Ice Fishing Fun!

The boys have been anticipating their ice fishing adventure for a couple weeks! They have never been ice fishing before, so we have been looking at pictures online this past week. Everyone at their school knew they were going to South Dakota and going ice fishing! I saw them off onto the lake and then took Kylie home to stay warm. Here are the highlights!

Evan stayed cozy by warming his toes by the heater. 

Evan's hard work paid off, and in 5 minutes he caught a silver bass. 

Jaden waited and waited and waited. In his words, "I want my fish, and I want it now!!" Remember, he has the patience of his mother and his maternal grandmother!

Finally, Jaden caught a small walleye. 

Evan jumped right up to help! I am sure they will have stories for their classmates after break. 

And a big THANKS to Eric for making this happen!

Thanksgiving 2016

As tradition has it, we hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year- complete with shopping! The kiddos were spoiled with attention from Aunt Laurie, Grandma Linda, Grandma Pam and Grandpa Al. 

Kylie's new chair! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 My first apple pie!

 Cuddler Kylie!

Kiwi Crate! They made a claw arcade game. 

Like Grandma like Granddaughter!

Fall Fun!

Fall usually happens quickly as the temperatures seem to change to 'cold' within days. However, that was not the case this year. The kiddos enjoyed playing outside a lot, and we did so whenever we had a chance (until the time changed, and now it gets dark so early!)

Trying to keep up with her brothers!

 They all LOVED playing in the leaf piles this year! Everyone got a turn at being buried! Some liked it better than others:)

 Jaden was Star of the week the end of October. He got to be line-leader, messenger, and dad got to come read the 'J Book' to his class!

 Mulberry School had a fundraiser at Barnes and Noble with stories, food, and face-painting. This is so much more intense than the little set of 3 balloons that I used get on my cheek as a kid! Fun!

Meet Jackson and Evan The Fish!

Thanks to Aunt Laurie, Evan and Jaden are now owners of their first pets!

They were so excited to find fish that were their favorite colors! 

Evan found an orange fish and named it Evan, while Jaden found Jackson, a red beta. 

Yes, if looking closely at the pictures, Evan's fish changed:( The first "Evan The Fish" did not make it through the first day. He surprisingly took the news of the fish's death relatively well. We then opted for another beta fish for him. Which fortunately, has a tint of orange!

Since Nathan has his own 90 gallon tanks to clean, I have taken on the task of weekly water changes. I look forward to putting that on the boys' chore chart as soon as they are capable. Fortunately, they always remember to feed their fish an Uptime Snack. 

Howl-een & Halloween!

Our annual Howl-een weekend tradition continues with the Frantz family at the Great Wolf Lodge in the Wisconsin Dells. As the kids get older, it is fun to watch their excitement grow for the water slides! Evan and Jaden just passed the height requirement for all the bigger slides. It terrified me, but Nathan took them on many slide adventures and they wouldn't stop talking about each one. Their favorite was the one with the 'sleds' (mats). Lainey and Kylie even loved the mini-slides this year. Yes, it took 3 adults to help them: one to catch, one to walk, and one to get them started!

Lainey!

Although, we didn't spend too much time in the room, while the big boys watched sports, Evan, Jaden and Tucker played Pie Face! 

Kylie wanted a turn, too! Not impressed!

 There were many evening activities including a trick-or-treat trail, costume parade, dance party, and story time. 

Evan, Jaden and Kylie met up with Tucker and Lainey to trick-or-treat around the neighborhood. I can tell this year the boys really embraced the concept of trick-or-treating. They took charge and knew Kylie and Lainey would of course want to follow! 

Thank you to all the 'teal pumpkins' out there that offered non-candy treats for those with allergies! Otherwise, it was a game of sorting for us with all the peanut containing candy. 

Thanks, Alex, for all of your help this weekend!! So fun!

 Our neighborhood was safe tonight with these three Ghostbusters!!