HallOCWeen

Dave and Noah did a great job decorating the Halloween trailer this year. Each year more and more kids get old enough to ride in the back, still a few young ones so a few parents rode with.

The kids made it through our neighborhood, down Oregon and through the Lennar development behind us.

Hannah was a police lady and Hailey was a 50's girl

2015 Pumpkins

 

Tonight was pumpkin carving night!  The girls each get to pick their own design for their pumpkin. This year they were surprisingly helpful scooping the 'guts' out.
Hannah's pumpkin was the LOVE, Hailey's the owl and mine was the OCW.

OCW Party Bus Vol 2

Another fun night in the books. As usual the party started at the Goman's and ended at Taco Bell.

This year we visited the bars in North East.  Throughout the night we were losing groups left and right.  We kept Uber pretty busy that night!

It made it hard to keep track of everyone because most of the time nobody announced that they were leaving, they just took off so we spent a fair amount of time calling and texting people to assure we weren't leaving anyone behind.

Planning for next year has already started!

We've REALLY BEEN Boo'd

Whoa.  Just Whoa.
Tonight when we got home we found these treasures on our front step alerting us to the fact that we had been Boo'd.  There was SO much stuff in this bag and basket.  SO MUCH!
Full size candy bars, boxes of mac n cheese, decorations for the house, tattoo kit, tons of candy and other treats, gloves, headbands.  These girls were so spoiled!
We have no idea who did this.  I sent a text message to all of the ladies and none of them would fess up.  Whoever it was sure knew how to make these girls feel special.  They were so thrilled with their loot and kept making comments about how lucky they are and how nice our neighbors are.
I have to admit, this left me a little speechless.  I love this place.

Love for Leah

Last night we were at Carl and Leah's.  The girls and Leah were coloring. This morning when I woke Hailey up I saw that she was sleeping with the picture that Leah colored for her.  So sweet!

Not bad considering...

I brought some clothes for the girls so that we could take some fall pictures.  Hannah usually responds really well to these types of requests.  Hailey, not so much.  Don't get me wrong, this girl will pose and smile like a rockstar when she's the one in control.  If I am the one asking, she usually isn't very interested and in some cases will actually put up such a stink that I end up giving up.
Today was no different.  After we argued about what she was going to wear we made our way outside to argue more about where she was willing to stand and how she was willing to pose.

We got started and with the goal to get ONE good picture.  I just needed one.
I started snapping away and within 10 minutes or so, with oooohs and aaaaahs coming from her auntie-peanut-gallery, she finally warmed up.  Soon she was directing me.
"Mom, take one like this.  Take a picture of us here.  Hannah you sit like this and I will do this and mom, you stand over there."

I think that worked out in my favor because these pictures were exactly what I needed!

           

We also were able to spread the GREAT news today that there will be a baby joining our extended family.  Kristin and Bobby are expecting!!  Due March 2016

That's a Wrap

Another season in the books.
Another great summer with great food, weather and company.
Next year, by the time we are back we will have another brother in law/uncle and a new baby!

Today we were up early to dig in and make some progress on the fall clean up that is desperately needed.  Hundreds of mattresses, old furniture, cardboard to burn and loads of other things will keep us busy all weekend.

Yes, she is mine

This gives me heartburn. 

We clean this room all the time and it never stays that way.  I am sure it's a symptom of a little girl who has WAY too much stuff and I have probably never done a great job at holding her accountable to keeping it clean.   

I also know it's payback.  I know that I am getting what I deserve.

I was the messiest kid ever well probably not the messiest ever but it was bad.
I vividly remember having a room so messy that you couldn't even see the floor- not one inch of it.
I think it's harder for me now as an adult of a messy kid.  On one hand I can tell that it probably won't be this way forever.  This won't mean that she will grow up to be a messy adult.  Sometimes I use that as my excuse to leave it how it is.  I am sure that it bothers me more than it bothers her and I try to let it be most of the time.  The only thing that sucks about that is that when I do want it clean for a sleepover or other reason, there is that much more to do.
I know she can clean it, she has before so at least we got that going for us.

Junie B

Kim is the master when it comes to Birthday Presents Events!

Last year each girl was gifted with a special day.  Kim would come to pick them up, take them to lunch then out for an activity.  This year she purchased tickets to the Junie B Jones play for both of them and we made a day out of it.

At the end of the play, which the girls LOVED, we got to meet the actors.

Think We Found It!

We are quickly approaching January and the time will soon come when we NEED to have Hailey's dress for Kim's wedding.  Hannah is wearing a Junior Bridesmaid dress so her dress is taken care of.  Kim just wants Hailey to wear something she's comfortable in.  We have looked on Etsy, at different stores, online browsing Amazon, etc and finally ran across this dress at Children's Place.

