hApPy HaLLoWeEn!!!!!!

Do you know what these are?????Boooooobees!!!!!!!

hahaha!!!!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!

tRiCk oR tReAt....

Tonite was beggars nite.....so Kale has gotten to the age that he does not want us to walk around from house to house with him....but it is ok if a friend of his comes with his mom and dad and he goes with them.......hhhmmmmm!!!! But that works out ok because I like to see all of the little kids in their costumes. We live in a small town and we also live where there are not alot of houses so we do not have very many trick or treaters. Kale is pretty predictable on what he wants to be.....3 options.....cowboy(he wants to be one soooooo bad!!!), army guy(he wants to be in the Army when he gets old enough soooooo bad!!!), or a football player(he can't wait until next year he gets to play REAL football!!) So for the past several years he has been one of those 3......and it is always such a big deal to him......he always wants me to help him decide what one to be!!!!! As usual....I am on my way home from work(4:15p.m. and trick or treating does not start until 6p.m. so we have a little time) and I get the phone call......mom what do you think I should be??? Then he goes through the list of options......so I ask...what is Ty(the friend he is going with) going to be? HHHMMMM good question so he tells me to hold on just a second so he can call Ty to ask what he was going to be.....he gets back with me and lets me know that Ty is dressing in camo(military) so that is what he is going to do too!!!!! Now that was easy!!!!!Kale and Ty all ready to go get the candy!!!!!

So 2 hours later Kale gets back from a big nite of trick or treating and we HAVE to dump the bag out on the dinning room table to check everything out......and I am looking for the popcorn ball....but much to my amazement no popcorn balls.....but there was a GIANT tube of toothpaste and a toothbrush.......ha......now I have heard of people giving these items out and trust me I do not have a problem with it at all!!!!! BUT this tube of toothpaste was not your average travel size toothpaste it was the GIANT one you buy off the shelf at your local Wal-Mart.....family size!!! And they are not always cheap.....so I am not sure if that is what everybody got or if somebody ran out of candy so they started cleaning out the cupboards or what.....I know it sounds like I am making a big deal out of it and that is really not what I am trying to do but it was hilarious when he dumped everything out of the bag and out fell the toothpaste on top of all the candy!!!! Here it is the GIANT tube of toothpaste......family size.....I know he needed it after eating the WHOPPER'S.......those are his FAVORITE!!!!!!! I just wanted a popcorn ball!!!!!! DARN IT!!!!

GiRLz wEeKeNd....

On Friday a high school friend of mine....Steph and I went on a girlz shopping day in Des Moines. It was not a great day to be out and about because of the rain and the chilly weather but we braved the elements and survived!!!! One of our stops was at the Howell Tree Farm/pumpkin patch......they have this really cool old barn with a gift shop in the bottom part where they sell a little bit of everything and some really, really pretty dried flower wreaths and baskets, upstairs in the barn is where they hang all of the dried flowers they use AND grow. I took a few pictures of all of the flowers hanging from the top of the barn all the way down to the floor.....it was amazing to me....but my pictures do not do justice to it!!!!


We had a full day of shopping and plenty of laughing too.....I love girlz weekends !!!!!! So on Saturday we went to Steph's moms house for the 2nd annual Halloween party. As kids Geri(steph's mom) was our girl scout leader....and she was an AWESOME leader....always had cool crafts to do and she always had the Halloween party......these are the things that I can remember doing when I was a kid......I am sure there were alot of things that I do not remember but these are a few that I do remember.....the ghost cakes, the spooky story with the gory items sent around to feel.....the macaroni shaped like a brain, the peeled grape eyeballs, and the gross feeling hand and I think spaghetti veins???? And don't forget the monkey bread for breakfast!!!!! That is sooo funny to me because I am now the "monkey bread mom". Anyway it was something we all really looked forward to every year and had a blast being freaked out by all the gross stuff!!!!! So for the past 2 years she has invited us all down to her house for the party....we all dress in costume, hang out and have a really good time eating and laughing and telling stories about the "old days" and she always has a little blast from our past!!!! So I just want to send out a GREAT BIG THANK YOU to Geri!!!! It may have just been being a girl scout leader to her but to us she really touched our lives and helped make us appreciate those little things in life that people do......so for that I thank you from the bottom of my heart and you are a very special person to me!!!!!
Steph (witch) and Geri (professor).
Steph giving Tami (Jan Brady) a ride on her broom!!!!
Me as Pippi Longstocking.
And the group shot.....Martina came a little later she is the "old lady".......that's her costume I am not saying she is old!!!!!!!!
Geri, Steph, Martina and Tami......I know you see the wine bottle but I promise Steph had NOT opened the wine yet!!!!!!

• And make a little noise for the bean dip!!!!!! Here is the recipe for the dip...EASY!!!!!


• 8 oz. cream cheese


• 1 can mexicorn (drained)


• 1 can black beans (drained)


• 1 can rotel


• mix all of the above together and bake for 30 minutes at 350.


• take out of oven and top with shredded cheddar cheese and bake again until cheese is melted. serve with tortilla chips or whatever you like to dip with.....mmm good!!!!!!

