Isaac's First Sleepover Party

We finally took the plunge into the world of having sleepovers.  I put it off as long as I could.  We went over many, many ideas for Isaac's birthday party, and finally, he talked Scott and I into a sleepover.  He was thrilled!  We had the party last night, and Isaac and his friends had an awesome time.  I also enjoyed watching the boys play and getting to know them better.  They are a good group of boys!

 Everyone arrived at 5:00 and they were ready to get outside and play.  They all played 500 for a long time.

 Here is another 500 pic.  Each of them got a flashlight, so later, after it was dark, they played Cops and Robbers in the dark with the flashlights.  It looked like fun.  They were running around everywhere.

 We cooked hotdogs over the fire for supper.  We also had lots of chips, soda and baked beans.  Everyone had fun cooking their hot dogs.  We only lost a few to the fire.

 Then the real fun began as everyone set their plastic cups on the stones around the fire, the cups began to melt.  They had fun making their cups into different shapes, and then ultimately they all went into the fire.  They also liked throwing all the paper plates into the fire.  When that was done they all ran off to play cops and robbers, and after that we made s'mores.

 Isaac got some very nice presents.  He had a blast opening them up, and his friends were so sweet when they gave them to him.

 We caught a good shot after Isaac opened up his Disney Infinity Wii game.  He has been talking about this for a long time.  Looks like he loved it!  He also got a cool pair of orange shorts, which he put on immediately and some gift cards.  It was so nice!

 I just missed a shot where all 6 boys were sitting on the couch together.  It was so cute!  They thought they were all going to sleep on the couch like that last night.  They all ended up on the floor.

For breakfast we had breakfast pizza and Sunny D.  The cupcakes I bought disappeared during the night, so we just sang happy birthday to Isaac with a candle in his pizza.  Then they all got dressed, and went outside to play and make another fire.  It was a great party!

Happy Halloween

The boys and I had a really fun time making their Halloween costumes this year.

Go Cyclones!  Isaac wanted to be a basketball player and Ethan wanted to be Cy the Mascot.  It all started with a red sweatsuit, and we went from there.

Here is Owen's individual shot.

Isaac wanted an action shot for his pose.

Ethan is showing off his tail.  I was worried that he would not be able to move very fast with those feet, but he had no problems.

I am the "Room Mom" for Isaac's class this year, so I ran the Halloween party at school.  I decided at the last minute to dress up.  It was a hit with the kids.

Owen decided that he could keep up with the kids better if he had his scooter.  He was SO cute riding around on that scooter.  It was even cuter because he was so serious about it.

Isaac, Aidan, Scott and Ethan all ran together.  They hit every house in our neighborhood, Carriage Place and one other small street.  That is a big feat considering everyone has 1.5 acre yards and it is a long distance between front doors.  The hard work was paid off because Isaac and Ethan both needed an additional bag, which one of the homeowners was happy to provide.

Owen on his scooter again.  Love, love, love!

We invited Aidan's whole family to come with us.  That is Mary, Nate and Sadie.  Sadie and Owen like to play together, and Sadie was the cutest little bee I have ever seen.

Soccer

This was a fun year for soccer. All three boys played. They were all on different teams, which did allow us to spend lots of time at the soccer fields this fall. Owen was so excited to finally get to play. We started off strong on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. That first day each boy made a goal! The rest of the season was great with the boys improving and having fun. Isaac had many assists and good plays. Ethan went on to score many more goals, and Owen loved running up and down the field with his teammates. Scott and I loved being outdoors, drinking our coffee and watching our favorite little soccer stars. Here are some good action shots from the last Sunday.

I am sure Isaac beat that blue guy to the ball.

Isaac is ready for the ball.

Isaac has some great running form.

Owen and teammates going for the ball.

Look at Owen's hustle!

Nothing is getting by this goalie!

Ethan is going to take that ball down the field.

I love to watch Ethan run. He is fast!

Ethan going after the ball again. It was a fun season!

 

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Apples and Pumpkins

Traci came over for a visit to go on our annual apple and pumpkin picking adventures. All of us look forward to this fun time outside in the crisp autumn air. This year the weather was beautiful and definitely crisp, and the fall colors were gorgeous. On the drive over, Scott, Traci and I were commenting on all the tree colors. Ethan and Owen were getting into it too, but Isaac was too cool. He said we did not need to point out every tree, so then it got to be a joke that we would point out every tree to him.

