Happy Fall!

 

The latest and greatest family picture courtesy of Misty Alger and her canned food drive!  We bring 2 cans of food per person in our family, and she takes a FABULOUS Picture!  THANKS Misty!! Best Service Project Ever!

Happy Halloween!!!

(Once again I apologize for the low-quality pics!...I gotta start using the real camera again!!)

 The kids got a couple Halloween packages from Nana- the first one included these lovely teeth-suckers...mmm...

 

 And no Halloween is complete without Mama May cookies!! and a whole family night devoted to decorating said cookies!

 YUMMY!

 We also whipped up some spider-web cookies for the Harvest Party at school!

 

 For the big night Hailey was a princess (surprise!), Laynie was "Pocahontas",

 Addison was Harry Potter in the awesome robe that Nana MADE him for Christmas!

 

 And Maren was the cutest little elephant you have ever seen!

 

 Good thing we have cousins that live in cute (and generous) neighborhood!!

Quite the loot was made, especially by the boys who ran from house to house!!

 



Possibly the MESSIEST baby E.V.E.R.

Maren Bo Baren...could there be a messier baby? I think not...You put your food in your mouth, take it out, rub it on your face, and then the person sitting next to you! You dump toy boxes, empty wipes containers, write with marker on EVERYTHING, eat sand, slather your body with mud, etc. and

WE LOVE YOU!!

 MY PLAY DATE BUDDIES

 

How Could I not post these little gems? Here are my hang-out-all-day buddies. and I LOVE THEM! They play very well together and keep me laughing (and busy!) all day!! 

Happy Happy Birthday Kelly Dear!!

 First I need to apologize- COULD THERE BE WORSE PICTURES??!!  These are iphone pictures, also edited on the iphone- not the best combination!  But, in order to document that Kelly McCann Ditto did, in fact, turn 32- I use the lame quality pictures...

 This is actually the day BEFORE Kelly's birthday when his brothers came over to celebrate the occasion!!  He got a few small things and then...

He found his wake board which I had hidden at Logan's house...which Logan thought best to give it a spin (just to make sure it worked!!!) the day before the party.  Coincidentally, Kelly's birthday was the last nice day of the year...and he still hasn't been able to try out his wake board!  SORRY BABE! But Happy Birthday Anyway!  I sure love you!!

X Country!!

 

 Laynie was thrilled to join Addison this year in after school cross country! She took it very seriously and was a good little runner!!

 Here she is about to cross the finish line at her first meet...

 

 Addison, on the other hand, may have done cross country more for the social aspect- note the 'posey' smile on his face in the picture above, not quite as serious as Laynie perhaps...

 Another posing picture with his two good friends and his teacher Ms C!  What a great teacher to come and cheer her students on!!

Laynie finished 6th at her second meet, which qualified her for the "All City Meet"- I don't know how many girls ran with her at that meet (see picture below) but she finished 20th! It was a cold, rainy day- but we were happy to be there to cheer on Laynie!!

First Day of SCHOOL!!!

 

I could have shouted with Joy to send the kids back to school this year!!  I love them so much, and I love that they get to go to school to learn and share their 'awesomeness' with others for a portion of their day. This year was particularly exciting because the kids were accepted into the APPLE (alternative parent participation learning environment) program.  This program requires parents to give 90 hrs of volunteer work each year- so the caliber of families in the program is a little different compared to our old elementary school where the demographic was rough.  The kids were nervous to start at a new school, but LOVED it after the first day!

 

 Hailey was also counting down the days until she got to go back to school- Her teacher this year for preschool is the same one Laynie had for 4-yr-old preschool, and we LOVE her!!

 

No school for Maren of course, but I'm sure she loves all the extra mommy-one-on-one time!!