Silence

As the boys took their name tags off from ECFE class this morning (we use masking tape to make the name tags), Connell thought it was funny to put it over his mouth, so Liam had to follow suit.

Cute Kids

Here are some of the better photos that I took of the kids at the Burger King Party...

Amy

Riley

Brooke

Liam

Nathan

Connell

Nicholas

Carmen

Alex

Halloween Party with the Playgroup

Here the boys are off to the Burger King Halloween party that I set up with the playgroup. 10 families with 19 kids (and even a guest child) showed. We pretty much took over the entire playland. The boys had ketchup, mayo, shake and frosting from Brooke's birthday cupcakes all over their costumes, but I managed to wash everything for tomorrow's preschool shindig.

Purple Hair

I was attempting to crochet using a purplish funky yarn and it wasn't turning out right, so I quit. Liam was throwing the specimen around and then I thought to put it on his head -- instant purple wig! Unfortunately his Halloween costume doesn't need a purple wig! Combined with all his scars (scooter accident, Connell scratching him and Riley opening a locker into his nose), he really does look quite scary!

Weekend Update

We had a low-key weekend. We spent some time outside on Saturday before it got bitter cold and windy on Sunday. The change in weather was quite a shock as we have been so used to spending hours outside every day. It was a "wake up call" that winter is coming and we are going to have to start getting more creative with indoor activities.

Despite Connell's hate of swimming lessons the last few weeks, he actually was looking forward to it this past Saturday. Ray said that he seemed to do a little better than he had been. We still aren't sure if we will continue lessons past November, but at least we were happy to see a little improvement.

Ladies' Night Out

We had Ladies' Night Out at the Ole Piper last night and did our annual Turkey awards. Jennifer won Turkey Wife of the Year and Megan won Best Creative Turkey Story. We had a lot of fun and laughed a lot. We hadn't all been together since last November because family and activity schedules haven't allowed for good attendance. Generally there are 7-9 of us present.

As you can see, our ages span 12 years (incidentally I am smack in the middle of the 11!) and yet we all met in 2005 through ECFE or the Stretch and Stroll program as fairly new moms. Some of us are working outside the home and some of us aren't. We have get-togethers with our children for the holidays and meet at parks periodically all summer long. Baby #22 is due next month. Somehow I stepped up and took charge of the group back in 2006 or so, but am always willing to let others step up and plan activities or outings.

I have listed everyone by graduation year which is the only way I can keep track of how old everyone is and from what "era" we each come from (there are 6 of us who were 80's girls and then the other 5 who were 90's girls). For those of you who are offended by this apparent revelation of your age, notice that I have not identified you by last names or other identifying factors :-)



top row -- Amber ('94), Jennifer ('87), Clare ('90), Penny ('97), Monique ('95)
bottom row -- Jessica ('93), Bridget ('97), Deann ('85), Vicki ('88), Megan ('88) & Katie ('90)

Side note...I crocheted both the sweater that I am wearing as well as the one that Jennifer is wearing. I joked last night that within a few weeks, we will all have crocheted sweaters made by me to wear to the ladies' nights.

Our Little Photographer

Here are the first two photos that Connell has ever taken. I asked him to take a photo of me in one of my latest crochet creations as I am ready to go out for Ladies' Night Out with the group of 11 ladies. Since Ray is in Baltimore and Marta is coming to babysit, I thought that Connell might manage taking a digital photo. He actually got me in the photo which is impressive. Then he was so excited that he insisted on taking a photo of the roller coaster that he drew on the MagnaDoodle.