AWANA

For the past few weeks the kids have been going to AWANA out at Riverwood church. They absolutely love it. It is quite the change from going to Sunday school at our church. We basically had to drag them out the door to get them to go. They all said it was boring and didn't want to go. AWANA is a different story. They get home from school on Wednesdays and do their home work and any chores they may have as quickly as they can. Part of their homework everyday is to work on their AWANA stuff (mostly memorization stuff), and on Wednesdays they sit and study (by their own choice) for like an hour just trying to make sure they know all the verses that they will have to recite for their leaders. We also practice while we are eating dinner. They have learned so much in the last few weeks and it is exciting to see them want to go and learn more at church. Church has become something they want to do as opposed to something they have to do.
We have also been attending this church for the past couple of weeks. After much persuading to get Phil to go, I was successful. I told him that we should at least check it out since the kids are there every week. I told him if we didn't like it we could always just go back to our church, and just let the kids go to AWANA. I also talked to several people that were once members of our church that became members at Riverwood. It was nice to hear insight from others that could compare the two churches from their personal experiences. It seems that it really fulfills the needs of our family right now.

Pumpkins!

Last night we carved pumpkins. This year the kids were able to do most of the work. I had to help Nessa, but that was a lot easier than helping all 4 of them. They each made their own design to put on the pumpkin. The boys both made a face with X's for the eyes and a jagged mouth. Belle made hers into a kitty and Nessa and I made a silly face. All in all it was a relaxing time and really didn't take all that long to do.

The finished product!

Birthday Party

Belle and counsin Joanna

Carson with his new lego set

Belle got the "talking Baby"

Nessa got a crawling baby, it falls and then cries. It is the most annoying cry ever!

blowing out the candles on their cupcakes!

Ice Skating

Today I took Carson and Nessa ice skating. We met one of Carson's friends at the ice arena. Carson had a blast. Nessa did too for the first 1/2 hour. Then she got sick of falling (it was nap time too) and gave up. I think that we will do it again soon though. It was open skate and there were only about 10 other people there. They had the whole rink to themselves. If it is truely something that Carson will like to do we will have to get him a pair of hockey skates, but for now the 2 bladed figure skates work just fine.

Nessa right away on the ice.

Carson was doing all sorts of tricks

oops! She fell down. She fell several times, but didn't once cry!

Carson and his friend Owen

Trying to skate fast

Hallzooween

The Minnesota Zoo had a "Hallzooween" day on Sunday. The kids got to wear their costumes and go "trick-or-treating around the zoo. It was such a nice day too. I am really hoping that it is still semi warm on Halloween. It was basically a test run for us. When we were done tick-or-treating we spent some time looking at animals and watching a bird show and a shark feeding.

the kids making a bat

Nessa with her finished bat

The kids in front of the shark tank waiting for the feeding

Here are the feeding pictures. They didn't turn out great...I used the point and shoot camera.

All of the kids in their costumes; Carson:Pirate, Belle: Fairy Princess, Austin: Vikings Player and Nessa was Sleeping beauty...it fits right? She got tired and fell asleep while we were looking at the animals.

Carson Is 6!!!

He just wanted ice cream instead of cake, so we put the candles in the ice cream!

He got a set of legos that makes water vehicles

We also went to the zoo. I bought a 1 year membership to the zoo, since the kids didn't have school on Friday we went to the zoo. They had fun for the first couple of hours and by the end they were pooped! All 3 of them fell asleep on the ride home! (Austin went to the science museum instead)

Nessa is 3!

Showing how to make three. The regular way is too hard...So, she puts her thumb up instead.

We had mini cupcakes instead of cake!


She got a new baby. This one sounds like a real baby. It coos and sucks on a pacifier or bottle. It also cries if you lay it on its back.

She loves her new baby!

She has been waiting for the last year, so that she can spend the night at Grandma and Papa's. Anytime she would hear "3" she would say "When I 3 I get to sleep at Grandma's house!" So, last night mom came and got her and she got to sleep over. (She is still there, I am not sure how it went) She still sleeps in a crib here, so being in a regular bed is a change for her! I am keeping her in that crib until she figures out how to climb out!
Well, I better go. I will post more later...

Halloween!

More flowers

Last week for my Macro class we went to the landscape arboretum in Chanhassen. It was so much fun, we spent about 3 hours there, but it seemed much shorter! Due to the wind and lighting issues I was only able to get a few shots that looked how I wanted them to, and now that I know where it is, I will be going there much more often! The down side...I have to wait to go again until next year, all of the flowers are about shot for this year. Here is what I got...

Fall!

Nessa had fun playing in the leaf pile yesterday!

Carson brought home "Chester" the racoon from school for the weekend, he needed to take a picture with Chester to show what they did...