So I just want to say it was good to see all of you I really had a good time and thank you, thank you, thank you, Geri and Steph for taking the time to plan and get everything ready for the party!!!!! I love you guys.......yer GRRRRRRRREAT!!!!!!!!

fT. dOdGe.....hErE wE cOmE!!!!!!!!

Last nite was our regional cross country......well not ours.....the girls!!!!! For regionals you have to finish in the top 10 or as a team you have to be in the top 3 to go to state!!!!! And because we had both Taylor and Delaney running I was hoping there was a way.....either way that they both got to go.....I just did not want to see the disappointment on their face if one made it and the other one did not!!! It had rained all day and it was very chilly....and all the way up my stomach was in knots worrying about them doing good or not because of the crappy weather!!!!

When we got there they both were in good moods and smiley.......good sign I thought to myself!!!They both had an awesome start......and away they went. Cross country is one of those sports that if you are not in really good shape yourself.......it is quite a work out!!!! They are usually at golf courses.......for the most part quite hiLLy.......and tonite was no exception......plus mud......ALOT of mud!!!!!! So where I was standing I did not see alot of the race. But at the end Taylor came in 3rd with a time of 16:23 and Laney came in 17th with a time of 17:27.........oh poop I thought that does not put Laney in the top 10........so it was like a nitemare in my head.....how horrible she was going to feel.....but how happy Taylor was going to feel......so as parents......what do we do??????? YIKES!!!!!! I can not talk to them right away if they are upset and look like they might cry.......because you guessed it.......I will cry too!!!!!! So back to the meet.......we still have a chance if the team finishes in the top 3.....................HOLY COW.......they got 4th place.........so Taylor will be the only one running at state from her team.....I am soooooo happy for her but I know she would have much rather everybody one her team to get the chance to run. So I just want to say to them both AWESOME!!!!!! job......we are SOOOO PROUD of both of you!!!!!! And GOOD LUCK at STATE TAYLOR!!!

WE LOVE YOU BOTH!!!!!

HaPpY BiRtHdAy!!!!!!!!

I started writing a post about my uncle so I could let everybody know what an AWESOME guy he is and what a huge impact he has had on my life even though he has not always lived close to me.....but it made me cry......only because I think we all take things for granted from time to time and when I started typing away that made me think about things that I hadn't thought about in awhile and realize how short life can be......so before I have to go get the entire box of tissues I will stop and just say.........

HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE PAUL!!!!!!!!!!

WE LOVE YOU TONS!!!!!!!!Hope you enjoy your day......we love you and hope to get to see you soon!!!!

pUmPkiN pAtCh pArT tWo.....

Here are the rest of our pumpkin patch pictures....none that are just really exciting but i have to put them in here to finish the visit out!!!! I found this "pumpkin"???? while we were having a snack.....not quite sure if it is a pumpkin or not but it was kind of gross!!!!! it looks like a pumpkin with warts all over it......yuck!!!!!!

Here is the picture Kale could not wait for me to take!!!!!! He loves tractors or anything to do with a farm for that matter.......he wants to live on a farm soooooo bad......i hope someday he can!!!!!!!!

This was the tank of the old tractor........i thought it was kind of cool looking!!! Not the best photo. I was the only one who remembered to bring my camera(wink,wink).....and it is old!!!!!

And we can not post pumpkin pictures without a picture of the guts!!!!!! I wanted to make pumpkin seeds in the oven but did not have time to look up a recipe.......can anybody help me out?????

And last but not least.......the carvings.........the kids told me that a face was way over-rated!!!! I think they were trying to tell me I was way out of touch.....and not very hip!!!!! I kept asking "what is wrong with a cute little face?" As you see.......no faces on our pumpkins!!!!!! But they had fun!!!!!

pUmPkiN pAtCh....PaRt oNe

Even though my kids are 17, 14, and 12 they still love to go to the pumpkin patch!!!! Anyway they act as if they do....even if it is only to make me happy I think we all had a good time today!!! We went to Patch's Pumpkin Farm in Adel......it was our first time there we usually go to Grinnell to Carroll's Pumpkin Farm.....we ALL decided that we like the one in Grinnell ALOT better......that is VERY odd that we ALL agreed on something!!!! But we read on the internet that they had a pumpkin cannon......now that got our attention as I am sure it did yours too!!!! And they had kettle corn and caramel apples.....who doesn't like that!?!?!? So enough said about the food on to the pictures!!!!!

First stop.....Kale wants to see how tall he is......or maybe he was trying to tell me that they are really to old to be at the pumpkin patch.....Troy kept telling me they sell pumpkins at Wal-Mart....but I told hin it just isn't the same!!!!!

Second stop.....a perfect place to take a picture!!!! The sun was in Kale's eyes if you couldn't tell!!!! And we all got to hear about it!!!!!

Next hop on the hay rack and out to the feild to find the perfect pumpkin!!!!!!!
Finally what you all have been waiting for!!!! The cannon!!!! It is an air cannon......and holds as much pressure as a car tire. They pack it just like they packed a cannon in the old days only they used straw and the "ball" was a pumpkin!!!!! They were shooting into the wind so they said it would probably only go about 3/4 of a mile......if they have the wind behind them they said it would go 1- 1 1/2 miles!!!!! WOW it was kind of cool!!!!! The picture shows the straw flying out of the cannon.....sorry no pumpkin.....I must have been to slow!!!!!