While out shopping for Halloween costumes at Target on Wednesday evening we ran into this blast from my childhood past.
I remember as a little girl sitting at the kitchen table eating my favorite, Franken Berry, before heading off to school.
If I remember correctly my mom would buy all three flavors; Count Chocula, Boo Berry and Franken Berry.

I had heard that the cereal only came out during the Halloween season but this is the first time I've seen it in years.
This morning the kids and I delved into it's yummy goodness and I think I better go buy another box! I think this time though, when I buy it, Franken Berry and Boo Berry are going to come home with me! *Carrie*

Our normal lately is spending most of Saturday at the soccer field.
This past week both kids got their names put on their jerseys. I can't explain it but it makes me giddy. I guess my thought process is that even after the season they can still wear the shirts but that I think it makes them feel like more of a team when you see their name on the jerseys.
This past Saturday Wyatt had a pretty good day. He got to play goalie again and even though the other team got one by him, he did manage to stop one ball from becoming a goal. Way to go Wyatt!
Every week we see an improvement, and this past week Wyatt was able to mix it up more with the other kids and get some kicks in.
I'm sure all of this has been a big boost for his confidence.
Rob and I were talking later that day and we both hope that the kids play again next year. We feel that it's good for them.

Soccer Day, as I'm starting to call Saturdays, is fun. I don't know if it's fun for the kids but for us, we pack a small cooler with drinks and snacks, grab the camping chairs, hats and sunscreen and we go hit the field. Time flies while we are there and it has been good family time.
Our soccerday afternoons are spent relaxing and if possible mommy gets some creative time in. A win/win for all of us.
Last Saturday we spent our evening with family as we celebrated my niece Savannah's 1st birthday.
I took plenty of pictures but I haven't uploaded them yet.

Sunday we skipped church and headed up the mountain to have a picnic to celebrate my mother in laws birthday, which is actually today!
We had a bit of an adventure. I found out mid morning that there was to be a marathon up the mountain. Well thinking that we won't be heading up until about 11 I thought everything would be fine.
As we started up you could see the remnants of the starting line, we cruised on up and we had originally thought to stop at big bear/ cypress picnic areas. At the last second changed our minds and started to go higher. Just past Windy Peak we all stopped. The marathon was still in progress and there was a pilot

car every 20 minutes to get us up higher. So after a quick conference we turned back around and headed back to big bear. As we headed back down my mother in laws van was acting funny. Rob pulled over and found that one of her front tires was very low. We pulled into the parking lot at Windy Point and we were going to put the donut on when an emergency fleet service truck pulled in. Mikey went over and talked to the guy and prayers answered he had an air hose to fill up the tire. So the really cool dude pulled this big truck behind us, pulled out this long air hose, pressurized it and put air back in the tire.
We were back in business!
We hit the road again to go down around the corner where we parked in this perfect spot. We had 3 picnic tables with one in the shade, we were next to the dry river bed that the kids could play in. There was a couple of cool logs that the kids could climb around. The river bed went under the mountain road through a tunnel and up through Cypress picnic area. Plenty for the kids to do and explore.

We had a great lunch that ended with razzelberry pie and I made an apple cream crumb tart that was a pretty big hit. My quiche on the other hand was just okay. It seems it had a bit too much spinach in it for every ones taste. I have made better and should find my favorite recipe and keep it handy.
I can't begin to say how enjoyable the day was. The area we were in was just spot on perfect. So relaxing, even when I attempted to climb a tree to help retrieve the football my brother get caught up in some branches.
Just as we were getting ready to leave I had each one of my kids sit on the end of a log and take their picture.

Wyatt being Wyatt didn't want to take any direction and does his own thing.

Kelly was grumpy about getting up there but we teased her out of her mood to get this goofy faced photo of her.
I really hope we can go up there again soon. It's just a beautiful place to go.

