For the last three years we have gone on the Wabash train ride. It is so much fun. This year it was our family, Auntie Karen, MawMaw and Papa. It was such a gorgeous day! We were so blessed. We had a great time.
My precious family. Can you tell how much Hannah likes having her picture taken lately?!
Funny kids getting creative waiting in line for an hour. They were all walking down the bike rack. 
Don't you just want to kiss those cheeks?
Here's the crew on our little train in the woods.
Never a dull moment. When the train's engine was being switched to take us back Joseph tells Allen he has to go potty. Oh well, at least there were lots of trees to choose from :)
My honey and me. I was thinking how grateful I am to have a husband who values family time as much as I do!
Auntie Karen and Hannah
After the train ride we went to a pumpkin patch. They wanted to take these home. They are sitting on $150 worth of pumpkins! Way too expensive for me :)
Having fun with Dad on the play equipment!
Always difficult getting a family picture. This was our third attempt. Some of us have some "real" smiles because right before it was snapped Joseph thew a whole bunch of straw up in the air and all over me....crazy little man!
Friday night we hosted the first annual "Great Pumpkin Race" at our house for our 5th and 6th Grade Sunday school kids. It was so much fun. We ended up having 15 kids over!!!!! The crazy part was that 6 of them were first time visitors :)
Pumpkin carving contest
We had a hot dog roast first, then pumpkin carving. After that we had a flashlight scavenger hunt followed by campfire and s'mores.
The kids did SUCH a wonderful job. They were all so friendly to each other and had a great time. I was really proud of them and so grateful for the success of the event!
Josh and Allen
The girl from Red Bud :)
Friday we decided to fit in one more trip to the zoo. We went with the two kids I babysit and their mom. It was chilly when we first got there, but turned out to be sooo awesome!
Cutie pie baby Hadyn in her adorable hat
The boys are only 2 months apart. They love playing with eachother. This picture just cracks me up. Joseph and Hunter are humoring each other while Emily is dutifully posing for her Mom :)
With the cooler temps we got to see a lot more animals. The animals were out roaming around and we even got to see some hyenas chomping on some fresh bones. Very cool!
Ha, one of their highlights was throwing up leaves and letting them fall on their heads. Ahh, simple pleasures!
This past weekend we had Maggi over for the night. She was such a gem. She helped clean the bathrooms, dusted, clean up toy room, and outside. I couldn't have done it without her! My kids absolutely love her. She is the bass player on our praise team.
We invited the praise team over for dinner and fellowship. I really had a good time. Joseph took a header off the couch in the basement onto the cement floor. Yikes, he was ok though.
David was feeling a little insecure.
Lisa is at least smiling....Natalie had a good time, no really she did....didn't she?!
Creepy dress up :) The kids had put on a dress up fashion show for us. I guess Brian really liked the princess veil!
This is what happens when we do not feed our animals...er...I mean children immediately in the morning. They get creative and independent. Notice there were several steak knives involved in the puncturing of the jello. Thankfully they didn't open it on my carpet. Although, Joseph later spilled his on the carpet!
This cupcakes looked so much better and some much easier to do in the magazine!
My little artist. I decided to face my phobia of my kid + paint. They had a super time! Me not so much, but then again, it is about the kids right :)
I LOVE kids' rain gear. I remember wanting it when I was a kid...but I never remember having any...mom, you will have to set me straight. Well, I have been picking it up here and there. The here being yard sales and the there being a thrift store. Well, we finally have complete and matchy outfits (yes, that was a goal). The only things I paid retail for were Joseph and Emily's boots. 
If you have noticed that Emily's boots don't match my matchy matchy theme....well...you are right. I just found Hannah's lady bugs last week at the thrift store. She had pink and purple ones. So, I thought GREAT! Now Emily will be matching too with her coat if she wears Hannah's. Nope, she refused. She had to wear her own frog boots. Oh well!
Saturday we got to go to Allen's work picnic/safety fair. Wow!!! It was so incredibly well done. It has to be the best work activity in the history of work sponsored events! When we walked in the kids all got company backbacks and Allen got a messenger bag with a company hat. That was just the beginning!
They had tent upon tent of kid activities which included games, prizes, candy and face painting!
They also had snack stations set up all over the campus. The one we're sitting next to had nachos with warm cheese sauce and meat along with granola bars and yogurt! Then it was all you could drink sodas, waters, teas and capri suns! What a blessing. It was so much fun!
Yahoo....a family picture!
Another big activity was getting to ride in the ....uh....forgot what it is called....lift truck or whatever it is called. Besides the 1 hour wait to get on it (we didn't realize it would take that long or we wouldn't have wasted that much time on it). Here the kids are all harnessed up. They thought it was so very neat!
Going up!
The view from the bucket
My kids were super well behaved and had such a wonderful time. They were exhausted though.
That was just the midpoint of the day for Allen and me. We ran home and gave the kids a bath. Karen then came over to babysit the kids while we went on a date to see Fireproof. Our church rented out the whole theater. It was fantastic! A couple from our community that came to the movie came to church yesterday. Praise God, they got saved yesterday afternoon!!!!
Wow, I was so tired. Then I had to sing a solo in both of the morning services, followed by teaching Sunday school, singing in the praise team, running home to take a nap (thank the Lord! I was almost sleeping on my feet) and back to church for drama practice and the evening service. Yikes!
Allen had to get up at 3:45 am to take his parents to the airport. Then he didn't tell me but he had been running a fever Saturday night as well as Sunday morning! He stayed home from church last night with Joseph to get a little rest.
So, Mondays are hard enough.....but wowzers! We are so very exhausted today. Then I have to run the little two to a babysitter so I can run and do kindergarten centers for a few hours today. Can anyone say Pizza Hut for dinner?!
