Trick or Treat!

Last night, we went took Ben down to the state park to trick or treat with our friends and Andy's sister's kids.  This was the first time, Ben had been trick or treating in the park...what an experience!  Almost every campsite had candy (a little boy's paradise)!

Ben had a great time with his buddy, Blake, going around to all of the sites.  We adults enjoyed a nice hot fire (it was VERY cold) after the trick or treating was done!

The ninja and the lion!

 

 I guess this is a "scary" lion :)

 

 We were heavily protected during trick or treating.

 

 

 The whole gang!

 

 Grabbing the loot!

 

Taking a break with Daddy :)

Pumpkin Carving, Take Two!

Last night, Katie and Addie came over to carve pumpkins with Ben.  All of the kids had such a good time!  It was a little colder than last weekend, but we bundled up and made the best of it :)  It had been quite a while since we'd seen my sister and her family...we had a nice night catching up!

 

 

It's Punkin' Carving Time!

This afternoon, the weather was absolutely beautiful, so we decided it would be fun to carve pumpkins with Ben.  He had a great time scooping out all of the "goop"...he wasn't much for carving with the knife, but he helped as much as he could.  He's pretty excited to put a candle in it tonight and see it glow!

Workin' late

Ben and Grandpa Jim were workin' late tonight cutting beans.  Ben finally called it quits after about an hour in the combine.  I'm sure he was good help (or at the very least, offered Grandpa Jim constant conversation...I don't think Ben can keep quiet for more than a minute)!

The picture isn't the best quality, but I wanted to be sure and get one :)

It's that time of year...

It's that time, when we all have to start thinking about the holidays (Christmas will be here before we know it)!  This year, with seven grandchildren and one on the way, Mom thought it would be a good idea to get a little creative with her gift giving.

Never wanting to duplicate, and always wanting to get what the kiddos want, we came up with "Grandma Debbie's Gift Giving Guide".

I thought I better put it on the blog so that we'll remember to use it again next year!!!

Off to the Pumpkin Patch

We just got back from our second annual trip to the pumpkin patch.  Ben had a lot of fun picking out pumpkins, walking on the nature trail, and going through the corn maze.  It was even more fun because he got to do it all with his good friend Blake!  Even though it was pretty cold (a nice balmy 48 degrees), we all enjoyed the day and made it home with quite a few pumpkins.

 Trying to decide if this was the "perfect" pumpkin

 

 The boys thought we needed a LOT more pumpkins than what we had picked out...they kept filling the wagons up

 

Miss Ava had a fun day too, even if she had to spend it with two ornery boys

And, so it begins...

Ben turned another milestone this past week...he started his first "official" sport, soccer!  I'm not sure how official three-year-old soccer really can be, but he had a great time.  They worked on dribbling and passing, played red light/green light, practiced kicking goals, and did a lot of running around :) 

 Doing some stretches before "practice" started...I can't believe how grown up he is :(

 

 Playing red light/green light.  They had to stop when the coach said red light, and put their foot on the soccer ball.

 

 

Kicking a goal :)