Halloween Fun

Time for pumpkins!! The boys grew there own pumpkins this year with Grandma Kathy and they were so proud. Their pumpkins were great, and they had lots of fun turning them into Jack-O-Lanterns.

Apples!

Okay, so Chris will laugh at me, but I don't care.....I have been wanting to go to the apple orchard and pick apples since last year when we got lost and didn't get to pick apples. I was sooooo excited to go last weekend. So excited that I bought way too many apples...still trying to figure out what to do with all of them. :) Here are some pictures from our day at the apple orchard. The weather was great and the boys loved it.

Me and my mom

Uncle Josh and the boys

The boys taking a break from picking apples

Memaw and Kayden picking apples

Uncle Josh giving K-Man a lift

Carver taste testing the apples :)

Me.....finally getting to pick apples! :)

Uncle Josh giving Carver a boost

Memaw and her boys

Mommy keeping an eye on my tree climbing boys

We got lots of yummy apples and we can't wait to go back next year. :)

Mr. Carver teaching

Carver took over for Memaw today and taught her students (4th/5th grader)how to make spider cookies. He did awesome!
Take a look:


The kids started getting a little loud after Carver was done teaching, so he went back to the front of the classroom and told them, "If you don't quiet down, I'm not going to come back and teach you again!" Then he counted down from 5...I wonder where he gets that. ;)

The principal said he could come back in the spring and she'd give him a job. ;)

Pumpkin Patch

We took advantage of some nice weather yesterday to hit the pumpkin patch. As always the boys had fun running around outside and checking out all of the pumpkins. :)

On Friday, we get to go to another pumpkin patch with Carver's class.....more pictures then. :)

Don't forget to scroll down...this is post #3 of the night....I'm on a roll! :)

Catching up with old friends

Life sometimes gets crazy and we're so busy with getting through each day it's not always easy to keep up with all of our great friends. Fortunately for us, lots of our old friends have come to us the past couple of weekends and we have had some great opportunities to hang out and catch up. We really have some great friends in our lives and we feel truly blessed to have all of them around to support us. :)

Some of my old softball teammates from Iowa came back for an impromptu reunion for the Iowa v. Michigan football game. We had a great time tailgating and hanging out. It's hard to believe it's been almost 9 years since we've done this! It seems like yesterday we were taking road trips and our biggest worry was who we were going to beat next. :) Now we have families, jobs, and these crazy things called responsibilities!

On Sunday morning we took the boys back up to Iowa City so they could see their Aunt Katy(aka The Godmother) and their Aunt Liz. :)

Then, this past weekend we got a visit from Uncle Josh! The boys (and us too of course) were thrilled! He was probably exhausted by the time he left, the boys were all over him all weekend....I think he read about a thousand children's books, played tackle football with the boys, and played in the leaves too. :)


The boys are looking forward to going up to Uncle Josh's farm sometime in the next couple of weeks. :)

Carver's 1st Field Trip

Carver had his first field trip a couple of weeks ago. He was so excited to get to ride the school bus and go on a real field trip! Last year they had visitors to their classroom but they didn't get to go anywhere on an actual field trip so he was really looking forward to this.

Kayden and I went along so K-Man was pretty excited about riding the bus and getting to go with the big kids too. :)

We went to Meyer's Tree Farm, a local landscaping nursery and the kids learned all about trees and plants and even got to see some fish. :)

Here are the boys with Carver's buddy Theodore on the bus.....

Checking out the koi pond.....

Learning about some of the different rocks that they use in landscaping....

And taking one last picture before loading up to head back to school...

It was a beautiful day and all of the kids had lots of fun. Carver and Kayden are really looking forward to the next field trip.....The Pumpkin Patch!! :)

Go Hawks!

Today was our annual "Take the kids to Kinnick" day!! Once a year, we round up our 2 munchkins and we head to Iowa City to meet up with my brother and sister in law and my adorable niece and nephew to let the kids experience all of the excitement of a Hawkeye game day. Unfortunately, my brother was sick today but my sister in law Sara was still a trooper and brought the kids out so that we could have our adventure. We took the Hawkeye Express train down to the stadium and got to see the marching band warm up and even got to meet Herky!! It is so much fun to see the excitement of something that is so special to us through their eyes. We love Hawkeye game days and we love getting to pass along all of the fun of those days to them. GO HAWKS!!!

Here are Chris and I with all of the kids. Kayden, Ava, Carver, and Connor

Carver and Kayden getting excited while we were waiting for Sara and the kids. :)

Family shot in all of our Hawk gear! GO HAWKS!

Kids waiting for the train.

Kayden, Ava, Carver, and Connor hanging out. These guys just love to be together. :)

Mommy and her boys. :)

Daddy and his boys

Meeting Herky!!!!

Kayden, Carver, and Ava riding on the Hawkeye Express

Maybe someday we'll be posting pictures of Carver, Kayden, and Connor in their Hawkeye football uniforms and Ava in her cheerleading outfit when they are in college! How fun would that be?!?!? Hey, I can dream!! :)

Maui 2009

Chris and I had an amazing time in Maui!! It was gorgeous there! Of course we missed the boys but it was such a nice getaway for us and a great trip for us to reconnect without the daily stresses of life and of raising two very busy boys. :)

We arrived in Maui on Friday Sept. 18th. We spent Friday night and some of Saturday just taking it all in and checking everything out while getting ready for the race. Sunday was race day and what a day it was! We had so much fun running our races and then celebrating for the rest of the day after. :)

That left us with about 3 1/2 days to really enjoy Maui and all that it has to offer. The ocean was amazing. We were able to take in a Luau, go snorkeling, and do a lot of relaxing.

Chris checking out this amazing Banyon tree park on Front Street.

Just one of the amazing sunsets that we saw each night that we were there.

Me on the boat during our snorkel cruise. I was showing off what having two babies has created for Chris :)

We were lucky enough to see 2 Hawaiian dolphins (one of our crew members on the boat was a Marine Biologist so she told us all about them!) and they just kind of took places at each side of the catamaran boat and guided us along for about 20 minutes. It was awesome and it created some great opportunities for pictures. :)

Chris and I on the boat. We're on a boat! :)

Me with one of the dancers at the Luau. :)

Learning to Hula!

Chris and I at the Luau....so much fun!

Enjoying one of many Lava Flows in my coconut.....I couldn't go on a tropical getaway and not get some yummy tropical drinks. :)

Me on our balcony at our hotel. this is the view we woke up to every morning.....gorgeous!

Lei making class. It was fun to actually make a Lei and see how they are created.

Having dinner at Bubba Gump's right on the water.

Laying out on Monday.....I could have done this all day....I was a litte sore and it felt so good just relaxing and getting a tan. :)

Chris talking to.....Josh of course!....while we were watching the sunset and basking in the glory of the day. This was Sunday after the race and a day full of celebration! :)

Morning walk on the beach.....oh how I miss this already!

It was a great vacation and a wonderful getaway! We can't wait to get back to Maui someday....it was awesome!!