*Carrie*

Last Friday night we received a crazy dust storm with 60 mph winds followed by a thunderstorm. Our trip to Agua Linda Farm was cancelled, so the kids played on the back patio until a huge bolt of lightning and a very loud boom of thunder sent the kids running into the house.
During their play time I took my camera out to get some fun shots.
For one thing this boy will not sit still so almost every picture is just a tad blurry. For another thing, I can rarely get him to look at the camera.
The plan was to look away and not turn your face

 toward me. Poor kid could not do it!
That mischievous face of his. He is such a character.
And this little booger decided that she wanted to re-pot one of my plants and was playing in the potting soil. At one point when I was taking her picture she looked down at her arm and freaked seeing how dirty she was.
When trying to capture her picture the wind was whipping around and Chelsea's hair was flying in her face. I think I had to actually hold her still to get this quick shot. Then she was off to play in the dirt again. Well wait...after each shot she wants to "see"

what I did and she gets such a kick out of it. Then she was off to play.
And my biggest booger, she plays all coy but she really loves for me to take her picture.
Which I just remembered, I need to upload photos to be printed for Wyatt's den meeting tonight. They boys are doing something about family photos.
Anyway, back to miss Kelly. After getting the others to be still for 30 seconds she knew it was her turn.
Those eyes of hers, she gave me her, here you go mom smile, and then took back off to play.
Boring post I know but this is what we did on a rainy Friday night. I love taking pictures when it's cloudy because I get the best results. I think I was originally going to take having fun photos but then I switched to some portraits and working with natural light. Just practicing and learning.
Believe me this was our calm before the storm. The weekend was packed and lots of fun.
*Carrie*

I was surfing some blogs and came upon this great idea the Scrappin' Cricut had. I showed it to the kids and they were immediately on board. We ran up to Michael's and grabbed some buckets. Heck they were only $1. I had some Halloween ribbon but of course I was going to need more, right?
Came home and brought out my cropadile to chomp some holes around the rim and then we started cutting the ribbon.
I started the first bucket to see how difficult threading the ribbons would be and then I let the kids do their own. Even Wyatt threaded his own ribbons. Once we got them all done they sat on the computer desk for a couple of weeks as I hemmed and hawed my way up to cutting vinyl.

I know it is easy. I was more afraid of making a mistake and wasting then anything else.
So last night I finally took the plunge. My creative juices were running. The kids and I decorated the living room for Halloween and we made some day of the dead skulls and taped them to the window.
Anyway, I had the kids pick out from the Pumpkin Carving cartridge the design they wanted and I put it on my gypsy. I then took Happy Hauntings and made their names.
All of this fit on one sheet of 12x12 vinyl, thanks to my gypsy.
The kids are super excited about their buckets and it should be easier for them when they go trick or treating. Plus if they ever want to change the design then I'll just peel the vinyl off and start anew.
After seeing the finished product I want to run back to Michael's and buy more of the buckets to do for next year. Maybe I can make a walk way with them and put candles inside so that they glow, or maybe I can "Boo" some people and fill it with treats. Hmmm.... things to think about.
I can't do them this year because my next project which I started today is a table topper I'm making for my mom for Halloween. Mom bought the fabric and I've been trying to cut the fabric but a certain midget wants to stand on the chair beside me and will not go down for her nap.
So I'm gonna go do the dishes and when Rob gets here hopefully get this cut out. The cutting will be fairly easy, it's all strips!
*Carrie*

As I continue to play catch up here are some more of our activities.
One Sunday after church we headed out with friends to Madera Canyon for lunch and a short nature hike.
I had completely forgotten how long it takes to get to Madera Canyon. It seems like forever but it is such a nice place to go. We had hoped to see some of the fall foliage but where we were at nothing had changed yet. Later last week someone had taken a photo from the Canyon at a higher elevation and the trees could rival the east coast.

Last Thursday I came along as Kelly's class took a field trip to the Biosphere 2.
What an accomplishment. There are still experiments going on, and it fascinates me that people lived here for over a year without coming out.
I wonder if I could do that?
I love field trips but man, I always come home tired and with a headache.
Those kids have tons of energy and are smart as whips. I think they enjoyed walking around and seeing all the different zones. My favorite spot was the lung. This room where every morning the heat causes the ceiling to rise but if you open a hatch the ceiling comes down, and it only takes 4 minutes for the ceiling to collapse. Our tour guide opened the hatch for a minute and we saw the ceiling begin to descend. Then as we exited out we entered into this windy outer shell. You would never believe that wind whipping around was from the lung exhaling. Our guide then directed us through another hatch to the outer world.
So cool.

