All Hallows Eve

Our little ninja turtle and his brother Woody!

Such goofs! They had a great time trick-or-treating!

And their respective pumpkins...Boba Fett and an Angry Bird!

Star Wars Dress-up

Here are two Jedis (one in a prairie skirt/cape and one in a vampire cape) and Princess Leia (in a gorgeous floral print) defending the galaxy very early in the morning...

Capes over pajamas...they jumped out of bed ready for some lightsabering!

Max & Taylor

My friend Kelsey had Taylor about a month after Max was born.

 Now we try and get them together to play as often as we can.
After all, their marriage has already been arranged...

They played together for the whole afternoon and were so cute!
I can't believe how big they both are!
Can't wait to see you again Kels!

My Sweet Boy

I just love this cute little face.
I think right after I took this shot I scooped him up and kissed his cheeks 1,000 times!

We're From Florence, Couldn't Be Prouder!

Liam wore this vintage Howard Smith football shirt to the Florence playoff game on Saturday!

He was pretty excited!
Nevermind that he kept yelling "Go Wisconsin!" from the bleechers...!

Yawn

The boys and I are up north for a long weekend! It is now 6:20am and they are playing "Star Wars" with Grandma downstairs. I can hear Max yelling "The rancors! The rancors!" "Come on, Princess Leia (grandma)!" They've been up since 4, so 6:20 seems like noon for me. I think I'll go back to bed now.

Rescue

I've been thinking of my grandpa a lot lately and just can't believe that he is gone. I'm very peaceful about it for the most part, but sometimes it hits me at odd moments. I was driving home from work tonight and heard this song by Bebo Norman. I always wondered what grandpa was thinking in those last days when he couldn't tell us, and this song I think might be the perfect soundtrack. My favorite part is "not a moment too soon you will be my rescue." I know all he wanted was to be freed from all of it, and it's a great visual to imagine God just reaching down and pulling him gently away from here. Anyway...

Tell me now, when does this start feeling
Like I understand everything I’m dealing with
First I was young, now it’s all just happening
And what about the way I said that
Made you turn around and shake your head
Like I don’t even know what I’m asking for

This could be all about just letting go
This could be all about just holding on

I can’t get my feet off of the ground
I wanna run but I don’t know how
Can you reach me here and pull me out
Can you pull me out, yeah

I wanna scream but there’s no sound
I wanna fly to you somehow
Can you reach me here and pull me out
Can you pull me out

Remember when I was young and hungry,
I could take it in, without much money,
I had nothing at all but dreams and time to kill
And now I feel like I’m treading water
And I’m hardly real – I’m just trying harder
To make my way on the earth by standing still

This could be all about just letting go
This could be all about just holding on

I can’t get my feel off of the ground
I wanna run but I don’t know how
Can you reach me here and pull me out
Can you pull me out, yeah

I wanna scream but there’s no sound
I wanna fly to you somehow
Can you reach down here and pull me out
Can you pull me out

Not a moment too soon You will be my rescue
But tell me how long will it take?

I can’t get my feet off of the ground
I wanna run but I don’t know how
Can you reach me here and pull me out
Can you pull me out

I can’t get my feet off of the ground
I wanna run but I don’t know how
Can you reach me here and pull me out
Can you pull me out, yeah

I wanna scream but there’s no sound
I wanna fly to you somehow
Can you reach me here and pull me out
Can you pull me out

Can you pull me out?
can you reach down and pull me out?

Oh, Liam...!

Liam: "Mom, doesn't my painting look elegant?"
Mom: "Oh, yes Liam. It's very elegant!"
Liam: "I am a masterpiece at this..."

Max in Translation

I gave the boys each a small brownie for a dessert the other day. They had to eat their lunch before getting dessert, but the brownies were in view and Max was quite fixated on them.

Max: "Mom...what are those?"
Mom: "Brownies."
Max: "Oh. I love those."

Lunch is consumed rather quickly...

Max: "Can I have one of those chocolate pancakes now?"

Alice P

Liam found a bear caterpillar in the backyard yesterday.

"Can we put it in a jar and poke holes in it, Mom?"

I told him to just put it in a bucket and we'd let it go later...since the last caterpillar he put in a jar died in about 5 minutes. He found a bucket and went to work finding juicy green leaves to place inside. I asked him what he was going to name the little furry guy.

"Alice P," he replied.

Toddler Genealogy

Translation:
Grandma Karen and Grandpa Richie
Grandma Pammy and Grandpa Howie
Grandma Arlene and Grandpa Howard
Grandpa Specs and Grandma Lorraine
Grandpa Ron and Grandma Meg
Grandma Pat and Grandpa Earl

Wedding Weekend

I got to spend the weekend with this hottie for a wedding in Minnesota!
We drove out on Friday with Ron and Meg and spent lots of time with the Bechle family. I was also able to visit with my good friend Amber and see my sister on the way back home. The wedding was beautiful, the weather was perfect and we had a wonderful time.

The boys spent the weekend with my parents and Grandma Karen. They hunted chipmunks and birds, rode the four wheeler, played outside and did crafts. I'll let you decide what activities Grandma was involved in...! Hint: she does not like birds and has not, to my knowledge, ever driven a four wheeler...! They had a great time and were sad to have to leave! We were grateful for a weekend away, but so happy to see the boys yesterday!

Now we're back home and off to work and school. Have a great week!

Andrea & Garrett