Ghoul School!

Here are pics of the girls from their Halloween parties at school.....they had a blast but man, it was a quick 45 minutes of Halloween madness. I was co-helper of the Haunted Photo Booth!! I know, imagine that :o)

All Hallows Eve

Hope you all ready for some spooks and cooks to come a hunting for some treats!! We carved our pumpkins tonight and set them out and lit them. Not sure where my girls got the idea to create horror movie style pumpkins but they turned out quite funny! Hannah's is the one puking up his guts and Avery's is the one who's brain exploded into guts whereas Gracie's is the one who is sneezing his guts out. I'm telling you, made me laugh and a little proud that they have imaginations. Next year let's shoot for some bats and witches and spiders.....nice little friendly Halloween ideas. LOL!

Tis the Season of Sports

Well, kind of! I love OCTOBER because in it you see the culmination to a great season of America's favorite pastime, baseball and the MLB World Series. YEAH Phillies!! We were rooting for them, because normally we follow the National League teams since we are avid St. Louis Cardinals fans. Plus, over Memorial Day Avery and I went with family to a Houston Astros v. Philadelphia Phillies game in Houston, TX and it was Avie's very first MLB game. So, how cool for her to have seen a World Series Championship Team for her very first game. Too cool!

This weekend, Illinois begins the IHSA State Football Tournament. Our very own Orion Chargers are ranked #2 in their bracket. Kickoff is 1pm Saturday. We are so excited to see these boys progress. Last year they finished 4th in the State.....we would gamble for a higher finish this year. Show your Charger Pride!!!

And, this week Gracie has her very 1st League Basketball game. Here are some pics of her. She sure had a lot of fun, but she sure has a lot to learn too. But that is what is great about starting young, lots of time to learn the fundamentals.

Darn it! I uploaded these backwards, but you catch the drift....Hannah got her cast off today! Believe me, it was a highly anticipated day around here which required many big red circles with hearts and a "Yeah" on the calendar. These photos are of her cast front and back, signed by family and friends, the "saw" used to cut the cast, Hannah's reaction to the saw (note the one tear coming down her face), prying the cast apart and Dr. Shawn Wynn, her orthopaedic surgeon, checking over the newly healed wrist. He said her wrist is healed completely, no permanent damage and she can go back to gym class on Monday. She is THRILLED to hear that. Can't wait til Christmas - we are very bad about "gag gifts" for funny things that have happened throughout the year so I'm anticpating about 10 pairs of flip flops for Hannah. THIS was our big news of the day. I know, not so much headline news anywhere else but here at home this is Extra, Extra and Special Report information.

Here is the new and improved window frame!! I put no background paper behind the photos, it is just glass so what you "see through" is the same color as my walls. I added some Fancy Pants Crush rub-ons and one Heidi Swapp "Family" stamp. Voila! Different, huh?

Those of you that know our family well will notice I have no photos of Lance's parents, brothers and their families. This is because they really aren't photo people. When I take my camera with I am made fun of for always wanting to take photos and no one really ever wants to let me take natural shots or posed photos. Also, I didn't want to put photos of them in when I have none of my youngest niece. I am hoping to be able to take enough photos in the next few months with or without help to make a matching frame for the Noble side, since I have an extra window pane or 8.

A little of this and a little of that....

Here are some photos from around the house. First is a window pane collage I did a few years ago and it was my first venture into trying anything "non-scrapbooking"....it turned out well, but it is currently looking a little out of date. I wanted one last picture of it before I tear it apart and redo it. Have some really cool ideas cooking for the new one, will post when it is complete. Below that are some fall pics - pumpkins, gourds and such in a wire basket I picked up at a fall craft show in Galva. Beyond that are pics of our front tree turning leaves and a pic of some of the 100,000 leaves already congregating on my front lawn. (Yes, I have mulched them already twice this week, to no avail!). Next is a plate of yummy homemade sugar cookies that I whipped up over the weekend. This plate is what is left of the 200+ cookies I made. PS - No we did not eat them all. Some went with to the Halloween party, some to work with Lance and some to church. The rest we ate, lol! Next is Miss Creative Halloween Third Grader Gracie's Halloween pumpkin that she painted at school. Last, is what I found when I got up this morning. Avery had marked her spot with notebook paper and tape, obviously not wanting anyone to take her chair. PS - Someone else wrote the name (not sure if Hannah or Gracie) but that is not Avie's writing. She can do it, just not that neat yet! And, then when I looked at her place setting she had already set out my ipod to listen to while eating her breakfast. All of this she did before going to bed last night because I was up before her. She's got a little obsessive-compulsive streak in her! And, anyone want to guess what big event is happening today? Hmmm, I'll let you think about it and will post later!

