The Toothless Wonder

In the past month and a half Andrew has lost 3 of his 4 top teeth. I keep teasing him that if he looses any more we're going to have to blend all his food up and have him drink it from a straw :-) Lucky for him it looks as though at least one new tooth is coming in so maybe he will be able to keep eating like a "normal person".

I threw in this picture of Ava simply because I think she looks pretty darn cute

Happy Halloween!!

On Halloween we went over to the Sutterfield's house, otherwise known as our friends Steven and Becky. We trick or treated their neighborhood with the kids and then came back to their house for some great food. I have to say this has been one of the best October's we have had in a while. We are so lucky to have met so many great people here in Kansas.

 Ok I have no idea why the two pictures above are stuck together like that, but I can't seem to fix them. The top one is Adam with Ava's hat and wig on. The bottom one is Ava waiting until it's time to go trick or treating.

Andrew and Hayden playing until it's time to head out

This night we have Darth Vader, Raggedy Ann and a Ninja. Hayden was Buzz Lightyear at the company Trunk or Treat, but at some point between that Wednesday night and Monday he decided that was stupid and wanted to be a ninja. Gotta love kids

Trick or Treat!

Hayden wanted to help Ava up to the next house

Yes my son is a big ol' dork but that's ok. We love him anyways

Great Wolf Lodge

The Friday before Halloween (can you tell we had a crazy busy week leading up to Halloween?) we headed on over to Kansas City to stay at the Great Wolf Lodge. In case you have never heard of it, the Great Wolf Lodge is a hotel that has its own indoor water park that is only available to hotel guests. We went there to celebrate our neighbor Luke's 11th birthday. The kids were out of school that day so we got there around noon so that we could play in the water as much as possible. All of the kids had a blast including Ava. In fact both of my kids overcame a fear that day. Andrew finally decided to try going down a water slide (he's been terrified for the longest time) and Ava decided it was ok to put her face in the water and get splashed. We spent about 5 hours playing in the water before getting ready for dinner.

Ava and Jackie shortly after we arrived

The birthday boy, Luke, and Ava sitting in a bucket



Andrew taking his turn on the obstacle course

He did really well!

Ava also found a love for water slides while we were there. Of course we had to give her a little push over the edge, but she loved it just the same. In fact we quit walking her up the stairs. One person would push her down, someone would catch her at the bottom and the put her back on the concrete to walk up all on her own. We did this for a LONG time :-)

I absolutely LOVE her face in this picture

The boys headed up for another slide

They really liked the 3 person tubes so they could all go down together

From front to back: Andrew, Matt, Luke

Nothing better for snack time then a big soft pretzel and some cheese

After we finished playing in the water park everyone headed up to our rooms to get ready for dinner. We decided to eat at the restaurant in the hotel so that the kids to participate in everything the lodge had to offer. Since it was so close to Halloween they had trick or treating throughout the main level of the building. Around 8:00pm they had story time for all of the kids in the lobby which was followed by a costume parade and finished up with a 2hr dance party complete with contests. The boys had a blast. I missed the dance party because I had to go put Ava in bed. She had been all day without a nap and somehow managed to not meltdown one single time. I was so proud of her and when she started to fuss at 8:30 I promptly took her upstairs and laid her down.

Decorating their bags to collect candy in

Ava wasn't really interested in her costume that night so knowing that she had not napped I decided not to force it.

This is the only picture I got of the boys because they were too busy running all over the place. Can you tell they were annoyed we made them sit down and wait on Ava?

From R to L: Darth Vader (Andrew), a Kansas State Univ Fan (Luke) and Matt who is some other Star Wars character, but I can't remember who specifically

Andrew and Matt loved sitting in this big chair carved out of a tree. Here they were waiting on story time to begin

Adam got Luke in a headlock and was trying to avoid being bitten

All in all we had a great night. It was definitely expensive but I think it is something we will do again on special occasions in the future. It was fun getting to celebrate Luke's birthday with him. We are so lucky to have neighbors that have become not only our best friends but also like a 2nd family to us.

A pie in the face you say?

As I mentioned in my past post, the night of the trunk or treat the 3 platoon Sgts were auctioned off. Every now and then members of the "command group" are auctioned off as a way to raise money for the FRG. The money raised is generally used for company parties or functions. Anyways, that night it was the platoon sgt's turn. The soldiers live for these nights because it is their turn to get their leaders. Each Sgt is auctioned off individually and the one who brings in the most money get the biggest pie. Apparently Adam's soldiers really like him because he not only brought in the most money, but his bid also set a new battalion record at $325. Below are pictures of Adam and Steven (one of our good friends) getting their pies. I missed getting pictures of the 3rd SGT, but I have him at the end. Enjoy!!

Here is Steven getting ready for his pies

I just love how you can see the pie falling down his face. Looks yummy don't you think?

The after shot.....good times

This is the soldier who got the honor of putting the pie in Adam's face. Remember how I said the one with the most money got the biggest pie? Look at the size of that pan?!?! I'm not sure I heard all of the ingredients put into this pie but I do know that there was at least: apple pie, cottage cheese, yogurt, flour, raw eggs and who knows what else. Before you ask let me just say that yes it was nasty and yes he smelled after

She let her son help out. I love the smile on his face

Rubbing it in good

HYSTERICAL!

I was laughing so hard at this point.

Finally here are all 3 PLT SGTS. There really are no words for how they look

Trunk or Treat anyone?

The Wednesday before Halloween Adam's company had a Trunk or Treat. Adam, the kids and I all got dressed up. We were an interesting group to say the least :-) The kids had lots of fun and got tons of candy. It was a little cold and windy that night so we tried not to stay outside for too long. Once the trunk or treat was over the FRG (family readiness group) had a quick meeting and then they auctioned off the platoon sgts, this included Adam. I will go into more detail about this in another post. It is hysterical!

Adam getting all bloody so he can hand out candy

Sweet little Raggedy Ann minus her hat and wig because she REFUSED to wear it

The kids watching Adam decorate the back of our car. Andrew is Darth Vadar and his friend Hayden was Buzz Lightyear

Here are the boys again. Hayden is about a year and a half younger than Andrew but they are good friends and love playing together

Trick or Treat!

Shhe Sheet (Ava's version of trick or treat)

Ava was not scared of her Daddy in that mask at all

Did you know that Olive Oil and Katy Perry were friends?