Halloween

We took in some Trick or Treating in the neighborhood at break neck speed before we headed out to the church for some Trunk or Treating

Rachel on the fly!

Walk like a....well you know!

And Aaron, he got a rock. (Pardon the Charlie Brown reference)

Earth to Heidi!

So I had my "spaced out" moment today. I went through the bank drive thru and took care of the business that I needed to. Then I had to sit in traffic waiting for a train. Sat there for about 15 minutes and then looked over at the passenger seat. What was sitting there - the tube from the bank drive thru. "Good Grief!" I proceeded to turn around and go back to the bank. They were happy to get it back. :) Time for more vitamin B12!!

A sight rarely seen...

...Dusty in a costume! Dusty has a reputation for been fairly straight-laced. (I happen to know better!) So for him to show up at Awana tonight in a pirate costume, it caused more than a couple double takes, especially with the boys that are in his class. Some of them were almost convinced the earring was real.

In fact neither one of us had dressed up for Halloween in years. So here we are: Cleopatra and her pirate. (I'm sure there's a movie in that somewhere)

My Puggles class was so cute tonight. However I could barely get through the story. They kept wanting to touch the beads in my headband.

Aaron geared up as a ninja and Rachel in her fairly get up. We'll pull the costumes out again on Friday for Trunk or Treat.

And he wasn't the only pirate. Ryan the pirate and Dusty the deck hand!

24 Hours of Magic

...or how to freeze in no time flat! My brother Daniel is performing 72 magic shows in 24 hours at the local Steak 'n Shake to raise money for breast cancer research. So we had a hamburger and then took in some magic shows. Let me just say...IT IS COLD! Daniel is performing 10 minute shows in a 3 sided tent outside as I type this. And hey, if you're reading this before 10 AM Wednesday morning then you can still head out to Avon and catch a show. I'm sure he would enjoy the company at 3:00 AM. :)

Somewhere around show #21!

This is our other brother Peter, who somehow managed to get talked into staying out all night with Daniel. He's serving as the camerman and apparently is security for the event. And, yes, he really is a cop so he's allowed to wear the hat. :)

Hackney 4 Pumpkin

I give you the Hackney 4 Jack 'o Lantern! Not too scary or weird...design chosen by Aaron, traced by me, and carving by BJ Weaver and his rotary saw!

Pumpkin Madness

I learned today that as far as pumpkin carving goes - I've been doing it all wrong. I usually tote out a pumpkin a couple days before Halloween, grab a big spoon and a semi-sharp knife and carve out some triangle eyes and a crooked little smile and call it a day. This afternoon we headed over to the Weaver's for some snack, pumpkin fun, and to celebrate B.J.'s new job. Then I was schooled in the proper way to carve a jack 'o lantern. It looks something like this:

Here's B.J. and his special "pumpkin gutter" that he bought for the occasion. Notice the safety glasses...pumpkin guts were flying!

Rachel took the less messy route with Ben and the foam pumpkin with stickers

Our pumpkin was a tough one - too tough for the carving tools. No Problem - B.J. brought out the heavy equipment. Like I said, the Weaver's are serious about their pumpkins, but then they end up with gems like this one.

After the pumpkin fun we headed to the Painter's for dinner and a throw-down in Family Feud. Hackney's were victorious! Even one of the Painter's defected to our side for the evening. I won't name names, but he looks something like this:

For the full recap head on over to Painter El Cinco. :)

Bowled Over

After spending a lot of the day in front of the computer editing photos and it being fall break, it was time to get out of the house tonight. Activity of choice: Bowling. I think this was Rachel's 1st time to bowl. For the record I won the 1st round. Then it all went down hill in the 2nd game. Aaron beat everyone in the 2nd round. However I think I should point out he had at least one strike assisted by the bumper rails. I did manage to save face and not get beat by the 3-year old. But we were neck and neck for a few frames. :)

Sneak Peek - JJ and Allison

More sneak peeks. Today's shoot was J.J. and Allison. OK - better get back to editing! :) I think the weather is going to turn sour on me tomorrow. May have to reschedule Saturday's shoot.

Fall Rush

And the rush is on! Fall leaves are changing and everyone wants their family photo. Here are a few sneak peaks from the last 2 days.

Collins Family

Herrera Family

Leckrone Family

Smores Anyone?

Kicked off the Smores roasting season and broke in Jim and Sarah's fire pit tonight. Mmmmm...marshmallows....chocolate...

Turns out that either Paul's musical talent is VERY soothing or everyone tends to blink when the flash goes off.

You be the judge

Jim thinks that if he can hold his tongue in just the right position his playing can be just as soothing as Paul's. :) Also we discovered that Dusty has a new superpower. You can read all about that over here.

Seeing Double

UPDATE - The Dynamic Duo strike again. This is how the girls looked for Mom's group this morning. This was not planned; we didn't even realize they both had this shirt. What can I say - they like to be stylish together. :)

Madelyn debuted this owl shirt several weeks ago at Mom's group. A day after that we were in Wal-mart looking at fall clothes for Rachel when she spotted the shelf with the same owl shirts. She was very excited, "Look! An owl....just like Madelyn....I want one just like Madelyn....PLEEEEEASE!" Since she needed fall clothes anyway, I couldn't resist. They were very proud to show off their matching shirts. :)

Genius!

Saturday we found the perfect solution to the problem of making everyone happy when we go out to eat. 3 restuarants - 1 building! You want a pizza? We got you covered. Chalupa craving - no problem. Mouth watering for popcorn chicken - it's on it's way. Now if they would only build a Stone Creek with a hidden, soundproof Chuck E Cheese in the back. That would be something!

Out of the house!

