31 of 52

Trick -or- Treat

Goofy 'ol kids!

and a naughty Old Dad.

Visit Forever in Blue Jeans to see more moms.

******************52 Weeks********************

52 Weeks is a year long challenge for YOU to be in a picture once a week for 52 weeks. We are always the ones behind the camera, this is YOUR chance to get out in front and be in the pictures with our family. We are glad you are joining this challenge. More importantly your family will really enjoy having you in the picture. Thanks for playing along! Oh, you can just jump in now with 1 of 52, you're not getting off that easy! Now go take a picture!

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30 of 52

 

Hayride fun with my little guy on his 2nd grade field trip!

Visit Carin at Forever in Blue Jeans to get a glimpse of all the Mom's in front of their cameras.

******************52 Weeks********************

52 Weeks is a year long challenge for YOU to be in a picture once a week for 52 weeks. We are always the ones behind the camera, this is YOUR chance to get out in front and be in the pictures with our family. We are glad you are joining this challenge. More importantly your family will really enjoy having you in the picture. Thanks for playing along! Oh, you can just jump in now with 1 of 52, you're not getting off that easy! Now go take a picture!

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29 of 52

  Saturday we ventured north to Montague for the Pumpkinfest.  For $2 the kids picked out a pumpkin and registered it for the famous Pumpkin Roll.

In the small town of Montague there is an exceptionally large hill, which was newly repaved, just right for rolling things down like, oh say, pumpkins.  Come to think of it I wonder what other things I could have brought along to try my hand at rolling down the mighty hill... hmmm - I'll have to make a game plan for next year. 

This incredibly steep hill, especially if you are hauling a cumbersome plastic wagon filled with all of the things your children refuse to carry, is blocked off from traffic {duh!} and numerous hay bales create a pumpkin barrier at the bottom.   

Hundreds of kids, no joke, smoosh together in the street at the top of the hill waiting for their age group to be called.  Lilly was in the 0-3 year old group, of which there were the most contestants by far.  Do you wonder if there are any 0 year olds there, rolling pumpkins, on a freezing October day... yeah, I don't think so either- a bit of overkill Pumpkinfest Committee, just a bit. 

The kids go in heats of about 25 or so kids and when the lady yells "GO!" the tykes shove their pumpkin down the hill as hard as their chubby little hands will allow. 

It is at this point that each and every adult with their 0-3 yr old ignores the good advice the "GO!" lady gave them just moments before the start, that being "wait a minute before following your pumpkin so they all have time to clear." 

So, since my view was obstructed with every adult rear-end that just knew the "GO!" lady certainly didn't mean them, I decided to listen and just waited. 

Many of the uber intelligent adults who ran ahead, I was happy to see, ended up getting nailed by a pumpkin or two on the way down.  Karma, perhaps?

So we started walking down the hill, trying to see the number on Lilly's pumpkin to free it from the curb if need be...

As we walked down the hill we heard over the garbled loud speaker the winning pumpkin number being called that soundly incredibly close to the one written on my little Lilly's oddly flat pumpkin.  Certain that I was hearing it wrong we continued to take our time down the hill.  Her pumpkin was so "un-round" that I just knew it would not do well. 

If only I had taken a moment to picture a car tire in my mind... not incredibly round are they?  Instead they could be considered flat on two sides, much like the pumpkin Lil' picked.  She is a genius, she had a pumpkin wheel!  Wouldn't you know...???

She won her heat and received a cute button with a pride-inducing blue ribbon attached!

Back up the hill we waited in the crowd for the 7-12 age group and the boys gave it a go.  While both claim to have come in second there is really no way to know.  The pumpkins fly down the hill and the smaller and flatter they are the better they do.  The curb looked like a Nascar race, with pumpkins zooming past, all vying for the front spot.

It was a fun day at this neat little festival.  The boys tried pumpkin seed spitting,

face painting,

and pumpkin painting.

I would like to take a moment to mention that the pumpkin roll pumpkin cost $1 each and yet the painting pumpkins were free... if only we had done it in reverse order we could have shoved the FREE ones down the hill.  

Nathan and Topher both painted eyes on theirs so it would have looked like severed heads racing down the street - hmmm, we could have awarded 1 point for every 0 yr old who cried.  Next year, next year.

We will definitely be making a trip to Pumpkinfest again!

Visit Carin at Forever in Blue Jeans to see lots of Mom's up to the same monkey business.

