Family Day at Kinnick

Well, we did it. We took the whole family to an Iowa game on Saturday. Not something I was ready to do, but we had 2 tickets right next to ours and the weather wasn't super hot (not nice either), but bearable.We all had a couple of layers on, but it wasn't that bad.
Teagan and Tate hung out with Bryce and Hayden before the game. Tate thought he was pretty big stuff and was so good during the game. He couldn't get enough of the clapping. His quotes of the day:"Go Hawkeyes" and "Where's Ricky Stanzi?" You can thank his dad for that one. Tate and I left at half, but Teagan stayed with Brad to enjoy the rest. It was a good day - not one I would do very often, but still a good day.
Thanks for the pictures Hayley!!

Its time to start thinking good thoughts for this weekend people. If I am passing up the chance to sell my tickets for a ton of money I REALLY need a win out of the Hawks!!!

Busy (but beautiful) Fall Day!

Today was a super productive day for me. I got a lot of outside decorating done, did a little shopping, gave the kids a bath, and even got to a project I have been wanting to try. Whew!! Here are some pics of all my pumpkins. My mom grew a ton this year so I had plenty to pick from. Might even go back and get more!

Garage entryway


Some more framed artwork. I love this one!
The kids enjoyed the weather this afternoon and were outside for at least a couple hours. When they came in for supper they relaxed for a little while. I love it when I catch Tate "reading" books.It was brought to my attention (thanks Katie!) that I hadn't put up pictures of the completed deck. Here it is from the kitchen.
This is as close as Wrigley gets to the deck for now. Baby gates have so many uses!!
I need a little advice from my followers. We have masonite siding on our house, but since the window we had was bigger than the door we have this extra space to do something with. What do you think? Paint it white or match the color of the house. We plan to side the entire house in a couple years, so we don't want to do anything fancy.
I even had a couple minutes to make this guy. Super easy, cheap, and cute. Found the project at this blog: http://notsoidlehands.blogspot.com/2009/09/freecycle-friday-glowing-jack-olanterns.html

It started with 2 of these, some white tissue paper, Mod Podge,and some black paint.
I painted the lid black.
Covered the container with Mod Podge and then the white tissue paper. 2 layers worked pretty well. I also put one more coat to shine it up a little.
After the Mod Podge dried Teagan painted on the eyes and mouth. We put in a battery operated candle - one of my top 10 greatest inventions ever!!

Here he is in his new home on our counter in the kitchen. Looks great with the lid. My next project will be a pumpkin and maybe a cute little Frankenstein.

Ok - so this is might be my longest blog ever, but I don't want to forget to give props to the NFL. As we all know October is breast cancer awareness month and many different groups to different activities to raise awareness. While watching Sunday Night Football (Pittsburgh v. San Diego) I was moved when I saw how many players were wearing pink. Many of them went beyond the teams hats with pink bills and the logo on all the helmets. Ben Rothlesberger had on pink and white shoes and a pink armband. There were receivers wearing pink gloves too. It made me wonder what experiences some of these men have had with breast cancer and how willing they are to put themselves out there to raise awareness. There isn't a lot of good stuff said about professional athletes sometimes, but tonight these men have my respect.

Fall Fixins!

I love fall fruits and veggies. There is so much you can do with them and it is a great time to get them cheap. I haven't picked any apples yet, but it is on my list for the weekend.

I got some great onions from my mom. Strange story about how she got them. My uncle helped dig out an onion truck that got stuck on the interstate. I guess when something happens to produce vehicles the food is unusable. So, my uncle took a bunch of boxes and spread them out to the family. They are super good and I cut up about 5 of them and put them in the freezer to use this winter.

Found packs of tri-color peppers at Aldis yesterday for $.99. I am pretty careful about getting veggies from there, but these were good quality. So, in the freezer they went. We like to use them in fajitas.

I also did some decorating. Its amazing how your decorating changes when you have kid art to display. I put some of Teagan's pieces in frames.

