Does she not look like she's 21?
Ashley, the Vampiress and Bret the thing that will give us all nightmares tonight.
Ryan is ready to go! Now, he says!
Happy Halloween!
Preparing for an exciting adventure on the train.
Ryan and I getting our picture taken. (I should have thought of this using my own camera thing last night instead of relying on their polaroids.) 
Of course there's more on Flickr!
Ashley needed a little help with hers.
He got me quite a few times.
Um, a pile of leaves, you ask? Nope, this was a person in a costume getting ready to jump up and scare the people behind us.
At one point, Teri broke down and had to use the porta potty, so Bret went over to wait for her to come out so he could scare her...
But that wouldn't have been good enough, so we pulled our friend from earlier over and had him stand right at the opening of the door. Ha!
And now I'll be going back with Ryan and his little cousins tonight for the not so scary part.
More on Flickr.
Where else can you go shopping before dinner, fill up on tons of samples, and then cap it off with a dinner for 3 for $6.00?
The air hockey table that Santa will probably be bringing our kids for Christmas.
More Halloween candy than we could ever pass out in one night's time.
One cool a*# front lawn Santa Express Christmas display.
My kids are heartbroken that they don't still have this in the store for them to play with.
Who doesn't love this sweet Mr. Potato Head?!
Love it.
Ashley is coming right along with her flute. She started learning how to play it in band at school just last month and while the songs are still simple, she's learned plenty of musical notes and is able to put them together. That's more than I could do. At her age, I attempted to learn to play the clarinet at school. Let's just say that even though I was practicing it in the basement, my mom was happy to see me give it up. I then moved on to the piano, which was more my thing.
Ashley helps Grandma get dinner together.
Ryan and Grandma Jerry check out a new book.
To see all of today's pictures, head on over to Flickr.
And then you have the playroom half of the room which the kids will soon have to share with Bret and his pool table.
Not good. We're suppose to go hiking with her Girl Scout troop on Saturday.
Every child should have the chance to experience that close bond that comes with having loving grandparents. I was fortunate to have that growning up with my Grandma Shirley. In some ways she was like a second mother to my brother and I. Who else would still love you unconditionally when you call her crying because your brother got mad at you and stuck a moving milk shake blender in your hair? Or when you and your best friend decided to walk home from the mall instead of taking the bus, only to call her 2 miles later for a ride home. Throughout our childhood, which was downright scary at times having a severly alcoholic father, she was always there to help take care of us. . . . the mother who sent her kids to school in sweatshirts this morning. I swear it was 65 degrees and feeling kind of warm this morning. It's now 61 degrees and dropping and very cold and windy. Hope they don't have outdoor recess today. Hmm.
Ryan gets his baby swing fix. What is up with that kid?
Anyone for a house call?
I have, however, had other costumes turn out successfully in the past. Like the year Ryan went as a Chicago Cub's baseball. He wore this with a navy blue sweatsuit underneath it.
And the best thing I've ever made of all time. Ashley's Medeival Maiden costume.
I have pictures of the kids in them, but that was back before we joined the digital camera world. Not bad for teaching myself how to sew a few years ago, right? (That would be just one of my famous hobbies that typically lasts about three months before I move on to another one - but that's a whole different post.)
Going out for a much needed night out with a group of friends from the neighborhood tonight. We no longer use the pretense of "Bunco" anymore. (Since it's been over a year since anyone has actually played.) It's now called "Drunko". Some have tried to name it a much more tame sounding "Ladies Night Out" but we all know the truth. We're there to unwind. So if you see anyone climbing through the cornfields home back to our neighborhood from Buffalo Wild Wings tonight, you'll know who it was. Right, Kelly? (I'm just saying.)
I've told him many times that he is too big for the baby swing. Does he listen? No!
So anyways, feast your eyes on this. Adorable babies. In my care. Chloe was so cute when Ceceilia got here this morning. She just stared at her, wanting to know what she was all about. 
Today was my first day watching 10 week old Chloe. It went very well. She's a very cute and happy baby with a great personality. My kids were home from school today for Columbus Day and loved every minute of her being here. We took her for a walk in our newly discovered park since today is suppose to be the last warm day of the year. (They keep saying that, so I'll believe it when I see it - but deep down I'm sure they are right this time around.) Well, I am off to bed. I feel like I've been running on empty for the past 6 days.
Brooke & Ryan on our walk. This is my favorite picture. 
It's not easy getting three kids to look at the camera and smile at the same time.
Two little monkeys jumping on the bed.
The girls are both at Grandma and Grandpa's house. They spent the night there last night so last night was a breeze. However, if I was ever thinking about having more kids - this has cured me. It has been so much fun spending such quality time with our niece and nephew. It's going to be really sad when they go home tonight. They've pretty much become just another couple of members of our little family.
Ryan & Ashley on the big tractor.
Mitchell trying really hard to get the little tractor to move.
Brooke strikes a pose on the hay bale maze.
We finally talked Ryan into going on the Cider Barrel Train.
