Drews' Photo Shoot

Drew has been having fun with my camera lately, just enjoying taking pictures of everything. I loved some of his shots and just had to share. I did NOT edit, crop, or do anything to his photos, they are straight from the camera so I was impressed with his skills.

This is from Geography night----just had to show his project that he did with 2 friends.

He spent 2 days doing photo shoots of Jack. He didn't mind as it meant getting to spend alot of time outside, which is his favorite thing.

I kept looking at these photos thinking how cool that he got a shot of a squirrel up there, but now I'm thinking it's just the tree. I'll have to ask him. What do you think?

I just love this one. I don't know what it is, but I think it is so cool.

This one just makes me laugh.

One of the last living roses on Noah's rosebush.

Jack

Oh, to be a cat, especially my cat.

The Boys' School Pictures

Alternately titled..."Cutest Boys Ever".

Wow, I was blown away by their school pictures this year. I usually get the cheapest package, mostly to get the class picture for a keepsake for them. I hate ordering pictures before you see them and let's face it, school pictures aren't always the best. I'm kind of regretting it this year though. They turned out super adorable of all 3 boys. They just look too grown up. I know, I know, I say that every year. I'm just finally coming to terms with the fact that my boys aren't so little anymore. But they are definitely turning into handsome young men!

Aiden Pre-K 4

Noah 3rd Grade

Drew 6th Grade

Love these boys. They just melt my heart every day.

Why There's No Place Like Home

Life gets crazy sometimes and you get so caught up in your kids' schedules, your family, housework, school, etc that sometimes you forget to make time for yourself. I need that time, even if it's an hour here or there. Having that time to be "me" helps me to be a more patient mom and wife. Us girls took an overnighter to St Louis this past weekend and I think everyone agreed it was much needed. (although poor Johnna had a migraine all day Sunday....no fun for her!) We ate a lot of yummy food (Chipotle and PF Changs to name a couple), laughed a lot, shopped a lot and loved that extra hour of sleep from Daylight Savings Time. As much as I look forward to these special times with my girlfriends and as much fun as I always have, it always feels good to get back home.

Sometimes you don't know how much you are loved and appreciated until you leave. I got a lot of hugs and kisses from Todd and my boys last night and enjoyed hearing about their busy weekend. Right before bedtime, Aiden cuddled up with me on the couch and told me he missed me. Then he whispered in my ear "My heart belongs to you." Oh my goodness, I thought I'd cry. I know that kid is head over heels in love with me and hearing his sweet voice whisper that in my ear made me melt.

Today the boys didn't have any school so I was looking forward to a relaxing morning with them before I went to work. I woke up to a sweet little face (Aiden's) peering down at me on the bed saying "Hi Princess". Drew then made me coffee in bed and cooked me and the boys pancakes for breakfast! And if that wasn't enough he went out back and swept all of the leaves off of the deck and rake all of the one side of the backyard. He is so incredibly sweet and thoughtful. I have 3 amazing boys and an amazing hubby. While it was good to get a break from them and have some much needed girl time, there's no place like home. My boys, Todd, our comfy bed, our cat, our home. It's good to be home.

After raking leaves the boys had a blast playing in them. They also had "leaf tag" so some of the raking needs to be redone. I also had to vacuum leaf fragments off of the carpet. But it was worth it. It's a gorgeous day, we're home relaxing, and I caught the joy on their faces. I love being home.

Halloween Weekend

Our Halloween weekend was a busy one! Friday night we met Matt, Beth, and kiddos at the mall for some trick or treating. I also took Drew, Noah and Aiden through the Haunted House. That was pretty funny. Let's just say we know who the real chickens in the family are (and it's not me!) After that we all came back to our house to hang out.

Saturday night we headed to a party given by one of the familys at school. They have one every year and it's a blast. They have a haunted trail, hay rides, bonfire, games for the kids, etc. The boys love being able to run around with their school friends and we enjoy hanging out with the parents.

Before the party, we bought this.....................
We've been saving money for years to replace our van. We know we can't afford car payments so we've had to save for the last couple of trade ins. I'm proud to say we havent had a car payment since 1997! It can be done. Anyway, we knew we wanted a KIA and have kept in touch with the dealership waiting for the time to be right financially and the right deal to come along. We were going to start looking hard next week after we flipped our house that we had bought with Todd's brother. That was going to be the boost we needed to finally trade. Saturday though, the dealership called, said they had what we wanted and it was the last day of the month, they were trying to beat Chevy in sales for the month and they could make us a deal. By golly, they did. We got a 2009 Kia Sorento with only 16,000 miles on it for an affordable price. So we did it!

After church Sunday we came home and carved these......... Aiden wanted to paint his white to be a ghost pumpkin--pretty creative I must say! Noahs' is the one above that (those are pumpkin tears!) and Drew's is to the left. He liked that he was big enough to carve on his own this year.


Daddys' the man when it comes to carving. Aiden helped scoop seeds.

Drew drew his face on before he started carving. Drew drew sounds funny doesn't it?

Hey, even mom got in the picture for once (thanks Drew) I spent what felt like days pulling pulp off of seeds to roast them. I was craving them. They were taking too long to roast so Todd turned up the stove to 400 degrees and they got a little burnt darn it! All that work. Oh well, I'm still eating them.....I read about all of the health benefits and I need all the help I can get!

Soon it was time to dress up and do some trick or treating. First stop, Grandma and Grandpa Klausers house. Too bad Darth wouldn't wear his mask. He's too cute to be a bad guy.

Six of my favorite people in the world.....soon to be seven with another nephew set to arrive at the end of March!! Seriously the cutest Ariel ever. Pikachu almost looks like an extra grandkid

My boys.

We hit some of the familys' houses and then came home for supper. We then walked around our neighborhood with the boys. There were tons of kids out that night. Funny thing is, most of them don't even live in our neighborhood. People come and park to go through our neighborhood. That's just funny to me but it sure does make it more fun.

When the boys were tired of trick or treating, we headed home to put warm PJ's on an watch some TV cuddled on the couch. Aiden had a blast sitting by the front door waiting to hand out candy to the kids.