happy halloweeeeeeeeen!

I'm sure the milkman loves delivering to us!

Wade & friend trying to get the fog machine going.

For those of you who go camping with us...we call this: Blooooody in the Woodshed, on a stick!

Larry went to a haunted house with some friends, and Neil went trick-or-treating with his cousins! Sorry about cutting your head off, Tyler.

Cutest. Lion. Ever. (Natalie, 6 mos.)

Neil at his class party

Alan hangs out with friends at the school party (as a giant banana looks on)

Alan, Nathan, Spencer & Michael head out trick-or-treating. I have NO idea what any of them are supposed to be.

Alan's friend Marianna trying to do the "Karate Kid" pose in her sumo costume.

Zach - Cereal Killer :)

Alan, Kevin and Zach (aka Paris Hilton)

party

Larry decided that he's too mature to wear a Halloween costume this year, but we're still immature enough - we dressed as Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore (and Neil is Harry Potter, of course) for a party tonight. The pink shirt is a nod to the fact that Dumbledore was recently revealed to be gay. You go, Albus.

We brought witch finger cookies ~ BWA-HA-HA-HAAAAAAA!

happy b-day larry

Larry is 13 today! For his family dinner out, he chose the Pancake House, where he ordered hash browns (covered in mustard) and Swedish pancakes. Mmmmm....fancy dinner....

I figured, who wouldn't want to wake up on their birthday with a giant inflatable monkey staring at you? So here it is, waiting patiently for Larry to wake up.

In other news - after 5 years of chasing countless birds, squirrels and rabbits, Ruby finally caught a rat! It's rubber, but we're still proud.

october! our favorite month

Fall is the most absolutely gorgeous season around here - in between storms and sunny days, we have rainbows, red/orange/yellow leaves, foggy mornings, and lots of noisy frogs at night. It's really beautiful.

Foggy morning on the soccer field... here's Larry stealing the ball from some rather uninterested players in the black uniforms.

Shaving?!? Yes, it's true. Larry has always been Mr. Hairy, and we've been bugging him to shave his shaggy little moustache. He made a deal ~ he'd let Wade show him how to shave, but only if Dad shaved off his goatee! Done deal....two pairs of smooth lips & chins :)

happy birthday...

...dear Grandad/GG-pa. We love you!

Tough hit by Alan

Here is Wade's first blog post! One of Alan's coaches made this video. Both Alan and the quarterback are OK!

fall fun

My view (from the top bleacher, where Neil makes me sit) of Alan and the rest of the Redmond Mustangs. They just recieved a sound whuppin' from the Bothell Cougars.

I work 3 days a week in the kitchen at The Overlake School, and they made us have our pictures taken for the yearbook. A few weeks later they presented us with packets of school portraits, which cracked me up... Yay, wallet-sized pictures of me! I'll be sure to write my name and the date on the back so I can forever cherish the precious memories of being 37.

Kevin and Alan, doing what 11-year-old boys do ~ jamming on the guitar and playing video games.

Neil playing Uno with his friend Carter.

cub scout mom & me camp

Neil and I went to Mom & Me Camp last weekend!

We had great weather to go with the beautiful scenery.

The cabin we shared with the 10 other mom & son pairs from our Pack.

Learning about trees on the nature hike.

Rehearsing for the campfire skit - Neil & Thomas are airplane pilots, in case you can't tell. :)

Making leather wallets at Arts & Crafts.

This is one of the hills they use for sledding at Winter Camp ~ it's good for running up and down when there's no snow!

Shooting guns ~ a skill no 7-year-old should be without.

At the archery range.

Neil's arrows...he did really well!

Moms getting through the obstacle course. Frances (on the left) is either laughing or screaming in pain, I can't remember which.

Mixing up ingredients for corn bread...

....which the Boy Scout leaders cooked in a dutch oven.

The Boy Scouts know how to make a FIRE

We were up in the clouds...

Our pack of boys

Ready to go home! Me sporting a fashionable unwashed ponytail, Neil with the glazed look of someone who just tried to sleep in a cabin with 20 people. Some of those moms snore like buzzsaws!

first day of school!

Larry, 7th grade

Alan, 6th grade

Neil, 2nd grade

bye-bye, summer...

Alan's football season started with a Labor Day jamboree ~ check out the new uniforms this year!

Usually you can puree some veggies and sneak them into spaghetti sauce without the kids noticing, but the other day I got too bold and added one bell pepper too many. It practically started a riot at the dinner table! I didn't get a picture of Wade, but he was none too happy either...

Poor tortured child.

Now here's a proud moment for a parent. Neil didn't mind because he eats his noodles without sauce...or a fork.

Speaking of Neil, here is a very rare photo of his bedroom - it's actually clean! Trust me, this doesn't happen often.

kicking it

Larry with his soccer coach after the team's 3-day tournament. They won all 4 games & came in 1st place!