Just a normal Saturday....

We started the day outside around 9am and just kept going. The kids played outside with their big wheels/bikes, jumped in the bouncy, played in the circle in the Barbie jeep, watched the landscape guys plant trees, jumped on the trampoline, played in our house, played in the neighbor's house, and went to the park. We finally came in for dinner at 5:30 and were bathed and in bed by 6:45. (Daddy was in Auburn cheering on the tigers!). FUN and EXHAUSTING.....makes for a good day!

What's a few more, right?

The sod is being put down and plants planted!!

Halloween Party

Emily (Minnie Mouse!) went to a Halloween party on Friday night. It was at a friend's house and a few of her classmates were there. She had a great time and ate way too much popcorn and candy!!

Emily and Claire

decorating cupcakes outside

Claire (a Spanish princess), Emily W. (a black cat), Emily K.

After school fun

One day after school, I took the kids to the park for a picnic and playtime. The weather has just been perfect. We all enjoyed the fresh air!

my big boy still loves to swing!

Em posing in the tunnel

Girls Night Out!! These are some wonderful friends from nursing school. We try and meet every few months for dinner. It's been too long this time around; we had a great time catching up and are planning a weekend getaway for our next event. Love these girls!

Hail Storm 2010

Just wanted to show some pictures of the crazy hail storm from hell. It came out of nowhere and lasted a good 20 minutes. Fortunately, the only damage we had was a busted flood light. One friend had her windshield shattered and hood damaged. CRAZY!! At least crushed ice is my favorite!!

Chicago 2010

Mark and I took a long weekend vacation to Chicago. His brother-in-law, Howard, was running in a marathon on 10/10/10 so we surprised him! Lorrie worked so hard the day we got there to keep the secret. We went straight to a pizza restaurant to meet them for lunch. I think he was shocked we were there - success! I think Mark and I walked about 3 marathons over the weekend. We saw most of the city and had time to stop at the Disney Store for Halloween accessories! We also went to two shows at Second City (in between shows we watched the AU game at a sports bar). Here are some pictures we took. These are just the photos off the camera I was carrying. Mark took a bunch on his phone and with a camera that is now dead and we can't find the charger.... A special thanks to Nana and Papa for keeping the kiddos!

Some of the 45,000 runners

there's Howard (2nd purple shirt) at mile 25!

walking to the finish line. that's our hotel on far left.

Marathon Finisher!! Way to go! We are so proud of all your hard work!

View of the city from Adler Planetarium. We really enjoyed the planetarium: lots of fun planet and solar system facts, we saw a cool show about stars (go figure) and had a great lunch with a wonderful view.

outside Adler planetarium

We had so much fun at Navy Pier. The ferris wheel was unbelievable and the swings were SO much fun (we rode them twice)!

View from atop the ferris wheel.

We had a great breakfast here our last morning with Lorrie and Howard. They are known for their coffee, and it was delicious. Free donut holes for everyone and free milk duds for women and children - Yum!

View from the Skydeck Chicago at the Sears Tower. This was the 103rd floor.

Crazy ledge that went out 4 feet from the building. Beautiful view of the city!

Mark and I at Skydeck Chicago.

Inside the Museum of Science and Industry

"Sue" the T-Rex

The Field Museum

Buckingham Fountain.....The beginning of 'Married with Children'

We stayed at the Hilton Chicago. Many movies have been filmed here (Home Alone, the Fugitive, My Best Friend's Wedding) and a number of presidents have made appearances. My favorite fun fact of the hotel is that the TV series ER filmed all their helipad shots on the heliport of the Hilton! Beautiful hotel.

October Sunshine

A few weeks ago we had dinner outside. I can't believe we're still in shorts and t-shirts in October! The kids had fun.

I think Ethan spots an airplane!

Allison, Ethan and I spent some fun time outside today while Emily was at ballet. Ethan got his haircut (twice) yesterday. Let's just say the second one was from a professional to fix what this NON-professional did. I'm done trying to save money in the little boy hair department! Anyway, these are super cute of my little boy and he looks exactly like his daddy did at this age.

Happy Fall!

Sunday was our neighborhood pumpkin patch. We went for just a little bit. Can you guess what the girls chose for their face painting? Yep, pink and purple butterflies. These are just some pictures from us outside enjoying the beautiful weather. Happy Fall!!!

(Allison is going through an anti-camera phase.....)

(ABK thought I was taking a picture of just Emily - yay for smiles!)

New Job!

Mark now has a new job title. Car mechanic - specializing in Montero Sports and Honda Odysseys. The "green car" has been dead in our garage going on 3 months. The alternator went out one week while he was in St. Louis. Thank goodness his dad has an extra vehicle!

We got out of church this past Sunday to find the van battery dead. Great! A nice man jumped us off and then after lunch another nice lady let us use her car to jump ours. Mark replaced the battery with one that didn't fit....thanks to the smart Wal-Mart man. While attempting this, he blew a fuse. Daddy was NOT happy. Anyway, after 3 trips to Wal-Mart, one to the auto parts store and one trip to the dealership, he had my car fixed! Just fyi: if anyone out there needs help with blown fuses, see Mark. He is the proud owner of a fuse kit!

I didn't get any pictures of him working on the van at 10 o'clock at night but here he is the next day replacing the alternator in the Montero. I think he probably still has the nasty mechanic hands/fingernails. Thanks for all your hard work keeping the buses up and running ;-)