First stop was Stones Apple Orchard. We all piled on the hay rack ride. It is one of our favorite parts.

Owen sampled every apple that he picked (which is allowed). Traci and I tried to convince him to put good ones in the bag, but he said, "I just want to eat it".

Scott and Ethan made a great team. They would come back smiling with a load of apples.

Love this picture of Scott and Isaac. My handsome guys!

This is a nice action shot of the group. We only had enough cash to buy 25 lbs of apples, and it did not take us long to get that.

Family pic.

Hugs for Aunt Traci!

Next stop, pumpkins! We went to Happy Hollow U Pick to pick some pumpkins. Big brother is having fun pulling his little brothers in the wagon. What a fun fall day!

Scott and Ethan discussing the pumpkin options.

Isaac and Owen had fun together.

Isaac had to have a white one. I like them too.

So...we may have gone a little crazy with the pumpkins. We bought so many pounds that we got a 5 cent per pound discount! All of a sudden a HUGE one showed up in the wagon. When I asked about it, Isaac said, "Owen wanted it, so I put it in the wagon for him." Oh, okay.

The boys had fun with the decorations.

Ethan was being a little ham. He wanted 2 pictures with this cat. A crazy one and a normal one. Now we just have to carve all those pumpkins!

 

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October Boat Ride

Since we were staying at Craig and Karen's house for the birthday party, we could not resist one more boat ride for the year.  We had to bundle up, but it was really fun, and we had the lake to ourselves.

 Craig is awesome about letting the kids drive the boat.  He is so calm and patient.  Scott and I were a little nervous about him running into a dock, but Craig just said, "He's turning.  He's fine."

 Owen got his turn to drive, too.

Owen and I cozied up together.  I enjoyed my hot coffee on the ride.  It was awesome!

Celebrating Grandpa Wayne

Last weekend we got to celebrate Grandpa Wayne's 90th Birthday.  It was such a fun weekend!  Al, Craig and MaryKay had a party for him in their church basement.  There was delicious food and lots of great time with family.

 My favorite thing of the whole party was when Grandpa told us stories about growing up.  He was asked to speak and tell us about what things were like when he was a child and how they have changed.  Grandpa Wayne told us so many things and answered all our questions.  He told about the day that the got electricity to his house for the first time.  He told how during the war things had to be rationed, and it was hard to get things.  He told us about losing his mom at a very young age, and how great his dad did to take care of him and his brother.  He told about how he started Wilcox Equipment at the age of 15!  He said, "It all started with a calf at the fair."  He said that his dad bought him a calf to raise for the fair, so he took care of it, took it to the fair, and eventually sold it.  He did that over several years and with more calves.  "That was very profitable for me because my dad was paying for the feed,"  he said.  With the money he made from the calves, he bought his first welding machine.  Grandpa Wayne's dad was very innovative.  He was the first farmer in the area to buy a combine and buy a tractor with rubber tires.  At the time these things were not well accepted by the neighboring farmers and they all said he was crazy.  He proved to not to be crazy but very smart as he outfarmed the neighbors very quickly.  It was wonderful for Scott, the boys and me to hear such rich family history, and Grandpa Wayne is a great story teller!

 The kids sang happy birthday to Grandpa Wayne.  Cuties!  They love playing on the church playground.  It has an old school metal slide that is at least 15 feet high.  They were sliding down it while sitting on wax paper.  They were flying off that thing!  We came home with lots of grass stains.  I love it!

 Grandpa Wayne is opening his presents.  The three little ones were very attentive to him and the presents.  They are the sweetest little trio.  We made Grandpa a CD of songs that were popular when he was a teenager.  I hope it brings back some good memories.  We had a really fun time making it for him!

After it was dark, the kids came inside to play some games.

 On Sunday, we all went to church together in Haven, and then Grandma Arlene took us all out to lunch as a present to Grandpa Wayne.  MaryKay played the piano at church, and she sounded beautiful.  The preacher had a great message as usual.  Then lunch was fun at the casino.  Here are the boys with Arlene.  They all love her so much!  She is great with them, and so fun!

We got one more picture with Grandpa Wayne, too.  It was an awesome birthday weekend!