Hats

Sadly, Ben decided he was way too cool to partake in a cow hat!

Tree time

The boys have been looking forward to putting up the tree for weeks.  Its finally up and it looks great!

Cousins

Beds

Since the kids got their new beds they've just been on a mattress, not a box spring.  We've had them sitting in the basement.  The thought of raising 3 clumsy boys even higher off the ground just wasn't a happy thought.  But, Ben started asking for the box spring and we thought it would be nice to have them cleared out of the basement so we put them on their beds today.

I had no idea something as little as a box spring would make them so happy.  They love their new beds.  They were very excited to climb up in them tonight for bed.

We had planned to get Ellie a real bed for her birthday. Once she saw the boys beds, we knew she wasn't going to last until after Christmas. The fact that we found an amazing deal of $150 for the mattress, box spring and all the bedding sealed the deal for an early b-day present. She picked out her bedding and I think she made the right choice.  We have 4 very happy kids right now.

Recital

Corrie has been taking another tap class through the rec. They had their recital last night.  We couldn't be more proud.  Zach and Ellie danced in the isles along with the dancers.  The boys actually enjoyed watching all the groups and were excited to point out the 2 boys we saw out of about 15 groups!  Great job C!

Saddest kid in the world

If you can't see the writing on the white paper it says: The dog I had to give away. My golden retriever Bailey.  Ben has been asking for a dog on and off for at least a year now.  We're back to the begging and hinting and sad faces and even some tears.  Its too bad he has the meanest parents in the world!

SNOW!

The second it started snowing they were ready to go outside and build a snowman.  Fortunately, we got several more inches last night so we might be able to build something today.

Fire station

Our life group took a bunch of goodies to the fire station last night.  They were nice enough to let us in and give us a tour of the station.

They got to climb in the fire truck, Sam tried on a helmet and we even got a demonstration from one of the guys going down the pole.

One of the guys that showed us around must do that a lot. He was great with the kids and made it a really nice time.

Wordless Wednesday: Stickers

Wordless Wednesday: Daddy

Camping

The kids have switched from cub scouts to Royal Rangers. Rangers is pretty much the same as cub scouts, but they include God in their meetings.  They also have a girl version so Ellie is able to go to her own activity each week.  The Rangers had their first camp out of the year a couple weekends ago. They had a blast despite freezing in a tent all night.

Jon and the boys did a lot of hiking, playing, eating and some devotionals.  They didn't get home until late and I think they were happy to be in their own beds.  They were asleep in minutes.

They have another camping trip coming up in February. Luckily, cabins will be involved rather than tents.  The boys are already talking about going.

Trick or treat x 2

The kids have been counting down the days until Halloween. It might have been because they got to go out twice this year.  Since Olmsted was hosting the last home football game of the season on Halloween, they moved trick or treating to Saturday.  Since it was the holiday and this was the first year Corrie has been able to pass out candy, we headed to North Olmsted for a bit Friday night.  The kids ended up with more candy than I expected and had a great time running around in a pretty empty group of condos.

Saturday was extra exciting.  Not only did it snow for the first time this season, it was our first Halloween in a new neighborhood and friends got to go out with us.  I was a little worried that with all the kids most people would be out getting candy, not passing it out.  The neighbors assured me that we would be just fine.  Almost every house was passing out candy.  People had fires going in the driveways and the adults had their treats to keep them warm all night!  They got a ridiculous amount of candy and ate at least a third of it that night while warming up.  Luckily Sams school is donating candy to Berea Childrens Home so we were able to get rid of a full grocery bag today.  Our first "major" holiday in the new house was a huge success!