punkin' heads

somehow chris had a break in his day, so we carved pumpkins!

and then he took jack to the driving range to test out his new clubs he received for his birthday. we love it when daddy has a little time!

i helped with the cleaning

(ellie really liked this part. jack was a bit squeamish)

and chris with the carving

and after a number of drawings and sketches by the little people, we were able to put together the pumpkins faces.

from their drawings, they picked out which eyes they liked, then noses, then mouths and this is what they created:

jack's is the one on the left, ellie's the right. not really the definition of scary, but they love 'em! ellie's had a huge rotting spot on it already so we managed to turn it into a big, goofy eye.

we are anxiously awaiting tonights ward halloween party! i've been able to use it to bribe the kids with. its been handy.

watch out phil mickelson!

jack, the birthday kid!

jack turned four on saturday! so we headed up north to the hunsader farms in bradenton for a big pumpkin festival. the great thing about having a little guy is that you can convince them into thinking just about anything. well, we talked about this fall birthday party for so long, that jack thought it was especially for him! and it was...

feeding the animals was a big hit! except for ellie. she would give in at the last second and just throw the corn at the goats.

pony ride!

bo was a llama face and part of the frog jumping competition

watching the pumpkin cannons! jack loved it, ellie... not so much...

i really wanted jack to try these water ball things, but it was 5 buckaroos. scratch that!

after a long (and i mean long) morning at the festival, we sent ellie home with bo and larissa (bless them) and took jack with us to go van hunting. we found one! but didnt buy it. its a good thing chris has a level head because i am the one that pushes and pushes. but we have found a few others that we like as well that might fit our budget a little better. but soon we hope to be the proud owners of a big wagon!

after an even longer afternoon, we went to grandma and grandpas for presents and ice cream cake. this little man made out like a bandit! thank you everyone for all the cards and gifts, jack is feelin' like a king!

on saturday jack is going fishing with his buddy connor for yet another birthday shabang, what a lucky guy!

we love you jack buddy!

what a weekend

this weekend was a doozie!

first, on friday night (our anniversary), my mom invited the older grandkids over for a small monster mash! the kids dressed up as a pirate and a princess and we made these hot dog mummies.

they made worms in dirt (with choco pudding and oreos and gummi worms). apparently the whole thing repulsed ellie and she wouldnt go near them. weirdo.

then they turned off all the lights and played with glow sticks.

and then they watched thomas the trains halloween special! when we got there, the movie was almost over, BUT i did catch a snippet of some garden gnomes. you know it must be scary if garden gnomes are involved!

and then on saturday, this pirate turned 4!!! but that will be its own post. lets just say, it was a day fit for a king! or a pirate, i mean!

and then last night we headed down south to have a fall festivity at our friends the Thompsons!

it started out with sloppy joes and all the fixins- which included pollywog punch and edible eyeballs! and then we had a full on party! and here are the pictures to prove it!

when we got there, jack was harry potter, everett an owl and ellie a princess. but within a few minutes, most of the costumes were history.

el presidente smoked my dad when bobbing for apples. it was a little pathetic. i guess all those years of practice paid off president T!

jack gave it a valiant effort. he tried and tried and honestly i cant remember if he eventually got it on his own or with some help. im betting on the latter.

ahhh, but it was worth it in the end!

larissa and i "raced" each other. i whispered to her before hand to leave her stem on so we didnt have to go all the way under, but she was a brave soul....or maybe i was just a cheater :)

thank you thompsons for such a fun night! as we drove away jack said, "i really really like the tontsons" haha. he was half asleep i think.

and here is just a little clip of the kids playing the animal game:

love is in the air!

once upon a time, these two met in a little snowy town in the middle of idaho.

he was a frizbee-playing phlebotomist and she was a punk rocker receptionist.

it wasn't love at first sight.

or second.

or even third.

but they became fast friends

and even best friends!

and then it happened

and before they knew it, they were engaged!

and excited about life together and all the possibilities that promised!

and today they are celebrating the 6th anniversary of their wedding day!

ok, enough with the cheese!

today marks our 6th anniversary. and we are lucky enough to have a babysitter so we can have a night on the town! ok actually, we are going out to dinner and then shopping for a mini-van. i know, its terribly romantic! ok, i cant lie. we are really excited to be looking for a van! i guess we are geeks... but happy and in love geeks!

get your craft on

ev-buddy came over this morning while his sister had a doctors appointment. i thought it would be fun to do a craft so i scrounged around my craft closet to see what i could pull together. and the verdict was:

monster masks for halloween!

just using paper plates and some elastic.

well it soon turned from monsters to aliens because all of our materials were bright, neon colors. we used some big colorful googley eyes, "shinies", and "fuzzies". (big sequins and pom-poms if you dont speak 2 1/2 year old).

upon further observation, i think it is apparent that these masks are not monsters or aliens at all, but

Mardi Gras masks on steroids!

which is quite an accomplishment considering we didnt use any glitter, feathers, or beads!

oOOooOoooOo gOo!

today, they were evil sceintists!

MUAHHHHahahaha!

first they added the precise ingredients:

next, they stirred with exactness:

lastly, they mixed with care:

it's alive!!!

of course, after an experiment, any good scientists would measure:

and make... a watch?! :

and a tongue?! :

and a beard?! :

wait a second! im starting to think these aren't sceintists at all!

oh!!!

it was jack and ellie making "goo"

or slime

or gak

or playdough to the next level

or whatever you would like to call it.

and it was fun! we found the recipe at www.ourbestbites.com

if you live in the neighborhood and want to make some, i have a TON of borax that i will never use, so let me know! the borax was only $2.99 and the glue was $.97 a bottle. great fun for very little cost if you ask me.... and the kids!

these are just a couple pics from last week. i just love ellie with stripped legs!

and she LOVES her red trike!

it's a good thing grandpa doesnt mind visitors at 9 in the morning asking to go for a ride on the "go-cart"

the kids

this week has been pretty slow going at our house. the weather was been i-n-c-r-e-d-i-b-l-e! we've been riding bikes every morning and playing in the sand at my parents house.

but besides that chris has started his clinicals (and all of the homework/studying that goes along with it) and we are all adjusting to a new schedule. he has had to study and do homework at home, which hasnt been the case in the past, so hopefully we can all get used to some changes. and i have had bronchitis this week. so with that combination, we have been trying to keep things low-key around these parts. i did however, finish the kids halloween costumes and im very happy with my little peter pan and tinkerbell... mostly because they love to wear them! i havent taken pictures yet of the finished costumes, so maybe that will be one of our activities tomorrow.

while chris was in ohio i decided to re-do the kids room. it was incredibly exhausting to be pregnant and move furniture and paint and shop like crazy in such a short amount of time, but the kids love it. i havent finished it all, but will certainly post pics when i do.

one thing i did was add a photo collage of the skids (as we so endearingly like to call them). i wanted a bunch of close-ups. i was really pleased with the outcome of the pictures. not necessarily because they are the best photos or the cutest kids, but because i actually took some time to figure out some photoshop techniques, which ended up being rather enjoyable. like how to remove ellie's scar on her right cheek that was very prominent in every photo. it felt good to erase that little stinker!

here are some (or a bunch) of my favorites:

this could be my all time favorite picture of jack. maybe its his dimples. maybe its the fact that i see this little smile of his several times a day when he is plotting something. i dont know. but i love it.