Awesome Girl

Have I mentioned how amazing my kids are? These older two are seriously so smart, at parent teacher conferences this year their teachers just raved about how great they are, how smart, and how much they enjoy having them.
I got a call from Ry's school saying she had won an award and they wanted us to come to the award ceremony when she received it. So... come to find out she had won The Cornerstone award. It is an award given to three kids from each grade, the teachers get together and discuss who deserves it and she was one of the three out of her grade! We were so proud and she was so shocked!
They took the winners out to a nice restaraunt for lunch along with a nice certificate and some coupons for free meals etc. I love this girl and am so proud of her, she is amazing!

In a nutshell...

October came and went in one big blur. I love Halloween and spent many hours on costumes and crafts and cookies. We had school parties, friend parties, church parties and I really got tired of running around! But I also loved every minute watching these girls enjoy the month. Dad was gone but the party still went on, the house was messy but we had a blast.





We have some really great friends out here who are always there to help us out, to craft with us, to hang out with us .
So here are just a few of those people we love!

Visit with Grams

We had such a blast last month when Grams came out to visit. J was in Indiana for October for an externship and his mom came out for a week to help out.
We did so many fun things. She helped with costumes, she made this scarecrow hat which happens to be the cutest hat ever!

Ani wanted to go to the childrens museum so of course we had to take Grams. They loved playing shopping.

The night before Grams left, J jumped out and surprised her. She did not think she was going to see him this trip so she was so excited.
We talked him into driving us around to see the covered bridges. There are seventeen of them around here, we made it to about six. It was a beautiful drive just a bit too much for these little ones.


No pictures with the older girls but they did have plenty of time after school to spend with Grams too. She took Ry shopping for Christmas and Birthday gifts, and went to lunch at the school with Ave, she also helped at Ani's school and took Joss for walks to the park in the mornings, she helped Ave make a cat costume for her doll, and she helped me out tons. We cleaned, cooked, she helped me go through tons of toys and books that were in our small basement flood. She is so great! We loved having her visit and are counting down to the next visit in May!!

Road Trip

Here is a little proof that I alone took my four girls on a road trip to Indiana. It was a miserable,long ten hours but luckily the kids were all so good. I did not get any other pictures besides the ones I took in Cincinnati in a two hour traffic stop, and icecream at McDonalds for a much needed break.

Good Bye Summer

We timed it perfectly and hit the park on the last day of warmth. Bossy and her bud Sharlie had a blast running around, and posing for the camera! Oh and you can't forget Baby Debbie, Our awesome yard sale find named after my Aunt Debbie!


I totally love this girl! She cracks me up. She has such a fun, playful personality. Loves to pull faces and dance around.
She was going down a tube and every little hole she went past she would say "cheese, take a picture" and i would, because you can never have too many pics of this cute little face peeking out at you.

Today....

Ave has had the craziest thing on her ankle. It has just been getting bigger, leaking fluid, red, and super itchy. My only thought was bug bites. (Only because Punky got eaten alive by ants in her sleep a few months ago) So after the school nurse told her no it was not bug bites, I had a Dr. friend come check it out. He said it could be bug bites or poison ivy/oak, which would be weird cause she has not been near places that would have it. He also said if it got worse to go see her Dr. So we did that today and sure enough poison ivy/oak. What? Weird. The Dr said that even mulch can have it in it! So could have been from the school playground for all we know. Ave also had a more severe reaction than usual so she was very uncomfortable for a week! Poor girl. But nothing makes it feel better like hanging out in Target eating a brownie and slushee!

And off that topic and onto another one.... I love days like this. For some odd reason we all end up hanging out in the kitchen. We love the sunlight through the windows, the open space, and since I am always in there they follow me. So mark my words I will have a couch and hang out area in my kitchen one day.

And don't worry, sometimes they read too, not just play ipods. Oh and Ry wanted me to add that her ipod touch was acting up so they took it into the geeks who gave her a new one today and she is thrilled. (I am just thrilled that I got her in a good mood and in a picture!)