44 Quarters

44 pieces of chocolate were traded for 44 Quarters! Yes....Kade worked harder and smarter this Halloween. Mark trades one piece of chocolate for one quarter. The plan was concocted about 4 years ago because of Kade's milk allergy. This year if the candy giver held out their basket or bowl to choose, he always grabbed the chocolate to get money instead. Kade made 11 dollars!!

Cole insisted on being Hook again. With a new hook, sword, and his worn out droopy pirate hat, he was ready to strut his stuff. Cole wears his costume a lot. A month ago, I found Cole outside, costume and all, being the leader with the neighborhood kids following behind him. He taught them all how to be a true pirate! After watching Kade trade chocolate for money, he was quick to dump out his loot and separate. He was ready to make some money too!

Owen's 1st Halloween! He just loved being outside. Because of the rain, we waited to go out until later. I bundled him all up. He was my little heater.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Now that it's almost Thanksgiving...HA

Y or why?

Mark took off model time for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday for Fall Break. With other meetings that came up and of course golf, we finally got to be with him Friday afternoon. We decided we wanted to go on a "little" hike as a family. On our way, we stopped at Babies R' Us and got a baby carrier to hold Owen.

Kade and Cole got more and more excited as we drove closer to the infamous Y. Really, we were ALL excited!

We parked our car and looked up...

ZIG...ZAG...back and forth...the hike to the Y.

No big deal. Lots of people have hiked the Y. We were going to do it. ALL of us!

It was HOT!

I am not sure...

WHY we never noticed the steep inclines,

WHY we were wearing pants,

WHY we chose to hike in the middle of the day with young kids,

WHY we only had two bottled waters,

and

WHY we packed our hoodies.

Turn 5: Cole was on Mark's shoulders, Kade was not as far ahead, and Owen was loving every minute attached to me. I thought I wanted to be done! Mark just kept telling all of us that if we made it this far we were not turning back. We kept going. I was grateful I brought a hat for Owen. With little shade on the hike, it kept him covered. He was definitely having the most fun.

Turn 8: We could feel the burn. We could feel the heat. Why would we turn back now? We really really wanted to. But we were so close. We were the slow family...one foot in front of the other as people would pass us with smiles. I guess they thought we were okay. I was getting grumpy!

Finally the TOP! We made it!

We always wondered what the Y was made of. We made it!

ALL of us made it!

The best part was seeing how proud my boys were when they saw the Y.

They knew they made it to the top. It was hard work!

10 years from now maybe we'll do it again.

I would not recommend this hike for young children who need to be carried!

FALL

Today felt like a hot summer day with bare trees and a few hints of color here and there. It was 84 degrees!! The weather couldn't have been better. It didn't feel like the cool...crisp...autumn air. With less color, the view was still amazing and we all had a blast. We missed Owen, but we didn't trust bringing him so high up there. Thanks to my sister who watched him. Hopefully next year, we will try to go about a week earlier.

My BOYS!

A LONG way down....

Cole's Ideas of Preschool

Cole was so excited to start preschool with Mrs. Jill on September 1st.

Cole's ideas of preschool...in his own words:

1. Find "cool" friends and play for a long time.

2. When I color or paint, I need to stay in the lines.

3. I will write "C o l e" (saying each letter one at a time) on my papers so everyone will know whose is the best.

4. If I make a BIG project at school, I will make sure my teacher carries it out for me.

When I get him in the car after picking him up, he can't stop talking about what he did at school and how much fun he had. I want to be a fly on the wall in his classroom. He is my child I really have no idea what he is going to say next. He tells you what he thinks and doesn't care to impress anyone.

With both of my older boys in school, it leaves me with 2 hours and 15 minutes with just Owen on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. He is such a sweetheart!

My Second Grader

Sheesh!!! It's about time I post something. I can't believe I have a second grader! I love the start of a new school year. After a busy summer for us of new baby and moving, we are finally back on routine. Kade loves his new school and his teacher, Mrs. Clouse.

The Little Man

Owen Burke

June 14, 2010

6:04 p.m.

7 lbs. 11 ozs.

19 inches long

I can't get enough of him! We are so grateful for his safe arrival and the help we had from both grandmas these past two weeks. Kade and Cole have been the best helpers.

After 3 days, we finally gave him his name!

Our little teddy bear!

Tomorrow is the DAY!

No turning back now! I don't know why I am so nervous this time around. We are ready for him though. Tomorrow, around 5:30 p.m., we will be a family of 5!!