Halloween 2013

 Caramel apples are so good!  We've made these for the last 5 or 6 years or so.  This year we added pretzels for an easy snack later.  It's such a fun tradition!

 We carved our pumpkins 10 days before Halloween.  Guess what kind of shape they're in right now?  Yep, rotten and mushy.  Good times!

People always ask me how I get good pics of Halloween, Easter outfits, Christmas clothes, etc.  Here's my trick:  DON'T take the pics on the actual day!  That's too stressful!  I always take my pics ahead of time.  Plus, it makes me a nicer mom on the day of the event.  I couldn't care less if my kids wreck their costumes, the pictures are done!

Also, this year I was finally able to talk all of the kids in to being something together.  They are the very cutest troop of clowns ever!

The makeup wasn't anyone's favorite, but they look great! (plus, I'm totally not making them wear makeup for trick-or-treating)

 

Happy Halloween!

Cousins Visits

Heather and Bethany both brought their families for a visit in October.  It was so fun!

 

We spent a very fun afternoon at Cooper's Rock.  He cooked out, played on the playground, and hiked out to the overlook.  Good times!

Last weekend our sister-in-law, Megan, came for a visit with her kids.  I didn't get many pictures, but Matt took a few when they went hiking with Grandma Malone at Cooper's Rock.

I guess the kids are good on cousin visits for a few weeks.  We're looking forward to seeing Bethany's fam again at Thanksgiving and the Malone cousins at the Greenbrier in December!

SOCCER

Soccer is over.  FINALLY!  If you want to know how I really feel about soccer (and most extra-curriculars) you can read this. Of course, it's more complicated than that.  The kids are homeschooled AND new to the community.  They need to meet other kids.  They need to get out of the house.  It's a love-hate relationship for sure.

 

This year we had FOUR in soccer.  Being new to the community, we had no idea how much more involved soccer would be.  Poor Jack missed most of his games due to them being on Sunday.  Joel missed a few, too.  We may be bidding farewell to soccer, I'm afraid.  Even though it's not my favorite past time, the kids LOVED it!

 

 

It was Norah's first year.  She's only four, so most of the time she just hung around and played with her little friend, Kylie.  Kicking the ball wasn't a priority.

Jack really started to "get it" this year.  He played goalie a lot of the time.  My favorite thing was to watch him watching from the sidelines.  He's such an enthusiastic viewer!  I can't say he never yelled at the ref from the sidelines.

Joel played on a very competitive team this year.  He made two goals (including one in a tournament).  He absolutely loved it!

I had a hard time getting any good pics of Merrody this year, but not for a shortage of good shots out of her.  Merrody was on an all-girl's team this year which meant she was one of the key players.  Merr has always been amazing on defense.  Her team totally counted on her this year to keep the ball away from the goal.  She did great!

Sweet Hazie really got into it!  She would scream "GOOOOOOOO" over and over during the game.  So cute!

And now, after much debate, we are signing up for basketball.  Heaven help us!