Happy Halloween!

Have a great Halloween! We are taking Brock and Ava trick or treating and then we are going to a Halloween Parade. It should be a fun day!

Here is a picture of Ava and a pumpking that she painted yesterday at school. Ava's teacher, Mrs. Andrews, put it on her class blog.

October snowstorm!!

We are in the middle of an October snow storm!! Brock and Ava got dismissed from school at noon today because of the snow. We are suppose to get 8 inches of snow before the storm is over! I took some pictures outside tonight, they aren't so great because it's dark but you can get the idea, it's crazy I can't believe it's snowing in October!! Thankfully, by Halloween it's suppose to be 55 degrees!

Update: I took more pics this morning, I think we got about 3-4 inches of snow, a lot of schools around us are delayed/closed today, thankfully Brock and Ava have school today!

Giveaway winner and a very busy weekend!!

The winner of my first ever blog giveaway is.....Catholic Runner! Congrats!! I will mail your Vera Bradley purse and wallet out on Tuesday!! I had so much fun doing this giveaway and I am going to do another one next month for Thanksgiving so stay tuned!!!

Here are Brock and Ava right before picking the winner

Our weekend started a day early because Brock and Ava didn't have school on Friday. We did a little shopping. Ava loves riding in the cart, the only problem is I can't fit too much stuff in it. We went to Target and I only spent $20...what was wrong with me???? I usually spend about $100!!

After we did a little shopping we went to lunch and Ava made her own pizza!

After lunch we went to see High School Musical 3, doesn't Brock look thrilled?

Saturday was another busy day. Tailgating is not big at all at the College where I work because we don't have a football team. Anyway, my intern this semester, Michaela, wanted to plan a tailgate before our school's biggest soccer game of the year! She did such a great job and everyone had such a great time, we are going to do another one next semester before a Lacrosse game. My camera died (it was awful!!) and I only got one picture. Michaela and her sorority sisters made a whole bunch of cute signs for the tailgate, here is one of the signs they made.

Today one of my sorority's sponsored a walk for their philanthopy the National Kidney Foundation. They raised $13,000 at the Walk!! I am so happy for them, they worked so hard to make it a success!

Here's Ava making a pumpkin at the Kidney Walk

My student worker Diana (in the glasses) with her twin sister Christina. Diana and Christina did so much work for the Kidney Walk. Ava loves hanging out with Diana when she comes to my office. Brock with his balloon hat at the Kidney Walk

After the Kidney Walk we went to the College where my friend Allison works and went Trick or Treating in the Residence Halls. It was a lot of fun and it got us in the mood for Halloween. Here are Ava and our neighbor Anika, they are both dressed up like Gabriella from High School Musical.

Brock and Ava with our neighbors at Trick or Treating!

Tonight we met Grandma Jan at Pizza Hut for dinner. We had a great time and ate way to much pizza. Graig comes home on Thursday (Thank goodness!!)

My very first blog giveaway!

In honor of breast cancer awareness month I am going to giveaway a Vera Bradley Lola bag and zip around wallet in Pinwheel Pink! I bought both of these over the summer and I have never really got around to using them. Both are super cute! Vera Bradley donates 10% of all sales of Pinwheel Pink items to breast cancer research.

This is from the Vera Bradley website...

A new spin on pink! Prep casual meets Palm Beach style with feminine flowers and feathery leaves accented in kelly and lime green. Pink, the traditional color of breast cancer awareness, also denotes femininity and compassion. In a design that whirls with motion and energy, they symbolize the passion behind our mission.

Just leave me a comment and I will let Brock and Ava draw a winner on Sunday, October 26. If you link to this post on your blog you will get 2 chances to win. Good luck!!

Family Game Night

Last night Brock, Ava and I had a family game night! I am trying to do fun things with the kids while Graig is traveling so we don't miss him so much. I thought if I did something fun with them every night it would make the nights go by quicker for the kids. We talk to him at least a couple of times a day but it's not the same as him being home.

Anyway, tonight was our first game night. For dinner we had grilled cheese and tomato soup, I have never made that together before but the kids loved it and they want me to make it every week!

Ava made us some carmel apples for family game night

Brock and Ava ready for game night!

After game night, Ava worked on her gymnastics, Brock was the photographer!

Ava working on her back handspring!

