Bubbles!!!

School Fall Pictures 2008

The kids came home with their Fall Pictures this week, so I thought I'd share. Ignore the "Style A" blurbs on both of them... they only came home with the proofs, but I wanted to scan and share the pics, anyways! ;-)

Madi- 4th Grade!!!


Caiden- 2nd Grade!!

Young Eagles

A few weeks back I saw a little blurb in our local small town paper about "Free Airplane Rides" for kids ages 8-18, at our small town airport. So I mentioned it to Tyler, and we thought it might be fun to take the kids. Yesterday was the big day. The event was sponsored by the Young Eagles, a group who's goal it is to get kids interested in flying. So after Kami's dance class, we headed to the Goldsboro Municipal Airport. The whole way there, I was hoping that they would let Caiden fly since the ages said "8-18", and he was only 7. We arrived and the kids immediately got excited seeing all the little prop planes on the flightline. We walked into the room to register and sign them up and sign the all important waiver, and WOOHOO!! they said that yes, Caiden could fly! After filling out the necessary paperwork, we headed to the flightline. Poor Kami, she really wanted to go up with the kids, too. And she kept saying, "I'm going up with Bubba and Sissy. I'm going in the airplane." She was quite upset that she couldn't go, too, but she was quite the trooper and a very good sport. We only had to wait in line about 20 minutes or so for the kids flight. The pilots were taking kids up three at a time, so Madi & Caiden got to go together. As we walked out to the plane, the pilot asked who wanted to sit up front, and Madi immediately raised her hand and said "I do!!!" We got to walk on the flightline with the kids and the pilot to take a couple pictures....

Walking to the plane

Caiden in the backseat, ready for take-off!

Madi up front, ready to take control!!!

After they got all strapped in, all Tyler, Kami and I could do was sit back, watch, and pray that nothing would go wrong!


It seemed like they sat on the runway FOREVER before they were able to actually take-off... but finally we saw their plane!




Arriving back to the airport on solid ground... safe and sound! Whew!



The kids had an amazing time, and Madi even got to steer the plane a little bit! They LOVED it and immediately asked if they could get in line and go again! I think one of their favorite parts was wearing those headphone thingys that they could talk back and forth to each other on! What amazed me and Tyler most about this whole process was that it was completely FREE!!! This was the experience of a lifetime for our kids, it's something that they will remember for a long, long time, possibly forever!! I think we may have a couple of future pilots on our hands!

**Check out the Young Eagles website to find out if they are coming to a city near you! **

Pumpkins & Cookies!!!

This past Tuesday, the kids had the day off from school, and I didn't have to work! So the kids and I decided to have some "Fall Fun." We all made sugar cookie dough in the morning and then let it "chill" in the refrigerator for a few hours. While making the cookie dough, Madi also helped me throw dinner in the crock pot. Then the kids and I headed into town to run some errands, which included getting Flu shots, meeting up with Tyler for lunch, and picking out some pumpkins to carve later!

After we got home, it was cookie time! We decorated half of the cookies before they cooked, and saved the other half to decorate with frosting after they had cooked. We only had time to do the pre-cooked cookies on Tuesday, and then decorated the rest with frosting after school on Wednesday. I LOVE making homemade cookies with my kids, and the new sugar cookie recipe I tried was SUPER yummy!!!

Tuesday's Cookie decorating session!



Wednesday's Cookie Decorating session.. with frosting!!! :-)




Our table of cookies!!! Who needs candy?!?! Mmmmmmm!!!


Tuesday night we carved pumpkins! I look forward to this every year, mainly because I don't have to do it! For as long as I can remember, I have hated sticking my hands into that pumpkin "gunk". Tyler and the kids do it all, and I get to take pictures! The kids and I actually went online for our pumpkin stencils this year and found some great *free* ones! Madi and Caiden actually did most of their pumpkins by themselves... they both had VERY little help, and did a GREAT job!!!

Pulling out the seeds...



Kami's not too sure she likes the "gunk", either!


Such a goofball....


Caiden "eating" the "gunk"


Hard at work.....



The finished products!!!!

Kami's was her Halloween namesake... Minnie Mouse!



Caiden's was a cute little Frankenstein titled, "Der!" The lit pumpkin picture is kinda blurry, but you get the idea.



Madi's was a "Creepy Cat", but it turned out more "Cute" than "Creepy". Again... the lit pumpkin pic is kinda funky...

Trick-or-Treat!!

Halloween 2008 has come and gone!! And that's actually probably a good thing this year, as we had two very moody and emotional pre-adolescents! Definitely NOT how I had envisioned Halloween with my kids. Oh well... once we finally left the house and started Trick-or-Treating, it got a lot better!

Madi was a 50s waitress! This was her "curtain warmer" costume for "Bye Bye Birdie"!


My sweet, Minnie Mouse!




Caiden as Darth Vader... it's a good thing he has a mask on, cuz it hiding his GRUMPY face!!!!


Off to the base where we met the Leggetts so the girls could go Trick or Treating together!

Minnie Mouse & Cinderella.... AKA Bestest friends in the whole wide world!


Paulette, me and the girls! We realized after knowing each other for just over 2 years now we have ZERO pictures of us together! So here's our first one!


Tired from walking, cold and getting hungry we headed home. We did quite a bit of walking all over base housing, for not very much candy. But they definitely got enough, and honestly, with the "holiday" season now officially begun, who really needs all that candy anyways?!?

Inspecting the "loot"!!!