Funny glasses=funny pictures

Rett Angel Kemry

This is my sweet niece Kemry who has Rett Syndrome.

Her older sister Cicely and younger sister Brynn are also in the video.

I love this picture

I took this picture the day we went to the apple orchard but I didn't put it in my apple orchard post. I love this picture and I just wanted to share it. I don't know what I love about it so much but now it is my background picture on my computer. Below is a cropped close-up of the same picture.

Halloween goodies!

We have had a fun weekend of Halloween fun. It started out with the Chili-cook-off and Trick-or-treating in the hallways at church on Thursday evening. Here are the girls all dressed up before we went. Above, Ainsley was a cute cow-girl.

(Don't call her a cowboy or you'll hear it from her!)

Below, Mackenzie was a really cute witch.

And below her Summer was an adorable Monarch Butterfly.

Then on Halloween day we went to pick out some pumpkins at Pahl's market. The girls had fun running through and playing hide-and-seek in the hay-bale maze. After that we carved our pumpkins with our friends the Amotts. Bart and I were both really impressed with our pumpkin carving skills this year. I actually have always hated carving pumpkins. I've always done just the typical jack-o-lantern face and it always turns out real dopey looking. Well, this year the Amotts had these cool cut-outs that we tried. I carved the cat pumpkin and Bart carved a witches face into his pumpkin.

And I have to say, I think Bart and I did an awesome job!

Oh- and the kids did an awesome job scooping out all the goopey gross stuff!

The Amotts have a Halloween tradition of dressing up in tinfoil like a Chipotle burrito and getting free food at Chipotle so we all decked ourselved out in tinfoil and got a lovely free meal. We got there just in time before the line started wrapping itself around the building! Kenzie, Ainsley and Lizzie in their lovely tinfoil hats.

It was really quite a hoot to see all those adults getting creative with their tinfoil.

After dinner we set out for some fun Trick-or-treating in our neighborhood.

We all had a blast. The kids got tons of candy and looked adorable.

It was definately a FUN Halloween weekend!

Another 1/2 marathon

Bart ran his 3rd half marathon last Saturday. It was called the Siouxland Lewis & Clark Marathon held in Sioux City, Iowa. We all went there to cheer him on. It was definately on a much smaller scale than Grandma's considering we were able to park 1/2 a block away from the finish line and we had no crowds at all to contend with. It was super fun to see Bart run across the finish line and he said it totally made his day to see his 4 girls cheering him on at the end.

Bart was pleased with his time of 2 hours and 22 minutes considering there were lots and lots of up hill parts. We are all so proud of him and of his dedication to his running goals.

Little House

I've been reading the Little House on the Prairie books to the girls this past summer so when I saw the musical was coming to the Ordway in St. Paul I knew we HAD to go. Bart and Summer had some fun daddy-daughter time at the MOA while Ains, Kenz and I had some fun mommy-daughter time at the theater. The musical was nice, most of the funny parts involved Nellie Oleson, and I loved the love story between Laura and Almonzo. Even though she doesn't have the best singing voice Melissa Gilbert, who played Ma, really made the show worth it because it just wouldn't feel like Little House on the Prairie without her. Overall, it was a great success and everyone enjoyed themselves.

Sing along! Music: Popcorn Popping

I looked out the window and what did I see?

Not what I expected Oct. 12th to be!

Fall has brought me such a scary surprise,

Snow falling gently right before my eyes.

I could take a snow ball and throw it far

It still wouldn't make me feel on par.

It was really really so

That white stuff sure was snow

Isn't Minnesota such a wonderful place!?!?

Walker Art Center

On Oct. 1st I got chosen to help chaperone Ainsley's 3rd grade field trip to the Walker Art Center. I never quite understand modern art until I hear the story behind it or have someone explain something about it to me. Some of the works we saw were very interesting and enlightening. While others...well, exhibited the "I could do that!" or "my 3 year old could do that!" comments. The part I love most about the Walker is their famous sculpture garden. This was a favorite for the kids as well.

Below is a picture of my group of kids in front of the famous Spoonbridge and Cherry. Ainsley is in the middle.

This one is called X with Columns.
It was a bit rainy but still a fun, educational day and a day I got to spend with Ainsley!

school pictures

School picture day totally took me off guard this year. It happend during the 1st week of school. I don't ever remember it coming that quickly before. Anyway, we've had the pictures back now for a while and they've just been sitting around on my desk. I finally got around to scanning them in tonight. And being the completely harried mother that I am I of course, have not even gone to get Summer's 3 year old pictures taken yet. So here are just Ainsley and Kenz and hopefully by the end of the year I'll get Summer's pictures taken too.

