Spoteria!

Or, maybe Pictureka!

Pictureka is the BEST game ever! It's so perfect for our family with children of different ages. All of us enjoy playing it. Grandpa even had such a good time that he played with Huntie, Michael and neighbors Maddy and Quinn for hours. He "spotted" a picture on the board and accidentally shouted "spoteria" instead of "pictureka." Thus this blog title and a fresh new ongoing inside joke. Thanks daddy.

Michael pretty much kicks all of our trash at this game. How does he find those pictures SO dang fast!?

Happy Halloween

Introducing Huntie, "the Saints fan," Emily, "the mommy," Elle, aka "Dora," Kevin, as "Kevin Voisin for Council," and Michael, aka "Jango Fett" - our 2008 Halloween brood. Kevin and I are neck-n-neck for "most creative costume." Our original plan was for us all to be Dora characters: Elle as Dora, of course, Michael as Diego, Huntie as Isa the Iguana, Kevin as Benny the Bull (that's Benny the Bull as a potato, for those of you die hard Dora fans) and I was voted to be the Big Red Chicken. How could I pass up such an overwhelming honor, you ask?


Our super cousin Dyami entered the scene as a Pokemon Trainer! He looked pretty dang awesome - complete with his own life size Pokeball.


Kevin Fett.


Don't mistake Elle's sheepishness in this picture - she was a candy hog! She would accept the candy she was offered at each house, then proceed to dig her little Dora hands into the open candy dish until I pried her away. She'd then say, "OK, that's enough." She finally got the picture after about a dozen houses. Good thing she's so dang cute.


Uncle Greg took us all on a hayride through the neighborhood.


Ellie and Didi.


Coleen and baby Anabelle.


Not only was Uncle Greg an NBA star this Halloween, he was also Superdad feeding both himself and baby Bronson in a single bound. Very impressive Greg. You've got mad skills.

Storytime was a CIRCUS!

I've been working on routine and making fun and memorable traditions for our family lately. Now, on Tuesdays, we eat dinner at Sicily's Italian Buffet for kids eat free day and head to the library for Family Storytime. (Sometimes we even get cousins that come with us :) ) This week for Family Storytime they brought in clowns from the circus. WHAT a show!! The kids were all so engaged and loved every minute of it! They asked for ONE volunteer. Huntie was the winner. She got to stand in the middle of two juggling clowns. It was awesome!



Elle thought the clowns were fantastic, as did Huntie. Michael even giggled and cheered with the rest of them. At the end I convinced Michael to try on his clown nose after only wearing it myself for several minutes. But I couldn't for the life of me convince him to get in close enough proximity to a costumed adult to take a picture with the clowns.








But, Huntie, Elle, our neighbor Quinn, and cousins Nathaniel and Mara took the plunge and were photographed with "David" and "Sherrie," our dear clowns for the evening.

Punkins in the Pumpkin Patch

Every year we go to the pumpkin patch to pick out some pumpkins. In years past we've foregone the ritual pumpkin carving and just enjoyed the pumpkins the way God intended. This year - we will carve.

Elle has been SO captivated by pumpkins! Every store we go into, picture we see or whatever that suggests pumpkins just draw her in. She LOVES them! So when we found this "Ellie-sized" one she didn't let it go.

We loved having Megan, Quinn, Uncle Jason, Aunt Sally, Aunt "Mamoo" Amy and cousin Dyami at the pumpkin patch this year. We really had way too much fun. We took pictures, ran around, carefully selected pumpkins and spent a good 45 minutes there. During that time we saw about 5 other families come, select pumpkins and rush out of there in less than 2 minutes flat each. We'll just say we knew how to enjoy the expereince ;) - poor pumpkin patch attendants.