Carving Pumpkins

Well, tonight we did our annual "Mommy Carve the Pumpkins" night. This basically starts with everyone eager to dive in and try once again to clean out their own pumpkins. Even though each year before, after viewing the insides of the pumpkin and feeling the initial slimy guts, they chicken out. This year was really no different. Although Amber did make a valiant attempt at cleaning out the majority of slime and guts, and Ashley tried her best to get each seed out. But Ashley was adamant that she would not touch "that stuff" inside, and used her spoon to pick out seeds. Very funny to watch! I actually enjoy carving the pumpkins. It is something in our family that mommy does. I usually have the girls give me an idea of what they want it to look like. We draw the face with permanent marker beforehand and then try our best to make it happen. Each year we come up with something new. Last year we made the eyes look a little better by trying to keep the "eyeball" part in them. That is kinda hard to explain. Anyhow, we had a lot of fun tonight, and I thought I would let you see how they all turned out. In case you are wondering, I did Alex's for him. He hasn't gotten to telling me shapes, and facial features yet. Ha!
(Oh, by the way, we are doing well with the ear infection. Still very happy. Actually, I was really surprised that he had one, since he really isn't that crabby.)
Happy Halloween! (soon)

Yet another appointment!

This is Amber's picture from Homecoming. She was the crown bearer. She was very excited about the whole thing. Bill and I were gone in Guatemala so grandma Muffie filled in for mommy and fixed our hair and took us to the school for pictures and all that stuff. Don't you think she looks so grown up? 8 years going on 18 I think!
We had Alex's 1 year checkup today. It was the never-ending appointment. We actually went early and ran into Walmart beforehand to get a few things. When we checked in it was 9:55. When we walked into the exam room it was 11:00!! We sat in the waiting room for an hour. AAAHHH! Evidently they had an emergency-someone had collapsed at school. So we waited and waited and waited. Addie played with some toys and then we read some books. Then we looked at the fish tank (and she saw Nemo) and drew on the whiteboard for fun. After all of that we still weren't in and all of us, including me were a little antsy. So we get back into the exam room and our doctor comes in and checks everything out. We have the beginning of an ear infection in our left ear. I wondered about this last night when he was putting his finger INTO his ear. Usually Alex likes to play with his ears, but this time was different. So we didn't get our immunizations and the flu shot, we will wait until we go back for the ear recheck. That way we don't mask any symptoms.
Today is an early out at school. The girls get to come home at 2:30 but Bill has in-service so he must stay. We have AWANAs tonight. I have been trying to have the girls work on their verses a little bit every day so that it isn't such a panic on Wednesday. "Mom, we forgot to memorize verses!!" Ha! Ha! But, so far we have only gotten to looking at them on Monday and Tuesday night. But that is better than nothing. It is amazing to me how much they have to learn when they are Amber's age. Jennifer, you can relate to this with Cannon. It is quite a bit of information to remember. I am a little concerned that Ashley will get really frustrated. She finds that all a bit overwhelming.
Well, guess what?? I just heard from my brother that he got a job!!!! Yeah Tyler!!! He is going to be working at Younkers as a sales associate. I am so happy for him and proud of him that he found something. Now, we just need to have him pass that test. Come on Tyler!!!
Well, I need to get something done before the girls get home. I feel like I have been gone the whole day at the doctor's office and nothing has gotten done at home. Maybe I will do laundry, doesn't that sound like fun??

Aren't you impressed...

that I am still blogging? Well, so far I have remembered, but I sure that I will forget sometime. Today was pretty normal. Alex, Addie and I went to the babysitters house. We are trying to get Alex used to going to her house since Monday will be my first day back to school. We have been going over for about 2 weeks now. He is doing really well, and yesterday and today I left him there for a little while with Addie and the other kids that are there. It was probably about an hour and 15 minutes today and he did really well. He ate pudding today, a whole cup of vanilla, and no fussing for Cheryl (the sitter). We consider that pretty good, since in the beginning he really wanted nothing to do with her. I think that he will do really well with her.
Bill's football season is winding down. For those who don't know, Bill is no longer coaching at Hubbard-Radcliffe. This year the school decided to whole-grade share the football team with Eldora-New Providence, since next school year we will whole-grade share our 6-12 academic programs. So Bill was left with being an assistant to the head coach at Eldora-New Providence, and that really didn't sit well. He has been a head football coach for so long, that it was going to be difficult to go back to being someone's assistant, especially with his own football players. This past spring he had an offer from Ellsworth Community College up in Iowa Falls, to come coach with them. He jumped at the chance just to see what college was like and if this is something that we would like to pursue. Their season hasn't been stellar, but they have won several games. Their last regular game is this Saturday against NIACC I think. If they win they will play in the playoffs, with a record of 5-5 (I think). If they lose, then they are just done for the year. It has definitely been a learning experience for our family and Bill, one that I am glad that we got to have-especially without moving.
Here are a couple of pictures of the girls with Alex. They love doting on him-sometimes to the point of driving him crazy, especially Addie. But most of the time he loves the attention.

It's a Miracle...

I am posting for a second time. Now, what some of you will find funny is that I haven't told any of my family about my blog. I am actually blogging in secret, as we speak. Why, you ask? Because I really don't want to start something like this and let everyone know and then fail miserably a day or two later. Hence, the secrecy. So I guess by the time my family actually reads this, it will be old news, but new to them.
Life is pretty slow today for a Sunday. Although I do have a paper to write due tomorrow that I am procrastinating on. For those of you that don't know, I am currently working on my master's degree in teaching, soon to be done in May 2007. This is my second to last semester and I am very excited about being done soon. At this point, my class is sometimes just another thing to do on my very long list. It is just another reason to think wishfully of summer vacation. My class will be done, the school year over, and we will have lots of free days and family time.
Well, the kids are all somewhat occupied, so I really should go and work on my paper. So long, farewell. (think "The sound of music")
Katie

So I finally broke down...

and I have decided to try to blog for my family. I am however putting a disclaimer on this blog- I am horrible at keeping on top of these kind of things and so I cannot guarantee the frequency of my posts.
So what has been going on in our lives...
We have been very busy. We just got back a couple of weeks ago from Guatemala- we adopted a little boy (Alex) and have been home for about 2 1/2 weeks now. Alex is adjusting well and very attached to mommy. I have to return to work in another week and a half, so we are transitioning to the babysitter, who lives just down the street from us.
I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving...hoping to see a lot of family, go to a good movie, and have fun just hanging out and talking.
Well, I will stop now. I am quite a rambler, and I don't think I want to start that now.
Oh, but before I go, I will tell you that these are a couple pictures of Alex-he is really a very happy kid.