1st Place!

Check out Henry with his 1st place trophy that he earned for soccer this fall. The Vigilantes was a new team in the league this year and included several boys who had never played soccer before. Nonetheless, they managed to win the league which includes several teams of boys that have been playing together for 3 years or more. It was an exciting fall of soccer including several close games however I think we are all ready for a break...... or should i say a change of pace..... basketball starts this weekend.

Owen's Bday Part 3- Are we done yet!?!?

Last, but not least, we spent the evening after the party opening presents, presents and more presents...... Owen got all sorts of cool new things which he was excited about.

Owen's Bday Part 2- Ahoy!

Aaarrrrggghhhhh Me Mateys!! Owen's birthday party was a pirate theme this year. It is amazing that his parents, Stinky Pete and Sweet Marie, managed to pull it off despite some raindrops here and there. The party was filled with pirates including none other than the great Uncle Redbeard (aka Uncle Chris), Merciful Mimi, Merchant Fezziwig (Papa), Henry the Swift and Rough-Sailin' Meghan. All of the attendees received their very own pirate names which Eric (Stinky Pete) delivered during a ceremony..... it was hilarious!! Here are some pictures from the event. He invited the 1st grade from Coram Deo and also our community group friends. The party was on a Thursday right after school.

Owen's Bday Part 1

Owen's birthday fell on a Wednesday this year. We planned his party for the next day (Thursday) after school but we celebrated on his actual birthday with dinner out at Snuffers. Snuffers is a local burger place that serves great cheese fries. For the first time since Owen turned 2, his birthday dinner request did not include pizza! Cheese fries are a close second to pizza.

Here are some pictures from our evening out as a family. We opened a few gifts that had arrived from family while we waited for our order. The waitstaff at Snuffers were jealous of all of Owen's cool new things.

Meghan's First Haircut

Meghan got her first haircut earlier this month. She and I were both really needing a cut so I decided we would tackle it together. I took her with me on a thursday and had Farie (the lady who cuts my hair) cut my hair first and then she cut Meghan's. We had strict instructions from home that not much hair was actually going to be cut off!! Meghan sat patiently the whole time while I was getting my cut. And then she did so well and was very grown-up about the whole thing. She seemed to really enjoy the pampering. She, of course, looked beautiful when she was done!

We followed our haircut with a special lunch with Mimi and Gigi. It was a special day.

As for this sassy picture at the end where she is posing..... I don't know who she possibly gets that from?!?!! I guess Eric must have been a real ham growing up or something.

Enjoy the pictures!

Halloween

Here are the kids all dressed up for Halloween and ready to go trick-or-treating. Meghan was a ladybug. Henry was Darth Vader. Owen was a Red Power Ranger. They brought home some serious loot and had a fun time with friends. Once we were home, the kids really enjoyed passing out candy to trick-or-treaters who were still out and about.

You will see in the pictures that Meghan insisted on wearing a few extra accessories including Nana's reindeer antlers which we found upstairs somewhere and also her candy basket turned upside down on her head. A ladybug has to have her accessories I guess.

Our First Cub Scout

Here are a couple of pictures from September.... i guess the fall has gotten away from me. Anyway, Henry started Cub Scouts this fall and here he is in his uniform..... doesn't he look great? He sold over $1000 in Cub Scout popcorn this fall. When a cute young chap like this comes knocking on your door, how can you say no? Well, obviously they couldn't and he met his first year popcorn goal and won several prizes including a Marshmallow Crossbow (I'll let you know about that one when it arrives).

He is enjoying the weekly den meetings and the activities that are assigned during the week. They recently starting working on learning about tying different types of knots and he is excited about that. He also had a one month chore assignment where he had to make his own bed every day..... I loved that!! He was not as crazy about that one.

In October we went camping with Cub Scouts and had a great time getting to know the families in his pack. We neglected to bring our camera with us so we have no pictures to prove that Henry earned his Bobcat badge (the very first Cub Scout badge). He is now working towards his Wolf badge which he will hopefully earn by the end of the school year.

Attached are a few pictures of a Cub Scout project that he worked on with Daddy in early November. He had to build and paint a small wood-working project and he picked out a bird feeder. Owen made one too just for fun and Uncle Chris and Meghan were there to help too. Enjoy the pictures.

Feeling a Little TIred Lately?

If the summer has worn you out you are not alone. We are not exactly sure how Meghan fell asleep in this position although it seems a running start may have been involved. We found her this way one weekend afternoon recently. Are legs supposed to bend that direction?

I guess we have been running her too hard and she is not taking naps anymore..... obviously every now and then she decides that she IS going to take a nap. Anyway, we moved her to her bed from this position and she slept a good 2 1/2 hours.

First Day of School

Hard to believe here they are off to their first day of 2nd and 1st grade. They are growing up so fast! Both Henry and Owen were excited to get started on the school year.

Faux-Hawk

No need to comment on this one..... unfortunately, this hairstyle only lasted a few days because Owen did not care for all the attention/commentary it drew from other people. Oh well.... doesn't he look great!?!?

Fun at the Pool

Here are a few pictures from pool outings in late summer. The pool usually gets old and "booooooring" around the beginning of August. To attempt to entice the boys into at least a few more pool outings, we purchased Al, a life-size blow-up alligator. Remind me next time to think through how I will get my purchase to/from the pool once it is blown up......but anyway, the kids enjoyed playing with him and we did get in several more swimming outings before the pool closed on Labor Day.

Meghan's swimming took off at the end of the summer. It was almost as if she just decided it was time to swim. All of the sudden she was putting her head down and under water and swimming like crazy. I suspect she will be all over the pool by the end of next summer.

Also included is a picture of my favorite activity after a long afternoon of chasing the kids around the pool.

Enjoy the pictures!

Playing Dress Up

Dressing up is one of Meghan's favorite things to do. On average i would say that we go through at least 3 outfits a day. She loves to change clothes and can come up with some of the most interesting outfits. Attached are some pictures from her recent dress-ups...... in two of the pictures she is with her friend, Allison. They dressed up as dancers and the pompoms are supposed to be their crazy pigtails. The other picture is from yesterday when Meghan came out from her room as a purple princess. Enjoy!