Happy Halloween

My darling little puppy ready to fill his doggie dish up 

Jack Sparrow :)

Jack was pretty into his costume, which was fun!

 I let the boys have a little Halloween party with a few friends.  They traded costumes around and dressed up, got their faces painted, played and played games, and had snacks.  The kids had fun, and hopefully the guests' moms enjoyed a little break!

(It's my party and I'll pout if I want to!)

Pumpkin Carving

 

OCTOBER 2015

My favorite season...FALL...

 Trip to the farm for the two best things about fall...Harvest and Football!

No other place I'd rather watch a Cyclone game!

Snack time with Grandma Nan
(I think this must've been a different trip...looks too warm out!)

Fall is also the time to pick up walnuts.

This is a great kid chore..though it looks like Ryan
is the only one working in this picture!

Jack's favorite part of fall...THE ORCHARD!

This was from an earlier trip to the orchard...
during Lane and I's date while Jack was in St. Louis.
This pretty well captured Lane's excitement and
enthusiasm during our "date".  We RAN from place to place. :)

Kite Flying

The boys got SUCH a kick out of being able to fly their own kites.

Waiting for our ride to BSF

Oh Baner...you are one of a kind!

Breakfast in Bed 

One Sunday morning the boys got up, went downstairs, and played nicely together for a good amount of time, so Ryan and I actually slept in.  We thought that was quite a treat, but we had no idea what else we had coming. :) After awhile the boys came upstairs and Ryan teased them about making us breakfast in bed.  Jack jumped at the idea and we could hear them working away in the kitchen.  They returned with...MARSHMALLOW SANDWICHES!

The new flowerbed I built.
I can't wait for spring/summer when it's full of flowers!

Just one more reason I'm grateful we live where we do...

Sink bath!

Jack, Lane, and I went to a play based on "Caps for Sale" at Stephens.
Lane's favorite part was the monkeys, and he had fun pretending to
be the peddler and yelling "YOU MONKEYS YOU!"
at Jack and I when we stole the caps off his head.

I love kids and their imaginations!

 The boys and I have had a blast hiking this fall.  We've especially loved exploring Jester Park.

Jack's photography

Lane, prepared with his hiking stick and field guide under his arm

Taking a call out on the deck...just. like. dad.

SEPTEMBER 2015

Finishing out the summer...welcoming in the fall!

Off on another adventure!

Jack's free standing tool sculpture

Our friend Donna had a garage sale and invited the boys to have a lemonade stand.  Jack had been wanting to have a lemonade stand, so he was thrilled to get a chance.

He suggested he pose for the picture...goof!

I don't think he was posing here. :/
After this, and the following photo, which we
caught them doing shortly after, we closed up shop!

Making apple turnovers with Alisa from apples we picked at Chad's.

We went on a bit of a park binge to finish out the summer,

trying out a whole bunch of parks in the area that we hadn't been to.

It was a lot of fun to explore...the boys loved it.  I realized I may have

gone a bit too far though when I got a whiny, "Oh man, we've already been to this park", when we returned to one we'd been to at some point in the past month!

New Ankeny park...it's HUGE!

What fun is a park without a friend to enjoy it with?!

This guy's gonna be trouble!

Talk about trouble...these five!!

Cookin' with Mom...

We were back in Rolfe for wedding--Jana and her kids were too, so we organize a "field trip" to the local dairy owned by friends.

Milking a cow :)

Ashely and Jason's wedding

I attending the ceremony and dinner with family
and then Ryan and the boys joined me for the dance.
Perfect plan...we had a blast!

August 2015

We met up with Jana & the kids, Bopa & Grandma,
and Kara & Erin in Story City for a ride on the carousel.
We also got some good park time and a picnic in.
So much fun!  (...even for Lane, who only wanted to
"ride the bench" both times on the carousel. :))

Jack has a kid cook book that I let him choose recipes from to make.
Not the typical summer cookie, but he chose gingerbread men, so that's what we made!

Jesse loves playing in his little house.

The big boys are getting a house of their own, which they are helping Ryan build...

Working on the loft...an exciting development!

Watching and learning

 The boys sometimes pretend to "snorkle-dive" (possibly a form of freediving...?).

Last night Ryan got out some real gear for them to try, which eventually got tested in the bathtub.

A friend and I switched kids a couple times in the last few weeks.  Two of hers are in middle school now, which comes in quite handy! :)  Her daughter entertained the kids for a LONG time with activities she brought, while her son was great, but not quite AS helpful (see middle window) :)

Little trouble maker!

This is how this guy rolls...as much food outside as inside the mouth!