October!

So October was full of final camping days for the year, baseball, and Halloween fun!

I just love these bright blues and yellows around Boo and thought I'd try to capture a few artistic photos:

I think he's trying to knock the dirt off the roots of this grass clump...that's the only thing I could come up with for what he's doing!!

nature walk with Daddy

I did the Pumpkin Run in early October in the town near where we camp.

There was a new race volunteer in town telling us which way we were supposed to run.  Didn't he do a great job?!?!

Yay!  Mommy got gold in her age bracket!!

Visiting the Quincy Mine.

We al had to wear hard hats and warm jackets they provided; those mines are COLD!

The ride down the side of the mountain in the trolley-tram.  Love the sideways look at the camera; couldn't really tell if he was apprehensive or just taking it all in.

Having fun with pictures on the ride into the mine.

 We made the trip back home in two days.  It took Boo f.o.r.e.v.e.r. to fall asleep that night and when he finally did, this is how I found him, with one pillow over each eye...what a goof!

Chris and I were lucky enough to be offered the chance to go to Game 3 of the World Series by a friend of his and had wonderful seats.  It was an awesome night and we even won that game!  He and I are 4-for-4 for post-season game wins over the years.  I think we should just go to all of them, then the Cardinals would be sure to win!!

An ice sculpture at the stadium...pretty neat.

We went to the local apple orchard and got the obligatory picture by the apple:

Our friends met us there and Boo always has a good time with Jen and Jason!

the bouncy slide at the orchards.  Last year, I don't think he was big enough to make it up the stairs of the slide and this year he was practically running up it.  He also kept wanting to do it "one more time."

Mommy's pumpkin...ha!

(and yes, I forgot to take pictures of either of my two boys' pumpkins.  Let's just say, I really liked mine a LOT!)

We had a stinkin' cute yellow Angry Bird along for the flight of Halloween candy rounds.  He is obsessed with anything Angry Birds presently and once he saw this costume, that. was. it.  (And no, sisters, I did not make his costume; but yes, I could have, had I had the time!)

He got those glow-in-the-dark vampire teeth in his Halloween goodie bag from school.  The kids were all having fun trying on their own.  Personally, I think they look a little creepy...

...but, cutely creepy!

September

So, life just has a way of sneaking up on you and then fast-forwarding.  That's what these past few months (heck, the whole year!) have felt like.  We've been so busy just living that the blog has kind of fallen by the wayside.  But the good thing is, it's always here to come back to.  Since I haven't been good about blogging and there is so much that we've done, this will be more just a photo/video post than writing.

This is for my sister's boys, who wanted to watch this over and over on my camera.  None of our boys could get enough of this slide!!!

going down with Grandma

Looking like such a big boy!

The preview of his teenager pose?!?!

Having fun with Grandpa at the lake.

What a group of handsome boys!!!

Visiting the fire station when our friends from up north came to visit.

Getting in a little pre-race snack: kim...yum!

There was a kid's mile mud run before the 5K one started for the adults (which I ran with a group of other moms).  Boo was soooooo excited to do this, and I'm really NOT exaggerating.  Look at how intense he looks here before his race started, almost like he's picturing himself running it.  He was so pumped for this race!  C and his daddy ran it as well; Jay, next time we'll give you a heads up about needing to bring extra clothes.  Sorry!!

The beginning of his wave of kids; one parent could run it with their child.  Chris was lagging behind which almost caused Boo to wipe out after he looked back.  At the end of this video, Chris is telling Jay that he's going to have to go keep up with Boo.

Walking through the mud trough.

Don't know why it turned out sideways.  Boo took a face plant at the bottom of the slide, even though Chris is trying to hold him up.

Trucking along...almost to the finish line!!!
And he absolutely loved the checkered flags there because they are racecar flags!

Crossing the finish line.

Here comes C and Jay!

Our two little runners...you guys did a great job!!

Now for the mama's turn:

The clean before photo.

And the after shot...you can't tell here, but we really are pretty muddy.  It was so much fun!!  Hope to do it again with you all next year.

Being silly while having a "standing dinner."

So sweet.

Game 5 National League Division Series

GO CARDS!!!

Our Journey - A Movie

To commemorate our Referral Day (fondly known as our referral-versary), October 2, 2009, I finally finished the movie of our journey to becoming a family of three!

It's been four years since we received our precious son's referral and we are still amazed and awed that we are together.  Every time I watch this movie, I remember all the emotions we went through on this journey.

I hope you enjoy this as much as we've enjoyed becoming a family.

Movie Monday - Chopsticks

Trying soooo hard to get the rice to his mouth using the chopsticks...

He did it!!

He's nothing if not inventive in how to get something done!

That's muh boy!

(And that was a huge mouthful of rice.)

And in to August!

So in August I got my hair cut, which I posted on at the time.  That same day, we had our family pictures taken professionally for the first time in three years.  The last time we did that was the fall after we brought Boo home.  I will post some of those pictures at a later time, but let me tell you, my friend Kellie did a great job!  Thank you so much for the great experience!!!

We went camping again in August and this time, Chris' parents came up to visit, like they did last year. They stay in a hotel about 25 minutes away that's right on the river where we rent the pontoon boat.  

We did some go-karting,

went to the zoo,

(did you SEE his eyes when Grandma told him the bunnies were for sale!?!?)

He's got the wingspan of a peregrine falcon; mine was the turkey vulture and Daddy's was the bald eagle.

and hung around at the river/beach area behind their hotel.

I think Grandma had just as much fun as Boo did with all the activities!

Boo picking and eating blueberries straight off the vine in our neighbor's yard.

My little home-boy/rapper-man.

Wordless Wednesday - Surprise for Mommy!