Pumpkins and Costumes!

We finally carved our pumpkins (the two that hadn't rotted...whoops) and Uncle Windell sent us costumes again! We're in Iowa this weekend, so we went to my parents' church fall party. It was a lot of fun with all sorts of games and candy! I told Mom I'm not sure which one was more tiring...getting them in and out of the car or chasing Jacob all over the church! I think the latter!!! :) They both had a lot of fun.

Anna said she wanted to be Mary...

and she had a little lamb whose fleece was white as snow...

and everywhere that Mary went, her lamb was hollering so!
(as you can see, he didn't like it at first. thus I have no picture of them together. you're lucky I even got a picture of him at all! first he screamed and then at church he didn't stand still for 2 seconds!)

But once we got to the church and Jacob realized that there were games to play and candy to get, he was all about being a lamb!

This was Jacob's favorite game..because he got to open and shut doors!! He especially thought it was fun to peek in and see Pastor back there! :)

Anna was a little leary at first...she's used to Papa scaring her all the time! ;)

Anna and Gloria (Mia, Gloria was very happy to have heard from you yesterday!)

Anna was a pro at the throwing games! Daddy, you should be proud!!

You know why Jim is laughing back there? After Jacob played the game, Jim held up 2 candies for Jacob to pick from. Jacob grabbed both & shoved them in his bag!!

Feeding the shark! :)

Hoop a Pumpkin.

This was Jacob's second favorite game...rolling golf balls up the ramp and trying to get them in the holes. Of course, Jacob didn't get any in the holes, but he loved rolling them up the ramp!

CANDY!!

Anna played the guessing game and guessed 500 candy corn in a little jar (I don't think she won!)

You're supposed to pick a duck, look at the number on the bottom and get a prize. Jacob just wanted to play with the ducks in the water! :)

Oooohhhh, but then he got his own duck!

Feed the elephant! Anna did good at this one, too.

Who knows. He was probably yelling about more candy, more balls, more games!!!

Oh my. You see that look? THAT'S why I was tired when we left!!!

Anna got a butterfly painted on her face!! She loved it and we had to be very careful not to wash it off that night!

Carving pumpkins...See my seed Daddy?

Such a sweetie pie.

Since the pumpkins were a bit old, most of the slime was dried up. Anna jumped right in, but Jacob didn't want much to do with it.

He'd rather dig in the dirt and smear it all over his face!

Ornery!!!!!

Blogging on the go

Hmmm. Not sure how to post pictures from here. I've got a funny one of Anna asleep in the car. We made a surprise trip to Iowa since Anna doesn't have school tomorrow! Mom didn't have a clue! And this PINK blackberry :) makes it even easier to surprise her since I was able to email her all day!

SC Homecoming!

Last weekend (or was it the one before?!) was Sterling's homecoming. My brother Jamie and his family came to town, as well as our good friends Kreg & Graci and their girls! The kids loved the parade...

This was actually before the parade. Jacob and Hudson were excited to just watch the cars drive by!

Hudson, Jacob, Addison, Anna and Elise waiting for the parade to start (or continue, depending on who you ask!). It was a bit chilly in the morning but quickly turned into a pretty nice day.

Waiting for what's next (before the parade started, of course!)

Collecting candy and staying away from the loud fire engine!

Hedrick's had a mini petting zoo at the college, which the kids loved! Hudson wanted to feed the animals rocks!

There were also inflatables. Jacob, again, wouldn't go all the way in!

He LOVED the animals. For some weird reason, the big fat pot-bellied pig was his favorite!

Notice Anna is poised and ready to run in case that pesky calf (or whatever...I know it's not actually a calf calf) decides to try something funny!!

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Saturday night was the alumni banquet. Now, Aaron & I have been alumnus (is that the plural for alumni??) for 6 and 8 years and have never attended. Whoops! :) But this year was very special because my cousin Scott was presented with the Alumni Award!! It was pretty fun and it was awesome to see him recognized in such a special way by our Alma mater!

I love this picture. THAT is my Grandpa. He loves to laugh and I love to see him smile that great, big smile! The two things he loves the most in this life are his Lord and his family.

Scott and Amy...her name should be on that award too (even though she's not alum!). They both work so hard to follow God's calling on their lives!

I was going to take these artsy pictures of each course.....eh, I was hungry and forgot! The dinner did get started late. It was a delicious meal.

Scott accepting the award.

"From 1958 the Alumni Awards was given to alumni who have revealed outstanding contributions in developing careers, service to society and loyalty to SC. In 1975 the award was broken into two pieces, the Alumni Citation is given to Alumni who graduated more than 15 years prior to the year given and the Alumni Award is reserved for younger alumni."
www.sterling.edu/node/1490

It was a fun weekend! And THANK YOU to Bruce, Shirley, and Addie for babysitting the kids for us so we could enjoy the banquet!

Special Delivery For Papa

It was one of those days the other day...

