Halloween Going Ons

Halloween has been a month long holiday in our house. It started with us picking out pumpkins. Then the boys made a gingerbread haunted house.

I'm suprised that is lasted as long as it did. It took the boys a whole week before they figured out they could take candy off of it to eat.

Then we had Halloween parties, carving pumpkins, and trick or treating. The kids have so much candy they aren't even that interested in it. Infact, on Halloween night we went trick or treating with the Madsens. When we were finished, I told the boys they could each have one piece of candy and then we were heading home. Ashton could have cared less about the candy. This is all he cared about:

Throwing balloons, crazy kid!

Here are snaps of the happy skeleton and Batman.

Ashton picked out his own costume and loved it!

Dom didn't even know he was in a costume!

The kiddos had lots of fun and I'm sure they can't wait until next year.

Paul is Officially a Phd Candidate

We have been really busy the past month. Paul was preparing for his prelim and the kids have been the same crazy monsters as usual. I am happy to announce that Paul passed! We are so proud of him. He is now officially a Phd candidate - whatever that means. I just hope we are outta here in another 2 1/2 years!

Even though it's been crazy around here, we have still managed to get a bit of family time. Fall back home was always beautiful, and we were missing it, so we took the kids to Celery Bog yet once again. It is the closest thing we have to a Metroparks around here.

Ashton loved picking up all the leaves. He was very proud he mangaed to keep the same one the entire time we were there.

Dominic had a ball plowing through the deepest recesses of leaves. No fear. That kid has no fear. It doesn't matter if he was trying to plow through a pile as tall as him. No fear.

The boys were trying to count frogs, even though I kept telling them there weren't any out. They just didn't believe me. I'm only Mommy, what would I know.

Pumpkin Love

This past weekend Paul's parents came to visit. Even though it was still pretty early in the month, we decided to go pumpkin picking. The kids had a blast. Ashton loved bouncing with the other kids.



Because we were there right before closing, it was pretty much cleared out and Dominic was able to bounce himself.



He loved it. Ashton was begging for more kids to join in, but there weren't any left. He just wanted to lay down and have the big kids bounce him around. He finds that hysterical.

Both of the boys loved the hayride. They loved picking their own pumkins even more. Dominic kept trying to pick up the pumpkins that were bigger than him. Ashton was on the hunt for a small pumpkin that he could carry. That was not an easy task. They were all huge!


Nothing slowed this kid down. He ran from one big pumpkin to the next.


Ashton finally settled on the perfect pumpkin for himself.

The kiddos loved the corn maze. Actually, Dom just loved running around screaming at the top of his lungs.

The boys also went on the pony ride, but neither of them seemed that interested. Ashton would not stop talking about his pumpkin the whole ride home. He wanted to take it to bed with him. He has major pumpkin love pumping through his veins.

Labor Day

I know this is really late, but I thought I'd let the family see what we were up to for Labor Day. And since I cannot snap a decent picture lately, I ripped some of these pics off of others' blogs. Thanks Gigi and Liz!

For the week of Labor Day, the Webers came to visit! Yay! We love you guys. I wish we had had more time to hang out. We miss you! You better come back next year, I am holding you to it! I didn't get a lot of pics. I don't know why, but here is a cute one of Emily and Ashton.


Aren't they cuties!

They just love each other so much. Ashton has asked to see Emily like a zillion times since they left. Ashton just discovered web cams, I'm just waiting for him to ask to talk to her on the computer!

For Labor Day, we got together with the Webers, Madsens, Reams, and Holdaways for a picnic at the park. It was lots of fun. The kids had a ball and wore themselves out.

The Souths vs. The Madsens - Dominic was just a little confused. He thought the object of the game was to catch the birdie - not hit it.

Maren was busy pushing four kiddos at once.

All the women and some of the kiddos.

We had fun. We'll have to do it again. I love having get togethers where nobody has a mess left to clean up!

My Little Bros

I'm guilty. I haven't been blogging. Again. I know. I know. In my defense, we haven't been up to too much that is interesting. At least nothing that I have been able to catch on camera. Infact, I finally uploaded the pics off my camera today, and there were picks from our last trip to the zoo. I don't even remember when that was, maybe more that a month ago? If there was an award out there for moms who love thier kiddos but cannot seem to grasp the concept of using a camera, I would be a total shoe in. Hey, I admit my flaws. It runs in my family. None of us take pictures. Not a one.

I am making a new vow. I vow to TRY to take more pics of my cute kiddos. I vow to TRY to blog more frequently. I'll settle for blogging after only hints that I haven't been up to par from five people instead of a zillion! Hey, I'm a realist.

Since I don't have any good new pics, I thought I'd post some of my little bros from Labor Day weekend. I have two little (yeah, I know I shouldn't call 'em little - but they will always be little to me!) brothers that I don't get to see often enough. We all live just far enough apart that it's just not possible to visit regularly.

I am bummed because we were not able to make it back to Cleveland for Labor Day weekend for the air show. My little bro Paul still lives in the area, and my other bro John was in town for the air show. John is a member of the Blue Angels Demo team. I for the life of me cannot remember his position or what the letters on his patches mean, but I do know he is a plane mechanic.


Here's John looking all Top Gunish


Another shot of my little bro in his uniform. I guess you aren't allowed to talk to them while they are wearing their sunglasses. Don't ask me, 'cause I don't know.