Sunday project

My friend Sabrina told me how easy Shutterfly was to use. I never really knew you could do such cool things. Anyway, this weekend when I was sick as a dog laying on the couch, I played around with Shutterfly. I made a picture collage for Brock and Ava's bedrooms (I ordered an extra one of each for Grandma Jan, she will love these!) and I also started working on our Christmas card. Here are the links

Ava's collage

Brock's collage

Our Christmas Card ( The big space is going to be our family picture and the two smaller spaces will be a picture of Brock and Ava) Sorry this is so small, but you can get the idea.



It was a lot of fun working on these projects! There are so many things that you can do on that website!

Fall Ball

Yesterday was Brock's last day of Fall baseball! Thank goodness because it is so cold here! We had to turn on our heater last night! Graig wanted to wait until November 1 but there is no way that we could wait until then, we might get a little snow on Tuesday night!

This weekend we didn't really do much because I have been sick with a nasty cold since Friday and Graig was getting ready for the last two weeks of his fall travel schedule. He won't be home until October 30! Thank goodness when he gets home he won't have to travel again until the spring.

My friend Abby sent me these pictures of Brock from his last game. She takes great pictures. Thanks for the pics Abby!

Getting ready to bat!

Running to first base!

Silly Brock!

Party at Grandma Jans!

Tonight Brock, Ava and I went to Grandma Jan's for dinner! Graig is traveling so he wasn't able to come with us but Brock and Ava had a great time visiting with their Grandma Jan and their Uncles Gary and Garth.

Brock put on Grandma Jan's shoes to go out to the barn, we were all laughing because her shoes almost fit him! Two things about this picture are funny to me...1)Lately, Brock has been "too cool" to take pictures, he always makes these silly faces when I try to take a good picture of him, when I say it's for the blog he just rolls his eyes and 2)He looks so big in this picture, Janice and I looked at this picture and we couldn't believe how big he looks!

I tried to get a good picture with Graig's family, I feel like we have so many pictures with "my side" of the family because anytime my family gets together we all have our cameras and we take pictures of anything and everything. Garth kept picking and poking Brock whenever I went to take a picture, this happened (no joke) about 5 times. Look how tired my Mother in Law looks...she just wanted to have a nice picture.

Finally, after about 5 times I got a good one!

So cute!!

Ava's teacher, Mrs. Andrews, has a blog and she put up video of Ava and two of her friends reading about Christopher Columbus. It is so sweet! Here is the link to her post.

http://mrsandrewsclass.blogspot.com/2008/10/christopher-columbus_14.html

A Fall Blog Party!!

A soft place to land is hosting a fall blog party! Fall is my favorite time of year and I love decorating our home to celebrate fall!

Here's our front door, come on in! Here's my fall tree all decked out!

Here's our dining room table centerpiece

I love this pumpkin on top of our entertainment center

I made this fall topiary.
Happy Fall! I hope you enjoyed the tour!

Weekend projects!

This weekend was perfect, the weather was almost 70 degrees everyday, which is wonderful for upstate NY in October!

Friday night my friend Allison came over for a craft night. I made this cute pennant that I have seen a lot on etsy. They are going for like $30 on etsy so I decided that I could make my own. I think it turned out pretty cute! You can't really tell in this picture but the pennant says "Happy Fall"

I also made two more picture's for Ava's room. I love, love, love the green one with the bird. I think these will look so cute hanging in her room! Saturday we spent the day at Brock and Ava's soccer games in the morning and Brock's baseball game in the afternoon. In the evening we went to our friends (Jim and Donna's)for dinner. They have kids that are similar in age to Brock and Ava so they all had a good time playing together. We had a great time laughing and talking with them. I wish I brought my camera, they live at the top of a mountain and have the most amazing views at their house!

Today, I took Ava to Grandma Jan's because she is going to spend the night with her tonight. Brock and Ava don't have school tomorrow because it's Columbus Day. Graig and I are going to work because the College is in session. Brock is going to spend the day at the golf course with his friend Bennett. Brock loves golfing and the golf course is closing in two days for the winter!! So tomorrow will be one of his last days to play until next spring.

Tonight while I was watching TV I made these fall cards to send to my family in Illinois. I think they turned out pretty cute.

Uncle Garth

Graig's younger brother Garth is visiting for two weeks! The kids are so excited to hang out with him because he lives in Colorado and doesn't get to come home very often. He and his wife, Jill, live and work on a ranch! Tonight Garth and my father-in-law Larry came over for dinner, we had spaghetti and garlic bread. While I was cooking dinner the kids and Garth were in the backyard playing baseball. Garth loves playing with Brock and Ava so they had a great time playing together.

Ava showed Garth how she could jump rope on our deck. Our sweet dog CottonGarth, their Dad, Graig, and Ava
Garth, Larry, and Graig