Random

I always have a few pics that there aren't enuf of to do a whole post about...so, why not just do a random post:)

We carved pumpkins. This year we put vinyl faces on them and then just drilled holes everywhere so the light would shine through all over.
We ALWAYS paint our pumpkins, but this year the kids begged to carve them....so we did. Of course, this was the year that it was in the 90's most of October and with a South facing house...they sat in the sun all day long and went rotten really quick. It was really gross!:(








Lexi got to make a poster about herself for school. She was so proud of it.

Peter washed his car...and got a little help from a super-hero!

Sports finished up. Hadley was only doing soccer, Devin was doing soccer and flag football. Between that, school, two church callings and a hubby working tons of hours...I was starting to lose my mind! I am always a little relieved to have sports done even though we LOVE it. This was Hadley's soccer team. He has had this coach the whole time we have lived here(almost 3yrs...I can't believe we've been here that long!) and we love him so much! He is so good with Hadley!

(sidenote...I was released from my church calling with the cubscouts so my load feels 1000x lighter!)

Trick or Treating!

And of course...a little driveway painting. Peter spent a few days sealing all our concrete so Lexi kept herself busy one afternoon copying him and pretending to paint the driveway:)

Cornbelly's

We took the kids to Cornbelly's during UEA for a day of fun.
The pictures don't really need captions so just enjoy our day of fun:)

Those are my boys...laying down in everyone's way. If I remember correctly they were laughing so hard they couldn't get up:)

Backyard

Guess what? We got our backyard done!! Well, done except the details like planting flowers etc... but 98% done!

First, this guy came to pour us a bigger patio.



Lexi and her friend Kate were fascinated with the cement truck.



Hadley playing on the new patio...and yes, that is grass you see AND fence posts! I forgot to get a pic with the fence done but you get the point.
Peter took all of UEA break off and we were able to get it all done.

View towards the other side.

32?

I distinctly remember turning 30. But somehow 32 snuck up on me. What happened to 31?!?



HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!:)

THANX DAD!

First day of school.

The kids started school on August 24th. I was so not ready for it. Maybe it was because summer got such a late start weather wise, who knows...but I wish we could have had until after Labor Day. Now our lives are crazy with soccer, football and homework. And, while I love fall and all it's activities...I miss our carefree summer days!





It was bright outside so they were not happy that I made them take this picture.

Hadley started 5th grade this year and was MORTIFIED that I wanted to take his picture outside his classroom. So, like a good mom...I did it anyway! I can't wait to embarass my kids as they get older!:)

Devin is in 2nd grade this year and not yet embarassed by me. just you wait Devin, mwuahahaha!

My "baby" started preschool a few days ago. It doesn't feel like she is really going to school because it's a friend of mine just doing a little class for just a few kids. It feels more like a playdate than school but my shy little girl really needed to get out so we signed up!

She got to pick her backpack out and was so excited to go! I can't believe she is getting so big. Luckily, with a fall bday, she get's an extra year home with me before kindergarten so I have another whole school year with her home after this one.

We had to get a picture of the back of the backpack. The boys are so over characters on their backpacks...it's not cool they say. But at least my baby still loves her tinkerbell!

Lexi and our neighbor Cooper. He is in her little class with her. They are adorable together.

The lake

The town we live in has a lake right in the middle of it. Not a load up and go water skiing type of lake...but some wading, fishing, an occasional sail boat, canoes and lots of swimming kind of lake.

It was the perfect way to spend hot summer afternoons. I would sit under a tree and read a book while the kids played to their hearts content!

Oregon

Peter's Grandma died earlier this year, she was cremated and in July we all went to Oregon to bury her next to her hubby.

Hadley didn't understand the concept of cremation and was talking to my friend and he told her that we were going to Oregon and we were going to have a big fire and burn Grandma! We had to sit him down and explain the process a little better after that:)

Grandma's urn was in the middle of this table. Hadley (of course) came up afterwards and wanted to know where she was. I said "In the jar with the purple flowers. Why?" He said "cuz I tried to open it to see her but it wont open"

gotta love that kid.

The Olson's...minus Everett who is on a mission, and Kat who had to fly back to Tenessee for back surgery.

While there we went to Crater Lake. We hadn't been since the week after we got married.

It was July and there was still so much snow up there!

Everyone decided that since we were already in Oregon, right next to the worlds best camping spot (at least our favorite!!) that we would just camp for a few days before heading home.
You may or may not remember our camping trip from a couple years ago. But, determined not to relive it...we stayed in a hotel and just drove up to the campsite everyday to hang out with everyone. It was MUCH better!

Poor Marilyn got her hair stuck in the tent zipper. She was pretty embarassed but it was so cute that I had to take a pic! what kind of aunt would I be if I hadn't!!:)

The kids swam at the lake...the water was maybe in the 50's temperature wise and even Lexi just walked right in and swam. Peter and I took 30 minutes to slowly inch our way in...and I gave up when it hit my thighs and just watched.

Everyone at the end of a fun camping trip. It was so much fun to be there with everyone!!

Fun with big machines.

This post is about yard work. Try to contain your excitement.

We were talking to our friends about how we wanted to bury our trampoline. Peter was explaining that we could rent an excavator for not much but he doesn't really know how, or want to run one. Well, Nick apparently loves that kind of stuff and offered to help. He was so excited he probably would have paid for it too!:)





We got our retaining wall built. Our yard is sloped so we had to make a flat spot for the tramp.

Nick "working" on the hole...notice in the corner, Peter lounging in a chair watching:)

He even took some time to give the kids a ride.

Putting the trampoline back together. Actually getting it in the hole and making sure it was level and had proper drainage etc... was suprisingly much harder than we were expecting.

All finished! The boys like to run from the side of the house and jump off the wall and flip onto the tramp. I have no doubt someone will end up breaking something at some point with that fun trick.