Aargh You Ready for Halloween?

On our way to find the candy

It was  a pretty good halloween experience. Joshua had a costume party at school where they painted his face like a pirate, which he loved! One of his teachers said he spent a few minutes in the mirror admiring and making appropriate pirate noises and faces.

When we got home, we freshened up Joshua's face and got Silas dressed in his pirate garb. Then we set out for some treats. In our apartment complex they gave houses door hangers so you knew who was handing out treats. That made it easy enough, but up and down three floors over and over again was taxing on this momma. 

Highlights:

"You only knock once for trick-or-treat."

"It's fun to make new friends!"

He was ready to head home after he got M&M's.

Post trick-or-treating pizza

No Pizza for this pirate

Pumpkin Cookies 2012

A long standing tradition near halloween is to make pumpkin cookies. I did it with my mom, I did it when it was just Michael and I, and now I get to do it with my boys.

I made the dough while the boys were napping.

Joshua and the rolling pin. (not bowling pin, we needed to talk about the difference.)
It was fun to tell him about all the tools. Rolling pin, flour, spatula, cookie cutter...

Silas was in charge of the flour.

eager to get in on the action

perfect placement of the cookie cutter

the spatula was trickier than it looked

excited to be trusted with a knife

trying his hand at faces

watching daddy make his cookie

dictating what kind of faces we should make

Silas helping

finished products

enjoying our hard work

Ahoy Mateys!

Aarrrgh, you ready for some cuteness?!?!

We got dressed up for a halloween party at our apartment complex. 

We had a quick photo shoot before we went over.

And a sword fight or two...

We make some pretty great pirates

Silas in the stroller with me pushing, Joshua hand-in-hand with Michael we walked over to the club house. What was not so great.... finding out the party was last night. We missed it. 

Instead,  Michael rented The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown for us and made a pizza picnic. 

Ahh... Refreshed...

The theme of teachers' conference was "Reclaiming our Christ-centered Lutheran Devotional Heritage." That's a mouth full. It was based on a book that we were to have read before heading to conference. I'll admit to reading roughly 20 pages of the 270ish... I was not the only one. That doesn't mean I didn't take anything away from conference.

Highlights:

• Seeing friends and colleagues rarely seen 
• Singing favorite hymns that are rarely sung in our congregation, hymns that I remember singing as a young child
• hearing the beautiful voices singing loud and proud from the heart in 4 part harmony 
• examining personal spiritual life and setting goals to improve -- devotional life, meditation on the Word, personal prayers, and daily trials. [I'm in the midst of a 90-day Bible Challenge. I'll save some of my thoughts from conference to accompany the notes I've kept along the way in my 90-day journey.]

Coming Home: I found myself refreshed. Refreshed as a teacher,  friend, parent and wife. Conference came at a great time for me. 

Saturday morning, after coming back we enjoyed pancakes as a family. Not the Mini-wheats of mid-week. :)

Two Nights, Three Days...

Teachers' Conference was held in Orlando this year. Not far from our house, but far enough to spend the night there and not drive back and forth. That means two night, and three days away from my boys.

Looking back two years ago, teachers' conference was the first time I spent the night away from Joshua. I cried. The second was when Silas was born. I cried then too. This would be my first night away from Silas and Joshua. I was sad, but strangely, no tears. My heart hurt knowing Silas had never gone to bed without nursing first. Michael does so much with Silas now, that I knew they'd be fine without me. 

So away I went...

family time before I left. 

Michael told me about their struggles and tiredness, but they survived. And so did I. 

I may have been over excited to be out of the house. I packed all sorts of things in my suitcase, which I didn't need to share with anyone. I ate delicious foods. 

I went out without a purse, backpack, or diaper bag. I stayed in bed all night.

Our family made it through 2 nights, and 3 days and we are better for it. 

Sleepy heads

I'll admit to staging this. They are adorable. And I wanted to show how much they look alike. 

Shopping

Joshua and Gwen were pretending to shop. She has snacks and her purse. Joshua is carrying the money and their bags, and they're both wearing rain boots. 

Quite the pair.

Wisconsin Proud

My little Florida boy's heart was in Wisconsin this morning. While getting dressed he said, "I want to wear my Packer's shirt today. Then for show-and-tell he brought the fall leaves that my mom sent from Wisconsin. 

holding them up to watch them fall

He picked out  his Packer shirt all on his own

counting and comparing

It was fun to watch him enjoy the leaves and he was excited to share them with his friends. 

Opening the ziplock took me back to being in grade school when walking to school collecting leaves, kicking leaves, and listening to them crunch. The smell of the leaves may have made me a little homesick for autumn in the north. 

Cheese!

It was picture day this week. (This is not what the boys wore.) What is cool about the school pictures is that the whole family can come. She took each of the boys seperately, the boys together, a whole family shot, and one for me for my school picture. Excited to see them next week...

I love how they're holding hands!

They are pretty cute. 

Beach Night

Having company means mid-week trips to the beach. 

It amazes me how a short trip to the beach can change my whole mood. Smelling that salty air, toes in the sand, hearing the waves crash and I'm a happy camper!

I should make time to get there even more often. 

Precious Boy

A year ago today I snuck quietly to the bathroom so early in the morning. It's when I found out that you were busy growing inside me.

Such a sweet boy with a smile that does me in. I am so lucky. I thank God for you today and always.

Oktoberfest Florida Style

Not too long ago we were in New Ulm the highest concentration of German people in the United States. Celebrating Oktoberfest in Palm Coast was a little different. Deciding what to wear when it was 81 degrees was fun. Brats imported from WI were a treat! Fun with families from church and school, I did the chicken dance, but the German potato salad made me miss my mom. Hers is the best!

Playing

It's hard to be so cute and play so hard!