Now it hasn't all been pure craziness, well wait... yeah it kind of has.
Chelsea has learned to take off all her clothes including her diaper. One evening she grabbed a pair of sunglasses, took off her glasses and was playing around. This was the another use she had for the sunglasses. Silly kid.
Chelsea has also learned how to open the fridge, unlock the front door and get into more trouble then anyone else in the house.
Her language skills are constantly amazing me and she is becoming a proficient mimic.
This little girl is putting me through my paces and I don't know whether to hug and kiss her or strangle her sometimes. Thank goodness she is so cute!

Three times a week we enter the soccer world. Two days of practice and one day of games.
Wyatt had a great game last week. His team the Dragons still lost but they were much improved over their first game, and this time Wyatt didn't cry! Toward the end they gave Wyatt a chance to be the goalie. The other team score 2 goals off him!! It's okay, they had a good time.
This weekend we have Wyatt's game first and Kelly has a double header. A long morning indeed. I planning on taking Chelsea to Grandma's because there is no way I can keep her occupied for 3+ hours of soccer.
I'm almost caught up with my update.
Kelly received her uniform last Friday, it's cool, but I'm waiting for this weekend to take pictures of her and of her playing. I also need to take photos for the school yearbook.
The kids are on break this week so we are working on cleaning our rooms and just relaxing.
I don't know if it was the weather or how busy I have been but this past weekend knocked me on my butt. All I wanted to do was sleep. I had some allergy issues but mostly it was just being so physically tired. I skipped church on Sunday and pretty much slept the morning away.
I've felt better since Monday and hope that it continues. I have lots of creative plans and need all my energy.

One more post and I'll be caught up!
*Carrie*

Where to start?
I've been thinking about blogging for the last few days but I hadn't uploaded any photos and each day seemed mired down with other "stuff" to do.
Well, I have a lot to catch up on! So sit back and relax as I try to update what we've been up to.

 I took some great photos of Wyatt as he got ready for his pack meeting last week.
That boy is so excited about finally being a boy scout. He is ready and raring to go do about anything!
Me being the mama-razzi that I am I tried to remember to take detail shots so that when he looks back he or his children/grandchildren can see how the uniform looked.
Since I know next to nothing about Boy scouts I have started to read his Tiger cub handbook to get a better understanding on how things go. Actually I better go re read it because I still don't remember much except that it's not a troop it's a pack.
Last week his pack went to one of the local firehouses to see and explore. Siblings were allowed to come along so Rob had Kelly don her GS vest. Come to find out later it was a unstructured family type event. Not much for learning with as many kids as were there and lots of little ones. Chelsea and I went out to capture some of the storm that was passing through at the time. (Didn't get anything)
I went to Joann's this past week because not only was I making a dues jar for Kelly's troop I was also looking at paper and embellishments that were related to boy scouts.
Gotta get started on his book now, this pack does a lot of activities.

One of the first things Wyatt needs to do is earn his brag vest. His job is to collect 30 lbs of cans and turn them in to the recycle plant and all the patches he earns will go on this vest.
Believe me, I saw one kids vest and it was packed with patches!
This Friday Wyatt's pack is planning on going to Agua Linda Farms and hopefully learning some cool stuff.
Every Tuesday night Wyatt puts on his blue shirt, striped kerchief, his tiger cub slide, his cap and eventually his belt and he along with Rob head to their meeting.





 Of course the girls were all over Wyatt as he was getting ready and it was like trying to take pictures around an obstacle course. Finally after he was ready I had the girls stand beside him.
Aren't they all cute ??
 In a few more years I'll have all three hopefully in or  still in scouting.
I'm very proud of my guy and I pray that loves scouts and learns a lot from the process.