Halloween goodies

Nothing like waiting until the last minute to carve pumpkins and make Halloween goodies, right? We've been talking about making popcorn balls for some time now but haven't had a weekend free to do so. It was fun, they're yummy and I'm thinking this will have to be a new tradition in the Walker house. In case you're thinking of making them here are a few tips if you plan on using an air popper =) -make sure you seal up the un-popped popcorn bag when you're done with it - make sure the bowl is big enough to hold all the popping popcorn - try not to be holding a baby - and finally - when you're cleaning up the popcorn that flew all over, make sure to not knock over the un-sealed popcorn bag (which won't be a problem for you because now you know to seal it up). Those little kernels can fly! What a mess. =) Other than that little mishap it all went pretty smoothly. The directions say to be careful when making the popcorn balls because it will be hot. Hot was an understatement. My hands were burning and then the molten sugar kept sticking to me. Tom was laughing at me calling me a baby...lets see him do it. =)

While I was stirring the sugary goodness Tom was in charge of pumpkin carving. First they had to wash their pumpkins. Hannah's was by far the most spoiled pumpkin, it took a LONG bath and then got a nice scrubbing. Then they had to dry them, who knew there was a right and a wrong way to dry them. And then finally, they had to make outlines of what they were going to do. I think Hannah was a little disappointed when we didn't let her use the knife. Can you imagine how long it would take to carve a pumpkin using a butter knife. =) Emerson just sat back and enjoyed a biter biscuit while watching her crazy family. Oh, to know what she thinks - I can only imagine. She's just so darn cute. We did let Emerson do a little "gutting". She was fascinated with the gooey stuff and boy did she like the pumpkin seeds.

We've got a busy day ahead of us tomorrow but I hope to be back with some costume pictures before we head out to Beck and Robs house. Just in case I don't make it back before...

HaPpY hAlLoWeEn!

A sunny soccer game

We finally had a chance to go to one of Brittany's soccer games. She plays for the 9th grade team at Calvelero Mid-High (what a beautiful school!). It was her last game of the season and it was a beautiful day. It seemed that all of her other home games were on really rainy days. I thought Hannah would enjoy it because she loves to play soccer, but I was wrong. Shocker! She was much more interested in going up and down the bleachers and then running through the walkways. You just never know with that girl. Brittany is quite the soccer player. She played goalie the first half and she didn't have much to do (thank goodness). Second half she played midfield and did really well. Susan was saying that her team was 10-1 but after that game they were 11-1. YAY! They had quite the season. Watching Britty brought back lots of good memories of my soccer playing days. =) I had lots of fun playing and hopefully so will my girls.

Fall

I forgot to post these pictures with our Spokane trip. After we left the fire station we stopped to let the kids play a bit (trying to burn up some extra energy before the ride home). The trees on base were so beautiful in all their fall colors. Jen had wanted to get some fall pictures so we siezed the moment. =) The kids had fun throwing the leaves up in the air - they were going for the ultimate fall look. I think they did pretty good at achieving it. We didn't stay too long because it was a bit chilly, beautiful but chilly. I'm now wishing that I had snapped a few pictures of the tree lined streets and all the leaves on the ground. What a sight. I've decided that fall is officially my favorite season. So pretty!

Do you notice the pile of leaves headed toward Hunters head...Tom was helping with the fall look. =)

Happy Fall!!

Spokane

Well, we made it back all in one piece from a quick trip over the mountains and back. I think I was so nervous for the car ride that I was prepared for the worst. We didn't leave Everett until 6, which made me a bit nervous - leaving so late, but I think it actually worked in our favor. Emerson slept until Ellensburg and Hannah talked our ears off until Ellensburg where we got ourselves a little dessert. We let the girls wiggle around and I made Hannah do some jumping jacks to get rid of some of that energy. It must have worked because they both slept the rest of the trip. It was wonderful. We pulled in to Caryl's place in Idaho just after 11:30, not too bad!

