u-swirl

We have a new favorite "treat" place in our family....it's called u-swirl and my kids think they are extra special when they get to go in and make their own concoction of yogurty-goodness! Today they are out of school, and they have been extra good with Matt being out of town too, so we made a stop on our way back from errands!

Five happy kids is a hard thing to beat!! :)

Tae Kwon Do

With soccer season over, it's Parker's turn to try something new. Tae Kwon Do was his activity of choice. Over at the elementary school, they have had a mini class going on for the last month, which Parker participated in....after "graduation" we realized how much Parker was enjoying it, so we signed him up officially. Last night was his first class, did awesome & had SO much fun!

Here's some pictures before heading to class....he's posing a few of the stances that he was taught in the mini class!

I'm thinking he's really going to enjoy this!! :)

Costume Pics!

We were super rushed getting out the door to go trick-or-treating at the park usually go too, so I don't have many individual shots....but here they are, anyway!!

Usual group shot! Matt was an awesome red-neck again (we added tattoo sleeves this year...look closely at his arms), Abbie wore a poodle skirt, Annie as a bumble bee, 2 ninjas (Parker & Connor), and Allie was an adorable bunny (so cute!...and she learned to say "bun-nee" that night too!)....

Here's a better picture of Abbie from a few days before (it was pretty chilly Halloween night, so the costumes had to be improvised a bit...)
The red-neck & bunny!!...

Bumble Bee Annie...

Three trick-or-treaters going trick-or-treating.....(ninja masks were removed so they could see better)...

Hope your Halloween was as fun as ours!!

Carving Pumpkins

(I'm gonna first say FINALLY!!....I've been trying to upload pictures for 3 days and it FINALLY worked....so, it's not my slacker-ness, it's blogger's fault!)

Anyway, our week before Halloween was hectic, to say the least. So, we didn't get around to carving pumpkins until Sunday afternoon, but it proved to be the perfect time. We came home from church (ended at 2pm), had some quick lunch, and got Allie down for a nap. With Allie being asleep, we didn't have to worry about her "help" with the mess! In the (almost) 14 years we've been married, we've come down with a good system! :) I help clean out the pumpkins & while Matt does the carving....works perfectly!

Connor & Matt, working on C-man's pumpkin first....

Next came Parker's....he drew a picture of the face he wanted on his pumpkin, so Matt would know what to carve....

Annie as she is counting pumpkin seeds....we each estimated how many were in one of the pumpkins (Matt won & my guess was WAY off...LOL)....

Abbie counting seeds too (she's looking so grown up to me here!)....

Can't resist including a quick picture of me & Matt (I sure love this guy!!)...

And, here is the finished product!! I think they turned out awesome, if I say so myself!!