Trick or Treating

This year Frank really wanted to go trick or treating in the neighborhood. He wanted to meet some new people and hand out candy. We live in what is called "old town" and apparently there wasn't very much participation from our neighbors. Savannah was the youngest trick or treater in the neighborhood. There was just a small handful of kids out in the area. We only found about 7 houses that were handing out candy at the time that we ventured out. It was quite a disappointment for me. I didn't have very high expectations for this old town.

I had also received an invite to go trick or treating in my babysitters neighborhood. That was a much better turn out and I really enjoyed our time there. It was cold but it wasn't too bad after we started walking around. Savannah was really excited this year! She refused to wear the costume at first but we convinced her to put it on so she could go around and get candy. Earlier in the day I stopped by Walgreen's to pick up some candy and Savannah pick up a package of M&M's and proceeded to walk out of the store. I had to teach her what stealing was and we took the candy back. Savannah's friend Dominick was Gene Simmons from KISS and she dressed up as a ghost this year. She was so cute walking around saying trick or treat all night long. Instead of knocking on the door she would yell out trick or treat to get people to come to the door. I ended up having to ring the doorbell or knock on the door. She made out like a bandit and was a real trooper seeing how she didn't eat dinner until later on in that evening. She snacked on some candy and a popcorn ball.

Terrible Two's

One Stubborn Little Girl refusing to eat her dinner

Ten on Sunday

1. On Saturday we stopped by Goebbert's Pumpkin Farm. Savannah wasn't cooperating with us and didn't want to take any cute pictures (go figure). She wanted to keep moving all the small pumpkins over by the large pumpkins and was pretty entertained by this.

2. Frank came home early to work on our pool. We have all the dirty water drained out of the pool and all the leaves raked up. We took the wet vac and cleaned up any remaining dirt off the bottom of the floor. We still need to clean out the inside of the pool with a scrub brush and with Tide detergent. We will attempt to put clorine water & a filter in the pool next year so we can start using the pool.

3. A couple of weeks ago I took Savannah to Randy's pumpkin farm and we just walked around. Savannah was not staying still long enough to get any good pictures.

4. We also took a trip to the Little Red Barn as a family. We arrive late and only stayed for a few minutes. Savannah chickened out and I ended up getting my face painted. We visited a petting zoo and walked though a corn maze. We ended up buying both an apple and pumpkin pie. We stopped by the grocery store and bought some ice cream and whip cream to top off our desserts.

5. On Friday we celebrated Halloween at the office. We had a costume contest and decorated our supervisors cubicle. We had hotdogs, chips and pop and also desserts for lunch. It was a fun day!

6. My friend Wendy gave birth to a baby boy on Monday evening. He is a healthy baby and mommy is doing well. She is making the adjustment to having a newborn baby. We went over to the house on Wednesday to visit.

7. Frank was unable to take Savannah to the annual trunk or treat this year at church. He had to attend a meeting for work. I had to work and wasn't able to take her :(

8. We carved pumpkins last week wih the babysitter and her family. I discovered Savannah loves playing in piles of leaves.

9. Frankie went out with some friends Friday night. He went to see the movie "Footloose" and than his mother picked him up for her weekend.

10. Tomorrow I am only working half day and will be taking Savannah trick or treating in the neighborhood. Frankie is going out with his friend to a different neighborhood to get candy. Frank is planning on handing out candy and may even join us for some trick of treating. Savannah is going to be a ghost this year. I wanted to wish mom a Happy Birthday and Happy Halloween to everyone!!!

Goebbert's Pumpkin

Halloween is one of my most favorite times of the year. I know this is overkill by this point but I had some extra time today and wanted to stop by my favorite pumpkin patch. Savannah was being another stinker today so I didn't get many good pictures. Can't wait to go trick or treating on Monday with Savannah and than I will be done this this holiday.

Pumpkin Carving

Who's ready to get this party started

Savannah and her friend Dominick

Deep Concentration

Let the carving begin

Amy's Pumpkin

Finished Product

Frank's Pumpkin

Sarah's Pumpkin Says (Spooky)


Savannah's babysitter Mary invited us all over for a Halloween Party. She had invited several of her neighborhood friends over for pumpkin carving. This year I ended up buying some ugly pumpkins. Frankie chose not to participate in pumpkin carving. I guess he has outgrown having fun with the family. We had fun watching all the kids jump around in the leaves. We played a couple of group games and ate yummy food and enjoyed each others company.

The Little Red Barn

Brotherly Love???

Savannah had fun riding around in the little red wagon

Savannah chickened out of face painting and mom stepped in since we had already purchased the ticket

The whole gang

Savannah's first corn maze experience. She continues to be one difficult toddler!!!

