Fun in Leaves

The kids have SO much fun every year when it is time to rake up the leaves. Henry actually stopped his PS3 time in order to jump around in them (and that is huge for him)! The last picture might be my favorite one of the year!

Halloween

Here are a few pics from Halloween. Sadly, the costumes Brad and I planned on wearing did not exactly pan out, but the kids still had a great time! I think my favorite part of the evening is after we get home - the kids change into their PJs and rummage through their pumpkin bags, discovering all the wonderful candy they collected! It's really cute and always reminds me of my brother and I after Halloween! Enjoy the pics.

Pumpkins!

We went to a pumpkin patch last weekend... and I use the word patch loosely here because it was more of a roadside parking lot full of pumpkins, but it benefited a local church, so I digress.

Now we just need to carve the one we selected - I leave that work to the Hub because pumpkin guts make me want to hurl!!

Brad's Birthday

Last Saturday was Brad's birthday. I offered to make him dinner, but he instead said, "How about we just go to Chili's?" Ah yes - the reason I don't cook.... So we took him to a Japanese steak house instead. Brad has been wanting to do this for a long time so I thought now was a good time!

To my surprise? The kids LOVED it! I mean the fire, the tricks, the food - all of it! Henry couldn't wait to go back for his birthday! I was actually surprised because he's a bit on the fussy side. Both kids even ate with chopsticks!! OK, they were held together by a rubber band, but still...




Did I mention we had to go early so Brad could get back and watch football? Apparently people don't eat at 5:30pm as the place was near empty!!


Happy Birthday Brad!! We love you!

Soccer

First - how darling did my cherubs look when we went to see Mary Poppins last weekend?? I was so excited to share that with my children - Mary Poppins has always been one of my favorites ever and the play, despite being rather long, did not disappoint. Our seats however, did.


Second, here are pics of the Girl's first soccer game. Her team never scored a goal or even came close to attempting to score a goal. The other team easily scored about 10. She seemed to enjoy it though!

Day of Firsts

Last week was a big one! Kyra started her Transitional Kindergarten class and Henry rode the bus for the very first time ever! Both were a huge success!!

First Day of School & First Panthers Game

Henry started 2nd grade this past week... he was SO nervous! But he wound up with perhaps the best 2nd grade teacher at the school thankfully, and according to Henry, he might like her better than his KDG & 1st grade teacher... so three days into the new school year & all is well! Note to self though - in future years, remove the back pack before taking required 1st day of school photograph! Dang reflectors!


Yesterday, we took the kids to a Panther's game - Kyra's first. The outfit below? Took 30 MINUTES to choose!!! Why? Because she hated everything else I picked out... apparently khaki is the ugliest color on the planet and bermuda shorts are just the worst!! But when all was said and done, she was quite proud of this ensemble!!





Spikersters had a little paint on this nose, so we had to check that out...




The kids had a blast at the game! Thank gawd the tickets were free since we had to buy $10 worth of face painting, $4 bottles of water, $8 worth of peanut butter cups and $5 nachos!!! The children refused to leave at half time - begged us to stay until the end... even Kyra was begging us to stay - I couldn't believe it!! They were so excited when we got to the car & realized they were still up at 11:45pm... ugh - today should be lots o'fun!!!

Ocean City, MD

This past weekend, we spent 5 great days in Maryland - our first time ever to this state! Ocean City is nothing at all like Myrtle Beach, so it was great for our kids to experience a new beach... with new friends.

The ocean however, is utterly FREEZING in this Yankee state - that didn't stop the kids from their play time though. We spent the day at the ocean on Thursday...



Our fantastic hosts (Ken and Viv) were a lot of fun - making delicious meals, adult beverages, discussing the benefits of organic foods and most importantly? Putting Kyra to work in the kitchen. She helped Ken make his world famous crab cakes & she helped Viv put lemon thyme (grown in the garden) on the fish...





Pay no attention to Ken's homemade wine chiller...



On Friday, we spent the day at the boardwalk. It was rather hot and I found my son continuously asking for some A/C... no idea where he got that attitude from. He drove bumper cars all by himself for the first time and I see a lot of driver's ed in his future...




On Saturday, we spent the day visiting 2 of the 5 pools in the greater Ocean Pines 'resort.' Kyra is so close to swimming by herself...



And by Saturday evening? She was so done!!


It was a great trip up until the ride home on Sunday... Kyra puked, Brad got a speeding ticket and Henry peed his pants. Good times.