Sleepover with Gram

 Seth has been battling bronchitis for almost a week so by Friday Leah and I decided to head to Gram's for a sleepover to get her out of the house and away from the germs. She had a birthday party in Castorland the following day so it was perfect timing. We read books, got in our jammies and just relaxed.

 On Saturday morning Leah decided to pick on Gramp. She untied his slippers and messed up his hair. She thought she was just too funny.

I'm so happy that I am able to share these sleepover memories with my kids. I have such wonderful memories of my childhood with my grandparents.

Happy Halloween

 Poor Seth has been battling an ailment all week long. He has been to the doctor twice and although he wasn't feeling 100% he pushed through and was able to celebrate Halloween a bit. While the meds were working he had surges of energy and then when they wore off he was exhausted. He didn't even stay for his Halloween party. Once the parade was over he wanted to come home.

 In the evening the kids bulked up to stay warm and were evenly excited to hand out candy as to receive it. We got all of the Frankie's out of the attic to scare the trick or treater's too!

 The tradition continued and The Castana's came down to trick or treat with the kids. Nana Mary and Papa Drew were even in town visiting so we got to spend some time with them as well.

At the end of the night Seth was thrilled with all of his new treats and then ended up totally crashing because he was so exhausted.

If you can't already tell I'm a little obsessed with using photo collage with my pictures. It's the best AP ever. Last weekend we finally got some of our crew together for an adult night out. An hour in the car plus a bottle of wine and a four course meal plus more drinkies and it made for a pretty funny evening. We topped it off with a haunted house in Cicero. It was such a blast being with everyone. We missed The Voss' and Dickinson's though. I would highly recommend going to The Melting Pot. It was my third time and it gets better every time. What a fun way to eat, fondue is the way to go!

Thrilled

Seth and Leah got some pretty interesting little gifties in the mail this week from Aunt Sheryl. Leah loves stickers plain and simple, but Seth is obsessed with football right now so this collectors sticker book made his whole year. He takes it everywhere with him and even convinced Roland to take him to Target to get more packs of cards yesterday. Thank you Aunt Sheryl, it is a perfect gift and both kids love them.

Mantra

I stole this quote from my sister-in-law Sheryl's Pinterest page and I just love it. It is my new mantra! Life certainly has its ups and downs and the people who are there to support you and stick by you are the people who are meant to be in your life. You just have to try and be the best person you can and be happy with yourself. The rest you just have to let go sometimes. Life certainly is a challenge.

Growing Up

My Beaner finally has hair long enough to fit into a pony tail. She asked me to put it up last Saturday and I was thrilled to oblige. She looked so stinking cute I could hardly stand it. Stop growing up Beans!

Quotes that Stick

I love browsing through quotes on Pinterest and this is the second one I stole from my sis-in-law. I love it! I can admit that I can sometimes focus on the negative instead of the positive in life, but I always try really hard. I love this quote and I definitely have it locked in my head. I'm so excited about the holiday season approaching and I want to make it so special for family and kids. Bring on the positive beautiful things in life!

Happiness is the key!

Do you ever read extra slow when you know your book is about to end just because you dread when you get to the last page? My last book ended and I feel a bit lost now. I need a new page turner.

I'm ready for something new. I love to take chances and I'm up for a new one. New season new chance.

This is the BEST quote ever and so true in my book. It's no fun sitting around without delish food, a glass of wine and good company.

SYR Zoo Boo

 We decided to try something new this year and take the kids to SYR to their Zoo Boo. We had no idea what to expect and we were pleasantly surprised. They had a ton of activities to offer the kids and we even ran into some friends who live in SYR who we haven't seen in a year. It was a wonderful fall evening and we all had such a great time as  family.

 It is so wonderful that we have activities like this to take the kids to so that they can wear their costumes a few times before the big night. Our owl and our bat fit right in with all of the other creatures at the zoo.

Newness

Out with the old and in with the new. Our furniture finally arrived and we are very happy with it. Of course once it is in you always realize there is more that you want to change out. We are now Craigslisting the coffee table and looking for one that is smaller and possible nontraditional. We also want to possibly get a new leather chair since ours is usable, but a bit broken from the kids jumping on it all the time. We'll see. The new furniture is very comfy (I should know since I slept on it last night while Seth slept in our bed). Come on over and help us break it in anytime you want to visit us. Wine is always welcome too! HA!

A Gift from Sandy

Driving to school after the wind storm we received from hurricane Sandy and take a look at what she left for us as a parting gift...a beautiful rainbow.

Tidbits

 It looks like these days I'm only able to update my blog about once a week. So I'll fill you in on the ins and outs as easily as possible until life slows down a bit, but if I had to make a bet, life probably will never slow down. We are enjoying it to the fullest though! Last Friday night we had a very low key evening. We finally created our Mr. Pumpkin Heads and the kids really enjoyed designing them together.

