Sleepovers and Hi Winter!

The weather was unseasonably warm this week through Saturday afternoon.  Both kiddos went to the dentist this past week and are still in the "No Cavity" club and got their picture in the "Book of Fame." The kiddos had friends over for a sleepover on Saturday and Mommy is done for the rest of Sunday ;)

Earlier this week, the "kids" checked out the American Flier train set (~1960) that Grandma Collene gave to Ayson and Addie. The train engine does not work and Daddy and Ayson are going to visit a friend/neighbor this coming week to see if the engine can be fixed...fingers crossed!


Hi Baby Doll!


On Saturday, Mikhan came over for a SLEEPOVER!  Since the weather was outrageously warm, we made sure to spend plenty of time outside.


Ayson wanted a friend to spend the night too so Mommy also invited Caleb over (Daddy was at Grandma Collene's hunting).
The kiddos checking out the last of the raspberries...each kiddo managed to eat one last berry!


The swings were already down for the winter, but the teeter totter was still lots of fun!


Interesting, both boys thought chalk was "boring" and yet they were the ones to draw the massive dinosaurs!  The beginning stages of Ayson's "long neck" dinosaur.


Mommy wanted to get one last Smore event in over the gorgeous Saturday. By 3 pm on Saturday, Mommy noticed the clouds (signalling the cold front) starting to move in from the west, so the kiddos ended up having a mid afternoon snack of Smores!!! (It started to sleet/hail by 6 pm!)


The girls had so much fun playing together! The boys would get bored first (with what they were playing with) and then the boys would ask the girls if they could play too...in this case teenage mutant ninja turtles against princess and Barbie dolls :)


Mommy made "skillet" cooked pop corn (FIRST time EVER for Mommy :) for the kiddos Saturday night!  The directions were on the side of the popping corn bag...fyi.


Sunday was a drastic change of weather.  Luckily, Caleb's mom planned ahead and Caleb had his snow suit and boots...along with the long sleeve shirt that was worn on Saturday!  Mommy had plenty of Addie's winter clothes to share with Mikhan.
Where's the mountain?!?!?


Brother-sister hug before things got ugly (meaning before Addie felt like she was being pushed down the "mountain" of vegetation/sunflower stalks:)


"Knock, knock"...Hi Mikhan!


Addie makes a great joker...especially with the frown!


Daddy got home just before lunch on Sunday (no deer this weekend) and processed all of his jalapeno peppers for drying and cooked up a storm in the kitchen.

Happy Veteran's Day!

A HUGE thank you to all of our brave active and retired military!
Thank you for making it possible for us to have choices in this country! Mommy's wish right now is for everyone to have patience and to be kind and respectful to EVERY person they encounter.

School pictures arrived!!  Great smiles...better than the smiles Mommy sometimes gets from the kiddos :)


Great smile, Ayson!  Looking at his shoulders makes Mommy wonder what the photographer says to the kids to get them to give a natural smile (that causes their shoulders to raise while laughing :)


Tuesday night bedtime stories:)


On Friday, Mommy and the kiddos had the day off for VETERANS DAY!
Mommy and the kiddos went to the MOST in Syracuse (Museum of Science and Technology). Mommy did not take many pictures but below are the pictures that Mommy takes before she lets the kids loose in areas with lots of people (in case one gets lost and she needs a recent picture to share/spread around...thanks to the Detroit Zoo incident 3 years ago!)




Watching a penny spin around and around and around!


Addie waiting for her turn during a game of Candy Land on Saturday afternoon!


Daddy was away at a meeting in Orlando, Florida this week.  Take a close look at the building...it is upside down (even the palm trees are upside down)!!!


Daddy brought the kiddos back gifts of Mickey and Mini Mouse...when in Orlando...


Finger painting fun on Saturday night.


On Sunday, the kiddos were busy with birthday cards for Grady and Mrs Oliver (neighbor/friend and she runs the school day care and after school program even though she is supposed to be retired!).




Beverly (Mrs Oliver to the kiddos:) wanted to go to Dinosaur BBQ for her birthday, so that is what the girls did (Beverly, Sunshine, and Mommy)!
Sunshine even picked up Beverly's favorite (Mommy's too) cake: Tiramisu!
Happy Birthday, Beverly, and thank you for all that you do for the little ones in our community and elsewhere!! Beverly hates her smile in pictures now...while undergoing treatment for brain cancer, about 8 years ago, Beverly lost her hearing in her right ear, partial facial movement, and her ability to sing (she was an amazing singer) BUT Beverly did not loose her faith and WE did not loose Beverly.


On Sunday while Mommy was at lunch with Beverly and Sunshine (and Daddy and Ayson were at a birthday party), Addie had a play date with Emmett.
An intense game of "Don't Break the Ice!!!"


Ayson and Daddy attended Grady's 6th Birthday Party Sunday afternoon...a NERF gun war :) Mommy thought it was best that Addie not tag along to THIS birthday party...Mommy did not want Addie to become an "easy target."


The trophy Ayson received along with the plaque that Daddy received.  GREAT job, boys!!!

























Ayson and Addie goofing around with their camera...too bad their is no sound:)


School work
Ayson learned about the election process


and more about Veteran's Day


A Fall drawing/painting of Addie's

Happy Halloween and November!

A FAST week with Halloween activities and playtime at the park! Mommy can't believe that we have not had more snow flurries!

On Monday, Mommy attended (and participated in) the Halloween parade for K-6.  Ayson wanted Mommy to walk with him so she did! The kids walked out the school, to the post office and around, and then back to the school.


Then it was party time in the classrooms!  Mommy stopped by Ayson and Addie's rooms. The kids were very happy to see Mommy :)


Trick-Or-Treat! Our first stop was Gianna's house. Gianna dressed as Piglet...too cute!


We then went to the Presbyterian Church for Trunk Or Treat!


Ok, THIS one was kind of creepy...a tarp was set up to look like a long tunnel and at the end of the tunnel you could see someone cutting up something.  There were doll parts strewn all over the ground. Both kids did NOT want to get a closer look at this one!


Ah, a Fairy Godmother!


GREAT pumpkins!!!


The kiddos played games inside the church community building.




Ayson aced the donut challenge...


But Addie had a hard time lining up her mouth and the donut...she was NOT happy.


We then went back to our "neighborhood" where we visited Miss Annie (works at the After School Program), Mr Bob, and their dog Andy!


Then to Donna's house for more handfuls of candy.  The country houses are just so excited to see kids that the kiddos made out like bandits, in the candy department!


Sorting their loot on Tuesday afternoon.




Election school work :)


On Saturday, Ayson built a catapult robot with no help from Mommy or Daddy!  Great job, Big Guy!


Saturday late afternoon sky while we played outside.


It's never a bad time for S'mores!


On Sunday, we played outside as much as possible at the little park (in the morning) and then after lunch we went to the big park! The kids had fun on the slides and chasing each other around.


We then had to investigate the geese that were resting on the pond. Mommy thought for sure that one of the kiddos would get too close to the edge of the pond and end up getting wet.  Luckily, the outing ended with everyone staying dry :)