A Fun Fall Date Day! (with Luke, of course)

I always enjoy Jon's day off, especially when Ben and Abby are at school! This week we decided to go out and enjoy the beauty of fall! We headed to the nearby state park to check out what the trees looked like. It's no Michigan, that's for sure, but it was pretty!

We knew that there were some waterfalls if you were willing to take a little hike down to them. We never knew just how far away it was, so we thought we would find out. It wasn't very far at all. The falls were quite small, but pretty just the same!

Along the way, Luke was more content to play in the sand with a stick than anything.

This is probably my favorite shot of the day! Love it!!

I love this one too!

Jon found a caterpillar as we were heading back to the trail. Luke thought it was pretty cool! He was doing everything he could to get it with his stick!

I LOVE this little guy!

Maybe this one is my favorite! ??? So many cute one's!

Can't get enough of him!

We will definitely be taking Ben and Abby back there! And I'm sure that will mean more pictures!

As you saw in my last post, the kids carved their own pumpkins. Jon and I were so bummed that they wouldn't let us help them! We love to do it! We decided that since he would be off the next day, that we would get two more pumpkins and do our own! It was so fun!

Freaky eyes!
I was very proud of my pumpkin!

Jon's finished product.

My finished product.

Jon and I had a GREAT, fun day! Even if Luke had to tag along!

Pumpkin Fun!

Ready to get started!

Ben made his own design.

Abby chose a design stencil out of a book. Here she is stenciling it on.

I think this was Ben's favorite part!

This is NOT Abby's favorite part! She did NOT want to stick her hand in that pumpkin!!

This girl cracks me up! She stuck her carving knife into the pumpkin and wasn't so thrilled that it shot pumpkin juice at her! Next thing I knew she had on safety glasses! Silly girl!

Hard at work!

Look at that concentration!

Abby and her finished pumpkin.

Ben and his finished pumpkin.

The finished product!

Jon and I were so bummed that neither Ben or Abby would let us help! We decided that we would have to go get more pumpkins and make our own! Those pictures are coming!

What Do You Do When You're Bored?

Friday was a day off of school for Ben and Abby and they were both grounded! Ugh...All I heard all day was how bored they were and how badly they wanted to be ungrounded! It was getting quite old! Abby decided to take a nap, which I didn't take a picture of. Ben...

Ben decided that he would organize my sewing pins. How's that for boredom? He got quite into it! It was kind of funny!

Here's what he came up with. Funny, huh?At least he found something to do! I just really hope that they aren't grounded for the next day off!

My Big Helper

Ben was SO helpful to me last night! He proved that he can be responsible and take initiative! (Two biggies for me!) He could tell that I was getting frustrated with it being late and not being able to get dinner going due to Luke being difficult. He came up to me and asked if it would help me out if he took care of Luke for a little bit! I almost cried! What a huge help!!

What better way to occupy a 17 month old than to sit him on a bucket that he has no idea how to get off of?! Luke thought it was great!

Putting it gently, Luke was a bit of a challenge this weekend! I'm sure it had a lot to do with having been out of town and being sleepy. All of us were a bit tired of the screaming! Ben and Abby started calling Luke a little devil! (I know it's mean, but like I said, it was a tough few days!) Ben couldn't resist the opportunity to give Luke some little devil horns. Hopefully things will get back to normal now that we are back home and the schedule is back to normal!

The Bruin Mile 2009

The Bartlesville cross country team hosts and event each year to introduce elementary school kids to cross country running. Abby was so excited to participate this year! I don't think, however, that she completely grasped how far one mile is! Especially when it consists of running uphill, downhill, in the grass..... Nonetheless, she was pumped!

Abby stretching before the big race.

These are all of the 4th and 5th grade girls from Abby's school that participated.


I know this picture is a little blurry, but this was the halfway point of the course and Abby looks spent!

Almost to the finish line! The two girls that are beside Abby are cross country runners and ran alongside her to encourage her to finish strong! I was so thankful for them!

Abby was SO happy to have just finished the race! That was her only goal!! I am so proud of her!!! WAY TO GO BABY GIRL!!!


She actually said she can't wait to do it again next year!

My Amazing Friend, Karen

With October being Breast Cancer Awareness month, I thought I would share about someone who is very special to me and is a breast cancer SURVIVOR!!! Karen and I met in Hutchinson, Kansas in November 2006. We had no idea when we met that we would become such great friends! We spent almost every day together while our kiddos were at school. (Along with her little girl, Erika, who was only three at the time.) We would go out to lunch, shopping...anything to just hang out with a friend! I always knew that her time in Hutch was limited due to her husband's job, but I wasn't prepared when she moved clear across the country to Oregon very shortly after Luke was born. Right before she moved, I found out that we were moving too, so I knew that even if she could stay in Hutch, I wouldn't be there. I think that helped, but it was still terribly sad to see her go!! I am proud to say that in the year and a half that we have been apart, we have remained friends! I still miss her terribly and would do anything to go out there and spend some time with her.

Last September Karen was diagnosed with breast cancer. I felt so helpless being so far away! Thank goodness for phones, e-mail, blogs and most of all prayer! I am so proud of her for her positive attitude through all that she has been through! I don't think I would have handled it nearly as well as she has! I am so blessed to still have her around, even if she is far away! Karen had a mammogram last week and found out this week that everything looks great!! Thank you, God!!

For the month of October I will be displaying the Breast Cancer Awareness background in honor of Karen and all of the other women that are fighting this horrible disease!

Thank you, Karen, for being the best friend anyone could ask for! I am SO thankful for you! I love you and miss you so much! You are an amazing woman!!