Trunk-or-Treat

Last night was our ward's (congregation) Trunk-or-Treat! We invited our neighbors along and a fun time was had by all! Before the candy-fest could begin, we had a chili cook-off; Cubby's chili got "Spiciest"! (And, by what I heard, it got rave reviews for it's "slow burn".) I didn't try it--I like white chili versus a more traditional fare.

After dinner, the band started up! Yup, there was a live band! (Some of the "old men" from our ward who are quite talented!) The Young Women's presidency was in-charge and you could definitely tell--from the cute table center pieces to the flavorings for the hot chocolate, it all flowed together so well and all of the little details were covered--band included!
This was Kari's reaction when the band started playing. To say that she loved it would be an understatement! This girl LOVES to dance and she and Grandma really kicked up a storm.
Here she is, moving and grooving!

Boogie, Baby, Boogie!After dinner and dancing, came the Costume Parade! Here are some of the girls, moving along to "The Monster Mash." (Christian was in the bathroom :-) ).

Here's our boy, though! My friend, Julie, gave us this costume last year when they moved. Isn't it fun?? Christian has been very excited about being a spider!

This is the back of his costume--he was creeping and crawling, apparently. (Actually, the kids were all pretty tired; they'd been up and outside running, literally, all day. We carried them out after it was all done!) This is the whole Motley Crew. They were all anxious to get outside and bring in some loot!

And so it begins....Happy Haunting!

It's Like I'm Seeing Myself on TV!

So, a funny thing has been happening lately. Cubby and I have realized that our lives are more closely resembling that of the Heck family (ABC's "The Middle") than we're wanting to admit.

Take the following cases in point:

1) Their couch looks almost exactly like ours.

2) Brick's bedding is from Ikea and is the exact same as Em's and C's.

3) In the most recent episode, it begins to rain and the whole family rushes inside to break out as many pots and pans as they can as their roof is leaking. Yes, our roof is leaking! Not everywhere like theirs is, thankfully, but over our entryway--it drips everytime there is a heavy rain. (Cubby will be heading up into the crawl space this weekend to remedy this!)

4) The Heck's sliding glass door. Or, rather, their extremely-difficult-to-slide-ing glass door. Anyone who has tried to open our back door will understand why Cubby and I were rolling as Frankie tried to open it up. And, to top it off, they even have the same cheap blinds on said door as we do!

Cubby made the point that obviously, since they're making a point that this happens to the Hecks, it must happen to a LOT of people out there. But, I do get the feeling sometimes that ABC must have some secret insight into our home--all of these "coincidences" are just too funny to ignore!

Girl's Night

Last Friday we hosted a small gaggle of girls for a little fall fun! Emily invited some friends over for some games, s'mores, and a movie! Aside from being pretty low-stress, it was a lot of fun! We were thankful the weather held out (this activity was originally planned for the beginning of October but Emily came home sick from school that day!). So, we were glad it stayed warm for an extra two weeks and that almost all of the girls could come! The games outside included an obstacle course, tag, and a big game of hide-and-go-seek. (It had gotten pretty dark by that time and so the hiding got pretty good w/all of the shadows in our big backyard!) After that, we rosted marshmallows in a firepit we'd borrowed from my mom and made some yummy s'mores!

After coming inside, we had the girls go downstairs where we served up some popcorn, drinks, and let them do some playing while watching "Swiss Family Robinson" (remember that one??!). The boys stayed upstairs and watched a "boy" movie.

It was a great evening and Emily really enjoyed playing with her friends and "staying up late." (I'm not sold on the whole sleep-over idea and so this was a GREAT alternative.) We'll definitely do it again!

Vala's 2011

Hey friends, listen closely and I'm going to tell you how to take a family of five to Vala's for $8. Yes, folks, that's right, just eight buck-a-roos (and have a fantastic day in the process!)

First off, make sure you have a preschooler at the YMCA. Then, make sure either Mom or Dad goes along as a chaperone (that's where you'll spend the $8--to get M or D in with the preschool). While you're there, you'll get to spend time with your #1 boy and a class full of some very cute 4 yr olds! You'll get to take group pictures...

Ride the train ("Be sure to open your eyes, Christian and Maren!"), and pick out your very own pumpkin (not pictured, but it's cute with a long stem).

Then, once the preschool gets back on the bus, you and said parent (this time it was Daddy) stay behind and wait for the rest of your clan to arrive!

On Mom's end, she and Kari have packed lunches and are picking up Emily from school and driving out to meet Christian and Daddy. Mom remembers to bring the free passes that her grandma had given her last year (b/c she'd ordered her local newspaper and they'd given her two free passes) along with a coupon for a free train ride for up to 4 people that she'd found in a little adventure book that the library passes out each summer. Armed with her coupons, Mom and the girls meet the boys inside of Vala's for an afternoon of fun! Kari enjoyed petting the animals...

And then everyone enjoyed pretending to be one of the animals themselves!

The slides were also a big favorite for all three of the kiddos.

After seeing a "dragon feeding," the pig races (yes, pig races, folks, this is Nebraska!), and some lunch, we headed over to the huge jumping pillows!

Emily loves to strike a cute pose :-). This was Kari's first time (independently) jumping. First, Daddy did help.

Then, she ventured out on her own! Big girl, eh?

Next up, our free train ride! (On a side note, normally, I wouldn't "brag" about getting such a good deal on things. However, if you know how much it normally costs to take a family there for the day, you'd be shouting from the rafters if you got a deal too!)

