Hog Day!

Instead of a Fall/Halloween Party at Charlotte's preschool, they do a Razorback party. It happened on a day that Matt was out of town at a conference and we had to take the big kids to school. Then Charlotte and I headed to Ricks for breakfast before dropping her at school. We love to have breakfast there -- we like to sit in the back and watch them decorate the cakes. 

Charlotte had a big day! They played with some of the Razorback Football Players at recess and then had a fun party with Razorback cupcakes! They also made these adorable hats (made from milk cartons -- how cute!).

Halloween 2013

Now that my house is decorated for Christmas, I guess I'll blog about Halloween. Ha!

 

The kids had a great Halloween this year! We had a busy day that Thursday with a party at charlotte's school and tumbling for both Madeleine & Charlotte that day. By the time we got home, it was time to change and head out into the neighborhood. We went as Darth Vader (with an awesome talking mask!), a Native American, and a bumblebee. 

The big kids actually tired out first and Charlotte would have kept going all night if we would have let her -- she loved ringing the doorbells and saying "trick or treat" at each house. She'd run back towards us and say "another one?" asking if we could go to another house. So cute! We did our usual route, cutting through the golf course 1/2 through to get home. Then they handed out candy the rest of the night.

Random Pics

Well times seems to be flying by at a scary speed this fall! The kids have been busy at school and Charlotte and I have been keeping busy too. :)

 

Madeleine did the announcements at her school one morning. Her teacher texted me this picture and told me she did a great job! 

We played at Whitney's house several times -- this particular day, Charlotte brought some of her dress up clothes from home to share with Whitney. They had a blast!

We've kept up our new love of BBQ at our house -- and enjoyed a Rib dinner one night.

Both of the kids received awards at the end of the first quarter. Both of them got perfect attendance. Harrison got an award for not "clipping down" the whole quarter -- one of just a few kids that did this (aka perfect behavior all 9 weeks). Since only 3rd and up get actual grades, Harrison couldn't get an honor roll award, although his report card was stellar! Madeleine made the "Principal's Honor Roll" for having all A's this quarter! I'm so proud of her! Matt and I got to go to their assembly and see them get their awards. :)

Fall Break

The kids had a Friday off from school at the end of October and Matt took a day off and we headed to Branson for the weekend. It was so good to get away for a few days. The stretch of school from Labor Day to Thanksgiving gets long -- one of the reasons we are excited about being on a CLC calendar next year -- a week off in October! Woohoo! But, for this year we enjoyed our long weekend.

 

It was actually a very cold start to the morning. We got up super early and drove to Branson on Friday. We stopped to "fuel up" at the Pancake House that we love in Branson before heading to Silver Dollar City. And, brrrrrrr, it was cold out! But, it was not crowded at all! We had the place to ourselves -- we were able to walk up and ride most rides which was wonderful! We rode all of our favorites several times! And, the Scogins were there and we met up with them and rode some together! 

Since it was so cold, we left SCD in early afternoon. Poor Charlotte was freezing. At one point I took her to the bathroom and she was covered in chill bumps. The kids were asking to go because they were cold -- and we'd done many trips to SDC over the summer so they were ready to go and explore our hotel.

We stayed at Castle Rock this time which was a new hotel for us. And, it was great!! It had an indoor waterpark that was so cool. The water was nice and warm and perfect. I called as we left SDC to see what was the earliest we could check in and they said our room was ready so we headed to the hotel. We quickly checked in and changed and headed to try out the water park. It was perfect for our kids at their age -- just enough to keep them happy and small enough that I felt like they were safe. We will definitely be doing this again!

After 3 or more hours at the waterpark, we were hungry! We ended up going to get BBQ and it was quite a hit. I can't remember the last time we've gone out for BBQ, but the kids loved it! We had chicken, pork, sausage and ribs. They looooved those ribs!

We took the long way back to the hotel that night and discovered a lights display that was being put up. It even had music to go with it!

One of the best parts of the hotel was the bunk beds in their own "room" for the big kids. They even had their own TV. They had such fun sleeping in their own special spot for the night!

The next morning we grabbed Lindsey and headed to Krispy Kreme for breakfast. Yum! Poor Harrison kept saying that he was "girl trapped" the whole time. :)

After all those donuts the kids headed back to swim and work off all that sugar! The water park wasn't busy at all and we had a great time that morning!

One of the things that Madeleine & Harrison really wanted to do that weekend was the Titanic Museum. It was so neat! I would do it again sometime. It really catered to kids even though it was so nice inside. They had their own listening tour and there were things that they could touch and explore -- turning the captains wheel and touching a real iceburg were some of their favs. The workers (dressed as captains) also catered to the kids and at one point one of them came over and told the kids a really neat story about a boy named "Jack" on the ship. They kept them interested in what happened that night.

And, we can't take a trip to Branson without a stop at Fuddruckers! Sooo yummy!

Sweet Daddy shared his "milkshape" with Charlotte.

Softball Party

Madeleine's softball season came to a close at the end of October and we celebrated with a team party at a local pizza spot. We had a big room to ourselves, lots of pizza and then the girls got their trophies. It turned out really great and I had fun planning it with my friend Sharon! I'm so thankful for this season that Madeleine had -- she had a some great coaches and a great group of girls to play with! All the parents were in it for their kids to have fun and learn and we certainly weren't very competitive. 

Madeleine with her coaches -- Coach Ryan and Matt. :) She LOVED playing with her Daddy out there. It was such a special time for them and he was really able to coach her and help her improve. She played catcher some and was really good at it! And her hitting is great and she can throw a ball FAR!

Harrison was the "bat boy" this year. He was out there in the middle of it all most nights. :) He got an honorary trophy for being such a good helper.

While we won't play with most of these girls in the spring since Madeleine will move up to U10, we will hopefully play with one or 2. And, she is looking forward to this spring!