After the week we've had we needed to get out! We spent some time at Holiday Park in Indy. Walked some of the trails down by the White River and otherwise meandered around and let the kids play on the playground. Nice to be out without a schedule or agenda.

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Recovery, bribery, and other surgery tales

Now that I'm a little more coherent; more about our week. First of all, Aaron is doing great. He is up and walking around with no problems. He walked down our street a little ways today. He has not had any pain today. Thank you for all of your prayers for his recovery!

He's enjoyed QUITE a few cartoons today. But he did manage to find time to work a little on homework as well. About the bribery - While we were at the doctor's office we were kept shuttling between the office and the lab as they tried to determine what was going on. Aaron had already had blood drawn and an x-ray. We were back in the lab a 2nd time; this time for a CT scan. Before the scan you get to drink a horrendous barium concoction that supposedly is flavored, but is still terrible. It was at this point that Aaron had realized that surgery might possibly be in his future and it had him a bit rattled. Then he was expected to drink this nasty stuff and let's just say he was at his breaking point. Now as a mother, you hate to see your child suffering through anything. So after telling him that I would gulp it down for him if I could, (just like any good mother would do) I told him that I thought he deserved a special treat after he was done. In fact, I thought he deserved a new game for his Nintendo DS. He agreed and then quietly said that it probably wouldn't be a certain game he had been wanting because it was more expensive. Then I looked into the tear-stained green eyes of my son who was holding a cup full of nasty barium liquid while sitting in a wheelchair in pain and did the only thing I could - I promised to buy him whatever game he wanted.

My son now has a brand new Guitar Hero on Tour for DS and he's thrilled. I'm out $54 bucks, but my boy is out of the hospital and not in any more pain. We both win! Maybe I can claim it towards my medical deductible?

Appendix be gone!

Ever had one of those days that didn't turn out quite like you had planned? Monday evening Aaron began complaining of abdominal pain. When he woke up Tuesday it was worse. I made a doctor appointment for later that day. Long story short - After an x-ray, blood draw, and a CT scan we were on our way to Hendricks Regional in Danville to check into the hospital. Turns out his appendix was starting to get nasty with us. He had surgery at 7:30 PM on Tuesday and the appendix has been banished!

Here we are pre-surgery on Tuesday evening.

And here he is minus one appendix, sucking down Sprite and Jell0, and overdosing on Spongebob. We are now home and Aaron is resting. He is doing very well. He was quite the trooper. I'll write more later, but I am rapidly becoming aware of how spending the night at the hospital is not really conducive to good rest. Zzzzzzz

Sneak Peek - Loralei

Glad the Colts finally played like the Colts yesterday! Happy 4th Birthday Loralei!

It's On!

See these leaves on my little tree in the back yard? See what they are doing? Yep, turning yellow. And so it begins - the 2.5-3 week rush to get as many photo shoots done in the great outdoors with the Indiana leaves at the peak of their fall colors. Of course right now it feels more like August than October. So here's to great weather, bright and beautiful leaves, and cooperative photo subjects from the age 7 and under persuasion!

PS - 3 of my friends are suffering down in Orlando, Florida this week. Poor things! But hey, I'm not bitter. :) You don't have beautiful fall leaves where you're at!! So there. (Who am I kidding, they're not reading this. They're whooping it up in FLORIDA!) Have fun guys!

Date night

Tonight was a date night for Dusty and I. What? You don't go out on regular dates with your spouse. Well - START! After dropping the kids off at Carla & Jason's we headed for a quick bite at Qdoba's. Sorry, I didn't snap a pic of my Queso Chicken Burrito before I polished it off. :) Then we headed to the theater to see Fireproof. Go see this movie! It took me just a tiny bit to get past some of the acting, but this movie is great with an awesome message about marriage that everyone should see.

On a side note, Rachel brought this home from Carla's. I'm wondering what Carla got her started on! But, it's just milk. :)

Bedtime

Apparently we have a new bedtime ritual around here. Rachel insists on tucking Aaron in. :)

Just like her daddy!

No photo for you today. I spent the better part of today editing photos, but I'm now caught up! So here's something funny for you. As you might already know, Dusty is VERY analytical and tedious. :) A lot of times after he's gone to bed, he will get up again to write himself a note for the next day. This happens all the time. Tonight after Rachel had gone to bed I went in to check on her. I found her sitting by her nightlight. When I asked her why she wasn't in bed, she said that she had to write something. There she was scribbling away on an index card. When I asked what she was writing, she said, "Something I want for my birthday." My response - Go to Bed! Which is pretty much the same response I give Dusty. :) Aaargh!!! They're going to be the death of me! :)

Time to play...

...what is Paul thinking.

1. It's early! I wish I would have got the Venti mocha at Starbucks.
2. Why did I wear the same shirt as Jim today!
3. How did I let Heidi and Sarah talk me into playing for a WMU event

(For my non-Southern Baptist readers; WMU stands for Women's Missionary Union)

:) Thanks Paul!

Party Day

Today we officially partied for Aaron's 11th Birthday. He had 4 friends over in addition to all his grandparents, Uncle Joel, Aunt Sarah, Makenna, Aunt Becky, David & Madelyn. Full House!

Notice anything about this little group of friends? Yep...Abbey is the only girl. She was a good sport about it. Even when the boys all grouped together with their skateboards and this was the result.

So she helped the little kids to have some fun of their own.

Then there was Memaw who was also going to make her own fun.

Rachel and Makenna had fun playing together including a rousing game of Peek-a-Boo. However the quote of the day came from little David. After he had fallen off of the ottoman Becky was asking him if he was OK. His reply, "Uggh...I got hit by the floor!" :)

This is me and my beloved after the festivities. Zzzzzzzzzz