Ainsley ~ 3rd Grade

Mackenzie ~ 1st Grade

Apple orchard

Ahhh...it's that time of year again.

Fall.

Apple orchards, pumpkins, cooler weather, and leaves changing color.

Today we went to an apple orchard that we'd never been to before. We found a cool little spot in back of the orchard that was secluded from the crowds. A bunch of big crates were stacked up back there and I found it the perfect spot to take some pictures of the kids. Plus, the crates provided us some nice shade from the 80 degree weather (that is unseasonable warm for this time of year).

Bart's brother was in town visiting us and this was a fun thing to do with him today.

Here are some of the fun pictures from the orchard.

This picture makes me laugh

Yesterday Summer wanted me to take a picture of her in her "new skirt".

Ya, it's really just a dish cloth held together with a chip clip.

But what kid can resist getting their picture taken? So, Ains wanted to be in the picture then Kenz saw what we were doing and tried to get herself in the picture. Summer kept running towards me shouting, "Lemme see, Lemme see" before I'd even get a chance to push the button. Here is one of the funnier shots I took and then the final picture that I think actually turned out quite cute.

Click on the above picture to make it bigger...Kenzie's face is hilarious!

Notice Ainsley holding Summer back :)

Bald Eagle

Look what was atop my neighbors house this morning....

Bus stop

Our bus stop has 20 kids at it!

I don't think they'll be getting rid of that bus stop anytime soon.

Mom Homework

Now that we are back to school I seriously think I have more homework than the kids! I am now back into the nightly routine of checking the backpacks for papers that I need to sign or look at. I daily check the lunch menu to see if I need to make a lunch and check each of the girls' calendars to see what kind of shoes they should be wearing. And then comes the Friday folders filled with all kinds of homework for mom. There is the multiple get-to-know-you sheets, writing workshop idea sheets, and a plethora of cheer team, dance team, karate or school pride fliers to sift through. I read the newsletters and reminders from each of their teachers, newsletters from the phys-ed teacher, newsletter from the Spanish teachers, and newsletters from the principal. Lunch money to send, order forms to fill out, after school class sign-ups, volunteer sign-ups and lots fees to pay. And don't forget about those Scholastic Book Orders! C'mon folks, seriously...how many of those do I really need?

School

I'm a little late blogging about this but the kids did start school last Tuesday. Ainsley is in 3rd grade and Kenz is in the 1st grade. Kenzie is at school all day now which is an adjustment for her and they are both attending a new school which has been another big adjustment for all of us. Ainsley seems to be making new friends and getting used to the school pretty quickly. Kenzie is a bit more reserved and is taking a bit more time at it. But she is such a sweet girl that I know soon enough she'll have some good friends and I'm sure she'll get used to the new school soon.

Now I get to be with this crazy little kook all day long. We started an ECFE class today (Early Childhood Family Education) which she calls "school." I'm planning on keeping her pretty busy with playdates because I completely and literally fell asleep the other day playing Polly Pockets and My Little Ponies with her. But she's such a doll and I'm excited to have more one on one time with her!

Last minute decision...

We went to the State Fair today. We weren't planning on going but I just couldn't let another year go by without going. (We didn't go last year.) So we ditched the ward picnic and off we went. I'm pretty sure most non-Minnesotans wouldn't understand what the big deal is, but if you're from here or ever lived here then you understand why I just couldn't let 2 years go by with out going.

We started the day off with a horse show, then saw a 3rd Lair skate and bike show and lastly we saw a Lumberjack show. The funny thing is, is that they used a lot of the same jokes that were in the Hayward, WI Lumberjack show. So I guess if you've seen one Lumberjack show you've seen them all.

At the Hayward, WI show Kenzie really wanted a little wood chair that they made at the show. I didn't let her get one then, but they were making them again today and she had $10 burning a hole in her pocket that she could spend however she wanted so she got one this time.

We ate lots of yummy food, Ains and Summer also got to pick out some souveniers, and the kids got to ride a few rides at the end of the day. We were terrible parents and kept our kids out way too late the day before school starts. But we all had a really fun day. Here are a few fun pictures from our day.