so so behind

**I wonder if I will ever again start a post with something besides "I am still catching up..." maybe someday... but not today.**

I am still catching up and since it's almost Christmas, I thought I should post our Halloween pictures. Yes. I know. The funny thing is I have been looking forward to doing this post since I had two of the cutest Halloween cuties ever, but it was a two camera event, which means that I have 2 sets of pictures to download and those from my work camera involve more equipment, software, time, etc. So that is my excuse.

So here they are: my Halloween cuties!Hannah Montana and her cowboy cousin!

This year I was (a little) surprised that she had outgrown being a ballerina, or cheer leader, and never wavered in her quest to be the tween sensation. So I gave in, though we didn't buy the pre-packaged Hannah and put together our own costume. (I am a big believer in home made costumes not the packaged ones.) I thought we did pretty well though; she is definitely my little rock star!As for Keiric, the weeks before Halloween he wavered between being Spiderman, a fire fighter, a cowboy, a ninja, and a few other "Super Hero" types. However, with my distaste for pre-fabricated Halloween costumes, I couldn't get myself to buy one until the day before and I realized that there weren't any good ones left in his size. So I used a little momma influence (or manipulation - whatever you want to call it) and he decided that he wanted to be a cowboy; which was great since we had all the stuff. He sure was cute cowboy:
We had a great time taking them down to our church where they were having a Fall carnival and they played games, won candy, jumped in the inflatables and had a great time. Then on the way home we stopped by my parents church and they still had their Harvest Festival going we so they played a few more games and got a little more candy. Kaylie didn't think that was enough though and she thought they should actually "trick-or-treat" on the the walk home from there. I think 2 houses did the trick and everyone called it a success.

*As a side note though - our kids our not big candy eaters and never even asked for a piece of candy till they were home and in their pjs. Then they each picked one piece and were excited to eat it. Today, we still have 2 bags that are about 3/4 full, because even though they are sitting out on their dressers they are just not that interested. I think we'll have to throw it all away before the Easter Bunny comes in Spring :)

Time for teaching lessons about money

I had the following conversation with Kaylie this afternoon when we had to leave the Arizona Museum for Youth because our parking time was up and I told her our car might be towed.

Kaylie - "What do you have to do if your car is towed?"
Me - "Well, you have to pay someone money to get it back."
Kaylie - (with a shrug of her shoulders) - "or we could just buy a new car."

Still catching up

Here are some other pictures of our last few weeks as I get caught up; I can't wait to post Halloween, - you will be wowed with all the cuteness, of course that's not really a surprise! However, first I have to get there :)


Keiric and I had a chance to get together with my old (and I mean "old" as in we've known each other for like 20 years, and it is not a jab at the fact that we were celebrating her 30th birthday!) friend Allyson and her cutie, Brody, for lunch and playing at the mall.

Later that week we had a playdate with some of the other MOPS moms and kids, and Keiric had a great time. He was able to borrow a friend's Razor scooter and now believes that Santa should bring him one for Christmas.
Then Kaylie's school had a "Family Fun Night" (i.e., fundraiser with way overpriced games and large crowds), but it really was a fun night. Kaylie raced this boy through the inflatable obstacle course and totally beat him! They both played a handful of carnival style games, including their favorite, Plinko, and we left with a new jump rope, a slap bracelet, and a bubble blower that doesn't blow bubbles but Keiric now calls his "fan."

What was great about that weekend was that Jeremy's parents were able to come out and hang out with us. After the "Fun" night, Jeremy and I were able to go hang out with Greg for his birthday and saw a live, family-friendly (read-clean) improv theatre group. It was basically the same as "Who's line is it?" with audience suggestions, but all appropriate. We definitely recommend it if you are looking for something fun and different to do out in Scottsdale. It was also nice to give Jeremy's parents a chance to babysit (Ok, I know it was nicer for us...but well... they wanted time with the grandkids, too :) Then on Saturday we decided to go out to the Tolmachoff farms to pick out pumpkins and enjoy the festivities. So much fun - another thing we recommend! They had all kinds of things for the kids to do:

play in a playhouse that looked like a watermellon with seedshaped windows - seriously how cute it that?
Enjoy a "sand" box that was actually filled with dried corn kernals - I mean - who doesn't want to run their fingers through that? There was a shade above this, and I told the kids that it was so the corn kernals didn't get too hot and turn into popcorn - but with this recent Arizona heat, I am not sure if I was kidding or not!
We worked our way through a corn maze - which was actually really fun. All throughout the maze were mailboxes with pieces of a puzzle that, when put them together, became a map of the way out. There were also educational questions about farming and animals that Kaylie looked through and tried to find the answers for.
and a petting zoo
Keiric is learning to enjoy petting zoos, but the animals still scare him.
Kaylie enjoyed petting the pony
Even though Keiric can't read, he was afraid the pony would bite
You can even pose for pictures at picture points. How cute are these vegetables?!
Or with the pumpkins
and when you leave you get to sport this cool entrance stamp! Kaylie said it reminded her of Charlotte's Web.
Then we went home with our pumpkins to carve. K and Keir designed the faces, and then Jeremy did the actual carving.

Sadly after church on Sunday, (and after a great lunch at Cracker Barrel) Jeremy's parents headed home. Fortunately, Kaylie was getting an award on Monday morning at school, so it made starting a new week a little easier. Here is our "accelerated reader!" with her certificate and coupon for Dunkin Donuts - yum!
She also got to be the door holder - it was a good day for a second-grader :)

Camping

My sister Ashlyn had an elk tag a few weekends ago so we thought it would be a great time to take our kids camping. Kaylie had gone with my grandparents a few years ago, but Keiric had never had the chance to be out in the woods. He loved it!

His favorite part? Peeing in the dirt. Oh the joys of raising a son!

Kaylie had fun, too, though she didn't think it was fair that everyone else got to sleep in a trailer and we had a tent, but the first morning she rolled over and said that it was fun. However, the second night she decided to share a bed with Tyrzah in the trailer which went great until about 2am when she asked Auntie Melissa to walk her across the campsite, in the cold, barefoot, because she wanted to sleep with us again. Guess changing your mind starts early for girls!

The whole gang: Mom and Dad, Ashlyn, Me (not photographed since I was taking the picture - I know - shocking!) Jer, Kaylie, Keiric, my sister Melissa and her husband Brandon and their 3 kids, Tyrzah, Bubba (not his real name - but is a "junior" so I like Bubba better) and baby Hunter. We were missing my other sister and her family - so maybe next time!

They were very excited that it was cold enough to break out their Holland hats and gloves!
Bubba likes to hug trees

My dad also brought out the BB gun to shoot. This is the gun that I was given for Christmas when I was 10, and because it was raining that morning, my dad let us shoot it in the house; BIG mistake since my sister missed the can and shot the glass out of the oven - Merry Christmas Mom! Anyway, it had been around for awhile, when Jeremy took it and broke the handle on his very first shot!


It was beautiful, and so we went on a walk to find just the right leaf for one of Kaylie's AWANA sections.

Love the fall colors!We also introduced our kids to S'mores, though neither of them really like marshmellows, so they ate the graham crackers and "roasted" the marshmellows until they were charred and fell off the sticks
We also wanted to take some pictures from "the Rim." What a great view!


Keiric also loved that he didn't have to shower for 3 days - just check out that dirty face!

My dad and baby Hunter
Sadly (for Ash) they did not find any elk.
Mom and Dad. He loved the whole weekend and was so glad to be there and have everyone there together - She couldn't wait to get home!
Cousins
It was a really fun time.

Catching up

I know that once again I am ridiculously behind in posting so I am going to post some pictures in an effort to get caught up - Warning - this may take more than 1 post.My sister Ashlyn went to Homecoming
Kaylie lost tooth #5. She found out that it was the same green fairy that visited her in Holland.
What a face!
Cousin Hunter at the zoo
We love our friends!
We love the zoo - especially the splash park there! How funny it is to see him sporting his "water resistant" cast.


Jeremy had Spirit week for Homecoming. This is 60's day
Here is 80's day
Sporting the mullet!and 90's day - apparently I married a thug :)
More splash park pictures - but a different splash park -thankfully they have a lot of these in Phoenix!

A spur-of-the-moment trip out to California for Labor Day

Trying to get a good picture of both of them.