We got a delivery and I realized that the box was just right...

For a very special delivery to Papa!

:) I'm kidding! I'd NEVER mail my kid in a box. I'd ship them overnight with UPS guy! ha

Migraines: 2 Mommy: 1

Well, Day 2 and Day 3 of the Operation were not so great. Migraines attacked with a vengeance and I was down for the count yesterday. Today was better by far, but still not 100%
Therefore, there are no pictures. I have to say, God has blessed me with possibly the sweetest little girl in the whole world. She kept Jacob from climbing on me when I was resting on the couch yesterday. She told me "I'll take care of him. You just rest." After a quick bath (pretty much in, wash, out) I was about to lose my supper. I told Anna I hurt too bad to read a book, so she said "Don't worry Mommy. I'll read Jacob some books." So as I sat in the chair, they sat on her bed and she read him at least 5 books. And praise God, Jacob went to bed easily! Anna came to my room not long after saying she was thirsty. I took the lid off her cup and she got herself some more water. She climbed up into bed with me at some point b/c when I woke up 4 1/2 hrs. later, she was there. Thankfully the ice pack and sleep helped and today I felt mostly better. It reared its ugly head several times, but not for very long. These are the days when I wish we had a live-in chiropractor and masseuse! But God is good and we all made it through the last two days! Only one more day and Daddy is HOME!!!

Day 1: Survived

Day One of Operation Daddy-Travel:

We did it! :) Aaron is back on the road recruiting for the week, so I'm holding down the fort (or trying!). Today wasn't so bad. Ask me again in a couple days and I might be comatose! ;)

Last night after dessert (popsicles!), Anna was being silly.

Jacob wasn't going to waste one bite of his! (Those blue eyes!! They could just melt me! Oh alright, they do! He is a charmer, that's for sure.)

Tonight, Addie came over for supper (thanks for the company!!). She also brought some laundry over in a plastic tub (college students!). Over the years, I think my kids' favorite things to play with have been our foster kids' laundry "baskets"!! I never know what they might show up. I've seen it all...mesh hampers, plastic baskets, bags, boxes, and now tubs! Jacob loved climbing in and out. He especially loved it when Addie pushed him around in it!

What a poser! She pranced over and said "Take my pit-cher Mommy!" and proceeded to pose! :) I didn't get any of her IN the tub. She was pretending to swim and made the sides fog up with her breath. She was wearing a scuba mask, of course!

Wooo boy, was this one wild after his bath tonight! He flew around squealing and pulling the laundry off the couch with his devilish grin and that gleam in his eye!
Of course, I get them in bed at the perfect time and they conspire against me for a quick, peaceful bedtime!! Over an hour later, they were both finally asleep. Jacob was causing the problems. Anna told me "I can't go to sleep with Jacob whining like that!" Poor girl ;)
Now that my work is done for the evening, I better get to bed!
We miss you Daddy!

Check Them Out

Check out these two sites!

E-mealz is a meal planning site I found through Dave Ramsey's website. I'm seriously considering trying it. Feeding our family for $300 or less a month would be great. With the half-side of beef we just bought, hopefully I can make it even less than that. Although feeding 10 people (6 of whom are college students!) once every week might make up the difference. But still, cutting back $100 from our grocery budget would be great! It's only $5/month and you get a weekly supper menu PLUS a customized shopping list to a store of your choice--made from the week's sales!

Flutterby Threads is a friend's Etsy site. She sews all sorts of things and after a post on facebook about selling a few aprons she had, she's had lots of orders! Aaron & I went to SC with her and I'm so excited for this business she's been thinking about to take off! Good luck Stacey!! :)

Already...It's Started Already!

So it's a well known fact that my son is (and has been since he could move) enthralled with all things wheels, including cars. Well, it's gotten even worse. Aaron got a car magazine in the mail the other day and Jacob loves looking at it! I finally just put it in his book box!!

Seriously...you don't have to teach boys this!

Oh the excitement...he can hardly contain it! All these CARS!!!

Such a MAN thing to do! Sit and look at a car magazine and watch TV!!! It's Thomas the Train, too...he had a hard time deciding which one to concentrate on! Luckily he can't channel surf yet! ;)
He's seen the movie Cars and I can't believe it, but he remembers it (he watched it a couple times in Iowa). The box of wipes is Cars themed (we've had it forever). He would grab the wipes, grunt and point, carry it to the living room and point at the wipes and then the TV. He wants to watch that movie! We don't have it (nor will we, but that's a different story), but that either doesn't matter to him or doesn't register! I finally taped over the box so he isn't reminded!!!

You also don't have to teach girls this! :) She's a ham, that's for sure.

Jacob was standing there like this so Anna had to go stand for a picture too:) Silly kids. I've got a couple funny video clips of exercise videos, but that'll have to wait! I'm going to bed so I can wake up and go get a massage. And then go back to bed!! :)