Scrapping and Fall

Here's a couple of scrapbook layouts I did for a blog challenge. The challenge was to scrapbook some school photos. I only had time to do these two but I will do a Gracie layout and post soon. Promise. Love these papers, especially the owl papers. I feel so lucky to have girls that enjoy school, learning, their teachers and friends. They are each so different, but in other ways they are so alike.

It's a rainy day here - I didn't expect that when I went to bed this morning. Slept really well, guess the rain is why. Our weekly to do list is pretty packed. I am off Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday so I am hoping to get some fall cleaning done since the leaves are starting to fall and there's a serious chill in the air. Until the next time...

Happy Halloween Preview

Tonight we attended our very first Halloween Costume Party....my friend Heather and her mom put together a party every year for family and friends. Here's a photo of us in our costumes. Dad was a fireman (original, I know); I was Nurse Hatchett, Hannah was a recycled costume (her Pink Ladies won't fit over her cast and she doesn't get it off until Thursday so we had to improvise for the party); Gracie was a 60's Go Go Girl; and Avery was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. It's all about the shoes for Avery. She couldn't have cared less that she was Dorothy but she was all ABOUT the ruby red glittery shoes! Hope you are all geared up and ready for Halloween, 2 weeks to go!!

Birthday Crazy!

A little shout out to our most recent birthday boy and girl! My brother, Shannon, turned 27 today and I forgot to shout out to my great Mom, her birthday was September 24th.....Here's some photos from both celebrations.

Random photos of the week

Here are some random photos of happiness from the over the weekend through today. On Sunday, we drove to Tanner's Apple Orchard in Stark County and spent the afternoon picking pumpkins, playing in the playground area and picking out yummy apples and treats to bring home with us. We picked out apple cidar doughnuts, red raspberry preserves, honeycrisp apples (seriously, THE best apples I have ever tasted), caramel popcorn puffs and our indian corn, gourds and pumpkins. The girls love it there because there is so much to do and I love it there because it is a photographer's dream.

On Tuesday, took Lance back to the orthopedic surgeon and he was released to go back to work, yeah! The girls were a little sad this morning that he wasn't here to wave goodbye to them on the bus, but dad being back in his routine is good for ALL of us. :o) So, to celebrate we went to Target and bought him some gel inserts for arch support since his tendons/ligaments are still recovering and he'll need the extra support and I bought myself the "Whooo's Here" rug with the owl. Love the colors and the owl, somehow I believe that will ispire a future scrapbook page.

Next up is my three cute Chargerettes! The girls are all performing for them during the high school football games this year (well, three of them) and this is a snapshot of their professional picture. This is the one year that all three of them can be in this group together and they make me so proud when they're out there doing their cheers. I have video somewhere, so I will upoad that someday in the future. Won't say soon, because I will likely forget and they will be in high school themselves when I remember, lol!

Below that is what I got yesterday - Series 20 Studio G Stamps.....yeah, Halloween creating here I come. Love these itty bitty stamps and how they make the cutest tags/cards. Very inspired when I look at these!

And, below that is a picture of Avery in school. Luckily, in Kindergarten they require a lot of mom helpers. I have been volunteering my time on my days off. It gets kind of hairy with my schedule since I work midnights but I have been finding time a day or two a week to give back to the education of our children. It really is a lot of fun and a lot of work. The children get so excited when I come in (not just my own) and they all wave goodbye when I leave, so it's a bond that is building between all of us and I could just love them all so much. They are such sweethearts.

Well, until the next post....be safe and happy scrappin!