Trick or treat!!

Today the kids went trick or treating in our town...they made it 10 houses. You see, most people in our area hook up a trailer to the riding lawnmower and go house to house (some even ride up the long driveways). Not us. The kids and Mike walked (I passed out candy), and so did not make it very far on this cold, blustery Halloween Day. They still got their share of candy, and then it was on to Milwaukee. Traditionally, we stop at my Grandma's and Dad's (they live about a mile apart). This year we stopped by my Mom's and StepGrandma's. The kids went to a handful of houses there, too. Then after dinner we went to the village where our school is located (2 miles away). They have trick or treating at night. It is SO much fun. Not to sound like a big party pooper, but I've never really been into Halloween. But I also never got to trick or treat at night growing up, ours was always during the day. It is great out here. Everyone gets into it; adults are dressed up, ALL the kids are dressed up (even the older kids...unlike the teensomethings who come costumeless to the door and expect candy anyhow). Many people go all out decorating their yards. There are tons of people everywhere, and being a small village, we ran into so many people we knew from church and school, which I think is so neat. So small-town like. We now have candy covering our entire kitchen table, mostly chocolate. I wish it were sour patch kids...

Very much looking forward to the "extra" hour of sleep tonight!!

Great friends, good times...

My Scrap Store gals threw a baby shower for me last weekend that included delicious food, a beautiful homemade cake, games, and gifts. They are the greatest bunch of gals! SO thoughtful and sweet, I'm so happy to know them. (If anyone else has pictures, send them my way, please

: )

Pumpkin Patch, Friday the 23rd

pumpkin patch photography taken by Kaycey
Our school hosts a carnival-like party called Pumpkin Patch. Everyone was so excited to go, seeing it would be our first year at the school, and there has been talk about it at church since school began! There are carnival-like games and prizes, a chilli supper, a bake sale, silent auction, raffle baskets, and a pumpkin carving contest. Unfortunately, Maddie came home sick from school last Friday, and Cal had been sick since Wednesday (the 21st)--some sort of flu bug. Yuck. Kaycey and I were both put on tamiflu to prevent us from getting the flu. So far, it's working. I also had both the seasonal flu shot and H1N1 shot. SO here's hoping for a healthy winter!! Anyhow, so just Kaycey and I went to the Pumpkin Patch party; and she decided to take pictures to show Cal. She also played extra games to win prizes for both Maddie and Cal. She even won three real, live goldfish!! I guess we are now officially pet owners. We dug out our little fish tank from a box in the basement, and filled it up. Amazingly, the fish are even still alive!

fish photo taken by Cal

ready and waiting...

Diapers and wipes...check!

teeny, tiny lil hats all clean...check!

Some of the toys Maddie and I dug out of the basement baby toy boxes & cleaned off...check!

Baby car seat, all clean, belts adjusted, and ready to go...check!!

swing....check! (even though we couldn't get it working at first even after putting in brand new batteries...Mike gave it a good shove and all of a sudden it worked)

Baby Girl---21 days or less! (who doesn't quite officially have a name yet...Mike has recently decided just in case it's a boy we should have a name picked, too)

HINT: all potential girl names end in the "ee" sound

birthday fun

My birthday was over this past weekend. Mike and I don't typically exchange presents, but he & the kids did go buy a cake mix Saturday after soccer. It was rather amusing to see him make a cake! I have to say, if it weren't for my help, that poor cake may not have made it...but the cake making was a success! I love the look on Maddie's face, as if she is saying with her eyes, "Daddy, are you sure you know what you are doing??"

The kids then helped decorate it. Honestly, it was very tasty!!

Some things I was excited to get include an under-the-cabinet radio/CD player/mp3 output from Dad and Maria (seriously, I have music going all day now!!), 3 more chairs for the island from Mom (which Mike is putting together tonight, yay!), a tasty ice cream cake from Maggie Moo from my dear scrappin' friend :O) , and this from my sister...too funny!!