October Fun

We are fully embracing all of the fun and festivities of the fall season here. As the yearly tradition goes, the kids received a big package from Grandma Moorlag. We are always delighted to find a package of goodies on our front step! Inside she had gifts for each of the kids and TWO Tupperware containers full of cookies for everyone to share. Those were delicious spider web cookies, Grandma! The kids love their books too! Friday night Ella had her Octoberfest at school. It was fun. They had an impressive magic show, pumpkin contest (which Ella entered all on her own) and lots of games and fun. The kids stayed out on the playground, way past their bedtime! It was surprisingly warm.
Saturday night we opened up the garage and enjoyed the warm weather while we carved our pumpkins. The kids had been thinking of their face designs for some time! As you can see, they were into every step of the way. I loved the easy clean up....however the leaf collection on our lawn rivals any other year. Yesterday we had a huge storm system come through with crazy winds and rain. My school was cancelled, so the boys and I played at home all morning. We were in a tornado watch on and off for an hour or so. Ella spent time nestled in the hallways. We are so thankful everyone was safe. Now we have tons of leaves to clean up. I don't plan to start that project until the winds die down, it is a pointless battle.

Scooping1

This one is serious about his work!

Mr. Independent, had to cut his out all by himself.

Christian enjoyed popping the eyes in and out!

Look at that smile!

Three little Pumpkins!

Spooktacular

I have lots more to post! I was so lucky, I took today off and went to Carter's Harvest Day at Little Lambs. I'll post more soon!

My Little Runner Girl!

On a daily basis I marvel at our three little pumpkins for something they do that impresses, inspires, motivates, encourages, or wows me! Last weekend, Ella and I ran the Grand Rapids Children's Marathon. She was so into it. She is so athletic and eager, I can't help but wonder about all she will do in the coming years. While Carter did decline to run with us...at the last minute, we did have fun. So much fun that Scott, Carter, and Christian want to do it with us next year. Yeah! a family event! Staying active and healthy is such an important lifestyle I want to instill in each of the kids, it just makes me giddy to get out and do this sort of thing! I am so thankful that we live in a city with events like this. Elle did great! She was ready to sprint the whole 1.2 miles. She rocked it that's for sure. I couldn't have been prouder. Here we are ready to get in line with the other "700 or so runners".

There we are starting off (far left)

We heard Dad cheering for us.

Our cheerleaders!

On our way to the finish line

Having lots of FUN! We ended up running with our dear friends the Oevermans....well not the big boys the were sprinting!

Look at her run it out!

Here she is with her medal that reads:

Big feat for small feet! She was shocked that Culver's had free ice cream for all the runners. We also enjoyed apples, bananas, go-gurt, cheese sticks, and bagels! What a spread they put out for us!

We had to get a few pics by the sign we can't wait to do it again next year.

Super Saturday

We have FULLY enjoyed the fantastic fall weather around here. This Saturday we spent almost the entire day outside from morning til dark. We started the morning off at Harder and Warner (a local landscaping business) that had some fun fall festivities. We are also delighted that this local business purchased a few of our favorite ArtPrize pieces and we now see them almost daily. We love you Elephants! We enjoyed all the sights and smells of fall!

We even went on a hayride and a scavenger hunt!

They had some fun cut outs...look at these super women!

What a goofy trio

Dinosaurs??

A monkey with my monkey??

The boys enjoying the fish pond

They even had hot dogs...who could pass that up? ...just me!

They had a big mama pumpkin who had "given birth" to 100's of babies the night before. So the kids entered the Baby Boo Pumpkin Patch and each of them "adopted" a new baby pumpkin. Carter named his Snaggletooth, Christian: Pumpkin, and Ella: Fancy Nancy!

Searching for just the right one, they were hidden all over.

the proud new parents

Then we headed downtown for some more fall fun. This weekend was the big Grand Rapids Marathon. While I was in no shape to run a marathon, Ella and I did participate in the Kid's Marathon (more specific pictures to come). The YMCA also happened to be hosting a Fall Fun Day so we participated in many other fun activities.

Auster the pony got lots of petting.

A Sack Race

The course

Hopping along

They jumped into the pile o leaves

Inside, the fun continued!

