Sicky Pumpkin

Here are some pics of our pumpkin carving last night with the kids. Sam was very much into the little saw and getting to cut the pumpkin himself. We did a funny one this year, it looks like the pumpkin is sick and puking! Hey, it wasnt my idea and I do live in a house full of boys.

For halloween, Sam was Batman and Charlie was Robin. We went to a party at our friends, The Crist's and it was a great time with lots of good friends. They kids got to trick or treat and everyone had a blast.

Field Trip: The Pumpkin Patch

Sam had a field trip with his preschool class today. We all got to go to Mother Nature's Farm for some fall festivities! They boys got to pick out a pumpkin and decorate it. Then there was a hay ride and a bounce house and lots of animals to see. Sam's favorite part is the baby chicks they have in the store. He even remembered them from last year!

Here are a few of the pics from today.

Sam being silly like always:

Picking out pumpkins can be so stressful!:

Decorating their pumpkins:

Going through a maze:

Playing on an old tractor:

Big Shopping Carts now

Do any other moms deal with the battle of the grocery carts each time they are in the store? I sure do. My kids beg for the big carts that are like cars for them to drive. These things are huge! Its not easy to maneuver them around the store, down the aisles. Its funny though, because even though its harder, I still give in. I love my boys and want even a trip to the grocery store to be fun.

Sam's first soccer game

We had Sam's first Soccer game on Oct 18 and it was so fun! The kids were so cute in their uniforms and they loved getting cheered on by everyone. I think Im gonna like whatever sports my kids want to do. I just love watching them run around and be apart of a team. Here are some pics from the game:

Sam with some of his team mates, Aidan, Grant, Sam and Jace:

Kicking the ball to Coach Drew:

Some fast action:

Sam and his good friend, Grant:

Charlie enjoying every minute of it:

a reunion with old friends

This weekend I got to hang out with some old friends that I havent seen in years. Beth flew in from MN and Annie drove in from L.A. My mom had my boys for the whole weekend and I got to entertain my friends here at my house. It was so fun. We lazed around, ate out for every meal and just talked till we were blue in the face. We went to bed way too late and got to sleep in. It was wonderful. I havent had a girlie bonding weekend like that in a long time.

Beth and Annie are 2 of my friends from Kansas City. We all went to Dominion Christian School together when I was there for my senior year of highschool. We recently got back in touch on facebook. It had been 7 years since Id seen Beth and 13 years since Id seen Annie. We picked up right where we left off. We got out pics and yearbooks and laughed at them and talked about our memories. We all had different memories, so it was fun to catch up. I do believe we caught up on 13 years in only 3 days.


Friday night, Beth and I ate at Grand Lux Cafe, then Annie rolled into town right as we finished up. We all headed to Kazmires wine bar and met Annie's husband and his friends for some vino. We didnt stay too long, then came back home and talked into the early morning. Saturday we had breakfast at Maria Maria Cantina. I had Juevos Rancheros for the first time and it was the best breakfast ever. We shopped then went back home and lounged around the house for the rest of the day. We went to AZ88 for dinner and had a blast there. Then we came back home for more talking...till 2am! I cant remember the last time I stayed up talking until 2am. Years!!

Today we went to Crackers for Breakfast and Carl tagged along. Afterwards, we picked up S and C at my mom's and my friends got to spend the day with my family. We hung out in the backyard and watched S and C play on the swing set. They showed off for us all afternoon and kept us entertained. The weather was perfect.

What a perfect weekend. Im sad to see my friends leave. Im excited to rekindle such old friendships and I look forward to more visits someday. This weekend has been so uplifting and it was just what I needed. :)

Im a Soccer mom now..

Today Sam started his soccer season. He was so excited to wear his cleats and meet his team and coach. Sam's coach is a really nice guy named Drew Parada. He is a parent of one of Sam's teammate named Jace, and he's been coaching Soccer for 15 years and has 5 kids. He did a great job of keeping all the kids with the program. I really was expecting much more chaos, not lines and kids actually kicking the balls into the goal.

It was fun being there and meeting the other parents. Im excited about getting involved in stuff like this with Sam and Charlie. Check out the kids in Sam's team standing in line together...arent they just so darn cute???

Buying local benefits everyone

For the last 2 weeks, Ive been to the farmer's market here in down town Mesa. At first when I drove up I was disappointed because I only saw 3 tents and figured they wouldn't have much, but I was wrong about that. They had sooo many veggies! Just what I wanted. Check out the white eggplants and the yellow tomatoes! I love getting veggies that are different colors than what we usually see. A reminder that there are lots of species of fruits and veggies that we don't get to see so much in the boring grocery stores anymore. Id like it if these things made a comeback.

Recently I read a great book that has really changed how I feel about the food that I feed to my family. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver is about her and her family's commitment to give up conventionally grown foods, and for 1 year, only eat what they grow for themselves, or can get locally...or learn to do without until the next season rolls around. Seasons, remember those? It used to be that we could only get certain produce at certain times of the year. But now that we can ship things from across the Ocean and have it in our grocery store within 5 days of picking is pretty amazing. Except that it uses a lot of fuel for our food to jet set around the world like that, and its not good for our environment, or our dependency on oil. It also doesn't help to support our local economy when we don't buy food from our local farmers.

Since I cant really grow much myself...I decided to do what I can. I am making an effort to feed my family with as much local organic food as I can find. I also want to try to use produce when its in season, because it tastes better when its in season, and it has up to 60% more antioxidants and vitamins when its in season. Well, I was happy when my friend Elisabeth told me about this farmer's market. All of the food is organic, and its all from Arizona and they have a huge variety! Since we live in such a warm climate, its open all year long!