the end of the (SOCCER) world as we know it

The boys ended their soccer seasons with some rocking medals - Jack swears these are his favorite ever (he says that every time!)

Harry's team, the Cobras, had a medal ceremony after their last game - it was a hectic one since they were playing on different field, but Dean got this sweet picture of our boy. The team had a pizza party afterward - thanx for everything, Coach! Harry had a great time and enjoys seeing you guys and Cullen around school - this week's dinner sighting was a nice bonus ;-)

Jack's team had their end-of-the-season party at a local restaurant. Jack was thrilled to get a HUGE cookie and hang out with his team.

Harry went along for the ride and had a working dinner while he waited.

Despite the awful picture, Jack loves the medal and had a great time playing with long-time friend Darius and lots of cool new friends. Thanx for the awesome coaching, Coach! Maybe we'll see you at swim team....

REM

Someone's In The Kitchen With MOMMY - Halloween edition

Jack has been my go-to kitchen helper lately, and he did a great job helping make these Halloween tortilla chips (we followed the recipe but added oil before popping in the oven and found that salting them before cooking made them even yummier!
Apparently, watched chips DO brown ;-)

Harry was invited to a shindig down the road, and he wished everyone a Happy Halloween with the chips

and thought a pile of leaves at the end of a big slide was a great idea! Thanx for including us in the spookfest, Kirsten and crew :-)

It was a busy day, because our cul-de-sac decided to party the nite before the hayride - great call, Dana and Colette - we had a wonderful time despite the fact that none of the pix came out well.

The boys have had an on-going love fest with Mrs. Shaeon, who spoils them rotten. This was their 2010 haul, but the hugs were their favorite part!

Thanx to everyone who helped us have a great Halloween! Next year, the party's on at our house :-)

Nat King Cole's Someone's In The Kitchen With Dinah

Knock, knock. Trick or treat. Who Are you?

It's party season, and the weather is perfect and the boys are excited! Harry is waiting for his scarecrow costume to be completed by his lazy mom, so he picked a soldier costume we had in the playroom and did it up right. He was drawing while waiting for Jack to get ready, so he hammed it up for me and the camera

I often repeat that prayer over his head, and I did get chills over this juxtaposition - our sweet little boy with his markers and his flak jacket

Friends had a great neighborhood party on Saturday, complete with hayride and haunted trail!

Waiting in line, Jack goes into crowd control mode

but Harry seemed to be trying to get back at him moments later....

..just like he was doing about 5 years ago (top right picture)

Deluxe Megatron and Soldier Boy Harry in line for the haunted trail

Something stinky or allergy season? All the boys have funny expressions, so maybe it was a stinky trick...

It was dark and hard to get pix to do justice - Jack apparently got over his fear long enough to scarf some of the candy scattered on the ground (notice the corpse right in front of him?)

He exited, telling me he "only got scared ONE time!"

Our favorite Commando wasn't phased a bit, it always helps to have a daddy along!

Zach and Jack chilling at the party (shades of future keggers??)

kids songs

Then you can monster mash

Harry's pal Sarah and her family had a party this afternoon and invited us all. The boys had a great time playing at their old preschool playground with lots of friends, getting their faces painted, and I had a great time visiting with friends and tasting all the great eats. Thank you Sandy and friends!

Checking themselves out in the car mirror...silly boys!

Bobby "Boris" Pickett's Monster Mash

of freeze tag in the dark

Their friend Aidan celebrated his 7th birthday, and our little laser tag warriors had a great time! It was their first attempt at the laser, and D&I even got to play....we'll be doing this again :-)

Dillon, Harry, Jack and the Birthday Boy, Aidan
There was a whole lotta happy going around today

They had a blast - thanx for including us, Allens!

Happy Birthday, Aidan! Welcome to 7 :-)

Suzanne Vega's Freeze Tag

It's the end of the world as we know it

The boys had their end-of-the-year party today, complete with awards - that's Harry carrying off his completion certificate and his Perfect Attendance certificate - he made it! That's his wonderful teacher and the adorable buckets they had the kids autograph for each other. The party had a beach theme, complete with limbo, water balloon tosses, tug-o-war that Dean got to ref, and all sorts of other fun.

Jack prepared to catch the water balloon...you know I love those shadows!

And Harry preparing to be soaked!

Jack with his wonderful teacher


Harry with his amazing teacher....thanx to you both for helping them start their academic careers so enthusiastically and with so much love - it's hard to imaging two kids loving school any more - you both rock!

REM

I guess I should've took more pictures

It was a whirlwind weekend, and I don't think I took a single picture. It was a nice break, tho I kept imagining Alec Baldwin's mental 'click' whenever someone seemed particularly happy.

Thanx to the birthday girl, Dreama, for a fun bouncy time! Hope you enjoy 6 as much as we are :-)

Thanx to the other birthday girl(s), Susan and Cheryl, for a really fun, relaxing time. We love living near you both - thanx for including our family in your celebration!

Thanx to the grandparents, E&ML, for a fun family day today - hope you make it home safely!

Ne-Yo's Pictures

How's about cookin' something up with me

The boys' birthday party was at a cooking school last weekend. It was something different and a lot of fun, especially since I didn't have to clean up all the mess ;-)There were hats

There were ingredients

There was sniffing

There was playing

There was rolling
There was teamwork

There were 'tada!'s

There was dipping (edible microphones)
There was dancing

And there was the obligatory group shot

(somehow I missed the pizza and the cake, but they were there, too!)

Hank Williams' Hey Good Lookin' (Jimmy's version is their favorite)