******************52 Weeks********************

52 Weeks is a year long challenge for YOU to be in a picture once a week for 52 weeks. We are always the ones behind the camera, this is YOUR chance to get out in front and be in the pictures with our family. We are glad you are joining this challenge. More importantly your family will really enjoy having you in the picture. Thanks for playing along! Oh, you can just jump in now with 1 of 52, you're not getting off that easy! Now go take a picture!

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28 of 52

 Frilly purple princess dress? Check!   Matching purple tights and fuzzy purple purse? Check!   Happy smiles for the camera before we left?  Check!

Princess Lillian sashed and crowned?

Check!

Happy smiles for the camera before the event began?

Check!

Party over before it barely began?

um, yeah - a big 'ol Check-a-rooni on that one!

Maybe next year....

 

 

Visit Carin at Forever in Blue Jeans to see da other Mom's, 'eh?

******************52 Weeks********************

52 Weeks is a year long challenge for YOU to be in a picture once a week for 52 weeks. We are always the ones behind the camera, this is YOUR chance to get out in front and be in the pictures with our family. We are glad you are joining this challenge. More importantly your family will really enjoy having you in the picture. Thanks for playing along! Oh, you can just jump in now with 1 of 52, you're not getting off that easy! Now go take a picture!

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27 of 52

Today is Thursday.  Yes, it is.  Don't argue with me, if I say it is Thursday, well, then it darn well better be Thursday.  Don't make me come over there... Okay, now that we are on the same page - Happy Thursday! 

On this lovely Autumn day, I can't help but wonder - Does this child ever smile?  Bribes don't work, threats don't work {ahem, not that I'd try that...}, hugs and kisses only make her more angry.  Where is her smile, I continue to wonder... 

A-ha! 

It is hidden beneath the bubbles.  Who knew...

Visit Carin at Forever in Blue Jeans, she is the genuis behind 52 Weeks.

******************52 Weeks********************

52 Weeks is a year long challenge for YOU to be in a picture once a week for 52 weeks. We are always the ones behind the camera, this is YOUR chance to get out in front and be in the pictures with our family. We are glad you are joining this challenge. More importantly your family will really enjoy having you in the picture. Thanks for playing along! Oh, you can just jump in now with 1 of 52, you're not getting off that easy! Now go take a picture!

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25 of 52

Thirty again!  Yes, that is right - I am going backwards in age so when my birthday rolled around {as it seems to have the pesky habit of doing so every year...} I was delighted to erase a few years from my birth certificate.  Go me! 

We started a super fun weekend with the visit of a speedy ice cream truck... well, more of a sad looking Astro Van which closely resembled a rusty bullet as it sped down our busy street.  Luckily with 8 arms waving wildly at the end of driveway we summoned the gal back and perused her wares... which were sadly limited and packed in dry ice.  This picture of Nathan is exactly what it looks like - said young man managed to get his tounge STUCK to his ice cream bar.  {What a look of compassion Topher has for his brothers pain} After a bit of patience and his warming breath he was free and managed to enjoy the treat without further incident.  Whew!

On Saturday we packed the fam in to our sleek, rust free van and sped off like a bullet to Grand Haven for the day.  I {heart} Rays from back in my High School days, so we stopped in and the kids experienced that fun little hamburger stand which we quickly took to the State Park and enjoyed on the sandy beach.  For the first time this summer we enjoyed a hot, wind and seagull free day, now that is sayin' something.

Each of the kids took turns digging large holes and filling them back in with their bodies and loads of heavy sand, similar to small tombs - don't really see the appeal myself.  Lilly couldn't resist getting back at Topher for all his naughty big brother crud he is always pulling on her... it was pretty funny to see how upset the little bit of water made him only after he saw who was pouring it. 

Monday morning, the day of my birthday, the kids woke me up with breakfast in bed {which looked oddly like Mr. Magoo}, a GIANT card that spoke to me and a very nice gift of bath bubbles.  Since that day I keep wishing a quick death to the battery of the card because it causes hours entertainment for Lilly now... *sigh*

After breakfast we headed out to the John Ball Park Zoo in Grand Rapids.  Fun!

Could it be that Lilly was in a bad mood...again...even after a fun day at the zoo?  Um, ya, which is usually the case anymore - I am so not looking forward to her teenage years if this is what her toddler years are like.  Seriously.   

 We ended our fun-filled weekend with a yummy ice cream cake and two too many candles... I'm going backwards, remember?  Guess I'll have to talk to the management about that one.  Sunday night Patrick arranged for the kids to go to The Wonderful Sherry's {her new title from now on} house for about 4 hours so we could have alone time and go to dinner - so I vote this year as the absolute best birthday ever. 

Forever in Blue Jeans is another fabulous place to be, go on over and check it out.

