chasing twins around.

The Amish folk also came by with their wagons and picked some of the apples that were on the ground. Megan and Max were helping and chatting it up with them. Keira was quite fond of the youngest Amish boy, Sheldon. It was cute watching them.

Famous?

I was bored this morning and found this magazine maker, so I figured I would give it a try.

I was digging around on my work PC and found these pictures on it, so I used them :)

Key Lime Cove... Take 2, Daddy time

This time Bill got to take Megan to Key Lime Cove for some swimming with the Girl Scouts. I am sure he loved all the screaming girlies running around. I bet he sat his buns in a tube and stayed in the lazy river most of the day hiding from the troop :) It sounds like they had a great time.
Max and the twins went to Grandma Pam's and I spent the day wrapped up at church with the whole Rite of Entrance Mass and luncheon. It was just another one of those days that we all go in separate directions and don't know who is coming or going :)

Way to go Max!!!

Max received a Principal's award for sharing kindly with others... He must leave his halo and wings at school each day :) Also I thought his paper on where he lives was cute. I like the new abbreviation for the U S of A. UNITERICA (clicky on pics to make bigger and clearer)

Working with a camera has its perks...

Bill came home from work and told me he got to hang out with Dale Earnhardt Jr. for a couple of hours down at the base. I so wish I could have been there again to hang out with him too. Junior was visiting his sponsored recruit divisions before they graduated and Bill and got to take pictures and discuss how the race went over the weekend. He did earn some big hubby points by bringing me the disk with all the pictures on it and a signed autograph... Yay me!!!!
Bill was going to grab me the partial can of Amp energy drink that Junior was drinking as a souvenir, but sadly didn't.

Dale Jr. Article

Here are some pics from the day, and a shot from when I got a quickie pic with him, when he came to the base a few years ago.

OLH Homecoming

Today after church, we packed up the fam in the van and headed off to the OLH Homecoming game at Carmel Catholic High School. It started off as an overcast day and comfortably in the lower 70's. We sat in the bleachers and watched the JV game (5th &6th grade) It looked so cute watching these small little men running up and down the field. By the time the Varsity (7th & 8th grade) game started the temperature dropped, the clouds darkened up and it started to pour rain. I went and sat in the van with the twins before half time and the rest of the family toughed it out under umbrellas and cheered the team on to victory. After the game all the supporters drove back to OLH and enjoyed a team victory meal of hot dogs and cake.
We forgot the camera and the only shot that was taken was of Keira and me sitting in the bleachers.

Zion Homecoming

We felt like being nostalgic and went to the Zion homecoming football game. Is been 15 years since I've been there and almost 20 for Bill :) We are not aging ourselves or anything. Megan's been to a few games this year, so she already knows more football players then we do. My little 9 year old thinks she's 15. Her best friend Haley's brother plays on the the varsity team and some of the players hang out at their house. It's too bad we lost 31-14 against the Warren Blue Devils.