Fall Festival!

Every year our church holds a Fall Festival. We were lucky enough to be a part of the 1st one- and it was neat to see how it has changed over the years! We had a great time playing with the kids and catching up with old friends!

There was face painting- what fun!

Alden shows off pumpkin

What pretty pumpkin flowers!

And the favorite of the night- the bouncy house!

Having fun!!

The evening ended with cotton candy- which, as it turns out, neither kid is a huge fan of!

Say Cheese!!

Here is Alden in his first ever eating contest- it was advertised as a pie eating contest- what they didn't tell you until you got there, was that it was a flour pie and then you had to find, with only your mouth, the piece of gum hidden in it, and then blow a bubble.... To Alden's credit, he found the gum without using his hands- he just blew the flour away until he found the gum- and then put the gum in MY mouth!!

Blowing the flour away- looking for his gum...

We had a blast!!

Addie's Children

Today, Addie informed me that she will have 2 children, both girls, when she grows up and gets married. They will be named Molly and Mrs. Claus.

Why?

I named her after a name that I loved, so she will, too.

Molly is her Best Friend here- so she loves that name.

Mrs. Claus is super special since she met her at Disney World and really loved her- plus she takes care of Santa and she loves Santa- so she loves that name.

And yes, I am documenting this so I can bring up these names when she tells me she is expecting- which won't be for many, many years!

Pumpkin Patch Take 2

A few weeks ago, we went to a local Pumpkin Patch with our good friends the W's. Originally we were going to go to Liberty on Saturday for their Homecoming, but Addie woke-up Saturday morning with a fever and then puked once the Motrin I gave her hit her empty stomach. Since our friends have young kids and 1 is even pregnant, we moved on to Plan B- a free pumpkin patch no far from the airport!

The kids LOVED roaming the pumpkin field- all the scarecrows were dressed in old halloween costumes which they found hysterical!

Posing!

We took a hayride which went through a family-friendly "haunted house"- an old barn that the tractor pulled you though that had black lights and a few things hanging from the ceiling. I snapped this pic just by holding out the camera- and I think it sums up their attitudes perfectly!

We also did their haymaze, which I didn't get pics of, but I should have since Alden walked straight through it, not a single wrong turn- and if you know him, you know that is AMAZING!

Our final activity was letting the kids pick out their own "baby" pumpkins- they were SO excited!

Time to paint the pumpkins! Addie wanted to wear her chef outfit- no idea why, but it's cute! They loved painting their pumpkins and now they are perfect fall decorations! It wasn't the day we planned, but it was fantastic just the same and it isn't even over!

New York!!

We took a quick trip to NY to visit family. It was short but well worth it!

The cousins- they could easily pass for triplets- they love each other and get along fantastically!

Addie reading to her "class"- she is SO much like her Mommy =-)

They were all snuggled up to MarMar as the men worked on the fire pit- and I just love Alden stroking his chin, deep in thought!

Roasting marshmallows!! They LOVED this part of the S'more process!

And this is the reaction we got from both Addie AND Alden when we suggested they actually EAT the roasted marshmallow... Pure horror! We tried several times- but they wanted nothing to do with a toasted marshmallow- they just wanted plain ones.

Much happier- graham cracker, bar of chocolate and a plain marshmallow....

And Alden, he just wanted the chocolate- that's my boy!

Winding down (after the extreme sugar high) "reading" books on Uncle Franks' iPad.

Team Work! These 2 loved to color together! Not included- but I have pics of Nate and Alden playing with the cars Alden brought- they all get along so well!

New Children...

Here are my new "children"- what a blessing to be allowed to touch these kids lives!

School Pics

The kids had their pics taken at school the other week. Given my last 2 experiences of school pics, I did not have high expectations. Well, when I was given the pics to choose from on Monday, my mind was totally blown! I am going to have this company take my kids pics from now on- they are truly amazing!!

Addie's Class- only 1/2 come each day- but notice EVERY child is looking, smiling and in the right position- amazing!

Alden's Class- only about 8 are in the class at any given time. And notice, perfection with 3 yr olds- this photographer is miraculous!!

Alden's individual- melt my heart!!

Together- I am buying this one because I don't have one this great even with my photography addiction!!

My Sweet Adeline- too precious!!

Thankful

On Sunday night, Al got a text from a friend from the Lowe's he had been working at. What it said gave me shivers and made me super grateful that God has a plan for my family and that He had already provided for us.

What we learned was that the man that was hired to take Al's spot (and he moved here, too) was told that effective immediately, his job had been eliminated. He wasn't fired, they had made the decision to simply eliminate Zone 2- not Zone 1, 3 or 4, 2- the one Al was manager of. This man was now unemployed- that is unless he wanted a huge demotion and would be willing to move, again, and even then, they couldn't even guarantee a job. Scary.

I am so thankful that God protected us from this sad situation- and that He gave Al this new job, which is just thriving. His timing is perfect and I am beyond grateful. My heart breaks for the man who lost his job- and he and his family are in my prayers.