Happy Halloween

It was a make it work year for us :) I borrowed Mikenna's costume from a friend and everything else was the girls scrounged out of their closets :) I pulled a wig out from our halloween box and off we went to our ward chili feed, carnival, trunk-or-treat and then ice cream social. Crazy night. We ended up with way too much candy.

Kassi & soccer & freezing...

As promised, here are some photos of Kassi playing soccer. She is very quick on her feet and not afraid of the ball :) She has some great soccer skills that will be fun to watch as she continues to learn and grow. We have a fun coach and some cute girls who all make playing soccer something Kassi looks forward to doing every T and Th and Sat :) One of the dad's (Mia's dad) is especially entertaining during the games. Actually the games themselves are also quite comical. You'd have to be there to appreciate it.

This last Saturday of soccer games was particularly cold. We were on the fields from 8:45 a.m. until 1:15 p.m. Here the girls are huddled in blankets watching Kassi...and we still had one more game to go. Basically with soccer practices M-Th...Kaylee M & Th 5-6; Kiera M & W 5-6; Kassi T & Th 4:30-5:30; and then games on Saturday usually lasting through the entire day...for 9 weeks...I can honestly say that I am happy for the break.

Here we are all set up for Kiera's game...oh, did I mention that on top of it being cold, it was also sprinkling a titch of rain :S Don't you love our XL sportbrella? It is a bit conspicuous, I am always trying to recruit others to sit under it with me so I don't feel so foolish.

Pumpkin Patch 2010

Seriously, that haystack pyramid is a disaster waiting to happen!
This year I rode the bus (so much fun :) with Mikenna to the pumpkin patch (an event that I am happy to be done with for a LONG time). Mikenna was super excited to go.

Oddly, there were gobs of white pumpkins in the patch that no one chose. Mikenna's was nice and round and most importantly, clean!

Good-bye Uncle...

My Uncle (my mom's younger brother) has been here in the states since about 2001. He came over for work, since there was none to be found w/in hours of his home in China. Since we moved into my parent's home back in 2005, he has essentially been another grandfather to my girls. Despite the language barrier, they chat away with him, play games, grab him to fix their bikes...he is quick to fix them noodles or hot chocolate, or grab a snack that is out of reach. He is a smiling face that they have come to love and enjoy. My girls even like to sit and watch Chinese movies with him.

Uncle's been a bit sick with allergies and stomach problems. He finally decided a few weeks ago that it was time to go home, and stay home. My girls are super sad. Kassi came in the night before he left and was sobbing. Next came Mikenna with her quiet cries, and then there was Kiera who was quietly crying in her bed. Kiera even went to school weeping...came home weeping...even I was sad & crying when I had to explain to her teacher what was going on.

Anyhow. It's been nice having someone else to help love and care for my kiddos.

My Jumping Jack

applesauce...

I so was not going to do any canning this year. But then after counting what jars I think I have left and having a friend give me her left over apples...then having Allison ask if I'd show her how to...we canned. 104 quarts. Should last me until next fall canning season :)

still putting along...

french drain systems going in the yard...

Mikenna helped me take these today :) I was trying to figure out if the house numbers would look good here...but I think I'll need a few more photos...

Countdown please :)

Here we are at that special week of the year where these kiddos are counting down from 11 to 4!!

They are growing up so fast!

The big 100000!!

I tried to explain to the girls that it's like them running a long distance. Our van has hit a milestone and hit the big 100000 miles! When it did, I stopped the van and had the kiddos jump out and run around the van twice--screaming. Luckily, we hit a parking lot w/ .2 miles to go...waited for Kyle to come out of preschool and drove around the parking lot once when to reach the big number :)

Sprinkler Time :)

We have been busy passing out fliers for sprinkler blowouts...so much fun!!

R.I.P....

Ben was kind enough to pay tribute to something the girls had "put together" over the weekend.

Kyle, Kellen and Mikenna were trying to explain it here in this photo...

SOCCER!!

Random photos of the girls during their games...I thought I had more of Kassi, but I took more videos than pics...so, next time I will be sure to snap instead of rec :)

...oct updates...

This is the last thing Michael was able to do before sprinklers started...I like how the white railing looks against the dark decking :)

...and a few shots of the downstairs carpet :)

more October updates...

Kaylee decided to go around and snap a bunch of photos that she thought were worth documenting...

FINALLY...the finished shower pan with tile and the ENTIRE shower grouted!! Something I wasn't looking forward to doing...epoxy just seems to be intimidating...

...and we are getting carpet in!!

Finally front porch steps & driveway!!

These have been so hard to visualize and "create"!! So many options and not really a way to truely know how I'd want them to be w/o just putting something in and then thinking..."Well, I wish it were like this instead..." Anyhow...They turned out a lot better than I'd hoped for!

October updates :)

Another late night of closets...and then...

The leaky shower pan!! UGH...Michael started "beating" on the thing around 11:30 p.m....An hour later he had about 1/2 of it out...luckily his dad showed up with more ear muffs and hammers and chisels and 45 min. later it was done :)

Um...1...there should not be staples in the water barrier membrane thing...2...painter's tape will not keep water out...3...slits in the water barrier membrane thing will not be water proof...4...seal/drain gasket needs to be on top of the water barrier membrane thing...

I love how my entry turned out...especially now that it's painted :) The closets look pretty nice too...I know...they are just closets, but...it's a lot of work. Well worth the savings!!