Halloween From Start to Finish

The boys' school had a 1950's theme this year for Halloween. Each year they announce a theme and either you dress up accordingly or not. This one was pretty easy for the boys...no poodle skirts to sew. So, it was white shirts, rolled up jeans and slicked back hair. Chad looked pretty darn cute.

Nathan on the other hand was absolutely miffed at having his hair look 'funny'. He does get a bee in his bonnet pretty easily. It's a first born thing. High strung, tense, uptight...etc. That's my boy! I took a picture anyhow. Little rotter wasn't going to get away with it :)
When we got to school and he saw ALL the boys with greased back hair he was very relieved. I made him say, "You were right, Mom" before he got out of the car! That boy has got to learn to trust me!

This evening we went to our church's Pumpkin Patch event. This is the first year they have ever put on something like this. I had given the boys a choice of either the fair or trick or treating. They obviously chose the fair. One word would describe the scene. CHAOS. I don't like chaos. It was so crowded, crazy, loud, etc! I actually would have preferred to do some genteel knocking on doors up and down our street. There were 40 plus game booths and at each station they received a toy/prize. I heard there were 600 tickets sold so add parents to that number and that's quite a crowd! Their bags were pretty full at the end and we only hit half the booths. There was free popcorn, watermelon, and cotton candy. And the end of the evening each child got to take home an ice cream pail full of candy. The grand finale was a 15 minute fireworks show. It was pretty impressive actually! The church and volunteers did a fabulous job with everything. The boys had a wonderful time.

Look...Robin Hood plays hockey. Nate was a bit annoyed that a few people mistook him for Peter Pan!

Nate and Chad did awesome at the basket ball shoot out. Chad kept scoring into Nate's basket....he has a mean hook. Great teamwork!

The velcro wall was a highlight. The guys helping out there would basically just huck the kids up against the wall and let them hang there a while.

The climbing ladder was also fun! Not all the booths were as fancy. There were throwing darts at balloons, ring toss, fishing and other classics.

A Boy's World

Pumpkins I had nothing to do with! We have a Transformer pumpkin and Lego Bionicle pumkin and a scary pumpkin. Keith enjoyed himself....I scrubbed my bathroom and vaccumed :)

This Is The Best Day of My Life!

The title of this post is exactly what Chad said to me as I pulled both nachos and cinnamon buns out of the oven late this afternoon. I'm so happy I can make Chad so happy via his tummy. It was another lazy Sunday....we were recharging our batteries for an extremely busy week ahead. Lazy also means I don't really cook proper meals so it was a high calorie dinner. C'est la vie.

This week I tried a new recipe for cinnamon buns. Last week was Kori's bun dough in the breadmachine and today was a recipe from a website that was recommended to me. They are both good and I would not say one is better than the other.

Loving Autumn

What We Did Today

What I really wanted to do this afternoon was to go shopping in the States. Alas...the bank account would not have been happy and we are trying to be 'good' this month in our spending habits. So....we stayed home. Nathan and I decided to make something yummy in the kitchen together. For the first time I made macaroons. They were very easy and Nathan was a great help. I almost never wear an apron when I am in the kitchen but we thought it would be fun to wear them today.

Here is the finished product. Yum!

After the baking session we played Monoply with Nathan. I kicked some serious butt.....it must be my excellent banking skills :) You might wonder where Chad was today. He was playing Lego of course! He would pop out of his room now and again to say 'hi'.

Oh then I had an urge to make something extra sinful. I think we'll eat them for dinner!

I hope your Sunday was equally as relaxing.

My Genetic Prototype

My first born! My goodness...I didn't know the definition of motherly love until I had this little gem 9.5 years ago. I can still remember the feeling of being head over heels in love with a baby! It was so wonderful. Now my baby is growing up and things are a-changing! Nathan is pretty much a perfect balance of my Friesen & Klassen genes. He loves to read as much as Chad loves his Lego. He has a wonderful green thumb in the garden and thinks that helping people is very satisfying. He's got a tender heart and cares deeply about people. One of Nathan's latest accomplishments that we are proud of is that he auditioned and received the role of a wise man in the Kids Town Christmas musical at church! We can't wait to see both boys in the show this year.
I am so blessed with my two sons.

Everything I am Not

Chad. My 'baby'....my delight! He is a perfect miniature of his dad. He is absolutely the opposite of myself and it is very fun to watch him grow. He is very creative and I am not exaggerating when I tell you that he plays with his Lego every single day. Everyday! When we were on vacation a few times this summer he would tell me after the first day.....I miss my Lego. It does make birthdays and Christmas easy :) This is a creation he made after Thanksgiving dinner at my parents. He wanted me to take a photo to submit to Lego magazine as they have a section for pictures such as these. Now to just get it printed and mailed away.
And I must mention that last weekend Chad did finally learn to ride his bike all by himself. He's very proud of himself and we are too!

One Day Behind

Happy Birthday to my Mom....yesterday. I had her over for supper but did not take any pictures of the meal. I'm slipping! She loved her new super soft scarf, hat and glove set.

The Perfect Fall Day

As I've mentioned before....I love visiting the Abbey. The day was warm and the leaves were crisp and abundant. Just wonderful! We met up with our friends for a stroll around the beautiful grounds.

Belated But Heartfelt

In all the craziness of last week I totally forgot to give a shout out to my wonderful and long standing friends, Kori & Keri! They have graciously let me be the third wheel on their twin-ness for 21 years now!
May this year be your best one yet.

Not Fair

Today I attended a funeral. It was for my co-worker's brand new baby. She and her husband had a beautiful baby girl but for whatever reason she was not meant to be. It was absolutely the most heartbreaking thing to see my friend with her flat belly but empty arms.

I know that there are so many things that don't make sense this side of heaven....I pray that she and her husband can find healing one day.

Popular!

To become a hero to my boys all I need to do it make a dinner of carbs. Waffles or pancakes. Today...I was definitely super mom. As you can see, here are two boys with mouths stuffed full of yummy waffles.

Chad and Nate like their with the works. Fruit, cottage cheese and whipped cream!

I have more simple tastes....butter and syrup please. And I like the really 'fake' syrup. Aunt Jemima, you rock! Keith thinks I'm crazy. He likes 'real' maple syrup.

90 Years Old!

Today is Keith's grandma's 90th birthday! We went to the Menno Home this evening to celebrate with his parents. A little chocolate cake is all it takes to make a party.
The boys have always called her 'Big Mama' and now pretty everyone else does too! Funny because she is barely over 5 feet tall. Even though her memory has been stolen from Alzheimer's we're glad she can still smile and have happy moments.

Thanksgiving Part Deux

What a gorgeous day it was Monday. After a week of rain and storms the sun felt especially good. We decided that Chad really needed to have another bike riding lesson. He wasn't particularly excited about that but it was time. He is so nervous about learning! We would really like to ride our bikes next spring/summer as a family more often. Chad simply is too old and heavy for the bike trailer. Keith spent a good two hours with him and he did make some progress. He can now balance and coast down the hill a bit. Next lesson will be feet on the pedals!

Afterwards we took a brisk walk to try and work up an appetite for my mom's dinner. I love this view from the school near our house!

Somehow a turkey that was not made at your own house tastes much better! It was a great dinner.

Real Playing

This weekend one of my children who will remain nameless was grounded from the TV and Playstation. He was a good sport and he and his brother completely entertained themselves with their imaginations. What a concept!