******************52 Weeks********************

52 Weeks is a year long challenge for YOU to be in a picture once a week for 52 weeks. We are always the ones behind the camera, this is YOUR chance to get out in front and be in the pictures with our family. We are glad you are joining this challenge. More importantly your family will really enjoy having you in the picture. Thanks for playing along! Oh, you can just jump in now with 1 of 52, you're not getting off that easy! Now go take a picture!

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22 of 52

Beach Babes...

tryin' to make the most of a very not-so-hot summer at P.J. Hoffmaster State Park in Muskegon.

Forever in Blue Jeans, party at Carin's place!

******************52 Weeks********************
52 Weeks is a year long challenge for YOU to be in a picture once a week for 52 weeks. We are always the ones behind the camera, this is YOUR chance to get out in front and be in the pictures with our family. We are glad you are joining this challenge. More importantly your family will really enjoy having you in the picture. Thanks for playing along! Oh, you can just jump in now with 1 of 52, you're not getting off that easy! Now go take a picture!
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21 of 52

As Wednesday rolled along it dawned on me that I had not made time to be in any photos so far this week... old habits are hard to break I suppose. Last night I grabbed my camera and the child nearest me for a few candid shots - imagine this to be a strip of photos from a booth, if you will. This is our "funny" face

This is our "surprised" face

This is Lilly not hearing me say "make a nice smile" and sticking with the "surprised" face

This is me tickling Lilly out of her constant state of frozen "surprised" face

This is us tumbling after the stinker pushed off and took us both backwards, smack on the floor. I'll tumble for ya!

Lovin' the challenge, show some love at Forever in Blue Jeans!

******************52 Weeks********************
52 Weeks is a year long challenge for YOU to be in a picture once a week for 52 weeks. We are always the ones behind the camera, this is YOUR chance to get out in front and be in the pictures with our family. We are glad you are joining this challenge. More importantly your family will really enjoy having you in the picture. Thanks for playing along! Oh, you can just jump in now with 1 of 52, you're not getting off that easy! Now go take a picture!
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20 of 52

Good friends are essential in life. Why is it in our efforts to be a good friend we rarely call on our friends to help us out {imagine!}, but often insist they call us when help is needed?

If you don't know what I am talking about then may I suggest a new set of friends? Oooo, is that a bit of "tough love" I am throwing out? You bet and I feel the best to deal it because I am notorious for wondering why my friends didn't call me to watch their children or to make them a meal or to pick up something in a time of need and yet, and yet, who do I call when I am on the potential receiving end - um, not a single person except perhaps my parents {and I am fairly certain I have tapped that line too much already}.

When we were losing our house a few years ago and I attempted to work a third shift factory job to save it who did I call on to help watch my three young children so I could sleep? Not a single person... instead I fought to stay awake all day after working until Patrick came home at 6:30pm. I can not even tell you how much it still hurts me when I think of the look of my dear neighbor when I finally came clean about that summer and she knew I did not lean on her to watch the kids... something I will never do to a friend again.

What leads me to this? Well, this email is super deep for all that it amounts to is a picture of Patrick and myself out hiking at Snug Harbor. Do you know why we were able to take that hike? I took the time to ask my friend if she had a few hours in her day to take my children so that we could have some "kid free" time. We have done this more in the past two months than the whole 10 years of our marriage. It has finally dawned on me that my friends are far more likely to take me up on offers of help if I allow them to help me first.

If I hadn't taken the time look at what we would have missed...

Visit Forever in Blue Jeans, this is catchin' on!

******************52 Weeks********************
52 Weeks is a year long challenge for YOU to be in a picture once a week for 52 weeks. We are always the ones behind the camera, this is YOUR chance to get out in front and be in the pictures with our family. We are glad you are joining this challenge. More importantly your family will really enjoy having you in the picture. Thanks for playing along! Oh, you can just jump in now with 1 of 52, you're not getting off that easy! Now go take a picture!
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10 Amazing Years

Ten years later and still so in love...

St. John's Episcopal Church, Alma, MI

July 24, 1999

The hottest day that summer!

Our wedding party

Ballard side of the family

Morrison side of the family

Schweri side of the family

Mother-Son Dance

Father-Daughter Dance

First Dance

Our wedding photographer had one heck of a sense of humor

The cake was good but really under-decorated in hind sight

Bridesmaids sneaking some groom time

Bride surrounded by handsome faces

Millionth kiss to the clinking of glasses
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Remembering those we've lost in the past ten years:

Patrick's Dad

My Uncle Greg, a very talented man who played the music at our wedding

My Grandpa Stewart