Patrick's Halloween

Trunk or Treat was on a school night, with soccer to boot! Enjoying a late pizza w/ Grandma and Grandpa Mac, who came into town just in the nick of time!

Spending Halloween weekend w/ Bubby and Grandfather... soccer in MD on Sunday... busy, busy...

Contacts!

The Ranger's Apprentice at Trunk or Treat

Fun painting pumpkins w/ Grandma and Grandpa Mac!

Patrick chose to be the main character from a new series of books called, The Ranger's Apprentice which are popular w/ preteen and teenage boys right now. He combined a few old costumes together (a pirate and Anakin Skywalker) and added a cape. We wrapped his bow and arrow in contact paper to resemble wood and cut feathers out of sticky-back felt and covered the plastic feathers on his arrows. I wrapped his boots w/ cording and he sewed a Celtic clasp to the cape. He also made a gold feather necklace which the character wears in the story and made his own knife which we tied on w/ a leather belt... he loved the look!

Patrick got straight A's this quarter and his teachers all had very positive things to say about his work ethic and behavior. Thank goodness! His last soccer game of the season is tomorrow and he has one last tournament to go. Then he is planning on taking a break from soccer and has expressed an interest in Tae Kwon Do...

He got his first pair of contacts this week and is doing very well w/ them. He's definitely growing up... it won't be long before he's asking for laser surgery!

Margaret's Halloween

Carving fancy pumpkins w/ Grandma Mac

All dolled up...good thing the weather cooperated!

Volleyball Clinic

Here She Comes... Trunk or Treat at EHE

Amazing weather on Thursday for Trunk or Treat... needed long johns for Sunday's trick or treating downtown...

Margaret was Miss America this year. It was so much fun gathering all the things for her costume. I ordered a real tiara online and clip on diamond dangling earrings. I searched for the perfect dress and found one at a second hand shop in town. It had a rip in the underarm seam and when they heard it was for my daughter's Halloween costume, they gave it to me for free! I made a sash for her and she had perfect shoes from Santa from last Christmas... she was a sight to behold!

Other Margaret news... Margaret has just finished a season of volleyball training which met once a week for the last few months. I'm hoping to sign her up for Sat. cheerleading at school this winter... She also just got new glasses: purple!

MD Renaissance Festival

Patrick had to sign some papers in MD so we took the kids to the Ren. Fest. last weekend. Pops actually babysat the big kids and Patrick, Abby and I stayed in a motel on Sat. night. It was a nice weekend. Beautiful weather and everyone behaved well. Pops got a brand new treadmill so I got my workout in both days. The only bad things, was that Abby, Patrick and AP had been battling colds/sinus infections... and Abby woke up on Sunday and could hardly move her neck... she said it hurt and for the next few days she was very stiff. I was afraid it was Meningitis, but she'd had no fever/vomiting. Her doctor thinks that area was inflamed due to a virus and had us give her ibuprofen and treat her w/ a warm compress... she is back to normal now, TG!

Margaret got picked (surprise, surprise) to help out Bibly (the skinny German juggler) and got to ride on his shoulders while he uni cycled! The girls rented period costumes and all three kids really got into it. My camera battery conked out before all of this... Murphy's Law... I bought a disposable cam. that cost a fortune, but it will be a while before I use it all up and get it developed. We refinanced this weekend and Abby told the closer that we needed to get more money because we spent it all on the elephant ride!

Fall Festivals for the Family

Got to enjoy the "Taste of Culpeper" festival again this past weekend. 80 degree weather, good music, gourmet food, wine tasting and local brewery samples... the kids enjoyed face painting, moon bounce, volleyball and craft tables... but mostly, Abby enjoyed the pizza and ice cream! Patrick took AP and Abby to Graves Mountain Lodge annual apple festival on Sat. while Margaret and I stayed home and worked on her multiplication tables (torture!)...

The apple of her daddy's eye... on a hayride...

Cracking herself up in her Halloween tights...Bubby's homemade shirt... I wish she'd never grow out of them!

Local Fun: Dogs, Goats and more...

It started to feel like fall around here for a few days... then got really hot again. I've been getting the cool weather clothes out of the shed and packing away every one's summer clothes... not a small task since the kids are all growing... finding mittens, boots, pants that are long enough, waists that fit right... it's something I dread when the seasons change! I did get a lot of new clothes at the St. Luke's consignment sale which we look forward to every year... We line up before hand and when they open the doors Margaret and I run in and she heads one way and I head the other looking for all the things on our list before anyone else can grab them! We found a great rolling Dr. cart for the girls since they love playing vet and doctor... and a new larger swing for Abby.

While I sorted clothes, with AP's help, Patrick took the girls to the Farm festival, an open house for several farms in our county...

The girls actually let me french braid their hair this day. It's so much work to get them coordinated and ready to go... and then their dad gets to have all the fun while I stay home organizing and packing lunches and getting clothes lined up for the week... wish their was more time in life...

One of Abby's favorite things to do is to feed the goats...

Riding her big girl bike w/ her brother's help... sissy was helping Bubby at a craft show for the weekend...

Now that summer is over, they have resumed the "Read to the Dogs" program at the library. "Robbie" is a fan of Abby's. He likes to listed to her read "Biscuit" books...

Celebrating 6 Years with the Kids

Abby in the Ferris Wheel... not afraid this year! She asked if we were in heaven when we got to the top!

Momma and the teen riding the Avalanche...

Flying planes are a big hit. Both girls love them. Abby can do them since they don't jerk around too much. She got a free ticket when I told them she had brain surgery and can only go on a couple of rides. She's fine w/ it now, but I already feel bad for her when she's older and wants to go on bigger ones...

Geico Day at King's Dominion is an annual treat. Beautiful weather and lots of fun...very hot this year...BBQ and fried chicken... karaoke... can't be beat! Got to ride some roller coasters w/ AP, watch Margaret drive the Antique cars and ride the Merry Go Round countless times w/ Abby. She was asleep before we even got out of the parking lot! Thank you Bubby for another memorable visit to KD!

Spending the night at Bubby's to get away from AP's sleepover and to be closer to King's Dominion in the morning... checking out the stars on the veranda after the girl's bath...

13 Years Old!

Can't believe my little boy is 13 years old... it really has gone by fast... I never quite understood that until this past year or so...

Sporting some new duds from his birthday. His first pair of "skinny jeans," a hoodie and a t-shirt that has a can of make-your-sister-go-away -spray! I already had to police the outfit- he's trying to wear it every other day...

He asked for fajitas for his birthday. Unfortunately, it was a soccer night... and he had lots of homework... so he ended up eating his feast as he got his homework done...

The Friday of his birthday week, he got to invite three friends to come home on the bus. Two got to spend the night. He's been friends w/ these guys since 2dd grade, so it's great that he was able to reconnect w/ them now that he is at the public middle school. I made Pokemon cupcakes and they had a blast playing w/ their Nerf guns and watching movies. After a while, the girls and I went to Fred. for the night and dad was in charge. He said they were very well behaved...

The gang...

Abby helped deliver cupcakes to AP's soccer team since he had practice on his birthday. She was set to hand them out, but got nervous when the boys came closer... she was in her pj's so we could pop her right in bed once practice was over...