Amy with the horse made out of corn huskes

Sarah, Savannah, and Daddy

Frank and Sarah watching the ducks and geese

One Happy Family

Tea Time with Mommy

Silly Teenager

This is how our day ended...Savannah hanging upside down refusing to comply

Randy's Pumpkin Farm

This year we visited Randy's Pumpkin Farm. Savannah was being difficult all day long. We did manage to stop by just for a few minutes and I was able to get some cute pictures. It was really warm outside today and we didn't even need to wear jackets. This is my kind of weather around this time of the year.

Ten on Sunday

1. Frankie was finally able to play in his first football game of the season this past Friday. He was on academic probation from last year and missed the first eight games on the season. He continued to be on the football team and went to practices every day and attended all the games. He took his studies much more seriously this year and is getting all A's & B's again and was able to play sports. He was the alternate starter for the defense side (line blocker???). He will play his final game next week. The team has won every game except one this year. If they win next week they will be conference champions. Go Whippurs!!!

2. Last week I was given a talk assignment on the 11th Article fo Faith. I was at a loss for words and needed help from my husband. I took the majority of my talk out of the Article of Faith book. My husband gave me negative feeback on the talk and assisted me by making some changes. Little did I know until this morning he took out 1/2 of my talk.

3. I saved his version over mine and realized later that he took out a big portion of my talk. Needless to say I wasn't very too happy and ended up having to re-write my talk and just barely getting out the door on time. I was typing as fast as possible and than had to proof read my talk. I ran and got dressed and than had to fight with Savannah to get her dressed and feed before church. I ran out the door with no shoes or coat for Savannah. I simply couldn't be late and I had no one to help me.

4. I arrived at church 10 minutes early which was miracle and my best friend showed up at the church to watch Savannah for me while I sat up on the stand. I wasn't too nervous and gave my talk even though my husband didn't support my decision to give the talk that I wrote. About 1/2 way through my talk I see Savannah running down the aisle towards me and my friend Rob jumped up and chased her down and took her out of the sacrament room for the remainder of the hour. I thought it went well and now I can relax for at least another year.

5. I had to finish preparing the rest of my Primary lesson which I didn't have time to get to. I arrived to Primary late and found out that my team teacher was absent today. I had to try to keep my seven 6 yr old boys in line which never really works for me. The Primary president came over to me and told me that she called a new couple to teach CTR 4/5 boys and I will be getting a new class next week. She re-assigned me to the CTR 6 girls and one boy class. Hooray!!!
I asked for additonal help today and the sister they gave me was awesome. She put one of the boys on her lap and even took two of the children out to theirs mother's however she ended up coming back with both boys. Their behavior seemed better after her little talk with them. The kids all have ADD and have very little attention spans.

6. Frankie went over to his mother's house this weekend. I had the weekend with just me and Savannah. Frank went on a business trip to Atlanta to the Legacy Stables. A few people on his team won a trip down there and they visited the home office and enjoyed a BBQ, canoeing, fishing, horseback riding and bonfires. He is on his way home right now.

7. My friend Wendy came over on Saturday morning to babysit Savannah so that I could go to work. It was a really good weekend since most people were calling in to make their payments. I am still leading the pack on a contest we are having at work on whoever can collect the most outbound payments. I have won the prize twice in the past couple of months and looking to win again this month. Each month the competition changes to a different metrix.

8. On Saturday afternoon Savannah and I headed to McHenry for a family picnic. It was cold and very windy and wasn't too pleasant. It was good to see everyone again and I tried to get some pictures of the family. We didn't stay too long and celebrated a couple of birthdays.

9. I raked up a bunch of our leaves and than burned them in our firepit.

10. We are looking forward to picking up pumpkins this week and attending a Halloween party. We are heading over to a pumpkin farm on Saturday.

Day at the Park

Josh & Savannah

Auntie Christine & Buddy

Savannah

Breanna, Sabrina & Buddy

Sarah & Josh

Auntie Christine & Savannah

Elena & Breanna

Ricardo Jr aka Buddy

Elena & Breanna

Sarah

Josh, Savannah & Breanna

Auntie Denise & Savannah





Today we celebrated two birthdays one for Josh who turned 13 years old and Auntie Denise.

It was very cold and windy outside today but we all enjoyed a day at Shamrock Farm Park. Grandma Delores baked a banana cake and everyone was supposed to bring their own picnic lunch. I don't think anyone ate at the park but I did manage to pick up a happy meal for Savannah. I was running late because I had to work this morning but made in enough time to see everyone and let Savannah play around in the park. Her favorite thing to do was to swing in the swings. The family recently had a tree planted in memory of Sharon Schoen. She past away this year in May. We will miss her very very much!!!