Pumpkin Muffins!

I made mini pumpkin muffins today after a friend posted the recipe on her blog they are SO yummy I think I need to give some away before I eat them all!


Zoe "helped" me by taking one bite out of each muffin that she could get her hands on as I put them on the cooling rack :)

Pumpkins and Soccer

Today was Ian's last soccer game. He has loved going to soccer and has made some good friends on his team. It's nice because they keep them together for spring too so he will get to play with the same kids. I will be glad to have Saturdays back for a while though :)

At the end of every game the kids all run through the "tunnel" everyone cheers and they all get high fives! I am pretty sure it's the kids favorite part!


We had perfect weather for the game, sunny and crisp! I think our fall days are numbered though so we worked in our yard, raking, mowing and trying to wrap up our painting project. At this point we have given into the fact that the rest of the trim is going to have to wait until spring but we still had tape on the windows that needed to be peeled off and the storm windows need to be put back on... ah, such fun. Someday (okay most days) I think it would be nice to have a house with no projects... is that even possible? I guess there is probably always something.

Anyway, after working all day it seemed like a great night for some fun so we had pizza and carved pumpkins! Ian and Zoe have been dying to do this since we got the pumpkins last week!



Ian was excited to use the little carving tool to help cut the top off... of course neither him or Zoe wanted anything to do with cleaning the guts out so Gregg and I did it... hence the reason we didn't get many action shots!

Here's the end result!

I love Halloween, my parents (maybe mostly my dad?!) went all out when we were kids so I have such good memories of this time of year. I know, some people get all uptight about the holiday, but I look at it all in good fun. We are looking forward to next week with halloween parties and trick or treating!
Now If I can just get past the 6 page paper I have due... rough draft on Monday, final on Thursday... should be a busy week!

Getting Caught Up!

So I have been slacking in the blog world lately but it is not because I have been slacking!

I woke up one day and decided I wanted to go back to school! What? Why?! Anyone who knows me knows I was NOT a stellar student growing up. As a matter of fact, I am sure there are a few teachers who remember me well and have no desire to bump into me. ever.

So, what am I going back to school for? To be a teacher of course!!

Really this is something I have thought about before so I decided it was time to make it happen! Of course NOTHING would happen if I didn't have the super supportive awesome husband that I have! He is always so willing to go along with my crazy ideas :)

Anyway, I applied to Whitworth for the adult degree program, basically all of the classes are at night and they are in an accelerated format. I just take one class at a time, 1 or 2 nights a week (depending on the class) and the classes are 6 wks long, there are 4 session per semester so I still take 12 credits, which is considered full-time. I will graduate in 2013 with a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education and Teaching Certification. Wow, that's a mouth-full! But what it really means is I can teach grades k-8 in Washington. (I think if I moved to Idaho I could teach straight out of high-school, they are pretty lenient over there, LOL!)

So, back to my original comment, I have not been slacking! I am taking Academic Writing and ALL I have been doing is writing, writing, writing!! Hey, the good thing is, I am already 1/2 way through the class and then it's onto something new!

Gregg has been awesome, 2 nights a week he gets home from work and I pretty much walk out the door and don't get home until almost 10pm. He has been taking care of dinner, soccer practice, homework with Ian, clean-up, bath-time, stories and bedtime! Seriously he is the best and I think Ian and Zoe are lucky to have such a nice dad who loves to spend time with them.

Speaking of Gregg and being awesome, we celebrated our 14th Anniversary! We were semi low key, Gregg got me a certificate to Spa Paradiso for some pampering that I can't wait to use! And I got him an xbox, cuz seriously, we need another gaming device in the house :) We waited until the weekend to go out and we went to PF Chang's for dinner, it was SO good like always, I think I could eat their lettuce wraps everyday!

Ian still loves school. I was a little concerned about his teacher at the beginning of the year, but Ian seems to like him. He comes home from school happy, he loves practicing his letters and he loves reading so that is all I care about! Ian has been playing soccer too and we are down to our last game of the season next week. He is kinda funny out on the field, making silly faces and running around ... but he doesn't seem to be too aggressive about going after the ball. Maybe that will come, maybe it won't, but he probably gets it from me. I wasn't very aggressive in sports either until I got older. My dad used to run up and down the sidelines with me yelling kick'em in the shins! To try to get me pumped up! haha! Anyway, Ian is such a sweet boy and one thing I love the most is he will still let me snuggle with him.

