Oh Yeah, I'm Another Year Older!

Yes, it's true, I'm another year older and feeling pretty good about it! I had a great birthday. Turning 30 was a little rough, but now that I'm in my thirties I feel much better. I also had a really great birthday. My brother, Jeff threw a party for my mom and me. We didn't have to bring a thing. He had it all set up for us. Jeff even grilled up some gardenburgers just for me! If that isn't brotherly love then I don't know what is! Typical of my family events I have zero pictures to show for it. I think Jeff has some incriminating ones, but I haven't seen them yet! I love hanging out with my family so it was the perfect way to celebrate. After that shin dig Mike and my friends conspired to kidnap me and take me to the Squeeze. I had told Diantha and Stephanie about it and we had talked about going there and taking a tour of my hometown. On the way there they played Honey Can You Squeeze Me In by Mr. Delbert McClinton. It took me a while to catch on (it usually does), but I realized where they were taking me. A family friend happened to be at the bar and my mom met up with us there too. We had some drinks and told a lot of stories. Steph and Diantha also had a game for us that involved testing everyone's knowledge of how well they knew me. It was hilarious and scary how much they knew about my life! I'm blessed to have such great friends and family. Thanks to everyone for making my birthday so special. Sorry it took me so long to get around to blogging about it!!!

P.S. No old person jokes are allowed on my blog.

Things Will Says...

Lately he has been calling Mike, Mr. Potamus. It's hilarious! He wraps his arms around him and says, "I love you Mr. Potamus". Will has chosen to go by the name of Mr. Monkey.

The other day we were in line at Fred Meyer. He told the guy behind us that his sister screams like a banshee. Nice.

Halloween Part II

Mike's masterpiece
My happy pumpkin

Will wanted to accessorize

Tell me this isn't the cutest clown you've ever seen!

A very serious bumblebee!

Classic

Everyone was happy when they discovered my cheesy pumpkin earrings

An action shot

Once again, Halloween did not disappoint! We had a great time going door to door around the neighborhood. Since the downtown trick or treating was the night before we had time to be leisurely. The highlight of the evening was when the kids both received whole candy bars. Ahhhh yeah! I always dreamed about that when I was a kid! :) We're going back to that house next year!!!

Halloween Part I

The before shot when everyone, except me, has make up on. It was smeared before we picked Mike up from work to go down town.

A reapplication of make up right before we started

My cute little bumble bee

Checking out her first piece of loot

There goes the make up!

A clown on a mission

Warrior bumble bee

My happy guys

Maybe the cutest pic of the night

Downtown trick or treating was Friday night this year so we got a double dose of Halloween. We had a fun time going to all the stores for treats. Ella really liked taking her candy and putting it in her bag! Will was a seasoned pro. He was in hog heaven and very excited that it was finally time to go trick or treating!

Pumpkin Patch '09

Excited about the tractor ride!
me too :)

Will found his pumpkin

Daddy doing all the hard work

Corn, glorious corn!!!

My little ham

Using a water pump for the duck races

Ella loved poking her head through the cut outs

So did Will!

This picture cracks me up!!! Classic Mike.

Crawling to the top of the hay bales

Jumping off like a cool guy

Ella had to follow suit. She's a real go getter

I had to get into the action too! :)

October wasn't a good blogging month for me so now I'm trying to catch up...in one day! I love going to the pumpkin patch and I think it shows in the amount of pictures that we took. We had a great day and the weather was nice. The ground was pretty muddy out by the pumpkin patch. Will lost a shoe in the mud as he was stepping back onto the tractor. There was another father there who decided not to wear shoes at all. It was actually pretty hilarious. There he was in his bare feet with mud up to his calves. I told him that some people pay a lot of money for that kind of treatment! We spent a lot of time after the tractor ride playing at the farm and we all had a good time.

Good Dog, Carl

After a great day visiting with an old friend of mine I decided to drop off some books at the library. By chance, it happened to be the day that the author of the Good Dog, Carl books was visiting. Ella squealed each time the dog barked. The librarian chose volunteers to lay down on the floor. The dog then jumped over three little kids. Will kept trying to be chosen. He even snuck up quietly and laid down next to some of the other kids, but the librarian kept sending him back to the audience. Poor Will! I guess the librarian thought he was too young. We were still able to play with the dog afterwards and get a book signed. I'm actually bummed that I have pictures of the dog and not the visit with my friend Isolde and her two daughters whom I had met for the first time. I think I get too busy visiting and forget to take pictures during times like that. Isolde and her daughters are way cuter than the dog in case you're wondering! :)

Pigtails

This is one of the reasons that I wanted to have a girl! Don't you love the sassy face in the second picture? Unfortunately the pigtails don't stay in too long. Ella likes to rip them out. That's why I had to take a picture!