Moving!

Blogspot has informed me that I'm out of free memory space.  Therefore, we are moving the blog to Wordpress.  Hope you'll follow us there!

www.jacqueandtony.wordpress.com

Train Robbery!

Well, this website is acting fairly ridiculous this evening, so I only had the patience to get two pictures loaded before I quit.  For Aidan's birthday - which doesn't happen for three more weeks - we took him and two friends to a "Wild West Train Robbery".  The kids had a ball on the train, and the robbery was really cute as well.  Wish I could get more pictures to work!

Suffice it to say, it was a great day.  Sophie didn't like the noise of the guns, but overall she had fun, too.  Aidan had been begging for a Western themed party, and with his love of trains this was just perfect! 

Studio Halloween Shots

 It's no surprise that I love pictures.  I love to take them and look at them - mine or other people's.  I also love art, but am not artistically creative.  Thank goodness I have friends who are!  A week or so before Halloween, I got a message out of the blue.  The mother of one of my oldest and dearest friends is getting a photgraphy degree.  Debe was not only my friend Kasie's mom, she was also my Brownie and Girl Scout troop leader and pom pon squad coach.  We go way back!  Anyway, she needed some younger subjects to do complete a class assignment with a specific lighting design and remembered seeing my kiddos on Facebook.  She thought their costumes would be perfect and wanted to know if I minded her using them.  Not a problem!  The kids had a ball and her pictures are beautiful.  She's bound to get an A++++!

Dracula

Dorothy the Diva

 

 

 

My absolute favorite photo ever, I think!

 

Thanks so much, Debe!  

Trick or Treat!

 I've already posted a ton of pictures of the kids in Halloween costumes between the zoo and Great Wolf Lodge, but I couldn't let Halloween go by without a couple more.  I had to teach class Wednesday evening, but I was home right before trick or treat time.  The boys had waited for me to carve the jack-o-lantern. Okay, who am I kidding?  They didn't wait for me...the just procrastinated until I got home started harping on the time.

Sophie was convinced there was an actual bug moving into the cobweb.  Maybe if Aidan had done a better job spreading it out, that might have been a possibility.

 Erin, Matt and Hunter came over since they're neighborhood isn't as trick-or-treat friendly as ours is.  We quickly ate some homemade soup and then set out to collect some candy!

 Matt and Tony sat on the front porch and handed out treats while Erin and I walked the kids around.  We went longer and farther than we've ever made it before, and the kids came home with an obnoxious amount of candy.  Not sure how we're going to eat what's in the picture below times three!

October Wrap-Up

Wow!  What happened to this month?  With the minor exception of Halloween tomorrow, October is pretty well gone.  Here are a few pictures I haven't shared yet.  Last week, we had a couple of record warm days.  Is there anything cuter than pigtails and bare feet?

Soccer season is over for the year.  Aidan has had a good run at the YMCA, but I'll be glad when he can start playing for St. Anthony.

 Even though Andrew's birthday was almost two weeks ago, we hadn't gotten around to have a cake and presents with the grandparents.  Andrew requested a cookie cake, so I found a great recipe on Pintrest and iced it as a Colts cake.  The only problem, Tony pointed out, was that the horseshoe is upside down.

 Andrew was totally excited to get a Colts jersey from Grandma and Papa.

 Aidan and some of his classmates put on a play during the short school week of Fall Break.  I got to go watch it - what a bunch of hams!

Today, Sophie's preschool class trick or treated around the "big school".  They had a great time, and Sophie is an adorable Dororthy.

Fabulous Fall Break

For the first time, we had an entire week off for Fall Break - and we managed to jam it full of fun things.  I wish we could rewind and do it all over again!  This post is going to be packed with pictures, but I had so many good ones I just couldn't decide.

 

On Thursday, I had to go to Indianapolis to a conference.  The kids spent the day with Papa and had a great time.  On Friday we bummed around and enjoyed a day off.  On Saturday, however, the fun began!  We took the kids, and Tony's mom, aunt, uncle, and cousin and headed to Bloomington for a little Hoosier Hysteria!  

 

 The line to get in was forever long and I doubted whether or not we'd make it....but we did, even though we were sitting one row from the top.  Can't complain - the price was right!

 Sophie liked eating and watching the cheerleaders.

 Andrew loved every minute we were there!

 We got home late Saturday night and on Sunday after church we headed off to Great Wolf Lodge in Mason, Ohio.  We have been looking forward to this trip for several months and it was well worth the wait. 

 The kids had their own "room" with bunk beds and a T.V.  They all wanted to sleep in the wolf den, so Andrew took the top bunk and Aidan and Sophie shared the bottom bunk.

 After we arrived, we played in the water park from about 2:30 until 4:30, when we headed to our room.  Part of our package deal included salad, pizza and drinks.  After eating, the kids put on their costumes to go on a scavenger hunt/trick-or-treat around the resort.

 When we finished collecting candy, we changed clothes and headed back to the lobby for story time.  Sophie loved it and was enthralled, although Andrew thought he was too cool.

 After the story, Aidan was the only one who would go do pictures with Oliver Raccoon.  Sophie was too scared and Andrew wasn't interested.

 We lucked into a night when the waterpark was open until 10.  So after the story, we headed back in to play from 8:30 to 10:00.

 The boys loved this challenge.  Aidan could do it consistently, while Andrew fell off every single time.

 Sophie didn't quite make it until 10 - she was tired.  So we left the boys in the water and walked around a little bit before heading back to the room for baths and snacks.

 Monday morning, we got up and had breakfast in the lodge resturant.  It was a little pricey for a buffet, but the kids didn't need to eat until we left for dinner, so it was well worth the money.

 Sophie hates to have water in her face, so she would only play in certain areas.  She liked the kids' hot tub, the wave pool, and parts of the tree house where there was no splashes.  She did one small slide, got water in her face, and refused to go on any more.  Despite her particularness, she still had an awesome time.

 Tony and I took turns doing the water slides with the boys.  They were pretty awesome!

 Around naptime after about 3 hours of playing, Sophie was getting whiny.  She and I took a break and went to the "cub club" to play for a little bit.  She had a ball and quickly revived.

 We went back and rounded up our boys for a snack from the sweet shop.  Sophie chose a cupcake and the boys chose ice cream. 

After that, it was back to the water!  We played for about four hours on Sunday and seven straight hours on Monday - not even a break for lunch.  We finally had to drag them out kicking and screaming at 6:00 pm so we could get some dinner and get on the road toward home.   We can't wait to go back again!

Product Review: Green Mountain Coffee Fair Trade Products

I have been a Green Mountain coffee drinker since I acquired a Keurig last winter.  (My absolute favorite is the pumpkin spice, just in case you wanted to know!)  So I was absolutely ecstatic to be chosen by Bzzagent to review Green Mountain's fair trade products.  Imagine my excitment when this came to my door:

Each pack had a sampling of four varities.  Tony likes the darker roasts and I like the breakfast blend, but my favorite was the Vermont blueberry.  I'll admit, even as a fan of flavored coffees I was skeptical of blueberry.  I was very pleasantly surprised that the taste was like eating a blueberry muffin while drinking a cup of coffee.  Not too dark, but still packed a punch unlike some flavored coffees that seem to weak.  Very yummy!  And while I don't stay on top of world events like I probably should, it's nice to know that what I'm drinking has benefitted others around the world.  Bottom line?  Go out and buy some Green Mountain coffee already!  I've got coupons to share, but they're going fast!