Asher Graduated too!

I can't leave little man out on the swim updates.  After Amelia graduated he was determined!  He wanted to graduate too, he wanted a certificate too (his words).  We explained to him he had to stop using the noodle and floatie bar to swim with, he had to do it alone.  So the very next class he did SO well, he swam alone during many of the exercises, however he had a substituted teacher so he couldn't be tested.  At the end of the class she told us she was going to suggest he be tested the next class period so he could graduate.  Asher heard graduate and thought he should have graduated that night because, "I did good, I swam alone."  We AGAIN had to explain to him, yes he did really good and yes he swam alone, but he had to show his teacher he could do it.  This was all pretty frustrating for a three year old I imagine.  But after a few tears he was determined to show his teacher how he could swim at his next class time.  And he did!!  Asher graduated into Aquatikes 2!  We are so proud of our little swimmers.  :)  

Yay!!

He was freezing!!

Random

Some randomness going on today.  Still just trying to play a little catch up, almost there.  :) 

We voted.  The kids LOVED it.  So funny.

This picture doesn't do the sunset justice that evening, it was beautiful.



The kids got new aprons made for them.

Asher modeling his.

Super proud of Asher for writing the H's all by himself.

He's also into tracing his name.

You better believe I did this at least once.  Maybe more. :)

Amelia has started her list!

Halloween 2014

I'm just a little behind, not a lot thank goodness.  Halloween 2014 was a lot of fun and COLD COLD COLD!!  This was the first Halloween we actually did the whole door to door tick-or-treating thing.  Asher LOVED it and Amelia got cold, so she wasn't in the greatest mood.  :)  We hit up all the grandparents houses first and then head to Republic to meet up with some friends to do the whole door to door thing.  I think this was a start of a new Halloween tradition for us!  We had a blast.




My little ninja turtle.

He took his role very serious.

"I've been practicing this move Mom."

Elsa.  This is the pose Elsa did at Disney World.

Perfect.

Trick-or-Treating Mema.

Getting whatever they want from Papa Chuck's and Granny Karla's.

And more candy from Papa Jim and Nana's house.

Elsa, Ninja Turtle, and a Lineman.

The crew.

My baby getting candy!

Family selfie.  I love this picture!

Beauitful Weekend

The weather this past weekend was AMAZING, very unlike fall, but the trees and all the beautiful colors were screaming fall.  LOVE IT.  Saturday afternoon we had family pictures that I just know will be amazing.  Teresa's always does a wonderful job, I'm patiently (ok maybe not) awaiting a sneak peek.  Sunday after church and naps we grab subway and went to the park to have a picnic and enjoy the wonderful day outside.  It was perfect!  We ended the evening at home grilling burgers and watching Spookly the Square Pumpkin!

Mema and Amelia

Poppy and Asher

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Feeding the ducks.

The fall colors are amazing in this picture!

My little swimmer!

Ok, I'm going to brag about my kid for a minute, sorry, but I'm not, because I am a proud Momma!  We started taking swimming lessons back in June.  I wanted to get the kids comfortable with the water before we headed to Disney for vacation because I knew we would be swimming some. 
Rewind to the prior year, Amelia has never been afraid of the water so to speak, but we're not huge lake or pool people so she's only been around small kiddie pools or a blow up water slide, no deep water.  We took her to my dad's pool, a pool that she couldn't touch in and she freaked out, like we had to get out of the pool freaked out.  This scared me, I did NOT want to have a kid who was afraid of the water. So I said right then and there they would be in swim lesson this summer for sure.  So your caught up now.  I enrolled them in swim lessons at DiVentures in Springfield in June, initially we enrolled them both for two months and decided to play it from ear from there on out.  Well it's now October, almost November and we are still going once a week for a 30 minute session.  Both kids really enjoy it and their swimming skills have improved a lot.  Amelia is the most improved, I'm sure a lot of it has to do with her age, but her swimming skills have gone from non-existent to swimming by herself, unassisted for at least 10 feet.  Last night she 'graduated' from the beginner preschool class to the advanced preschool class!  I'm so proud of her.  Asher is doing really well too, don't get me wrong, and he was pretty upset that he didn't 'graduate too' like sissy.  :)
 

Showing off your certificate!

It's such an odd thing to watch your child excel in something you have nothing to do with.  I'm not sure if that sentence makes sense.  Let me try and explain, I'm not in the pool with her, I'm not helping her, I'm not doing anything other than watching and cheering her on from the sidelines.  This is something someone else is teaching her, something she is doing on her own.  This might be the first time that I wasn't helping her, or teaching her or guiding her in some way.  It's a different proud parent moment.  One I wanted to document! 

Way to go Amelia, your a rock star in the pool!    
 

Pumpkin Carving 2014

 

We had our annual pumpkin carving party this past Sunday.  This year everyone came to our house for dinner and pumpkins.  We had a great time, I love being able to have everyone over! Thanks to Granny Karla for taking almost all the pictures since all the rest of us were hard at work!

 

Our family.

 

Asher getting the junk out of his pumpkin.

My big girl.

Eli!

Hard at work.

Kate was even home from college.

Amelia insisted on doing hers ALL by herself.

Asher got bored and went to play.

While I finished 'his' pumpkin.

A nice pumpkin, Asher's request.

He was still playing away.

I was so proud of her, she did a GREAT job.

Aden got out the drill.

This looks unsafe.  My brother claims he was supervising.

ALL BOY!

The finished products.  I think we all did fabulous!

Field Trip

Last Monday I got to go on the kid's field trip with them to the Pickin' Patch in Marionville.  Amelia loves this place and still talks about going LAST year.  Anytime during the year when we drive by she wants to know when it's going to open again and when we are going back.  She was less than happy when her field trip last Thursday got cancelled because of rain.  Thank goodness Ms. Leah had a rain date planned.  Monday ended up being a perfect fall day for some pumpkin picking. :)

CHEESE!

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Selfie

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He had to cut his.

And he picked a green one.

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So blessed.