Pumpkin bean bag toss...Carter was a pro

Ring toss over pumpkins

Cowboy Christian

We had such a fun day. the kids were all sleeping in the back of the van on the way home around 3:30. When we got home, everyone woke up and we played outside and did a little yard clean up. We also managed to have a bonfire. The kids thought that was grand! Mom put icing on the cake when I suggested roasting a marshmallow for the last time this year. Only to realize we only had minis left. We didn't let that stop us, each of the kids enjoyed toasting their 5 mini marshmallows. What a fun day! More pics from the run to come!

A long awaited addition

We bit the bullet and finally are having our driveway paved! It has been a fun process to watch. Of course, the boys have been thrilled to see all the tractors, diggers, and scrapers working away. My only problem is keeping them in our garage! The kids enjoy riding their bikes and scooters down the long driveway! Yippee! We will see if the nice weather hold...if so they will put the top coat on possibly next week!

ArtPrize

We have been so blessed by this "little thing" called ArtPrize. Downtown Grand Rapids has looked more like Chicago for the past 3 weeks due to the crowds that have come in mass to see all the Art Prize exhibits. Let me tell you....they are AWESOME! To top it off, we have had an exceptionally beautiful start to fall. Lots of sun and warm temps have kept this family outdoors and enjoying all the wonderful aspects of the arts. If you aren't familiar with ArtPrize, check it out here. My parents and I took the kids down one afternoon after picking Ella up from school. It was a Wednesday afternoon and you would have thought it was a Friday afternoon in a big city. It was crazy! People were everywhere, enjoying the art, street vendors, music, and the energy. Wow! It sure was something to be part of. We saw all of these pieces and many more before they voted for the Top 10! Then our family tuned in to see if any of our favorites made it and....they did. During this trip, we only hit the VanAndel Museum. We missed a lot not going to the Grand Rapids Art Museum and into the Ford Museum. But considering our time constraints and the company..we did great. I was pleasantly surprised how "in-to-it" the kids were. Elle and Carter have been talking art like they work for the MET lately. It is great. I absolutely LOVE it. Many a nights, we spend discussing how some thing that we saw downtown, some piece of art, and how it crossed our minds during the day. Elle is my little artist and she is eating this up. She collected cards from each piece we visited and she looks through them, studying them, critiquing them, planning a project of her very own. Thank you DeVos family for putting this together. It sure has been something to experience. We loved it so much and couldn't stop talking about it that we took Scott on a tour of our favorites this past Sunday (more picts to follow). I am considerably behind in blog-land. We have been busy enjoying the fall and all the wonders it has in store....seriously, this time of year, I feel like God is just showing off with all the grandeur and color {more posts on that to come as well}. Can I get a rainy day here so I could get caught up on my indoor things??? It will come, I know. But for now, the computer will wait. The winter will be long and cold and I can catch up then.

Art Prize 2010

Of course, we had to start with some "questionable" art. As we are looking at these carved figurines(that are surrounded by mobs of people) Carter looks- wide eyed and wide mouthed looking around to see if anyone else might notice the inappropriatness then pipes up in his-not-one-bit-quiet voice, "hey mom!!! Look you can see his penis????" Shockingly, many people cover their mouths and turn to hide their giggles from his 4-year-old observation. {I tell you Carter is my spice in life...never a dull moment.ANYwhere!}

The giant penny, made from pennies



The water fountain-fun to throw all mom's pennies in.

Christian liked these pretty butterflies.

There was art of all kinds...samples of "green housing"

The kids loved the balloons that were strung up! Brilliant.

Look at this HUGE basket of flowers...I'll take the whole thing for our backyard.

The kids loved this mosiac frog and his big bowl o'worms.

This was amazing...a life sized mermaid made from toothpicks. The hair was impecable.

The kids can't imagine how this one didn't win. It sure got "Moorlag Family Favorite"

The carasouel at the Museum. We had to take a spin.

Father Earth...with all the animals carved into his beard.

Another Moorlag favorite...the story of Creation made with broken crayons. Highly impressive!

Sitting and resting in the JW lounge.
We put in a lot of miles.

The great big pig....that they loved!

Lots of cool stuff by the BOB.

We couldn't stop watching the ice sculptors carve a tiger our of this block. Carter was in awe.

More pictures to come! I just can't keep up the blog since we've been busy out 'doing'. Happy Fall!