A sunny afternoon at the pumpkin patch

I've been working a lot at Halloween and fall related events with lots of other people's kids so I was happy to get to spend some time at our local pumpkin patch with my own family! We drove 90 seconds to this pumpkin patch and started out with a super exciting (okay, not really ;) hay ride.


















The pumpkin patch in all it's glorious splendor


















This is what makes me happier than almost anything in the world--the kids getting along and having fun together :)














Wheelbarrow madness!


















Yup, this wheelbarrow is a better size :)














Aww, aren't they beautiful? I love when I manage to capture the Kodak Moments!


















The Tanis family likes the fast pumpkin decorating method--instead of the mess of gutting the pumpkins and carving we just stick these funny eyes, arms, etc in our pumpkins and call it good :)

Mr. Huong

Mr. Huong, our neighbor across the street, is such a great guy! After school when the weather is good you can usually find a gang of us playing out front. The other day the kids started doing cartwheels and somersaults in Mr. Huong's lawn, then he came out to give them some pointers. What a trip!














The guy is 60-something and has some mad skills! :) I'm pretty sure he had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth when he did this cartwheel.














I asked him to do one more cartwheel so I could take a picture with my phone to send to Andy. He kicked it up a notch this time and landed in this back bend! Seriously, he's something special. :)

Fred is loved

On the first evening with Fred Asia fell asleep on the floor right by his cage while writing a letter to him telling him how much she loves him. Aww, I'm so glad she has a pet :)














Lovin' Fred Skippy


















Andy and Asia think that Fred enjoys watching TV... The truth is they enjoy cuddling with him while they are watching TV and he doesn't care about the TV part, he just enjoys the cuddling.

The pet... story continued

Well, with the official document signed I decided it was okay for the new pet to be purchased... Please welcome Fred Skippy Tanis, our new guinea pig :)














At PetSmart picking which guinea pig would be our next family member.














Our new friend, Eric, who helped us figure out what we needed to get Fred all comfy and happy in his new home.














Meet cute (for a rodent, that is) red haired Fred Skippy Tanis!

Scratch Patch

Today was a teacher inservice day so the kids didn't have school. My friend Tara, me and the kids all went to Scratch Patch which I've been wanting to check out ever since there was an article about them in ParentMap (see # 21).

















We all had a great time hanging out with the beautiful smooth rocks all over the floor. You have to experience this place to get it, it was really cool.














So many pretty shiny rocks from all over the world!













A happy place :)













The gang of the day...

Official Document

You know how I don't really love pets? Even though I think pets are wonderful for kids to have in their lives, I personally decided to stop at two kids for a reason--I don't want a third and in my opinion most pets would be like having another kid. Since I'm the one who is around home the most and since I'm the mom we all know who would end up having to do most of the pet care. Right?

Well, Andy and the kids have come up with a plan to get a pet (stay tuned on what kind of pet...) so Asia printed out an official document which we all signed--it basically says Mommy/Cynthia doesn't have to do anything to care for the pet. Andy, Asia and Ezra will do everything.

Like I said, stay tuned... ;)

September birthday girls

We had a little belated birthday get together for Asia and cousin Eva's birthdays. Along with Eva's cousins on the other side of the family we went to a fun kid's museum. Here's Asia and "cousin" Canaan making some music.














Then off we went to Red Robin where the dads all squashed into one side of the booth with all the kids...

Andy and Asia heart Yggam

I love that we have neighbor friends with dogs b/c that means my family gets to enjoy the benefits of having a pet around with the added benefit of being able to send the pet home at night :)

We've dog-sat for our friend Kelly's dog, Yggam, a few times and Andy and the kids (especially Asia) absolutely adore him. I'm just not really a pet person (even though of course I think Yggam is absolutely adorable!! :)...

Vancouver

Pardon the goofy picture... Ezra is trying to show that he lost more teeth! In fact, on the same day he lost two teeth in two countries which is kinda cool, don't ya think? He lost one in the US on our way up to Vancouver and then another one a few hours later in Canada.

All four bottom front teeth are gone now and all I can think about is how the TWO adult teeth are pretty much totally filling the gap left by FOUR baby teeth. You know what that means, right? Lots of money spent at the dentist and orthodontist. Sigh.














The standard photo on Opa and Oma's balcony. We never get tired of the view! And the company isn't bad either ;)













We had a mini family reunion because Uncle Hendrick, the only America-residing sibling, was visiting all his siblings in British Columbia. Here are the four siblings who were able to be at the dinner. Aunt Karen and three of her "little" brothers.














I have a photo of Ezra and Aunt (his Great Aunt) Karen taken in this very same room at this same restaurant when Ezra was only about three months old. Aunt Karen is the oldest Boer and at that time Ezra was the youngest (two or three more Boers have been born since).

Alice's Baptism

What a special day! Alice was baptized at our church by Pastor Eric.














Congratulations, sweet little girl!

And another GNO...

This was a Girls Night Out for a good cause--a fundraiser for The Boys and Girls Club...













...although I'll admit none of us actually technically contributed to the fundraising efforts b/c the guy in the middle had given me five tickets to the event a few days earlier at a luncheon we both attended for our respective jobs. Well, we did our part by making it a fun time for all those around us. Does that count?














We won all the crazy props we were wearing in the first picture by playing random carnival games. Some of us didn't play the games very well (I didn't get anything done on the ring toss here...)...














...while some of us did. Here's Kelly doing a little victory dance when her inflatable remote truck beat Michele's :)

The Human Pretzel

Open House at School

The kids always like to point out their artwork displayed in the hallway... Here's Ezra's version of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.


















Asia's car is way up high...

Happy 9th Birthday!

Asia had a low-key 9th birthday because we are going to have a joint party for her and Ezra in November...














Her birthday was on Saturday so on Friday I brought treats to her class.














Her birthday day, September 13th, began with a soccer game. It was such a nice sunny morning.














Then she chose to have lunch at the Cheesecake Factory...














...and we had cheesecake that evening as her birthday cake. I found random 7 and 2 candles (as well as 9 regular candles) in our kitchen drawers and figured I'd use those--you know, being green and all... Why buy new candles when instead you can reuse AND make it a math lesson?! :)

NINE years old. I can hardly believe it! The last single digit...

GNO in Kent (woo hoo!)

Us neighborhood ladies went out for a fun evening in our very own little town. We started out at a new martini bar...












...then off to our favorite local dive, Pat's.
















We did some pull tabs in honor of our friends the Citranos who introduced us to the excitement of this money-waster (ahh, well ;).















There's Pat hanging out with us hot mamas :)

Good times with Daddy...

Celebration breakfast...

The moms say "cheers" to the kids being back at school! :)