A Day at the Museum.

When the girls were little, we would often spend time at the Children's Museum. The girls have grown out of the Children's Museum and it has been a couple of years since we have visited it. I forgot how much I loved going there, also.

I have a new lover of the museum! Of course he tried to hoard all of the animals!He had a blast trying to build an igloo with his buddy!He loved the turtle!

And of course the bubbles. I have to say, he spent way more time in the water station, then the girls ever did.And then we had two very tired boys on the way home! I would say it was a very successful trip!

Who's That Masked Man?

After living in the Halloween Capital of the World for the last 5 years, we have all embraced the fun in the festivities, even my wonderful hubby.

He was a little hot because he had to wear jeans under his costume. It is a little to form fitting for him, even though he was a wrestler, for some reason it's not a good idea after your married, in your 30's and have 3 kids to wear a form fitting outfit , it's way too creepish.

We were getting ready for the girls to get home so we could go to our church's Fall Festival so Benjy said, "I'm going to run out to their bus as Batman. It was hilarious. The kids were pointing and yelling but Our very embarrassed 10 year old, was not HAPPY. I laughed so hard that I was crying. I couldn't believe he actually did it. Even some of our neighbors came out and cheered for him. They must think we are the weird and crazy family! OH, well...we have fun!
In fact she wouldn't even walk towards our house. She told her friend that she was going to her house! She was so mad and didn't talk to us for awhile. There may have been a couple of tears. Then we felt a little bad for her and wasn't so funny, anymore. Poor thing.

Our sweet little 7 year old thought it was awesome!

Who says you can't turn a Mini van into a Bat Mobile?
We found 3 out of the 5 costumes at 75% off so it was easy to have a theme this year.

Our Beautiful Baby Boy, Turns 2.

I realize sometimes just how lame I am, when I see the pictures of my son's pumpkin cake for his birthday cake! Of course I would like to say it's just because we were busy with other activities and I had wonderful plans to make a cake, then get one from Sam's club, and in the end, I quick ran to the store and picked up a pumpkin cake. I would love to say, " It won't happen again," however with his Birthday being so close to Halloween, guess what, there is a good chance he will have a Halloween cake every year! ;-) And why not? He loved it! He ate 3 left over pieces the next day! The cake was not very good but He love it, so what does it matter what the rest of us thought?
The other thing about our two year old. He got some really fun toys that night, but of course he played with the Birthday blower and laughed and laughed. Well, if we all knew that we could make him that happy with a 10 cent blower, why even get other gifts??? Why, because the blower broke that night and now he plays with all of his other toys!

Of course his sister moved back quickly after this picture when she realized there was a whole slew of spit blowing out the end and you would get sprayed if you got to close!

Annual Gray Ghost Run

I want to be a runner. One that can run as effortlessly as I do walk. For some reason, though, it just hasn't become that easy. I was excited this year to do the Gray Ghost 5k because at the beginning of the month we did a 10K and it was horrible. I thought I was going to die. It was so hot and there were so many hills that I literally felt like I was going to pass out. It was the worst running experience I have had, so far. So after a race like that, I thought the Gray Ghost would be fun and it was! I just love seeing all the costumes and the crowds, waiting for the parade, always have so much energy that you can't help but enjoy the run! The fact that I got to run it with my daughter and our friends was icing on the cake!
This years theme, 80's Rock Girls.

and I think we finished 4 minutes or so faster this year!

An Early Celebration.

Our little buddy all snuggled up with Noah.

He got to celebrate his birthday a little early with them. He finally got his beloved pillow pet that he wants every time we go to the store.

and a talking Tow Mater truck..
And Grandma gambling with the kiddos.

Chili Verde

If you want a fantastic green chili sauce, it might be a lot of work, but it is so worth it. Of course, I have to admit, I might have taken a nap during the festivities. In fact, Our poor little toddler was really tired and needed someone to keep him from falling off the bed, so I took one for the team and took a snooze with him. I hear it was a lot of work and from the pictures, it looks like it.

I did however get to enjoy a smothered green burrito for dinner when I woke up. It was fabulous and I should have taken a picture of it, but I was to busy eating!

The Actual Mounds

And that was the end of the road for the Mounds..

Nothing Like Nature..

Do you ever have those moments in time where you want to hit, pause, stop, rewind and play over and over again? The day spent at the mounds was like that for me. There is something about taking a walk out in the woods in the fall. I felt this calming effect and thoughts of savoring every bit of sun and warmth and the changing of colors. There was this peaceful calm and stillness at the mounds. To know that you are walking on sacred ground of the Native Americans and being there during this time of the year was one of those moments in time, that had a lasting effect on me. Spencer's lesson on; inside every acorn is a worm.

Pause..