I ordered it online, it arrived today and by the look of it, Hailey approves :-)

Drinks will flow, Ladies will laugh

Today we started at the Northern Hollow Winery.

We saw the signs for this place earlier this summer when we were making our way to the cabin.

It just opened this year and it was such a cute place to check out.

It is family run.  A lady and her husband use the parents land and barn to run the business.  The mom makes pottery so the inside is full of one of a kind bowls and vases.

We did a wine tasting and then made our way back to the cabin for lunch, games and presents.

One of the games we played was to break up into teams, then pin a balloon to our back sides and see which team ends up with all balloons popped.  It was done relay style and of course you couldn't use your hands.  This game was a RIOT!  (and a LOT harder than it seems)

I have not laughed this hard in months.  It sure felt good :-)

I Belong to You, You Belong to Me

This weekend is Kim's Bachlorette party at the cabin.  She really wanted to have everyone up to the cabin to just hang out and have a low key weekend.
We came early on Friday to get things set up and cleaned up.  We had decorations and food to prepare.

Tonight's agenda will include dinner at Pizza Pub (you didn't think we would miss that...) followed by  a trip to the casino, drinks and gossip session with a few people that joined us Friday night.
Tomorrow we will hit up the winery in town, play games, open gifts, then dinner and drinks in town.

We were pleasantly surprised to see that Pizza Pub was hosting Octoberfest!  Tons of samples and vendors.  We even got to play Hammerschlagen.

Hammerschlagen Rules©

Nails are pounded into a stump (just the tip of the nail)

Use one hand only
Grip the hammer behind the red safety line
Must use wedge end of the hammer to strike the nail
Wedge end of the hammer must be on the wood and touching the nail to start
Player has one continuous swing at nail per turn, if the nail is not driven flush into the log then the hammer is passed to the next player
Arc of hammer swing can be no higher than the players ear
If the nail bends, the player can move to any position around the table to strike the nail for their next turn, or the nail may be straightened and counted as a turn
To win, the nail must be flush or below the surface of the wood

When it was time to head to the casino there was some grumbling from some of the party go-ers.  Not everyone was too excited about going to the casino.  So quickly thinking, I threw together a Casino Bingo game. We all got Bingo cards and throughout the night had to try and get a bingo.  Some of the squares were to find a man with a braid, a couple with matching shirts, a Nascar jacket, someone missing most of their teeth, someone on a Rascal Scooter, a couple with their hands in each other's back pockets...you get the picture.

It was surprising how easy some of those were!

Math

It happened to Hannah at this age too.  The love for Math is starting.

Hailey frequently asks us to make a page of Math problems for her to work on.

Sometimes you find gems like this :-)  Worksheets she created for herself.

OCW does Apple Orchard

A big group of neighbors went to the Apple Orchard today.  It was a little chilly but overall a great day to spend at the orchard.  Walked through the corn maze, kids took a train ride, ate some apple donuts and enjoyed a hay ride.

Jump Your Hearts Out

Today the girls celebrated their birthdays with their friends at Zero Gravity.

When we were talking about their parties and coming up with ideas they both wanted to go to the trampoline park.  Perfect!  One party, one day, lots of kids.  Done.

Hannah was not too happy about the idea of a combined birthday party.  She wanted a party that was all about her.  She wanted just her friends there and wanted a time where she didn't have to share her friend party with her sister.   To be honest, I was not interested in this idea.  

The idea of two parties on two separate days just seemed like too much at this time of year.  and besides the girls are so close in age, most of these girls all know each other so what's the big deal.

After Hannah walked away Brian pointed out that Hannah had a good point.  She shouldn't have to always share her birthday party.  They should have a time that is just about celebrating them.  It's not asking too much.

So, two parties it is.

We decided that two parties on one day would be the best solution.  We could schedule them so that we had a little 30-45 min break between them.  Hailey's party was first.

She invited two friends from daycare and three friends from school.

Chloe, Becca, Kaydence, Hailey, Morgan, Jadyn

 

Currently if you asked Hailey who her BFF is she would say Morgan and Chole.

Hailey and Morgan went to Jackie's together and although Morgan is a year old in school, you would never know it.  They have always stayed buds!  Chloe is Hailey's new friend from school.  They are at A Plus together and in the same class with Mrs Rootes this year.

 

After Hailey's party wrapped up and all kids were accounted for, Hannah's group started to arrive.
These girls are much louder and way more active then Hailey's group :-)

Getting photo bombed while waiting in line for laser tag

Sara, Peyton, Amelia, Hannah, Samantha, Hailey (shirt over head), Mira

 Hannah's best friend this year (and every other year since school started) is Sammy.