36 Weeks

We offically have 1 month left until my due date. It's really hard to tell when I will actually have the baby. I've ranged in going 2 weeks late to 2 days early. Only once have I gone into labor on my own. All the others have been inductions. Your guess is as good as mine! Here is the most recent pic taken of me.

What a weekend....peppermint M&M's & karate tournament

You all know my fasicnation with peppermint coffee creamer. Well, by "pure accident" I found out there is peppermint M&M's. I thought I was buying 2 bags of regular M&M's, but when I emptied them into a bowl I noticed they looked differnent. The peppermint ones are bigger & more oblong shaped....somewhat like a peanut M&M, but not quite. They also come in green, red AND white colors.

They are delicious! I did have to share that inital bag with a dozen or so other girlfriends as we were away at a church retreat this weekend. Good thing for my hips, I'm sure. I'll have to stock up on this new fasicnation as well. It can keep company with my 6 bottles (big ones) of creamer I have at the bottom of my deep freezer.

While I was away at my retreat, Jim had all the kids under his care. For the second weekend in a row now he's taken over while I was away. This weekend he also took all the kids to a karate tournament for him, John & Brianna to compete in. They only started karate back in August. Jim did actively take karate many, MANY years ago so he had some prior knowledge. John & Brianna have had no problem at all picking up what's being taught.

This was their first tournament. Unfortunatley we have no pictures or video of this event. The batteries were dead in both the camera & the camcorder. Without me around to take care of these little details the devices went uncharged. Jim says the kids did spectacular.

John placed 1st in his age group. They competed in sparring.

Brianna placed 2nd in her age group. They competed in sparring & wrestling. (She even beat out some boys to get that second place!)

Jim placed 1st & 2nd in his age group. He even got a set of cracked ribs to go along with that as well. They are not suppose to kick full contact. When his opponent went to kick him, he lost his balance & DID kick him completely, thus the cracked ribs. Please, oh please, let's hope this is not the beginning of another set of injury incidences.

Happy Halloween!

Some pics of our trick or treaters!

Angel, a kitty cat. She, btw, brought home a kitten that was following her non-stop. (you can see that cat in the group pic.) For now it's out in the garage with an old towel to keep warm & a can of tuna. We'll see if it's still around tomorrow.

Mandy, a bride.

Brianna, a ballerina.

John, Darth Vader

Andrew, Po the Teletubbie. He's missing the "antenna" part of his costume. Didn't seem to bother him at all.

And the never ending group picture (stray cat included)

We've got enough "loot" to last us for a loooooooooong time. Well, at least, until I get sick of hearing the kids beg, whine & plead for just one more piece. Which I usually explode with "EAT IT ALL, JUST EAT IT ALL UNTIL IT'S GONE!" You know, those precious moments, our kids will always remember.

Break a board for D.A.R.E

Last saturday John, Brianna & Jim participated in Break a board for D.A.R.E. Our local D.A.R.E chapter lost it's funding and now has to raise it's own money if they want the program to continue.

There was lot of demonstrations of karate. John, Brianna & Jim are all in different levels & classes so each one had a turn to get up there with their class to show off their stuff. I was out of video tapes so our digital camera had to double as a camcorder as well. Here are the pics I did get taken.

John, for some reason they only gave John's class their board after they broke it. They had to break it with a punch (chop) using their hands.

Brianna, I got her board breaking on video (not sure how to upload that). Her class had to use their foot to break the board. She was not given her board. This is her class pic. She is the third one sitting on the floor.

Jim, he's the one in the yellow belt, throwing the guy on the floor. They had to use their head to break their board. So there IS a good reason for his hard head (giggle).

A group pic of the kids (except John) w/the D.A.R.E characters (bear & lion) & McGruff the Crime Dog. In case you can't "read" the look on Andrew's face, it's sheer terror. He loved the animals/characters from a far, but about freaked out when we got too close. I mananged to snap this shot before the tears & screaming took over.

More fall pics

I got the rest of my pics taken for the fall. Not much more to post at this time, so just enjoy the pics.

Angel

All the kids, taken on our front porch

Fall pics!

Mandy

Brianna

John

Andrew

Just posting some fall pictures taken of the kids outside of our house. I still need to get a group pic and one of just Angel.

Tanner's Apple Orchard

We took our "annual" trip up to Tanner's Orchard. I do have to put clause to the annual because last year we never got to go. We were planning to, but an unexpected run in with Bambi complete threw our plans out the window. Our kids (sweet precious beings they are) commented more than once about how we NEED to go this year which followed by the "remember last year...." Ah, yes, they had been scarred for life & would continue to be so until we remedied the situation.



It was a rather warm day that we went. Our previous saturdays and the next the few were already busy with other plans. It was our only day left to venture up there. So despite the 70+ degree weather we took off last saturday afternoon. It was a little all too classic as we left town & the kids were bubbling with excitement. The hour long trip soon turned into some bickering (moooooom, she won't stop singing. moooooooom, he's looking at me) I even mentioned (ok, so maybe it was more yelled) the inevitable "if you want us to turn this van around RIGHT NOW, we WILL!". Just as we were hearing the never ending "are we there yet & how much longer" the orchard appeared on the horizon. Hooray! Three cheers for mom & dad, we made it!

We enjoyed our time there. It was Andrew's first time there. He was very taken in by the ponies he got to ride & the goats he got to feed. The older kids had a great time as well running all over the play ground & playing mini golf. The place is very quaint, perhaps a bit cheesy. It's your typical mid-western idea of a great time of family fun.

After a full round of apple doughnuts & apple cider we packed up and headed home. Mission accomplished. Our children can now beam about their great childhood filled with memories of Tanner's. All complete, of course, with the ride home full of "moooooooooooom...."

Angel (yes, she is as tall as mom now)

Mandy

Brianna (Angel & Andrew in background)

John

Andrew & Dad