Gobble, Gobble...

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*****Happy Thanksgiving*****

from this little turkey and all the rest of the family too! Hope you have a blessed day!

Halloween Fun

Hey there... I'm finally getting around to posting some of our Halloween pictures. We were all sick the week before Halloween (yes, all 6 of us!), but we were feeling well enough by Saturday to have a little Halloween fun.
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Grandma Dot called to see if we could meet her at the Holland Peanut Store, so she could treat the kids to some goodies at the store. We didn't tell them where we were going, and it was driving them crazy!
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Poor Jacob got a bloody nose in the car on the way there. I gave him a bunch of napkins to use, but he still managed to get blood all over his costume, as well as his face and hands. So then the rest of the kids started joking that Jacob was dressed up as "Jacob being eaten by Stitch the Alien". That made him laugh.
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When we got to the Peanut Store, the kids were very excited! Grandma Dot gave them each some money, and then off they went to pick out their candy. They had so much fun!

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I took some group pictures with Grandma Dot before we went home. These are the only ones I got of the kids in their costumes. They aren't great, because somebody has their eyes closed in both photos. Oh, well! They are still cute...

After we left the Peanut Store, we went trick-or treating. We decided to try a Trunk or Treat event hosted by Rose Park CRC. Let me tell you, that is the way to do it! No more walking for miles trying to find houses with lights on. All the cars were right there in the church parking lot, the people were all dressed up and very friendly. AND the kids were able to get the same amount of candy that they usually do in less than 15 minutes. Usually we walk around for over an hour!
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After that we went home for our mini Halloween party, with dinner and treats. I bought this silly sign at the dollar store long before Halloween. I decided it would be fun to base my menu for Halloween off the sign.
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Here's what I came up with for each item. You can probably figure out what most of them are on your own.

Maggot Stew = chicken rice soup

Assorted Eyeballs = gummy eyeballs (in the punch)

Monster Claws = hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls

Bloody Bites = meatballs

Snail Slime Surprise = vanilla pudding with green food coloring

Witches Brew = punch (fruit punch, frozen lemonade concentrate, raspberry sherbet)

Creepy Cookies = chocolate chip cookies

Coffin Cakes = cupcakes with skeleton picks

So we managed to have a fun Halloween day, despite the rough week that preceded it. I'm so glad we were all feeling well enough to go ahead with our plans. So that covers our day... I hope you all had a great time too!

I feel pretty....

....oh, so pretty! LOL I got a haircut today, which is something I rarely do, but I recently decided I needed an updated style that I can stick with. My dear sister Tammy suggested an angled bob. After looking at some pics online, here is what I ended up with:

Granted, the before pic of me is pretty bad. I hate having my picture taken! But I guess it just makes the after picture all that much nicer. It's a big improvement, don't you think?

I love, love, LOVE it! And you know what makes a good haircut even better? The fact that it only cost $8.oo at the Stanley Harris School of Cosmetology. Yeah, baby!!

Hmmm, I'm in such a good mood, it's too bad I can't get a new haircut every day...

Post Family Farm

Earlier this month, Jacob's class went on a field trip to Post Family Farm in Hudsonville. I got to go along as a chaperone, so I was in charge of a group of 4 little monkeys. Luckily, the rain held off for us.
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The first thing we did was take a hayride out to the pumpkin patch. Jacob was all smiles...


He picked out his favorite pumpkin to take home....

Next, the kids learned about how pumpkins grow. They got to act out a story that showed the growth from seed to pumpkin. Jacob is one of the boy flowers in the front row (2nd from the right). He wasn't too happy about being a flower. LOL

After that, the kids got to see all the farm animals. I didn't get many pictures because it's hard to get any good ones when 18 kids are crowding around the animals. I did get this one of Jacob petting the rabbit.

The last event of the day was riding the pumpkin train. All the kids loved it!

Watch out, Mom!

We had a great trip!

Birthdays galore!

Last weekend, on October 4, we had a group birthday party for Abby, Noah, Nicole and Grandpa Gene. Abby and Noah turned 9, Nicole turned the big 1-0, and Grandpa Gene celebrated 85 years! We had the party at our church... it sure beats cleaning the house!
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I decorated two cakes once again. Once you start something, it's kind of expected in the future... you know? :) I usually enjoy decorating the cakes, so I don't really mind. Now I just have to learn how to start preparing far enough ahead that I don't get too stressed out by last minute party details. Maybe I'll get that figured out before Jacob turns 18... lol!
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I really like how the cakes turned out this time around, they are definitely two of my favorites. Here is Abby with her Hannah Montana cake...

Noah chose a dragon cake that was easy to make, yet very cute! I love the ideas I find on the Family Fun website!

Nicole requested a cheesecake for her birthday, and Tammy fulfilled her wish. Look how beautiful it turned out! I joked that Tammy must have turned into Martha Stewart, because she brought that awesome cheesecake and a really delicious trifle to the party.

For Grandpa's birthday, we all went in together on a gift. We got him a really nice digital photo frame. I think it will be very nice for him, and I think he liked it!

