Trick or Treat!!

So last year, I went all out--made the boys their Halloween costumes from scratch (Pirates) and they wore them for about 45 minutes total. No way was I going to do that this year (waaaaayyyyy too swamped with school right now!) Knowing that they have never even been "into" trick or treating in the past, I hesitated to even buy costumes. But I did. Police Officers like Daddy. Well, they loved them and Kurt purchased accessory kits to really deck them out.

We went down to the Fire Department, and then Grandma and Papa's. I had to convince them to go across the street from there and then they were hooked. After leaving my parents, rather than head to Kurt's parents, they wanted to do "the loop" of the neighborhood. I think next year will be very different and Kurt had better do what he can to get the night off--HA!

I did finally get them to Grandma and Grandpa's and they moved into handing out candy mode, which is always what they've been happy doing in the past.

PUMPKINS!

We don't always carve pumpkins for Halloween. There is a large college student population near our home and jack o'lanterns do not always survive long term on our porch! This year though, the neighborhood is a pretty "tame" group of kids, so Arielle took a chance and purchased 2 big pumpkins for the boys to carve. Kind of.

She cut the tops off and I think they each took one handful of the "guts" out before they declared themselves DONE--HA! Arielle and I finished scooping, the boys picked out the patterns they wanted to use, she transferred them onto the pumpkins, Beckett broke one of the "knives" meant to cut out the pieces, she and I took turns carving, I separated out the seeds to roast for Arielle and the boys came back in time for pictures! Pretty much how we figured it would go =)

Xmas card outtakes

So a couple of weekends ago I took the kids out to try and get some usable shots to use for this years Christmas card. I had HOPED for a few usuable ones out of all the ones I took--and now you know why...

Menu Planning Monday

Here we go! Monday again =) Once again it's blog-linky party time and as always, I'm linking up to Laura and her ever-growing list of bloggers who post their family's weekly menus too. There is something for everyone there! For us this week:

Monday: French toast and bacon

Tuesday: Chicken breasts, pasta, veggie

Wednesday: Kurt is off, he's in charge!

Thursday: I have class--with a test no less!

Friday: I have FRESH Amish chickens coming--I will try something with one of these

Saturday: Kabobs, rice

Sunday: Turkey breast, cowboy potatoes, beans

Show us your Life--Home Tour Kids Rooms

And for my final link up with Kelly and her blog-hopping party of nursery/kids rooms. This would be Beckett's room--all to himself now that Paxton has moved next door. And, yes, I know--it needs a little TLC! The sage-y green walls are from way back when Paxton had this room as his nursery. Once he was moving to a big boy bed and the crib was going to be repurposed for Beckett, I went shopping for bedding and got a major score when I found the Eddie Bauer Bedtime Bears line for the twin bed AND all of the crib pieces as well as lamps, nightlight, stuffed bears, rugs, clock, curtains AND wall decorations. And Lady Luck was in a good mood later on when it was time to transition Beckett into a big boy bed as well because I found duplicates of everything I needed from the same line again on Ebay. Two quilts, 2 comforters, 2 regular sheet sets, 2 flannel sheet sets (VERY important in WI!!) and 2 shams. WHEW!

I am still loving the bedding, but the walls could use freshening and I will probably pull a color out of the fabric to do this with--lots of possibilities in there. He also needs a nightstand, which I am on the lookout for and he needs some wall decoration as well. After nursing school is behind me I plan to tackle these little projects =)

Show us your Life--Home Tour Kids Rooms

This is part 2 of my Home Tour of Nurseries/Kids' Rooms as hosted by Kelly in her weekly blog-hopping linky party! I can't fit a million pictures into a post (even though I've been directed HOW to do that, just need to DO it!) We're just moving on down the hall to Paxton's room. The 2 little boys shared a room until recently when Arielle moved to an apartment and Paxton moved in. I still have work to do in there, some of it I know exactly how it will be, the rest--not so much!

I did the board and batten project all by myself =) If you look closely, you can see how I need to get that final trim piece up at the top!! He also needs more on the walls than just his name above his bed--HA! The train table is a pivotal piece since he is our little train junkie! (although, truth be told, most of the time he hauls the bulk of it down to the living room and sets up elaborate pathways for us to walk over!) I KNEW I wanted chocolate and white for the walls and then went bedding shopping--you know, the exact opposite of how you're supposed to do it! But it worked out, I found the bedding at Kohl's and NOW see that there are matching curtains too--still thinking about switching those out. He loves his new room =)

Show us your Life--Home Tour, "Nursery"

Note the quotes--HA! We've outgrown nurseries here, but that's whats on the tour over at Kelly's so we're doing the best we can =) Actually, I'll spread this out over the weekend since I have 3 boys rooms to display!! First up I'll do Parker's room. I've showed bits and pieces over a few other posts, but since we're linking up, you get to see it again =) His bed and nightstand were actually my Mom's many years ago! Obviously, he's got a little love for the game of golf. He's got logo golf balls from courses that he's played displayed over his bed (minus a few since he's been known to forget to buy a ball when he's on a new course sometimes!!), his varsity letter with medals on another wall, golf ball-shaped photo frames and metal golf sculptures on a shelf and a complete set of clubs hanging on another wall! The window toppers are "threaded" onto golf clubs as well. The "stuff" kind of hodgepodge on his bookshelf and nightstand are the accroutaments of a 16 year old boy!!

Thanks for peeking---Paxton and Beckett's rooms will follow!

Menu Planning Monday

Monday again!! Wow, that comes around fast--HA! Of course that means it's menu posting time and I'll be linking up to http://orgjunkie.com/ for her weekly linky party featuring nothing but menus of bloggers from all over =) For us this week:

Monday: Kurt had fire, he treated the boys to McDonalds

Tuesday: Beef Stew, baking powder biscuits

Wednesday: Kurt's off, he's in charge!!

Thursday: I have class, the boys will mooch

Friday: To Die For Beef Roast, potatoes, roasted asparagus

Saturday: Chicken breasts in some way, shape or form and sides

Sunday: Meatloaf, mashed taters and gravy, peas

You won't believe this post!

Because it's about football! I am not a huge football fan, pro sports nauseate me, I don't fully understand all the intricacies of the game, I'm not a cold weather lover and the list goes on and on. BUT, how could I let the upset of the week go by without a mention? Our beloved Badgers beat the #1 ranked team in the country yesterday, 31-18!

I have actually been to several Badger games over the years, but have to admit that the 5th quarter is my favorite part---I'm sure yesterday's 5th quarter had Camp Randall shaking on its foundation =)

Show us your Life--Home Tour, Office/Den

This week on http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/ the home tours continue on with this weeks focus on the home office. We call ours the den! It USED to see lots of action since that is where we keep the PC/desktop (in the black armoire), but since there are multiple laptops in the house, now we use it for overflow TV watching and the boys have a fair portion of toys tucked in there, behind the large curtain--my card-making supplies are behind the smaller curtain. The futon works for naps too!!!!

Glad you've stopped by to peek =)

2010 Xmas card shoot

Maybe, hopefully. We'll see if there are some usable ones in this bunch--not everyone was willing to be cooperative, and yes I am looking directly at 2 little boys when I say that!

The kids all wore Badger attire and we went to Eagle Point Park in Dubuque, IA to take them. It's a gorgeous park with LOTS of shelters, tennis courts, a koi pond (which had been emptied for the season) multiple playgrounds and a kick-butt view of the Mississippi and lock and dam #11. Well worth the $1 per carload admission fee =)

Wordless Wednesday