Here is my littlest bro Paul with his son Payton. Notice the Cavs jersey. Oh yeah, we are Browns, Indians, and Cavs fans all the way. My bros were not happy Paul chose to attend Purdue, 'cause Ohio State has a better football team! You know, the important way to choose your graduate school.

My whole family got to go down and meet the crew and pilots and check out the planes. My boys would LOVE LOVE LOVE it.

Next year I am hoping to at least hit the air show in Indy. I sooooo want to see my bro in action. I swear, I just can't picture him all serious at work.

You Might Be A Redneck

Everyone knows Jeff Foxworthy and his You Might Be A Redneck jokes. And if you haven't heard of them, then I really don't know what planet you live on. Anyways, as I was looking out my backdoor this morning, while my boys and two dogs we running around barking, yelling, and screaming like banshees (and trust me, you couldn't guess which was doing what) I realized my family totally belongs in the redneck category. Yep, I admit it.

For example, you might be a redneck if you let you kids play outside in their pajama tops and underwear (or diaper).



Yep, that's me. Infact during the summer, I don't get my kiddos dressed until we go somewhere or it's the afternoon.

You might be a redneck if you let your kids run around in dirty, filthy, stained clothes that belong in the garbage.


Doesn't he make such cute faces?

Yep, that's me again. Infact, that is why I don't get my kiddos dressed in the morning. They stain all of their clothes. This shirt used to be white, long long ago. All of their yucky clothes become pjs and then I let them play in the back in their pjs.

You might be a redneck if it looks like a crayola factory exploded in your back yard.



You got it, that's us again. This is just a small example of what my backyard looks like. We have colored sand EVERYWHERE! On the back of the house, the side of the garage, and spread all over the lawn. Yep, my kiddos like to fling sand, what can I do.

You might be a redneck if your backyard is overgrown, filled with toys, and permanently has a hose running through the middle of the yard. Oh yeah, and two crazy boys and two crazy dogs running around like maniacs at eight something in the morning.


There's my Domykins in his "pjs" again.

Okay, this picture doesn't do my yard justice. This is a picture of a cleaned up back yard. Yep, I said it - cleaned up backyard. There are toys and shovels and more toys everywhere. Not to mention weeds. Those suckers just keep on coming back. I was picking up the toys several times a day, then once a day, now just when it rains and when Paul cuts the grass. They just go right back out after I've cleaned it up. So I gave up. It would be so much better if we had a privacy fence!

You might be a redneck if you have giant holes in your backyard.



Yep, that's us again. This is just one of many holes in our yard. Monty loves to dig. He started it. Then Ashton thought it would be great to get in on all the fun. Now both of the boys dig in the dirt. Then move it to the sandbox (which becomes a mixture of colored sand, water, and mud). Then they put water in the hole and make mud. Then they play in it. Hence only letting the boys play in their dirty, stained, belonging in the garbage "pjs."

Then they bring it all in the house. But I am not even going there. That's for another day. I have given up on the backyard. They just have so much fun that I let them go to town. I have consigned myself to stripping them at the door, wiping them down, and half of the time directing them to the tub. Then I go around wiping up mud and dirt prints, soaking clothes that will never come clean, and vacuuming up dirt and sand from the strangest places in my house. So, I might be a redneck, but I am happy with it! I wonder if all boys are like mine?

Welcome Home Daisy

Along with just about everyone else in Tippecanoe County, we went to the fair. Fun was had by all. Dominic manhandled any animal he could get his grubby little hands on.



We went on Family Night, so everyone was able to go on rides. We all went on the giant slide a few times. Dominic loved it. Ashton went on the roller coaster a couple of times. We had to force him to walk away from it.


You can only see Paul, but Ashton was next to him screaming!

Then we did something that I am sure most people didn't do at the fair. We adopted a dog! I knew Paul was up to something. He was on the look out for the Humane Society. When we were walking to the fair, dogs went by with bandanas that said "Adopt Me." That was all it took. Now Daisy has joined our family.



She is a small dog. Quite a bit smaller than Monty. We couldn't bring her home until today because she wasn't scheduled to be spayed until yesterday. When I picked her up, the vet told me she needs to take it easy for a couple of days. Yeah right, a dog in a new home with 2 kiddos and another dog. I don't see any easy going any time soon. She and Monty are already best pals. Well at least in Daisy's eyes. Monty just wants to sleep under the table, but Daisy keeps joining him and wanting to play.

We went to see her twice over the weekend. It was so sad seeing the dogs who obviously had been mistreated. There was this huge dog in the kennel next to Daisy, and when it saw Paul, it ran to the back of the kennel and tried to hide from him. Other dogs were shaking and whining. Daisy had been abandoned in a house. So I am sure we are going to have issues to deal with. I had a feeling she wouldn't be house broken, and she's not. But she looks so happy now.

We were happy that the place we adopted her through works with Petfinder.com. They do a lot of good work. So if there are any animal lovers out there, who don't want to or aren't able to donate time, money, or a home to animals in need please click every day here. We have it saved to our favorites and at least once a day click on each tab across the top for hunger, breast cancer, rainforest, animal rescue (which also works with Petfinder.com), and a couple other things. It takes 10 seconds max to help even the tiniest of bits.