Zoe is as cute and feisty as ever. Her new favorite thing is to wake up as soon as she hears Gregg get up in the morning. She follows him around the entire time while he gets ready talking to him. Zoe refuses to let me do her hair and insists on picking her own clothes which often results in her looking like an orphan. How is it that she manages to take relatively normal looking clothes and pairs them in such a way that they look ridiculous? Of course at home 5 minutes after she puts her clothes on they come off and she hangs out in her birthday suit! Seriously, I wish she would get past this phase... Zoe is a cutie though and an absolute chatterbox! She talks and sings all the time and we love her little (loud!) voice :)

I think we are all caught up...

The End :)

Zoe

Zoe loves to be our little helper, we have been painting our house... yes, the entire thing... we are still working on trim. Anyway, Zoe loves to be right in the middle of everything so I gave her a brush and let her go to town on the garage!

I love the baby crack shot! Zoe practically refuses to keep clothes on and even when they're on, they're not all the way on! *sigh*

Zoe loves being a little sister and often refers to herself as such. The other day she told Ian "I'm not a girl, I'm your sister!"

Part of being a little sister these days includes waiting for brother to get on and off the bus! Of course she has to have a backpack just like her brother too... (well, minus the fact that her pack has princesses on it!)

Don't worry, he'll be home soon...

Even though Zoe can be feisty (and believe me, she can be) this is the face that we see the most. Zoe is such a happy girl who loves to laugh and smile. She is playful and fun and so sweet!

We love Zoe in our family!

Busy Saturday

It's tiMe fOr SoCceR!

Ian had his first soccer game on the Saturday the 12th. It was at 8:30am and wouldn't you know it but Ian AND Zoe wanted to sleep in! Since when?! Not since then...

Anyway, the game was pretty funny, one kid scored on his own goal, there was a lot of bunching up and a few break-aways... cute little 5 year olds for ya.

Here's Ian with the ball...
I love how none of the other kids are paying attention

then they all realize he is heading down the field

I love this picture because it shows the little freckles he is getting across his nose :)
nothing to do with soccer at all but he is such a little cutie!

Zoe could care less about the game but she was super excited that there was a swing-set at the field... she could swing forEVER!

We are looking forward to soccer on Saturdays through October!

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RyDer'S pArTy!

On Saturday afternoon we went to my nephew Ryder's first birthday party! He is such a little feather-weight I can't believe he is a year! He is so cute and sweet and also a total mama's boy, I don't think he lets anyone else hold him! Happy Birthday little Ryd's!


Sean and Sadie of course went all out for the party. Sadie is quite a little planner and did a carnival theme. They had cotton-candy, games, balloons, face painting and yummy food!
Here's the kids lining up for the ball-toss

they all look so serious about getting a prize to fill those bags!

My nephew Oliver (Talia's baby) loved the carnival. Okay, maybe he didn't care all that much, he is just a happy baby no matter what and I thought this was a cute picture of him and grandma!

Sadie let the kids do finger painting with pudding... Zoe was more interested in eating hers but eventually smeared it on the paper too :)

Thanks Sean and Sadie! We had so much fun!

After the party Gregg and I went home to work on our MONSTER project of painting our house... (yes, apparently we are crazy...) so Gregg's mom took Ian and Zoe for a few hours so we could work. By the end of the evening Ian was actually begging her to bring him home! He was SOO tired! When she dropped them off I carried him straight from the driveway to his bed and he crashed in about .05 seconds... he was SNORING!
Proof of a BUSY (but fun) Saturday!

First Day of School!

Ian was so excited for his first day of kindergarten! He has been asking about it for weeks but he did get a little nervous about it the closer it got to the day.
He went back and forth on whether or not he wanted us to drive him on his first day or if he was going to take the bus. He finally decided on taking the bus but we were going to drive over to the school behind him so we could walk him to his class.

Such a handsome kindergarten boy!

Ian HAD to have a shot of his backpack, I mean seriously, it's Star Wars, what could be better?!
Zoe wasn't too happy about not having a backpack...

Ian patiently waited for the bus to arrive... he was out there early every morning all week

Poor little Zoe was SO sad to see her brother go! Even though they pick at each other all day long they can't stand to be apart!

Yeah, I cried too....

That's my baby on the bus!

we walk him down the hall


Then he found his seat in his class

They are still only 1/2 day in out district so he is only gone for a few hours. He loves it though and I can see him becoming such a big school kid! We are so excited for him!

Who says blondes have more fun?

I have wanted brown hair forever and I finally convinced someone to do it for me! I think stylists get a little scared when you want to do something that seems a little extreme... they think you are going to hate it and then hold it against them or something?!

Anyway, my friend Sonja is awesome at doing hair and she was in town for the weekend so here's what I ended up with!

I love it! I think its fun to have a change and Ian and Zoe seem to like it too :)