Carving Out Memories

Ever year the kids carve out a pumpkin and Richard makes a pumpkin pie from scratch.  YUMMY!

Nicole had a pumpkin decorating contest at her school.  She made hers into a turkey.  The turkey is holding signs that read, "Just say NO to pumpkin pie!" and "Eat more apple pie."

Johnny Appleseed Day

 Today was Johnny Appleseed Day in kindergarten.  All the kids in Jack's class dressed up and they spent all day doing apple related activities and trying lots of yummy foods and drinks. 

Jack wanted to take an apple pie, so Richard and I made one last night from a recipe we found on the Internet.  It was yummy!  Can't wait to get more apples and make another one.

Grandparent's Day

My pre-k class and Jack's kindergarten class said the pledges and then the kindergartners sang a song. 

Back to School

I can't believe Nicole is in Jr. High!  WOW!  7th grade!  I took a couple of pictures of her one day before school started when no other students were there.  Didn't want to embarrass her on meet the teacher night.

Lauren is so excited to be in her Daddy's class this year.

Jack is in kindergarten.  Now he says he's "one of the big kids".

Natalie is starting 5th grade.  She's going to miss having Nicole on our campus.

BLING!

I took Nicole to get her top braces today.  They will put the bottom braces on in a month or two.  I told her that she should like them as much as she loves "bling" on everything else (note the sunglasses and hat!), but she insists, "These aren't bling!" 

Before:

During:

After:

Of course she chose blue bands when they let her chose her color for this month.  Each time she goes they will give her thicker wires until they get to the size they need.

After she got them, we were in Hobby Lobby and it started storming.  We were standing on the sidewalk waiting for the rain to slow down before we tried to get to the car.  It lightened and thundered at exactly the same time and Nicole hollered, "Oh God that was right in front of me and my mouth is full of metal!"    I asked her if her teeth were tingling.  She was NOT amused.  Of course her Daddy asked her if she could open her mouth and find a radio station playing Hannah Montana. 

Minnie Mouse Party

Robyn had a Minnie Mouse birthday party for her first birthday.  See how sweet she is and how clean her face is at the beginning of the party.  ;-)  

She definately knows what money is!  Look at her expression in this photo when she sees the money in one of her birthday cards.  She's ready to shop! 

Remember how clean her face was at the begining of the party?...  Time for cake...

I jokingly said to another guest at the party that I was waiting for her to stick her face in the cake.  Almost as if on que, she put her face on the cake and looked right at me like, "Well, go ahead!  Get the picture!"  It was so funny. 

Where's that clean face?!?!  Happy 1st Birthday, sweet niece.  I know you enjoyed your big day!

Chuck E. Cheese

We came to Dallas this weekend for Robyn's 1st birthday party. It's hard to believe that she is already a year old! When we got here yesterday, we went shopping and took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese.

 

Panama City Beach

Yesterday we stayed at Panama City Beach.  Our room was on the 22nd floor!  WOW, what a view!  There was no oil in the water there, so we were able to swim and play in the sand for a little while.

This was the view from our balcony before the storm and then as the storm was passing by.  Notice in the second picture how you can see clearly on one side but you can see the wall of rain on the other side of the picture.

Yesterday, we slept late after staying out late for the Electric Parade.  We went to Epcot for our last day.  The kids got to meet Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy at a Character Spot inside Innoventions exclusively for Disney Visa cardholders.  They will take group pictures and you can print a free 5x7 at the Kodak store near the entrance.  We rode Spaceship Earth and played the games at the end.

We rode Mission Space again, but this time we went on the green team, not the orange team.  We rode Energy Adventure, The Seas with Nemo and Friends, and Soarin'.  We watched The Circle of Life.  We walked through the aquariums at the end of the Nemo ride. 

The kids had fun playing the games at Innoventions.  There was a video game that took your picture running, jumping, and dancing and put you in the game as characters.

Everywhere we went, the people who work in the shops kept giving the kids stickers.  The more they got, the more people tried to give them.  It was so funny.

Well, it's been a great vacation.  Thursday, we will spend the day packing up and swimming in the pool, and we'll start home Friday.