Thanksgiving '10

Emme was amazing ... again. Starting the night before and going all day Thursday ... dinner was amazing! We had some friends over with their daughter and new son (who was sporting a VERY cool formal onezie with a tie on it (that we gave him). The kids decorated little ginger bread houses, while the guys watched football and the women cooked. Well, I kind of staged one photo so it looked like the men did some work. :)

Emme and Nono arrive '10

Emme and Nono came for Thanksgiving! We kept them very busy but not as busy as we normally do. This trip they arrived in the PM and had the entire next day to unpack and relax. The fun started Wednesday!!

Acacia's Big Prize '10

The kids school has many fund raisers and one is that they ask the kids to sell coupon book for $20. I do not support the process of having my kids try to sell stuff and would rather make a monetary contribution to the school if necessary but Acacia really wanted to do this. So, off she went. She sold the first 5 she was given, and then the 5 that were given to Chris and went back to school asking for more. In the end she sold the most and ended up winning this lovely giant gorilla. The lady brought it by the house for her with balloons on it as if she had just won the publishers clearing house contest! She is very happy with her new roommate!

Acacia's Science Fair '10

Acacia decided to try her hand in a science fair this year. She used the same experiment she created for her science class last year but it's a good one. She demonstrates how insulation helps to keep your home warm. She had a milk crate with Styrofoam paneling around the outside of it and a light bulb on the inside. She used a thermometer to monitor the temperature in the box while the light was on with and without the insulation. She had a very nice poster display and answered all the judges questions clearly and precisely. She was awarded a metal for her efforts!!

Chris spent the time entertaining himself by building things with cones ....

Randy's B-day '10

Another birthday for Randy. Not much pomp or circumstance ... Acacia wanted to get her Easy Bake Oven out and create a master piece (which she did). She even cut into 4 quarters and we all got a piece (with ice cream). Birthdays don't get any better then this!!

Cub Scout Awards '10

This is Chris' first year as a Cub Scout. So far, so good! He has been working hard and earning patches and belt loops. This was his first Pack meeting and he got his first awards. They had the meeting at our local ice rink and everyone got to skate. He sold pop corn this year and sold $600+ which got him a marshmellows cross bow (and two patches). The cross bow has proven to be a pretty cool toy as long as the marshmellow fires ... otherwise it becomes a sticky mess.

More Swim Meets '10

This was a mandatory meet and parents have to volunteer to run the meet. I was a back up timer. This was actually not a bad gig. It sure help make the time go by faster! I also found out there there are at the very least 3 times running on each swimmer at all times. Seems a bit crazy to me but I guess it makes it official ... really official ... really, really, really official.

Trick or Treat Steelers style '10

Trick or Treating this year we did a little different. We dragged the fire pit around front and brought the TV to the garage so we could watch the Steelers football game while handing out candy and staying warm and having s'mores! It was awesome!!


I took photos of some of the more cool costumes and my favorite was this kid ... still have no idea who he is. I just think he looks awesome. And I do love his friend with the leaf over his face .....


Chris was red power ranger (not to be confused with blue power ranger from years past). Acacia was the little Indian girl again. She was originally going to wear a t-shirt that said "Give me candy" with a picture of Snoopy digging into a candy bag but decided against this. We spent about 45 minutes in the costume store looking at costumes but she found nothing she liked.



We had a ton of kids (and parents) and enjoyed sharing beverages and candy throughout the night. The kids had a great time and got more candy then they will ever need in a life time ... but will find no problems consuming it all!

ADULT Costume Party '10

Sooooo ... we finally got to attend (together) the legendary Nikolia costume party. We planned on going last year but the kids got sick ... so I stayed home. Randy went as Scooby Doo but found himself feeling a bit out of place amongst the other more ... riskay costumes. So, knowing how high the bar was set we set out to "fit in" better this time around. Months before the party we did research (spoke to other neighbors) and to be totally honest I was a bit nervous about the entire night. We were told of all kinds of shenanigans. Once we figured out what we were going to go as I had to start tanning given the amount of flesh that was exposed here in WI the end of October. I must admit it was a little weird going to work the week before looking like I had just come from a week in Florida. Finally the day arrived. We got dressed and the baby sitter arrived. Sadly, she had no idea who either one of us were and when we asked if she ever heard of Star Wars she said "No, but I have heard of Star Trek." OK then ... out the door and across the street we go.












These are the family friendly photos. The rest I did not feel I should post on my blog. If you really want to see them all, shoot me an email and I'll forward a slide show of all the photos.