Halloween in Anoka

Evan's hairstylist, shown in this blog post, gave Evan this picture at his haircut yesterday.  It was taken after my run when we stopped in her shop to say hello.  Everyone is looking...and smiling - how did she accomplish that in one shot?  Notice Carter wearing my cat/bunny (whatever they were!) ears - he has worn them steady since Halloween! :)

Anniversary

Tonight marked our third anniversary of the Partridge Preserve Book Club.  We have lost a couple members, 1 moved away and 1 dropped out due to her busy travel schedule for work.  We currently have 9 members, but 2 were missing tonight.  We are all busy parents and it is hard to coordinate a night that works well for everyone's schedule.  I was always a reader growing up, but hadn't read a lot since I had kids until I started the book club.  Now I read every book.  I think in 3 years, there were 2 books I couldn't get through because they didn't hold my interest.  I love being exposed to wide variety of books since everyone takes their turn picking out books.  I love the group of ladies, too - we talk about the book a little and then just sit and visit and enjoy each other's company! :)

2009, Our Two Year Anniversary:

2008, Our One Year Anniversary:

Happy Halloween!

The kids are tucked in bed and the {uneaten} candy is stored in a Ziploc bag and we are closing the chapter on another Halloween.  The rule in our house tonight - you can basically eat as much candy as you want on Halloween night - after that, it's rationed (or sent to Dad's office - but they don't know that yet!)  The kids enjoyed trick or treating for all of about 20 minutes and then they decided it would be more fun to eat their candy and pass it out to the trick or treaters coming to our house.  As of right now, we have had just over 100 trick or treaters, still short of last year's count.  Regardless, it was a busy night in our household!

Nice 'do Kyle!!!!!

Carter, Lukas, Ryan, and Zach:

Just for comparison sake, Halloweens Past:

Ryan in 2005:

Ryan and Kyle in 2006:

Ryan and Carter in 2007:

Ryan and Carter in 2008:

Carter and Ryan in 2009:

Kyle in 2009:

Anoka Gray Ghost 5k Run

Today I ran my very first 5k race ever - the Anoka Gray Ghost 5k Run.  It was a gorgeous day - sunshine and relatively low winds.  I ran it with my neighbor, Di - she is the one I run with in the evenings - she pushes me, even when it is 60 mph winds and I'd rather be inside!  She is the kick in the pants I needed to start running again - thanks, Di!  Kudos to Evan - while Di and I ran, he was the event photographer and also had all 5 kids, racing from the start line to the finish line with them.  Thanks for everything you do - it means a lot to me! :)

Di and I ready to line up at the starting line:

And we're off!

I didn't see Evan, but Di heard our kids yelling for us and told me to look:

Di and I at the finish line:

After the race, we went to Evan's salon where he has gotten his haircut for over 20 years.  Here is his stylist, Erin, and her husband.  Hmmmm...and I thought it was the cut he liked!!!  She assured me she didn't dress like that for work every day...Sure!

Little Things (literally)

If you know Carter at all, you know that he is always carrying something little in his hands, be it a superhero guy, his bear, or a pumpkin eraser from last year's Halloween party, you know the every day kind of things that you'd see in a kid's hand! :)  Anyway, we passed these pumpkin erasers at Target this week and I had to buy them for him.  And it was $3 well spent.  They have played with those erasers for hours the past few days.  Sometimes the funnest things to play with aren't toys at all!

Ryan's Halloween Party

Today I volunteered to help at Ryan's Halloween Party at school.  It was so cute and the kids had so much fun dressing up in their costumes.  I was the Bingo caller in his class - the kids loved it at my table - liklely because they all got prizes! :)  On days like today, I do a lot of reflecting on the fact that I am so thankful for my flex schedule so I can be at events like this for my boys.  I also volunteered at school yesterday in Ryan's classroom.  I spend almost every Thursday in one of their classrooms and I wouldn't have it any other way.  That was the reason I chose a flex schedule and I am going to enjoy every minute...until they are old enough that they don't want me in their classsrooms anymore!!!!  Until then... I'm there!

My Bingo table:

Mrs. Busch's Halloween party:

Ryan and one of his best buddies, Alexis:

Ryan sits with the girls at lunch - they love him and give him 'girl attacks' all the time!  Aren't they at the age when it is all about 'boy germs' and 'girl germs'?

Trick or Treat Special

Ryan and Carter were featured on a local TV station tonight in their Halloween costumes.  It is not the best quality video as I took it with my camcorder while watching TV, but I thought it was cute, so I wanted to share...enjoy! :)

Note:  you may want to turn off my background music while watching the video.  To do that, scroll to the bottom of the screen and click the 'pause' button.