 On Saturday we had our family pictures taken finally and from what she showed us briefly, they turned out amazing. It was a beautiful fall morning and having them taken outside was truly the best idea ever. After that I jumped into the driver's seat of Tom's truck and drove Mom and Tom to Waterloo for my uncles retirement celebration. It was a long day of driving back and forth, but it meant the world to my uncle that so many family members were able to attend.

 On Sunday we celebrated a very special little girls birthday, our god daughter Lindsey turned 3! She had a full on pink princess party with every thing a little girl dreams of. The girls had high heels, jewelery, crowns and all the food was pink. They all had such a great time playing together and they didn't have to share any time with their older siblings.

 They even played pin the lips on the frog.

Yesterday was the final day of this sessions swim class. We were anxious to see if Seth passed this level and HE DID! He is so excited to start Level 4 in a couple of weeks. At this point he may be a better swimmer than I am. HA! Way to go Seth, we are super proud of you.

 

In other news...our furniture is being delivered tonight after having an empty living room for the last two months. We are very excited about that. We are also heading to Zoo Boo in SYR on Friday night and couples dinner in SYR on Saturday night. What a fun and festive weekend we have ahead of us.

The Week in Review

 TGIF is all I have to say. What a BUSY week we had. Someone once told me that when our kids started to get involved in after school activities that life would get super hectic...THEY.WERE.RIGHT.
I wouldn't take any of these fun activities away from them, but can you say wine + tired at the end of each day?! Last weekend the cold weather finally hit so we took the kids bowling one evening and they loved every minute of it. Can you tell by the smiles on their faces?

 1st grade is in full swing and the homework has followed as well. Each night we practice spelling words, review sight words and read a book plus write about the book and illustrate. It's fantastic practice for the kids, but just as much work for the moms and dads.

 By mid week we are more than ready for the weekend so to help get us through we sometimes have morning dance parties. Have I mentioned that I love my kids more than life itself. They are a hoot!

 Leah's very first school pictures came home yesterday and they totally made our day. Is this not adorable? Stop growing up Leah you can stay this size forever, well... minus the whining.

Today is Pink Out Cancer at the WCSD so Seth wore his pink proudly and actually brought tears to my eyes. I'm a total sap.

The weekend ahead...family pictures after two long years of staring at our last one with a bald headed Leah, Uncle Dave's retirement celebration, church school and Lindsey's 3rd Pink Princess Birthday Party! Weekend here we come!!

Fame

Seth has been taking special music classes for over a month now and he looks forward to Wednesday's like crazy. He loves to sing and dance and of course go to musicals at the high school. This past Friday night they put on Fame Jr. We went and he had a blast. After the show he and Jake got their pictures taken with Maddie. She is also in Stage Notes, in Select and sings with them from time to time during their class. They were very excited to get their picture taken with her.

Boys Day

Sheryl called about a month ago and asked if Seth would be interested in coming down to be the ball/water boy for her football teams homecoming game. Let's see... it took him less than a second to say yes for many reasons. 1. He loves spending time with his Aunt Sheryl. 2. He loves football 3. He loves special days just for him. He has gone to Aunt Sheryl's by himself many times, but Daddy decided to tag along while I stayed home with Rocky and Beaner this time. From all of the pictures I received it appears that he was treated like royalty and that he had an amazing time. 

Thank you Aunt Sheryl for giving Seth this amazing opportunity! He will never forget it AND he is taking a collage of pictures plus his new t-shirt for show and share at school this week.

Girls Day

The boys headed to see Aunt Sheryl for their special football day while Leah and I stayed home with Rocky and did girlie stuff. We headed to the library for the fall festival, got her face painted, did many crafts and then picked out new books and a special movie. She loved every minute of it and I loved having some special Leah time to myself.

After the library we went out to lunch at Panera and then did a little shopping.

Love you Bean!

Apple Picking Day

We decided to try a new apple orchard this year. We had gone to Behling's for years and years and it just got so crazy busy that we were looking for a more laid back experience this year. We tried Appledale which was just down the road and we were so thrilled to find less people, free hay rides, free corn maze and the most amazing country store ever. It was such a perfect day together as a family.

The kids were thrilled when we found a ladder, which is essential in finding the perfect apple. Roland carried that ladder all around the orchard.

Seth would have taken it home with him if he could have.

It meant a ton to my grandparents that they were able to go with us. At 85 and 87 years of age they truly appreciate every moment they get to spend with us all.

Open House & Picture Day

 This past Wednesday we went to Seth's school to visit his new classroom and meet his teacher. He was thrilled to show us around and we are very impressed with his teacher and the classroom. We were also able to meet Seth's new friend Weston. Seth talks about Weston all the time and we were able to meet him and his parents whom also live on out street. I predict play dates in our future.

 Seth had to draw a picture of himself and it was on his desk for us to view. I'd say we definitely have an artist in the family. Plus it is so stinking cute every time I look at it I smile.

Leah also hit another milestone this week...her very first school picture day. She looked adorable as always and we can't wait to see how she smiled for the camera.