Kari could hardly wait to get on the train! She has been very into Thomas lately and couldn't stop "Whoo-whooing" until we were saftely on board! (The picture above is when Kari saw the train pulling up to the platform.)

Whoo-whoo!!

Finally, we took our traditional family picture with Mickey. Everyone actually looks pretty good, eh?! (The baby doll in the picture is a bit creepy, but, with out it, Kari would be making a very unhappy face since by this time it was time for her nap!)

So, that was our super-fantastic how-to-do-Vala's-on-a-budget day! (I do have to confess though, I did treat myself to a funnel-cake...haven't had one since I was about 15! And we did buy a couple of smaller pumpkins...sooooo, we spent just a little more than $8, but not too much!)

Happy Pumpkining!!!!

Weekend "Get-away"

This past weekend Cubby and I had the opportunity to celebrate our 10th anniversary a few months early! (We'll have a new baby by the time our real anniversary rolls around in May so we'll be lucky to get out to dinner at that point!)

Originally, we'd hoped to attend one of Cubby's friend's wedding down in Florida. But, we got hit with the trifecta (home, health and car) issues this summer and "real life" drained the big-trip budget. But, we still wanted to make the best of it and still "get away" for a couple of days so we hit up downtown Omaha! My sister works for Hilton and got us a beautiful room with lots' of extra perks--executive lounge privleges, chocolate-covered strawberries, free movies--it was all lovely! Plus, we hadn't been downtown for years so it was like going to a new place anyway!

My mom came and stayed with the kids and Harvey came over to help her out too. They were very busy and even though Christian "missed Mommy" the second night, they all had such a good time, I think we could've stayed away longer!

Here is a few pictures from our fun weekend!
This is the view from our room--the new TD Ameritrade ball park for the College World Series.

The first night, we had dinner at a fabulous little restaurant called Q Consumables. It's in the Little Italy area of town, but doesn't really serve Italian. The menu changes every day as they make everything, down to the condiments, from scratch everday. It was really yummy and we had a VERY interesting waiter--picture skinny cowboy mixed with a high hippie with a Justin Bieber haircut. Hi-larious and definitely memorable. We had also underestimated the distance that the restaurant was from our hotel when we decided to walk...a mile and a half, uphill, in flip flops (for me). Needless to say, we were grateful for good weather! My calves, which are used to running in running shoes, not walking in flip-flops, were soooo sore the rest of the weekend!

After dinner we walked (of course!) back downtown to a coffee shop where my friend, Mandi, and two of her friends were playing and singing. It was great! Her family came down as well so it was fun to hang out and just relax a bit (after our trek back!)

On Saturday we hit up all of the fun little stores in the Old Market. Great antiques, toy shops, candy stores, etc...

For lunch we went to Hiro, a realllllly good Japanese restaurant and I was able to indulge in some very yummy sushi! (The cooked stuff, of course.) Cubby was a good sport and got some ribs but wouldn't try my dishes! Above Hiro were these new lofts, with an open house and information. And, without any real agenda, we went right up and looked around! SOOOOO cool and beautiful. I need to convince Erin to save and buy a place there so I can live vicariously through her!

After our tour, we shopped around some more before heading back to the hotel for a little nap! Yessss....naps.... For dinner we went to a fantastic Italian place called Nicola's. I had lobster-stuffed ravioli--soooo delicious. The picture above was my favorite place of the weekend! All snuggled up in bed! (And, just as a disclaimer, I am fully clothed under the covers!) It was just so warm and cozy, it was great just to be able to relax and not have to go anywhere!

The next morning, Sunday, we packed up and checked out. Before we went home, we went over to the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge. Really neat place--would be a beautiful place to run!

We were so thankful that we could have this time together, to re-charge and enjoy one anothers' company. A big thank you to my mom, Harvey and Erin for making it all happen!

Not Even Two Yet....

Little Miss Kari isn't even two yet and, already, the tantrums are in full swing! This particular one came about because Daddy wouldn't give her chips before dinner--ack! She's our first who will throw the "typical" tantrum (head back, loud screams, laying down on the ground, etc...). It's pretty funny, actually. We can't wait for two...or better yet, three! Uh-oh!

Cider Time!

Since we did not have enough daylight left-over after we picked out apples, we were invited to come back to the Flynn's orchard to make some yummy cider!!! We haven't made cider in two years and I've been craving it ever since!

There is a bit of a process to making the cider and it was great for the kids to see, step-by-step, just exactly how it was made! Emily was a big help and, after washing the apples, she enjoyed doing the press. Christian liked throwing the apples into the grinder (and climbing on the gator!).

And Kari? Well, Kari enjoyed the structural aspects of the gator. She was quite the ham about taking pictures too. Such a happy little girl!

The kiddos also loved checking out the chicken coup! It was a great evening all together!

Boys Night Out

Last night, Christian got to go out with "The Boys." (Daddy and Harvey.) They took him out for dinner at Summer Kitchen (Christian's favorite--grilled cheese, french fries and a chocolate milkshake!). After dinner, they took the party to Papio Fun Park where they made the best of this gorgeous weather we're having with fun timers playing mini-golf and riding on the go-carts!!

Christian said he and Harvey drove super fast and beat Daddy in the race!

This little boy was all smiles after his big night. He's already planning their next night out--some time at the driving range!