Saturday morning Caryl made breakfast for us and had all her kids and their kids come over. It was SO nice to see them, even if it was just for a short bit. We always end up leaving the Stinebaugh group thinking that we wished we lived closer to them. They're all nice and so much fun to be around. Well...that Lenny is questionable. =)

Parker, Hannah, Ashlie and Emerson

After breakfast we went to Jump N Bounce for little Jakob's birthday party. What a hoot. We all had so much fun. I left there with a little burn on my arm from trying to stop mid-slide so that I wouldn't crash into my daughters head. We even took Emmie down the slides to which she squealed and flapped her arms with joy. After the birthday party we headed out to dinner at the Pohl's house. We always have fun and feel so at home at their house. Hannah torments Hunter and Hunter torments Hannah. Sometimes they act like a little old married couple. Cracks me up!

Mommmm!

Crazy Uncle Rich...that's Tom who throws the balls at his head. What brotherly love!

Sunday morning Jen and the kids skipped church so they could spend some time with us. Eddie had to go into work so he was up and out of the house pretty early. We've been trying since they moved to Spokane to get a tour of the fire station on base, but for one reason or another (mostly because of us forgetting important documents that would allow us to get on base) we just haven't gotten to. I'm pretty sure Tom had more fun than Hannah. Hannah was really quiet as we toured the station but looking back now I know that she was just taking it all in. On the way home she kept talking about how nice it was of Auntie Eddie to show us around. She thought the kitchen was nice and the dog was really cute. I think her actual words were "that cute, cute, cute puppy" - which makes me laugh because the dog wasn't real and seriously, the nicest thing she saw was the kitchen?!? What a girl! But now she's excited because the next time we go she might get to go for a ride on one of the fire trucks. Won't that be fun. =)

Can you see the excitement in Hannah's fake smile.Look at me! I'm on a fire truck!!!!

Hannah decided she could carry this dummy out of a fire AND it can also be used as her dance partner!

Thank you "Auntie Eddie" for showing us around the station and taking us to the Fire Fighters Only section. =)

Hannah's Field Trip

Yesterday was the big field trip! It was a lot of fun, freezing cold, but fun. We got to school, signed Hannah in and then jumped on the big bus. Hannah was so excited to go on a bus. She sat there very quietly, taking it all in, for the first 10 minutes. Then I got lots of "mom you're the best" and "thank you so much for taking me to preschool" and I even got a "I'm so proud we're on the bus". She's "proud" of lots of things these days, but when she says that you know you've done good. =) It was a good thing that Tom didn't meet us there like we had originally planned, because the Farm that we would have driven to was different than the one they went to. What a fun place. We started off in the hay maze that took us through a very spider-webby barn. Tom asked if I liked all the spider web decorations. HA! It really creeped me out. Yuck. Gives me chills just thinking about it. Then we wandered our way over to the petting farm which was very fragrant and then off to the hayride. The kids got to each pick out one pumpkin. I'm glad we had already gotten Hannah her pumpkin because the pickins were slim. There must have been 10 other schools there and a lot of the pumpkins were still green. Hannah was so nice and she gave her pumpkin to Emerson. Isn't she a nice sister. =) When we were done in the patch we headed back to the covered area for a snack. I was really hoping for some fresh apple cider or hot cocoa, but no, the kids all got ice cream. First of all it was 10:30 in the morning and second it was FREEZING cold. The kids were shivering while they ate. Tom was just waiting for Hannah to hand hers over. He was confident that she wouldn't eat the whole thing, when he realized that she was going to eat all of hers he quickly looked to her friend Alex. =) After our snack we got to watch the pig show. It was entertaining. A big pig (George) was the "wolf" in The Three Little Pigs and he chased the three little ones around. Lots of squealing, from both the pigs and the kids. It was cute. We had a few minutes before we needed to load back on the bus so we took them to the play area. Hannah had fun jumping off the bales of hay over and over and over again. She managed to get Alex to join her but Alex was a little more apprehensive about jumping off. Hannah would hold her hand and jump but more often than not, Alex would still be up at the top while Hannah was down in the hay. By the time we had to go Alex was just getting comfortable jumping. Despite the cold, we had a really good time. I think next year we might give the Farm a try for our own pumpkins.

Nice purse, sweetieAlex & HannahTom eyeing Alex's ice creamDerek, Hannah & PaytonGeorge1,2,3 JumpCome on Alex!Two tired girls. I love that she's holding Emerson's hand! So sweet!