Getting ready to open presents. You know your kids are getting older when the envelopes outnumber the packages. And when mom and dad start asking them if we can borrow money. LOL

Blowing out candles x 3...

So, another year older, another year wiser... boy, how time flies!

Party at The Lost City...

This year for Abby and Noah's birthday, we told them they could each invite one friend, and we would go do something fun. We came up with a few options, and they agreed on The Lost City. On Friday afternoon I picked up the kids and their friends from school.
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Noah invited Charlie, one of his good friends who is in his class at school...

Abby invited her best friend Maddie...

When we got back to the house, the kids all played for a while. Then we had pizza and cupcakes. Here are the cupcakes I made for the party...

The kids decided they wanted to decorate some cupcakes too. Here are the ones Abby and Maddie did. Abby got a little carried away with the sprinkles!

And here are Noah and Charlie's cupcakes...

After we ate, we headed to The Lost City. The kids could barely contain their excitement! The first thing they wanted to do was play laser tag. Steve was on one team, and all the kids were on the other team. Here are the kids getting briefed about the rules...

Here they are putting on all their gear...

I went in to take pictures. The room was very dark, almost pitch black, except for the blacklights.... so these pictures are pretty bad. But I still captured some cute expressions. At first Jacob was kind of scared because it was so dark, but he got over it quickly. Look at the big smile on his face!

Here is Noah... he takes his laser tag very seriously!

Abby loved it too! The kids had a blast ganging up on Steve.

In the end, Steve still won the game, but the kids said it was still their favorite part of the night. They needed a little break after running around so much in the game, so we sat down to have a pop...

Next on the agenda was cosmic mini-golf, which is a lot like regular mini golf, but played in the dark (well, surrounded by blacklights.) I have decided that The Lost City must be one of the gawdiest places on Earth! Oy!! Look at all that horrible neon paint... LOL!

Steve is giving Jacob a few pointers on mini golf...

The kids also wanted to play Route 66 mini bowling...

It was so cute...

The dynamics of having boy/girl twins is interesting. Abby and Charlie are good friends too. They were in the same class last year, and Abby talked about him quite a lot. Maddie's mom told me that both of the girls were very excited that Charlie was coming to the party.

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Here are Abby and Charlie playing Dance, Dance Revolution...

Jacob played a few video games too. He could hardly see over the steering wheel of this "tank"... Yikes!!

Abby won a bunch of tickets playing Deal or No Deal...

That's all the pictures for now. The party was so much fun! The kids had a blast, and Mom and Dad were exhausted! (Man, we're getting old...)

Last camping trip of the year...

We took one last camping trip at Tri-ponds on September 18-20. In June, we camped there with Clay and Mari Ellyn. During that time we made plans for this trip in September, hoping that a few other friends would be able to join us. Clay and Mari Ellyn reserved a bunch of sites right by the swimming pond, which was a perfect spot. It ended up being a big group, with lots of Mari Ellyn's family camping too. Both of her sisters were there, as well as some of their grown kids and families. It was a lot of fun! Tammy came on Saturday, and she ended up staying that night.
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The weather was absolutely beautiful for a fall camping weekend! Although the nights and early mornings were a bit chilly, it got up around 80 degrees during the day. It was kind of funny, because the kids went back and forth between winter coats and bathing suits. I thought they were crazy for wanting to go swimming, but sure enough... they jumped right in! And they weren't the only ones. I guess the cold water just doesn't affect kids as much.
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Here are Noah, Nate and his friend Jordan floating on the big inner tube out in the pond...

Jacob looks a little cold...

Nate wanted to make sure no one stole the big inner tube from him...

But the rest of the kids got a turn with it a bit later. Bouncing on the tube kept them busy for quite a while.

On Saturday night they all went on a hayride...

Here are the kids trying to warm up before their next swimming session...

On Sunday morning, Steve and the kids decided to take a ride in the kayaks in another nearby pond. Noah went on his own, and he was a natural. He got the hang of it really quick, and he glided peacefully back and forth over the pond....

Jacob just wanted to watch from the shore...

Steve took Abby out in the other kayak for a little ride. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of them, because I was too busy watching Noah, since he was by himself. Abby was kind of nervous about tipping over, but Steve tried to reassure her. When they got out into the pond, Steve wiggled back and forth a little to show Abby how "stable" the kayak was. Well, I guess he miscalculated just a bit, because over they went! Tammy and I were both there watching, and neither one of us saw it. It happened so fast! They hadn't even been in the kayak for more than a minute or two.

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Steve said when he came up out of the water, he didn't see Abby, so he reached out and grabbed her and pulled her up to the surface. Poor Abby! Steve felt terrible, of course, and Abby says she is never going kayaking again. She said it was scary, but she handled it pretty well. After they came out of the pond dripping wet, they headed right to the showers to get cleaned up.

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Here is Steve trying to dry out his cell phone, which was in his pocket when they went over...

Steve didn't have any other jeans with him, so he spend the rest of the day wearing his pajama pants...

Well, despite that little mishap, we had a great weekend! Tri-ponds is a great campground, and the kids can't wait to go again next year!