Making a Difference

The school I teach at has a class at the end of the day where we can do fun activities and focus on building character. The theme for October was "making a difference"- and there were a bunch of suggested activities. I really liked the idea of making a children's book and making a difference in a particular child's life. Addie's class made perfect sense- and her teacher was thrilled to be "adopted" by my class. My class worked hard all month long to use Word Wall Words, find pictures the kids would like, type it all up, print it off, color it, etc.

Addie's class was so sweet when I arrived to deliver the books- my class truly had made a difference in each of these kids' lives!

Halloween 2011

It has been a rather eventful Halloween around here- sleet, croup, ear infection, rain... Friday our outing to WEAG's Fall Festival was sleeted out (yes, sleet- we don't do out-door carnivals in the sleet). We had pizza and a movie at home instead- fun! It was good a choice as Alden came down with croup that evening...

Sunday was gorgeous- cool and sunny! We headed to a local church that was sponsoring a Trunk a Treat. We took Buzz Light Year and Minnie Mouse. Yes, this is the same costume that Addie has worn for the last 2 years- making this the 3rd Halloween she has worn it!

I love how she poses...

He wanted an action shot- love him, too!

It's so cheesy I love it!

Excited to have found candy that she knew her Daddy would love- so thoughtful!

Checking out the free-for-fall- he totally was like the little kid who can't read in the Wal-Mart commercials....

Back home! Addie was totally emotional- and I couldn't figure out why- that is until we got inside- she was running at 102.7 fever and complaining that her ear hurt. Off we went to KidMed just to make sure it was just an ear infection- and it was. Poor baby!!

Clearly the meds started helping- here she is modeling her "bat hat" that she made at school. I love how the o's are the glasses!

Finally ready to go Trick or Treating- this time with Buzz and a cheerleader! As I snapped this, the rain that was supposed to start at 10pm, started (and it was only 6pm!). This is the only picture of them Trick or Treating as I didn't want to get my precious new phone wet).

After 30min, the kids were soaked, cold and ready to go home- but in those 30min, the kids got a load of candy and visited more than 20 homes! We came home, showered, and they were SO excited to pass out candy!

They were thrilled when we had 5 kids come- they happily gave out fistfulls!!

What a fun time- hopefully they will have happy memories from this eventful Halloween!

Weekend in Review

The kid's school has the fun fall display set-up outside of the building. They have been itching to have their pictures taken with it- I really should take a picture of them when the sun isn't beaming in their faces...

Friday evening, Addie was thrilled beyond words that her school was doing a fundraiser around the corner from our house at her favorite place, Monkey Joe's! The super tall girl is in her class- and she followed Addie around the entire time! Addie had to help her climb and slide- she was too timid to do them by herself! Go figure!

On Saturday, I got to be a Greening Girl and get a pedicure- SO nice!!

The finished products- aren't we festive?

Sunday we decided to take advantage of the beau-ti-ful weather and go for a walk in a local park. I love this pictures- Kierke could not focus- there were too many squirrels....

Both kids are now total dare-devils on the playground- twirl away little girl!

Go Alden!

Playing so sweetly with each other!

Love this- just shows all the love!

After spending time at the park, we had a yummy dinner. The kids were allowed a special treat- to watch TV while eating dinner. I came down and saw this: bites perfect for Becca Baby... I love how she loves to be a Momma!

It's not fancy, but it's the amazing life God has blessed us with!

Pumpkin Carving

This year, the kids were rather adamant that we have a happy and normal pumpkin. In the past they have picked characters- Snow White, Mickey Mouse, Lightening McQueen, etc. This year, they realllllly wanted a pumpkin that looks like the ones in the books....

(Disclaimer- I totally didn't realize Addie wore the same dress last year when we carved pumpkins- hilarious!)

All ready to go....

Addie thought the "guts" were hysterically gross

Team Work to scrap out the guts

He loved all the goo

All done- I love that Alden is trying to look like the pumpkin- silly boy!

All Vaselined-Up and ready for the candle... (Vaesline keeps it from getting nasty)

Ain't he purty??

LU's Homecoming- 2011

Starting back while we were all students at LU, a large group of us would get together, carve pumpkins, eat yummy food, etc. Now that we are all older and our group has grown from the original 8 guys to 35 strong- we still get together, but not at just one person's house. We now all meet in Lynchburg for Homecoming!

We were the first to arrive so we staked out some spots for tailgating!

Once everyone arrived, we got our lunch of bbq- yum!

Addie and Kyla are kindred spirits- no matter how much time goes between them seeing each other, they act like they have been together forever! It's so sweet to see them as such sweet friends!

The campus as changed a LOT since we were students there- the football stadium is amazing- and we are outside the new Welcome Center which is still under construction- it will be beautiful in a few months!

Waiting outside the dorms on The Hill (where I lived) waiting for the Homecoming Parade to start!

The whole group that came- aren't we good lookin'??

Lining up all the kiddos to catch candy and cheer for the parade!

Yay!! The HUGE DeMoss Center.

I love all the girls hanging out around the LU crescent. I wonder how many of them will go to LU??

Addie, our little cheerleader, cheering for The Vines Center- I used to meet Megan there and run laps...

Addie wanted to see where I learned to be a teacher- and now she says she wants to go there to learn, too!

Tailgating!! What do you do when you 10 kids? Bring lots of crafts! Megan brought the most amazing craft- home-make pom-poms! Kelly brought visors with stickers. I brought beads and elastic. The kids had a blast- and the dads were able to play Corn Hole! We had the perfect weather for it- yay!!

Our little cheerleader!!

Most of the kids- all ready to go cheer on the Flames!

On our way into the game, some of the kids were excited to see the CFA cow, some where not fans....

A great family shot- thanks Karen!!

The field- what an improvement from the old field...

Cheering for a touch-down!

Go FLAMES!!

Addie adored Mikey- and he was a good sport. She was glued to him- so sweet!

5 of the 6 guys- I am bummed I didn't get a picture of all of them together!

The kids walked to the car like this- Mikey is such a great guy! I'm sure people thought they were HIS kids...

After dinner at Moe's, we were treated to a pretty spectacular fireworks show. We intended to see it from the top of Liberty Mountain, but they started the show before we could get there- so we pulled over on the side of the road (as did loads of other people) and enjoyed it!

And this is what happens after playing hard outside all day with great friends....

It was a great time- perfect weather (albeit a bit blustery), great friends, fantastic kids, etc!