Halloween fun

We have had a very busy, but fun week.  The kids dressed up three or four times this week between the Girl Scouts party, Ryan's school party, the church party, and trick or treating.  Samantha and Ryan both wanted to be things we already had costumes for so I was thrilled I didn't have to buy or make anything this year.  The kids got a ton of candy and they have been sorting it into groups then trying to sell it to each other and Aaron and me.  Samantha tried to charge me 25 cents for a mini candy bar today!  

Here's our little dinosaur.  I think no matter what you dress babies in, they always look so cute.

Ryan was the black spiderman.  He has had this costume for a year now and it has already been through the ringer.  I patched a huge hole in the knee and we found another big hole in it last night.  Ryan, being our sweet tooth, ran as fast as he could from house to house to get as much candy as he could.

And here is beautiful Snow White.  Samantha had a cold and wasn't quite as enthusiastic as Ryan about trick or treating this year.  In fact, toward the end, she kept sitting in people's yards "taking a rest"  while we walked back to the house.   

Right when we got home, they dumped out the candy and began the trading process.

Here are the kids before Samantha's Girl Scout party.  Aaron wasn't there because he was at the Tennessee Titans football game. (thank you Heather and Ryan!!)  He had the best time.  Unfortunately, he didn't get home until 4am, then got up for work at 6am.  I was happy that he was able to go; he totally deserved it!    

Cades Cove

We recently took a day trip to Cades Cove.  It is in the smoky mountain national park where you drive along a rode to see old log homes, look at the scenery, and watch for wildlife.  We saw a fox and a ton of deer this time.  In the past we have also seen a black bear.  Half way through the drive we stop and picnic, play ball, then head back on the rode.  We have a great time being together as a family and always come home completely exhausted from the day.

The kids made a pile of leaves to play in

Of course it turned into a leaf fight.  Carter just loved getting leaves thrown at him; he thought it was so funny!

Samantha is attacking the photographer!

Snack time

Carter found an apple in the cooler and attempted to chow down.

In this picture, Ryan really wanted to show Carter's belly and, of course, Samantha was going to see to it that his belly was covered.

Here are Aaron and the kids playing tackle football.  Aaron is "tackling" Ryan and Samantha is trying to save him

This deer was right by the car and the kids loved seeing it so close

Carter video

I guess you could say this post is mostly for the grandma's to enjoy, but you can't help but to smile while you watch and listen!  Samantha and Ryan are the best at getting 

Carter to laugh and most people enjoy hearing babies laugh so, if you do, this is for you.  

The destructive stage!

Carter is at the stage where he crawls around and makes messes wherever he goes. I caught him today pulling down all the books and had to capture it. There are always book or movie piles I am cleaning up throughout the day. :)

He's been caught red handed!

He realizes he's been caught

Then he has to come see mom and convince her that he's too cute to get into trouble!

Fall sports

We are just beginning the fall sports in our family.  Carter's new sport is crawling everywhere and eating whatever he picks up.  Samantha is doing cheerleading for the YMCA flag football teams.  And Ryan is in his first year of soccer.  Our weeks have become a lot busier with practices and then games on saturdays.  Not to mention the fact that Aaron and I are coaching Ryan's soccer team.  And by the way, the game that I coached didn't go as bad as I expected.  The boys play three on three and at one point I only had two players on the field because one left to go to the bathroom and two more were crying because they didn't want to play.  So there I was, begging the crying boys to come out and play with the team.  I finally convinced one of them to play and the game turned out pretty good.   The last game we had, Aaron coached (well I coached one quarter because he was on call and had to be away for a little bit) and I really prefer to sit on the sidelines watching the game and cheering for the boys.

Oh Carter is so darn cute!

Going to watch Samantha cheer is not exactly action packed, but it's fun to see all those cute girls getting into the cheers they've learned.

I love this picture of Ryan because he is smiling while running and it just shows how much he loves being out there playing soccer.

This picture captured the pulling on the shirt move.  We see a lot of that in the under six crew!

Lemonade stand and TAGGED

Samantha and Ryan had been dying to have a lemonade stand for so long so I finally caved. We didn't have lemonade so we made the generic peach crystal lite (you must try if you haven't already). Well, believe it or not, they made just over ten dollars. I was pretty impressed. We got a lot of people who were out looking at garage sales and they stopped by (some paying as much as $1 per glass). The kids were excited and are saving up their money to buy another webkinz.

Wish me luck:

Aaron and I got a phone call saying that Ryan's AYSO soccer team couldn't play because they didn't have a coach. They had asked all the other parents and we were their last hope. So, of course, we are now coaching his team. As many of you know, Aaron played soccer his entire life and I have not played a game in my entire life. So he is the main coach. So guess who will be gone for the first game....yes, Aaron. So guess who has to coach AND ref the game....ME! I'm sure it won't be too bad because the kids are young, but I am a little nervous because I have no idea what I'm doing. So, as I said before, wish me luck!

TAGGED

I normally don't respond to tags, but this one seemed short and sweet

4 things I like about my husband

-there are so many!! I like how well rounded he is (he's really good at everything)

-He is very helpful and involved with the kids

-He makes me laugh

-He is very giving and serving toward others

4 movies I would watch more than once

-Anne of Green Gables

-Napoleon Dynamite

-Fried green tomatoes

-What about Bob

4 TV shows I watch (If I get a chance)

-The office

-Lost

-House hunters

-most TLC shows

4 places I've been

-Outer banks, NC

-New York City

-Hawaii

-Europe

4 places I'd like to go

-New York City with Aaron

-Europe with Aaron

-Italy

-Disney world

4 things I would like to eat

-rice crispy treats

-Ice cream

-cereal

-chocolate

(ok I have a sweet tooth)

4 things I am looking forward to in the coming year

-Aaron finishing residency

-going to Disney world

-Aaron finishing residency

-Aaron finishing residency

4 people I tag

-kelly

-des

-abby

-karina

Dollywood and School

Samantha started school on the eleventh and she is really enjoying first grade. Her good friend that lives by us ended up in her class and she was very excited!

We went to Dollywood before school started and had a great time! If you ever make it to Tennessee you should take a trip to Dollywood (Dolly Parton's amusement park). Samantha is getting tall enough to go on some adult rides and she even went on the Tennessee tornado twice. It's a roller coaster that goes upside down three times. I was a nervous wreck with her on it! Carter did amazingly well. He just sat in the stroller and people watched.

There is a new ride and you just ride on a boat, squirt people and people (who are not on the ride) squirt you. I let Aaron take the kids on that ride and he got soaked! It was pretty funny.

Aaron and the kids right after the ride.

I wanted to put this picture of Carter in because I think his hair is so funny! It's getting longer, but it will not lay down! It is constantly sticking straight up.