Tate is doing so much big boy stuff now. Here he is playing farm. He does more than just drive the tractors. He started setting up fences and putting the animals together.
Tonight was a great chance for movie night. I made a pot of chili for supper and party mix to snack on during the movie. I have secretly been wanting to watch Monsters v. Aliens (I know, I know, but it got my curiosity) After that its off to an early bedtime and hope that Friday goes fast! I can use the weekend! Better go Tate is putting Cheerios in his ear as I type! Gotta love little boys!!!

A Day With Thomas

My brother and sister-in-law gave Tate a "ticket" to ride on Thomas the Train for his birthday. Jess and I took Tate and his cousin Jackson to Boone yesterday for the big ride.

We didn't know what to expect, but the train looked awesome and the boys were so pumped!

The sun was really bright and Tate was looking right into it. Hence the squint.

Waiting for the train ride to start. We sat in seats in the cars and took about a 20 minute ride. Tate kept saying "Thomas pulling me!"

The boys did really well together all day. There were other activities too. Like a tent with a bunch of train tables to play with. A train car where volunteers read Thomas books to the kids and of course, a merchandise tent. The prices were pretty good, so Tate walked away with a new fleece Thomas blanket.

He is growing up way too fast! And talking up a storm. Where did my baby go?
And we can't forget Sir Toppemhat. Tate wouldn't take a picture by himself so I got the pleasure of meeting him also! It was a really fun day. I highly recommend going if your child loves Thomas. I didn't think ticket prices were bad, but I would make a weekend out of it and stay in Des Moines instead of driving there and back in a day. The boys were wiped when we got home!

While we were gone Brad and Teagan worked on the deck. It is about 95% finished and I love it!! We just need to put on the steps, get the light installed, and fix the walls. This means a little painting by me, but we all know I don't mind a little paint! Have a great week everyone!

Oh yeah - how 'bout them Hawkeyes!!!!!

Our Princess

Homecoming coronation was tonight. The parade was cancelled and the peprally was in the gym, but Teagan still got to dress-up and wear a crown. Nothing better!

Kayley asked her to be her attendant for Homecoming and we were excited to say yes. Of course we had to go dress shopping. I am going to make sure we wear it for Christmas - yeah right. Like I'll remember!Here they are being introduced. Kayey's escort was Tanner Bloom and Teagan's was Ethan Heitshusen.
Teagan fixing her crown.
Waiting for the announcement.
It was Kayley and Tanner! So exciting, even though Teagan and Ethan seem to have no idea what is going on!
Here are the royalty! It was a fun night. Now we can focus on the football game and the weekend! Go Raiders!

A Dude and His Ranch

Tate would like to dedicate this blog to his friend Henry, with whom he shares his love for ranch!

Nothing says dessert like straight-up ranch! Off to the bath!

Fall fun!

This may be the first photograph I have taken that looks like a professional did it. This might have won a blue ribbon in Marengo people!! More about where I took the picture later.Brad was golfing in a tournament today, so the kids and I got a little bonding time. Here they are coloring some fall decorations. I love putting up stuff the kids make for holidays - then they get put back in the box for the next year. I love seeing some of the stuff that Brad's mom saved from when he was little.
Our deck was started and will hopefully be compelted by next weekend. When we left for the Iowa game yesterday morning there was a huge whole in my house. This is what I found when I came back. So excited. I had the screen open all day today (and I played with the blinds a couple times too!)

All framed out. We decided to put river rock underneath with some plastic to avoid weeds and grass from coming up underneath.

When Brad got home he suggested a family trip to Lake Iowa before dark. I forget how close it is and it has some decent walking/glass trails.

We saw some fun insects (hope you get the sarcasm in my voice), some geese (who Tate taunted by yelling conk,conk - his version of honk, honk!) and then some deer on our way out. All in all it was a good family night.

When we got home we had some apple crisp that I made before we left. Delicious! I love fall!!