Happy Halloween!

How fun for Halloween to fall on a Saturday this year! The kids enjoyed Trunk or Treat at church this afternoon. It was really cold and windy, but we did our best to dress for the weather.

Isaiah was supposed to be a train engineer, but we couldn't find an engineer's hat. So train engineer or farmer - whichever works for us. Costumes are ridiculously expensive, so we went practical - overalls and a flannel shirt. He can wear those again! Mallory's duck costume was borrowed from my friend Lynette's little boy, James. She was definitely warm enough!

Isaiah and Mallory with our friend Kamryn - the cutest little chicken ever!

After Trunk or Treat, we took a ride over the new College Ave bridge. It's finally open! Police had blocked off part of College Ave near the Paper Valley. Our best guess is that the Minnesota Brett Favre's arrived in town for the big game tomorrow. (The Packers opponent always stays at the Paper Valley in Appleton.)

Not to break tradition, Tim and I ate Arby's for lunch. Tim is such a good sport. I know it's a strange tradition from my childhood, but it's tradition, nonetheless!

It was so cold outside that I almost didn't want to take the kids out trick-or-treating. Isaiah kept saying, "Trick or treat!" as he was looking out the window, so we had to go to just a few houses. He did so well! It was so neat to hear him say, "Trick or treat!" and "Thank you!" when he got treats for Mommy and Daddy to enjoy.

Happy Halloween!

- becky

None For Me, Thanks

Mallory will eat almost anything. We recently discovered that she is not a fan of a sweet potatoes, zucchini, and rice blend. We already knew that she doesn't like squash.

Scroll down to see the video clip! I tried alternating bite of chicken with apples to get her to eat the zucchini veg, but she can definitely tell which bites are which!

- becky

Someone to Play With

Mallory is quickly becoming a playmate for Isaiah. Is this a good thing? You'll have to ask him...

"Check this out, Mallory. It makes lots of neat sounds!"

"I love my baby sister!"

"We have to share toys?!?! Nobody told me that was part of the deal..."

- becky

Up She Goes

Time to get the baby gate back out. Mallory is quick!

- becky

Baby Friends

Mallory and Isaiah have a new friend!

When I started teaching in Denmark (can you believe this is my 5th year there already?!), I taught 5th grade with Angie. Angie was great to teach with, and we quickly became friends. She has since moved over to the middle school and had a baby!

Meet Landen. He is so darn cute! Mallory, Isaiah, and I really enjoyed their visit. Angie and I had been trying for the longest time to get our schedules to match up, and we finally did it! Yea! :)

Baby expressions are so cute!

This picture makes me laugh out loud. This is the best I could do - hahahaha!

Is he looking at me, Mom? Landen is so cute! Do you think Dad will let me go on a date with him?

Landen and His Mommy

- becky

Practice Making a Mess

Juice is yummy! Too bad Mommy waters it down.

We've been letting Mallory practice with her spoon. She makes a HUGE mess, but that's how you learn, I guess!

- becky

Fall Train Ride

Last weekend, we took the kids to ride a train in North Freedom, Wisconsin. North Freedom is near Baraboo, so it's about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Appleton. We had tickets to ride the 10:00 train, so we had to be on the road fairly early.

The GPS told us that our ETA (estimated time of arrival) was 9:57. Oh, dear! We made up about 10 minutes because we didn't hit any traffic and made it to the train station just in time.

All aboard!

Daddy and Isaiah

Mommy and Mallory

Isaiah was so excited! The train ride was about an hour long. He and Mallory both sat really good the entire time.

That was so much fun!

I am really pleased with how my pictures turned out. I'm thinking of enlarging and framing some of them to hang in Isaiah's bedroom.

The Train Station

Mallory waited patiently for her brother to take a look at some of the train cars on display.

We were hoping that the leaves would have turned more for our trip, but it still worked out okay. The weather was quite cool, and there was a drizzly rain. We weren't miserably cold or anything, so I felt it really added to the experience.

We will definitely be looking into this again next year!

- becky