happy haLloWeEN

another halloween down! our super girl and our princess. they had so much fun trick or treating...though lainey did't make it far before wanting to be pushed around in the stroller. at one point she even wanted me to push her up to the door in the stroller.....i don't think so. goofball! then back to the house to count the stash and eat a few goodies. luckily the kids are still young enough to not really remember what's missing from their bag in the morning (mom and dad helping ourselves to a few pieces);-)

only one

months ago kylee had been saying that she really wanted alone time with mommy.....so an opportunity arose where alaina could go to iowa for the weekend with papa and ohie and kylee could stay here with us. i waited until this week to tell both of them...not knowing how each one would react. we figured kylee would be disappointed because she hates to miss a party, and we didn't know how alaina would do away from home (mommy) an entire weekend, so......kylee was disappointed and alaina was excited. we left it up to kylee to decide what she wanted to do, "stay or go." she decided stay. so last night we were going to go see 'where the wild things are' but decided it may not be the best movie to take her to, so we went with plan "b." pizza! we went out for pizza and then went up to the legends to buy her yearly pair of converse (it has been a different color each year for about five years now). we had a good time. this morning we got up and went down to crown center (kylee actually slept in until 8:00....that is AMAZING!) to go to Kaleidoscope, then have lunch at Fritz's (before my photo shoot). we were met by all the marathon runners finishing up their race...we called them "aluminum people" (they were all wearing aluminum wraps...i guess that is what marathon runners do???). kaliedoscope was fun...it's kylee's wonderland....mine too when i was a kid. she gets her crafty side from me. then it was off to fritz's...you know the place where the train brings you your food and all the kids (except mine) are wearing the gigantic engineer hats! well, can i just say that i am still hurting from lunch today. i am sitting here typing this trying to forget the stomach pains that i am enduring. i will never eat there again. next time i'll stop at d'bronx and sneak it in and let kylee enjoy her delicious grease on a hard bun....yuck. all in all it was a great time spent with our oldest. we haven't been able to do that in a long time. it was different only having one kiddo, it was only a little quieter. we missed you lou lou!! kylee did too;-)

our girl

some of you know that this summer wasn't just fun and games.....it was about reading. it took a little while in kindergarten to get the phonics down, then reading...so this summer she had to read a book every day (except saturday and sunday). can i just say that it was not in the least bit fun...and i can say that confidently from both ends. some may say we were hard on her, but we felt the need to push, because she wanted to give up and that does not fly in this house. it was painful watching her, her frustration, her tears (our tears, our frustration...boo hoo, i know). seriously it was awful!! but we kept going. even after school started, it has been one book a day since. anyway, today i got an email from her teacher saying that she had reassessed kylee's reading level from the first month of school which was at a "c" and is now an "f"....i know that doesn't sound very good, but it is. by the end of this year they want all first graders to be reading at a "j" level. so much has changed since i was in the first grade...all i remember was playing footsie with a boy named joshua and getting in trouble for it. i guess my mind was in the gutter!?!? anyway, we are so proud of you kyleebug! you are growing up right before our eyes....i don't think i should blink!

circus to pumpkin patch

we have had a few busy weeks. a couple of weeks ago the circus came to town...the girls actually thought the circus was coming to town by train (too cute). the girls had a blast...except for the clowns. alaina did not like the clowns until they were far away. when we first got there we were able to meet the performers. alaina was on my shoulders when we came up to a clown with green spikey hair....her hands clamped around my neck and she started screaming...and the clown pretended to scream back. alan had actually pull her off of my shoulders and take her away....as i was choking. so kylee decided she would have her picture taken with him instead. they loved the loved the motorcycles and the elephants and tigers...and of course the souvenirs!

fall is officially here and we are loving every single minute of it. we wanted to get a head start on the pumpkin patch so went this past weekend with papa and ohie. i just love schaakes pumpkin patch. it's big and open and they have the best selection/variety of pumpkins...and it's free. you can't beat that. afterwards we headed to lawrence for some BBQ....and a water bath (lets just say that the poor waitress had a heck of a night, i felt so bad for her). the BBQ was delish!! it was a fun filled day, and showers were a necessity!!!